#someone tell evil Nate that he is hot to me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

slashingdisneypasta · 3 years

Text

Jack Bass x Younger!Reader || Oneshot

Title: Bass's.

Notes:

I have no idea when this is supposed to be set. Just go with it.

I have two things to say about Jack in this gif, though. 1. Does he not know how to carry a tray. And 2. I love this statement, here. Its like 'Bart's Dead, Chuck. I can barely contain my joy, Chuck. Its taking all my willpower, Chuck, to keep a monotonous expression. Also Chuck I am carrying a tray, do you see this?'

Plot: Bart Bass decides to be his creepy fucking self (Not that Jack is exponentially better in any way but whatever) towards you, Chuck's best friend- but thankfully, Jack accidentally walks in on the scene and gives you a get out of jail free card.

Good old 'lesser of two evils' shit. I love stuff like that.

Warnings: BART BASS being predatory, and a bit of age difference (You and Jack. I'm going by actors ages though so there's only a, like, 11 year age gap between him and Chuck which is not that bad if you ask me). Sexual references.

~~~

Chuck looks from his phone, that's flashing Blairs name, to you and your big, wide eyes and lips mouthing 'Don't you dare', then to his father quietly tapping away on his phone on the couch a few feet away... then back at his phone.

"Charles- " You hiss, prepared to threaten his very existence but he cuts you off first- slipping off the bar stool beside you and heading for the hallway.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom."

Why am I friends with him again!? You think, but stay quiet and hope that Bart doesn't realise that you're back there despite having said hello to you earlier when he came in. You think, if you stay quiet like a mouse, he will forget your existence and keep texting until Chuck gets back- although, who knows how long he and Blair can go on for.

Depends what its about, honestly. If its about revenge or espionage... well, the conversation could last quite some time.

Should I just leave?

The impulse to run away is a strong one, as you sit there with your cheeks heating up and you start to feel nauseated. You never liked Bart Bass, from the moment you met him. Before that, actually. You had heard Chuck talking about him to Nate before you even became friends with them, and none of what you heard was good. And then you did meet him, one day when Chuck invited you over to do a school project. Or 'school project' as he so obnoxiously put it. You really did end up just doing a school project, though. Hence your friendship nowadays. Bart was creepy towards you even then, at 16 with terribly died hair and the wrong eyeshadow.

You've been very careful since then to never be alone with him like this. You would talk to him at parties if you were forced to, say hello to him when Chuck had you at his place and the man walked by, but that is the extent of your communication with the creep. Always, always, someone would be around. Chuck, mostly. But also staff, or Nate, or random fundraiser ladies, or Jack who Chuck the bastard never left alone with all willy-nilly like this, unfortunately, or Lily, or literally anyone else possible on the earth.

You've even hidden away in the men's bathroom, which is disgusting no matter how expensive the restaurant, with Nate before to get away from this man when Chuck once ditched you both at a dinner with him. And that's the story of how you got your first kiss, too, and it was from Nate Archibald. Hell yes.

That's how much this man makes you want to grab your bag and flee.

But you don't. You stay glued to your seat, super still, listening only to the tap-tap-tapping noises that Bart makes and the bump-bump-bump noises your heart is making right into your throbbing ears.

Until it stops.

Not the bump-bump-bumping, oh no. The tapping. And, nightmarishly, it's replaced by a groan and footsteps coming towards your turned back.

"Y/N," As soon as he says your name, his hands fall on your your shoulders and you literally jump under his touch. Shit- Shit- Fuck- what's happening- "I've been meaning to speak with you recently but Chuck- ah. Well you know him. He refused to share with me your telephone number. But I knew you'd turn up here at some point, so not to worry."

"Uh... right." You cant even force yourself to be your normal, cheery, polite self in this position. You just want him to get. off. of. you.

"Did you want a drink?" He asks, in that possibly cheery (But only because its slightly louder then his usual husk level) but mostly still scary voice he uses to convey emotion, letting go of you thankfully and rounding to the other side of the bar. You shake your head, though. He raises his brows, picking out a scotch for himself. "You don't drink? Shocking, seeing as you're friends with my son."

Oh I drink. You think, giving him a shrug. Just not in situations like this one. Also, what must he think of Chuck? Jesus Christ. For sure, your boy likes debauchery but what's wrong with that?

"Well, I like that." Bart pauses before pouring his drink, to appreciate you. "Mature."

Damn it. It makes your skin absolutely crawl.

"So... " You take a deep breath, tucking your hair back behind your ears rather then ruffling it back like you usually would to get it out of your face- lest that be recognised as some kind of extremely subtle form of flirting. God, fear makes you think weird things. "What did you want to discuss?"

"Oh- Just, your future. Where are you going to school? Will you be sticking close to us?"

Us? US? No, I'll be far far away, from you.

You don't really want to tell Bart where you're going to be going to school, because in your fear addled brain you know that that will just lead to 'Which campus?', or 'Where will you be staying?' and you really don't want it to go there.

You're just taking another, shakier deep breath, when the front door of the apartment opens and shuts loudly and set of feet trample down the hallway towards you. Immediately total relief plashes over you and you wipe your face. Oh, thank god.

Jack Bass appears in the doorway to the living room, looking as put-together yet somehow simultaneously still totally relaxed, as always, and forces aa polite smile onto his handsome face. "Brother. Y/N? Its good to see you."

You have no idea. "Good to see you too Jack. Uh- Chuck's in the bathroom."

"Thanks. For that... enlightening, information, Y/N. I needed that." You cheeks flare up in embarrassment, but ultimately you just roll your eyes as Jack flashes you a subtle wink, and turns promptly to his - much, - older brother. "Bart."

The older brother in question looks less then pleased at his baby brothers appearance in his home. Right now. And he possibly isn't thrilled about that little wink, either. Like you two are in on some kind of joke together. "Jack... What are you doing here?"

"Simmer down, bro. Just visiting." Even you know that that excuse is weak, but anything that comes out Jack's own monotonous voice right now is blessed where you're concerned so you certainly don't say anything. Or make any faces, which would be more appropriate. "Y/N, I don't think Bart-man here's too happy about my presence." Hm, no. You'd have to agree with that observation- not that you've looked up at Bart since Jack came in. You wont risk it. Jack glides through the room with the practised grace of a man who's lived 3 quarters of his life in suits and the other, happier quarter in board shorts, and ends up right next to your chair, an arm resting on the bench in front of you.

If you weren't already so nervous about Bart, you would blush about Jack.

"At least tell me you're glad to see me."

You grin, which is less forced then you thought it would be prior to trying it. Damn, he's good. You think, realising he just swepped in here and made you comfortable in less then 50 words. "Always, 'Uncle Jack'."

"Oh," He groans, like it physically pained him to hear you tease him like that. A tiny smirk even slips through his usually emotionless - well, not emotionless. He has one standing colour, that being sly, - stone statue of a face. "'Uncle Jack'- Please, stop. I'm barely a decade older then you."

That's enough to make anything else possible, inappropriate. Unfortunately. "Hey, I said I'm glad to see you." You wink, a bit sly yourself. "Count your blessings."

His grin widens a bit, like the dangerously charming Cheshire cat-type that he is. Genes that Chuck inherited, clearly, if his track record with girls say anything at all, but that Bart obviously missed out on. "You've got a point."

"She's a remarkable young woman." Bart pipes up, making your stomach tie itself up in knots again, and you immediately revert your gaze to your lap. Remarkable young woman... you want to barf. "Who, I was actually having a conversation with before you burst in here, unannounced." He takes a slow sip of his drink, then mutters. "And uninvited."

"Well that's great." Jack straightens up, clapping his hands together and finally showing his teeth in a smile. They're really freaken white, compared to his skin, deeply tanned by the hot Australian sun. "A visit would be kinda uncomfortable without a conversation; I'll join. I can converse with the best of 'em, Bart. I assure you."

"It was private." The old man sneers, thinking that he's got the upper hand on Jack, and all you can do is hope to god that he's wrong.

Jack turns his head back to look at you, and you meet his gaze tentatively. Your eyes scream, 'Please don't leave me alone with that guy'. He promptly looks back to Bart. "Well Bart why don't we ask the lady in the room what she wants? We are gentlemen here aren't we?" Then Jack makes a face, all crumpled up and unsure, for a moment. "Err. Well actually... 'gentleman' might be a bold faced lie. We'll ask anyway. Y/N! Do you mind if I weigh in here?"

"Not at all." You say quickly, flashing a tiny, thankful smile. He gives you another wink- this time actually subtle. So Bart didn't see it. Your smile gets a little bit bigger, relaxing. He's got you.

"Great." You watch him pull out the stool beside you, that Chuck - who has still not returned from his phone call with Blair. You assume some, likely cruel vengeance must be involved. Possibly involving that Humphrey guy, - had vacated and settles down in it. He then sets his arms firmly on the bench and looks up attentively at Bart, not breaking eye contact with him. Boy these Bass's like their stare downs. "So?" He prompts, expectantly. And a little arrogantly- a Bass speciality that you truly don't mind at all. "What's on the agenda, today?"

Bart glares heatedly, back.

Throughout the awkward discussion between the three of you, which your good friend Chuck has yet to return to discover - at this point you're resigned to him having climbed out the window and scaled the building probably, - , Jack constantly, skilfully changes the subject for you whenever Bart rears to close to somewhere uncomfortable. He makes jokes that make you laugh, he nudges you with his elbow at times - but never touches you any more then that, although you honestly wouldn't mind it if he did, - and takes the attention off you a lot. At times you truly thought you saw steam come out of Bart's ears.

When finally Bart gives up and excuses himself, saying he as an early dinner with Lily, you feel exhausted and relieved. After the door swings shut behind him, you cover your face with your hands and deeply sigh.

"So, what was that about? You looked like a trapped mouse. I recognise that look, I invented that look." You pull back slightly from your hands and glance over at him, to see him thoughtful for a moment. "Well, not by making it. By... causing... it... Either way, it was not good." He shakes his head, taking a sip of his own drink - scotch, - that he made Bart pour for him; Raising his eyebrows at you for an explanation over the rim of the glass.

Jack's always been great, like this. Even when he was horrible, he was the lesser of two evils between him and Bart. Good for a laugh and quality eye candy in a pinch- and that counts for a hell of a lot when it comes to surviving Bart Bass and the Upper East Side. And he had the power and pull of an adult, but knew what the hell was going on like one of you.

So he always made you feel at ease.

You ruffle your hair back, and sigh, straightening your back finally from their hunched over position they live in when you're uncomfortable and pushing back your shoulders. "He was just, saying some weird stuff... and Chuck disappeared to talk to Blair." At that, Jack nods in total understanding. Like ah, yeah. Got ya. Finally, you shrug. "He just makes me really uncomfortable. No offence, but I hate your brother."

As you watch Jack's eyes don't even flicker; He's totally on board with what you've said. Then he finishes the rest of his scotch in one gulp. "Ahh- I hate him too."

"As do we all." Chuck's voice suddenly pops up, as he appears in the doorway like Jack had earlier. You have to practice some serious self control so as to not laugh, at Chuck so coincidentally turning up again at the perfect moment to proclaim his hatred for his father. Jack grins back at Chuck coldly, nodding. Yeah. "Anyway, Y/N, I apologise but I'll be having to abandon you. Blair's waiting for me at her, empty, apartment." He pauses for a moment for dramatic effect, in perfect Chuck Bass fashion, and you roll your eyes, grinning. Jack smirks. "But you're welcome to stick around a while and help yourself to the amenities All on my tab, of course. Good to see you again, Jack." Then he pockets his phone and heads toward the door. The second Bass of the day leaves the building.

"Bye, nephew!" Jack waives as the elevator doors close behind Chuck then swiftly turns around back to you, to which you raise your eyebrows. "So, what do we do now?"

"I dunno." Shrugging you grin and turn your stool to angle your legs towards Jack. "When Chuck says those magical words 'All on my tab'," Those words, oh; You speak them with just as much raw, breathy sexual arousal as the man himself would. As the words demand. 'All on my tab'. Good lord, sex if they were words. "I tend to take advantage."

"An easy girl to please; That's what I like to see." Your cheeks flame up at those words out of Jack's mouth as he turns to look down at the room service menu. Yes, Jack Bass has toed the line, between platonic and flirtatious since the very moment you met the man... but that seemed a little bit more then toeing the line.

And you get a far different reaction to him doing it then you do the other Bass brother.

You don't even really mind the implications of his words.

"You're staying back with me?" You ask, feeling hopeful at the idea.

"Yeah well, I cant in, uh, good conscience," He makes a bit of a show to you, of pressing his hand to his chest totally earnestly as those words 'good conscience' come out of his mouth. "leave you here unguarded in case Bart comes back, can I? Besides, the way you said 'All on my tab'- man, you could sell moonshine at an AA meeting with that voice."

"Ha," You laugh, rolling your eyes and shaking your head. "Well, thanks."

"Oh. Don't thank me. You're just using what uh, your mama gave you. I actually encourage you totally, to do that more often- "

"No!" You exclaim, sighing in exasperation; But there is still a smile on your face you cant seem to shake. "For not leaving, today. When you walked in. It would've sucked if you had, not that I would've blamed you at all."

"Hey, just call me your knight in shining armour." He doesn't look up from the menu, flicking through it. Then turns to you with one of those beach boy/politician, toothless grins of his. "Besides you were automatically, my favourite person in the apartment. I mean, anyone with... uhhh- different, appendages to what I have, instantly gets a one-way ticket access to my rare bouts of chivalry. Now come over here, pick out what you want off here."

You just gape at him and that comment, making him stifle a laugh and return to the menu himself.

Bass's.

#Jack Bass #Jack Bass x Reader #Gossip Girl Jack Bass x Reader #Jack bass x Reader Oneshot #Bart Bass #Chuck Bass #Oneshot #Gossip Girl #Gossip Girl x Reader

204 notes · View notes

jazon-todd · 2 years

Note

Do you really think that Nate doesn’t like Cassie? And that h e still wants Maddie? I feel like he likes Cassie now and will give up on Maddie

dude is way too evil for that. I highly doubt he’s giving up on maddy, but I 100% believe he’s messing around with cassie (knowing full well what he’s doing to her, you can’t tell me that between maddy being his girlfriend and mckay being his bestie, he doesn’t have some idea as to what her behavioral patterns are like when it comes to men) strictly as a way to screw with maddy. I wouldn’t put it past him to try and literally ruin maddy’s life just so she’ll come running back to him. he’s an abusive asshole who won’t let her go, and to be completely frank, I don’t think he gives a shit about cassie at all, which is something I hope she realizes before she throws away all her friendships for a man who’s only using her.

does he think she’s hot? sure, but there’s a reason she’s dressing like maddy, acting like maddy, taking on maddy’s mannerisms… it’s because he’s not interested in her, he’s interested in maddy. or, as “interested” as a sociopathic abuser can be in someone.

#ask #anonymous #euphoria #nate jacobs #maddy perez #cassie howard #euphoria spoilers

23 notes · View notes

gabolange · 3 years

Text

So, let’s talk about Leverage: Redemption. In which I am medium-whelmed at best.

Spoilers below the cut.

I finished the show a couple of days ago and I keep trying to figure out why I didn’t love it. This isn’t to say I didn’t like it, because I did, but it didn’t land for me the way it seems to have landed for a lot of people, and so here I am with, like, meta. Party like it’s 2008 and all that.

2008. I actually didn’t meet Leverage until 2010 despite friends telling me for ages I should watch. It one of those moments that became a forever memory for many reasons, but the most important is this: the show was perfect. Those first hours spent watching a rerun marathon on TNT on a hot-as-fuck July 4 in Albuquerque, New Mexico came with them the understanding that this show was truly special.

It was funny, it was topical, it was sexy, and it was so fucking smart. I fell in love right away with all of them, but especially with Sophie, and with Nate, and with their complicated, complex, adult history. And then over the course of catching up and keeping up, I fell even harder, with them and those themes, with watching Parker and Hardison grow into themselves, with watching Eliot deal every day with his demons. I loved the way the show balanced light and dark, how it could have Archie’s zappy cane in the same breath as Eliot giving Nate advice about what it would mean to kill. I loved that we all loved Maggie, even though ex-wives are known in television to be evil shrews. I loved Tara’s complexity, and Sterling’s wit, and how every episode was a chess game. And oh, how I loved Sophie’s journey, how she had to decide every day not how to live but who to be.

When I say it was perfect, I don’t mean it didn’t have its duds. Of course it did. But it did the thing it was trying to do better than anyone has ever done it, with intelligence and respect, and its finale is one of the three best series finales ever filmed.

This is all to say the bar for Leverage: Redemption was both sky high and very low. When I heard they weren’t bringing Nate back, my first thought was don’t you fucking dare break my heart. If Nate was drunk off his ass in a ditch somewhere, if he had broken Sophie’s heart--that would be the ultimate betrayal (hi, I still have feelings about The Doctor Blake Mysteries). And so the bar was: don’t break my heart, while also being something like the perfect show.

They didn’t break my heart. I said early the best thing would be to kill Nate after he and Sophie had good, long, happy years together. And they did, and it was the right place to start.

They gave me that, and I am grateful, but when I look at the rest, I guess I was underwhelmed. Or at least only whelmed. Medium-whelmed at best.

There were things I loved: Hardison and Parker’s relationship. Eliot’s careful watch over Sophie. Hardison growing up to become the most epic white hat hacker ever. The idea that getting back into the game would be the thing that would make Sophie happy. Hardison’s commentary on redemption. The idea of Leverage: International. Gina Bellman is still made of magic and heartbreak and perfection.

There were things I liked: I am fond of our Mister Wilson, even if I find Noah Wylie about as interesting as plain toast. There were some truly great Eliot beats. I don’t yet like Breanna, but I like the idea of Breanna. I liked the way Nate hovered over the entire thing, because Sophie brought him with her. I think the sets were great, and I was impressed at how much they were able to do in a pandemic. I found utterly baffling but nonetheless charming that we meet Harry in the middle of a failed heist in which the team judges his technique and then adopts him. I liked Fake Nate and everything they did with that. The show had many bright spots, and I don’t in any way want to diminish them.

But. It wasn’t smart. It wasn’t sexy. Except for Sophie’s grief and Hardison’s plans, it picked up the character beats where we left them ten years ago. Has Parker been mastermind for this entire time? I would have loved to see that. Have they learned how to do this well without Sophie and Nate? I would have loved to see that. Show me the history.

Show me the history. Breanna and Hardison and Parker all say this is the worst timeline, and we know it is because we have lived it. But in the universe of the show, it doesn’t really seem that bad -- the plots of the week were silly and so small. I remember finding Damien Moreau too big, once upon a time, but this all felt too easy, the stakes far too small for this to be a show where everything has gotten worse. Nate almost murdered two guys in cold blood, folks. The show was missing any of the darkness that made the original truly compelling, and so lost the balance we loved between that and finding joy. I don’t need it in every episode, but I need a hint that there’s something bigger and meaner out there other than throwaway dialog.

(And, when it tried to go dark, it swung and missed. The episode with the collapsed building was timely, but as someone with anxiety and PTSD, the way the crew played on this guy who had apparently tried to do better this time around...was kinda not okay, to be honest.)

I don’t have OT3 goggles, but I think if I did, I would find Hardison’s absence a little sad--he was the glue, and they needed to do more to bring Parker and Eliot together as friends / colleagues / long-term members of the same polycue / whatever. But even without OT3 goggles, I missed Hardison a whole lot. And I am SO happy for Aldis Hodge growing up to be a real movie star, but he brought so much presence and capability to every scene he was in, even when he was just a kid. Nobody else has his gravitas, or Timothy Hutton’s.

I do have Sophie goggles, and Sophie / Nate goggles. And they didn’t ruin the ship or anything, of course not. But I missed the frisson they brought, the way they made the show just that much more adult. And I am so very, very glad they got their happiness, but I am kinda sad that sexy got replaced with grief.

So yeah. I don’t know. I didn’t hate it at all. I am willing to give it a chance, to let it grow into something I love. But it isn’t, at least not yet.

(x-posted to dreamwidth)

#leverage #leverage redemption #spoilers #leverage spoilers #meta #review #long post

39 notes · View notes

love-geeky-fangirl · 3 years

Text

Ranking every teen drama I've watched

I have gotten really into teen dramas lately, because it's quarantine I can't go out and have fun, but I can still watch other people my age going out and having fun and doing things I don't get to do. Anyway I haven't seen all teen dramas, I was never interested in supernatural ones, so you won't find Vampire Diaries and similar shows on this list.

From worst to best:

The Secret Life of the American Teenager

I will never understand how this show ran for five seasons. It will forever remain a mystery to me. This show is so bad it's good. The writing resembles a wattpad story, Amy's pregnancy is inconsistent (like how was she five months pregnant for like five or six episodes, aren't the episodes supposed to be set a week apart?), the acting is bad (that is not to say that Molly Ringwald or Shailene Woodley are bad actresses, obviously they're not, I'm talking about Amy's sister that has the same facial expression no matter what her mood is supposed to be), some of the views this show expresses are very old-fashioned and damaging (the madonna-whore binary, the fact that they can't even utter the word abortion) and every single male character on this show is a creep and a cheater. I can't believe I watched like thirteen episodes of this. I will never get that time back.

Weirdest moment: "I'm a whore!" "Well, you're my whore." (Was this supposed to be romantic??)

Best moment: none

Glee

This is going to be unpopular and don't get me wrong, I like Glee, but I feel like the writers put much more thought into the musical numbers than the storylines. Again, Quinn's pregnancy is inconsistent (but I'm starting to think TV shows are always inconsistent about pregnancies), the characters don't look like they're in high school at all, the cheerleaders wear their uniforms 24/7 for no reason (Quinn even wore it to her sonogram, like seriously?) the whole celibacy club thing is weird and Mr Schue is a terrible teacher. However, the visuals and the musical numbers are great, Sue Sylvester is iconic (albeit also a terrible teacher) and some of the scenes are really emotional (Kurt singing I Wanna Hold Your Hand made my sister cry) so overall, it's pretty good.

Weirdest moment: Finn praying to grilled cheese (what??)

Best moment: Quinn giving birth to Bohemian Rhapsody, Kurt singing I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Dawson's Creek

I LOVE their 90s' outfits and Joey and Pacey are really otp material, but I just can't stand Dawson! He got mad that Joey didn't tell him about his mother's affair, as if it was her place to get involved. She was 15! It's understandible she didn't want to get tangled into that mess. He also slut-shamed Jen in a really gross way. He literally stopped talking to her for a day when he found out she isn't a virgin. Why are both Joey and Jen into this guy?? This would've been a much better show if it was called Joey's Creek or Pacey's Creek.

Weirdest moment: the way Dawson's mom confessed her affair to her husband. I don't think any irl human would use this choice of words. Also that scene where Dawson's father was teaching him how to kiss while Joey was watching. Cringe.

Best moment: any time Joey and Pacey are bickering. My shipper heart!

Pretty Little Liars

I loved the book version of this, but the TV version seems way too dramatic. First of all, they romanticized Aria and Ezra's relationship (ewww) and made the whole thing seem much more overdramatic. I don't know how to explain it, I mean the books are also dramatic but the TV show somehow took it to a whole new level. None of the girls look like they're in high school, but I love the way they dress and do their makeup. It's almost as though the writers put more thought into their outfits than storylines. I still loved watching it until Netflix took it off, though.

Weirdest moment: Spencer somehow trying to block A's number from her laptop in the middle of a park and then being confused that it didn't work. Weren't you supposed to be the smart one, Spencer?

Best moment: Haleb in the shower, hiding from Hanna's mom.

Skins

This is a classic. Effy is iconic (I somehow heard about her even before watching Skins) and the musical number at the end of season 1 was out of nowhere but still somehow fit perfectly into the story. I also give this show point for being one of the few TV shows where teen characters are actually played by real life teens. They look their age, talk their age (no "I reject reality" or other cringy lines like that) and aren't unrealistically perfect like characters from American teen dramas tend to be. They look like people you might actually meet in high school. However the show loses points for all the continuity errors (are 8 episodes supposed to be the whole school year??) and the number of unneccessary death/tragic accidents. It seemed kind of over-the-top and unneccessarily dark and brutal at times.

Weirdest moment: Chris's graphic death

Best moment: Wild World

Euphoria

The Gen Z American version of Skins, but with better visuals. Much better. I loved the aesthetic, the colors, the lighting and glitter. Zendaya's a great actress and I give this show points for casting an actual trans actress in the role of Jules. However I find it weird that all guys on this show are complete irredeemable assholes (except of Jules's dad and Ethan that is). Are we supposed to just root for the girls and not the guys? Also I find it hard to believe that any of these characters are actually 16/17. They have sex all the time (yeah teenagers have sex sometimes but on this show they treated Kat as some kind of a chaste nun for being a virgin at 16) and have seemingly no rules and no curfew. It would've been much more believable if they were in college.

Weirdest moment: Nate breaking into Tyler's house, beating him up and then taking a shower. The audacity this guy has!

Best moment: "You did this to me!" and Rue having an anxiety attack on the stage in theater class

Gossip Girl

I know this is also an unpopular opinion, because many claim Gossip Girl is the best teen drama ever, but for me it just got way too soapy as the seasons went on. The first two seasons were believable, even though they didn't really look like they were in high school, but after that it was just more and more weird plot points. I will give this show points for the fashion (I mean Blair's headbands and school uniform inspired a fashion line), the acting ("I killed someone"- iconic) and the choice of background music (Nate and Serena kissing to Paparazzi, Thanksgiving with Watcha Say). Despite the wild twists and turns of events, I just had to keep watching because this show had me hooked.

Weirdest moment: Bart Bass somehow flying off the building for no reason (seriously, what he did there had no logical explanation and defied laws of physics), Dan being Gossip Girl, Bart faking his death and returning more evil than before, Serena becoming Gossip Girl, the affidavit, everyone randomly stopping going to college... there are so many but Bart takes the cake I guess

Best moment: the Thanksgiving flashbacks from season 1, Dan placing a plastic crown on Blair's head

Freaks and Geeks

This is one of the few shows where high school is depicted realistically. It's not all glitter and parties and not everyone has sex and does drugs. Okay, I admit, the bullying was over the top and it was weird how no adults cared but other than that, it was pretty spot-on. It was emotional without being too dramatic and far-fetched and also had funny moments. Yes some of the characters may have been stereotypes but at least the show seemed self-aware of that. It's truly a shame we only got 18 episodes of this show, while The Secret Life of the American Teenager somehow got five seasons??? I don't get it.

Weirdest moment: when Cindy suddenly got super mean once she started dating Sam

Best moment: Daniel showing up at Kim's doorstep, Sam breaking down in tears in the end of 'Garage Door'

Gilmore Girls

I'm not sure this one counts as a teen drama, maybe it's more of a dramedy but I'm still including it here. It's funny, the dialogue is witty and full of obscure pop-culture references and the relationships between generations complex. Same as with Freaks and Geeks, the portrayal of high school is pretty realistic. Characters are shown studying and taking tests and not just partying all the time. However the show loses points for getting weirdly soapy in the 7th season. The dialogue wasn't as good and the camera angles were soap opera like and the storylines weren't very good either. You could really tell the show changed show-runners. The earlier seasons are the best. It's hard to explain but something about them feels cozy like a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate on a rainy day.

Weirdest moment: Lorelai marrying Chris and then making the whole "you're the man I want to want" speech, Lorelai defending and loving Dean for no reason

Best moment: Rory's graduation speech, Rory yelling at Chris and calling him out for not having been there for her, Then She Appeared, "Yes Emily, you may go first"... there are so many!

#teen dramas #the secret life of the american teenager #glee #dawson's creek #pll #skins #euphoria #gossip girl #freaks and geeks #gilmore girls #i would've included the oc but i havent seen enough of it yet

