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bestillmyslashyheart · 4 years

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for @caitlesshea and @iwontbeyourmedicine

Maria knew it was the right thing to do, no matter how much it hurt. She loved Michael and she knew Michael loved her but their relationship wasn’t sustainable. It was better to end things now rather than wait until they hated each other.

Except Michael clearly didn’t agree with her. “I can do better,” he pleaded, his eyes shining.

Maria shook her head. “No, Michael, no. You were great. You-” she huffed a little laugh, “you were the best of me.” The next words are on her lips, spilling out before she could catch them. “You are the best of me.”

Michael inhaled sharply even as his face brightened. Maria’s heart flipped. “What did you just say?” He asked, his voice soft with wonder.

Maria’s mouth opened and closed. She didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t meant to let the words come out. Not when she knew what they meant. Not when she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out if they meant what she hoped they did.

“Maria,” Michael beamed. He rose out of his seat and leaned over her in the bed, his hands cupping her face gently. “Maria you said my words.” He kissed her deeply, her aborted attempt at breaking up with him apparently forgotten.

Maria let him, his joy contagious as her heart sang. She’d said Michael’s words. They were soulmates.

It was meant to be.

---

Alex doesn't believe in soulmarks. If he did, he’d hate them.

The physical reality of them is impossible to ignore – the mark is undeniably there, inscribed across his skin – but he can't think of them as anything other than ridiculous.

Because they don't mean anything, not really. They're not the first words, or the last words, or even the most important words, but just something that someone, somewhere might say to you. If you're lucky enough to meet them, that is, and most people aren't, because that someone lives on the other side of the world, they don't take that one, fateful call, or they look to the left when they should have looked right.

And even then, most of the marks spell out inanities, mundane greetings and hackneyed phrases that their bearer might hear a hundred times in a day, never mind a lifetime, but those who have met their soulmate insist that it sounds and feels different when spoken by their other half, although no-one's ever been able to explain how to Alex’s satisfaction.

There have been hundreds of studies performed by universities and hospitals and research institutions, measuring heart rates and brainwaves, hormone fluctuations and endorphin levels, but the results are never conclusive and nothing's ever been proven. He's meant to take it on faith that the words are meaningful, but Alex just can't. He can't believe that there's some mystical, unknowable force out there, playing cryptic matchmaker. Once, he’d let himself believe in the magic of it all but that time was long past.

Which is why he didn’t let it hurt him when Isobel mentioned that Maria had said Michael’s words. Because they didn’t mean anything.

It didn’t mean anything that he’d used to trace them while Michael slept, his finger curving over the letters imprinted behind Michael’s ears, the words covered by his curls so no one else got to see them. It didn’t mean anything that Alex had put those words in his song on the off chance that-

It didn’t mean anything.

---

“Don’t judge me, okay?” Forrest laughed. Alex felt himself smiling in return. Forrest shot him a wink before turning around and pulling his pizza out of the oven. “I made a cheese too,” he tossed over his shoulder. “Just to be safe.” Alex saw the other pizza sitting on the rack as Forrest moved his precious concoction over to the counter. You might have thought it was made of gold with how carefully he was handling it.

Forrest left the oven door open as he dug around for a pizza cutter and Alex hip checked him out of the way as he fished the other pizza out and closed the oven door. It was their third date and Alex had suggested going for pizza, not anticipating Forrest inviting him over for the homemade variety. He had to admit it was nice, moving around each other in Forrest’s kitchen. They weren’t quite cooking together, Forrest having taken care of that before Alex showed up, but the camaraderie was there as Alex searched the cabinets for plates and glasses.

“Ok,” he said when he had everything ready, “show me the monstrosity.”

“Hey now,” Forrest chided, laughing, “I said you weren’t allowed to judge me.”

“You also said everyone else you’ve ever eaten pizza with hates it so…” Alex trailed off.

Forrest shrugged, unconcerned, and stepped away from the counter. He waved a hand over the perfectly cut pizza and let Alex look at it unencumbered. The crust looked perfectly cooked and the cheese was enticing but it was the combination of pineapple, ham, anchovies, and mushrooms on top that captured his attention. Alex stared at it for long enough that Forrest reached for it. “This is why I made a cheese,” he told him.

Alex reached out and snatched the pizza from his grasp and pulled it close. “I’m sure you and the cheese will be very happy together.” Forrest furrowed his brow for a moment before his expression cleared.

“Alex…?”

“I get this one.” It wasn’t his favorite combination of toppings, sure, but it was up there. Alex had never met someone who liked the same toppings as him.

“Alex,” Forrest sighed in amazement. “You like it?” His lips turned up in a slow smile.

“I think it’s amazing,” Alex corrected.

“I haven’t eaten it yet,” Alex reminded him.

“But you don’t think it’s disgusting?”

“Oh my god,” Forrest wondered. “We’re like two halves of one crazy messed up whole. No one likes my- Alex?”

Alex felt all the blood drain from his face. There was no way Forrest could have known those words. They hadn’t had sex yet, he hadn’t seen them. Even if he had, half of the words were gone now…

“Alex?” Forrest asked again, worry evident in his voice.

“Those are my words,” Alex confessed quietly. He hadn’t felt any different, at least he didn’t think he had, but the chances of Forrest saying his exact words were astronomically low. “We’re like two halves of one crazy messed up whole,” Alex repeated. “Those are my words.”

Forrest lit up. “Really?” Alex nodded. Forrest took one large step across the kitchen and swept him into a kiss.

“It’s you,” Forrest said wondrously when they pulled apart. “It’s you.”

---

Michael thought it would feel different. He’d always decried the concept of soulmates but secretly he loved the idea of them, of someone out there who was meant for him in every way. Someone who would love him forever.

He loved Maria. And she’d said his words, despite only knowing half of them. She was his soulmate.

So why wasn’t it better? Why wasn’t it good?

They fought all the time. It had been months since she said his words and took back her attempt at ending their relationship and Michael thought they might have spent more of that time fighting with each other than they did being happy. Maria was insistent on pursuing her alien heritage even as it killed her and she was forcing Michael to stand back and watch and he hated it. But she hated it every time he tried to do something about it so they were stuck at an impasse.

It didn’t help that Forrest had said Alex’s words. The man was around a lot more than Michael was comfortable with and that little secret hadn’t stayed quiet very long. Even worse than seeing Forrest Long’s face everywhere he went was the fact that Alex didn’t look happy. He hid it well, but there was a tightening around his eyes and a stiffness to his shoulders that betrayed him. Alex was unhappy. And Michael didn’t have any right to do anything about it anymore. He hadn’t for a long time now.

It came to a head at another Open Mic Night, fittingly enough. Michael hadn’t planned on going but Maria had had to cancel a date when one of her bartenders called out so he drove over to the Pony and set up at the bar, as far away from the stage as he could get. A night full of terrible music wasn’t his idea of a fun night but he and Maria hadn’t really seen each other in a week and he was making an effort, okay?

He wasn’t expecting Alex to get on stage.

He really wasn’t expecting him to start singing that song, either.

---

Alex started singing and Maria stopped to listen. She’d heard about his song from her regulars and her staff but she hadn’t had the chance to hear it for herself so she stepped back from the bar and just listened.

It didn’t take very long for her to realize who the song was about. She cut a glance over at Michael’s seat at the end of the bar. He wasn’t looking at Alex but he was so clearly not looking at Alex that it was somehow more obvious that it was all he wanted to do.

At one point he closed his eyes and turned towards the stage, like he was a compass and Alex was true north and he couldn’t help himself.

Wish I found the words when we were seventeen

You were the best of me

You are the best of me

Maria heard the words and knew immediately that Alex knew what they were. He didn’t write them by accident.

But she barely had a moment to process that thought before Michael stole all of her attention. He’d jolted off of his stool when Alex finished, his eyes wide as he stared across the room at Alex. His left hand went to his ear, fingers tracing the letters Maria knew to be imprinted behind it.

Maria watched as a hundred emotions flitted across his face before settling on determination. He turned towards her, an apology in his eyes and she knew.

“Yeah,” she sighed as she walked over to him. “This makes more sense,” she confessed.

“Maria…”

She waved him off. Alex and Forrest walked past them towards the door and she jerked her head in their direction. “What are you waiting for? Go.”

Michael spared her another apologetic glance before he was gone.

---

“You were amazing,” Forrest gushed as the doors slammed closed behind him. The noise from the bar was cut off and they were left with the stillness of the night air. “Better than the first time, for sure.”

Alex fiddled with his keys and didn’t look at him. “Thanks.”

Forrest bit back a sigh. They’d started off well but things had changed once Forrest said Alex’s words. He would have expected things to get even better, for their relationship to move forward, but that hadn’t happened. It was like they’d stalled out. If it weren’t for the words, Forrest might have ended things already and he suspected Alex felt the same, but it was hard to deny the mark of destiny so they dug their heels in and dragged it out.

Noise filled the air as the doors banged open. “Alex!”

Forrest and Alex turned in unison to see Michael Guerin barreling towards them. Forrest hadn’t spent much time with the man but he knew he and Alex had a past and they shared many of the same friends. “Guerin,” he greeted when Alex said nothing.

Michael ignored him completely, his feet carrying him all the way to Alex without pause. He cupped Alex’s face in his hands and Alex didn’t stop him, his only movement being to drop his keys and grab Michael’s hand.

“We are so fucking stupid,” Michael smiled.

“What are you-” Alex started to say before Michael cut him off.

“We’re like two halves of one crazy messed up whole.”

Alex dropped his guitar. And Forrest knew.

“You put it in the song,” Michael added nonsensically.

“Yeah, well,” Alex replied weakly. His voice was soft with wonder and disbelief. “Took a little longer than I anticipated but it worked.”

Forrest wasn’t sure which one of them moved first but in the next breath they were kissing, the two of them colliding less than a foot away from him.

It was almost like they fused together, the two of them becoming one being right in front of him. The return of the noise had him looking back over at the entrance to find Maria DeLuca, Alex’s friend who, up until a minute ago, Forrest thought was Michael’s soulmate. She had a strange look on her face as she watched Alex and Michael and Forrest wandered over to her. “So,” he greeted.

“So,” she shot back with a smile. “It makes more sense that it’s them,” she allowed.

“It does,” Forrest agreed. They stood in silence for a moment watching the two men. “Doesn’t mean this doesn’t suck just a little bit, thought.”

Maria laughed sharply, the sound startled out of her. “Did they really just start making out right in front of you?”

“I don’t think Guerin even noticed I was there,” Forrest replied. “And Alex definitely forgot as soon as Guerin said his words.”

“You want a drink?” Maria offered. Her eyes cut back over to the two men who, Forrest checked, were still making out. Forrest wasn’t sure they’d stopped to take a breath yet.

“Please.”

---

It was strange, waking up in Alex’s house. Michael had been here before but he’d never been allowed to wake up here. And definitely not with Alex still sleeping next to him.

Sunlight streamed in through a crack in the curtains and Michael swore Alex glowed with it. That could just be the love talking, though.

Alex barely stirred as Michael tossed off the blanket and the sheet, baring them both to the cool air. Michael shifted towards the foot of the bed and pulled Alex’s right leg into his lap.

The letters stared up at him, we’re like two halves of one. The rest of the sentence was gone but Michael didn’t need to see it to remember what it said. He’d had the words carved into his memory from the very first time he’d read them. Once, he almost said them out loud but he hadn’t wanted to tempt fate. There was no rhyme or reason to the marks. If he’d read it out loud to Alex when they were 17 it probably wouldn’t have done anything. They weren’t meant to know then.

A hand brushed his hair back and away from his ear. Michael glanced up to Alex staring at him, his thumb reaching down to trace the cursive letters scrawled along his hairline. “I didn’t think it would work,” Alex said softly. “The song. It’s not supposed to work if you say them because you read them.”

Michael leaned down and pressed a kiss along Alex’s words before crawling up the bed to lay next to him. “Screw that ‘supposed to’ crap,” he muttered. “We’d never have figured it out if we hadn’t already known.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Really? You think so?”

“Alex,” Michael sighed. “We’ve known the words since we were 17 and it still took us 12 years.”

Alex shrugged as if to say ‘fair enough’. He carded a hand through Michael’s hair and bared the other ear to his eyes. He leaned forwards and Michael ducked his head enough so Alex could brush his lips across you are the best of me.

“I can’t believe I thought it was Maria,” Michael admitted. “When I heard you say it was like the words were on fire, like they were warming me up or something. There was nothing when Maria said it.”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “Same with Forrest. I just didn’t think there was any chance of someone else saying them so…”

Michael closed the tiny gap between them and kissed Alex softly. “They’re my words,” he told Alex. “No one else’s.”

Alex ran his thumbs over the words on both sides of Michael’s head. “Likewise.”

#malex fic #my fic #rnm #contains miluca and forrest #i do not condone the pizza toppings in this fic but i needed something unique (gross) so there you go #i feel like its been forever since i wrote something #and i dont love this but its a start

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frankchurchillsaysrelax · 4 years

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Malex week day four: free day

Missed opportunities are woven in the tight stitches of an unworn sweatshirt buried in the back of a drawer; the black unfaded, the red just as bright as the future once looked, a tangible reminder of what might have been, kept out of sight but close enough to remember because forgetting means repeating.

“Guerin! Mail for ya.”

Michael sets down the wrench he’d been using to fix Mrs. Valenti’s’ car and chases Sanders’ voice into the front office. The old man had let him use the auto shop’s address for the last couple of years to keep greedy foster parents’ hands off his stuff.

The thick white envelope with the UNM emblem in the corner stares at him harshly from the counter. Rejections don’t come in thick envelopes, everyone knows this, but with his luck, he wouldn’t discount the possibility.

“It’s not gonna bite ya kid.” Sanders’ gruff words spring him into action and with one tear he’s holding the thick, cream-colored paper bearing his future in his grease streaked hands.

Dear Mr. Guerin,

I am pleased to inform you,

A large white paper bag lands on the counter startling Michael from his reading. Sanders just grunts when Michael looks to him expectantly. Wiping his hands on a spare rag he opens the bag and tips its contents out. The sweatshirt is soft. Cherry red letters matching those on the front of the envelope stare up at him.

“How did you know I’d get in?” Michael asks in wonder. This is the first brand new piece of clothing anyone but Isobel has given him. He wishes his hands were cleaner, worthier, to be handling something so precious.

Sanders grunts again as he heads back to sit at his desk. “You’re too smart for such stupid questions.”

Michael laughs, bright and happy, running the fabric between his fingers one more time before placing the hoodie back in the bag and heading back to work, eager to finish so he can share his news with Max and Isobel.

-:-

Hope grows and dies between each breath easily matched to his. One heartbeat, steady and sure, promises to stay while the next races with the threat of running; the back and forth more dizzying than any kiss or touch could inspire.

Michael wakes the morning after Alex tells him he’s enlisted to find the space beside him cold and empty. He brushes the abandonment off as he does most things, rising to get ready for the day ahead of him.

He’s distracted all day, trying to convince himself he hadn’t imagined the night before. He keeps his head down, does his job, but each car pulling onto the lot sounds like his. Every hour that passes brings him closer to a night where he doesn’t know what to expect.

And then he’s there.

Michael is laying in the bed of his truck parked at Foster’s Ranch where he’s taken to spending his nights watching the stars. Alex doesn’t say anything as he climbs over the tailgate and into Michael’s lap. He doesn’t say anything except in the language they’ve perfected over the past few months, lips meeting over and over again until Michael forgets why he was worried in the first place. Together they write a record that will loop for years to come.

-:-

Regret lives in a bar tab that often exceeds the bank account meant to cover it. A loathsome feeling that stings more than the broken skin of knuckles not yet healed from the last attempt at distraction. Fighting is all there is when you can’t dig your way out of drowning.

The newly printed license hits the bar a second after his ass hits the stool.

“A beer please, Deluca.” Michael takes the hat off his head, his right hand running through his flattened curls. He keeps his gaze on anything besides the woman behind the bar, unable as usual to look anyone close to Rosa in the eye.

“Nice try, Guerin, but we went to school together remember?” Maria slides the plastic card back toward him without even looking. “I know you’re not old enough, so get out before I call Sherriff Valenti.”

“Not according to the state of New Mexico.” He slides it back, smirk fixed to his face as she finally picks it up. One perk of not remembering the first part of your life is they get to guess your age. “As of yesterday, I am officially twenty-one, so again, one beer please.”

Maria takes the card, scrutinizing it shrewdly. Michael would be offended if he didn’t have two fake IDs burning a hole in his glove compartment. After holding the card up to the light and bending the edges, Maria tosses it back to him and goes to grab him a beer. Michael hands over a couple of wadded up bills as soon as she sets the bottle in front of him.

“Better get used to me Deluca,” he says, mouth pressed against the cold glass lip. “I think you’ll be seeing a lot of me around here.”

