dontcxckitup

[dontcxckitup]

Ralph & Daniel, 2019

photo Greg Williams

#;face #Gareth Mallory #James Bond #No Time To Die #Ralph Fiennes #;;no time to queue

[dontcxckitup]

A huff escaped him. What was worse than taking innocent lives? Those of a woman and a child? He didn't think the MP actually had anything like that on his list; perhaps blackmail, bribery, threats. But not murder. No matter how Gareth was turning and twisting it, in the end there was only one scenario playing out in his mind: that part of his past was going to be released to public and ruin his entire career and life in the process.

He looked up at Alex, staring at her in disbelief. "No. You will not get near this man again. I won't allow it." As if he had a say in what Alex was doing. Once she had set something to her mind, she would follow through.

She nodded slowly, taking it in as she watched him- watched him get another drink, watched him glance at the drawer, watched him in the fog of memory that she knew all too well.

Her own mind was working through options, ways to protect him. In the back of her mind she wondered for the slightest of moments if she would humor the MP. But they both knew that once you gave an extortioner what they wanted once, they'd just keep coming back for more....even if that thing was her.

She didn't have to tell him that she wouldn't say anything, that secret he was supposed to keep died with her. He knew that already- knew how loyal she was, even if she was trouble sometimes.

"Well then," She pushed herself up and poured her own drink. "I guess we just have to find something much much worse about him first. God knows a man like that has got to have a million skeletons hidden somewhere." She murmured, taking a sip herself, debating the next words. "And if that means we have to lead him to beleive hes going to have his way for a little bit..." Well then she would do what she needed to do. "We'll figure it out."

#xseen2muchx

[dontcxckitup]

Gareth stared at her. Wasn't sure what to think. Had she just made that up? Was that some kind of trick to get him to agree to fly to bloody Australia? Frankly, he wouldn't put it past Kit; she was smart, and if she wanted something, she usually also got it. And if she had to use her friends to get it - although never in a mean way.

He thought for a long moment. A holiday. With her. Just them, and her brother, of course. If it really was a trick, it was a mean one, playing with his feelings like that. "And...how long would that visit be?" Gareth finally asked.

Should she tell him that the fact he's not had a break in such a long time, was probably the reason why he was now imagining dead men walking about? It might even be the case that a build-up of stress was beginning to make cracks appear in his usual, indefatigable nature. Some around the office had commented on the techiness, how much shorter his temper was lately, the perma-frown on his forehead.

Kit had always thought Gareth quite handsome, dashing. Also charming due to his intelligence and caring nature. However, now he looked........older, tired. Actually, he looked exhausted. Still, she knew he wouldn't go down without a fight on this point, so maybe, a teeny-tiny further bit of bait was required?

"Shame........I'm planning on paying a visit 'down under' and it would've been fun to have you and him together to keep me entertained while I'm there.....".

#kitjustkit #//that's mean lol

[dontcxckitup]

Gareth just hummed at her question. The chocolate matter was more important now. "I...don't actually have any." His brow rose, and he tried to look as friendly as possible, even adding a soft, charming smile. "Would you...be so kind to get me some?"

"Ah, you run something?" She asked hearing about staff. "Chocolate? No, go ahead! If you've got some, we won't stop you."

#jomportmanrp

[dontcxckitup]

Gareth wasn't sure, but he did think he could feel Maria relax in his arms. Perhaps he was only hoping, though. But he did hope thoroughly that holding her like this, forgetting the busy world around them for now, did help her anxiety. It was all he could do, really: to just be there for her.

"Mm," he hummed, smiling softly as he placed his chin on top of her head. "Would you like to recite them?" Perhaps it helped. Perhaps focusing on those poems distracted her well enough to at least momentarily forget about her own anxiety. Plus, it was somewhat of a bonus; he had never read Emily Dickinson, though of course he wouldn't admit that to Maria.

She knew he was lying and in that moment she couldn't have adored him anymore. Gareth Mallory, always saving the world, yet here he was putting saving the world on hold for her. It was a selfish sort of almost pride she felt about it. Perhaps because she never expected him to put the world on hold for her, even though she would forever have put it on hold for him.

As he pulled her into an embrace Maria sunk into his arms, the weight on her chest easing slightly with the pressure of him there. She never really thought she'd feel entirely safe again, not just after everything that had happened, but after being an agent. Yet there'd been a night, a night in Gareth's arms and she'd realised that for the first time in what felt like forever she felt safe, truly safe. She felt that now too.