84 notes · View notes

ot3-watch · 3 years

Text

Episode 2: The Homecoming Job

How does he make seven dollars a day that doesn’t seem remotely accurate

WHAT DO THEY GOTTA DO MAN? WhAT DO THEY HAVE TO DO?

This was so skeevy. DId he get shot up by accident? Did the Castleman guys just start shooting? Like what?

This poor Doctor. She’s so great, but she really should not have said “that’s not the way the world works.” That seems like such a challenge.

This is what I mean about the continuity confusion! Why would Hardison have to call them if Leverage was set up at the end of the last episode????

Sophie’s acting in the commercial audition wasn’t terrible. Weird for an audition, but not terrible.

Eliot’s so unfazed by having a gun pointed at him, I love it.

You don’t even SEE Parker I can’t

I don’t like stuff. I like MONEY

“I’m not gonna tell a couple of known thieves what i did with a multi million dollar payout” you so smart eliot

ARE WE NOT GONNA MENTION THAT HARDISON IS UBER ARTISTICALLY TALENTED

Parker’s so excited by mundane office stuff it’s adorable

DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN ABOUT IT NOT SEEMING LIKE ENOUGH MONEY FOR THIS WHOLE SETUP?

Eliot’s face at the sports. Hardison building stuff for him from day 1 it’s adorable

IT’S A VERY DISTINCTIVE SOUND!!! I LOVE IT!! SO IT BEGINS

I love how it all starts out so simple, just get the money it’s fine, and then they always end up like… toppling the entire corrupt system.

Where did Parker’s shower cap go in later episodes? Like… she’s a thief. The need for a leather shower cap likely would not disappear…

SOPHIE’S DRESS I LOVE IT

...It disgusts me that they can buy congressmen AND IT”S NOT EVEN ILLEGAL!!!

LIKE I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHY LOBBYING AND LARGE SUM CAMPAIGN DONATIONS ARE LEGAL

How does Eliot just… know what words have the necessary sounds?? How is he so smart? HOW IS THIS MAN A THING I’M IN LOVE

“Oh, there they are. Really loud too” I love her in this episode

I think Castleman is one of the WORST groups they’ve gone up against. Not in terms of like, bad for TV, but just in terms of them being super evil. The stolen money, the attempted murder, and things always feel even more disgusting when you include army contracters.

OH WAIT I UNDERSTAND WHY HE WAS SHOT I REMEMBER OKAY IT MAKES SENSE IT’S FINE

Did… Did Perry just grope Sophie? Are we going to just ignore that?

So, do docs and nurses really wear crocs that much? I thought good supportive sneakers would be more common

AVENGING ELIOT TO THE RESCUE!!

… where did nate just randomly find a defibrillator.

IT’S A VERY DISTINCTIVE STYLE

“...I actually hurt people… so…”

I FUCKING LOVE ELIOT SPENCER

I’m sorry, I doubt you’re reading these posts for endless heart eyes for eliot, but THAT’S JUST HOW I FEEL

SPEAKING OF HOW DOES HE LOOK SO HOT IN A DISHEVELED WHITE BUTTON DOWN

Sophie already trying to stop Nate’s drinking. Why did they just… forget to address it later? Like when he falls off the wagon in S2, no one cares anymore.

HOW IS SOPHIE SO PRETTY

Nate’s accent is terrible. Why is all their accent work terrible? WHAT DIALECT IS THAT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE

“Those are the same signs your wife is cheating on you” Or… just the signs that someone is trying to hide something from you? Like in general??

I always feel bad about the congressman’s cancelled wood panels until i remember how he got them and the lives at stake so he can have a nice house. It’s so icky

This whole law thing is so clever but is that really how it works?

I love that Hardison is already in love with Parker. I love it.

...The only difference between Sophie and a politician is Sophie doesn’t have the authority but makes up for it with having a moral code.

“I’m sorry it’s too far away for you to punch I’m sure that really frustrates you” I fucking LOVE HIM

What’s a better ship? The OT3 or Parker/Money?

...And another IYS reference. Should I start a tally? How many episodes they mention Nate’s past with IYS or Nate’s past with Sam? How many times they show that fucking Sam clip? I’m gonna start doing that at the end I think.

“WHat is it like a creepy contest?” CUE PARKER HEART EYES I CAN’T I LOVE THEM

Is the money story real? Like did the money transfer really happen? Because it sounds like it could be real, like i wouldn’t put it past them, but i really hope its not

... So I looked it up and there’s much more money in cash per person. Nate’s full of shit. (Or the writers just got bad info but I like blaming Nate more)

Why does this security guy look like a john cena wannabe i hate it

NATE AND SOPHIE’S DiSTRACTION IS INCREDIBLE. Can you imagine if they were a real couple though, and the guard was that fucking rude to them?

ELIOT’S HAPLESS SECURITY GUARD IS SO FUKING CUTE IM DEAD

What’s a better ship, Parker/Money or Parker/Explosions

WHY IS THE CONGRESSMAN WEARING A WHOLE ASS TUXEDO???

… Knowing what I know about black men and cops… why the fuck would they have Hardison driving the truck? I’m just saying that seems like a real easy and VERY AVOIDABLE way of getting him killed.

ALTHOUGH THIS IS THE FUNNIEST HARDISON SCENE

“This is about my eth-ni-ti-city? It’s because I’m Jewish?” AS A JEW THIS MADE ME DIE LAUGHING. I COMPLETELY LOST IT THE FIRST TIME I HEARD AND IT STILL MAKES ME CRACK UP!!!!

HE’S JUST SO FUCKING FUNNY

“JUSt cause a brother likes matzah ball soup? What’s wrong with that? Sammy Davis?” I CANNOT

ELIOT IN THICK RIMMED NERD GLASSES I LOVE IT

… why did they.. Not check the container number??? I’m so confused?? WHY ARE THEY SO STUPID???

The PR stunt they’re trying to pull right now… sleazy slimy

They switched the order of the accusations… like…

“We’re gonna lead with Crap.” politicians always do

...Technically, the money is stolen? Like… I’m not gonna say they don’t deserve it? But… it’s technically stolen

ELIOT HAS SO MUCH RESPECT FOR PERRY BECAUSE HE WAS ALMOST HIM

I’M CRYING DON’T LOOK AT ME

“One more” ELIOT YOU SOFTIE

“I bought a plant” PARKER YOU SOFTIE

“What does it do?” YOU’LL FIND OUT

The cherry red tesla is so over the top i hate it. I hate sports cars though so like

OKAY SO FINAL EPISODE THOUGHTS: 7/10. Characterization was much better. They seemed like more human people. Points off for Castleman becausE as gross as it is to kill people through negligence for money, it’s so much grosser to ACTIVELY murder them for money WHILE PRETENDING TO BE A LEGITIMATE BUSINESS AND HAVE GOVERNEMNT ASSHOLES IN ON IT LIKE I’M SO FUCKING DISGUSTED. Added points for the HUMAN HEART EYES EMOJI THAT IS ELIOT SPENCER. Points off for Perry kind of assaulting sophie AND FUCKING GETTING AWAY WITH IT. Added points for Parker being adorable. THis was one of the episodes that put me on the fence about her when i wa not in love with her.

IYS count: 2/2 Sam reference count: 2/2 (for the children’s hospital donation in the beginning)

#leverage #leverage rewatch #ot3 #leverage ot3 #eliot spencer #parker #alec hardison #nathan ford #sophie devereaux #the homecoming job

48 notes · View notes

secretshinigami · 3 years

Text

An Unexpected Reencounter

Author: Daniel Funke (@danthegeek) For: @its-canon-and-im-feral Pairings/Characters: L/Light, Lawlight Ratings/Warnings: Smoking cigarettes, Slight homophobia(internalized), Slight Swearing Prompt: L and Light as renowned musicians Author’s notes: It’s the 80s Baby! L and Light reencounter each other when they are both invited to take part in the most spectacular musical event of the 20th century: Live Aid. Wordcount: 2784.

***

13th of July 1985. The day of Live Aid. L was hunched over his bathroom sink and took a deep breath. This was going to be fine. He looked into the mirror, meeting his own nervous looking expression written all over his pale face. He took another deep breath. Alright, let’s do this. L ran his finger through his messy black hair and glanced into the mirror for the last time. Baggy jeans hanging loose on his skinny frame. A black leather jacket over a white T- Shirt – his band members made him wear the leather jacket. “It’s the 80s dude, don’t you wanna look cool?” L rolled his big grey eyes that looked even darker because of the black eyeliner framing them. Yeah you look like a rock star. Strange.

L jumped when he heard his phone ringing in the hall. He hurried to pick up the call. “Hey buddy!”, a loud voice greeted L. He wanted to answer but the voice interrupted “So how excited is my favourite, favourite bass player?” L replied: “I’m fine, Eric”. “Of course you’re fine, L. It’s the biggest gig of our life. Can you even comprehend who we are gonna meet? The bands we are gonna share a stage with?” L smiled a bit at Eric’s enthusiasm. Then he frowned, remembering exactly whom he was going to share the stage with. “Yeah… I can’t comprehend, Eric.” “Well anyways buddy, we are gonna pick you up at 10 alright? Be ready. And put on some shoes, will you?” L rolled his eyes again. “Sure, Eric.”, he said and hung up. He looked down at his naked feet and sighed.

“Dylan if you don’t stop doing that—“, L said, annoyed. Dylan grinned at L and continued to spin his drumsticks around in his fingers. They were backstage now, although L did not really understand why they had to be at Wembley 5 hours early. He was mindlessly strumming around on his bass, imitating the melody of Another One Bites The Dust.

“Oi L, you think they will play that in their set?”, Nate asked. He was the lead singer and guitarist of their band. “I doubt it”, L said. “They are probably going to play more cheerful songs to animate the crowd. Like, you know, Radio Gaga or We Will Rock You.”

“Hey L, wanna bet?”, Dylan asked. He had finally stopped spinning around his drumsticks and grinned at L. “Ohhh Dylan, don’t do that”, Nate said and chuckled. “You know L has a sixth sense. You can only loose mate.”

Dylan sighed and pointed one of his drumsticks at L. “You’re right. The bastard ‘s like goddamn Sherlock Holmes.” L shrugged and continued to play on his bass guitar. “Anyways, who are you excited for, the most?”, Nate asked Dylan.

They were just as excited about Live Aid as Eric, and L had to admit that they could not be blamed for it. It was after all the biggest event that had ever been broadcasted on Television so far. A concert, that would host the most renowned musicians of the last decades. Anybody who is anybody is doing this concert.

“Okay so obviouslyMadonna”, Dylan declared, a dreamy expression in his eyes. “Obviously”, Nate repeated and cracked a smile. “And also, you know, U2”, Dylan continued. Nate nodded. In this moment, Eric joined them, as always a big smile on his face. He took a pull on his cigarette and put on a haughty expression.

“Guess where I’ve been?”, he said, looking at his three band members. Dylan rolled his eyes. “You’ve been making out with a groupie in our tour bus, am I right?” Eric blew out a wisp of smoke and laughed, obviously pleased with himself. “Anyways, what have you guys been up to?”, Eric asked and sat down with them. “We were just discussing which acts we are most excited for”, Nate said. “Oh that’s cool. Well Nate, I guess you wanna see Bowie?” “Oh Bowie is exceptional! But I’m actually more excited for KIRA’s act.”

L winced at the mention of this name but tried to remain still and unimpressed. Not one of his band members seemed to have noticed the sudden reaction of L. He stared at his bass and had clasped his fingers around it. From the outside he seemed normal, cold, a bit nervous at most. But inside, L was burning. A hot sensation burned itself through his entire body, starting from his head. He wasn’t even certain of his exact emotion. Was it rage? Embarrassment? Definitely a bit of acrimony.

“You’re right, KIRA totally rocks”, Eric agreed. “Their lead singer is so cool…”

“Quite literally”, Nate said. “I once met him backstage briefly, after a concert. I tell you, if looks could kill – his eyes have this…glistening glare.” “Oh come on, Nate. He just one of those guys who don’t wanna bother with anyone. You almost make him sound like he is evil or something. Eric and Dylan laughed.

L had followed the conversation, still feeling that storm of emotions inside him. He fetched a pack of anxiety pills out of his jeans pockets and took a couple. “Yo L, you alright mate?”, Nate asked. He looked at L a bit worried. “I’m just a bit nervous, it’s nothing. It’s still some time until sound check right?”, L asked and tried to sound casual.

“Yeah it’s like one and a half hours left”, Dylan said. “Alright.” L put his bass in its case and stood up. “Does anyone mind if I take a look around? I think I really need to stretch my legs out a little bit.” “Sure, go ahead. But please, please be on time for the sound check, yeah?”, Eric urged. “I will, don’t worry.” L tried to smile, although he wasn’t sure if he managed to make it seem genuine. Then he took off.

Light. Light Yagami. L could pull out his hair thinking about him. He leaned against the back door of the stadium and took a deep pull from his cigarette. If I were to meet this asshole ever again… He clenched his fist and tried to calm down. Somebody knocked against the door he was leaning at. L was startled and jumped back. The door opened and a young man looked at L, curiously.

“Do you mind?”, he asked and lit up a cigarette. “No, it’s alright”, L mumbled. He was not sure if he had seen this guy before. He had blond hair at shoulder length, wore a black blazer and pants. L noticed that he had been staring at the guy and quickly looked at the ground. “It’s alright, you don’t have to know me”, the guy chuckled. He offered his hand and L shook it. “I’m Deezer Dwight”, he introduced himself. “I’m L”, L said, smiling nervously. “Oh right, you’re with The Investigators, right? I gotta tell you I think it’s kind of a bummer that you aren’t gonna collaborate with The Police.” He grinned about his own joke. “Yeah, we really missed a chance there”, L said. “I’m sorry Deezer, I think I should know which band you belong to, but I haven’t seen you before.”

“That’s alright, I’m new. I just replaced the drummer of KIRA.”

Shivers were running down L’s spine. He threw his cigarette to the ground and put it out with his shoe. For once he was glad that he was not running around barefoot. “What happened to the old one”, L asked, again trying to sound casual. Deezer shrugged and sighed.

“Our lead singer didn’t get along with him anymore. He is…complicated sometimes.” “So what your lead singer says, goes?”, L inquired. “You know, Light… he has no sense of humour. He can be very cold. It’s not easy to work with him sometimes.” “I heard he could be a bit…ruthless sometimes.” Deezer laughed and lit on another cigarette. “That’s a nice way to put it. You should hear his real spicy stories. I swear you wouldn’t believe half of it.” L was intrigued. He knew at least one of these spicy stories really well. “Try me”, L said, trying to sound relaxed.

“Well some of the stories are more rumours…”, Deezer seemingly enjoyed sharing stories like this and his eyes lit up. “What I know for sure is that half of his money comes from people he sued for defamation of character. It was always about some affair he had, affairs that he denied happened. But I would put my both my hands in the fire, right here and right now that every one of these incidents happened and Light was just caring about his reputation too much. So he would threaten to press charges against those who would try to contact him after their…rendezvouses or whatever.”

L gulped and tried to process this information. “That’s… pretty messed up”, was all L could respond. But Deezer didn’t seem to mind his poor conversation skills. “Yeah, honestly it is. And I don’t even get why he cares so much what people think about him. So he does it with women and men, it’s the 80s for god’s sake. Elton does it, Freddie Mercury does it, I’m pretty sure Bowie is also in their club… like it’s alright to be… queer or whatever when you’re a rock star, you get me?” L nodded and looked at Deezer. He really did not seem to mind nor understand the fuzz about it.

“So you think Light Yagami is gay”, L asked Deezer, shoving his hands deep down his pockets. “No man he is just getting at it with everyone he finds attractive. I swear he is like all night out, every night, having someone sleeping over who then sneaks out at the break of dawn.” “Mhh.” L pressed his lips together and looked down at his feet. Well if that doesn’t feel all too familiar to you.

Suddenly Deezer jumped and they booth looked up as they heard an imperious voice calling Deezer’s name. “Oh man…”, he sighed.

“Seriously, how long is this smoke break going to take? Do you realize that we are on stage at Live Aid in two hours? Can’t I expect a little more reliability from my band members?”

Deezer and L both froze at that all too familiar voice, but because of very different reasons. “Sorry man”, Deezer whispered and threw his cigarette butt on the ground. I gotta go. It was nice meeting you! See you later maybe, good luck for your set.” He patted L’s shoulder and hurried through the backdoor.

L took his hands out of his pockets and stretched his arms above his head. Maybe it was time to go back to his band members as well. He reached for the doorknob, when once again someone tried to open the door from the opposite side. L took a step back and the door flung open.

L’s face turned white as he saw that he had just ran right into Light Yagami.

A couple seconds, nobody spoke or moved. Light looked at L, eyebrows raised. L couldn’t even determine whether Light recognized him or was just surprised to meet someone out here. He didn’t look embarrassed or guilty. L was still very pale and his big eyes stared at Light’s face.

He probably doesn’t even remember me. If he really has someone new every other night, how should he know who I was?

Light cleared his voice. He closed the door and leaned against the doorframe. “It’s you”, he said calmly. “Oh. So you do remember me”, L replied coldly. “I do. How could I forget that pretty face of yours?” Light smiled.

L pressed his lips together and took one step forward. “Don’t you dare, Light Yamagi. You know exactly what you did to me.” L felt the rage building up inside him. The humiliation.

Never call me again. I’m not a “fairy” like you. Those were his words.

“Listen, L. I’m really sorry. I was a jerk back then. But I swear, I’ve changed.” “I don’t believe you”, L simply said and came even nearer onto Light. He stared at his face, holding his breath, mesmerized by his appearance. Light Yagami was beautiful. His skin was light and flawless. His brown hair framed his handsome defined face. Light brown eyes were looking at him. He wore an open jacket with nothing underneath and white leather pants. Light kept a straight face, only looking at L without retreating. “Don’t believe me, then”, Light said calmly. The corners of his mouth twitched a little.

“It’s all just a big game for you, isn’t it Light?”, L said and glared at him. “You just like to play with people, pretend they’re something special, pretend you actually feel something for them when in reality you are not even capable of real feelings. So you push everyone away and stomp on their hearts.”

L had got himself into a rage and was breathing heavily. Light didn’t respond for a couple seconds, but he didn’t smile anymore. “Listen, L… I know I’m messed up. But you have to understand that I can’t take the risk of ruining my reputation. I had to threaten you to keep quiet about what we had. I really liked you, you know. But my career is everything to me.”

L looked at him, frowning. Light Yagami lies as soon as he opens his sweet mouth. As if that cheap apology could fool me. As much as L wanted to believe him, he could not help to still suspect him of being a notorious liar. He wanted to believe him so much. Wanted to believe he had changed.

“Will you forgive me L?”, Light asked softly and raised his hand to gently stroke across his cheek.

L felt a burning sensation rising up inside him again, only this time it was not fuelled by rage or anger. It was pure desire that poured through his body. “I–“, L stuttered and couldn’t close his mouth, “I…don’t know…” L was completely entranced by Light’s flawless features, his hot breath that he could now feel on his skin, his glowing eyes looking at L in a way that made him feel weak in his knees.

“What is it, L?”, Light asked smiling. L knew that Light was winning. He knew that Light was already in triumph, knowing that L couldn’t resist him no matter how hard he tried. L took a deep breath. “I don’t think I will…forgive you”, L breathed and took Light’s hand to put it away from his face. When he touched Light’s skin, it was like he was struck by lightning, like an electrical shock flashed right through him. He immediately let go of Light’s hand, but he couldn’t stop staring at him.

“That’s…a shame”, Light said in a low voice and casted down his eyes.

L was trembling. He was fighting every fibre in his body, because all he wanted was to diminish every distance between him and Light, to press his body against Light’s. He hesitantly took Light’s hand again and felt this overwhelming electrical sensation again. When he did that, Light looked up and smiled. At this moment, L knew that he had inevitably subjected himself to him. And Light knew that as well. He smiled, smugly, his eyes glistening with the certainty of victory.

He grabbed L by his waist and spun him around so L was pressed against the back door. He rested his hand next to L’s shoulder, pressing it against the doorframe. With the other hand, he slowly caressed L’s face. He went on to fondle with his hair and then he brought his mouth very close to L’s ear and whispered.

“Are you sure, that you don’t want to forgive me?”

L let out a moan, almost whimpering. He grabbed Light’s face and looked him in the eyes. He drew Light’s face even closer and then pressed his lips onto his own. Light sighed and buried his hands into L’s hair, messing it up even more and pulling on it as to elicit another moan. L could not believe how he could have forgot about the sweet taste of Light’s lips, the feeling of his body against his own, the irresistible smell he emanated. L never wanted to end this kiss but he needed to catch his breath. He gently pulled Light away from his face, breathing heavily and gazing at Light with his big grey eyes. Light smiled again, his lips red and slightly swollen from the kiss.

“I still don’t forgive you”, L whispered and smiled back at him.

#fanfiction #death note #submission #pairings: lawlight #ratings: teen #cw: smoking #cw: drugs #itscanonandimferal #danthegeek #Mello's Birthday Mayhem 2020

25 notes · View notes

leverage-commentary · 4 years

Text

Leverage Season 2, Episode 6, The Top Hat Job, Audio Commentary Transcript

Dean: Hello I’m Dean Devlin, Executive Producer.

Christine: I’m Christine Boylan, one of the writers.

Peter: Peter O’Fallon, Director.

John: John Rogers, Executive Producer.

Scott: Scott Veach, the other writer.

Chris: Chris Downey, Executive Producer. And this is the Top Hat Job.

John: See, I was hoping we’d pretend that there were like twelve more people [All Laugh] in this, like, baffling list. Uh, the Top Hat Job was born actually of two things. One, Scott Veach, who’s a name you haven’t heard before on the show, came in as a freelancer to pitch a magician show. And at the same time, Tim Hutton had said that he would like to play a magician.

[Chris and Christine Laugh]

John: And Tim makes very few requests of us, so it seemed like not a bad idea. The question is, of course, well, how would you go about doing this? Um either Christine or Scott, can you tell me where we got the villain from?

Christine: Uh... where did- where did we get the villain from?

John: I think it was-

Christine: Uh, was a-

Scott: Oh, yeah.

Christine: -magazine article. Again, I believe Albert Kim brought that into the room-

John: Yes.

Christine: -a lot of these, this season we all had a hand in everything and I love that. Albert brought in this article about a foods company that was knowingly putting out salmonella-laced meals, frozen meals on the market and we were just really upset.

John: As a matter of fact, the really ridiculous villainous thing we have this guy say, which is, ‘You’re supposed to cook it to this temperature. It’s on the package; that’s why we’re not liable’ is something that company actually said-

Christine: Completely true.

John: Without mentioning the fact that even in their laboratories, they could never get it that hot.

[All Chuckle]

John: So these guys, the real life villains, are far worse than the enormously cartoonish evil guys we have in this show.

Christine: Absolutely.

John: And now, who’s this actress?

Chris: This is, uh, Jennifer, uh… Skyler.

John: Chris always has the cast list, thats-

Chris: Yes, I got my cast list right here. This is Jennifer Skyler, she’s a local Portland actress, and tried out and was fantastic.

Peter: She did a great job.

John: Now Peter, this, y’know, I think this is another one we really cast almost entirely out of Portland, right?

Peter: All but the bad guy. I think the bad guy-

Chris: I think so, yeah. I think-

Dean: Yeah, yeah.

John: What was it like working with, like, the Portland humans, Peter?

Peter: Overall it was pretty good. We had a little bit of uh, well, you know, and it turned out very well, thank you.

[All Laugh]

John: We got a state grant on the line here, Peter, so don’t screw this up for us, man.

Peter: No, she was- she was great, she was uh, she did a really good job. The concept was to try to add as much pressure to her so that you’d have compassion for her, and as you can see right where we are right now, she does a very good job of it.

John: And during the uh, during the... um, horrible credit sequence we all hate.

[Christine Laughs]

John: And I can say that, ‘cause it’s the DVD, they’ve already bought it.

Peter: Saga sell.

[All Laugh]

John: Yeah, it’s the saga sell. That’s actually, you know Pete, it’s the first time somebody’s brought up the phrase ‘saga sell’. Uh, who wants to define the ‘saga sell’ for the nice folks?

Peter: That was uh, I did the show The Riches and that was the bane of our existence, was trying to sell what the show is about, that’s what the saga sell-

John: In thirty seconds you have to remind new viewers what the show is about, and annoy old viewers.

Christine: Wow.

John: And now, why is this scientist drinking? Someone tell me that.

Christine: Because her last name is Jameson.

[All Laugh]

Christine: You’re welcome.

Chris: I believe that was your addition to the- to the character, wasn’t it? I mean-

Christine: I do like naming characters, yes.

Chris: She was initially known as ‘plucky research girl’, I believe?

John: Science girl. Plucky science girl.

Christine: Many variations on that.

Chris: And then a lot of the- there was a big cry out in the development of the story: “more plucky science girl!” And I think Christine, you added the little wrinkle that she likes to— likes to drink a few.

Christine: She does like to drink a few. I’m a big fan of uh—

Peter: Drink a lot.

Christine: Yeah, she does like to drink a lot. Um, I’m a big fan of victims who like to get involved and crusade a little bit and we hadn’t had one in a while, so getting her involved was a lot of fun.

John: It’s always tricky, because the victim, in theory, you don’t want to endanger these innocent people who’ve always been in some sort of danger, but if you don’t check in with them or don’t make them present in the story, they disappear.

Christine: But she’s plucky, has no discernible friends or family, and is a drunk, [All Laugh] so I think it’s okay that we go ahead and, you know, put her in danger.

Peter: And we decided on the set to have her play that— she’s playing really, uh, she really enjoys Tim’s company; would like to be with Tim a lot more than she’s letting on.

John: Well, you know, Tim’s a dreamy guy, right?

Christine: He is.

John: You know, when I use his photo and pretend to be him on the internet, I do very well.

[All Laugh]

Scott: I do that same thing!

John: Yeah, exactly, there’s a lot of guys pretending to be Tim Hutton on the internet, so if you ever get something dirty from Tim Hutton on the internet, it might not be him.

[All Laugh]

Christine: The actual Tim Hutton [unintelligible].

Chris: Interesting thing in his little reaction here. When I was watching this, it really, it took me back to Ordinary People because, remember him playing flustered, in Ordinary People, around the girl?

John: Yeah.

Chris: It’s very much, you see it on his face right here.

Peter: Little nervous.

Chris: It’s kinda right there-

Christine: Yeah, there’s an ‘aw shucks’ quality to it. I love it.

John: And it was interesting because, trying to get the Sophie character, trying to reconcile like what was going on here, was the understanding that they had screwed up whatever they’d kind of had first season. And so this is the phase where, you know, even if Sophie doesn’t necessarily want to see Nate off with somebody else, she knows he has to at least have some sort of human relationship—

Christine: Mhm.

John: — that this isolation that he’s engaged himself in will eventually, you know, isn’t healthy, and it is, as a matter of fact, what eventually destroys him over the course of the second season.

Christine: Mhm. Spoiler. [Laughs]

Peter: And she’s also trying to uh—

John: I think people know it’s not ending well. [Christine Laughs]

Peter: And she’s trying to break his balls a little by leaving him there alone.

John: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And that’s great, that’s— this take goes forever.

Timestamp: [5:00]

Christine: Yeah, he has this nice uncomfortable beat.

John: And still—

[All Laugh]

Scott: Ooooooh…

Peter: Well… so… uh.

Christine: Been on that date.

[All Laugh]

Peter: What about them Yankees? How ‘bout those Yankees? [More Laughter] So, you gonna make a move there, son? [laughter continues]

John: So—

Peter: No, I’m not.

John: No, no. Aaand thank you, sir.

Christine:And, leave the bottle.

John: Another drink.

Chris: One more drink.

[All Laugh]

John: Yeah she’s gonna be very lonely, looking like that, drunk, in a bar in Boston. She’s not gonna do well. Uh, this is actually interesting. Now, Scott, you wrote a big chunk of this sequence, if I remember correctly. This is interesting, this is not something we usually see on the show; uh, why don’t you tell us about it?

Scott: You mean where, where they’re failing?

John: Yes. But Scott—

Scott: They never fail!

John: Scott came in and made the characters you love suck. Now Scott, explain why you did that.

Scott: [Laughs] Uh, yeah. No, but it was, you know, I think it was a, it was a group idea. But it was- the idea was it’d be really fun to see them get overconfident, and to see what happens when, you know; it’s usually, they’re so good at everything that they do, what happens when that sort of falls apart and how do they react? And so we thought it’d be really fun to see what that looks like.

John: How did you— how many takes to get him to balance the damn ball on his forehead?

Peter: We stuck it to his head. [John laughs]

Christine: Aww, that’s adorable.

Scott: There’s some, there’s some tape under there.

Peter: The other one too, is a- the- the bandana on his head is covering a scar—

Christine: Oh, yes, he is.

John: Oh, this was this episode.

Peter: — that was left because, in one of the fights he got caught and got stitches.

Chris: We’ll get to that; that’s a good story there.

Christine: This is the one, yeah.

Peter: So we added the scarf to cover the stitches.

John: Yeah, and it’s also, it’s interesting because it is- it is something they’re doing, and you know, when he says after Tim walks in, you know, there’s no blueprint fairy. The idea is, this scene, all this act here, is what happens in act zero of every other show. Like in every other show, they’re doing this, they’re showing up as pizza guys, they’re getting sketches of buildings and stuff, we just never bother to see it because this time they, they—

Dean: Actually this particular scene here was not actually, was not in the episode—

Scott: Oh, that’s right.

Dean: — when we came in, when we came in short, [All Laugh] we added this scene, and one of the things I’m so proud about is that it seamlessly goes into this scene, which was part of the show—

Chris: That I could not believe.

Dean: And it actually ended up adding a very nice-

John: The other side of the door, that first side of the door was shot how many months after the- this side of the door?

Dean: About a month.

Scott: Probably a month, it was probably about a month. And see if you can track, uh, Gina’s pregnancy there.

[All Laugh]

Scott: It’s an interesting thing.

John: Yeah, it’s really— you’re kind of in a medium-close there. There she’s okay.

Christine: She’s glowing, she’s gorgeous.

John: She is glowing.

Peter: We decided to give Tim a lot of movement here because the concept is, he knows it’s all gonna go bad—

John: Yeah.

Peter: — they don’t.