-:-

Old fears are found between every sharp word, every sarcastic comment, every spiteful barb used to build defenses around a heart laid open, the beating organ exposed to the world, abandoned halfway through being taken. Then one day the hands you’d offered it to return to finish the job, cutting through your barricades like paper.

“And you’re still so good at giving them to me.”

He watches Alex leave not for the first time but possibly the last. Like two celestial bodies orbiting each other, they always find their way back to this thing they have. It may take time but it’s inevitable.

Something feels different this time like the world’s been knocked off its axis; like their paths have diverged irreparably and things are never going to be the same again.

“Michael? What’s wrong?” Isobel stands beside his truck, worry covering her still slightly pale face. “Are you still upset about earlier? I told you--”

“No, no Is,” he tries to reassure. He pushes off the back of his truck and steps closer. “You’re fine. I, uh, I think I get what you were saying earlier.” He glances back in the direction Alex had wandered off not too long before, his pathetic lovelorn heart shedding all attempts at self-preservation. “It’s not just a high school crush.”

Isobel looks surprised and a little confused. He can read the beginning of an interrogation in the raise of her eyebrow and moves quickly in distraction, opening the passenger door for her and offering her a ride home.

-:-

Nostalgia rides on waves of vibrating frequencies bathing the world in their sound. Protests, screams, pleas for someone to listen, to give him a choice, to listen. It seeps into skin and bone, making dead nerves twitch to life until all goes silent.

Max is dead. Max is dead and the last thought Michael had spared him was that he hated him for fixing his hand. Max is dead and it was his stupid god complex that made him so.

Michael wants to be angry, to say it serves him right. He wanted to play hero and apparently no one ever told him that the hero dies in the end. Or maybe they did. Maybe Max knew exactly what he was doing and just didn’t care about the rest of them. Max made his choice and left Michael to deal with the consequences.

He drops Isobel off at her house, listens when she tells him to leave even though he doesn’t want to, even though he needs her. He walks away from his best friend and her ghosts and tries to understand what comes next. He can’t go back to the Pony, back to quiet and peace and normalcy. Max took those with him when he died.

After a quick stop at the liquor store, he winds up back at old Foster’s Ranch. He parks far enough from whatever the military is doing with his old spot and tries to draw strength from the stars. He lays in the back of his truck, the metal against his back still warm from the sun, and tries to block everything else out the way he did when he was a teenager sneaking onto this same land to get drunk and call out to whoever might be out there waiting for him.

So much has changed. Max is dead. His mother was alive and then dead in the space of an hour. The dull ache in his hand is gone. The one constant in his life is gone, taken away as quickly as it came; Max’s hands doing the same damage as a hammer but leaving none of the pain.

Everything is changed but the anger is still there only twisted into something larger than himself, stronger and deeper like a monster that’s sunk its claws into his soul threatening to tear him to shreds. He appeases it with a long pull straight from the bottle.

His phone buzzes. He only checks it in the hope that it’s Isobel. It’s not.

Alex: I’m sorry I couldn’t wait longer this morning. Something came up.

The monster’s claws sink deeper. He can’t talk to Alex now, maybe not ever. Nothing is the same. He’s not the same person who promised to come back last night.

Alex: I’m back at the airstream. Where are you?

Max is dead. His mother is dead. The pain in his hand is gone. Those truths are the only company he needs as he loses himself in booze and stars.

#malexweek20 #malex20 #my fic #malex fic #malex #roswell new mexico #the parts in italics i wrote over a year ago as some kind of poem/verse thing #which of course got titled 'what the fuck is this???' in my drafts #thanks to malex week for kicking me in the butt to turn it into something #no read mores sorry #malex week 2020

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daughterofelros · 4 years

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Controversial opinion here:

You know what I like about the dynamics between Alex, Michael, and Maria?

They show that even when you’re trying to live a life that’s good for you, people may get hurt.

People get hurt, even if you’re not out to hurt them. Life is messy.

Alex is our to his friends as gay, but not about Michael. He reacts with anger and offense at the idea that anyone in Michael’s life knows about the two of them. He’s scared of his father, dealing with trauma, and also hurts Michael in that rejection. He’s also working on his shit and trying to live a life that brings him toward happiness. Sometimes the good he tries to do still causes pain- poking a wound causes pain, but so does disinfecting it. He’s still my cinnamon roll and I love him.

Michael is a prickly little hedgehog who uses his spikes to protect himself and his wonderful soft heart. But his spikes draw blood sometimes, and the trauma he’s endured is something he’s never had much support in processing. He’s doing his level best, and he makes bad choices sometimes... like an air hockey puck bouncing away from one thing to slam into something else, he ricochets around. He hurts people when he makes decisions without examining the consequences, and he hurts Alex and Maria when he says No to them in ways that are sure to land with a sting. But that No, that boundary setting, that space he’s carving out it so, so essential to the growth and stability he needs and deserves. Also a cinnamon roll, also adore him.

And Maria. She gets the least love in fandom, but she’s going through so much— losing her Mom to dementia, trying to keep a business afloat, persistent racism and misogyny directed her way from the very patrons she serves at her bar, financial woes and so many mundane, real-world problems. She’s exhausted and worn down, not really looking for a relationship, but definitely wanting some romantic love and affection in her life (without compromising on a shitty long-term relationship that takes more from her than it gives. See:Chad). She gives more of herself every day than she has reserves for, rarely lets anyone help her carry her burdens, and when she does, she gets the advice that says that you can’t control the way you feel. (Liz gives her this advice, and Isobel gives that advice to Michael, if I recall.) She says yes to something that might make her happy— there’s precious little that can do that— and the consequence is that if she gets a yes back, it could hurt her best friend. If she gets a no, it will hurt her. What happens could actually end up doing both. But holy shit, is it important for Maria DeLuca to believe that she deserves to want something good in her life. Doesn’t get called a cinnamon roll, but bad shit happens to her all the time outside of her control, and I think we can’t step away from the racism and misogyny of our real world that has an outsized impact on why people who look like Maria DeLuva don’t often get tagged as cinnamon rolls.

See, the thing is, no one is trying to hurt each other here. The things that could make them happy are at odds, but these are adults trying to navigate the dissonance without seeking to inflict pain. That doesn’t mean they don’t cause it though.

And that’s the key. They’re adults. They’re having to work through this shit, which is FAR more interesting to me than high school drama and dramatic declarations of never talking to someone again. Sure, there are always some people who will never grow out of dramatics.

But most adults? You figure out how to forgive people, rebuild relationships, retool the ones that don’t work. Exes figure out all the time how to coparent, run businesses together, and do things like endorse your ex when they run for local office. In the real world, some people don’t want to talk to their spouse’s ex...and some will go out for coffee, support each other in times of medical crisis, spend holidays together, and build unconventional family. Sometimes they’re there for each other after the relationship better than when they were in it— my coworker always says that “he’s a wonderful ex-husband. Shitty husband. But the best ex in the world.” Relationships starting and ending don’t always close the book or lock something in stone.

I very much believe that despite the pain they cause each other, these three will work things out, find new equilibriums, and heal.

And I believe that because I see a lot more examples of that in my life than the other option.

#RNM #alex manes #michael guerin #maria deluca #controversial

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iihappydaysii · 4 years

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title: of dreams and nightmares

rating: g

summary: When Willie has nightmares, he goes to parent’s bedroom for comfort

. . .

When they first married, Isobel told Grey that this might happen. Though during the day, Willie exploded like gunpowder, a basket of youthful energy and innate recklessness, the nights would snuff out so much of his fearlessness. The boy was plagued, Grey’s wife had said, by nightmares. He’d spent many a night in tears, shivering, in Isobel’s arms until the nightmares turned to smoke and blew away.

It had only been a week into their marriage, the first time it had happened. Willie had wandered into their bed chamber in the middle of the night, round cheeks wet with tears, mumbling incoherently about some horrible black wolf with red eyes that paced around his bed, snarling big curls of white breath in the cold air. The boy had tucked himself under Isobel’s chin and she’d shared a soft look with Grey over Willie’s brown curls.

Over the course of the first year, they were all living together, Willie would come into their room, asking to sleep between them, every one to two weeks. Each and every time they would agree. The requests did slow eventually though, as Willie aged or maybe as he felt a sense of stability. He had a safe home, grandparents that loved him, and a mother and father—which he had, in his mind, never truly had before. He had had a father though, and a wonderful one at that, who had entrusted Grey with his most prized and precious thing.

Grey would never forget the first time Willie had called him “Papa”. They were in the middle of an argument over his table manners and the boy had snapped at him, “But Papa, I don’t like peas.”

In that moment, Grey had been so filled with warmth, he’d thought to tell the boy… his son… that he would never, ever have to eat a single pea again.

He didn’t though, of course, because he was a father now, and growing boys needed their vegetables.

When Willie came into their room tonight, it had been over two months since the last time.

The boy worked his way onto the mattress, wiggling his way in between them and kicking down at their linens until he could get underneath them. Most nights he would turn in towards Isobel, as he’d done since he was tiny, and cry into her bosom. But tonight, Willie was facing Grey. He was close enough that enough that, even in the dark, Grey could make him out. His eyes were wet with tears, his cheeks streaked.

Isobel looked over at him, her eyes somehow asking him, if he needed her help. “Sleep, my dear,” he whispered to her quietly, then turned his attention to Willie. “Did you have a nightmare?” Grey asked softly.

“No.” Willie sniffed. “It was a… good dream.”

Grey lifted a thumb to the boy’s cheek and swept away a fallen tear. “Then, why are you crying?”

The question was met with nothing but tiny, teared filled breaths. Grey could also hear that his wife had easily fallen back to sleep. Sometime it was easier to wake the dead than it was to wake Isobel.

“Willie?” Grey prompted, when there had still been no reply.

“Do you remember Mac?” the boy asked slowly, like he was testing out each word for hidden traps.

Grey’s stomach plummeted. On one hand, he knew what it would mean to Jamie that the boy remembered him, wanted to speak of him, but he also knew Jamie had left so that he wouldn’t.

“Of course,” Grey replied.

“In my dream… we were riding the horses again, and then, we were having picnics like we used to. Me and you and Mac and sometimes Mama.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing. I woke up, and it was just a dream,” poor Willie started weeping again. “I miss him.” He mopped at his little face with the backs of his small hands.

Grey shut his eyes, a sharp twist of a knife between his ribs. If there was anything in the world John Grey knew the pain of, it was missing little Willie’s true father—though the boy had loved him without knowing the nature of their relationship.

He carded a hand through the boy’s curls and let out a breath. “I don’t believe I’ve ever told you this, but my father died unexpectedly when I was young. I was devastated. It hurt so badly, I thought it might kill me and then, one day, my half brother sat me down and he gave me a toy box, filled with wooden frames.” It had been so long since he’d thought of that box, though it was likely still in his mother’s house on Jermyn Street. “There was a small hole in the base of the box and there was a red marble in the box. The purpose of the toy was to move the box around and get the marble through the hole, but that’s not…” Grey let out a breath, the purpose of the toy wasn’t his point now, just as it wasn’t Edgar’s at the time. “My half-brother, he said to me that healing would be like that box and the pain like the red marble. Every time the marble fell through that hole, it would hurt. Time would remove the frames, make the box larger and it would happen less and less often.”

“But it will still sometimes fall through it?” Willie asked. Grey looked his inquisitiveness, the way he looked at the world as a riddle to be solved, as if he could be the one to finally do it.

“Yes,” Grey said, thinking of his own pain. The loss of his father, the loss of Hector, what happened with Percy, the great love of his life being someone he could never have. “And when it does, it will likely hurt just as much as it did the very first time it fell through. You see, Son, time doesn’t patch up the hole in our hearts so it will never hurt again, it just makes our hearts bigger.”

At least Grey hoped that was true, felt that it was, that all he’d lost and suffered through over the years, he’d used like forge to make himself a better man.

Willie moved closer, clutching at Grey’s shirts with his tiny hands. “Papa?”

Grey rested his cheek on Willie’s head. It made him remember how fresh and clean and new the boy had smelled as a baby. He mumbled a gentle reply.

“Promise me you won’t ever die.” Willie’s words were resolute, yet he could not hide the fearful plea behind them. Though Willie had no recollection of his true mother and father, they both died the day he was born, and the closest connection he had, the one he’d had with Jamie Fraser, had been severed for reasons the boy could never understand. In his perfect, fragile heart, he may always feel abandoned.

“I would promise you that if I could,” Grey said, holding the boy tighter. Willie had so quickly become his entire world—the beat in his heart, the blood in his veins, the bone under his skin. “But I can’t. I will promise you, however, that I’ll never make you a promise that I can’t keep. And, on those terms, I’ll also promise you this: death is the only thing that will take me from you.”

The boy let out a breath, the tension draining from his body. It was hard not to imagine the times when Grey would visit Helwater when Willie was just a baby. He remembered rocking the tiny creature in his arms, staring down at that brown hair, that button nose, those blue eyes and wondering how God managed to fit the contents of all the universe in one impossibly small, impossibly precious package.

“Good night, Papa,” Willie said with a tiny yawn.

Grey pressed a kiss to the top of the boy’s head. “Good night, Son.”

#lord john grey #william ransom #outlander #my fic

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roswelldetails · 4 years

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RNM 2x07 - Como La Flor

Apologies for being so late this week!! Lots of translating to do, and research. Mucho gracias to @queenrikki for reviewing this one for me!

EPISODE SUMMARY:

OLD WOUNDS — Liz (Jeanine Mason) is forced to revisit a painful part of her past when her mother Helena (guest star Bertila Damas) shows up at the diner unexpectedly. Michael (Michael Vlamis) urges Maria (Heather Hemmens) to seek help after she experiences a strange vision, and Kyle’s (Michael Trevino) attempt to get Steph (guest star Justina Adorno) to open up doesn’t go as planned. Finally, Helena’s arrival in Roswell sends Rosa spiraling. Nathan Dean and Lily Cowles also star. Barbara Brown directed the episode written by Danny Tolli & Carolina Rivera (#207). Original airdate 4/27/2020.

DETAILS:

Max and Isobel both describing to Rosa how it feels to use (and control) your powers.

Isobel:

"Ground your intention. Feel the current running through your body, your hands guiding it with purpose."

Max:

"Okay, draw energy from your spine…"

Arturo on Rosa:

"I heard a little mouse crying in her room this morning."

Escamoles - like Liz says in the episode, they're ant larvae. One article I found called them "the Caviar of the Mexican desert".

Helena calls Liz "mi corazón", which means "my heart".

"Arturito, te ves bien."

Arturo, you look good.

Adding "ito" to someone's name in Spanish can both be positive or negative. It can refer to smallness or also tenderness (like an affectionate pet name).

@tasyfa pointed out that there was a little timeline error in this scene. Arturo says that he hasn't seen Helena in 7 years, since Jim Valenti's funeral, but last season it was established in 1x12 that Valenti died in 2014. Also, remember the show is a year behind reality right now, so it's still 2019. So off by 2 years.

The reason for Helena's visit - transferring her ownership of the Crashdown for Liz so that Liz can sponsor Arturo's residency for citizenship. I did a lot of research trying to understand and clarify why this is. Thanks to those who weighed in when I was struggling to find a clear answer. Eventually I reached out to Define American, the non-profit org that provides support to the show on racial and immigration related issues. Here's the response:

The short version is that Liz has to meet minimum income requirements in order to sponsor Arturo, because she has to be able to certify that she can financially support him. Since she's currently unemployed except for the Crashdown, transferring half of the ownership to her makes her a business partner and helps her to meet the income requirements.

The Spanish:

"¿Cuánto quieres, Mamá?"

How much do you want, Mama?

"She has a very thoughtful manicure."

If you don't understand, it's cool. I'm not going to explain here. Feel free to DM me though! I won't judge, promise!!

Narrative thread about Max's nightmare/memory continues from 2x03 and 2x06. Don't forget that 2x03 was just Isobel remembering it. Max was a hallucination. So when he brings it up here, it might be something they haven't discussed in a very long time.

The Spanish from Rosa on her red jacket:

"Eres una mujercita."

Basically translates to you're a little woman or young woman. I assume the "cita" is supposed to be diminutive here.

"Mom is an opportunist. If she found out she had a kid who came back from the dead she would use you to get to Anderson Cooper. And then she'd use him to promote her latest lounge singer gig."

"Isobel pays double. Becky tax."

A Becky, according to common colloquial use, is an annoying white woman, usually entitled and privileged.

Lead bartender quit..meaning there's a job opening at the Pony…hmm. Wonder if any of our characters need a job... 🤔

Maria's vision:

Michael drops the change

Flash to Kyle dropping his keys & bending down to pick them up.

Kyle staring into a bright light.

Maria shouting his name.

"My heart was broken. Liz ended things and a part of me died."

Max's story to Valenti… not all THAT far off from the truth.

Note: has anyone told him about Valenti investigating him? We know Liz and Isobel were questioned. Michael was present when Liz was questioned. Kyle knows the whole theory his mom was pursuing. And he just wanders in there like nothing happened?