"Hope is the thing with feathers By Emily Dickinson is the first. The other is from Ulysses it's some of the last lines from ‘T is not too late to seek a newer world."

#tealeavesandthorns

[dontcxckitup]

So we all know that Tumblr is US-centric. But to what degree? (and can we skew the results of this poll by posting it at a time where they should be asleep?)

Reblog to increase sample size!

#;;00c

[dontcxckitup]

// I'm totally knackered 😩 Gonna have supper, then watch a movie and probably fall asleep. Don't expect much from me here today. Sorry xoxo

#;;00c

[dontcxckitup]

#;home

[dontcxckitup]

"Normally?" Bond turned to Alex again. "Weeks." "But we're MI6," Gareth continued for him, looking up at Bond, then Alex. "A few days, perhaps." "They are already working on it." Of course they were. They had everything necessary for such tests, and the urgency.

Not giving a damn that they weren't alone, Gareth reached out to take Alex's hand. "Why don't we...go shopping now and let them do their job?"

She probably should have snooped more but she had tried to be respectful of his house. Now she kind of regreted that. She tried to focus instead. "So not just a squatter." She murmured, more statement then question.

She only half listened to the conversation, fingers coming to rub the stress out of her temples. All she could think about was the little human things. Where was he doing to the bathroom? Where were they showering? She knew some of her shampoo had been getting used faster but had assumed Gareth had run out. Had he watched them have breakfast and their little reading dates where she rested her head in his lap or she helped him ice his knee after a bad day? What about when they were intimate?

She shuttered, closing her eyes. Too much detail. Her brain was being far too detailed.

"How long does that normally take?" She asked. "The DNA I mean?"

#xseen2muchx

[dontcxckitup]

'Sorry' didn't mean anything. The two people were dead, and his team was at fault. Though they had never figured out who exactly had shot the woman and her child; so in the end it was all of them. They shared the knowledge and the pain.

He filled himself another glass, this time to its rim, then turned to glance at Alex. Did locking the file away really help? No, of course not; he would stare at the drawer, avoid it like it was the plague. It still wouldn't leave him alone, because deep inside he wanted to know what was inside it. A photo of their gruesome deed? An eyewitness report?

"If anyone finds out...I will lose my job. I will be put in the stocks, because I was the commanding officer. I'm responsible for...for their deaths. We swore an oath back then; neither of us would ever talk about it." And technically he had just broken it.

Alex trailed after him into the study though she did pick up the file and bring it with them. She didn't want to look at it- not because she didn't want to know or because she wasn't curious. But because she hadn't been lying. She wanted to hear whatever it was from him.

She listened, watching him and the turmoil on his face closely. Compassion was on her soft face as he poured himself the drink and told her what had happened. She winced though it wasn't at him, it was at the situation. Slowly she nodded.

"Gareth...I'm so so sorry." She murmured and she was because what a horrible thing to have to live with, that weighing on him for all of these years. As sad as it was this wasn't the first time she had heard something like that. When the US troops were occupying Afganistan at the beginning those stories and ones about friendly fire were all over. It just hadn't been a secret. When things were left in the dark, the festered like an infected wound.

"Thats not your fault though....like you said you were a Major and someone gave you that address." She knew that didn't make it any better emotionally but it did logistically. Stepping close she took his key from him and opened one of his desk drawers, sliding the file into it and locking it again so it was away instead of just taunting him.

She moved to the sofa and sat down, patting next to her for him to come and sit with her. "What would be better? To get out in front of this? Because even without me in the picture, that Dick can't have power over you."

#xseen2muchx

[dontcxckitup]

He gently rubbed his hands over Wendy’s back, trying to soothe her a bit. Give her comfort. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps she wouldn’t have understood back then; but when had it changed? When she had got together with him?

Protecting people – it was their nature. In their blood. His as much as hers, and Michael had been no different. And somehow Gareth believed she wouldn’t ever tell him to stop. Frankly, Gareth didn’t know what to say now. Anything felt wrong, like a record played again and again. So instead he just tightened his grip on Wendy.

His voice warmed her, but didn't calm her fear of losing him to his desire to protect. Memories of him jumping in front of a shooter on live tv at a defense hearing flooding her memory. Though she couldn't judge. How often has she been attacked by a patient stepping between them and another nurse.

"No...." she shook her head softly. "We.....I wouldn't have understood then." she corrected herself. "He protected what he loved....... Just as I would have. As you would have I'm sure had you been given the chance."