Scott: He’s convinced it’s gonna go bad; he’s gonna sit down and wait.

John: Well, in the research, it was a little stunning. When we started investigating these food companies, because, you know, in the show it’s always, how do you have a threat? And uh, the scale— the amount of money that these guys throw around, is truly boggling, and the depths to which they will go to cover up their maleficence is uh, it’s… they’re not putting people in shallow graves, but they’re ruining people’s lives.

Peter: Did you notice his name?

John: What’s that?

Peter & Christine: Oleg.

John: Oleg, why?

Peter: I dunno.

[All Laugh]

Christine: Damn sexy name.

Scott: Yeah, I don’t think that was in the script.

John: I like that it’s “Super Hot Pizza”, because you wouldn’t want to buy another kind.

Dean: But I also notice that this- this entire sequence, the camera never stops moving, and it— just love the way you use the camera in this sequence.

Peter: Try to keep the heat going on, the pressure.

John: Now when you’re planning on shooting something that cross cuts between two to three situations, I mean, you know, are you trying to match actual camera left-to-right movement? Or do you just keep it in motion and assume that when you’re cutting it that’s gonna play?

Peter: I try to match it, right-to-left. You know, the idea was that Tim’s static, and he’s just sitting there doing, uh, you know, he’s confident about what’s going on while the rest of them are panicking.

John: He’s Reed Richards back there, he knows.

Scott: It’s like his version of TV, to watch this.

Peter: Exactly.

John: Nice fight, by the way.

Scott: By the way, this was literally maybe twelve hours after he’d gotten stitched up, he did this fight.

Peter: If that, yeah.

Christine: He is a superhero, seriously.

Peter: He takes it very seriously.

John: I always say, shit kicker is genetic.

Dean: And I think that’s our first ‘in the nuts’ shot of the series.

John: I think it is.

Peter: I like to do those nut shots.

Christine: Nice.

John: That was in your contract.

Dean: And I love the whole Parker thing here, this whole Parker exchange here was just inspired.

John: Yes, her idea of witty banter just doesn’t quite cut it.

[All Laugh]

John: But yeah, neither one really gets it.

Christine: Who put Parker in the glasses? A+. She looks great.

John: Thanks for bringing the lesbian vibe tonight, Christine.

Christine: You know, I’m here, you know, I’m representing all kinds of people.

Chris: Here’s another shot.

John: Nice green screen. Have you not seen that nice green screen? Nice green screen shot. Um yeah, there’s a lot of green screen in this one actually, just because there’s a lot of Parker hanging places.

Dean: I love this Aldis ending here, trying to, like, put a good spin on it.

[All Laugh]

Peter: And Aldis was quite at adding little quips here and there, and the fun stuff.

John: Yeah, a lot of— by this point, these actors know these characters well enough that, you know, a lot of times you’re just trying to get out of their way when they’re on pace.

Peter: This was a note that Chris gave me, which I loved, which is that they’re, like, children.

Timestamp: [10:00]

Chris: They’re siblings.

Peter: And Tim’s the father.

Chris: And Dean, you were here for this, I believe—

Dean: I was here for the poking.

Chris: And I think that I gotta give you credit for kinda, getting the whole poking thing. You know, ‘Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.’

Dean: Yeah, we just wanted to get that vibe of ‘Daaad.’

[All Laugh]

Peter: ‘He’s bugging me, stop it!’

John: The ice thing we actually established early in the season; the idea that they’re constantly raiding Nate’s apartment for the tools- his life has turned upside down, at some point, three AM, he will wake up and they will be in his apartment, like, bandaging themselves up with his stuff.

Christine: Eating cereal.

John: Yes, eating cereal. He has not had ice for a drink in, like, four months; it’s all for Eliot’s bruises.

Scott: ‘She’s poking me!’

[All Laugh]

Peter: ‘Leave me alone, dad.’

Dean: Love it.

John: Now, this whole section where they introduce how we get the information because these guys couldn’t get in, uh, Erik with a ‘k’.

Christine: Always evil.

Peter: I love the reaction with the ‘k’, too, here, that she’s uh, ‘I didn’t know that.’

[All Laugh]

Dean: And she goes, ‘Everyone knows that.’ [All Laugh] And he’s like, ‘What the fuck?‘

Christine: I got a lot of weird Facebook messages after this aired, by the way, from Eriks with ‘k’s.

John: You actually get all three character’s attitudes flawlessly there, which is: Parker just lives in a slightly different world, it’s about ten degrees off of everyone else; and Sophie treats her like its just, oh, I didn’t know it was that way in your world; while Nate, Nate is the only sane man in an insane world.

Chris: Here, look at this, we gotta give credit to Apollo Robbins, here. Apollo gave us [unintelligible].

Dean: I love this camera work, I love this idea of attaching the camera to the packet.

John: What is it? Is it just a button cam, or…?

Peter: Eh, we just attached the camera with a c-stand onto the box itself.

John: Oh cool. Um, that whole trojan horse thing comes from Apollo Robbins.

Chris: Apollo Robbins, our consultant, gives us all kinds of, you know-

Peter: And you will see a short little cameo of him in the back in one of the scenes.

John: Oh cool!

Peter: We’ll point him out.

Chris: We’ll talk more about him later.

[All Laugh]

Peter: Oh that was a great idea. Speedos are always good.

John: But there’s a hacker conference in vegas called DefCon every year, and that year, the trojan bluetooth cellphone happened to be the big thing of that year, so we ganked that. Um, you know, we really should, like McGuyver, leave out one crucial element, because we have taught people to do fairly horrible things on this show, and only later do we realize, oh we…we taught them exactly how to do that.

[All Laugh]

John: We should have rethought that.

Dean: Oops.

John: And then they’re talking about the horrible corporate meeting.

Chris: I think that was- Albert Kim, who worked at Time Warner and their magazines for many years, introduced us to the state of the company meeting, where they often have magicians. That was, kind of, what brought the whole episode together.

John: And remember, I had done a bunch of those, and that’s why as soon as Albert said that, I was like oh god, I actually did one of these shows when they announced layoffs right before I went on.

Christine: That was a great day in their world.

Peter: Well that’s a tough room.

Chris: Because folks, surprisingly, to do a show - a heist/con show involving a magician, is not the easiest thing in the world.

[All Laugh]

John: No, really, oddly enough.

Chris: When that’s your mandate…

John: Yeah, we don’t usually start backwards like that, but you know what, this actually turned out pretty coherent, considering.

Dean: I love this whole magic bit here, I think this was inspired.

Christine: This kid’s great.

John: This guy is so- now why are they dressed like fif- by the way, Parker and Hardison here are either, a) dressed like a fifties’ couple or b) like the couple from Thriller, from the horror movie Thriller.

Christine: I thought b), I thought we were going for that-

Dean: They are college kids.

John: They’re college kids, is that how the flappers are dressing now?

Chris: This is Tim Gouran as Chronos.

John: [wheezing] Chronos… Oh the nipple rings are horrifying.

Christine: They’re fantastic.

Peter: The guy does- the guy’s channelling...what’s his name?

All: Chris Angel.

Peter: The way he does the movement, and all of that, we asked him to just study him and go wild with it.

Christine: I remember his audition tape; made me laugh.

Peter: I love that she’s reluctant to go up to the- first she goes, ‘Oh no no no, I don’t wanna go-’

Christine: ‘No, I don’t like magic-’

John: God, he’s so cheesy- oh man, and then him showing her exact- and that’s the- it’s interesting that the entire show’s, kind of, about trade secrets. Because you know, the whole idea is the advantage these characters have is, they know how these tricks work, which is a trade secret. Wow, that’s a really creepy look.

[All Laugh]

John: “Silence!”

Scott: Oh, he was great.

John: I almost enjoy this sequence more without words. Seriously, I’m like half a Guinness in and I’m loving this.

Chris: And kudos to the assistant, giving the bored reactions.

Peter: She’s just bored out of her mind.

John: I believe that’s actually in the script, right? ‘Even his assistant doesn’t like him.’

Peter: ‘That’s my girlfriend; that’s her up there, quit looking.’

Chris: A lot of great ad libs here from them.

John: Again, this is one of those places where when it’s, you know, Aldis and Beth, you just kinda get out of their way, and you assume it’s gonna work out.

Timestamp: [15:00]

[All Laugh]

Dean: This guy is so great.

Christine: We’re all just watching him.

John: I almost want to bring him back now; now that I’m watching this again?

Dean: He’s so over the top; it’s awesome.

Christine: Can we please bring him back? He’s adorable.

Peter: And once again, kudos to our magic… what’s his name again?

Christine: Apollo.

Peter: He helped him out with all these, how they do it.

Chris: He designed the box. I mean he did so much; he added so much to this episode.

Peter: That was a mistake, and it was hilarious, you know, with the sword; she grabbed it and pulled it in, and I thought it was hilarious.

John: No, I’m actually- I’m friends with David Ackroyd who designs tricks for Penn & Teller, and the whole, sort of, the loathing for stage magicians that these guys have is hilarious. Oh, the eskimo kisses. And the rings. Yup, I think we went through a whole day of, like, looking at tricks and seeing what could malfunction in the most annoying way.

Christine: That was an odd day of YouTube clips, I’ll tell you. We went down the rabbit hole there.

John: No odder than usual, really.

Christine: No odder than usual, it’s true.

Chris: I love the way this actor dropped the character at one point, like “stop it!”

John: That’s really, that’s dark, ‘cause now I can actually- now as he runs off-

Peter: ’Is there a surgeon? Is there a surgeon?’

John: Like, with Parker actually trapped in the box still, nice. And, another innocent human destroyed in our quest for justice.

Christine: Not so innocent. Not so innocent.

John: Yeah, that’s true.

Christine: He was sexually harassing his assistant, I believe it says in the text.

Chris: Here’s George Castillo, who’s playing Dan Markland, head of security, who is our bad guy’s henchman.

John: He’s the Busey. We can say Busey, Busey is the word we use all the time-

Peter: And here’s Tim, having fun.

Christine: Oh no.

John: If you haven’t heard the first season DVDs, the Busey is based on Gary Busey’s character in Lethal Weapon.

Dean: Are those Apollo’s hands?

Chris: Those are Apollo’s hands.

John: Uh, who is the thug who brings physical violence so that the main bad guy doesn’t have to. Yes, that’s Apollo doing the close up stuff. Although Tim did a little bit of it; Tim really got into it.

Dean: Oh, he was into it.

Peter: And again, Tim handled this so well, the idea that the- they just start pushing away and go through it all- they just start pushing their way in.

John: Yeah, exactly. Well, that’s the, you know, all of heist and confidence shows are just, just keep it moving so people can’t ask questions.

Dean: And carefully placing Gina behind the box.

[All Laugh]

Peter: She’s always carefully placed, you’ll notice.

Christine: We couldn’t have laundry in this one, so we, you know.

John: What is Beth- what is Beth wearing?

Dean: This got more and more obvious as the season went on.

Peter: I’ll bet.

John: Beth is like Neil Gaiman’s Death back there.

Christine: I know, I love it. Again, A+ Parker look right here. Just, all these Parker outfits are terrific.

John: And it’s interesting, it’s really interesting because you got, everyone’s got a very distinct look; in particular I love Aldis in the suit, as the engineer, as the kind of like.. you know, you can totally see how that character lives his life. He dresses up, he goes to these shows, he’s actually based- that character’s based on a British fictional character called Jonathan Creek, which is a British mystery show about a guy who designs magic tricks. He’s not the magician, he’s the guy who designs the impossible and he solves impossible crimes, and you know, when you have five humans, coming up with a role for everyone to play, never easy. That’s why Chris is actually in the box.

Peter: Oh, this is the rabbit gag.

Christine: Oh, the rabbit. I love the camera work here.

Chris: And this is all one shot, watch, watch this.

Dean: This is a beautiful steadicam shot.

Peter: Our steadicam operator was, uh, a bit nervous when we started, but- except for this.

Dean: Oh, this is awesome; one of my favorite flashbacks.

John: Now this- And we have not done a lot of the flashes this year-

Christine: Look at their face. [All Laugh] That’s great.

Scott: That was my mom’s favorite moment.

Christine: “It’s not the same thing.“

Chris: And the rabbit’s gone.

John: That was actually written as just an anecdote, and then we hadn’t done a flash in so long, it’s like, you know what, what the hell, let’s bury a kid.

Dean: And what’s the story with the girl who played Parker? Wasn’t there a story behind that? That she didn’t get to do that part in a different episode?

Chris: I think that’s right, she got cut out earlier.

John: Yeah, she got cut from the MMA one, the flashback of Parker’s first concert. And then, so instead, we gave this one where we buried her alive, in a backyard in Vancouver, Washington.

Christine: That girl’s adorable.

Chris: Backyard? That was a public park.

[All Laugh]

Christine: Buried a girl alive in a public park.

Peter: Marc Roskin shot that, by the way.

Chris: Yes, Marc Roskin did a fantastic job shooting that.

Christine: Only on Leverage.

Chris: That’s how accommodating they are in Portland.

John: ‘Hi, uh, listen, we’re the film department. We’d like to bury a twelve year old girl alive in a public park, if you can-’

Christine: ‘Great, great, we’ll get you a brunette, we’ll get you a redhead-’

Peter: I actually had a bet with the location department, because I’ve been all over the world shooting, where you could never dig a park up. In Portland you can.

John: No, they’re very happy to have us there.

Chris: We have eminent domain powers in Portland.

[All Laugh]

John: ‘We’re here seize your home.’ ‘What?’

Scott: We’re like diplomats.

John: To be fair, we couldn’t have made this year without Portland. I mean, seriously, the locations we got?

Peter: No.

John: Oh yeah. ‘Where’s the rabbit?’ Nice running gag, by the way, I don’t believe that was in the script?

Peter: No, that was just [unintelligible].

Chris: Nah, that came up on set.

Timestamp: [20:00]

John: Nice. You didn’t actually lose the rabbit, did you?

Peter: No. No white rabbits were harmed filming this show.

John: Now, have you shot a con or heist show before?

Peter: Uh, I did The Riches.

John: The Riches, yeah. So— but that’s almost more of a character piece, than a— ‘cause they, they’re, he’s running a long con, but not—

Peter: Yeah, big tycoon, he’s lying to everyone all the time.

John: Yeah, exactly. Was there any—

Peter: Not quite this… this…

John: Yeah this is more heisty, y’know, was there any prep you did coming into this, just like looking at stuff, or, uh-? I’m always curious, because we have different directors come in, it’s a very different kind of show. It’s not like, say, ER, where it’s the hospital, there are doctors—

Peter: Everybody runs a steadicam shot all the way through.

John: Yeah, exactly.

Peter: No, actually, I just uh— I watched the, like, five shows that Dean had sent me, and in the big picture I got the idea, I mean the concept. Also, I love that Tim wanted to do the magic so badly that we ended up writing, what, four or five more pages that we shot for days on end. But it was great; it was really fun. And for me it was all movement; the whole show is about movement.

John: Yeah.

Peter: And we added a whole bunch of guards everywhere so, I wanted to have an extra pressure all the time, so every time they step around the corner there’s more security people walking around, so it appears as though—

Dean: I love this guy, who played the uh, the CFO.

Christine: Oh, yeah.

Chris: This is, uh, Jack Armstrong, another local Portland actor.

Dean: This bit was great, what was the story behind this bit?

John: I actually dropped this one in the script based on a guy who had been driving around, um, San Francisco with a RFID receiver, ganking people’s passport numbers out of their pockets. He was, like, driving around in a car, and the RFID chips were giving off enough of a signal that he could read their data as he drove by.

Peter: God.

John: So getting your car to do it was a piece of cake. I mean, getting your phone to do it at that range, eminently believable. That is one of the things about this show, is you spend an awful lot of time telling America they’re nowhere near as safe as they think they are.

[All Laugh]

Peter: This uh, this gag in the elevator, uh, the giant bar broke, and damn near took off… uh, who’s head?

John: Aldis?

Peter: Aldis, and Chris, actually. Both of them.

John: No, don’t hurt Aldis. I mean Chris, has the shit-kicker genes; he heals in like a day. Seriously he’s got some weird Wolverine stuff going on, but now, don’t bang Aldis up, man. You know, that’s weird, that happened on a pilot I shot in San Diego. They had a wire rig for two thousand pounds, had two hundred and twenty pounds of people on it, snapped, put them through like fifteen feet; dropped them right through the ceiling of a hut they were supposed to fall through. Now luckily, they were supposed to fall through the hut, so we got the shot.

Peter: Right.

John: And they were fine. [Laughs] But the point is—

Peter: Well, we had one take, we had one take of this, that’s it.

Scott: Yeah, this is it.

Peter: Luckily it worked really well.

Dean: Oh this is great, uh, falling through the, uh…

Chris: The elevator shaft.

Dean: The elevator shaft. Now part of the- this gag actually came because of TNT, right? What was the story behind that?

Chris: TNT said, ‘How come the in the script it just has him falling up? And we suggest her falling through the elevator shaft.’ And we said, ‘Well, if you’d like to pay for a shot of them falling through the elevator shaft, [All Laugh] we’d be happy to shoot it.’ And credit to TNT, they did.

Dean: That’s so great.

Peter: And I love– again, they’re arguing like — they’re back at arguing like kids, about who goes out and what they do and how they handle it.

Dean: Yeah, I love Eliot’s one, it’s like, ‘Who wants to be me? I punch people.’

Chris: ‘I get punched and kicked.’

John: That’s it. That is his lot in life, man, and he knows it.

Peter: And this was actually a auditorium from a large corporation.

John: Yeah. This is how they do those shows, man; those shows are death. They’re a lot of money, but they are death.

Chris: Hook it to something. There we go.

John: Now you shoot— Now, when you’re shooting up, this is green-, this is all computer generated right?

Chris: There we go.

John: But when you’re shooting up through the top of the elevator, was that green too, or—

Peter: Yes. I love his reaction here.

John: Yeah. And down.

Dean: I like the little pause, though. Like, everything’s okay, and then, Bugs Bunny.

John: It is Bugs Bunny, isn’t it?

All: Woah!

Dean: And that is digital debris, my friends.

Christine: Wow.

John: That is digital debris. So let me get this straight - we dropped digital pieces of cardboard, but we used a giant bar to lift our actor and slam him against the top of an elevator.

Peter: And slam him hard, too.

John: Okay. Good, that’s good, I’m glad we got our priorities straight.

Chris: There was a little smile from Aldis there because it was just so fun. I mean it was like, we couldn’t— and we only had one shot at it. I mean, you really wanted him to be scared, but it was just too impossible when he got pulled to the ceiling.

Peter: And we decided to add this part at the end where they drop.

[All Laugh]

Dean: “You didn’t see that coming, seriously?”

John: We actually, uh, it was a big debate this year, and most people watching the DVD might now know Jeri Ryan, until she shows up, when she would get her ‘seriously?’, because being allowed to say ‘seriously’ is part of the whole ‘you’re part of the team'.

Timestamp: [25:00]

Christine: On the writing staff, too.

John: Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Peter: Where did Erik Casten come from, the name?

John: Uh, clearances. [Laughter] Seriously man, we accuse people of such horrible, actionable crimes, we absolutely will.

Christine: Well what do we say, K's are evil?

John: K's are evil.

Christine: S's, P's, you know, things like that. And so I, you know—

John: An F or a Ph, that's usually evil.

Christine: I like to work with sounds, when we're naming.

Scott: Oh here he's covering his scar there, too.

John: Yeah.

Scott: If you guys are paying attention, he puts his hat back on.

John: And again, it's, it's—'cause we just did the commentary for The Order 23 Job, and this is another one where it's just, you just take Aldis and Chris, you let them be annoyed with each other, and you set them off on a separate plotline. And that will bring you amusement.

Peter: Yes. Mark Roskin shot this scene also, because my wife was having surgery.

John: Oh I'm sorry, is she okay?

Peter: Yeah, she's fine. God bless you guys though, it's the only time I've actually been able to leave. [All Laugh] 'My wife's having surgery.' 'Sorry, you can't-- have to stay.'

John: Well, Marc Roskin directed, uh, MMA, the MMA job which is on the set of discs and everything; he's actually our Producer/Director up there, who stayed up in Portland. So he picked up a lot of-- he shot a lot of stuff. We're... we shoot in seven days when we should really shoot in, oh, ten. Right?

Christine: Everybody gets to work with Rosky, that's uh, that's the way it goes.

John: That's the tradition. Uh, which hack is he doing right now?

Chris: I think this is when he hacks into the camera.

John: Oh, as he hacks into the remote camera.

Chris: He hacks into the remote camera.

John: That's another thing we—

Dean: Yeah this is when we decided to have that— the camera on his belt buckle allowed them to see what he was doing on the computer.

John: The phone camera.

Dean: The phone camera.

Christine: Right.

John: Also eminently doable. It's a bit cludgy, but you can- you can do it.

Peter: Tim's bombing here, which— we decided to give an arc here-

John: See, this is my question, because Tim's bombing, alright, and that's what I found delightful, is the fact that Nate Ford is finally not good at something.

All: Right.

John: What was the audience thinking? These are Portland extras, they've been told they're seeing Tim Hutton, did he just go up and suck, or did you tell them he was going to suck?

Scott: No, they were—

Peter: We told them that—Uh, we stood up and we showed all the uh, audience reactions, and Tim was up there with me and I was yelling out 'Okay now he really sucks; no, he really, really sucks' [All Laugh] 'No, he's boring', and they would all get really bored.

Chris: Now here were these real tricks that Apollo Robbins taught them to do, we did— we kinda had a little magic bootcamp while this filming was going on. And uh, you know these are all things Apollo brought up there, and we choreographed; they just had a ball.

Peter: It was astounding the show still turned out short with the four pages we added there. [All Laugh] Nothing but magicians.

Chris: But, but it's a testament to the pace of this show, I mean you really- it just flies.

John: It's, uh— and she's having another drink.

Peter: More drink.

Christine: Still in the bar.

John: Seriously, we're so—

Peter: Three days later.

John: We're so bringing drunk science girl back.

Christine: Oh, that's right.

John: I love science— I love a good science girl anyways, so.

Scott: Who doesn't?

John: Who doesn't?

Christine: Drunk science girl is just a bonus.

John: Yup.

Peter: Covered his scar again.

John: Yeah. But it's a tricky bit, because you know, your average television script is between forty five and fifty five pages, and because we're an action driven show we just never know where we're gonna land.

Christine: Yeah.

John: Um, that's cosy. [All Laugh]

Chris: That's a great shot right there.

Christine: No comment.

John: Yeah that's, that's a great shot.

Peter: Once again the bad guys walk by.

John: You know what, if they were- if they were really good at their jobs, they wouldn't be working at a food company.

Chris: Eh, now they're starting to get the hang of their magic act, you see things starting to turn around.

John: Uh, and then, oh yeah, we came up with the whole idea— this was the other thing, is, what were the constraints, what you need for security systems?

Peter: This the most— with the check, the chances of us timing this correctly were so slim, and this was the first take. Wow.

Scott: That was perfect.

Peter: Racked to it. And everybody got up at the right time.

John: Nice. You either get that— you know what, that always is a first take, isn't it? It's like, either you get it or you don't, yeah? Um, yeah that was a big part of designing this episode, is, we had to figure out what were the security systems in place, and how they could possibly interact with magic, none of us being magicians.

Chris: Right.

John: Yeah, it was a lot of, uh, a lot of big lists on the board that day. I like how the thing even has a top to hide her, uh, her pregnancy there. The sword thing is even at the right height.

Peter: The background absolutely loved Tim. They thoroughly enjoyed the—they sat there for, I dunno, eight or nine hours?

Christine: Wow.

Dean: I love that. 'No questions!' [All Laugh]

Chris: Yeah, first thing was- was a fingerprint. Okay—

Dean: 'Belieeeve in the magic.'

Chris: —well lets, how would they get a fingerprint if you're a magician on stage? Well okay, this is how. How would we relay it? And it was all... There's a lot of great gadgets here, we have the [Chuckles], you know the handy, uh, Brother P-Touch... [Laughs]

John: Yeah! The Brother P-Touch fingerprint printer.

Christ: The Brother P-Touch fingerprinter which, uh, available at [sounds like: hamburger shlemer] folks.

John: You know what? Again, this is why people underestimate Hardison. He has to have this stuff in his bag all the time. That's why he has the van. The van is there for a reason, people.

Christine: Respect the van.

Dean: Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this was the first episode that we introduced the gummy frogs—

Chris: Yes.

Dean:—which now became a partner with the orange soda as a necessary thing for Hardison at all times.

John: It is required, it is absolutely required for Hardison to have gummy frogs while hacking.

Dean: And orange soda.

John: And orange soda.

Chris: Alright, now they got the fingerprint, now it's smooth sailing, we get to get in. Uh, not so fast.

John: Uh, well they need to get—it's not so fast because now they need the gel.

Peter: I'll never forget when the prop guy said— we started with gummy bears, gummy this, gummy that, and when you said, I think, gummy frogs, and he's like, "You're fucking killing me".

[All Laugh]

Chris: Nope, gotta be gummy frogs.

Christine: They're exactly the right size! They're perfect.

Timestamp: [30:00]

John: It's gotta be frogs. And again, by the way, I've actually seen the video where Bruce Schneier used this exact technique to fool a $150,000 fingerprint scanner.

Chris: Yeah.

John: The type that the TSA uses to secure airports.

Christine: So please try this at home.

Chris: This is a great reaction right here.

John: And that's a great reaction. Just the laser, just the mocking him with the lasers.

Chris: And literally, ‘I'm spinning plates here, I'm spinning plates here while you're asking me for retinas.’ He's spinning plates!

Christine: Doing a great job! Spinning plates. And juggling.

Chris: And the retinas part is, to me, what the show is all about, what Leverage is all about, is that we have to put a CEO in a magic box, to bring him to scan his retinas. That is a whole, whole thing.

Dean: That's my favorite part of this whole episode, that for me... when I read that in the draft, I literally fell out of my chair laughing. I thought that was the funniest bit.

Christine: I think that was our favorite bit to do in the room.

John: Yeah, I must have driven the staff crazy, because I must have said 'They put me in a box' a thousand times.

Christine: It was hilarious. And the fake music cues we would make up, wheeling along...

John: Yeah. Oh, remember the uh, the thing I had was the sound of the box [mimics squeaking] and then we cut to the box. [mimics squeaking] 'Hey, is anybody out there?''

Chris: And this was great, this is Apollo—Apollo figured out how we would do the uh, box switch.

John: Cause the box actually works slightly differently, that's not how you'd usually do it, but he—Apollo invented a version of the trick on the fly.

Christine: For us.

John: [mimics squeaking] Hello?

[All Laugh]

Chris: And this stuff, when we shot this, I literally was crying, I was laughing so hard. We were shooting the stuff of him in the box, the CEO-

John: How did you shoot that?

Peter: We attached a camera again, kind of like the box shot earlier, attached the camera to the box and spun it. But I was surprised, it didn't look like I thought it would. It looks great, but it didn't turn out like I thought it would. But he was great, we spun him around and around, at one point he said, 'I'm getting sick'...

[All Laugh]

John: And all the jokes about bosses here, this is what you do in a corporate show, is when you go, you find out like all the stuff, the name of the boss, and the one who's bad at golf, and you work it into the routine, and oh, man. It's filthy, filthy lucre.

Chris: Here's a beautiful shot I love here, too; there's a shot from behind of the box spinning I just love.

John: And, away.

Christine: The color palette’s great, for the entire show. Looks terrific. Really pops.

Peter: [Unintelligible] to our DP by the way, that was four cameras at once; we shot the whole thing in one day.

Christine: Wow. Dave Connell, superstar.

Dean: I love all these shots, I just love them. And he was great in these scenes. I mean, I totally buy him.

John: We just put him in the elevator. ‘Have a good time.’ Yeah like it's all sort of blue and orange down here, it's all sort of grey and pastels upstairs—

Peter: The crowd loved this gag.

John: Oh yeah.

Chris: And here we go.

John: [Mimics squeaking] It's just funny, I'm sorry, man. You put a CEO in a box... And the uh, did you use a real dove, or no, that was a fake dove all along?

Peter: It was fake. It was a little squeezy dove, that's really kinda cool.

John: There's actually a famous, uh, Penn and Teller famous story, they do magic exhibitions, where people demonstrate their tricks. And there's a youth category, where kids show that they have mastery of these classic tricks, there's one where you, like, show the dove in a cooking pan, and then close the pan and then light the fire and whip it away and there's like a cooked dove in its place? And as the kid did it, he screwed it up, so as soon as he lit the fire, like, a hundred magicians stood up at once and went 'THE DOVE!!' 'cause they all know how it works.

Dean: Oh noo.

John: And he's like the thing's on fire and he's beating it out with his tiny like, his twelve year old magician's coat... 'cause doves are expensive. I mean nevermind the cruelty, but yeah.

Christine: Aw... [Pause] These two need to have their own vaudeville act. I would watch a variety show that they hosted.

John: I like, again, just the constant choices that Beth is making at all times, just like- and she's kind of amused, and now she's bored with this. Ah, she's done, she wants to be breaking into things. Uh, excellent cheesy server room, nicely done.

Peter: It was the smallest room in the known world.

John: Ye—what's that?

Peter: It was the smallest room in the known world.

John: We like to build our sets really tiny.

Peter: It was basically a closet.

John: Yeah, and then this was again always our drive to the [unintelligible] complication.

Peter: Good bad guy, by the way.

Dean: Yeah, he really delivered.

Chris: This bad guy, he was really terrific, Kevin E. West is his name.

Dean: We actually met him through uh, Patrick Jakoni, who's our mixer, who mixes all the episodes of Leverage.

John: Did he have a—did he just bring the headshot in, or....

Dean: He was a friend and he just said "I really want you to meet this guy, he's a friend of mine, I really think he's a terrific actor." And I met him, and I thought he was great. You guys have met him, and—