"Try leading several short staffed investigations with the mayor breathing down your neck."

Another subtle reference to the mayor, including the election banners hung around town in S2 and his "anti-immigrant agenda" which was referenced in S1.

Max has been with the department since he was 18 - this is the first time we learned that. In 2x05 we learned he was there at 21. So that timeline has now been further clarified. Which also means he was hired during Jim Valenti's time as Sheriff.

"I need eyes on you at all times now."

Definitely implies a lack of trust, or possibly still wanting to keep an eye on him for the purpose of her investigation (not a fact, just a theory).

Steph tells Kyle that she's always hanging around the hospital because she's doing admin work for her dad.

"I'm starting to feel like you're a ghost who only I can see."

"Ask them if they can see me. Or if you were just talking to a ghost."

Note that ghosts have been a running theme this season with Rosa returning from the dead. This seems to be in line with that. Or are they subtly tying Steph to Rosa (I'm grasping at straws here, probably).

Liz leaves the safe on 3...but before she changes it is on 81. Helena leaves it on 78 after stealing the ring. Good continuity, RNM!

The whole "my mom hates cops" theme is a little confusing to me. I mean, it makes sense given what we know about Helena. Except that she had an affair with Jim Valenti, who was… a cop. And also an addict. Maybe it was different because they rehabbed together (just an assumption, not a fact). Or maybe the Jim experience contributed to her dislike of cops.

Liz...might be grasping at straws when she refers to police work as "something you love" to Max. He didn't exactly seem enamoured by the job when we first met him in Season 1.

First time we learn Max and Isobel's father's name. And it is… Dave. 🤔

The Spanish Helena uses when she meets Max:

"Pero que guapo estas."

But how handsome you are.

"Cuidado Arturito."

Careful, Arturo…

Helena found Liz and Diego's wedding registry online.

“Look there are medical reasons for non-drug-induced hallucinations - epilepsy, schizophrenia…”

“My mom has a degenerative brain disease. My grandma did too. I've always known I'd be next.”

Helena wanted to be Selena.

Which fits with Liz's lounge singer comment earlier.

And the "drunkenly singing in the car with your daughters in the backseat" fits with the story Liz and Rosa discussed in 2x02 about the car accident they got into as kids with Helena driving drunk.

Helena shows Liz her ten years sober chip, suggesting that she's been sober since Rosa died, but Rosa finds pills in Helena's car later in the episode. Oxycodone. The same drug that Rosa used to steal from her mom as a kid (which we learned about in 2x04) and the same drug that she and Kyle discussed when he was checking her health in 2x01.

During Helena's toast to Rosa:

Preciosa = precious

Rosa Linda… still not sure personally if this is a continuity error or a pet name. I’m inclined to go with a pet name. Throughout the whole episode Helena uses lots of pet names, nicknames, diminutives to address people. Rosa Linda may be just another version of this since Rosa's middle name was pretty well established as Helena in Season 1 between her grave, memorial pamphlet, etc.

Kyle calls attention to Steph's bandage on her arm. She says she gave blood, but it feels like she's evading.

Also she calls him McDreamy, which is a Grey's Anatomy reference. Kyle called himself McSexy (another Grey's nickname) in 1x08 as well.

Note: I've seen some people talk about the speech about his sick friend as being about Maria, but I think he's really talking about Steph. Or both, vaguely. He's certainly trying to get Steph to open up to him. Here's what he says:

"I just found out a friend of mine is sick. And I can't do anything to help her. And I hate feeling helpless."

Only after Steph puts her walls back up, does he gesture to Mimi's files.

The Spanish:

"Oh, ándale, gùero."

Ándale is like, go! Or let's go! Gùero we discussed earlier...basically white boy.

Por favor - please

Rosa's art that we first saw in 2x05 now looks finished:

Isobel's graffiti "In Pod We Trust"

Both Isobel and Rosa's graffiti:

Isobel's assessment of Rosa's art

"That's a black hole. An unstoppable force of destruction. And it's getting closer. I see a girl looking into her own doom. She thinks it's inevitable, that she can't stop it, but she can. See, she created it. That means she can destroy it."

Rosa on Isobel's efforts to help her:

"You and Max, you keep talking about harnessing emotion and grounding myself, right? But I can't do that. It is in my DNA to be screwed up. Literally. My mom's mentally ill. So, so am I. I was broken long before Noah did what he did. That's why he chose me to prey on. That's probably why he chose you too."

Maria on her grandmother:

"When I was a child my Grandma Patty was the only adult who understood my make-believe world. Thing is, I was six. So my favorite things about her were just illness, I guess…"

Maria on her mom:

"She was always kind of out there. By the time I realized it was more than that, I just became obsessed with money. Wanted to be able to take care of her. I invested everything Grandma Patty left me, and I worked, scrounged. It was about three days after my mom was finally fired from her job at the Pony, I bought the place."

Maria's blood does not contain the alien protein that Kyle found in the Pod Squad and Rosa after being in the Pod for a decade. (and yes, he actually said Pod Squad, which feels like an OG fandom victory)

"Look, there is one thing I noticed in your grandmother's file. Her insurance company is the same one that paid for my dad's cancer treatments...My dad got cancer because of an alien incident at Caulfield Prison. A fake insurance company established by Project Shepherd covered his bills."

"Okay so my grandmother got sick at the same alien prison where your mother died?"

More Spanish (there's lots of it this week).

Helena, when she gestures to the present:

"Abre tu regalo."

Open your gift.

Quinces is just slang for Quinceanera.

Just in case you're not familiar with quinceaneras (Liz's was also referenced in 1x02).

"Mija, me enseñas tus prom photos?"

Daughter, show me your prom photos.

Regarding the power outage. Liz thought it was Max. Max thought it was Rosa. But the wire is frayed, like it was cut or chewed through. So it wasn't alien power related. When Arturo finds the wire though, he says, "Must have been a little mouse." Which is how he referred to Rosa earlier in the episode. So the question is, does he actually think it was a mouse? Or does he think Rosa cut the wire? And if Rosa did cut the wire, then why? To distract them while she goes after her mom's car?

In the big Liz/Helena argument, Helena calls Max “a güerito cop”. Güero means white person, similar to the more commonly used gringo. But by adding the “ito” onto the end (like discussed before), Helena is basically diminuitizing Max. She’s using the “smallness” above to basically imply that he’s some white nobody.

“I may not be the PTA mom who made cookies for bake sales or hosted sleepovers, but I sacrificed everything to come to this country to give you a better life.”

This is...not actually true. Liz and Rosa are both natural born U.S. citizens, born in Roswell. So she didn’t “come to this country” for that reason. She was already here when Liz and Rosa came into the picture. And it’s not like she came pregnant with Rosa or anything, since Rosa is Jim Valenti’s daughter.

The ring that Helena took was ARTURO'S mother's ring. It wasn't even Helena's family's heirloom.

Liz and Arturo sharing flan for dessert. At the start of the episode before Helena arrived they discussed making flan for Rosa.

Arturo admits that he always knew the truth about Rosa's heritage. (*fistpump* that's one of my headcanons coming true).

"Rosa es mi hija, siempre y para toda la vida."

Rosa is my daughter, always and for life.

"Maybe you're right. I am playing the hero. Just like you're playing the politician's perfect arm candy. See, I did a little digging. And your boyfriend, Dirk-- he ran for city council. It's very impressive. But there's no mention of your daughters. I'm guessing Dirk doesn't even know about Liz or Rosa. Does he know anything about you, Helena? 'Cause it would be such a shame if he found out about a little town called Roswell."

Helena gives Max the ring, but keeps the box… maybe that's what Helena really wanted?

Huevos = eggs. Basically, slang for balls.

"I know that face. You uncovered a massive conspiracy."

"I checked the Caulfield drives. No sign of a Patricia DeLuca, but there was a Patricia Harris. Her maiden name. She signed up to participate in an experimental trial. Government was interested in weaponizing alien abilities. They wanted to create super soldiers. Your grandma was one of the first human subjects."

"Kind of wish I was an alien instead."

"What happened to the experiment?"

"It was a total failure. Caulfield shut it down in the '70s after people started dying. I don't understand how your grandmother got involved."

"I do. Henrietta Lacks, Tuskegee, Holmesburg. The DeLucas aren't the first black people to be secretly experimented on."

Highly encourage you to read these if you're unfamiliar with any of these references. It's African-American history (and really a black mark on U.S. history) that's rarely taught in schools.

Henrietta Lacks:

Tuskegee:

Holmesburg:

Reality versus Maria's flashes… great gifset by @rosaortecho on this here:

Kyle rips his jacket, staggers out to the parking lot, drops his keys, and is almost hit by a car, but Michael throws him out of the way with his powers (and Kyle still ends up injured because he lands on a glass bottle).

"Now that we know your illness is related to Caulfield we can find a cure for it."

"Maybe it's not an illness. I saw the future today, Guerin. When I first found out Grandma Patty was experimented on, I was furious. But what if my genetic inheritance isn't just injustice? It's also actual superpowers. Saved a life today. And not just any life-- Kyle Valenti's. Tomorrow he's gonna turn around and save five more lives."

Liz and Rosa's dueling big sister act is super fascinating. Rosa admits that she wasn't going to burn the car, and then she saw Liz crying, felt helpless, and that's when her powers went all wacky and caused it to explode.

Meanwhile, Liz has spent the whole episode trying to keep Rosa safe from Helena, and is trying to comfort her here by talking about Helena's sobriety.

But--Rosa stole Helena's pills, so she knows Helena is not sober, and she doesn't tell Liz that. Why? To protect her.

At some point these two should probably stop keeping secrets to protect each other and start actually sharing what they know.

Kyle stitches himself up.

Steph quoted in this scene:

"I was up in the gallery contemplating American downfall thanks to progressive socialism."

"People tend to bail when things get real. I'm not into that."

Cameron's car was impounded a couple hours away.

Max is turning in his badge and gun and is turning down desk duty to search for Cam.

Isobel and Michael's discussion at the Pony:

"Do you think that Noah chose me because I was already broken?"

"I think you are the only one of us who ever keeps it together."

"I'm serious, Michael. The night that drifter attacked me, why am I the only one who started blacking out? I mean, Max literally murdered a man, but I'm the one who breaks?"

"You were traumatized. We were kids. At that age, trauma gets etched on to your soul."

"But what if it's not in my soul? What if it's in my DNA? Look, my whole life, I've played Stepford wife, because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. But...I need to understand myself now. I need to know where I'm from. And if I don't know who my biological parents are, how am I ever gonna know who I really am?"

"What are you saying, Iz?"

"I know that we said we shouldn't look into the past, but…"

"It keeps pulling you back. Me too. I spent my whole life thinking I'd build a ship and blast off into the ether. And then the minute I decide to leave that all behind and focus on this good thing in front of me, I'm sucked back in. Maria's family was experimented on at Caulfield. I need to find out more so I can find a cure for her illness."

Rosa takes one of her mom's pills. 😭

MUSIC:

1. Cactus Groove "This World"

2. Shelly Fairchild "Drive"

3. Mathis Hunter "Mrs. Vinegar"

4. Big Stone City "Good For Zero"

5. Big Stone City "Way Down Below"

6. Selena "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"

7. Elizabeth Moen "Best I Can Do"

8. Wagons "Keep Coming Back"

9. AG "Where Is My Mind" (Pixies Cover)

#roswell new mexico #details #rnm season 2 #episode details #long post #rnm 207 #como la flor

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maerose-late-at-night · 5 years

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coda 1.10 - dizzy on the comedown (Malex)

Here’s what Michael knows; and this is what he remembers.

He remembers the feel of the dented up lawn chair beneath his skin, the rusted patches in between the slicker white frame. The way he had almost carelessly rested his fingers against the arm rests while he explained everything to Alex (his heart skipping a beat with every secret revealed). A voice that had sounded suspiciously familiar, whispering inside his head. “Well I knew what you were and I came here anyway, Guerin. No more secrets now.”

He remembers the myriad of expressions that had passed over Alex’ face, from betrayal at the necklace, to steely resolve while he held his ground. To that damn furrowed brow, puckered up in concentration while he listened.

He remembers the soft statements that sounded almost too good to be true.

I want to know who you are, Guerin.

I want to know about you.

And he remembers how Alex had taken it all in with a sort of hesitant curiosity and wonder. How he hadn’t freaked out until the moment Michael had talked about leaving. How it had all become too much for him then. He’d retreated, never turning his back until he absolutely had to, but never quite looking him in the eye while he stumbled through his excuses.

Michael had been so obsessed with leaving since he was a kid, at a time in his life where no one really cared if he stayed or if he went. This unreachable idea of a home he had never known had called to him every single night, through the millions of stars that dotted the ink black sky. From the very first piece he had recovered, through the immeasurable joy that coursed through him when the first two joined together, he had continued to search, to find, to build. To cover it up and hide it even from Max en Isobel.

Even in those precious few moments when he and Alex had only been kids - those moments worth fighting for - and the way his whole being had felt completed, finally, he had never dared to stop planning his escape. For fear the rug would be swept from under his feet. And it had, in the sickening crunch of his bones beneath a hammer, in the startled look on Isobel’s face when she discovered Rosa’s body beside her on the ground. In the moment when he’d found out Alex was shipping off to war.

When he resurfaces fifteen minutes later, he doesn’t expect Alex’s car to still be there, nor for him to sit behind the wheel, resting his wrists against the leather.

Michael approaches, cautiously, afraid that every small crunch of his boots against the ground will be the trigger for the key to turn and the engine to roar to life - with, or without the supposed rattle. Alex doesn’t seem to register his movement, only blinking back to life the minute he sits down in the passenger seat and closes the door behind him.

“You know,” he starts, “out of all the things that I learned over the last couple of weeks, that was the hardest to hear.”

“I’m sorry.” Michael tries to push past the emotion rising up in his throat, but knows he’s failing. He’s falling, all over again. He never really stopped. Forcing himself to focus on the corner of Alex’s eyes, counting and following every single flutter, he admits, “I just never really had a home, Alex.”

For some reason, that causes a reaction. I want to know about you. It only takes a split second before the corners of his eyes become the deep brown depths that Michael’s looked into so many times. “A wise person once told me that home can be a person.”

It’s too much. “You asking me to stay?”

But he’s not. He won’t.

Alex shakes his head, averts his eyes again. They land on the telescope next to the trailer, pointing up at the sky. “I’m… I don’t…”

Michael can almost hear the gears turning in his mind, flashing through images of the stars, and memories of the two of them in the back of Michael’s truck, looking up at them when they weren’t too busy being wrapped up in each other.

He swallows. Breathes hard. Keeps himself from reaching out. “Listen, I meant everything I said.” His eyes are soft and kind and forgiving and it nearly breaks Michael to pieces. “I want to know who you are, and talk.” He smiles, and it’s filled with a little sadness. “I want you to be happy, Michael.”

The smile is mirrored, echoed, the two broken pieces making a whole. “You know, I think that might be the first time you’ve actually said my name.”

Alex barks out a laugh, then sobers up and reaches over to give him a chaste kiss that is packed with meaning. He rests his forehead against Michael’s and their eyes slip closed. Michael swears he sees warm colors dance against his eyelids, pushing against them and chasing away the dark.

“The idea of you not being here…” Alex breathes shakily, “it’s just hard.”

He can’t do anything but nod. yeah.

“But we still have a lot of things to talk about.” Alex says. “And time. Right?”

Michael allows himself to believe he sounds hopeful.

“Right. I’ll uh - you really don’t want to stay?” There is a storm coming, after all. Better they face it together.

He does. They head back to the trailer and just sit together, sides touching while they drink their lukewarm beers and talk. And when the weather turns rough and Michael covers a sleepy Alex with a warm blanket, he allows himself to consider it. That home could be a person.

That home could be right here.

#malex #malex fic #Michael guerin #Alex manes #roswell nm #roswell new mexico #OK first time writing malex #and like YEARS since I wrote anything at all #also I'm supposed to be working #but this scene just uuuuuuugh #be kind #love an alien #1x10 #also on ao3

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aliencowboyqueen · 5 years

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FIC: The Rules to Accidental Dating (6)

Pairing: Alex/Kyle

Summary: In which Kyle and Alex accidentally pretend-date their way to love.

Rating: Teen+

Find Chapter 1 here. | Find previous chapter here. | Fic Masterlist.

Chapter 6

When the doorbell rings, Kyle flinches. But it's Alex's face he sees through the peep hole, so he opens the door.

Alex winces at the sight of him. "I heard what happened with Flint," he says. He reaches out and his fingers hover by Kyle's jaw.

Kyle has an inexplicable urge to lean into Alex's hand, to seek out the physical contact.

So he does.

Alex's touch is soft against his jaw, a butterfly kiss of the tips of his fingers on Kyle's jawline. It sends a jolt of electricity down Kyle's spine.

"I'm sorry about him," Alex says when he drops his arm back down to his side. "Can you believe he is the best of them?" He says it with a tight smile.