#brokenthimbles

[dontcxckitup]

For a moment he was taken aback at her talking about dating, until he realised she was actually talking about the hot chocolate. Yes, it did have that effect. Ever since he had first tried it, Mallory had never switched to any other brand. Its taste was rich, smooth, and just perfect for a day of stress. Which happened quite often in his line of business. That was why he always had a secret stash in his office and took care it never ran dry.

He lowered his mug and studied her, listening intensely. Smiling here and there when she did, even though the topic was far from fun. On the contrary – it sounded like a story straight out of a horror movie. What he didn’t like at all, where those incidents she was talking about that had supposedly happened in Great Britain – and that he hadn’t heard about until now. What else was there he had never been told? Perhaps it was better if he didn’t know, though. Some things just were better kept secret…

“Christ…” he muttered, shaking his head. “You don’t wish these things to your worst enemy.” And yet shockingly there were people out there who were licking their fingers to get that in their hands to just exactly use it on their enemies. “So you mean to tell me we will have to fix a certain time for a meeting every month?” Now, in all honesty, he didn’t mind. Of course only if he didn’t have to deal with an international incident then.

Vera took a thoughtful sip of her cocoa before glancing up at him with eyebrows raised. “Yes, I’m afraid we dropped the ball on that one.” She shot him a toothy grin. “That’s a joke! And this is absolutely life-changing cocoa. I may have to get its number and take it out on a real date.”

Then, back to the heaviness at hand. “These anomalous diseases are far more common than one might think and I’m afraid a great many of them could lead to an event more disastrous even than what you’ve experienced. An ounce of prevention is the best way to prevent the fall of humanity.”

She took another drink of cocoa. Her shoulders felt heavy. If their whole meeting had been King Arthur and failed attempts at bribery, maybe she’d have slept easier that night. 

“No offense.” That got an amiable laugh. “Prepare to be sorely disappointed. My handler has the UK scheduled for briefings every three weeks and that doesn’t cover emergencies. This past week alone, while slices of Clarke were still warm inside the old refrigerator they dumped him in, three British incidents were handled by his short-term replacement.” Someone in Monitoring who had, presumably, been doing Clarke's job within the system all along while unable to contact any of his intelligence heads. “No offense, but you should hope to see me.”

She put the mug down lightly on the desk and leaned back. “In this case…” Vera observed Mallory in silence. This kind of truth played tricks on all who knew it, but concealing it here could do just as much damage. “They’d brush their teeth. Kiss their children goodnight. Get under the covers and fall asleep, just like you’d expect.” Her hands were calm and steady. She nodded slowly. “I’m going to explain it like I would for any other colleague who isn’t in medicine. The parasite waited for nocturnal signals that the host was asleep. We’ve studied it now. We know that it drove the host away from light and noise. Into the desert. It engaged a chemical that triggered symptoms of hypothermia to encourage the patient to freeze to death so the parasite could breed in its ideal environment and then feed in its larval form. The patients would fight off family members. Break windows. The ones who escaped died cold, bitter deaths. We were fortunate enough to be alerted during night one.”

#doctorveranair

[dontcxckitup]

“Wait until I see my staff again, then the blood pressure will be through the roof…” Gareth muttered dryly. There were a few people who managed exactly that on a daily basis. Bond, mostly. He sighed. “I…suppose chocolate is out of the question?”

"We all have our different stressors." She smiled "obs look much better than they did earlier." She assured him. "Blood pressure is still a little high, but not as bad as when you arrived. Heart rate is still high, again, Better than when you came in. Can I get you anything before I go?"

#jomportmanrp

[dontcxckitup]

Unless he remembered what he had ordered, she was right – they did need plates. Setting the other bag down again, he stood up and returned to the kitchen to get two plates he then placed on the coffee table in the study. “Of course you could also tell me what you ordered, and I’ll just take the other,” he half-joked.

That smile of his absolutely melted her. "Hm, that really narrows it down." She chuckled, "And yeah, sharing works. We might actually need plates then."

She opened up one of the containers.

#jomportmanrp

[dontcxckitup]

// Watching Flashdance and G hates every second of it lmao

#;;00c

[dontcxckitup]

// FML I forgot we have a blimp departing and landing in our little town every spring/summer and just had half a heart attack seeing this huge af thing fly past 👀

#;;00c

[dontcxckitup]

Ralph Fiennes

#;face #;v:we have all the time in the world (pre) #Ralph Fiennes #;;no time to queue