Chris: Great kind of middle management evil.

John: The banality of evil. He gets a great evil speech of evil.

Chris: He does. Which is a late edition.

Dean: A little shout-out to Derek, who does all of our graphics on all the computers.

Peter: Unbelievable.

Dean: I mean, he does so much for us—

Peter: This is where he hit his head.

John: Yeah, see, no scar there, and then, uh, nothing but scarves afterwards.

Dean: I love this fight too.

John: This, I will—

Timestamp: 35:00

Dean: I love the closed quarter fights.

Christine: Absolutely.

John: I will fully admit, this is, um. I'm trying to remember....

Chris: Look at this. [All Laugh] There's the scene.

John: I'm trying to remember, there's a, it's not a Jackie Chan fight, it's a Jackie Chan produced movie, it's with three actresses, I think it's called So Beautiful, which has an elevator fight, that actually was the origin of this.

Peter: What I like is the 90 degree shutter in all these fights. It makes it feel, like...

John: It's very crisp.

Peter: Yeah. It makes it feel like, like you're missing a frame or something.

John: So what happened? Chris turned around, right, turned around and just smacked his head against the side of the cabin?

Chris: Well, I mean, we passed it, but there's a moment when he throws a punch, and it sort of—you can kinda see the edge, in the frame, and his head just continued into the edge of the box.

Peter: No, we had the— we didn't have the padded one in there. And he went against the hard one. Split it open huge too.

Chris: Seventeen stitches.

Scott: Wow.

John: Seventeen stitches, and then like a week later, pulled them out himself because he was sick of them.

Peter: I think it was actually right here.

Scott: Really?

Peter: I think it was this one. I think it was the last punch, if I remember correctly.

John: Never do the last punch.

Chris: Oh, might have been there, yeah.

John: Yeah, lotta elbows, lotta—I always loved a good fight—what, what is this? This is madness!

[All Laugh]

Christine: It's vaudeville!

John: What the hell was that?

Dean: Something like a Marx brothers movie.

John: I know!

Christine: It's delightful.

John: I'm really waiting for Zeppo to show up to that. I think Gina's Zeppo in this episode. And he's still in the box.

Peter: 'Hello? Hello?'

John: And then this, the getaway with the curtain trick.

Chris: Curtain trick, and this again was, you know, Apollo designed, because, you know, we had in the script, they disappeared in a cone curtain, and he, you know...

John: Well it's actually, it was uh, when I was seven, or something of that age, I saw Bill Bixby do that in The Magician, and it always stuck with me.

Christine: The greatest theme song in the world.

Chris: We watched a little bit of The Magician.

John: We watched a little bit of The Magician, and it has the greatest theme song of all time. If you can go YouTube the theme for The Magician, it's fantastic.

Christine: Our writers’ assistant had it queued up. Becky had it queued up and ready whenever we needed to play.

John: Ohhhh.

Chris: Ohh, gut punched into a chair, that's another kind of recurring theme of season two.

John: Well, it was our Rockford homage.

Christine: Ah yes, the gut punch.

John: Yeah, James Garner spent five years getting gut punched.

Chris: I think this is an iconic shot of this show, I do, it's a beautiful shot.

Peter: And this is Apollo's idea, I think, to put the rabbit back in, too.

Chris: Yes, it was, it was.

Christine: Fantastic visual.

Dean: And I love the way that Aldis plays this scene here, because I- the danger felt real. It didn't feel like, oh comedy villains' fake punch, he's really okay. You know when I watched it, I really felt like wow, we're in trouble.

John: Well Aldis is a very good actor. Yeah. This really also became the year where we kind of established the straight run fourth and fifth act.

Chris: Well this is very much a real time episode. I think three of the five acts were pretty much in real time.

Peter: I like that he talks about the uh, magician's union. You're gonna get a letter from them, I'm telling you.

Chris: And here is the evil speech of evil.

John: Just explaining that if people are stupid enough to eat frozen pot pies without heating them enough, they deserve salmonella.

Dean: That's not a rationale!

John: No!

Chris: That's what happens to people who don't follow instructions. Now I'm giving you instructions.

John: No, he's really selling this, he thinks he's gonna die here, or at least get seriously messed up. And the bad guy, uh, who played the Busey?

Chris: The bad guy was George Castillo.

John: Yeah he was good. He had a good physical menace. And the nice pass, there we go, if you're paying attention. And what I like is that Aldis made a choice there, like, as soon as he saw that—

Peter: Two different locations, by the way.

John: Oh yeah, you're not— that reverse isn’t anywhere near there?

Christine: Oh, nicely done.

Peter: It's like, thirty miles away.

Dean: Nice. Never knew that.

Chris: We coming up to— when we do this flash, about how we got the phone, is a, this right here is an absolutely beautiful shot coming up.

John: I like that he calls him magician too, as if— it's very, like [very dramatically] 'Magiciaan!'

Christine: I'm actually most proud of that line, by the way.

John: Yeah, exactly. It is. It's very Lord of the Rings.

Dean: And a terrific use of the ninja zoom.

John: Yeah, to reestablish that geography we talk about all the time. Um, yeah, and the poker chip, and the turn to the reveal, she’s gonna bump into him, but the thing I was going to say is, Aldis does a moment there where he sees the lift, he knows it’s going to be okay, and his expression changes.

Christine: His whole face relaxes.

Peter: She looks so hot there, too.

John: She does, she looks very good.

Christine: She's rocking the power pony. There's a lot of Parker's power ponytails this year.

John: Parker ponytails?

Christine: The power pony.

John: The power pony, is that what you're calling it?

Christine: That's what it's called.

John: By the way, if you google power pony that's not what you're gonna get.

Christine: Do not Google power pony.

John: [Laughing] Do not Google power pony.

Peter: Here's a flashback, this is a great shot.

Chris: Here it is, here's the shot.

Peter: This was— our operator nailed this.

John: It's coming.

Chris: It's a long explanation.

John: It is a long explanation.

Chris: Here it is, here it is. Oh, look at that. Perfect shot

Peter: Her look back is fabulous.

Timestamp: [40:00]

Chris: Perfect turn.

Christine: That is poetry. That's beautiful.

John: It also helps that Beth has good hands. You know, Apollo said that —

Chris: Well, he worked with her on this.

John: Yeah, he taught her how to lift.

Christine: She could be a thief if she wanted to.

John: And we'll see how season three goes, who knows where we'll wind up. Aww, thief of hearts, that's nice.

Christine: Isn't she?

John: And the whole idea of dumping, um, it was actually, the whole idea that phones now, you can just dump massive amounts of information on, was, I think Bruce Sterling had just done a thing about, um, the ubiquity... instead of cloud computing, but using the sort of—why go to cloud computing if your devices have more memory than the NASA moon landing?

Chris: And here, here's where we're—

John: And, ah, she's back!

Peter: 'I was in the box.'

[All Laugh]

Christine: 'I was in the bar!'

Peter: 'They put me in a box.'

Christine: He was in the box, she was in the bar, and now they're together again.

John: Seriously man, I had a fistful of scotch, and I must have been saying that for a week. 'They put me in a box'. I may drink during the day. And this, by the way, is an iconic shot for the show. That's a big one.

Christine: Aw, look at that. Look at those two.

John: It's tricky, when you find— our wardrobe has to be high style without ever going over the top, and that's what really— it's nice because that's what makes it visually interesting.

Christine: Look at these two together. Oh my god.

John: I know. They're great.

Dean: And this, again, was a real nice setup for where we ultimately go with the uh, the entire season.

John: That's right, because if you're listening to these commentaries in the—and we've split the season, it's— 209 is the last one. So you don't know what happens in the back end. Um. Dinosaurs.

Christine: They fight dinosaurs.

Dean: But this concept that he has replaced alcohol with control...

John: Right, this season is about addiction. Um, and people who cope with alcohol. Ahem.

Christine: Oh, this season is about addiction? [All Laugh] What? What show was I writing on last year?

Chris: Beautiful shot of her here, too, just really nice.

Peter: Hiding her pregnancy.

John: You know, she does a lot of work here when she's talking to—'cause it's interesting, this is a pairing we don't do a lot, and we wound up doing more this year. Um, is the idea that he is a little outside the team, and very hyper competent at what he does. And you can sort of see their relationship over the course of the first couple episodes arc where she feels comfortable confiding in him, in a way that was not there for season one.

Chris: And she's a little estranged from Nate, too.

Christine: I think because of that betrayal, first season, Sophie and Eliot have a special relationship in season two.

John: Yeah.

Dean: Well, Peter, thank you for being part of this episode, and being part of our show.

Peter: Loved it, enjoyed it immensely. I wanna live in Portland.

[All Laugh]

Christine: We do too.

John: And uh, Christina, Scott, nicely done.

Christine: Good job guys, everybody did a great job.

Dean: Stay tuned for the next episode of Leverage.

Peter: Single person clapping, single person clapping.

John: We're all clapping.

#Leverage #Leverage TNT #Leverage Audio Commentary Transcripts #Audio Commentary #Transcripts #Parker #Alec Hardison #Eliot Spencer #Nate Ford #Sophie Deveraux #Season 2 #Episode 6 #season 2 episode 6 #The Top Hat Job

38 notes · View notes

ithappensoffstage · 4 years

Text

Finish Him

(also on ao3)

It makes sense, Nate thinks, that it would come to this. All those unresolved feelings about Ray. All that pining over and timeline-bending concerning Zari. Every late night with Behrad since Heyworld spent on the couch, thigh-to-thigh, pretending not to notice the pressure.

They’re in Behrad’s room on the Waverider. There’s a box of donuts on the table, Mortal Kombat paused on the TV, and some weed piled next to the papers they haven’t rolled yet. It’s a little too hot. They could request Gideon alter the temperature, but they don’t think to ask. Nate thinks maybe they don’t want to.

Nate takes another hit, letting his eyes wander to the side. Behrad’s only wearing boxers and a tank top because of the heat. There’s pink icing on the corner of his lips. Nate’s mouth waters and he looks away, trying to fight through the haze in his head.

Between the drugs and the scent of Behrad’s cologne--given to him by this timeline’s Zari, but Nate doesn’t want to think of her right now--Nate is starting to forget how words work. He has to say something soon, though, ‘cause Behrad is looking at him a little strangely, eyes asking him if he’s alright, if the strain was a little too strong this time.

“Behrad,” Nate stammers, two fingers gripping the joint as he exhales, “This weed is legendary.”

It’s a stupid joke, but it lands, and Nate watches Behrad laugh. His mouth opens wide as he leans back, hand clutching his belly, long hair flying around his face. He’s always carefree, but when he’s laughing it’s something else entirely. Like nothing and everything matters all at once. Like he’s the king of their little world, but he’d never want the responsibility.

Behrad takes the joint from Nate. Their fingers touch, and it’s the same jolt of electricity that ran through his veins when they hotwired the ship.

“Oh,” Nate whispers.

And then he kisses Behrad.

He licks the icing off first, then runs his tongue along the inside of Behrad’s mouth, his muddled thoughts trying to determine what that laugh might taste like. It’s all sugar and smoke and Nate’s totally blissed out until Behrad clears his throat.

Nate opens his eyes. Behrad’s are already wide, pupils blown, eyebrows retreating into his hairline. Nate feels like he’s crashing down a staircase one step at a time as various aches register in his system sluggishly; his neck’s twisted painfully, there’s some ash falling onto his bare hand, and, worst of all, someone’s just crushed his heart.

Pulling away and jumping up in a single not-so-fluid movement, Nate throws his hands behind his head and says, “Shit.” When Behrad doesn’t reply, Nate repeats the curse until it drowns out the deafening silence that’s descended in the room.

Behrad sits, stunned, on the couch. He’s closed his mouth, but his eyes are wider than ever before. After an excruciating minute, he leans forward to stub the joint in an ashtray, then keeps his elbows on his knees and his head down.

“It’s just, I mean, me and you, it’s--” he starts, then cuts himself off with a groan.

Nate wants to speak, and instead chokes on his regret. It’s heavy in his chest, in the pit of his stomach. “I should go.”

Behrad doesn’t argue while Nate gathers up his things. He finds a wayward jacket here, a shoe there. Scratching his forehead, he searches in vain for the left shoe, the blush on his cheeks miles past unbearable at this point.

With his back turned, he doesn’t realize Behrad has moved until knuckles gently graze his shoulder. That small bit of contact is scorching. He flinches away, spinning around, and takes in Behrad Tarazi’s gentle smile.

Once the initial shock recedes, Nate remembers to use his eyesight. His shoe is in Behrad’s hand. Behrad has already stripped off his shirt. Nate follows the dark trail of hair to where it runs into the red band of his boxers.

“You and me,” Behrad finishes, his gaze fixed and confident, “it’s perfect. And I’m tired of pretending it isn’t.” He bites his bottom lip, the grin growing. “I’m just surprised you made the first move.”

Painfully aware of how ridiculous he looks, Nate gapes and makes a sound embarrassingly close to a croak. Everything he’s just gathered tumbles out of his arms.

“Nate,” Behrad murmurs.

“Y-yeah?”

“Please kiss me again.”

Nate swats his shoe out of Behrad’s hand, then surges forward, hands tangling in that gorgeous head of hair, lips doing the rest of the work. He propels them both backwards with the force of it, but Behrad doesn’t seem to mind, moaning against him and snatching the waistband of Nate’s sweatpants.

“Is this okay?” Behrad asks, breaking for air and stopping until Nate answers.

Nate, preoccupied with a delicious spot on Behrad’s neck, noses his way to Behrad’s ear to reply, “Yes, yes. A thousand times yes.”

Behrad snorts. Nate feels the reverberation beneath his teeth. A moment later he’s gasping into Behrad’s collarbone as Behrad slips his hands under Nate’s sweats and briefs. Drugs have always made Nate hypersensitive, and he’s spinning out of control like a crash landing with Behrad’s strokes. With some gentle urging, he gets them to the bed and fully unclothed, the cold seconds in between adding a little desperation to the mix.

On the bed, Nate trails his palms down Behrad’s chest and lower. He matches Behrad’s earlier pace and enthusiasm, smirking at Behrad’s panted swears, then swallowing them away altogether.

Behrad rolls so he can pin Nate, pressing wet kisses to Nate’s chest and abs and thighs. Nate’s back arches off the sheets and his hands curl into the fabric before Behrad climbs back up and Nate digs his nails into Behrad’s ass. They rut against one another, too close for anything but a sloppy staccato rhythm.

Nate finishes first. Behrad kisses him through it, one hand between their legs and the other cupping Nate’s jaw. His toes curl and he gives himself a second to float in the pleasure before he rolls them again so he’s on top. Behrad’s abdomen heaves. His hair’s plastered to his forehead with sweat, his lips red and swollen, and Nate’s never felt higher.

He slides slightly off the bed so he can go down on Behrad. Behrad cries out when he comes, biting down on his fist, but Nate goes back to give him better skin to bite into. He leaves teeth marks in Nate’s shoulder.

They settle in a tangle of sticky limbs and saccharine smiles and stolen kisses. Behrad tastes like salt and chocolate. Nate resolves to spend the rest of the day like this; maybe even the rest of the week if he plays his cards right.

“Wow.” Behrad sighs happily. He laces his fingers through Nate’s, then settles them on his chest. “Remind me why we weren’t doing that before?”

Nate smoothes his free hand over Behdrad’s knee. “Beats me, dude.”

He’s struck by how little changes about their relationship even in the post-sex haze. How naturally Behrad’s hands feel within his own, as if they’ve been there the whole time and he’s just now noticing. His chest might explode from trying to contain so much joy.

Being a Legend didn’t make a love life very easy, though.

Behind the door, Nate hears Zari arguing with Gideon to let her inside. There's something about her brother wasting his day playing video games, something about no need for privacy between them. Behrad groans and buries his face in the pillow.

Over the comm, Gideon’s crisp voice rings out. “Ms. Tarazi requests entry.”

“Well, tell her to go away!” Behrad yells, voice muffled.

“She’s rather insistent. You are both late to the briefing, after all.”

It’s Nate’s turn to groan. Kissing Behrad’s temple, he mutters, “We’d better go.” He only manages to tear himself away using every ounce of his willpower, and, even then, the sight of Behrad sprawled out on that patterned blanket makes him weak in the knees.

“You’re evil,” Nate tells him, eyes narrowed.

Behrad chuckles, spreads his legs, and stretches, blinking innocently. “I don’t know what you mean,” he hums, scratching at a patch of bare skin on his hip.

“Eeeeeevil,” Nate repeats. He jumps into his sweatpants, then throws some clothes at Behrad.

“Dude, you suck,” Behrad complains.

Nate replies immediately, “And I swallow,” which sends them both into hysterics.

Eventually Behrad gets out of bed, noting that his sister’s unrelenting assertions that ‘Gidget’ needed to let her through had killed the mood. They still take too long, finding increasingly tenuous reasons to stop and kiss or fix each other’s hair. Nate buttons Behrad’s shirt for him, and Behrad ties Nate’s sweatpants, which narrowly avoids devolving into taking those pants off again.

Finally, they throw on deodorant and cologne, wash their mouths out with lukewarm water, and press play on Mortal Kombat. Behrad calls out, “Thanks, Gideon.”

“Of course, Mr. Tarazi." Gideon unlocks the door and Zari hurries inside instantly, heels softened by the many rugs.

Taking one long look at the pair of them, she presses her lips together, fixes her hair, and crosses her arms. “I see.” She clears her throat in the middle of the sentence, which is pretty impressive by Nate’s standards.

Behrad makes a show of pausing the game. He rolls his eyes at her. “What?” he asks, still very casual. “We’re coming.”

Zari’s mouth twists. Eyes sparkling, she replies, “Oh, I’m pretty sure you already did.”

With that bombshell dropped, she runway-turns her way out of Behrad’s bedroom, already clicking away on her phone. Her heels are still echoing down the hall when Behrad shakes his head and smiles. He stands, then offers his hand to Nate, features painted in pure delight.

Nate takes it, and together they go to join the rest of the family.

#legends of tomorrow #nate heywood #behrad tarazi #naterad #dc #my fic #legends of tomorrow fic #lot fic #dc fic #text

28 notes · View notes

rainythefox · 4 years

Text

Nightfall (CH.12)

Synopsis: Pre-Resident Evil 1, slight-AU/Canon Divergence. Claire Redfield comes home to visit her brother Chris for the holidays but gets caught up in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Albert Wesker, the Captain of STARS, after stumbling upon dark secrets. She can’t call the law; Wesker is the law, and she can’t tell Chris. She is trapped…Claire/Wesker & Slight Chris/Jill. Rated M for eventual smut, language, violence, adult content.

AO3 Link

Chapter 12: Complicit

Claire couldn’t believe this was happening. After two days of “late night babysitting” preparing for this…mission, she was about to actually undergo it. She was kinda freaking out deep down, but her Redfield nerve and composure never broke a sweat on the outside.

She lingered, eyes firmly set on the double glass doors and the welcoming signs, faint traces of snow dancing around her. Would she be able to do this?

“Losing your nerve already? Pity. Thought you redheads had more spunk than this...”

Wesker’s velvety voice crept through the tiny headphone hidden in her right ear. It wasn’t the only thing he attached to her. There was a video camera, the smallest and most advanced she had ever seen, and some kind of tracker, like he needed another way to keep her under his thumb. All to “help” her during this important task at hand that he so generously gave to her. And by generously, there were implications if she didn’t go through with this, that Chris would have a bad “accident”.

“The only nerve I’m about to lose is my last one with you,” she muttered, careful to not talk too loud as a few people slipped by her to enter the building, eager to get out of the dark evening's cold. “I’m ready when you are.”

Wesker’s low laugh through the earpiece made her shiver more than the icy wind blowing the snowflakes around. “I’m always ready, Claire. You should know that by now.”

“Whatever.” Ignoring the dark implications behind his words.

“I have the utmost faith in you, my dear. Do not disappoint me. You know the consequences.”

The younger Redfield took a deep breath. This was it. She would do this…she had to, for Chris.

She headed up the concrete steps and entered Raccoon University, bypassing the positive and welcoming signs advertising “Exclusive Open House for Umbrella’s Future Leaders!”

Claire immediately took notice of all the college students her age and even some older people here. The large, fancy lobby was decorated up for the occasion. There were balloons, finger foods and drinks, more signs and several tables for information on Umbrella programs, internships, scholarships, and grants. Distracted by all the dress up and people, Claire paused to get her bearings, only for someone to bump into her.

“Oh…sorry,” a girl around her age mumbled, wearing a green jacket and looking of Japanese descent. She smiled apologetically and readjusted her backpack strap. Claire noticed right away she seemed a little spacey, but didn’t think much on it.

“All good,” she replied and allowed the girl to pass. Claire watched her walk over to the corner by some of the many leather lounge chairs and tables, sitting with a girl in a yellow hoodie with a long braid and glasses.

“Hello everyone, and welcome to Umbrella’s Open House!” The voice immediately drew Claire’s attention and she turned towards the front desk of the lobby, where three men stood in suits. She immediately recognized them from the research and planning she had gone through for the past two days in order to do this assignment. The man speaking was Greg Mueller, a professor here at the university that also worked for Umbrella. On his right stood another professor and Umbrella researcher, Simon Lowery. The man on the left was well-known Umbrella researcher and medical doctor, Nathanial Bard.

“We hope you are enjoying the delicious food and beverages catered to us by our local favorite restaurant, Grill 13,” Mueller continued. “And of course, staying warm from good ‘ol RC snow. Now, before we begin with tonight’s exciting tour of our historical university, introductions are in order! I’m Dr. Greg Mueller, head of the Research and Lab department of the University and I teach several courses. With me is my colleague and good friend, Dr. Simon Lowery. He’s essential to my team here and makes sure that everything runs smoothly and you have him to thank for some amazing programs to help you on your journey to a brighter future here. Last, but certainly not least, our special guest tonight is the revered Dr. Nathanial Bard of Spencer Memorial Hospital, whose achievements are nothing short of ground-breaking, and he will help you get started on which of Umbrella’s programs will serve you best. I’m going to hand the mic to Simon now.”

Lowery looked to be the younger of the three and wasn’t shy when he took the mic from his colleague. “Thanks Greg. Hello everyone! You know, this is the third year Greg and I have helmed this open house in search of bright pupils with a future at Umbrella Corporation. We have fun every year, and it’s always great meeting every single one of you. Now take your time, visit, mingle, get to know each other, make yourself at home and help yourselves to all this delicious food - I personally recommend the smoked sausages, they’re my favorite! - and please check out each booth we have set up for more information on what programs Umbrella has to offer for you, and we will go into depth later on after the tour. Dr. Bard, would you like to say anything?”

“Of course,” he said and snatched the mic with a wide, fake grin. “There’s something for everyone here. You absolutely will not leave empty handed. Umbrella cares about each and every one of your futures, and we are here to help. It’s my personal mission to make sure every individual will get the help and information they need to ensure a prosperous future. You have my word! Welcome to Umbrella’s open house!”

The three men put up the microphone and split up to join the chatting groups of visitors. Claire kept her cool, getting herself a cup of spiced cider and checking out the information booths just like everyone else.

She could certainly understand why Wesker was using her in this infiltration. There was no doubt she blended right in with the crowd of college ready young adults. She could tell by overhearing bits of conversations that many were already students here at the university while others were newcomers.

The hardest part was waiting. She couldn't get to the next step of the plan if they didn’t go on the tour around the university. So the younger Redfield put on a charming smile and worked the crowd, pretending to be one of them, fishing for information as she waited.

"Such a charmer you are, dear heart. But be careful of whom you charm. Some snakes are immune to the flute."

"Like you?" Claire whispered.

"I'm impervious to the charms of nearly everyone. Most people are just so predictable and boring. Thankfully, you are not ‘most people’...”

Is he really flirting with me over the radio or am I just hearing things? Claire sighed. As if she didn’t have enough on her plate at the moment!

“Oh! Tell her to sneak some shrimp into Nate’s food. I wanna see the dickhole swell up like a balloon and choke.”

She stood corrected, instantly, after William talked smack on the other side. But his big mouth didn’t get to say anything else before a loud yelp rang her eardrum and all became quiet again.

Claire shook her head, but soon a tall figure slipped around from behind her and greeted her with a smile that was more lecherous than cordial.

“Good evening! Dr. Nathanial Bard, how are you, Miss?”

He extended his hand. Claire panicked for a moment because she never came up with a fake identity even after Wesker’s insistence upon it. He had said the chances of her being approached were slim, but not impossible.

“Do not give him your real name. You’ll want to drop conversation with him as quickly and as inconspicuously as possible.”

As Bard frowned, the name finally hit her and Claire eased a fake smile that looked natural. “Elza. Elza Walker. Nice to meet you, Dr. Bard.” She took his hand and shook it, internally gagging.

His eyebrows rose high. “That is such a pretty and unique name. You from Raccoon City?”

“No, sir. In town visiting family. I was thinking about transferring to Raccoon University and a friend told me about the open house. Figured I’d give it a try and see.”

She could feel his eyes skim over her, not near as clandestine as Wesker was, and, dare she admit, not near as tantalizing as him either. Claire squeezed the cup of hot spiced cider in her hand, restraining herself from splashing it in his face.

Bard’s smile widened. “Well, I think you’re in luck, my dear!”

The younger Redfield didn’t realize how much she secretly liked Wesker’s pet names for her until it came from someone else’s tongue. She internally shook her head. Now was not the time to start having the warm fuzzies for that asshole. Claire could hardly believe she was even thinking in this direction. Had to be the stress of going undercover while quite literally having Wesker breathe down her neck...yes, that was it. It had to be.

Get it together!

“There’s a program for everyone! Umbrella Corporation wants you to succeed! Grants, scholarships! Umbrella will even pay for everything for you to transfer. There is no shortage of bursaries here. What kind of field are you looking to get into?”

Bard leaned in closer, suave and friendly. It would’ve fooled anyone else, but not Claire. This man was digging for something. She could only hope that he was being a lecher and wasn’t seeing through to her true motives.

“You’re stalling. Get out of there.”

Wesker sounded annoyed, but she couldn’t determine why. It wasn’t as though she had messed up the mission...yet.

“You know, I’m still on the fence,” Claire made up, slowly backing away.

Bard chuckled. “One of those, huh? No worries. When I was your age, I didn’t have a clue either. But do not fret, Miss Walker, my colleagues and I are here to help. There’s no need to decide right now. After the tour, we can sit down and talk it over. We can still find something right for you even if you haven’t decided on a major.”

“Oh, the tour...right,” Claire faked ditzyness. “I better go to the little girl’s room before it starts!”

She beelined for the restrooms just to the side of the information center in the lobby, even as the doctor told her directions. She sat her cup down on a table as she passed by, glancing over her shoulder. She spotted Dr. Bard motioning her way to the younger Dr. Lowery, the two men speaking quietly.

There were a few other girls in the restroom. One student flushed a toilet and came out, washing her hands and leaving quietly. A couple fixed their makeup while gossiping. Since Claire didn’t need to go, and wasn’t about to while Wesker was able to see everything, she pretended to check her face over too. She fluffed her hair, left down in long waves for the occasion.

“Worried about looking good enough for me, Claire? Don’t be. You still have work to do, and it doesn’t matter to me what your hair looks like while doing it. Just do it.” Wesker mocked. The biting humor in his admonishment was hard to miss.

“Geez, you really need to be nicer if you want to get laid, buddy!” William muttered in the distance. “OW! Fuck…”

Despite the wheeze of pain and cursing, distant chuckling sieved through the earbud. But Claire ignored it, instead nearly bristling and turned on the tap to wash her hands as the girls left back out to the lobby.

“I am doing it, asshole. Even with lecherous old men hitting on me, which wasn’t a part of the plan, by the way! No need to be so pushy. If you want me to go under cover here and make it believable, then let me handle it. It’ll get done, stop riding my ass!”

There was a moment of silence before William snorted loudly in the back, laughing. “That’s what she said!” He cackled loudly in amusement. “Man, I like her more and more every day...the girl has balls.”

Wesker's laughter was quieter, colder. “If you insist, dear heart. I’m just offering my humble assistance to make things go over smoothly. Just get the job done and we’re fine.”

Humble, my ass! Claire thought sourly.

The Redfield sister heard them announcing the tour. She quickly dried her hands and exited the restroom, melding herself into the back of the group. This would be the slowest process, she knew, but kept her wits about her even as she only half-listened to the doctors as they rattled off trivia and history over the university.

They took the upper floors first, pointing out classrooms that covered the liberal arts and the professors who taught them. Dr. Mueller told them the history of the iconic bell tower.

“Jesus, Greg, you’re putting me to sleep over here, put some life into it!” William huffed. “You seriously make me want to shoot myself.”

At least Lowery had a bit more spunk and spirit as he raved about the college’s sports teams, particularly the football team, the Raccoon Sharks. Which Claire never understood why they chose “sharks” and not, well, “raccoons” for obvious reasons. But hey, at least the sharks were colored up like raccoons.