Kyle closes the door behind Alex and invites him to the kitchen. "I thought I'd be found dead in a ditch somewhere," he admits. He tries to say it in a lighthearted tone but as a joke it falls flat.

"I'm sorry," Alex repeats. His eyes narrow in concern.

"It's whatever," Kyle shrugs. "Good thing it happened, I think. Now if I do end up dead in a ditch, the sheriff will be sure to make your brothers the prime suspects. That idea might discourage them a little at least. And it only cost me a split lit."

Alex leans against a kitchen counter. "What will you tell people when they ask what happened?"

"Normally, I'd tell a story about a rough night and an enthusiastic makeout." Kyle shrugs. "But I'm afraid gossip spreads fast. Everyone will know I got punched."

Alex nods. "What if people ask what it was about?"

Frowning, Kyle tilts his head to one side. "Are you here for a social visit or to get our stories straight?"

"Sorry." Alex sighs. "Both? I wanted to make sure you were okay. But I also want to know what your plan is."

Kyle shrugs again. He takes a tea mug for himself out of a cupboard and holds one up for Alex questioningly. Alex nods.

"I think I'm just going to tell the truth," Kyle says.

Alex's eyes grow large.

"I'll say Flint found an issue with our spending time together and I told him he didn't deserve to call himself your family."

The stunned surprise on Alex's face makes Kyle wonder what information he actually had prior to visiting. But before he can ask, he is overcome with a yawn.

"Sorry," he mutters sheepishly. "I've been up for much too long." And he'd have to get up tomorrow again, and go to work for a late shift.

"And I'm keeping you up."

"Not any longer than I would be anyway." Kyle yawns to Alex's visible amusement.

"By the way," Alex starts slowly. "I'm going to the shelter tomorrow. To finalize the adoption. I don't know if you have the time or if you'll be…"

"Are you trying to make up for my split lit with puppies?" Kyle interrupts him. "Because yes. I start in the afternoon tomorrow so I can go with you."

"Will you get in enough sleep?"

"I'll be fine." It'll be less than he would have got without the Flint incident taking up his precious off-work hours, but he'll manage. He's survived worse.

Alex smiles at him and that validates Kyle's decision.

"You're staying, right?" he ask and before Alex can protest, he adds: "There's no point in you driving all the way up to the cabin if you are picking me up tomorrow."

Alex shakes his head. "I'll have to start keeping a change of clothes in my car, at this rate."

Kyle makes a mental note to clean out a drawer for Alex. Though he might sleep over less now that he'll be a dog parent. Not that there is a no pet policy at Kyle's apartment… Maybe Kyle should invest in some pet bowls.

"But you're taking the bed this time around. No, I don't want to hear any protests. I know my fold-out is a good one, but as a medical professional I can still let you sleep on it only so many times in row."

"But you're working tomorrow," Alex reminds him. "And you've just taken the mugs out and put them in about three times. I'm not sure you are awake enough to fold out couches."

Huh, Kyle has not realized he was doing that. "Well, we could also play the 'we're adults' game and just share." At Alex's visible hesitation, he adds: "I won't hog blankets if you don't."

ooo ooo ooo

He wakes up to Alex already awake, lying on his back with his phone in front of his face.

"Did you sleep at all?" he asks.

Alex hums. "You're disturbingly still when you sleep."

"Is that your takeaway from this?"

"I felt like I should be checking your pulse every few hours."

Kyle snorts. He reaches for Alex's phone and pushes it away from Alex's face. "Ready to get up? We can get breakfast to go at Crashdown." He pauses and grins. "I bet you didn't expect to end up in bed with me."

Alex rolls his eyes. "You're in a good mood. I'm not sure I like it." He starts getting up.

ooo ooo ooo

Rosa hands them their breakfast to go and shakes her had. "Of all the weird things I had to adjust to, this is still the weirdest," she says.

"You love me," Kyle shoots back. He is in a good mood. Much better than he should be, considering everything his life is these days, not to mention his still aching lip.

"How do you put up with him?" Rosa asks Alex.

Alex shrugs. "He has his uses."

Rosa grimaces. "Ugh, just go."

ooo ooo ooo

"First time pet owners?" a lady at the shelter asks.

Kyle nods automatically; he is distracted by the sight of Alex petting his new roommate. Bailey the Beagle is excited to see Alex and Alex lights up like a Christmas tree. It's a pleasure to look at. Alex deserves some happiness.

"You'll be okay, I'm sure," the lady assures him.

Kyle opens his mouth to protest that he is not actually there to adopt, but it's just then that Bailey waltzes over, pulling Alex along on her leash.

ooo ooo ooo

Alex drives him to work on their way from the shelter. In front of the hospital, Kyle leans back and pets Bailey in the backseat. She licks his fingers.

"She loves me already, doesn't she?" he grins.

"You come across as someone who'll give her scraps from the table.”

"Oh, you bet I will." Kyle begins to open the car door. "I'll see you…" He realizes he doesn't know when and that seems strangely off.

"You'll see me," Alex agrees with an amused smirk.

ooo ooo ooo

He runs into Isobel Evans-Bracken on her way to Jesse Manes' room. She brings him flowers on behalf of one society or another, every week like clockwork. Always so elegant in her black mourning clothes, still grieving for the husband killed by a lightning.

That's official story, at least.

The two of them share a nod of greeting and not a hint of all the secrets they share.

ooo ooo ooo

It's not until Kyle's changing into his scrubs that it hits him.

That lady at the shelter thought they were a couple.

↳ Next Chapter

#kylex #kylex fic #rnm fic #myfic

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el-gilliath · 5 years

Text

Sacrifice

@cowboyswagger prompted this: A (familiar) demon offers Michael the return of his mother, whole and young again: a second chance for the two of them... without outlining the cost of this home is his other one. So as Mara gets stronger, Alex gets weaker and Michael is caught between the two things he's always wanted. (I missed the familiar demon part but I sorta had that too, sorry). This does NOT have a happy ending. And is about 5000words. And crossposted to Ao3 if people would prefer to read there.

The demon finds him on its own volition. Apparently his grief is screaming loud enough into the void that they had to check out whatever it was. The fact that the demon appears before him wearing his mother’s face, might be the biggest fuck you this world has ever given him. Because in those few seconds before he realizes that the psychic connection isn’t there. He’s happy. He’s so happy and the joy is bursting out of him thinking that she somehow managed to survive. But then it tilts its head. He can’t feel her in his core. And it breaks his heart.

His grief surges, bigger and worse than before. Because she’s here. Her face is right in front of him, and she is so beautiful, so wonderful and so very, very missed. He had her back for 5 minutes, got to hold her hand and feel her love for 10 seconds. It wasn’t enough, it will never be enough. He wants her back. He wants his mother, a parent that loves him. Loved him. But it’s not her, and he feels his power surging under his skin as the anger rises, ready to tear everything in his path apart.

“You are a very angry young man,” the thing with her face says, and his telekinesis rips out of him, trying to fling the thing away from him. But it only smirks at him, its eyes going completely black as it stays exactly where it is. Of course. Of course he would attract a fucking demon with his grief.

“I can give her back to you.” He freezes at the words. And despite himself, despite knowing he shouldn’t. He feels hope. He wants it, more than he has ever wanted anything in his life. More than he wanted Alex. Wants Alex. But it’s a dangerous hope, cause a demon will never give it to you straight.

“You’re a demon. All your deals come with false hope and a prize I’m not willing to pay,” he responds, grief once again overcoming the small feeling of hope. Because there is no hope. His mother, is dead and he won’t get her back.

“You don’t pay a prize.”

He narrows his eyes. There is no way. “There’s always a prize”

“Not for you. Now if you want your mother back, come over here and seal it with a kiss. I’ll even change shapes for you,” the demon says with a cruel smirk, and between one blink and the next, Alex is standing in front of him instead of his mother.

“Why. Why would you give me this?” he asks. The hope is surging within him again, battling against the cloying feeling of grief. But he doesn’t know if he can trust this. He doesn’t know if he wants too.

“Because your grief? Is filling up the void in between this place and Hell, and we are tired of it. Demon’s live off of human grief. You’re not human, so instead of it being the good kind of grief it’s just annoying. We need it gone. And as such you don’t have to pay a prize. Now come, kiss me. And you can have her back.”

He moves before he thinks about it, striding over to the demon wearing Alex’s face and kisses him. Deeply, like if it really was Alex. He knows he needs to talk to Alex too, and he will, but this comes first. His mother comes first.

The kiss breaks and the demon grins at him. The grin is dark, and full of sinister evil. Somewhere in Michael’s brain Klaxon alarms are blaring and he knows that grin means nothing good. But the demon promised that he wouldn’t have to pay a prize. And the hope of having his mother back is too great.

“Our deal is sealed.” The demon disappears and for a moment he panics. But then, there she is. She appears to his right with a giant intake of breath, young and beautiful like she was when they connected. Clothed in the same white dress, with the same necklace. Her eyes wild, looking around with obvious shock until the land on him. And a second later, the connection snaps back into place. He can feel her. He knows without a shadow of a doubt. It’s her.

“M-”. He can’t finish it, can’t get the word out of his mouth. It feels too big, too small, too import and too not important at the same time. So he does the only other thing he can do. The only other thing that feels safe and needed. He runs over to her and gathers her in his arms. He clings to her, as she puts her arms around him and clings back. The connection between them surges as they touch one another. He can feel her in his head, her love, her joy, her disbelief. She doesn’t understand how she can be here, how she can be young again and still have her baby boy in her arms. Her first born, the child born from her and the love of her life that died in the war. Her Rath. Her precious, beautiful, wonderful Rath with a set of curls just like his father. She sees all of Geran in him, in the lovely young man he is. She misses him so much even if he has been dead for years. But Rath… She feared for his life, not knowing where he was all those years she was captive. She knew someone had tried to move their pods to safety, but she never knew if they succeeded. But they did. Because her he is. Here he is again. Seeing him in the prison had been so painful and yet such a giant relief. She didn’t know if he got out safely along with the wonderful man who loves her son so much. But he’s standing with his arms around her and he is fine. As is she. And she is so thankful.

Michael withdraws his mind the tiniest bit from their connection. Her feelings about him and his dad, Geran, is so strong. Geran. Maybe that’s why Guerin didn’t always feel so wrong even if Michael sort of did. But his name, the name given to him by his parents is Rath. And she. His mother’s is Mara. Geran, Mara and Rath. They were a family. “Mom,” he whispers in her ear. He can feel her smile through the connection, her mind whispering “Rath” back at him. Then a questioning “Michael?”. As if she wants him to tell her what she prefers.

“Call me whatever you want,” he whispers back. And feels his heart elevate as she whispers back; “My son.”

——————-

They spend the day together, and he learns more about them and his home planet than he ever thought possible. Antar, though war torn now, was a beautiful place of peaceful blue waters, green grass and brown dirt, not so dissimilar to what Earth looks like. It’s why they chose it when they had to go on the run, because of how much like home Earth looked. She tells him about his father, the general in chief of the Antarian Army, best friend of king Faron and brother of Queen Naria; Max and Isobel’s parents. Or Zan and Vilandra as their Antarian names are.

She tells him about his father dying to protect the ships and they left Antar, escaping from Kivar, the usurper who tried to steal the throne. She tells him about their journey to earth that took 20 years, mostly done in pods but that she was awake for small bits of it, bringing him out of his pods as well to share the beauty of space. She tells him about the stowaway that caused their ships to crash instead of landing gently, and how the government found them right after. She doesn’t tell him what they did to her and the others at Caulfield. But he sees enough in her head to know. And it kills him that she had to experience all that. But she is here now, and he is so grateful, just as she is. And maybe the two of them can be a family again.

——————-

He’s been ignoring his phone in favor of her when a familiar Humvee drives into the junkyard. The last conversation he had with Alex (“I don’t love you!”) flashes through his mind and he closes his eyes in regret. The hurt on Alex’s face was devastating. Even knowing that Alex knew he lied makes Michael feel sad, he never wanted to be the person that put that kind of devastation there ever again. It reminded him of how broken Alex was in the tool shed when they were 17, and it is not a good feeling.

His mother reaches for his hand and squeezes, waves of unconditional support coursing through the connection in their head. She did show him how to close the connection if he needed too. But so far none of them have, the feeling of the other in their head is too new, too loving, too precious to let go of right now.

Alex gets out of the car and Michael can see how tired he is. It makes him frown, Alex has always been one to overwork himself and it doesn’t seem like he’s stopping anytime soon.

“Alex, you okay?” He asks as he gets closer. His walk is slightly bumpy in a way is hadn’t been since he quit using the crutch. He must be more tired than he looks.

Alex looks up and opens his mouth as if to reply but stops when he sees Michael’s mother. His faces turns blank, but not before Michael sees the brief flash of pain in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had company. I’ll see you later Guerin.” Alex says before he turns around. And Michael knows what he’s thinking. He remembers what Michael yelled at him, even if he knew that he was lying, sees a pretty girl by his side and thinks the worse.

“Alex, stop.” Alex doesn’t, of course. And the limp is more pronounced as he tries to get away as quickly as possible. Running on the prosthesis must have done a number on his leg.

“I thought you were done walking away! That you don’t look away.”

Alex turns, anger evident on his face even if he tries to hide it. “I am! And I don’t. I meant everything I said, but you already have company. This obviously isn’t the time for me to be here.”

“Alex. I swear, you aren’t interrupting anything,” Michael said with a smile, walking over to Alex and grabbing his hand, holding it tight when Alex tries to snatch his hand back. They need to talk so badly, and he wants that. He wants it so much. “This is Mara. My mother”

Alex’s head snaps so fast to look at his mother than Michael almost fears for his neck. But the widening of his eyes, the slight recognition when he looks over her features, the breathless joy hidden on his face when he looks back at Michael. Alex Manes is the bravest and most lovable man he has ever had the fortune of meeting. And he loves him so much.

“Guerin, how the hell is she back? And young? She died. We saw the prison blow up!” Michael opens his mouth to answer but Alex just barrels over him. “ Are you sure? Like completely sure she’s not just someone or some thing sent here to fuck with you even more?”

Michael grins as Alex continues to ramble on about probability, statistics and facts. He’s nervous and worried for Michael in a way he has never seen before. And knowing what he knows now about exactly how Alex feels it only makes him more endearing. His mother nudges him through their connection, laughter and joy lacing it. Part of her own powers are empathy, and the love she feels from Alex makes her own happiness shine in Michael’s head. Like the beacon he was missing.

“Alex!” Alex shuts up abruptly and just looks him in the eyes. His other hand tangling in the one of Michael’s still holding Alex’s hand. “I can feel her in my head. I have the same connection with her that I have with Max and Isobel. Only hers is stronger, more familial. It’s her Alex, I’m positive.”

The smile that comes over Alex’s face is radiant. The joy hidden on his face earlier is out in full force, and Michael. Michael can’t help himself. He extracts his hands from Alex’s and brings them up to his face, pulling him in to place a sweet kiss on Alex’s lips. And Alex responds the way he always does, pushing himself closer to Michael, his hands coming up to run through Michael’s curls. Clutching him closer to have as little space between them as possible. They get a bit lost in each other the way they always do, in their own cosmic little place in the universe.

He can hear his mother’s soft chuckle in his head, but Alex has apparently forgot she was here because he startles when she laughs out loud. He pulls away from Michael to look at her, flushing a brilliant red. Michael can’t help but chuckle at him which earns him a patented Alex Manes Stink-Eye. But he can’t begin to care. His mother is alive and here with him, and so is Alex.

“Come on, let me introduce you,” He whispers after giving Alex another quick kiss and Alex just looks at him. He’s slightly afraid of something, but Michael can’t pinpoint what it is. It makes no sense that Alex would be afraid of his mother. Unless…

“Alex. You are not your father, or your brother. She doesn’t blame you for anything you family has done.” Alex just nods, but Michael knows he doesn’t believe it. The most important thing is that his mother does, and he knows that she will show Alex that she does. He turns towards her, and she’s just standing there, waiting with a smile on her face. Michael takes Alex’s hand and walks over to her, tugging a slightly reluctant Alex along. He can almost feel Alex’s apprehension, the tension radiation from him. He knows his mother feels it too, but she doesn’t seem to care. She is still smiling, her eyes on Alex as they walk up to her.

“Mom, this is Alex. Alex, this is my mom,” he says in a soft voice as they stop in front of her. He can feel her empathy reach out towards Alex, and Alex startles as he feels her. Michael can feel their connection in his head as his mother shares it with him. It’s not as tangible as the one he has with her, nowhere near as complex. But it’s still there. It’s still the soft, gentle touch of a mother's embrace, the gentle caress of acceptance and unconditional admiration, the tender whispers of a mother’s love. She is showing Alex how much she doesn’t blame him; how much she knows he’s not his father. How much she loves and adore him because of how much Alex loves and adore Michael. She shows him how much she accepts who and what he is, all with the gently touch of her powers against his human mind.

“I’m still sorry, Mara,” Alex whispers. Michael is certain he accepts everything she is telling him. But he also knows that Alex still blames himself. Still blames his family for all the rest of them that died in that prison. Still blames himself for the fact that she died in there. But his mother only smiles and presses a soft kiss against Alex’s forehead.

“You make my son happy; you make him feel loved. That is all I see, and that is all I will ever see,” she whispers back at him. And Michael, like Alex, struggles not to cry.

——————-

He gets two more days with his mother before everything comes back to haunt him. Before life once again shows him that he is not meant to be completely happy. Life has too much of an issue with him for that. Because Alex showed up two days ago looking tired and explained it away with all the running and being on the prosthesis for too long the day before at the prison. And Michael believed him, he forgot for a second that Alex has been running on his bad leg, what with him going to Max’s house and arguing for not killing Noah. Noah had died anyway while they argued, but his mother coming back the next day had made anything he wanted to ask Noah not important anyway. But when Alex shows up on the third day, almost stumbling out of the car, his eyes sunken and his skin a decidedly not healthy tone of grey, Michael worries. He knows something isn’t right. And he has a creeping feeling of despair.

“Alex! What the fuck?!?” He yells as he runs over to the dark-haired man. A tendril of disapproval at his language comes from his mother but he ignores it. Alex looks like hell and he doesn’t care about that right now.

“’M sorry. I woke up feeling like shit. Had to come here,” Alex mumbles as he all but collapses against Michael when he’s close enough. His skin feels warm and slightly sweaty. But he’s shivering like he’s cold.

“You look like shit, Manes. Why are you even out of bed?” Michael asks, gathering Alex close. Alex was right that he runs hot. Even being close to him seems to make Alex feel better. Like the heat the gives off helps with the chill.

“Somethings wrong.” His mother’s voice is deep, gorgeous and a little bit unexpected. She’s only whispered and spoken in his head so far. Pictures, images, sounds and feelings is how she usually communicates. Words are less often, even if she does use them every now and then. For her to talk now, in such a clear and strong voice, something must really be wrong. She’s worried, a bit of fear coating the worry. Alex feels it too, the tentative connection between his mother and Alex opening enough for Michael to feel it. She’s just as worried about Alex as she would be about Michael. It makes him feel grateful. But it also scares him, because she knows something is wrong. She can feel it, something is happening with Alex and the worry is bleeding through to Michael.

“Tell me how you feel my child,” his mother says, walking towards them. Michael already knew her voice would be melodical because of the way she uses sound when showing him things. But he didn’t expect it to be like this, almost like her speaking is a soft song on its own. But he figures it comes with her powers, because Alex calms right down when she speaks, even more than he has ever calmed down with him.

“Feel weak. Warm. Cold. Tired. So tired,” Alex mumbles against his chest and Michael hugs him tighter. Alex’s hand come up underneath his t-shirt at the small of his back and sighs in relief.

“Do you feel better in contact with Rath? With Michael?” his mother asks, clarifying when Alex gives her a confused look at Rath.

“Rath is your name? You real name?” Michael just nods at Alex’s question. “It’s beautiful, it suits you.”

“How so, because I’m just so gosh darned pretty?”

Alex huffs. “No. Because you’re beautiful inside and out”

Michael smiles into Alex’s hair, dropping a light kiss on it. Trust Alex to just casually say something like that after so long of bad communication, after so long of misunderstandings and hurt feelings and broken hearts. “You are the beautiful one here Alex.”

“I look like a ghost Michael.” Alex says as he leans back and looks up and Michael

“No. You’re always beautiful to me,” he replies, leaning down to kiss him. And he isn’t lying. Punky goth Alex with his eyeliner, piercings and attitude was just as beautiful to him as grown up, serious and capable Alex is.

“You’re sick.” His mother speaking brings them both back to the reality. Her eyes are narrowed, as if she’s trying to figure out a mystery. Her hand glowing red as she lightly touches Alex’s cheek with it. Along with her empathy, she always had a gift of diagnosing things, figuring out how things work, be it machines or people. Michael figures that’s where he got his engineering skills, even if his human skill is lacking. “I’m becoming stronger. And you’re becoming weaker”

All the blood drains from Michael’s face. His breath leaves him, and he’s unable to take another one. And he knows. He knows exactly what is happening, he’s seen enough of Supernatural to know. Someone is draining Alex’s life force to sustain his mother’s. And he knows who.

The rage rises within him like a tornado, his mother startling as pieces of debris, rocks and other random things form a maelstrom behind him. The crash and creaks of the old cars lined along the junkyard as they start to move in the face of his anger. His beloved Airstream rattling at the force of the wind created by his telekinesis. He is angry, maybe the angriest he has ever been. But his grief was loud enough to scream into the void the last time it appeared. Maybe his anger will be enough too.

“If you wanted my attention. You could have just asked.” He doesn’t recognize the voice behind him. But his mother does, because even as she gasps, Michael feels a rush of loss-love-grief run through the connection and he knows without a shadow of a doubt that the demon has the face of his father. He closes his eyes, knowing that he’s not yet ready to turn around and see the face of his other parent. But he has too, for Alex. He has to save his life. So he turns his head, and looks at the demon behind him. The first thing he notices are the curls. And his mother was right, they are distractingly like his own. His eyes are a deep blue bordering on green, nose slightly crooked with a mouth not unlike his own. He has a scar running from his temple down to his chin but the only thing it does is make him look more accomplished. The look in his eyes and sneer on his lips is all demon. But he can still imagine that face looking at him with love once upon a time. Looking at his mother like she is the most precious woman in the world. He has no trouble believing it, even if the face is marred by evil right now. His mother is still looking at the demon with loss-love-grief flooding the connection, and he sends her all the love he can muster through his anger in return.

“It’s not him. It’s a demon, a creature from the deepest reaches of hell that’s taken his face to make you feel even more like shit that you already do,” Michael tells her. The sorrow he gets in return is more than he can fathom. The love his mother feels for that face is all consuming, the thought of seeing it on a thing that’s not him is even more horrible.

“Michael. You didn’t.” Alex voice is breaking and Michael closes his eyes again.

“I did.”

Alex coughs, a deep rattling cough deep inside his chest. He’s dying. And it’s Michael’s fault. Again the only thing he has ever done is cause his family pain. Caused the love of his life pain. His cosmic connection of epic proportions.

“He did. Kissed me wearing you face even. It was quite the spectacular kiss.” His mother takes Alex from him as he whirls around. It’s standing in the middle of the maelstrom Michael made with his power, smirking at him as if to show him that he can never hurt it. Even how much he tries.

“You told me there wasn’t a prize!”

“I did.”

“He’s dying. So there is a prize. You told me I didn’t have to pay a prize!”

“Exactly. I told you you didn’t have to pay a prize.” It dawns on Michael then that he walked into this all on his own. He wanted it so badly that he believed a creature of hell, a creature made to torment human beings in the worst possible way, a creature made to make your own life a living hell.

“Then let me pay it. Let me pay it now,” he says through clenched teeth. He doesn’t want either his mother or Alex to die. If it comes down to a choice between the three of them, he will gladly make it.

The demon grins at him. “I told you. You don’t pay a prize. Meaning, you can’t. The prize isn’t for you to pay”

The feeling of fear that runs down his spine isn’t just his own. It’s his, his mother’s, and Alex’s. All three of them are locked in it together, spiralling deeper in a pit of despair, fear and sadness. If Michael isn’t allowed to pay the prize. One of them is going to die.

The maelstrom of power the demon is standing in stops abruptly. Michael doesn’t have the concentration to keep it going any more as his minds whirls. “There has to be something!”

“No. You were given a gift from hell. But the gift of your mother turned bigger than we imagined, and so to give her back we needed to demand payment. We needed… leverage. And now they have to choose. Does your mother get her long life with her son at her side for the first time in 71 years, after years of torture and think her beloved child is as dead as the face I wear? Or does she give it all up for the cosmic connection, the star-crossed lovers. The military son and the alien general’s son who found each other despite hardship?” The demon asks, its face going surprisingly somber as it talks. “It is not your decision to make, Michael Guerin. It is theirs.”

Michael turns around slowly and looks at them. At his mother, who he has had back for three glorious days. Who has shown him how loved he was, how loved he is, how loved he has always been. Who has given him a parent, something he has been missing his entire life, for the first time in so many years. And at Alex. Who has loved him unconditionally for ten years, who has been so brave and so strong in the face of his father, who has run away time and time again but only to protect him. Who decided that if Michael was dying with his mother at Caulfield. Then he would die with him. Because they never/don’t look away.

“Please take me. Don’t make me watch one of them die,” He whispers. His eyes filling with tears. His mother, Mara, looks so beautiful. So strong and so loving, his head is filled with the stories she has spun for him in the last three days. He doesn’t want to lose her again. But Alex. His gorgeous and courageous man. How can he lose Alex when he has finally gotten him back. When finally they both know what the other feel. When they could be starting a life together.

“No.”

He turns, his telekinesis rising within him as he lifts his hand. Maybe if he can just… But the demon has already anticipated it. And has him against the wall of his airstream in a second. He’s pinned there, cut off from his powers. Cut off from his mother and their connection. Cut off from Alex and the connection he could feel through his mother’s much more powerful bond. He screams out loud in frustration and anger before that too is quickly shut down, the demon clamping his mouth together.

“Now hush. The grown up needs to have a chat.” is the last thing he hears before a fog rolls over his senses. He tries so hard to break away, to figure out what is going on but he can’t. No matter how much he struggles he can’t open his mouth, nor his eyes. He can’t move a finger to help as he is once again put in a horrible position of his own doing. Once again his own actions will make him lose a special someone. And as the fog lifts in what is probably only a minute or so later, he’s afraid to open his eyes. He’s afraid to lift a finger, he’s afraid to speak any words.

“It is done. The sacrifice has been sealed with a kiss.” And Michael doesn’t need to ask who made the sacrifice he wasn’t allowed to make. He doesn’t need to ask who sacrificed their lives so that one part of his family could live. The tears start streaming down his face, harsh, broken sobs forcing their way out of him. He wants to scream, to rage, to throw the world into chaos and entropy with his powers.

He wants to tear the world apart, hunt for the highest angel and the lowest demon. His family, someone he loved more than life itself has been taken from him yet again. Once again one of the most important people in his life is gone, and he will never see them again. Never hold them in his arms again. Never laugh, smile or joke with them again. Never kiss him again.

Because the voice coming out of the demon’s mouth... Is his own.

#malex fic #michael guerin #alex manes #mara #demon #goddamn eggsy #my fic #roswell new mexico #not a happy ending

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bestillmyslashyheart · 4 years

Text

Malex Week Day 4: Free Day

Michael was on the couch huddled under Alex’s favorite fleece blanket when Alex walked in the door. They hadn’t had plans and Alex technically wasn’t expecting to see Michael tonight but he wasn’t upset to find him making himself at home in Alex’s house.

“Hey,” Michael greeted. He turned his face up as Alex walked past to the bedroom and Alex obligingly stopped and kissed him hello.

“Hey,” he greeted warmly. He heard the TV unpause as he changed but he paid it no mind. Michael had a varied taste in movies and TV shows that Alex didn’t always agree with but it never bothered him to sit and watch with him. Especially after a day like the one he’d had.

No, after today, curling up under a blanket with Michael was exactly what he needed.

Alex took his prosthetic and uniform off before taking a quick shower and changing into sweats. Michael paused the TV again as he came out of the room and a quick glance at the screen gave Alex no hints as to what he was watching.

“You want something to eat?” Michael asked just as Alex was dropping onto the couch next to him.

“Mm. Maybe later.” Alex untucked one end of the blanket from around Michael and shuffled so they were pressed together, the blanket over both of them. Michael looked over at him, amusement on his face. This time it was Alex who turned his face up for a kiss and Michael who willingly obliged. “So. What are we watching?” Michael didn’t answer. When Alex looked at him, he saw a flush creeping up the back of his neck. “What is it?”

Instead of saying anything, Michael clicked play. A moment later, Alex’s “is that Reese Witherspoon?” had him pausing it again. Alex turned on him. “Are you watching a romcom?”

Michael squirmed. “Maybe?”

Alex looked at the screen. He didn’t recognize anything else about the movie but he wasn’t exactly an expert in the actress’ filmography. “Huh, okay.” He waved at the remote. “Play on.”

Michael sagged in apparent relief.

“Wait,” Alex said, with Michael’s finger perched over the button. “You know I don’t care if you like romcoms, right? I’m just surprised.”

“Yeah, I know,” Michael replied. “It’s not usually my thing but it was on so I figured why not.”

Alex nodded. “Good a reason as any. What’s it called?”

“Sweet Home Alabama.”

One.

“Okay, okay, okay!” Rosa yelled. She spread her hands wide across the table. “It is my birthday and I can finally, according to whichever calendar you prefer to use, drink legally. However! We all know that’s a bad idea. So. I am nominating all of you to drink for me.”

“Isn’t that why we’re here?” Michael smirked.

Rosa balled up a wet napkin and threw it at him. “21 shots. Tonight. Figure out how without killing yourselves.”

Alex raised his eyebrows. “That’s a lot, Rosa.”

“I’ll be counting.”

“Rosa,” Liz cautioned. “We love you and we are happy to celebrate with you but I’d really like it if we didn’t end up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning tonight.”

“Well someone should since I can’t.”

“Alright, pod squad, with me,” Isobel decided. “We’re splitting it up. 7 each.”

“Hey no-” Rosa protested.

Isobel stared her down. “You said to figure out how. We’re sharing. Deal.”

“Hmph, fine.”

Liz immediately grabbed Alex and Maria. “We’re sharing!” She looked around and grabbed Kyle’s arm. “Him too.”

Everyone laughed and Maria started divvying up the shots. Rosa watched as they all tossed them back, urging them on when they took too long for her liking. After that, Alex sort of lost the plot a bit. All he knew was that Michael was warm and his arm was comfortably heavy around Alex’s back.

Michael and Maria got into a friendly argument at one point, something about one of them being an idiot? Alex wasn’t really paying attention, if he was being honest.

Then suddenly Michael said, “Honey, just because I talk slow, doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

Alex blinked and looked over at him in surprise. First, because Michael had never called anyone ‘honey’ in his life and now was an odd time to start giving Maria pet names. Second, because the words sounded awfully familiar.

Maria immediately started protesting the pet name, loudly and repeatedly, but Michael ignored her in favor of turning to Alex with a shit eating grin and a wink. Alex blinked, confused, before it hit him.

He groaned and dropped his head onto Michael’s shoulder. “You’re quoting the damn movie now?”

Michael pressed a quick kiss to the top of his head. “It’s a good movie.”

Alex didn’t disagree but that didn’t mean he was about to start quoting it. As he looked at Michael’s face, he could only hope that this would be the only time it happened.

Two

It wasn’t the only time it happened. Since Rosa’s birthday, Michael had found no less than eight occasions to slip in Sweet Home Alabama references. It hadn’t even been two weeks yet.

No one else seemed to get any of them, if the strange glances Michael got when he let out one of the more obscure ones was any indication, and Alex wasn’t sure if that made him more annoyed or happy. On the one hand he was absolutely suffering alone here but on the other hand, Michael always gave him a conspiratorial look and a wink after one of his references and Alex might actually punch someone if he had to share that.

Then again, he might just punch Michael if he didn’t stop.

“Alex Manes!”

Alex stood up slowly and looked out the small window over the sink. Kyle’s mom, the Sheriff, stood outside, hands on her hips and a completely fed up expression on her face. Michael stood next to her, an all to familiar grin on his face. “He just won’t leave, Sheriff!”

Alex dried his hands on the semi-clean rag Michael kept next to the sink and slowly left the Airstream, stepping carefully on those damn steps he hated. “Sheriff,” he greeted. “What seems to be the problem?”

Sheriff Valenti sighed heavily, like she knew this was a waste of her precious time. “Mr. Guerin here says that you’re trespassing and refusing to leave.”

“...he gave me a key. And he hasn’t asked me to leave.” Alex glared at Michael. Michael grinned back.

“Well,” she sighed. “Guess there’s not much I can do then.” She tipped her hat to Michael with a look that could freeze hell. “Have a good day, gentlemen.”

“Wait!” Michael called. “Isn’t there some law against vandalism?” The Sheriff stopped and half turned back to them with a raised eyebrow. “The lyrics spray painted on the side of the UFO Emporium a couple of years back?”

“For fuck’s sake, Guerin!” Alex yelled. He’d been drunk and maudlin on one of his trips home. So not his fault.

The Sheriff closed her eyes. “Too long ago.” Didn’t stop her from giving Alex an evil eye. Alex shivered, not used to Kyle’s mom not loving him.

“Guerin stole Kyle’s hubcaps after graduation!” He shouted as she tried to walk away again.

Michael cursed when she froze. “Too long ago!” He tried.

She turned around. “Anything else?”

“Alex dropped the water balloons off the roof of the Crashdown last year! Weren’t there like three car accidents that day?”