They returned to the first floor and continued the tour. There was the fancy cafeteria, the huge library, and more classrooms. The doctors talked about more of the programs and classes, semester activities, and the following herd asked questions in return.

They left the main establishment to take a walkway to a neighboring building. It was still lightly snowing, but the walkway was covered. It was also illuminated by soft, yellow lights. Claire could hear the Circular River rushing nearby, as the institution was built along its path.

This was the building she had been waiting on. It was essentially its own facility, running classrooms, laboratories, and other departments, doubling as a school and a research center for Umbrella.

Claire used to not think anything of it, even admired how much Umbrella helped out the city between their programs at the university and hospitals, as well as their charities and large scale employment. Now, the deeper she went down this rabbit hole being dragged by Wesker’s leash, she started to wonder what was really going on.

Men like Albert Wesker, William Birkin, and Sergei Vladimir were not the type to work for “good guys”. Even the three doctors Mueller, Lowery, and Bard were all hiding something, that much was certainly clear.

So, what was Umbrella hiding? What were they hiding that required the Captain of the elite S.T.A.R.S. force and the Police Chief to control the city? That required them to murder people once they knew too much? And what about that top-secret underground Umbrella facility that William reigned over?

Claire had a flashback of Wesker pulling the trigger on Finley’s head, the blood spraying across fresh snow; how his fate was completely covered up with no one to question or oppose it. She recalled watching the news just the other day reporting on how his body was discovered and ruled a suicide in his car.

What happened to Mr. Finley back there will never be brought to light. He died in a car crash, you see. Committed suicide, or simply disappeared. His fate is whatever I decide to make it. You and your brother are no different, same with all the others who thought they could expose me. Wesker’s voice echoed in the back of her head from that fateful day.

Maybe Umbrella were still the good guys. Maybe Wesker, Irons, William, and Sergei were the infestation of corruption, growing and taking control, like weeds strangling a fruit tree from its roots. Yeah, surely that was it.

But deep down, she didn’t believe herself.

Once they were inside Dr. Mueller’s state-of-the-art laboratory that connected to a classroom laboratory through two automatic sliding doors, the professor slash researcher began boasting with a lot more pride and spirit than his lecture on the university’s trivia earlier. He showed off some equipment in his place between Lowery and Bard.

Again, Claire only half-listened, her eyes scanning the area for her objective.

“In short, there is no other research department like this in the country. My laboratory is vital to Umbrella’s key studies on disease prevention and cures.”

“C’mon Greg, you’re a glorified babysitter with a sandbox! Mine’s way better!” William hollered, sounding like his mouth was full. Coffee break between two sessions of unethical lab work, she supposed. Just another day at the office, between blackmailing and killing people. Nothing to write home about.

Wesker sighed. “If you wish to do a dick measuring contest with someone, at least choose some actual competition.”

“My dick’s bigger than all three of theirs. I got pics to prove it. Don’t ask. I have my sources. Courtesy from their parties with the senator. I will nail those dick pics to their corpses when we’re done with them too.”

And yet I wondered how these two are best friends…silly me.

“Claire, as soon as they leave the laboratory, the power failure will engage. Be ready. The laboratory’s backup power will switch on, but the security systems will remain down.”

“Got it.”

Still, William’s words hung her up. There was nothing stated in all the planning that anyone would be killed...but what if she was setting it up for these three men to die? No, she specifically remembered Wesker wanting to gain control over them. They were useless to him dead. But that didn’t mean their value to him didn’t have an expiration date…

Claire shook out the thoughts and trailed after the rest of the group once more. The double doors to the neighboring classroom laboratory slid open and the mass of people passed through, the doctors taking turns to address their followers. Some of the crowd whispered amongst themselves, but they were mostly quiet.

As the last few went through the doorway, Claire purposely slowed herself down to where the door slid shut inches from her. The power instantly went out. Total darkness and stillness swallowed her for only a moment before the laboratory’s backup power switched on. But just as planned, the double doors were locked, glowing red above.

She barely heard the mumblings of surprise on the other side before turning and speeding towards the main computer in the back, located near a single locked electronic door with a sign that stated, “Authorized personnel only!”

Claire reached inside her parka pocket and pulled out the computer disk. The same, unmarked one she got the other day when Wesker was using her to fetch from his informants. She pushed it into the drive, fingers itching to get this over with.

“You have just under four minutes, Miss Redfield. Don’t drop the ball now.”

She ignored him and typed away, putting in the passwords and entries she had memorized from the planning process of this infiltration.

The spyware program uploaded onto the mainframe in a timely fashion. What took a bit longer was it copying information back onto the disk, whatever that was. While it processed, the younger Redfield moved to a nearby set of drawers.

“You sure it’s the bottom one?”

“That is what my source informed me.”

“They better be right.”

Claire retrieved her lockpick from her pants pocket, the one gifted to her from Jill, the same one she used to break into Wesker’s house. She carefully worked the lock, listening, feeling, remaining focused. It finally gave and she pulled the drawer open. Inside was what she was looking for.

"Looks like the "master of unlocking" taught you well. Shocker. Guess you stumbling into my affairs paid off in the end, in more than one way... "

The sealed yellow envelope inside looked harmless enough. But the label printed on it in red ink chilled her to the bone. Requested research for THANATOS PROJECT.

The name sounded ominous to her, and she couldn’t help the shiver running down her spine. She had a bad feeling about this.

Claire retrieved it from the drawer, looking it over. It was heavy, full of papers and what felt like maybe a USB drive. There was a white sticker in the bottom right hand corner that read, “Paid in full. - AR.”

Those initials had to be Aaron Roth. If only Wesker wasn’t spying on her and she had the time...she would’ve ripped into the envelope to see what they were all hiding.

She slid the drawer shut and returned to the computer. The disk was ready to be removed. She took it back and returned it to her pocket. Taking a step back, she looked it over once more. Everything was in place and didn’t look disturbed.

“Finished in a timely fashion. I’m impressed. You’re certainly talented in more ways than one. I’m almost tempted to hire you again, dear heart. I’m sure I could find some use for you...”

“You didn’t hire me, asshole, you blackmailed me.”

“Semantics. What matters is a satisfying outcome...wouldn’t you agree?” Wesker purred in her ear.

Oh God. Was it just her or was there a double entendre somewhere in there? Sweat broke out on Claire’s forehead even though she had managed to keep her cool until now, but Wesker making ambiguous remarks was getting to her. Nervously (and not just a little bit annoyed with herself), she discreetly wiped her sweaty bangs from her forehead.

Let’s get this over with, she admonished herself. The sooner her dealings with the corrupt STARS Captain were over, the better.

The college student stuffed the envelope inside her jacket and under her arm since it was too big to put in a pocket. She hurried over to the double doors, knowing time was almost up. If it all went according to plan, the doctors and their party would still be in the dark locked in the next room. The backup power in this area would be cut off and the doors would open just long enough to allow her back with the others before all power returned.

When the lights went out, Claire barely heard the doors skim apart, courtesy of whoever was controlling the university’s power system. She stepped over the threshold into the classroom, moving further in, careful not to run into anything. This particular laboratory for regular classes had large windows on the opposite side, but it was so dark outside, it barely helped light anything.

But soon it didn’t matter. The power returned in an instant, back to normal, as though it had never been touched. Claire wasn’t far from the group and quietly joined them as everyone got their bearings, blinking to adjust to the sudden bright lights. Startled voices talked over each other.

“Everyone, everyone, settle down. Everything is fine!” Mueller announced. “Just a small power failure. Let’s return to the lobby and I will have someone look into it!”

Relieved, Claire followed along as Mueller and Bard escorted everyone out of the classroom while Lowery remained behind by the door checking on the visitors. That was normal and understandable enough until his brown eyes pierced her. Watchful. Suspicious. She kept her composure, offering him an innocent smile as she slipped by him and out the door. He didn’t say anything, but Claire felt his eyes on her back until she caught up with the others, heart slightly racing.

Surely, he wasn’t onto her. There could be no way.

"Think he's onto me," Claire whispered as voices boomed through the massive hallways, the herd migrating back to the lobby.

"Irrelevant," Wesker answered. "As soon as you return to the lobby, make your leave. Without notice, preferably."

"Don't worry, Claire. Lowery's a nerdy bag of stress and paranoia. Nothing to fear there," William added.

"Like you?" Wesker mocked.

"You know, I’m half-tempted to empty one of my petri dishes into your coffee next time you’re not looking. Don’t push your luck, jerk. Annette always says you wouldn’t like me angry. And you know how Anne’s always right. Even she says so!"

Amused chuckling was all he got as a reply from Wesker.

Claire rolled her eyes at their continuous banter. God, she swore these two were like old marrieds.

Once they all filed into the lobby, most visitors either took a seat or went and got more food. She soon noticed a couple heading for the front doors, sliding on their coats, and took advantage, inconspicuously joining them.

"Hold on, please, you three," Bard hollered, making the trio pause and look. "Before you leave, let us make sure everyone is accounted for from the power outage. A small safety regulation we must abide by."

Claire inwardly groaned and moved away from the doors with the others. Bard and Mueller finished speaking together in a hushed huddle and went opposite ways.

"What are you doing?" Wesker asked.

"You said to leave without being noticed. Did you not hear him?"

"Then find another way out. Do it quickly."

Claire ground her jaw but didn't answer. She looked around, thinking of a way she could escape. More university workers were showing up now from other hallways, probably disturbed by the power failure. Lowery had yet to return.

She watched Dr. Bard set a plate of food down on an empty table and left it to go introduce himself to another pretty face, using the same charm he had used on her.

Apparently, the prick was only interested in helping students he found attractive. The girl obviously looked uncomfortable but smiled to be nice, and that didn't sit well with her one bit.

But since kicking him where it counted would cause a scene, the younger Redfield soon found herself scheming up something better.

Casually, she went over to the buffet of refreshments, picking up a plate and grabbing a few random foods. She sat down at a table close to Bard's plate, eyes scanning. People were talking or reading while they ate. She de-shelled one cold shrimp and broke it up into chunks.

She had only a tiny window of opportunity here, and it all determined on the selections of food on his plate. Pulse racing but outwardly composed, she discreetly took a stroll over to his plate. From afar she analyzed what was on it, and what would best conceal her ticket to freedom.

“HOLY SHIT, SHE’S GONNA DO IT! I LOVE THIS GIRL!” William squealed in delight.

She winced, retracting the urge to rub her eardrum. Her deft hands quickly stuffed the pieces of shrimp into a club sandwich triangle. It was pressed back into place with the toothpick and then she was off, glancing around to make sure she hadn’t been caught. Everything went on as normal. Claire got some more spiced cider and returned to her seat to wait.

“Don’t tell Anne, but If I wasn’t already married...” William softly laughed in her ear. She could tell he was trying to whisper, but the eccentric, mad scientist didn’t realize he was louder than he thought. “She’s a keeper, Al. Don’t screw this up!”

Screw what up? Keep me...for what exactly? Stop giving him any ideas, William! God, this is really getting out of hand...

Claire facepalmed as she started to feel hot under her collar and blamed the thrill of committing a heist under everybody’s noses for it.

The Redfield sister didn’t have much time to dwell on it before she spotted Dr. Lowery emerging into the lobby. She instinctively made herself smaller as he marched across the room, going straight to Dr. Mueller.

He pulled the older man aside, whispering urgently. Claire started sweating in serious now. Especially when their eyes scanned the full lobby until Lowery pointed her out.

“Shit,” she hissed under her breath. She pretended not to notice them, her nerves beginning to rattle a little. She reluctantly called for help. “Wesker…”

“What is it?” Claire wasn’t sure if it was just her hearing things, but he actually sounded a little concerned.

And then she was saved. Not by the bell but by commotion. People shouted and pointed, some moving in closer to watch or help as an individual choked. Dr. Bard was turning red, red like the shellfish he had just unknowingly consumed. Mueller raced across the lobby for him, Lowery right behind him after giving her one glance.

Claire took her chance. She sprinted for the doors and was out, taking the concrete steps two at a time and bolting across the front courtyard through the snow flurries with only the college ground lights to guide her.

When she made it through the opened gates and took a sharp turn on the sidewalk, she collided straight into another person and nearly lost her footing. She dropped the enveloped stashed inside her coat.

“Sorry, Miss. I should’ve been watching where I was going,” the young man said with a charming smile, stooping to pick up the envelope for her.

He slightly flinched when he picked it up and noticed the label, as though he recognized it. But it was gone in an instant and he presented it to her with a warm smile and twinkling green eyes.

“What the hell is he doing there?!” William demanded.

Wesker ignored him and promptly spoke to Claire. “Take it and leave, do not engage in conversation with him, Claire. That is an order.”

“Leave?! This may be our only opportunity to kill the bastard!”

“Are you okay, Miss? Do you need help?” the man asked.

She silently obeyed Wesker, snatching the yellow envelope back and hurrying past him. The redhead didn’t look over her shoulder, but she could feel the man watching her until she turned down the next block.

Panting, the icy wind cutting her throat, she finally slowed to a walk, heading for her next destination. Traffic rolled by her, beams of headlights stretching down the streets and making the falling snowflakes sparkle. There weren’t many other pedestrians out walking the streets, but she did spot many inside buildings shopping or having a coffee.

“Who was that?” she asked.

“Aaron Roth,” Wesker answered nonchalantly. “He’s not someone you should involve yourself with.”

“Oh, but I should involve myself with you?”

Wesker chuckled mockingly. “Wishful thinking, Claire? I’m flattered. Then again, I’ve been known to have that effect on redheads...must be genetic.”

Claire bit her tongue. She pulled her parka hood over her head, bundling up from the cold. After passing by the empty elementary school, she cut across the parking lot to the bus barn next door.

Her ride would arrive here to pick her up. Unfortunately, Claire wouldn’t be going home just yet. She had to meet Wesker in person first. She just hoped that Chris wasn’t getting worried...or worse, suspicious.

The bus barn was a large depot and mechanic shop for all the schools’ buses. Rows and rows of parked long, yellow buses slept quietly. It was dreary and quiet, with snow falling lightly all around. A person could easily get spooked by themselves here, as though they were trapped amongst sleeping giants.

“There’s been a change in plans,” Wesker announced. “My main liaison will not be picking you up. Instead the collaborator that worked the power outages at the university will. He should be there shortly.”

“Okay,” Claire mumbled through chattering teeth.

“I’m going to sign off for now, dear heart. Well done. See you soon.”

She was relieved for the silence. Claire waited with her hands in her pockets, back against a cold bus, shivering, watching the snowflakes swirl around. The lights of Raccoon City at night were beautiful to look at, some of the skyscrapers in the distance were lit up in Christmas colors. The younger Redfield was so lost in observing the serene scenery around her that she did not hear the pair of feet that had slowly walked closer to her.

"Found you!"

The voice startled her and she pushed away from the bus, whirling to confront them. Shocked, she didn't say anything as Lowery cautiously approached, encased in shadow from a looming bus nearby, and sounding a little out of breath.

"The hell?" Claire hissed. "What do you want?" She reached for her knife in her pocket.

As Lowery stepped into the light, speckles of snow in his brown hair, she noticed the gun pointed at her chest.

“Lucky shot!” Chris whined.

Jill laughed, moving around the pool table to take her next move. “Suck it up, buttercup! You’re about to lose to a girl!”

“It’s these beers. They threw me off my groove.”

Jack’s Bar was crowded tonight. The bar was full and so were most of the tables. Music played on the radio, but it could barely be heard from all the talking and laughter bouncing around. The bar-and-grill was decorated up with Christmas decor and lights, looking quite festive and bright.

His partner made the winning shot that cost him this game of pool. She won the last time they were here too.

“Whoo!” Jill exclaimed, arms shooting in the air and grinning at him. “You know what that means, partner!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Chris grumbled, fishing for his wallet. He looked around him and then spotted the familiar face he was seeking. “Hey, Cindy! C’mere!”

The favorite waitress of J’s came over, an empty tray under her arm. The young, pretty blonde smiled and giggled. “Let me guess, lose again, Chris?”

“Hey, I’ve won before, okay?!”

“A Mai Tai then?”

“Yeah,” Chris answered, giving her a $10 bill. “Here’s for another plus tip...because I know Miss Sharpshooter here’s gonna want seconds.”

“Why wouldn’t I when your pouty ass is buying?” Jill snickered.

They made faces at each other, and then Chris spotted the rest of their party arriving. “Oh, bring the drinks to our usual table, the guys are finally here.”

Cindy nodded. “Will do. You want your usual?”

“Yeah, add it to my tab.”

Chris and Jill joined the others at their usual table. The STARS teams came here often to wind down and have fun, different mixes of teammates each time from differing schedules. Hell, even the Captains came once in a while.

Wesker was a pro at pool, too. And Jill had been on his team a few times. She said he taught her tricks...something about math and trajectory or some shit. Who does that? Didn’t people just point and shoot at the balls with their cue sticks?

The gang tonight consisted of Chris, Jill, Barry, Joseph, Forest, and Richard. Tagging along with Barry was Robert Kendo, which wasn’t uncommon. They ordered their food and drinks, a perfect view of the hockey game playing on the hanging box TV. While waiting, the group of friends and colleagues joked and small-talked.

“So, Kendo, how’s that new assault shotgun model coming along?” Richard asked.

Kendo cracked a grin as he took a swig of beer. “You ask me that every damn time you see me, Rich. Look, I’ll personally call ya when I make a breakthrough, alright?”

“You better! I’m excited!”

“Coulda fooled me!”

Cindy and her friend and co-worker soon brought their food and drinks. Chris could never remember the young lad’s name...Bill? No...Will. It made him think of William Birkin again...the mysterious man that Claire was babysitting for. The past couple of nights she had stayed out late babysitting, and it seemed as though tonight would be the same. He just hoped that’s what she was really doing…

“Cindy, babe, could you please turn the station? I cannot stand these damn Christmas tunes anymore!” Forest complained.

“Aw, c’mon, Forest. Get into the holiday spirit!” Cindy exclaimed. “Don’t be a grinch!”

“Don’t insult the Grinch like that,” Joseph joked.

Cindy gave him a look. “Don’t be a meanie, Joe.”

“Eh, he’s just jealous of my hair, Cin. That’s why he fucking hides his under that stupid bandana all the time.”

“You wish.”

Cindy casually shook her head, used to their antics, and left them to their meals. The gang discussed their plans for the upcoming holiday, after work of course. Most of the STARS team had family here to celebrate with. If Chris remembered correctly, only he (other than Claire), Jill, and Captain Wesker didn’t have any family.

Soon, they got on the topic of gifts.

“I finally found Claire’s Christmas gift. She’s gonna love it. I picked it up the other day. She’ll never find it!”

Jill laughed beside him. “That’s because it’s at my house!”

“Your house is the safest place! She’s a sneaky little brat and will find it!”

“Speaking of which,” Barry interrupted, dipping a couple fries into his ketchup. “I figured you wouldn’t be coming tonight because Claire’s in town. She make you come out?”

“Probably,” Richard snorted. “I’d need a break from him too.”

“Nah, she’s been babysitting for someone. Last few days she’s had to babysit well into the night.”

Joseph snickered. “That’s what I’d say too if I was messing around with a guy I didn’t want my big brother to know about.”

Chris shot his colleague a glare that almost dropped him dead. Joseph stuffed his mouth with a big bite of hamburger.

Kendo cleared his throat, pushing his empty beer bottle up to the middle of the table. "Oh! That reminds me, Chris. Did Claire get into trouble?”

“Huh? No, why?”

“I was on the other side of town yesterday evening picking up Emma’s medicine and I saw her with the Captain. He opened his car door for her and she got in.”

“Which Captain? Enrico? Or Wesker?” Richard asked curiously.

“Yeah, cuz that determines how much trouble she must’ve been in,” Forest teased.

Kendo half-rolled his eyes, sighing. “THE Captain, ya idiots. Wesker. I saw her with Wesker. She got into his car and they drove off.”

“See? I told you there was a guy she didn’t want you to know about!” Joseph laughed. “They must’ve hit it off after she went down to the station to give him a piece of her mind. Bet now she’s giving him a piece of something better!” Barry slugged him hard in the arm. “Ow!”

This was new information to Chris. He sat there, dumbfounded, at a loss for words as his mind processed exactly what Robert had said. “She didn’t get in trouble...that I know of. Wesker would’ve called me, for sure.”

Barry frowned. “For sure…But then why else would Claire be with him?”

“Chris, buddy, I love you, but let’s be honest here, they’re probably doing the nasty.”

“Jesus, Forest,” Jill growled, facepalming. “Don’t be starting those kinds of rumors.”

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, s’all I’m sayin’.”

Chris glared at Forest. “Between you and Joseph, I’m gonna shove those beer bottles so far up your backdoor you two won’t be walking straight. Ever. Again.”

“Sorry,” Kendo interrupted. “I didn’t mean to get everyone so riled up. I was just curious. Looked harmless to me.”

“Dumb and Dumber here like to start shit,” Barry explained, glaring at Joseph and Forest. “I’m sure it was harmless. It is Wesker, after all. Maybe she just needed a ride.”

“Or maybe he offered her one,” Jill added. “He’s quite the gentleman.”

“Gentleman?!” Forest scoffed. “The guy’s a hard ass and a dick to us most of the time!”

“I mean, yeah, he kinda has to be. He’s our boss. But really, he isn’t that bad to most of us. You two just get on his nerves all the time,” Richard admitted.

“Hey, who’s side are you on, Aiken?”

“I’m j-just s-stating the facts!”

“Alright, alright, knock it off, all of you,” Jill ordered in her “mom voice”.

“It’s all harmless joking,” Joseph defended. “And Chris knows it, right bud? I mean, how often do I joke what if Wesker is actually a sociopathic supervillain on a quest for power? Of course he isn’t...but I sometimes wonder!”

Chris shook his head. Joseph and Forest were frustrating at times with their nonstop jokes, but he knew it was never mean-spirited. They all ribbed each other all the time; it was their clique’s twisted way of showing they cared about each other.

“You and your weird conspiracies, Joe...But really, let’s just drop the subject, okay? I don’t care why Claire was with Wesker,” he lied. “Because I know it doesn’t mean anything. Got it?”

“Got it,” they all agreed.

“Good. Now can we all please get along, drink some beer, and talk about something pleasant? Like the weather or something?”

They all looked to the front of the bar, where the windows were. Snow fell just outside, looking to have picked up since they arrived at the bar.

“Oh yeah, pleasant RC snow...love it,” Jill quipped dryly.

Chris scowled, rubbing the back of his neck. He had even more worries on his mind now, thanks to their earlier discussion. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t push them away.

His overreacting, protective brotherly instincts had continued to gnaw at him, making him wonder about the integrity of this “babysitting job”. Claire had never given him a reason to doubt her, but still he worried.

There was something going on with Claire. She was definitely hiding something, and his innate detective instincts kept putting together the clues, all starting over a week ago. Some kind of worry or panic she hid from that jog on the mountain hiking trails, her quiet, wandering thoughts, some questionable explanations, the injuries she hid on her hand and ankle...and then this Wiliam Birkin came out of nowhere with a babysitting job for her. “A friend of a friend.”

And now she was with Wesker on the other side of town when she was supposed to be babysitting? That set off a whole wave of bad thoughts and red flags in his mind.

No, he told himself firmly. It’s Wesker. There has to be a logical explanation! I bet it’s all harmless and I’m worried for nothing.

Captain Wesker may have been a hard ass at times, and he and Chris bumped heads occasionally, but they respected each other and got along great most of the time. He was one of the best men he knew. A damn good leader and boss, too. After his big screw up in the Air Force, not many were willing to give Chris a chance, and Wesker did.

There was absolutely no reason to worry about Claire being with him. If anything, it should have relieved him...knowing his little sister was in good hands. Wesker would take care of her.

But deep down inside, something small, some miniscule but insistent doubt ate at him. A growing part of him was questioning whether everything was as innocent as it seemed...

#resident evil #resident evil fanfiction #resident evil fanfic #Albert Wesker #Claire Redfield #William Birkin #clairexwesker #claire x wesker #fanfiction #fanfic #Chris Redfield #Jill Valentine #chris x jill #ChrisxJill

14 notes · View notes

we-are-the-rebellion · 4 years

Text

Everything Is Gonna Be Fine - File 006

Date: 3/5/215

Incoming signal: Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me? Is there anyone in the wasteland listening to me? Fuck, this is hopeless… We don’t even know if people are alive out there, we’ve never left the region because of the horror stories we’ve heard. CeeCee are you sure? …Yeah, right. Ahem! I’m Nate, I’m from the Eastern OQ region, and for the last ten years I’ve been fighting in, well to put it lightly, a pretty nasty civil war. The group I was with has been mostly killed or captured and our leader is missing, presumed dead. Please, if someone is out there and can hear this, we need supplies. Wait what’s- Shit! CeeCee get down they found-

Outgoing message: Nous vous entendons. Sur routre chemin.

__________________________

Date: 8/10/214

Location: Rebel base, Toronto, Ontario-Quebec Region

Nate wanted a nap. More specifically, he wanted to nap with Kenji. He yawned and shuffled into his room, feeling drained. He noticed a small piece of paper on his pillow. It was a note.

To Nate.

I’m busy today.

Happy anniversary.

Nate smiled. He had forgotten, today was his tenth anniversary with Kenji. How had he forgotten but Kenji had remembered? Nothing made sense. Well now he had to go and find Kenji and force him to come nap with him. Yes, his main goal was still to have a nap.

Kenji got back to his quarters about half an hour after Nate found the note. He looked completely beaten down.

“Hey Ken.” he greeted, wrapping his arms around the other man’s waist. He didn’t reply. “You tired?” Kenji put his left hand over Nate’s arm.

“Tired doesn’t begin to describe it.” he muttered.

“Want to go to bed early today?” Nate asked, softly kissing Kenji’s cheek. Kenji sighed and nodded slowly. Nate guided his boyfriend to the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed with him. “Thanks for the note this morning.” he chuckled, leaning his head against Kenji’s shoulder. Kenji didn’t say anything, and it was starting to concern him. He put his hand on his cheek and tilted his head to look at him. “Hey, what happened? Are you alright?” Kenji put his hand over Nate’s and closed his eyes.

“The last mission... It was a shitshow.” he mumbled. Nate frowned.

“I know... You told me.”

“A lot of people got killed.”

Nate sat up, cupping Kenji’s face and kissing his lips softly. He pulled away, leaning their foreheads together.

“It isn’t your fault, Ken.” he whispered, stroking his thumb over his face, his beard lightly scratching his hand.

“Maybe not, but I fucked up.” Nate leaned both of them back onto the bed, cuddling him, rubbing his shoulders, trying to get him to relax. Kenji felt tense, and Nate couldn’t help but feel his heart break a little. The last mission hadn’t just been a shitshow, it was the worst mistake they had ever made. Support for the rebels was crushed, morale was non existent, and Lewis... He was still technically just missing, but nobody expected him to come back. Nate had needed a week to be alone and mourn the boy who he considered to be his son. He had barely seen Kenji in that time, not because he blamed him for what happened, but because they had both agreed that Kenji’s abrasive and unempathetic response to loss wasn’t what Nate needed. Now he was back, and Kenji clearly wasn’t dealing with things well.

“I know you fucked up, but other people fucked up too.” Nate said gently. He sighed, trying to put words to what he was feeling. “Since even before I met you, you’ve been doing this. Fighting. Risking your life, risking my life, risking... risking everyone’s lives. I was shocked when I found out you and Zander were the rebel leaders everyone was talking about, and for a moment I thought you two must have been completely fucked up.” He paused, licking his lips and brushing a loose strand of hair out of his eyes. “But good things happened because of the things you guys did. Things are changing, getting better.” Kenji pulled away, sitting up and putting his face in his hand.

“Nothing is going to get better because of this. People are dead, my people are dead. The elites have a perfect reason to demonize us now, nobody wants to believe in us. We proved to them that we’re the evil, violent monsters they said we were.” he growled. He sighed and stood up. “You should have stayed away. This is just going to get worse.”

__________________________

Date: 13/6/215

Location: Prison Complex, Ottowa, Ontario-Quebec Region