Alex gaped. He’d been channeling his inner Peyton Sawyer that day and Michael was not allowed to use it against him.

“Boys,” the Sheriff pinched her nose.

“Is there still a warrant out for whoever stole the Sheriff’s truck about ten years ago? Took it for a joyride and brought it back missing both mirrors and a dented wheel well?”

Michael froze. “Oh please. Like I could tip a cow by myself.” He only smirked when Alex stared at him as the full realization of what was happening hit him. “Or steal the Sheriff’s, aka my godfather’s, keys from his desk.”

The Sheriff sighed and pulled out her cuffs.

Later, when they were sitting next to each other in the one cell of the station, Max looking in at them with his disappointed face while Jenna took pictures, Alex muttered, “really?”

“Worth it,” Michael smiled.

Three

Alex was not expecting to walk into the Wild Pony and find his brother standing at the bar. He hadn’t even known he was in Roswell. “Greg?”

Greg turned around. “Alex! Hey!”

Alex stared at him. Or rather, at the small child strapped to his chest. “You have a baby. In a bar.” He immediately closed his eyes when he realized what he’d said.

Michael whooped and kissed him soundly. “I love you.”

Four

“Ugh,” Isobel groaned loudly when the hot woman walked away from her. She turned to Michael and Alex. “Am I doing it wrong?” She shook her head. “No, of course not. Something’s wrong with her.”

“Yes,” Alex nodded sagely. “Clearly the problem is her.”

Isobel glared at him. “I am choosing to ignore your sarcasm.”

“Choose away,” Alex smirked. “Why are you trying to pick up women anyway?”

Isobel slid into the booth opposite them. “Have you heard of a little thing called same-sex sexual attraction? It’s when women want to have sex with other women.”

Michael snorted into his drink. Alex only rolled his eyes. “Yes, thank you Isobel for that enlightenment. I only meant, why are you trying to pick up women here?” Isobel glanced around the familiar walls of the Wild Pony.

“You think I can’t pick up a woman here?” She scoffed. “Watch me.”

And they did. Michael and Alex sat back and watched as Isobel crashed and burned three straight times. Every time, the woman walked back to her very male date, though Alex did note that two of them continued to shoot curious glances Isobel’s way.

Isobel slunk back to their table and sat down with a heavy sigh. “I’m not doing it wrong,” she defended immediately.

“Oh, why don’t you go to a gay bar?” Alex and Michael exchanged a look when they spoke in unison.

“Alex…” Michael said, wonder in his voice.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Whatever. We’re not talking about it.” Michael laughed and kissed him firmly.

“Ugh, you two are so weird.”

Five

“So. Alex.” Liz and Rosa turned eerily identical looks on him that made him take an actual step back.

“What?” He asked warily.

They exchanged a look. “When are you gonna put a ring on it?” Rosa nodded to where Michael was fixing Isobel’s car. He’d lost his shirt at some point but Alex wasn’t mad about it.

“It’s only been a few months,” Alex replied. Really, it was a month shy of a year. Or, twelve years depending on how you looked at it, he supposed.

Maria scoffed. “So? We all know it’s gonna happen. Just a matter of when.”

“She’s not wrong,” Kyle added.

Alex gave him his best betrayed look. “You too?”

Kyle shrugged, unrepentant. “Just saying.”

Alex looked at his friends' faces and sighed. He drained the last of his beer and stood up, fishing the box out of his pocket as he did.

“Oh my god!” Rosa whisper yelled. “Are you serious?”

Alex grinned and shrugged. “Might as well, right?” He turned around. “Guerin!”

Michael looked over. He was a mess, sweat dripping off of him and matting his hair together, oil streaks on his face and chest. Alex looked at him and his heart nearly burst out of his chest. “Yeah?”

There were some frantic noises from behind him followed by equally frantic shushing. Michael looked at their friends in confusion but quickly shifted his gaze back to Alex when he stepped closer.

Carefully, Alex crouched down. He couldn’t get all the way down to one knee but he could get close enough. Michael stared at him wide-eyed as he held out the box. “Marry me?” He opened the box to show the ring.

Michael stared at it then at him then again at the ring. He reached out and took it from Alex, one hand helping him stand up. “Michael?” Alex asked, when Michael didn’t say anything.

Michael looked at him, a familiar look in his eyes. “Why would you want to be married to me for, anyhow?”

There was a strangled gasp from behind him but Alex ignored it. Part of him wanted to roll his eyes at Michael’s ridiculousness but more of him was just plain fond so he smiled and said his line. “So I can kiss you anytime I want.”

Michael beamed and kissed him.

“You fucking nerds!” Isobel yelled. “Fucking Sweet Home Alabama quotes in your proposal. I don’t even know you anymore Michael.”

Bonus

Michael closed his eyes and gently nuzzled Alex's hair. He was half asleep, tired from their busy day and the night's activities, and he was pretty sure Alex was actually asleep, but the thought that had been niggling at him all day would not go away.

"Alex?"

Alex hmm'd sleepily but otherwise didn't react. Michael poked him in the hip.

"What?" Alex cracked open one eye to glare at him. The effect was utterly ruined by the pure fondness in the look.

"Did you know," Michael started off, trying vainly to hold the grin back. "I gave my heart away a long time ago." Alex groaned loudly and buried his face in Michael's chest. He didn't let it deter him for a moment. "My whole heart. And I never really got it back."

Alex glowered privately for a moment before rolling off of Michael with a heavy sigh. With his head on the pillow next to him, Alex turned to look at him. "Good," he said. "I'm keeping it."

"You better." Michael rolled over and braced his hands on either side of Alex's shoulders, hovering just slightly over him before Alex grabbed his hips and pulled him down. "Because you're the first boy I ever kissed, Alex. And I want you to be the last."

"I will be," Alex promised. He cupped Michael's face in his left hand, the feeling of Alex's ring on his skin causing his eyes to fall closed, and pulled him down into a kiss.

#malex fic #malexweek20 #malex20 #rnm #my fic #self indulgence at its finest

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royal-amberl · 5 years

Text

Red Anniversary

What: James and Izzy’s wedding anniversary Who: Everyone and then some When: October 31, 2018

Izzy clinked her glass, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "Thank you everyone for coming to mine and James' anniversary. Only two people so unorthodox as we are would think to get married on Halloween. We didn't want to worry as much with the preparation as enjoying ourselves and the only rule I had for how those in attendance could show up was: nobody could come as a bride. I, myself, was dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein. Of course, this wasn't the wedding that the public saw. Only those who we felt comfortable with. To the world, we didn't get married for another couple of weeks. After we enjoyed our honeymoon. Anyway, James and I met years ago. It actually shocked both of our families that we were in love as being from another world, James was supposed to marry someone from his own world, not little ol' me who grew up in a small house with four sisters and we had to fight over the bathroom. But he did. We fell in love and not long after we even met, we had our first wedding. Between the two weddings, we began our family. When I found out I was going to be a mom--the first time--I was beyond ecstatic, as you can imagine. I was also terrified. I knew James wanted a family, but I was still terrified of telling him. Of course, as soon as the words escaped my lips, he had the biggest grin on his face. He put his hand on my belly, which didn't even have a bump yet, and just held us both. And when Alaska was born, she was the most precious thing in his life. Watching those two was just... amazing. It made me fall even more in love with him. Then we found out not long after that we were expecting, AGAIN. And Ian came along. By this time Alaska had definitely grown into her personality and was the one in charge of the house. Ian, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. He was very subdued and laid-back. Then Miles came along and he wanted to take care of everyone. Then the twins popped out, and they were each other's saving grace. They loved their older brothers and sister, but they were it for each other. They didn't do anything without the other. And finally, Sarah, my baby girl surprised us. We thought we were done with the twins, but then she graced us with her presence. My greatest gift in this world is being James' wife and my beautiful, amazing children's mother, including my adopted babies. Eli and Emily, since you two have come into our family; we've been so beyond blessed. I could not have asked for a better life." She looked around the room, smiling at her beautiful family (even Tristan who was dressed so gruesome) and all their friends.

James smiled at the woman by his side-- whom he had loved for the last 33 years. Everyone had wondered why he'd picked a commoner, someone who didn't have the money or title fit for a prince, but none of those things had ever really mattered to him, and they mattered even less when he met Isobel Serrano. James had been completely taken by the woman, and it hadn't taken long for him to ask for her hand in marriage. It was the best decision he'd ever made, still to this day. Raising his glass to his wife, he squeezed her hand affectionately, looking at her the same way he'd always had-- like a lovestruck puppy. In over thirty years, that hadn't changed-- his once black hair was now mostly gray, his face wrinkled from thirty years of smiles-- but the love was constant. "I won't even attempt to top that beautiful speech from my wife. All I will say is: Izzy, my queen, mother of my children, love of my life-- thank you for sharing a life with me. Thank you for giving me six beautiful children, for being a wonderful mother. They're all grown up now, so our work is mostly done, but everything they are, is thanks to you. I couldn't have asked for a better life-- and I can't wait to spend the next thirty years by your side." He brought Izzy's hand to his lips, giving her knuckles a gentle kiss, before turning to the room filled with their kids, family, and friends dressed up for Halloween. "And I want to thank you all for joining us. Enjoy the party, and Happy Halloween."

Phoebe Listening to the King and Queen's declaration of love caused Phoebe's throat to grow thick with emotion. It was so beautiful to see two people still enamored with one another as they were the day they first met. As the speeches continued, the conversations she'd had with Davina and Tristan were bouncing around in her head, echoing off the surface and refusing to shut up. Both of them were right; annoyingly so. The brunette let out a sigh, hoping that it would come off as dreamy rather than frustrated as she took a sip of her champagne. Once she started planning the wedding, then perhaps the niggling feeling would go away.

Will, dressed as Han Solo, watched his parents, envious of how in love they were. Not because he wasn't in love with someone-- he was just in love with someone he couldn't necessarily have. James and Izzy made it look so easy to just pick a person to be happy with, and maybe it could be, but he was conflicted. He was sure that he could have a content life with his fiance, Phoebe, if he wanted. But would they ever love each other? He didn't think so. He glanced around the large ballroom, searching for the blonde who was constantly on his mind, needing to talk to his best friend, but instead, found himself catching sight of Phoebe. He tore his gaze away, still wanting to find Amber, but she hadn't come to the party, apparently. So with a heavy sigh, he forced a smile and walked over to Phoebe. "Hello, Miss Calloway."

Phoebe Upon hearing her name, Phoebe's ears perked up. Before she even turned her head she made a silent wish for it to be Ian trying to get her attention, but quickly found him elsewhere in the crowd. The brunette bit down on her lip. She couldn't continue thinking like this; Phoebe willed herself to put a smile on her face and get it together. Her body did a 180, coming to face Will and although he hadn't been who she was hoping for, she was glad. They had to get to know each other better at some point. "Will," she replied with the same smile. "Call me Phoebe, please. Miss Calloway is so formal. --You parents are so charming. Those were lovely speeches."

Tris gave her baby sister a break before trying to scare her again, and decided to find her other favorite sibling to pester: Ian. She began walking very slowly behind him, allowing herself to go undetected. “Ian, why aren’t you off trying to woo, Phoebe? Especially after such a gooey speech like Mum and Dad made.” She rested her arm on his shoulder and looked over where her twin and the lady in question were conversing. “Never going to win her heart from the sidelines.”

Amber was hesitant on going to the party, she was never good at those kind of things, but Izzy and James were more like her own parents than her actual parents. She owed it to them. She decided to show up, dressed in a long black dress with a masquerade mask on. Her dress was form fitting, but not in a tacky way. She didn’t have time to get a real costume together and remembered her mask from the year before. When she entered the room, she didn’t realize she had been so late and missed the speech. She began looking around for someone to talk to, making sure to note where Zoey was. Even though she was considered off duty at such events, she always wanted to keep an eye on the little girl.

Miles wandered over to Amanda, nodding when he saw Davina grin and tap her friend. “Ladies, are you enjoying the party?” Davina chuckled and nodded in agreement before making some reason to leave them alone. Miles was appreciative of it, and smiled at Amanda. “Are you enjoying yourself? You look very beautiful tonight.” Miles was dressed as a pirate; he was never great at picking out costumes, but he was quite proud of how it had come together.

Davina left Amanda with her prince and as she had expected, she saw Phoebe with Will. She didn’t like being alone at these kinds of things, but she knew going into it that she was more than likely going to have to entertain herself. With a quick turn on her feet, she headed straight for the food table, not even allowing herself to feel self conscious. When she glanced up from the table, she noticed the only other person she really cared to see that night. She quickly put down the utensils in her hand, and made her way across the floor. She cleared her throat and waved at Eli. “Are you having fun?”

Will kept forgetting to call her by her first name-- yes it was formal, but he was so used to speaking to people he didn't know very well more formally and respectfully than he would speak to someone-- and he just didn't know Phoebe, despite being engaged for a few months now. Something just got in the way everytime they attempted to get to know each other better. But he was determined to try to make it work. "I apologize, I still have trouble not calling you that. --They're pretty much always like that. It's a little nauseating at times." He chuckled.

Ian had excused himself from the date he'd been set up with to grab himself a drink, and almost as soon as he took a sip, Tristan came up and began teasing him. As he glanced at her, he flinched, before letting out a groan. "What are you supposed to be? Are you why Sarah keeps shrieking like she's about to die?" He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about, Tristan. I don't want to woo anyone, especially not when I have a date. And the person in question is the girl my brother is going to marry," he reminded her, glancing over to see the pair of them together. Despite what was coming out of his mouth, Ian could not help the pang of jealousy he suddenly felt, and he quickly did his best to hide any sign of it from his sister. "They look very happy together."

"It's really not a problem. I sometimes have to bit my tongue so I don't call you 'Your Highness'." Phoebe offered her fiancee an encouraging smile. She felt jittery around him, although Phoebe wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. They weren't the butterflies of burgeoning feelings that she found herself feeling each time she glanced towards Will's older brother. If anything, it was an aimless anxiety of not knowing what to do or how to act around her betrothed. She didn't know him as well as she wanted to. "I think it's sweet. You don't see two people in love like that nowadays."

Tris smiled. "I'm bloody Mary. Daughter of Henry the Eighth, I am, I am. --Yes, that would be why. It's kind of my job to torture her." She shrugged. As he began talking about all of the reasons she was wrong, she yawned, patting her hand against her mouth. "Blah, blah, blah. You are a terrible liar. Phoebe didn't fight me as much as you are." Tris looked over at the couple and shook her head. "They're trying to be, but failing. Besides, you're especially dense if you don't know that your own brother is already in love with someone else. They're just doing their 'duty'"

Leila didn't know a single person at the party-- her boss had convinced her to come along, to get to know the family they worked for, and Leila, wanting to seem like a trooper, had agreed. She'd put together a quick costume, complete with some cat ears and a mask, and had come along, and was now doing her best to mingle, though she felt like a bit of a wallflower. Needing some liquid courage, she went over to grab a drink, but not before running into a blonde in a mask. "--Oh, I'm so sorry. I haven't even had a drink yet," she murmured with a nervous laugh.

Amber felt someone run into her and turned around to face them. She didn't recognize the person, but that wasn't unusual since she didn't get to mingle very much, except at occasions like this. "No worries," she quickly replied. "I'm quite bad on my own feet as well. I really shouldn't be wearing a long skirt like this and heels, but it didn't seem right to wear any other kind of shoes. --I don't believe we've met before? If we have, I'm terribly sorry. I'm Amber Lucas. I work for the Conroy's." She extended her hand to the girl before her.

Amanda was talking to Davina when Miles came up, and of course she immediately started blushing when Davina pointed him out-- and promptly left Amanda alone with the prince. "I am having a good time, thank you-- are you having a good time?" she asked, turning an even brighter red when he complimented her. "Thank you, Miles. You look very handsome, if you don't mind my saying so. I like your costume, you look awesome." Amanda had decided on the angel costume after all-- her wings were majestic, with white and gold feathers, and her white gown hugged her in all the right places, but kept it appropriate so she felt comfortable. To complete her look was a gold leaf headband-- she thought it looked cooler than a cheap halo.

Elijah was working, but had dressed up for the occasion-- the Conroy's had insisted he be part of the celebration even if he didn't want to take the night off. He was standing off to the side, surveying the room, but he wasn't expecting any danger-- it was an anniversary party, not some big political thing he usually attended. He took a sip of water as his foot tapped along to the music, when he saw Davina come up to him. He immediately straightened up, giving the young woman a smile. "Hi. Well, I'm working, but yes. What about you?"

Miles was so used to being the one who always blushed at the drop of a hat, but when he saw Amanda's cheeks brighten, he noted how cute it was on her. He smiled warmly at her. "I'm glad to hear that." He nodded. "I am. I'm glad to see you here." He looked down and tugged gently on his vest. "Thank you, I tried me best. Arrgh." He did his best attempt at being a pirate, which was laughable. "I love your wings, they're very pretty."

Will nodded in agreement, awkwardly shifting his feet as he glanced around. "Definitely not. Their relationship is kind of one of a kind. No wonder all of us are kind of fucked up and strive for a love like theirs, you know?" He turned over to her, grimacing. "Not that we can't-- I just don't know you-- y'know?"

Phoebe reached out to give Will's hand a reassuring pat. "I get it." She was struggling with the reality of their arrangement, but it was probably much harder to fathom with parents who'd fallen in love against all odds. "It's not fucked up to want that kind of love. I do too. It's a hard thing to wrap your head around, but I'm going through it with you, y'know? I'm just as confused and unsure."

Davina didn't know what the hell she was doing. She was never good when it came to liking someone; in fact, other than one other guy when she was sixteen, she never really liked any guys. She was way out of her comfort zone. She realized he had stopped talking and cleared her throat. "I guess your job is really never over, right? Do you get any days off?" Oh, my gosh, Davina. "It seems like you would be exhausted otherwise. Since I know you also run when you have a chance. Not that I'm keeping tabs on you or anything, I just remember that day... --Anyway, yes, I'm having a good time. A very good time." She smiled and looked away, feeling her cheeks brighten.

Ian let out a laugh. "Ah, now I get it. Pretty cool costume. What about me, do you like my costume? I'm Westley from The Princess Bride." He gestured to his costume, pleased with himself and the costume he'd decided on. Rolling his eyes, Ian started to interrupt and deny, deny, deny again, but when he heard about Phoebe not fighting Tristan-- he stopped, looking at his sister, than over at Phoebe, and back at Tristan again. "What do you mean, she didn't fight you as much as I'm fighting you?" He looked over at the betrothed again, his heart pounding so hard he was starting to hear it in his ears. "Who's Will in love with? How do you even find this crap out?"

Leila chuckled, looking the blonde's costume over. "You look beautiful though, I wish I had come with something a little nicer. I just threw on a pair of ears and a mask, pretty much." Shaking her head, she took Amber's hand. "Nope, we haven't met. I'm Leila Buchanan, it's lovely to meet you, Amber. I'm actually going to be working for the Conroy's as well. Dr. Burke just hired me to join his practice.

Tris took in his costume. "Inconceivable! I like it. I can't give you crap about your costume, since I love that movie." Tristan placed her arms across her chest, pleased with how her little "slip-up" worked. What would these idiots do without her putting little bugs in their ears? "What do you care about what us gals chatted about? There's nothing going on. --Oh my good gravy. How am I the only one that knows anything that's going on? He's in love with Amber, you bonehead. They've been in love for like ever. And I thought I was bad at relationships."

Amanda let out a laugh as he impersonated a pirate. "And what is your name, Pirate? What's a scallywag like you doing at a party like this?" she asked him, playing along. "Thank you-- they're a bit heavy, but I do love how they look." She glanced around, before turning back to him, looking up at the prince. "Would you like to go outside, get some fresh air?"

Amber smiled. "Thank you. I just threw this on as well. I hadn't planned on coming, so I was in my pajamas. It's actually a little tight around my stomach; I probably should've gone with something else, but it's so pretty and the last time I wore it, it was fine. --It's lovely to meet you, too. Welcome to the family, I suppose. Dr. Burke is a lovely individual. I hope you enjoy it here, but I'm sure you will. The Conroy's are a great family."

Eli watched Davina as she rambled on, his lips turning up into a gentle smile. "I'm glad to hear that you're having a good time. And to answer your question: yes, I do get days off. I just like working. I actually wasn't supposed to work tonight, but I'm a bit of a workaholic." He took a sip of water, glancing around the party quickly, before turning back to her. "It sounds a little like you are keeping tabs on me, though. Which is alright. Because I've been keeping tabs on you, too," he murmured casually, taking another sip of water.

Miles grinned. "Shiver me timbers, you be a pirate ye self. I didn't actually give him a name, what do you think his name should be? --Yes, I would love that." He held out his arm for her, and smiled as he escorted her across the room. He was happy to have any time he could manage with her. Though he didn't know her very well, the more that he learned about her, the more he wanted to know.

Will shook his head. "It's a little fucked up, because now we're all expecting some big love story, and in reality, it might not happen." He gave her a sad smile. "I know you are. And I'm sorry I've been a bit.... absent, I guess. It's just hard to be around you, even though I should be doing the opposite and spending time with you to get to know you better."

Phoebe gave Will a sympathetic smile. "It is fucked up. Arranged marriages are archaic and the last thing I thought I'd find myself in." Selfishly, the brunette looked across the way, spotting Tristan talking to Ian. Her stomach dropped, thinking of the last conversation she'd had with her impending sister in law. "You don't have to apologize." If anything, Phoebe was understanding --sometimes too understanding for her own good. "It's kind of like when you're a kid and your parents tell you to do something; it suddenly becomes the last thing you want to do instead."

Davina felt her eyes widened to the size of saucers and she stared at him. "Oh, so you're that bush that keeps following me around. It all makes sense now. I always felt like someone was watching me. --I feel sorry for you, as that must be incredibly boring. I am definitely not the most interesting between me and Phoebe."

Ian "Finally, someone who get it. Someone asked me if I was a ninja. I almost commit murder tonight, Tris. We might have a body to bury by the end of the night." He stared at Tristan, realizing she'd tricked him into admitting he had a thing for his brother's fiance. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to find out, and now someone knew his secret, and he was sure Will would find out. "Tristan......." he stopped, shaking his head. "You're right, there's nothing going on." He watched Will and Phoebe, as she touched her brother's hand as they appeared to have a heart to heart, wishing that was him she was touching. "Amber? Lucas? Obviously I live under a rock because I don't know anything about this. I really don't pay attention to any of this, obviously."

Leila "Oh, really? Well, you look fantastic! You can't even tell it's tight or anything-- but is there anyway to loosen it up? So you don't end up passing out or anything." She smiled, silently thanking Amber for the welcome. "I appreciate that-- and they seem to be pretty great. I'm quite excited to start work on Monday. --What is it you do here at the castle?"

Tris laughed. "Yeah, I can't see you killing someone. You're right next to Miles on that list. The two most innocent Conroy's. I could see Sarah doing it before you." Tristan grinned so big that it only made her costume even more creepy. "I guess you wouldn't care that she told me how she has a crush on someone. I think it's me and she just didn't want to admit it because we were the ones talking. I mean, c'mon," she held out her arms and looked down her own body. "C'mon. I'm clearly the best of this family. I'll have to let her down easy, of course. Our love is forbidden. Taboo." She knocked her shoulder into Ian's. "But in all seriousness, if I would tell the person I like before it's too late. The ring in our world is a lot harder to get off once it's on." She watched him look at their brother and felt bad for him. Honestly, she felt bad for everyone. "Obviously. I guess I should tell you that Alaska is married now," she teased.

Amanda "That I be, but not as good a pirate as... ye?" she laughed, uncertain how to continue but amused with the conversation nonetheless. "Hmm, do how about Blue Eye Miles? Dreamy Blue Eye Miles. It might not be very threatening, but I personally think it's fitting." She was blushing again-- she found it hard not to around him. She took his arm, letting him whisk her away from the party, grateful to get some fresh air. "It looks like it might rain, but I don't mind-- do you?"

Will nodded in agreement with his betrothed. "They are. I didn't want to get engaged, but when you're told you have to marry an heiress, you do that." Will felt bad for the both of them, for the situation they were in-- they were both being forced to do something neither of them wanted-- at least, not with each other. He looked around, finding catching sight of Amber-- even in a mask, he'd know her anywhere. "Yeah, exactly. It makes you want to do the opposite. Like, being told to marry you makes me want to.... not do that," he admitted. "But I don't think we have a choice."

Eli "Yup, that would be me. I was hoping you wouldn't notice. I'm very bad at being a bush, apparently." He grinned cheekily, shaking his head. "On the contrary, I find you extremely interesting. I don't really notice Phoebe. No offense to her. But I've become quite taken with you. I hope that's alright. I know we don't know each other extremely well, but it's the truth."

Phoebe let out a small laugh at Will's bluntness. Luckily, they were both on the same page. Wedding planning would be a distraction, although she wasn't so inclined to think about it being her wedding. "I like to think there's always a choice. --I don't think it would hurt us to at least try, but it's not fair to force anything for the sake of fulfilling a duty. If your parents could fall in love all on their own regardless of social standing, they should extend the same courtesy to you."

Ian "Aren't most serial killers the most unassuming? I could be a killer. Doesn't mean I am, but I could. I am far from innocent. I am bad.... to the bone. Super bad." He snorted. "Sarah would definitely commit murder before either of us, for sure." Ian slapped his hand over his heart, letting out a loud breath. "Tristan. You're killing me here. She has a crush on someone? Who's not Will? --Okay, you're hilarious. Hilarious." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head at his sister. "I hate you. I love you, but I hate you. I'm not telling anyone anything. I can't. Even if she does have a thing for-- for me..... I could never do that. She's engaged to Will. Even if she doesn't love him.... I couldn't do that to him." He let out a soft laugh. "Ah, so that's why some weird guy has been hanging around her."

Will "They want that for us, of course, but it's a little more complicated. When my dad ascended the throne, it was a different time, less danger. No need for alliances and all the politics that came with the royal title. It's a bit different now. And it's not entirely up to my parents, either, they have advisors, and even if they want us to be happy, we all have to think of the crown, and the country." He shrugged. "So maybe we do have a choice, but what's the right choice?"

Phoebe "That's fair. Although, just to play Devil's Advocate, I'm curious as to what alliance they're seeking by marrying you off to an heiress. My father knows people, but he doesn't hold any power." Phoebe reached up to tuck a stray curl back into her meticulous hairstyle. "If we chose to do right by the country, we make the best of our situation and continue with a smile. If we chose to do right by ourselves, we follow our hearts.

Amber “I don’t think I’m going to pass out or anything, it just doesn’t fit as nicely as it did the last time I wore it.” Although she was not facing him, she had that sensation that someone was watching her. She ignored the feeling, not wanting to know who it was, even though she was sure she knew already. Instead, she turned her attention to Leila even more. “Oh - I am the nanny for Miss Zoey. She is the...” she paused, almost catching herself say ‘grandchild’. “She’s a the niece to the Queen. Her mother died and the Queen couldn’t let anything happen to her, so she has taken her on as though she was like her own.”

Miles was very happy to escape from the party. It wasn’t his kind of scene except when he had to. As Amanda began giving his costume names, he felt his cheeks heat up. Curse the Conroy gene! “Well, thank you. I am definitely not threatening, so it fits.” He looked up at the sky when she mentioned rain and crinkled his nose. “No, I don’t mind. I won’t melt if I get a little wet.” He fell silent for a moment before clearing his throat. “I was wondering, and please feel free to say no if you don’t want to, but I was hoping maybe I could take you on a date one day soon.”

Davina smiled at him, though she was extremely nervous still. “Maybe I’m just very observant or hopeful.” She shrugged, glad she was already wearing some blush on her cheeks so it wasn’t as noticeable when she blushed. She wasn’t sure what to think about his declaration, except giddy. “That’s quite alright with me, as I feel the same towards you.” She didn’t know where her sudden bravery came from, but she was happy it did. “And we should change the whole ‘not knowing each other well’ part.”

Tris laughed. “Oh, yes, you’re sooo bad.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head in annoyance. “Look, I’m done now. I told you more than I should have because I want all of you happy and if you don’t want to do anything, fine. I really do hope you guys have just crushes and nothing more, because once that ring is on her finger, you’ll have to see her with him all the time. Hugging, kissing, popping out some babies. And if you have deeper feelings, then that’s going to be hell for you. I don’t want you to feel regret and a longing for the rest of your life, any of you. So I pray it’s just a crush.” She let out a sigh and patted him on the shoulder. She began to say something else when she heard a glass shattering scream that came from behind the closed doors of the ballroom. “What the fuck was that?”

Leila smiled in quiet relief. "Good. I mean, good you're not going to pass out on me, not good that it doesn't fit. But really, you can't even tell." She lifted her mask over her forehead, her cheeks flushed a bit from having her face covered. "Hell, this thing is a lot more uncomfortable than I thought it'd be.... Oh, Zoey, I've heard about her from Dr. Burke. A very lively child, he mentioned. It's great they took her in-- they seem like really caring people. I feel lucky to be here." She reached out as a waiter passed, taking a water from a tray, and quickly downing it.

Amanda watched Miles, noting the way his cheeks flushed, and was grateful she wasn't the only one who's emotions showed on their face. "I think so too. You must be a very kind pirate." Amanda leaned against the balcony, turning to face him, suddenly speechless, caught off guard from his question. Not because she didn't want to go on a date with him, but because she very much did want to and had not been expecting him to ask. She'd been hoping he would, of course. But it was a surprise, nonetheless. "No, no-- I mean, yes. I would very much like to go on a date with you. I want to."

Will chuckled. "I'm pretty far down the line to the throne, so I don't think it really matters as much. You're wealthy enough to matter, despite not holding a title. Sometimes that's even better than power, to these people." He shrugged, offering a small smile. "What do you want to do, Phoebe?"

Eli's smile widened as he watched Davina, his heart beating rapidly despite appearing cool, calm, and collected. "You do? I'm very pleased to hear that. I was worried it might be one-sided. And I would very much like that. To change that, I mean. To get to know you better." He glanced around out of habit, before settling back at Davina in her devil costume. "After the party, would you like to go somewhere? We can leave the castle, or-- take a walk, or something."

Ian "That's the thing, Tris. It's already been hell for me, and I don't think I've seen them do any of those things, yet. I don't know if it's just a crush. What if it is, though? What if I break them up, and it just turns out to be a crush? Something we're just feeling because it's not okay, because we can't have each other, and then we act on it, and it turns out it was nothing? I would've broken them up for nothing. I don't know if I could risk that. And I don't know if I could do that to mom and dad, and definitely not to Will." Ian sighed heavily, confused and conflicted as he thought about the situation, and what they were supposed to do. He was noble, and wanted to do the right thing, and stealing away his brother's fiance, didn't seem like the right thing. His thoughts were interrupted by Tristan's outburst, and he realized he heard the screaming too, and turned to see Emily Donahue rush in, covered in blood, screaming before collapsing in the middle of the party.

Emily had to go to the bathroom and disappeared from the party, when she was washing her hands, she heard a lot of commotion from the other side of the door. She finished washing her hands and began walking to the door. As she approached, something fell against the door. She jumped back, barely missing being smacked in the face with the door and had a body fall on her. The older woman had been shot in the chest and was bleeding everywhere. Emily let out a scream and frantically moved out from under the woman. She ran as fast as she could down the hall, her feet sliding out from under her and causing her to fall on her hands. Quickly, she caught herself and launched herself at the door, yanking it open and appearing back in the ballroom. Her beautiful white dress was stained with the woman’s blood. “Th-There’s a lady. Sh-She d-died.” Although she hadn’t been harmed herself, Emily collapsed on the floor, passing out from what she had witnessed.

Phoebe felt conflicted. The majority of her wanted to follow her heart. However, she wasn't exactly all too sure if what she felt was remotely reciprocated by the other party. It was too much of a risk, and though she was okay with failing, the consequences and fall out would be incredibly great. "I--" Her decision was cut short by a blood curdling scream, followed by a small blonde covered in what Phoebe hoped was merely fake blood as part of a Halloween prank.

Amber started to reply to Leila when suddenly Emily collapsed near them. “What the heck?” Davina nodded, excitedly at his proposal and as she began to reply, she was cut off by the sound of a scream. Miles was grinning ear-to-ear and felt like he was on cloud nine, but before he could respond, he heard a loud commotion coming from inside. “Can you excuse me for a second? I want to finish this conversation, but it sounds like something happened. Stay right here.” He quickly ran back in, shocked by what he saw. Tris understood why her brother was having issues, but she knew it was more than just a crush even if they didn’t. Before she could reply, she saw the youngest Donahue fall down and quickly ran to her side.

Izzy heard all of the commotion and quickly made her way through the crowd. When she spotted Emily on the ground, she turned around to face the crowd. “Everyone, please remain calm. We will get to the bottom of this.” She made her way out of the room and quickly spotted the body of the woman Emily was speaking about. When she looked down the hall, she saw a person dressed in all black walking hastily towards her. She made her way back to the ballroom and shut the door, alerting the guards at the door to barricade the door. “Please remain calm, but try to stay away from any of the windows and doors until we have this all resolved!”