Zander hit the floor and for a split second everything seemed to go still. Quiet, even. Nate could only see him lying there, only hear the quiet, understated "thud" that he made as his broken body hit the cold steel. Nate could only focus on the emptiness inside him. What was this feeling and why did it keep coming back? It could barely be called a feeling, it was more a lack of feeling. He was too tired to feeling sad, or angry, or hurt, or hopeless. There was just... nothing. Nothing inside him, nothing to make him feel anything. Just empty. That's all Nate could focus on as he saw his best friend collapse. The little spark of hope he had felt earlier, hope to get out of here, was gone. It went out at the same that Zander had stopped running. Now he was just stuck feeling apathetic and confused, staring and not being able to process the real world around him. Gunshots were quiet, footsteps were deafening, the space around him felt so big it was crushing. He could've stayed in that haze forever if he was allowed. He almost wanted it. Nothing was better than hurting.

__________________________

Date: 9/10/214

Location: Rebel base, Toronto, Ontario-Quebec Region

Nate stormed into Kenji's room. He didn't consider it "his" room, or "their" room anymore. It was only Kenji's. Kenji had dragged him into this life, Kenji had brought him out into this fucking field, Kenji had killed his son. There was no sympathy for him anymore.

"You bastard." he hissed, yanking Kenji out of his desk chair and to his feet. "You lied to me." Kenji scowled, shoving him back.

"I never lied to you." he snapped. Nate felt his rage burning behind his eyes, stinging out hot tears.

"You fucking knew that Lewis was in danger! You knew that he was going to die!" he screamed, grabbing Kenji's collar and forcing him to look him in the eye. "You... You hid that message from me... He was telling you how to fix it! He was telling you that you didn't have to fucking kill anyone, and you just ignored him!" Kenji wrenched his hands off his shirt and pushed him away.

"When he signed up to be one of us, he knew he might have to die one of us." he growled, stalking off towards the door. Nate gritted his teeth and stood in his way.

"Fuck off, you can't just say that kind of shit when I have proof that he didn't have to die!" Kenji rolled his eyes and Nate felt so angry that he couldn't just hold it back anymore. He slapped Kenji across his mouth. He choked out a sob and turned away, not wanting any more excuses or buts. He didn't want to deal with this, with him, anymore. "We're done, Kenji. Don't ever get me involved in your bullshit again."

He left the base and got into his car, intended to drive back to his real home, but as soon as he closed the side door he broke. He started crying, hard and ugly. He sunk down in the driver's seat and covered his face. His parents, Mary, Lewis, and now Kenji. He was tired of losing people. He was tired of being unable to sleep at night because he kept thinking about them. Why was he still here if all he had to do was feel this pain? This hurt, this grief. Every day was just more fear. "Who's going to die today? What do I have to sacrifice to make it to tomorrow?" Was "tomorrow" even fucking worth it? The more he kept going, the less he felt like it was. Tomorrow was just a vague concept, a carrot dangling on a stick to keep him moving. He didn't want to move. He wanted to stay, just for a little bit, in the same place with the same people.

As he stopped crying, nearly an hour later, he didn't have the energy to drive. His head was pounding, his eyes were puffy and strained and he was exhausted. With life, just in general... who knew? He pulled out his phone and stared at the screen for a few moments. He didn't know what to do, he was stuck there... just gazing down at the soft blue light emanating from the screen. He sighed, closing his eyes and tossing his phone onto the back seat. He had to go home.

__________________________

Date: 13/6/215

Location: Prison Complex, Ottowa, Ontario-Quebec Region

The man crouched in the roof, aiming his rifle down at the ground below him. He had been waiting for hours, it was what a sniper did. No movement below, although he could hear alarms. They would be out soon.

He had temporarily cut the alarms, trying to give them as much time to get away. He knew that it wouldn't make their escape easy, just easier. Without his help they would have been gunned down in seconds.

His radio buzzed softly to his left. He had it intercepting the transmissions of the prison guards.

"Shit, shit..."

"How the fuck did nobody catch them earlier?"

"Just shoot them."

"They're headed for the entrance!"

He adjusted himself slightly, getting ready to fire at a moment's notice.

"We got one down, repeat one of them is down. The others have stopped."

"Rail on 'em, fill them with holes."

"Wait, wh-"

That was new. Someone else was down there. He could hear the fighting on the other end of the line, scuffling and muffled shouts. Gunshots, then yelling in... Life, were they speaking French? Fucking course they were. He couldn't understand a word of it.

__________________________

"Tara, where the fuck did you go?" Lewis shouted. Tara growled and stuck their hunting knife under the visor of one the guards. They hated the "squish" the guard's head made, but it had to be done.

"I was looking for you, numbnuts!" they snapped, pulling their knife out.

"Yeah, sorry. Too busy trying not to get shot!" He rushed over to Zander's side and, with Milo and CeeCee's help, lifted him up. "Shit, what are we going to do with him?" he muttered in English, grimacing when he saw that Zander had ripped out the stitches in his side and was losing blood much faster than a person should lose it.

"Do you think your friend can get us past the guards?" CeeCee asked, fear plastered on her features. Lewis swallowed, looking as Tara dodged and took out as many soldiers as they could. They were a survivor, agile and strong as a tank. But they were human.

"Not without help. Fuck, uh..." He looked around frantically. "Milo, help carry Zander. Just get him out as fast as you can and get to our ride. I'll help Tara." he ordered quickly, grabbing a gun from the guard Tara had killed. The rest were injured but still alive, and he didn't doubt they wouldn't be too happy if he tried to take their weapons. He pointed it at a guard's legs and shot, taking them out. Tara nodded at him appreciatively, grabbing the guard's gun and using it instead of the knife.

__________________________

The sniper listened to the shots. They were still outnumbered, but this gave them a few precious moments to run. After a minute or two, the group ran out. Lewis had his arm hanging limp at his side. Of course, it wasn't realistic to think that they could get out unscathed. But the little brat kept firing his gun. It was admirable. CeeCee and the other boy carried Zander, trying their best to be fast and careful. Needless to say, but the man needed blood or else he wouldn't make it an hour. The sniper had given them medical supplies, slipped them into Lewis' garish tank. It would only help what was left of Zander Ashworth's vital organs stay inside him, but that was all they needed.

He focused his crosshairs on one of the soldiers that was in pursuit of the rebels and shot. In a moment, everyone had taken notice. They knew he was there, but it didn't matter. What sparse cover there was out in front of the complex wasn't enough to save them. Nate looked up at him as he took out the soldiers, one by one. He couldn't tell if he could see his face, but it didn't matter. He wouldn't see him again.

__________________________

//authors note, fuck tumblr for mobile it absolutely bent me over the counter and fucked me

//the formatting on this is terrible it's ruined

tag: @thereasontherumisgone

#dystopian canada #everything is gonna be fine #dystopian #dystopia #Dystopian world #original content #original writing #original story #i wrote this on mobile and it was torture #they should use typing on mobile as an interrogation method #id tell u anything after 5 minutes of this

6 notes · View notes

amnachil · 4 years

Text

The College Society Chapter 4 Part 5

And here’s the next part! An important one in many aspects.

TW : there are mentionning of rape

Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey Sunday March 31

So the old fart had been informed. The junior's phone started to ring at 7 am. At first, he decided to ignore it. Maybe the old codger would let it go. This is only false hope but whatever. Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey dissembled he didn't know where is phone was. But he needed it to answer the baboon's texts. They were planning a date for this afternoon before he started to work. He wanked off in order to ignore the ring bell, but it didn't work. Of course, he could've put his phone on silent, but it won't change the matter. The old fart was going to call him the whole day until he answered. Even the whole week if he needed to. He's a pain in my ass. Eventually, the junior gave up and picked up the phone.

"At least you deign to answer gummy bunny." mumbled his father without even a hello. "I think we've something fuckin' important to talk about."

The lad sighed. He had hoped this silly conversation would never happen.

"There are thousands of idiotic students in your lame university who can be fucked. I'm sure you could've find a pathetic boyfriend in the whole town easily. And yet, you decided to date the one and only damned Strucker around ?! Are you fuckin' kidding me kid ?"

"Don't be disrespectful old fart." retorted Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey. "Your insolence annoys me."

"Oh don't be like that you brat ! Seriously a Strucker ?! The filthy descendants of Isaac should rot in hell you know that !"

Well, a few months ago, the junior had been thinking the same. Isaac Strucker was an asshole, who betrayed their family's trust to earn money. Business men like him were the worst. However, the baboon had made himself a big place in Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey's life. He's more important to me than I would admit. It was a weird feeling, something like a disease. Honestly, for such a good hunter, it was beyond understanding. The blond couldn't explain it but... I just feel nice with him. Like if it was... right to be with him. He had never experienced such a thing before, and yes, he was curious. I want to see where this relationship is going. So the family's hate towards the Strucker couldn't get in the way.

"Look dad." he mumbled. "The fact is, Liam and his siblings don't want anything to do with their father. They've been raised by their mother, who is actually involved in legals proceedings with Isaac. So they ain't our foes."

A long and strange blank followed. The student perceived muffled noises and guessed his old man was talking with the old hag. He distincly heard her scream however. What the hell ? She continued to yell, completely over enthusiatic. It didn't last long before he also heard his sister laugh. What the fuck ? What is all this commotion about ?

"I can't believe it..." whined his father. "You called me dad ! You were 5 when you decided old fart suited me better ! I can't believe it !"

Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey felt both embarrassed and very annoyed. What the hell was wrong with this family ? They were nuts. Less than the baboon, but even so.

"So it's must be very important for you gummy bunny." continued Robert Smith. "You are very serious about this relationship, aren't you ?"

"Yeah, I guess so..."

This whole talk was very awkward.

"I'm ready to give him a chance." decided the old fart. "I want to meet him and see for myself."

"Meet him ? When ?"

"Soon."

When he arrived to the baboon's place this afternoon, Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey was quite pissed. Not only his father planned to come here soon, but he had also heard from D.R. As the head of their community, she strongly disapproved the bounty. She said the culprit would be found and punished, aswell as anyone who actually earnt money from the hunt. But in reality, she couldn't do much. As long as she didn't know who the asshole was, she couldn't arrest him. As for the hunters, as long as they were hunting without acquiring profit, they were authorized to do so. In other words, these bitches were allowed to hunt the baboon for now. They are only forbidden to claim the bounty, but that won't stop them. They can take it and never tell anyone. Anyway, the couple found a private area and sat together. Almost thoughtlessly, Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey sat on the baboon's lap, and started to feed him his recently cooked pastries. While doing that, he began to complain about this and that.

"I mean, my father isn't a bad person." he was explaining. "But he can be annoying. I want us to take the time, and he's going too fast... like my mother... he wants to meet you already. I can't believe what I'm saying baboon. Do you imagine ? Me, I want to take my time ? That's the biggest joke !"

On the spur of the moment, he also commenced to punch (gently) his boyfriend's belly. This one was listening and eating at the same time, only nodding from time to time. The food seemed to please him, which made the blond feed him faster.

"All that shit is new to me you know ?" continued Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey. "Of course, I've already been in a relationship but not... not this kind. I'm sentimentally involved here you know ? This is your fault, with your cute eyes and all. I'm... like a teenager again. Everything you do is cute to me and this is ridiculous. And you know what ? I think I suck at being a good boyfriend. My family is already bothering you and all, pff. Not to mention the bastards who are... nevermind, I shouldn't say that."

It continued for a while. The junior complained, fed and punched his boyfriend all at the same time. Eventually, the baboon stopped the punching hand and smiled timidely.

"Babe... urrp.... Sorry ! Can you stop hitting me ?" he asked. "It's kind of.. burrp. Sorry again... It hurts now that I am getting full."

"Today is my whining day, you don't have the right to lament too !" mumbled Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey, but he stopped even so. "Just eat that and listen to me."

He shoved a delicious chocolate brownie in his baboon's mouth.

"Where was I ? Oh right, and so my sister's husband is..."

He blathered during at least half an hour before Liam's taunt belly pushed him off his lap. The chestnut boy had grown like a balloon. His belly had swollen to the size of a watermelon. When Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey gave him some space, Liam groaned. His hands quickly rubbed his distended middle section. He belched loudly.

"That was... uuurrp... good..." he moaned. "You can... urf... continue.... I'm.... uuurp okay...."

He didn't look okay. Wait... I fed him the three bags ? Two were supposed to be for his friends and him during the week ! Oh crap. Why this dummy hadn't stop him ?! Softly, the junior put his hands on the baboon's side. This one grunted. His belly made discomforted noises. Kindly, Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey started to rub this complaining tummy. Of course you've a stomach ache if you ate that much ! Idiot.

"Dami... burrrp... Just so you... urrp know... I'm very bottom when I'm.... overstuffed uuurp."

Among everything he could've said, why on earth did he decide to say this ?! The blond lad glanced at the baboon's crotch. He had a significant boner. Oh my god... I already saw him in speedo but they were right when they said he was well-endowed !

"We won't do that on this bench in the middle of a park." he whispered, honestly short of breath because he was thrilled by the idea.

"Oh no... buurp. I'm not... uuurp ready for that... But you seemed like... you could've used a little... buuurp... distraction from... burrp... your problems. Now you'll... uuurrp... be thinking about... burp me."

Oh the little pervert.

Liam Tuesday April 2

The freshman was showering after an intense training. He had many things on his mind. His relationship with Dami was improving for the better. He could feel some... sexual tension now. At the same time, Nate continued to worry him. His general condition recovered but there were still moments when he was suffering. About his family's case, things were yet to change. For now, nothing happened and he didn't have any idea how to help his mother. And Liam was also preoccupied by the unicorns endless war against the witch. Everyday, this pawn of the forces of evil tried to murder him. She was everywhere, following him like a plague. He felt safe only when Dami was around.

"Dat ass..." mumured an high-pitched tone.

Liam turned and faced a girl. In the men showers. Well, he wasn't judgmental : maybe this person identified as a male. He was about to go back to his business when they came suddenly closer.

"I guess I got the wrong shower !" they chortled. "I'm Miranda by the way."

So she was a girl or not ? What is she doing ? He stepped backwards when she tried to touch him. She had only a towel to cover her bare body. What was she thinking exactly ?!

"You're hot." she continued. "Don't tell me you ain't a little tempted ?"

Tempted by what ? She doesn't have food... (Liam isn't a complete idiot, but... yeah he was off track). She came closer and dropped her towel.

"Ooops my bad." she chuckled.

Liam quickly turned his head and grabbed the towel.

"There." he said. "You should go back to your shower before someone else see you."

The girl smirked. She looked right at his crotch. Wait a second. WAIT. Only now he realised he was also naked. Oh man this is very embarrassing. As fast as possible, he hurtled to the lockers and wrapped himself in his towel.

"I'm sorry." he stammered. "It must have been very awkward !"

She frowned.

"Okay I think we're not on the same page here." she mumbled. "I offer you my body. Come and take it please ?"

Your body ? Was she a fanatic who was ready to sacrifice herself ?! Did she want him to summon a demon ?!

"I'm sorry." he repeated. "I don't think killing you to protect myself is alright. No, I'm pretty sure it's not."

She gawked, astonished. She looks very disappointed. But he couldn't sacrifice few to save the many. The chestnut lad dressed up hurriedly.

"Again, sorry. Thank you for volunteering though."

And he left her.

He headed back to his apartment, where Dami was waiting for him. It was kind of a quiet place for them since Nick and Nate were perfectly aware of their relationship. So it wasn't very surprising when the junior lay down on the couch and put his head on Liam's lap. He leaned on his soft belly while texting to someone. He's often on the phone but he doesn't know how to use it. Nick was slumped on the floor, using a lot of cushions to be comfortable. He was focusing on his game anyway. As for Liam, he was peacefully munching on Dami's most recent cooking : oatmeal raisin cookies. He's very good at cooking but his desserts are the best of the best. Behind them, Colton was in the kitchen, busy with his homework. Their friend and Nick were apparently growing closer since the first was giving swimming lesson to the second. So seeing them all here, Liam thought they could be happy. But of course, it didn't last long. The forces of evil were always right here, hidden in the darkest places. Nate bursted like an hurricane and rushed to their shared bedroom in a split second. Dami stood up straight.

"What the hell was that ?"

They heard muffled noises which looked like sobbings. Liam quickly joined his bestfriend, only to find him huddled up under his blanket. His eyes were red and full of fear. He was shaking and crying his eyes out. The chestnut lad was instantly at his side, a reassuring arm around his shoulders.

"Hey Nate, I'm here..." he whispered. "I'm here..."

The shortest boy curled up even more. He seemed so scared, so frail.

"You're safe..." Liam insisted. "I'm right here with you okay ?"

The others stayed at the entrance, but they were all worried aswell. Even Dami looked genuinely concerned. It took a while before Nate managed to speak.

"Can you... can you call Archie please ?" he asked. "I... I need him ?"

Liam nodded and glanced at his boyfriend. This one took his phone and moved away to call. In the mean time, Nick brought tissues, some cookies and water for their crying friend.

"I was on my way when they bumped into me..." sobbed Nate. "I know it was only a bunch of drunk girls... I know it... They were probably only trying to chat me up..."

He whimpered. He nestled to his bestfriend, deeply afraid.

"I don't want them to do it again... Don't let them do it again please..." he begged.

The room felt silent. Liam didn't know what to say, but he stayed there, hugging his soulmate as best possible. A tear fell on his cheek. Why him ? Why did it happen to him ?

Nicolas Tuesday April 2 – Wednesday April 3

It was almost almost 10 pm when Archibald showed up. He went straight to Nate and asked for privacy. Nick frowned, a bit annoyed to be useless, but when he noticed Liam's face, he just obeyed. They knew eachother for approximately eight months now and he had never seen this expression. His roommate was like... so angry and sad at the same time that his face couldn't chose one emotion. They gathered in the living room, where Liam sat in silent. I don't know what to say. Or what to do...

"Did you know since the beginning ?" asked suddenly the chestnut lad to Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey.

This one sighed.

"Not exactly. I had my doubts, but he never shared with me what really happened. And he asked me to not tell any of you. That was his story to tell."

For a dreadful moment, only silent followed. Liam was a slow thinker, so he was probably realising slowly all the implications. Nick clenched his fist. What was the proper way to react ? What am I supposed to do with this knowledge ?!

"Can you say it ?" asked Liam. "What happened to him ? Or else I won't be sure..."

"I don't know the specifics..." mumbled his boyfriend. "But I think you got it right. Nate has been raped."

It didn't take long before Liam blew a fuse. First, he stood up and hit the lamp next to him. It fell on the floor and broke, but he didn't notice it. Nick immediately grabbed his console and games. His friend punched the wall. His breath was short, his body shaking. He took his head in his hand and howled like a wild beast. I feel you... The raven-haired lad glanced at Colton and Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey. Oh wait... that's new. Slowly, he approached Liam.

"Bud'... I know this must be very hard for you but please... you have to calm down." he whispered.

His friend glared at him with crazy eyes. If Nick didn't knew him, he would have run for his life.

"Liam... here just look there." he said while pointed towards Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey.

It worked pretty fast. The chestnut lad's breath simmered down. Well, it must be said, they had never saw such a face from his boyfriend. The Dean's grandson was sincerely feeling guilty. It something they weren't used to.

"I... this is not your fault Dami." stated Liam. "I just... I don't know what to do... I'm... I'm just lost."

Nick sighed. We all are.

"Shall we call the police ?" asked Colton.

"It won't help." suddenly intervened Archibald. "Okay guys, I think we need to talk."

The quaterback explained Nate had fallen asleep. According to him, it was a sort of panic attack triggered by some random girls which reminded the dramatic event to the poor lad.

"You must keep in mind this is normal." he assured. "Anyone who experienced a rape will have memories of it haunting them for a very long time, even forever."

They were all sat around Archibald and listening in silent. Nick heard his computer ring from a notification. His virtual friends were waiting, but it didn't matter. Not tonight.

"I don't intend to lie." he continued. "Nate needs to be seen. His body had been stolen from him but he has been also mentally affected of course. It won't heal easily, and maybe never completely. The Nate you knew will never come back. But it doesn't mean he can't overcome it. There are many ways to help, and most of them are very simple."

It picked Liam and Nick's interest. I think we're feeling the same thing. Clueless and useless. The raven-haired lad was already hating himself for not having noticed sooner. He couldn't imagine how his roommate was dealing with this feeling.

"First of all, Nate needs a safe environment while he works on himself and his newly acquired insecurities. Until now, you have been providing this place for him, and it worked very well. However, I advise you to never let him go somewhere alone, especially when it's dark. But in the same time, do not confine him in here. It's important he doesn't feel trapped."

They nodded. This is only logical I guess...

"I will say the obvious, but Nate needs you." carried on Archibald. "Thanks to your presence, he's constantly reminded there are people who actually care about him as an human being. This is why despite what happened tonight, you must act as normally as you always do. Being there to comfort him when he's feeling bad is only one aspect of the work you've to do. The more you show him a normal life with happiness, the better. Liam, this is were you part is very important."

"What do you mean ?" asked the chestnut lad.

"Well, he told me how much you're important for him. He's definitely trusting you more than anyone else. That's why he didn't want you to know : he doesn't want you to see him differently than before. I know it can be hard, but you've to carry on with your actual life. Go on dates with your boyfriend, enjoy your meals, talk about unicorns and stuff... Show him you want him in this life. If you're constantly looking after him, you'll only made him feel even guiltier."

"I think I understand... but I don't know if I'll be able to do it now that I know the truth..." Liam confessed.

"You'll." assured Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey. "If it's for his sake, you'll."

"Okay, I think this is it." concluded Archibald. "Oh... about the culprits... It is better if you don't think about them at all. Let me be clear, Nate knows his rapists, but there is no point in asking him, you'll only made him recall this night. Besides, collecting evidences is very hard in this kind of case... Nate will talk to the police only once he's ready to do so. Don't push him, okay ?"

They all agreed. He did say rapists... So several people... This was so... so disturbing. Something else tormented Nick. He decided to ask whatever might be the answer.

"How come you're so well informed about this stuff ?" he wondered.

Archibald looked at him. The others were also interested.

"We shouldn't talk about that." intervened the Dean's grandson. "It is private and not something you want to hear, trust me. All I'll say is : Archie has way more experience than anyone here, me included. So it's better to listen to him."

The answer is obvious tho... Nick nodded.

"It's past midnight. You should all go to sleep." claimed Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey. "Archie, a word outside."

To be continued

Well, a bit of everything.

Some development for our favorite couple. A crazy family part 2. And a sad story... Nate needs all the help and all the love!!

#the college society #cs #Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey #Liam #Nick #stuffing #some sex talk #Liam is overfed #Nate's story #Nate's a victim #He needs help #Drama #Chapter 4 #Part 5

4 notes · View notes

inactiive-shit · 4 years

Text

Life As A Sanders

Chapter 12: Birds In Flight

((Previous))

LAAS Masterlist

Read on AO3

Warnings: None

Pairings: familial DLAMP, romantic Sleepxiety, primarily brother Analogical

Summary: It’s time for Virgil and Logan to find their own ways.

The Grand Finale. It’s Over, Y’all.

Words: 3,936

Age: 19, 23, & 13

Note: I am so sorry for the delay! The current state of the world just absolutely crushed my ability and will to write, so this is super fucking late. I hope

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

Virgil sat on his bed, staring at the walls he’d been decorating since he was ten years old and couldn’t draw nearly as well as he thought he could. He didn’t know how he was supposed to be able to sleep anywhere else. In a room where he didn’t know the location and cause of every chip in the paint, every dent in the wall, and every door that was made specifically for them, how would Virgil live?

In a room where he didn’t have his brother next door, just a knock away, how was Virgil supposed to exist?

He shoved an additional sketchbook into the ‘Staying’ pile and tried not to think about it.

Trying not to think about it. That had become an unnervingly common coping mechanism lately. He tried not to think about that, too.

He was not doing a very good job of either.

Currently, it is taking his whole concentration simply to focus enough into choosing what stays and what goes. Virgil, suddenly, had become aware that he also wanted to stay and while that could be the anxiety talking (or the insomnia, he hasn’t slept in days) it could also be that he genuinely rushed into this and didn’t really think about what he wanted, just what Logan was going to do regardless.

Did Virgil want college or was he chasing his brother? Did it matter?

This time it’s a book he threw into the ‘Staying’ pile. He glared at the expanding menagerie of his belongings and his life and then added a random paint brush to it. He didn’t know where it came from, where the rest of its set was. It was raggedy and broken and lost and should probably go in the trash, much like Virgil himself.

Well, he’s not raggedy, but he was a little broken and a lot lost and he didn’t just go in the trash, Virgil was the trash. He’s like the star of the whole damn show.

Virgil stopped that line of thinking by chucking an entire box of sharpies onto his bed and then watching in resignation as it bounced onto the floor and spilled its guts everywhere.

He crouched down on the floor and began to painstakingly recollect all the markers. His hands were shaking, annoying, and his heart was racing, rude, where was it even trying to go?, and he couldn’t seem to not think about the things he’d been trying to not think about for days. Why was his entire body turning against him like some sort of crappy hypnosis?

What if this was a mistake? What if he shouldn’t leave? What if something bad happened to Dad while he was gone? What if something bad happened to Logan if he didn’t go? Someone could die and-

Of course, it was ridiculous to think that he was the only thing standing between his family and utter ruin. Virgil knew that. But the thoughts in his head were like a vortex that had had enough of being contained. They pulled him into the spiral even though he knew it wasn’t rational, and Virgil, for the life of him, couldn’t seem to find a way to pull himself back out.

“V?” Dee asked, slipping into his room. He was holding what looked like a kite. Virgil didn’t know. He didn’t think he’d ever flown a kite. Nothing made any sense. Was he even breathing right?

“Yeah, kid?”

“Do you wanna come play? Ro said they’d come outside with us.”

“Uh,” Virgil said, and coughed.

“Are you sick? Dad won’t let you go outside if you’re sick.” Dee looked up at Virgil, worried, and stepped farther into the room. He put his hand—still so little and fragile—on Virgil’s forehead. “You don’t feel hot.”

“I’m not sick,” Virgil said. “I just feel kind of funky.”

“Oh,” Dee said. He paused. “Do you not want to come outside?”

“Maybe, uh, not-not today. Sorry.” Dee shrugged and took a small step back, still staring at Virgil. He turned to go, but hesitated.

“Is it your anxiety?” he asked quietly. Then, all in a rush, “You told me it can make you feel really bad and Dad said sometimes it helps to be around people. So that you’re not stuck.”

“I don’t know…” he started, but he felt like a huge piece of shit for turning Dee down already, and it could help, even if he was pretty sure it wouldn’t.

“You can come back inside if you want.” Dee straightened his back when Virgil didn’t respond right away. “We’re going outside. Come on.” He walked across the room and grabbed Virgil’s hand, dragging him along. The scattered box of sharpies lay on his floor, forgotten.

“Did you forcibly remove him from his room?” Ro asked, squinting at Virgil. Virgil was also squinting, trying to not cry from how bright the sun was compared to the lamps in his room.

“No,” Dee said, passing the kite to Ro. He didn’t say anything else, and Ro snorted.

“Whatever you say, little Prince,” they said and began to unwind the string of the kite.

Virgil’s hair, long as it was, flapped around his face in the wind and whipped into his eyes. He wrestled it back into a low ponytail to keep it out of the way, and then, when neither Ro nor Dee seemed to need his help immediately, he laid down in the grass and stared up at the sky, the warmth of the sun sinking into his skin. He hadn’t felt quite so comfortable in weeks.

~~~~~

Virgil woke up on the couch in the living room. Logan was sitting at the opposite end reading a book and twirling a coin over his fingers. He glanced up when Virgil shifted and blinked when he saw Virgil’s eyes were open.

“Finally awake?”

“Hhhuhg,” Virgil groaned, rolling to press his face into the pillow and not have to face the world.

“It’s two a.m.,” Logan informed him. “You slept from one o’clock this afternoon until now, and Remy texted you so much I had to put your phone on silent and text them to stop because you were sleeping. Dad made pasta for dinner but didn’t want to wake you up because none of us knew the last time you actually slept. There is a bowl in the microwave for you. Oh, and Dee said you were ‘anxiety-ing’ and needed to be around people.”

“Hhhuhg,” Virgil repeated. “Eh fiihhhn.”

“I am afraid I do not speak Neanderthal,” Logan said. “You will have to translate for me.”

“I am tired,” Virgil enunciated slowly, lifting his head off the pillow, “I am fine, I want sleep.”

“Well, seeing as that’s unlikely, why don’t we talk instead. Here, allow me to get you some food.” Logan placed the coin in his book and set it carefully on the couch cushion and then walked into the kitchen. The sound of the microwave working met Virgil’s ears, and then Logan returned with a bowl and a fork. “Eat,” he said. Virgil took the bowl and sat up.

“You have to put the food in your mouth to eat it,” Logan said, picking his book back up. But instead of opening it, he put it on the table and pulled his legs onto the couch and faced Virgil.

“What?” Virgil muttered, eyes drooping shut. Logan cleared his throat and Virgil sighed, forcing himself to look up.

“You are experiencing anxiety heightened from its usual state?” he asked. Virgil shrugged. “Virgil, please answer the question. It is important to me and also the rest of our family that we know when you are not doing well and can do everything possible to help you.”

“Yeah, there’s more anxiety,” Virgil admitted. “But it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m fine.”

It was a half-truth, and they both knew it. Virgil didn’t know what he was doing, but he definitely wasn’t handling it. He was only struggling. But he didn’t know what to do about that.

“Do you know what’s causing it?” Logan asked.

Virgil knew if he outright lied to Logan, he’d know immediately. He also knew that he couldn’t bring up the real cause of his anxiety because Logan might feel responsible or tell Dad or change his plans on account of Virgil being an over-thinking and under-thinking dumbass at the same time.

“How are you and Nate doing?” he asked, deciding that totally changing the subject was the only logical course of action.

“We’re doing very good. You’re avoiding my question.”

“Maybe I just don’t want to think about it, Logan,” Virgil snapped. “Did you ever think of that?”

“Mhm,” Logan said. “Because not thinking about something has never backfired and made a situation worse before.”

“You can be a real asshole, you know that?” Virgil said. He glared at Logan, but very quickly lost the energy to stay mad and rested his elbows on his knees, bowing his head. His hair, slowly escaping from it’s prison, tickled his face and neck.

“Sometimes brutal honesty is a necessary evil. You know that as well as I do. You should not let whatever is bothering you fester like an infection that went untreated. Tell me what is wrong so that we can work on fixing it.”

“I-” Virgil started, angry, and then he hesitated. “I don’t-I don’t know.”

“You do not know what is causing you distress?” Logan asked, gentler now.

“No,” Virgil breathed. Because he knew very well where the problem lay.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what I-what I, what I, uh, want. I don’t know what I as me wants to do. Not I as us, not I as our family. I as me, just as me. I don’t know, L. I don’t know what to do.” There were tears in Virgil’s eyes and he was so tired he couldn’t even be bothered to care that he was about to start crying.

“V,” Logan said softly, and he put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder blade. “That’s okay. You don’t have to know.”

“Yeah, but-but we’re going to leave for, for the, uh-”

“College.”

“-that in a week. College is starting, and we paid to get in and we’re both going, but what if something bad happens to them,” Virgil jerked his head toward the bedrooms, “while we’re gone? What if I don’t go and something happens to you? What if-what if I do go and end up thousands of dollars in debt and hate every second of it and regret the next four years of my life? What then, Logan? What do I do then? I don’t know what to do. I don’t like school, but this made sense but now I don’t-I don’t-”

“Take a deep breath,” Logan instructed, demonstrating himself. He led Virgil through all his breathing exercises and naming things he could see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. By the end, though still shaking, Virgil felt marginally better.

“Sorry,” he said.

“There is nothing to be sorry for,” Logan said immediately. “This is big and it is important to think through everything before you make a decision.” He leaned back on the couch, observing Virgil from a slight distance. “You do not have to go to college.”

“But-”

“No ifs, ands, or buts about it,” he said. “You do not have to go to college. If you do not want to, you do not have to. Even if you are only unsure about if you want to, you do not have to. You can, if you like, go for a week and if you end up hating it, leave. There is nothing binding you to it, Virgil. And if, in a few years, or maybe in ten or twenty, you decide you want to try college, you can. This is not an irreversible decision.” He came closer again, leaning his side into Virgil’s. “You do not need to be worried about me. I will be fine. You do not need to worry about Dad, either. He has fended for himself for decades before we butted in with our two cents. Ro has been mostly taking care of themself for years and is about to get an apartment of their own. Dee still has Dad looking out for him. Everyone is taken care of, Virgil. You do not need to worry about if they will be okay if you leave, or if they will approve of your decision. They love you. They will keep loving you. You need to make this decision for yourself. Not for us.”

“I don’t know how to do that,” Virgil said, voice small. “I don’t know if I can exist without you, or my-my shitty art on the walls, and Dee bursting into my room whenever he wants, and Ro being so fucking obnoxious all the time with their singing, and Dad trying to sell us on syrup being a drink. I don’t know how to, how to-stop being part of, of-” Virgil waved a hand, aggravated.

“A family?” Logan suggested.

“Yeah,” Virgil said, “that.”

“So you want to go off by yourself?” he asked.

“What?! No, when did I-?” But Virgil stopped himself because somehow, now that he was thinking about it, he realized it was true. He wanted to go out and see things. He wanted to travel. He wanted to know what the world was. And he wanted to know for himself.

“The good news is,” Logan said, “you don’t have to learn to not be part of a family. You will never stop being part of this family, no matter what you do. You will never have to learn to function without us entirely. We are all a phone call away at most.” He smiled at Virgil. “The other good news is, there is no reason you cannot go off as just you, by yourself, and see what the world has to offer. There is nothing stopping you.”

“Money,” Virgil said.

“You have been saving all your holiday and birthday money for years. And Dad said that if any of us decided not to go to college, he’d give us half of our college fund and put the rest toward a vacation.”

“Transportation.”

“Ro just got a new car because they didn’t like the one they had. I am sure they would not mind allowing you to have it.”

“I don’t know how anything in the world works.”