Will was going to ask Phoebe again, urge her to make a decision, when he heard the scream, and saw Emily run into the ballroom, covered in blood. His own blood drained from his face, as he looked around in shock, wondering if this was some elaborate joke, meant to be a prank. But as Emily collapsed, something told him it was not. And his mother rushing back into the ballroom confirmed it. He took Phoebe's hand and began tugging her away from the crowd-- but stopped when he caught sight of Amber not too far from where Emily had collapsed. "Phoebe, I need you to find somewhere to hide, okay? I'll be back." He didn't wait for a response, he pulled away and made his way to Amber, trying to push his way through everyone. Eli saw as his sister collapsed, and wanted to rush over to her, but he also wanted to protect Davina. He also had a duty to protect his king and queen. He pushed Davina into a corner. "Wait here, okay?" Ian watched as Tristan ran off to check on Emily, his love troubles far from his mind now-- he went to his mother's side, looking around. "Mom, where's Dad? You have to get out of here." He glanced around the room, watching as Will left Phoebe, and saw Miles come into the room from outside on the balcony. He didn't see Alaska, but she was probably off with Charles somewhere, and Sarah-- where had he seen Sarah last? When had he last seen his dad? "Mom????"

Amanda waited for Miles to reply, her stomach aflutter as she nervously looked up at him, wanting to cross the short distance between them and touch him. And she almost did, but was interrupted by a ruckus from inside the ballroom. Brows furrowing, she glanced back to Miles, nodding as he excused himself. She waited a moment, before deciding to go after him, entering the ballroom-- her mouth immediately dropping, her eyes widening as she saw what was going on. Leila looked over her shoulder as Emily collapsed, gasping in shock before immediately falling to her knees beside her and checking her vitals. "--She's breathing, she's alive-- I don't think this is her blood, Amber." She looked up, at the chaos around her, her heart beating so hard, she was sure she was going to keel over next. "What's going on?!"

Phoebe felt panic begin to rise in the center of her chest. Whatever was going on, it wasn't some practical joke in time for Halloween. Her breathing grew staggered as Will tugged her away from the scene to get her towards safety. "I... Yeah. Okay." The brunette's eyes frantically searched the space, attempting to seek out Ian, Amanda... Davina. Where was Davina? Luckily, she spotted her younger sister huddled in a corner. Gathering the elaborate skirts of her costume she rushed over to her younger sister and wrapped her up in her arms. "Thank god you're safe."

James was dancing with his granddaughter Zoey, or his niece, as most people knew her. His wife was off being the life of the party-- his blue eyes found her over and over again, smiling as he watched the love of his wife entertain their guests and spend time with their children. It was a wonderful night-- and he couldn't wait for it to end so he'd be alone again with his wife, and they could go off and have another honeymoon the next morning. "I can barely keep up with you, sweetheart," he told Zoey, chuckling as his granddaughter squealed as he twirled her around. He twirled her around again, and again, pausing when the doors of the ballroom swung open and his adopted daughter, Emily came in screaming, covered in blood. He glanced around, confused, watching as she collapsed. Izzy went out the door, then promptly came back in, and he watched her signal the guards frantically. "My love, find Miss Amber, and don't leave her side, understand?" he murmured softly as he kneeled at Zoey's height, watching her nod with wide eyes. "Go on, it'll be fine."

Amber nodded in agreement. “I don’t think it is, either. I have to find Zoey!” Amber began looking around frantically, trying to find the little girl in the middle of the crowd. If the people had actually listened to the Queen, then she would be able to find her. She spotted Will and pushed through to him. “Have you seen Zoey?! I can’t find her!” Davina nodded, her head still reeling as Eli pushed her in a corner. She didn’t know what to do, but she was afraid to move. She was so relieved when Phoebe found her; she buried her face into her sister’s shoulder and began crying. “What’s going on? Are we going to die here tonight?” Izzy “He was dancing with Zoey the last time I saw him, Ian. You have to go. I don’t know what’s going on, but I saw somebody out there, they killed someone. You have to make sure everyone is safe. Get them out of here. I’m not leaving until I know everyone is okay.” Quickly, she hugged her son, cradling his face in her hands. “You have to go, now,” she demanded.

Tris glanced up when she heard someone talking about the blood not being Emily’s. “No, and she wouldn’t do some kind of prank. My only guess is we’re under attack right now. We need to get her moved. Help me carry her?” She asked the woman before her. Miles spotted his dad and ran to his side. “Dad, what’s going on? Is someone really dead? We need to get you out of here!”

Will reached Amber, grateful to see she was okay-- he wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her and never let anyone or anything get to her-- but he'd have to wait until later. "I saw her with my dad a minute ago-- there she is!" He waved his niece over, grasping her hand. "Hey, Zoe-bug, we're going to play hide and seek, okay? You have to find the best hiding place with Amber, close your eyes, and don't come out until I find you, okay?" Elijah, as soon as Davina was out of the way, lined up with the other guards at the door of the ballroom, gun pointed, ready to protect everyone from whoever was outside the door. Ian stared at his mom, not quite registering what she was saying. "W-What?" He wrapped his arms around her, eyes clenching shut as he tightened his arms around her. "Mom, I am not leaving you." James, as soon as he saw Zoey had made it to Amber, was trying to get to his wife in the midst of all the chaos-- he could see her and Ian together, but he somehow kept getting further away, as if he was floating in the ocean, further and further away from land. His eyes wild with confusion, he saw his son Miles. "Son, we need to help everyone get out-- I need to get to your mother-- it's madness right now--"

Leila nodded, not recognizing that she was speaking to one of the princesses. "Yes, otherwise she might get trampled, and get really hurt," she replied. "You grab her legs, I'll take her arms-- carefully, we don't know if it's something internal, we could do more damage," she ordered. Amanda didn't understand what was happening-- but she saw Davina and Phoebe, and immediately started going towards them, and by some miracle, got to them. "What the hell's going on?!" She was usually calm and quiet, but the panic had immediately set in and she was scared.

Phoebe clung to her sister, stroking the back of her head as she began to cry. "I have no idea what's happening. But we sure as hell aren't going to die here tonight." Though she was visibly shaken, the brunette easily slipped into her role of older sister. She had to be strong for Davina, for their family, and ensure that the both of them got out of the ballroom in one piece. "We're going to find a way out."

Amber was so relieved when she saw Zoey. She sighed in relief and grabbed her hand, holding as tight as she could without hurting her. “Let’s find the best hiding spot!” She was trying so hard to keep her fear hidden and how scared she was to leave Will, but right now Zoey was her top priority. Before leaving, she hugged Will tight. “Please be careful. I love you.” She whispered before pulling out of the hug and runnning off with Zoey. Izzy looked at her son. “Ian, that is not a request. I’m telling you to make sure your siblings are okay. Get them out of here.” She didn’t want anything to happen to any of her babies, but she also had to do what she could to make sure everyone else would get out of there alive. “Do not worry about me, Ian. Just do what I tell you and get everyone to safety. I’ll be okay. I promise.” Miles didn’t know what was going on but he nodded. “Okay. I’ll take some people around the back. Mom’s up at the front.” He grabbed his dad’s hand and pulled him through the crowd until he could see a clearing near his mom. “Ian, I’m going to get some people out around the back.” Tris nodded and carefully picked up Emily’s legs. “Get out of our way, assholes!” She shouted when people were scrambling around them, not caring about keeping up a good representation. “You lead.” Davina nodded at her sister’s words, praying that she was right. She hated how she was crying as though that was going to help anything. When she saw Amanda, she quickly held out her free arm and hugged both of them so tight, not saying a word, just grateful they were both okay. She felt herself jump and squeal when she heard what sounded like a gunshot. “We need to get out of here, NOW.”

Phoebe almost immediately grabbed onto Amanda, holding both her and Davina tight. They were her family --and she was going to do whatever it took to protect them. The sound of a gun shot made her whole body jolt, her head perking up ever so slightly to try and see what was going on. Chaos seemed to be unfolding around them, so much so that her vision was blurry. Rather than dwell and worry, she took the initiative to try and get them to a safer spot. "Follow me." She squeezed both of them tight once more, then linked their arms in an attempt to navigate them towards a somewhat hidden door to get outside of the palace.

Will held Amber close, taking in the smell of her, the feel of her-- not knowing if it would be the last time. He nearly broke down then, but quickly hid any sign of emotion from his face as he pulled away. "I love you too, Bambi. And I love you, Zoey. I'll start counting, okay?" He watched as the pair went, and turned back to the madness around him, unsure of what to do. He had to find his family, first. Ian shook his head. "I can't leave you on your own. What kind of son would I be if I did?" He turned to see his brother, Miles, and sighed in relief to see their father was close behind. "Okay-- I'll stay with here with Mom and Dad-- have you seen Sarah?" James immediately went to Izzy, grasping her hand in his own, smiling despite the tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry it took so long to get to you, love. Our granddaughter is quite the dancer," he murmured with a sad smile. "Ian, Miles-- protect your sisters and help our guests-- I'll stay with your mother, we'll be fine."

Leila lifted Emily's limp body, grimacing from the weight-- she was a tiny thing, but Leila wasn't the strongest, either. But somehow, she managed, with Tristan's help. She led Tristan over to one side of the room, somehow holding up Emily's body with all the strength she had with one arm around the blonde, while she cleared a table off, glasses and food crashing to the ground around her feet-- but she didn't have time to think about that right now. "Here-- I can examine her better here--" She set Emily's head down immediately checked her pulse again, then her pupils, and surveyed her body for a source for blood, but as she had said earlier, the blood wasn't hers. "She's fine, she must've passed out from the fright she had." Amanda buried her face against Davina's shoulder as she grasped both sisters in her arms, grateful that they were okay. When she heard the gunshot, she yelped, clenching her eyes shut, not wanting to see who had been hurt-- she didn't think she could bear it. "I don't want to die," she mumbled tearfully, barely registering as she got up and began to follow her friends to an escape-- but she stopped, refusing to move another inch. "I can't-- Miles-- what if he's hurt???" she shook her head, pulling away from them. "Go on, I'll be right there, okay??" She turned around and ran right back into the chaos.

Davina nodded as her sister took charge. She followed behind, trying her best to keep from getting disconnected due to the people moving frantically around them. She saw the door her sister was heading for and felt a bit of relief. Maybe things would be okay after all. When Amanda pulled away from them, she tried to grab her. "Amanda, you can't!" She reached to take her hand, but Amanda was already out of reach. "No!" Izzy "Ian, you have to listen to me. I will not let anything happen to you. I won't let you be hurt in any way and the only way for me to do that is to get you out of here. We will be fine." She smiled sadly at James, wrapping her arm around his waist once he was in her grasp. Her eyes flickered back to Miles and Ian. "I love you both, so much. Please, go before anything happens. Make sure you find everyone. We'll find you as soon as we can." Although she said the words, she, herself did not believe them. She felt as though this was going to be the last time she saw them, but she would happily die in the place of them. She put one hand on each of their cheeks. "I'm not telling you again. Go." She gave Miles a warning look and he nodded, pulling Ian along with him. Once she saw them disappear, she looked back at James and hugged him tight. Miles pulled Ian away from their parents, hating to do it but knowing they had to do what they were told. "I haven't seen Sarah or Alaska." As they walked through the crowd, he saw Will and pulled Ian to him. "We have to find Sarah and Alaska, and make sure they're safe and out of here. He looked around and saw Tristan. "Tristan is over there with Emily. One of you needs to go over there and see if they need help." Tris carefully set Emily down and watched as Leila examined her. She felt a little relief when she said nothing was wrong, that she was just passed out. At least nobody else had died... yet. "Okay, anything I can do for her?"

Amanda looked around, trying to see Miles-- and she caught sight of him with his brother Ian, and their parents, the King and Queen. She was relieved to see they were all okay, but she was especially relieved that the prince wasn't hurt. She started to go to him, to tell him that Davina and Phoebe had found a way out, but before she could call out his name, she felt someone grab her from behind, holding her around her waist with one arm as they covered her mouth. She began fighting against whoever was holding her, feeling them drag her away from the party, further away from Miles and his family. She clawed at her abductor's hands, punched and kicked, all the while yelling at the top of her lungs despite them covering any sound she was making. And then, everything went black. Ian listened to his mother, watching her with wide, scared eyes-- because somehow, he knew they wouldn't be fine. "Mom...." He managed to gasp out, holding onto her hand as she caressed his cheek. He looked from her, to his dad, who was smiling at his sons through tear-filled eyes. Ian steeled himself, taking a deep breath, and willed himself to be strong, for his parents, and for his siblings. "Okay. Okay. We're going." He started to follow Miles, who was pulling him away from their parents. "I love you, Mom. And I love you, Dad. Everything is going to be fine. Stay safe." He forced a smile as the tears fell, taking a deep breath as he turned away from them. "I don't think I've seen Alaska in hours-- she must be with Charles." Will sighed in relief when he saw his brothers, throwing his arms around them and hugging them tight. "Amber has Zoey, they're hiding-- I'll go help Tris," he mumbled, pulling away from his siblings. "You guys look for Alaska and Sarah. Last I saw Alaska, she and Charles were heading outside-- maybe they went upstairs?" He left Ian and Miles to go his twin's side, seeing that she and a woman he didn't know were looking after Emily. "We need to get her out of her-- her brother's will freak if anything happens to her." Leila shook her head at Tristan, wiping off some blood she'd gotten on her hands. "If you have some smelling salts on you, that would help, but there's not much else-- unless you can grab something to cover her with, in case she goes into shock." She glanced up as a male approached them. "You could probably carry her out without dropping her, if you know a way out."

Phoebe's feet felt as if they were flying as she attempted to move herself, Davina and Amanda closer towards safety. Her hazel eyes, wet with tears of fright, held a laser focus on the door that was just close enough, but each step felt like it was taking a year. "Amanda, we can't... You can't... Amanda!" Her fearful words hissed out as a tear dripped down her cheek. Her friend was too far gone both she and Davina were too close to safety. "Dav, you go. I'm going to go get her." She gave her sister a nudge to keep going. "I'll be right there."

Miles looked around, trying to spot one of his sisters, but instead spotted another brunette being attacked. "Amanda," he screamed as he tried to push his way to her. Even as they pulled her away, he fought to get to her. "Amanda!" He ran to where he had seen her but she was gone. He stopped and looked around, frantic as he tried to find her. Calling her name but not finding her. Davina stared at her sister, had it been a normal situation she would've laughed at the idea. "Phoebe, I'm not going anywhere without you and Amanda." She took hold of her sister and clung to her, but refused to stay behind. Tris looked at her brother. "You carry her. I'll clear the way." She began shoving her way through the room, making a path for them. Until the room went black. Someone had shut off the power and more gunshots began. The only light was from the bullets leaving the barrels for a quick second. Tristan let out a groan, feeling pain in her back, making her fall to the ground. Izzy held tight to James' arm when the lights went out. She wasn't fearful for what was going to happen to her, but her kids. She began silently crying. Then the moment she knew was coming happened. She felt a something against the back of her head and took a deep breath. There was a moment of pain followed by nothing. When the lights came back on, only a few minutes after they were cut, Izzy was laying on the ground in a puddle of her own blood.

Will gathered Emily up in his arms, charging after Tristan as she cleared a path for them-- but then the lights went out and they were clothed in darkness-- he stumbled, holding onto the unconscious young woman in his arms as he tried to find an exit. He heard his twin sister groan out in pain, and immediately began to yell for her. "TRISTAN!!!" he called out to her, but unable to see or hear her. The sound of gunshots filled the room, one hitting Will in the shoulder-- he gasped in pain, but forced himself to stay standing, to not drop Emily. "I'm gonna get you out of here, Em," he groaned out, promising her even though she couldn't hear him. James held onto his wife, struggling to see in the dark-- all he could see were the sparks from the gunshots, while the room was abuzz with screams. He could feel his wife began to shake as she silently cried, and he held on tighter to her, kissing her forehead. "I love you, Izzy," he murmured softly, feeling the force of someone hitting her from behind. He cried out, falling with his wife as she fell, holding onto her body as he felt her weaken. "Izzy," he cried softly, blindly reaching for her face in the dark, gently caressing her face. "What have they done?" he murmured, his heart breaking. But at least his attackers were kind enough to put him out of his misery; he felt the gun they held against his back, and the bullet that ripped through his heart, or what was left of it. He fell, holding his wife in his arms, struggling to breath. They were still covered in darkness, but he smiled as he looked up to see Izzy holding her hand out to him. "I couldn't let even death come between us, my love." he managed to murmur. He took her hand, his eyes closing as his body went limp beside his wife.

Phoebe Just as she took a step in the direction of Amanda, they room went black. She held onto Davina for dear life, pulling them both to the ground the moment she heard gun shots. The brunette did her best not to scream, although her throat grew tight and her eyes welled up with tears. "Love you, Dav," she murmured, hoping that in the darkness nobody could detect them. When the lights flickered back on, she felt frozen and unable to move, despite being close to their exit route. "We've got to... But Amanda..."

Tris was unable to move, even when the lights came back on. She tried, but her legs wouldn't cooperate. She began gnawing on her lip to keep from screaming out loud and despite her best attempt, tears rolled down her cheek. She finally couldn't help it any longer and yelped once more. Davina hugged her sister when she was finally able to see her, so thankful to still have her. "We'll find her." She sounded the most confident saying those few words than she had the entire night. "I promise, Phoebe. We'll find her."

#para:red anniversary

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