“Then go out and learn it,” Logan said, like it was really just that easy. “Most people, I have found, do not know what they are doing, Virgil. Dad doesn’t. Ro certainly doesn’t. None of our friends do, and you saw how often our teachers would make up lesson plans as they were teaching. I think a part of being human is not knowing what is going on.”

“What about you?”

“I have a short term plan.” Logan shrugged. “I want to be a chemical engineer, so I will go to college for my degree. But I will have to figure out where my classes are, what kinds of teachers I have, what to do with myself when I am bored without my siblings around to annoy me, how to live with a roommate I have never met before, how to remember to do my laundry and take showers without constantly being reminded, how to keep in contact with Nate without getting to see him in person for weeks at a time. It is a learning curve. You are not the only one learning.”

“What if Remy and I can’t do that whole long distance thing?” he said, but it was a weak rebuttal. Virgil was searching for excuses, and Logan knew it. Even if the thought of leaving Remy behind hurt more than he would like to admit. Unlike the rest of his family, Virgil couldn’t just hope Remy would wait for him to come back.

“You will figure it out.” Logan paused. “Remy is not going to college, either. It is entirely possible they may desire to join you.”

“That’s insane,” Virgil said. “Who would just up and do something like that?”

“You would,” Logan said. “And you will not know for sure what they will say unless you ask them.”

“Huh,” Virgil said. He hesitated. “Are you sure? That this won’t come back to bite me in the ass?”

“I have no idea,” Logan said. “You may regret it. But this is what you want to do now, and if ever you change your mind, you can come back home. You can try something else. You have an entire life ahead of you to try things. I would not worry too much about it.”

“Why do you know so much?” Virgil groused, but it wasn’t a real complaint. He felt relieved and relaxed and kind of stupid now that everything had been so clearly laid out for him.

“You’re just jealous,” Logan said, and he grinned brightly at Virgil before yawning.

“Alright, you need to go to bed. When’s the last time you stayed up until three in the morning?” Virgil asked, grabbing Logan’s elbow to pull them both up.

“Didn’t want you to be out here by yourself,” Logan mumbled. He rubbed his eyes and almost knocked his glasses onto the floor.

“The speed you fall asleep is amazing,” Vigil said, more to himself than to Logan, as he guided him up the stairs and into his own room. Logan was completely out before his head hit the pillow.

~~~~~

One Week Later

Virgil threw his last bag into the trunk and slammed it shut. Remy leaned against the side of the car, watching the sky. They turned to Virgil and grinned.

“Excited?”

“Something like that,” Virgil said, leaning in and kissing Remy quickly. “Just gotta say goodbye.”

“Parting is such sweet sorrow,” they said. “But I’ll let you handle that on your own.” They slid into the passenger seat and pulled out their phone. Virgil took a deep breath and walked up the driveway.

“Are you sure you have all of your things?” Logan asked, hands fluttering through the air like nervous hummingbirds. Virgil nodded.

“Do you?”

“Yes, though I fear that Dee or Dad may start hiding them in the house to prevent me from leaving.”

“They’re driving you down,” Virgil said. “I think you should probably be more worried about them bringing some of it back here so that you have to come back to get it.”

“Oh god, don’t say that. You’ll speak it into existence.” Logan groaned, collapsing against Virgil. He snorted and shoved Logan away, heading into the house. Logan followed him.

They found Dad, Roman, and Dee in the kitchen, making something. Virgil and Logan had not been allowed in the kitchen for the last few days. It made Virgil nostalgic and they hadn’t even left yet.

They’d been preparing for this for a week. After Virgil’s late night realization about what he wanted to do, he had told everyone else. Plans had changed, and nobody was mad, and now Logan and Virgil would be leaving the house at the same time but with different destinations.

Logan was bound for a college in the next state over whereas Virgil and Remy were going to begin their cross-country roadtrip heading West, toward California. They had money and food and not a clue what they were doing.

Virgil had almost never been so excited in his life.

Dad squealed when he saw them and rushed over, grabbing them up in a giant hug. He’d been giving even more hugs lately, as though they were going to leave forever. Virgil couldn’t particularly bring himself to care.

“My boys!” he cried. “Leaving! We better hurry and get everything packed up!” They quickly gathered up all of the food they had baked and then, with what looked like enough pastries to feed an army, the three marched out the door. Virgil shared an exasperated look with Logan as they followed.

Virgil and Logan watched as their Dad and brothers split all the food in half between the two cars and carefully stacked it in the backseats.

“They act like we’re never coming back,” Virgil said.

“We are the first to leave home.” Logan shrugged. “And Dad has more love than he knows what to do with. They’ll miss us.”

“I think they can handle it,” Virgil said.

Dad was teary-eyed and sniffling when he came back over to them.

“Everything’s all packed up,” he said. “So I guess we’re ready to go our separate ways. I’m quite fondue you two, so you better make time to visit, alright?” Virgil laughed and they both nodded.

“I’ll come back so often you’ll get tired of seeing me,” Virgil promised. “And we’ll facetime.”

“You better. And no getting into truffle while you’re off adventuring.” He hugged Virgil so tightly he couldn’t breathe and after a long, long time, pulled back. “Be safe, kiddo.”

“I will,” Virgil said. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Virge.”

Dad moved back to let Ro and Dee tackle him in a hug. Virgil laughed, squeezing them both.

“You have to get me rocks from everywhere you go,” Dee told him.

“And Dad and I want pictures of everything,” Roman said.

“Can do.” Roman reached over and ruffled his hair. Virgil swatted his hand away, glaring.

“Calm down, Panic! at the Disco. I won’t get to do it again for forever, I gotta make up for it now.”

“Whatever,” he grumbled. “Love you guys.” They echoed the sentiment and, if Virgil didn’t know better, he’d say there were tears in Ro’s eyes.

“Well, we better get going. Don’t want to be late or anything.” Roman rolled his eyes and walked back to the car. Virgil looked at Logan.

“This is totally weird,” they said together. They both smiled.

“If you need anything, call me. I’ll be there in a day, tops,” Virgil said.

“Likewise. And should you happen to find yourself bored and in want of company, my dorm is always open.”

“Love you, L.”

“Love you, V.”

Virgil hugged Logan, long and hard. There were tears in Logan’s eyes when they pulled away.

“Keep that up and you’ll be just as bad as Dad,” Virgil teased. Logan snorted and swiped a hand over his eyes.

“No driving while you’re sleep deprived.”

“No promises,” Virgil said. Logan shook his head. “Oh, and I need you to do something for me.” Virgil dug a cadbury egg out of his pocket and handed it to Logan. “When it’s time for Dad to head back home, give this to him and tell him that he can’t cadbury his head in the sand, we’re coming back.”

“You are hopeless.”

“Nah, I’m a genius.”

“Perhaps you are. You better have some interesting facts to tell me when you come back.”

“Obviously,” Virgil said. And then he went to his car and got in. He watched in the mirror until Dad’s car was out of sight and then turned his key in the ignition.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Babes, do you even have to ask?” Remy said, pulling down their sunglasses. “I’ve always wanted to go on an adventure.”

“Adventure,” Virgil said. “I like that. We’re adventurers, braving the West.”

“Let’s do this. I have all the sunglasses I need and your Dad loaded us up with enough food to last us a year. We’re set.”

“Let’s do it,” Virgil muttered, and when he pulled out of the driveway, he had no idea where they were going. But he was excited to see what they would encounter along the way.

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

Taglist: @supersoftsupersleep @trashcanego

11 notes · View notes

ionlyeatcomfortfood · 5 years

Text

How Apathy Became Nate

A/N: Part 2 of Writing Marathon! Next, Soulmates Part 3! This is based off @fanartfunart‘s Apathy (Nate). Hope you like it, Firefly! It’s not my best, but I like it. (Also the title is crap forgive me.)

Word Count: 1493

Pairings: None

Warnings: Nothing too major this time, except for Deceit giving us some good ol’ exposition, and Remus is mentioned a couple times.

-----------

Thomas was having a crisis.

Now, this was usual, or he would not have any videos. Having a crisis made up about 50% of his content. But normally, the crisis was something of the past, or made up entirely. This crisis, however, was something of reality.

He was hopelessly in love.

And of course, everyone was arguing.

“We have to make a move! Who knows what’ll happen if we let this prince leave without even trying!” Roman shrieked.

“We can’t afford to approach him! Who knows what’ll happen if we do try to talk to him!” Virgil shouted back.

“Now guys, let’s try listening to what everyone is saying! Both Roman and Virgil have good points,” Patton tried to pacify the situation, but it really didn’t help.

“I still believe that you are all making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. Why don’t you just ask him out?” Logan asks.

Virgil screams “NO!” just as Roman is screaming “YES!”

“Ooh boy I did not miss that,” Thomas said, covering his ears. He really didn’t know how all of them got so loud.

“Well isn’t this just pleasant,” A calm voice said, knocking Virgil and Roman from their arguing frenzy.

“Deceit. Seriously, why are you here? I’m not lying, or feeling morally ambiguous, so what your deal, you slimy boi?” Thomas asked.

“While I would totally not appreciate you calling me a ‘slimy boi’, I’m here for other reasons.”

“And what could those possibly be?” Virgil growled.

“Why, to give voices to the previously unheard, of course.”

“Certainly you don’t speak of my brother, do you Deceit?” Roman inquired.

“Of course not, Prince Charming. I mean a voice Thomas has yet to hear.” Deceit grinned.

Virgil groaned. “No. They cannot come. Please.”

“Oh, well, why ever not?”

“Wait, who are you talking about?” Thomas asked.

“Well, you’ll see!” And with a flick of his wrist, Deceit disappeared, an a new side sat on the couch.

--------

When Deceit mentioned that there was another ‘dark’ side, Thomas was expecting something dark and sinister. You know, the general Disney villain aesthetic that the other dark sides went for. Maybe Narcissism, maybe Insanity, maybe just Evil.

What Thomas was not expecting was the side that was currently sitting behind him on the couch.

He had his shirts on inside out and backwards. He had a jacket tied around his waist, glasses hanging on his collar, and were those pajama pants?

Geez. This dude was a hot mess.

“Who are you?” Thomas asked, thinking this was a reasonable question to ask.

The side just shrugged and went back to lounging on the couch.

“Could you please answer me?” Thomas asked again, still trying to be polite.

“I could, but that might take too much effort,” the side mumbled.

“Okay, can someone else tell me who this is?” He was getting a little frustrated now. This side was being a pain and they really didn’t have time to deal with this crap.

“Can’t you tell? The indolent outfit? The misuse of glasses-” Roman began, being cut of by Logan saying “Seriously. If you have glasses, that means you need them. So wear them.”

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by Doctor Boo, it’s really quite obvious. It’s Apathy!” He finished with his normal Roman dramatic flair.

“Apathy?”

“Yep. The one and only. And Roman, we get that you’re extra. Do you really need to be so extra all the time?” Apathy mumbled.

“Yes, well maybe-No! I will not fall for your silly mind games, you skanky sloth!”

“Mind games? What are you guys talking about? Logan, can you fill me in here?”

“Certainly. Apathy, the bane of my existence, is your lack of interest. He-”

“It’s ‘they’, Logan. Seriously, after dealing with me for this long, you would think you would get it by now.” Apathy mumbled. Did they ever speak up? Thomas thought.

“Apologies, they finds all thinks mundane or useless, so they doesn’t do anything. Their power, if could even call it that, is to convince somebody to slowly stop doing whatever it is they enjoy. So, for Roman, it’s being all dramatic and over the top.”

“So essentially, kiddo, Apathy makes you unproductive,” Patton said.

“Yeah. And we don’t really get along,” Virgil growled.

“Virg? Why not?” Thomas asked.

“Anxiety and Apathy? You’d never get anything done! You’d either be anxious about whatever it is you’re doing, or you’d never have enough motivation to actually do it!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Virgil had said something about motivation. Does that mean... “Are you the one that’s been behind all my lack of motivation problems?”

“Yep. Who else would it be, Logan?”

“Of course not,” Logan retorted. “I am completely for Thomas working on improving his-”

“It was sarcasm, dude. Get a hint.” Apathy rolled his eyes in Logan’s general direction.

“Anyway, what am I going to do with him? I can’t have him constantly draining my motivation, I have to get things done-”

“Can you please chill out? V doesn’t need anything else to worry about,” Apathy said, actually speaking at a normal volume for once.

“I told you not to call me V,” Virgil frowned.

“I’ll stop calling you V when you stop acting like it’s the early 2000′s.”

Virgil did not have a response to that.

“To touch on why Deceit even summoned me here, I think romance is a waste of time. Too much work and commitment. But if you really like this dude, maybe just go for it. And hey, if it doesn’t work out, then you’ll get over it. You did last time.

“Anyway, you don’t have to worry about the motivation thing. I won’t be in your way. The only times I really do my job are on weekends and times when you work yourself too hard.”

“Wow. That’s... surprisingly good advice, Apathy. And you really won’t bother me?”

“Yes Thomas. I’m less of a dark side, more a ‘morally ambiguous’ side.”

“Huh.”

“As Deceit has shown,” Logan said “Appearances can be deceiving.”

“Yeah. Well, I gotta go. Have to keep Remus from making you too crazy.”

“Wait what?”

But Apathy was already gone.

“We’ve gotta head out too, kiddo. Movie night.” Patton said.

“But we haven’t solved what I’m gonna do about this guy!” Thomas said.

“Look, if there is one thing you can learn from Apathy, it’s you need to chill a bit,” Virgil said.

“That’s smart coming from you, Virgil,” Roman scoffed.

“But it’s true. I, well, I keep you on your toes, especially when it comes to relationships. But Apathy is right. Sometimes, we just gotta chill. I’ll... I’ll let up if you actually try to build your relationship with him.”

“Alright, Virgil. I’ll try.”

And with Thomas’ closing statement finished, the sides all gathered for movie night.

--------

Over the next couple weeks, Apathy became less of nuisance and more of a friend. Sure, there were still bumps, especially when Apathy and Logan couldn’t figure out a work schedule that worked for both of them. But they managed.

One night, during a (much later) movie night, they couldn’t decide on what to watch.

“How about Cinderella? It’s a classic,” Roman suggested.

“Dude. We have watched Disney for the past month. Let’s do something else,” Virgil groaned.

“What’s wrong with Disney?”

“Nothing. It’s just that we watch it way too much.”

“Ugh. Fine. Apathy, since you haven’t picked a movie, what would you like to watch?” Roman turned to where the side was lying on the floor, finally wearing his jacket and glasses, scrolling through some weird website that nobody wanted to ask about.

“Hmm?”

“Roman asked what movie you wanted to watch, Apathy,” Logan repeated, letting Patton curl into him a little bit more.

“Oh. Ummm... I don’t really care? But how about Love, Simon, since everyone likes that one.”

“Sweet.” Roman was about to play the movie when Apathy had one more statement to add.

“And it’s Nate.”

Everyone was quiet for a second, then Patton asked “What was that, kiddo?”

“Nate. My name?”

Everyone paused again.

“Nate. Huh. Wasn’t what I was expecting, but I like it.” Roman said cheerfully.

“Thanks for telling us, Nate. You’ve gotta be really brave to share your name with us.” Patton grinned, which made Nate flush a little bit.

“Yeah, well, it was getting annoying to have to listen to you call me Apathy when I knew I had a name, so it was an easy choice.”

Nate played it off like it was nothing, but Virgil knew how hard it was for a ‘dark’ side to share their name (except for Remus. But he generally was the black and green sheep of the family). So he shared a small smile with Nate, not saying anything. He knew that look was enough for them.

Because Nate was just family now. Not a ‘dark’ side, not a ‘light’ side, just family.

--------

Taglist (Let me know if you want to be added)

@redistooviolent

@jellopuffs

@loginceismyjam

@a-trans-ghost

@hekking-happy-nonsense

@chaotic-sinnabun

@steampunkicarus

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #roman sanders #thomas sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #deceit sanders #oc #not mine tho #fanartfunart #love you firefly #sander sides fic #writing marathon

76 notes · View notes

frenchtoastpanda · 5 years

Text

The Leverage finale

Gonna rant in public because @rainaramsay expressed interest. I have no theme this is just my thoughts as I rewatch this episode. Idk why I’m doing this. (Also I don’t know how to format, so sorry about that)

Oh right I forgot that this is a fucking sad episode why am I doing this to myself

Ooh the return of the Steranko! I am very glad they brought that back

I just love when they bring things back in general, like in the white rabbit job all of the companies looking to buy dogson are previous marks and how they have like three brand names for safes that they reuse a lot. It just makes it feel like a real world that people live in.

The theater! Perfect for Sophie! And the mentioned the tunnels, which I believe we encountered in the gold job

Sophie says “I have just the thing” and my immediate response is always “the play’s the thing” even though I know it’s from a different play than the one they are doing

And can we talk about how they are doing the same play as the pilot? Actually I will probably yell about that closer to the end

Parker being all emotionally cognizant and Nate just reciting physics formulas in response

God I love this bit (and I love that they are still including references to Nate’s alcoholism)

Just, Parker, the new mastermind, who doesn’t “let feelings get in the way” (like Hardison - this is the reason he can’t be the mastermind, much to his chagrin. He’s too much of a cinnamon roll)

Nate says she spins problems like puzzle pieces until they click, but I think it’s more like juggling all the fiddly bits inside a lock until it clicks open

HE TRUSTS HER HE TRUSTS HER HE TRUSTS HER!!!!!!!

Zachary is the lead! Love him!

Sophie saying she doesn’t miss acting at all 😏

She is a good director, though

"I'm exactly where I belong" I'm gonna die I am so happy for all of them

Oh no here we go

Cut right to Nate covered in cuts being interrogated about the mistakes he made

"Mr. Ford, how did your friends die?" CUT TO COMMERCIAL

This must have killed me the first time around

I do love this investigator though. I think I remember from the commentary that it wasn't originally supposed to be her, but it worked out really well

Nate looking around like he's confused (and trapped) while not being able to put together a full sentence (I'm not sure if I ever developed a solid headcannon for how much of this scene was him faking and how much was actual injuries from the actual crash) (I'm open to ideas!)

Ellen giving a vicious predatory little smile when she says that she's here to help him

I wish I could do gifs or screencaps or something. This is one of my absolute favorite callbacks! Parker in that little black bonnet thing jumping off a building having the time of her life and the boys do their "twenty pounds of crazy in a five pound bag" thing (whuch my autocorrect recognized as a phrase for some reason? Do I really yell about that but enough for it to suggest those words in that order? Fantastic)

But this time their faces and voices are full of affection. She may be an insane thief/mastermind, but she's OUR insane thief/mastermind

And coming after the white rabbit job where we had that line about how she's not and never has been crazy, the fact that you can tell they are saying this as a callback without meaning the crazy part is just perfect

It makes me wonder how many other times they have repeated this, because you can't convince me they haven't

Aah Sophie's horrible rendition of Lady Macbeth! Same speech, different ways of doing it just as badly (props to Gina Bellman)

Is this the same outfit? Hold on I need to check.

Y'know, I didn't think they changed that much physically over the years, given that they are adults, but going back to the pilot, I keep going awww look how tiny they were! (Especially Aldis. Like I know they had problems because he was getting too hot and ripped, but Damn)

Anyway, the dress is very very similar, same color and pattern, but it very slightly different. I will maybe post my very very horrible pictures after I finish this

Parker is so good at computers now that she has this adorably bored face when hacking! I love that they taught each other their stuff!

Using chaos as a distraction and co-opting the expected response as a cover! One of my favorite tricks!

Parker changing in the elevator! And the boys turning to give her privacy! And this isn't even the first time they did a callback to this! I love my respectful boys! Remember when Hardison turned the David around? So pure!

Ah, we are setting up for competency porn and then it all goes bad! Aah!

I love Eliot's little "wassup?" Before fighting the guy. Points for intimidation, Spencer

My stronk babies opening an elevator with their fingertips

And Hardison's recurrent fear of heights combined with Parker's love of them

She says "I got you" (twice)

Oh god Beth's acting in the elevator shafts

Oh I'm gonna cry

Oh and a "dammit Hardison"

Oh Gina's face

Even in a situation as tense as this, Eliot still takes the time to empty the gus and toss it away

I don't think I've ever seen him check for an ankle piece, actually. How has that not come up before now?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Age of the geek, brother" I'm sobbing

I mean, so is everybody

Look at this acting!

I love that they didn't go for the clichéd established couple dying in each other's arms, but instead put Eliot in the middle, giving us our yummy hurt ot3 goodness

And Parker sitting up so she sees the other two go

Ugh. Where's that poetic cinéma image when you need it?

Anyone remember the perfectly timed bridge from the pilot?

What number Lucille are they on?

I love that they actually stop in from of the barrier at the bridge, then take a moment to decide before just going for the crazy impossible stunt because why the hell not at this point

Ah Nate and Sophie are holding hands on the way to death too!!

And cut the scene before they reach the top of the bridge. Time to see Tim show us why he's an academy award winner

Ooh and here's where we find out she was lying! (Should this be the part where I started wondering if Nate knew? Probably. Did I? Not even a little)

There was a big twist where the person Nate was facing off against was playing him in the pilot too

But John fucking Rogers didn't play ME in the pilot. I take that personally.

Ooh hints at the true story are being dropped

Ellen is almost adequately suspicious

JUST WALK TWO FEET FORWARD ELLEN! LOOK AT THE STAGE! COME ON!

"You loved them very much" Yeah he did. They all did! Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

She knows he's lying, I love that (just like Dubenich knew Sophie was manipulating him)

"The only thing I ever had"? That's intense, Nate

God Tim is a good actor

(Like I low-key don't like Nate at all, but Damn he is well acted)

And he just turns it off, just like that

Wow

I am really into her little impressed face when he goes all Sherlock and explains how he knows they are at interpol

The glass! Of course Sterling brings him the glass! Not a pilot callback, but a good callback nontheless. The commentary says it's literally the same exact glass every time. I will have to go back and verify that at some point. I swear it didn't have those ridges around the bottom in at least one episode, but I also trust John Rogers, so idk

I love how sterling knows everything from the moment he appears, and Ellen doesn't even know what the black book is

"That's why you joined Interpol? Screw justice. You're the order guy?" What a good line for Nate and Sterling's relationship

Nate's not even interested in hearing Sterling's evil speech of evil about the bailouts

I actually really love the little exposition flashbacks

Her look of horror and dawning comphrension when he explains why he is there is fantastic. If we bring this show back, can we have more of this lady?

Yeah, Ellen, why IS he still lying to you??

Sterling remembered to be cautious about the coroner's van, but not cautious enough!

That's some timing. How did Nate arrange that ? Oh right, this was triggered by the arrival of the van, which he probably set the timing of

Nate's face after "Parker's still in the server room." Yes, sell that fear to Sterling! Make him believe he's right! I wouldn't have thought to fake a reaction to that. But that's why I'm not a griffer

And he trusted sterling to have a snark remark so that he could have an attention-stealing reaction to distract him

I try every time to see the kids going in, and I never manage to catch all of them

Why does Nate turn away here?

God, that really is a terrifyingly lifelike Hardison face

I gotta say, the first time I saw sterling shoot the Hardison corpse, I was really convinced that he was right and he was really killing Hardison for the first time

"Second question... No, Nate, why don't you tell her what my second question is?"

Honestly, the first time around, I had forgotten about that secret meeting between Nate and Hardison

"The plan's the thing" A callback to earlier in this episode. I'm dying. I love this show so much

And they can do that without being annoying because every leverage episode is like three or four episodes rolled into one. Sometimes more!

That's one of my favorite parts, but also one of the very few downsides

I get so excited watching the flashbacks that show how it all happened

Omg I love the thing where they stack! Parker crouching, Eliot just above her head, Hardison looming tall! It reminds me of the princess bride for some reason

Sterling is the Trojan horse, the way out is the way in...wait, didn't they do that with at least one other episode, where the floor was a horrible way in, but last minute they used it as a way out?

Are these callbacks or parallels at this point?

Sophie taught Nate how to act! "She found her calling." Yeah she did! So proud of her!

"Your ride to a life sentence in a secret prison has arrived" So dramatic for someone who knows Sophie is behind the wheel

Ooooooohhh he called him James!

"You and I are not the same" okay sterling

"Justice is always easy" YES GO STERLING wait that's a callback to the justice vs order thing earlier in this episode. I just got that

I have seen this so many times and I still notice something new every time I watch it

Does John Rogers have a tumblr? I want to tag him but I don't think he does

What is Parker wearing? Why is one sleeve randomly yellow?

I can't believe Nate is proposing in a hoodie

I love how the kids pop in with insults and Nate just agrees. He knows it's true

That's a huge fucking rock

"Did you steal it?" "No." "Oh, cause that would have been more romantic"

"I'll steal the first anniversary ring" lol I love these guys

Parker insists he follow the proper procedure

Oh wait, the ot3 are gonna branch out with other crews?

Y'know, in an alternate universe I could have shipped Eliot and Sophie

GOD

I'M CRYING AGAIN

"You're the smartest man I know" where have we heard that before?

Parker recognizing her feelings! (And they've been preparing her for this the longest)

Aah, the circle shot from above and the breakaway, but this time not everyone breaks away!!!!!!!!!!

"You do know that Laura is not my real name, don't you?" Sophie I'm gonna kill you

And then the big obvious callback to the pilot, where Beth meticulously studied Tim's acting to recreate it

Loving the look of this scene. The costumes, the blocking, all of it

And they made sure to switch which parent was crying

Very excited for leverage international. Gimme!

#leverage #the long goodbye job #meta #leverage meta #it's less a meta and more me screaming #but whatever #hopefully my autocorrect didn't renter this unreadable

53 notes · View notes