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#I think I'm late even in Honolulu
maddiehu7 · 3 months
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A New Chapter | Spencer reid |
Chapter 3
~~~time skip~~~
It's been a couple weeks since I've been working for the fbi it's been good I've got really close with the team...except Spencer of course I don't know what I ever did to him but he's acting like I killed his family Rossi says it's just because I replaced prentiss the girl who died before me but I don't think I deserve to be treated like trash just because I got a job but all that doesn't really matter right now as we're currently being hunted by a serial killer called "the replicator" he hacked Garcias system and knows everything about all of us and has been taunting us with it so the fbi has decided to send us all away on a "vacation" they called it basically flying us to a private place with no technology that no one knows about so we don't get killed by a maniac sounds fun right
"So they've decided we're going to Hawaii to a private villa in Honolulu" hotch says sighing Garcia can't contain her excitement
"Yessss let's get our tan on" she says practically giddy everyone smiles looking at her
"Since we're being hunted we have to leave in an hour and no one you know can know so quickly get home pack and meet back here and please what your backs" Hotch says looking at us expectingly we all nod and get up going to get our stuff I head to my desk to grab my keys
"Hey girl, me and Morgan are riding together wanna join us" Garcia asks smiling but before I can answer Spencer jumps in
"Can I join I left some of my books I want for the trip at Morgan's" he says
"Yeah of course, Annie?" She says looking at me
"Uh...yeah sure" I say smiling at her not knowing if it's a great idea now that Reid's going but agreeing anyway
"Great let's go!" Garcia says smiling from ear to ear walking to the elevator Morgan, me, and Reid following her
We all get in the car and head to eachother apartments each of us gathering are stuff we get to my apartment when I ask Morgan to come help me carry my stuff down
"Yeah sur-" Morgan says but gets interrupted by reid
"I could help you actually...if you don't mind" he speaks up looking at me I stare at him in shock for a second
"Um...ok" I say confused he nods and gets out of the car walking up my apartment stairs with me we get to my apartment and I open the door
"Home sweet home" I say to my apartment it's small but it's home with book cases and books scattered everywhere files spread everywhere books weren't I go to pack shoving everything I could find in the tiny bag, I go out to my living room carrying my bags when I find Spencer checking out my books
"Interesting taste" he says running his hands over the rows of books
"Thanks?" I say not sure if it was a compliment or not
"All fiction hm" he says looking back at me
"Can't help it I love anything not set in shitty reality" I say setting my bags down he looks shocked at my words but ignores it
"I'm the opposite I guess" he says is he....opening up to me? this is weird I think to myself when he turns to me looking awkward
"I wanted to talk...I'm sorry" he says running his hands through his brown curly locks I'm completely shocked as I look at him
"Sorry for what" I say secretly wanting him to feel more embarrassed even though I know that's awful but just being really hurt by the way he treated me
"About...about how I've been to you I'm normally not like this I've just been going through a lot lately even though I know that's no excuse" he finishes looking at me sorrily I think for a minute
"It's ok...now that you've said sorry" I say laughing lightly he smiles I've never seen him smile but it looks cute on him, I go to pick up my bags
"Oh let me get that" he says coming over pick them up struggling a bit I laugh
"What'd you pack" he huffs out
"Never know what your gonna need" I say shrugging he smiles rolling his eyes, once we get to the car Spencer puts my stuff in the trunk and gets in the car next stop Spence's apartment, once we're done with Spence's place we head back to the bau when we get there we all walk in with our luggage going to the meeting room where we meet Rossi, hotch, seaver and some new blonde I've never seen everyone looks shocked to see here Spencer and Garcia running to hug her
"Jj!" Garcia shrieks I look her up and down a little jealous Spencer's so excited to see her.....wait what jealous
"What are you doing here" Spencer asks smiling at her
"Well surprise I'm coming with you guys!" She says smiling back at him
"Seriously!" Garcia says smiling brightly
"Yeah the bau re instated me yesterday" she says looking towards me
"Oh hello I'm jj" she comes towards me reaching her hand out towards me smiling
"Hey jj I'm Annie" I say smiling back shaking her hand
"Nice to meet you Annie" she says I nod back at her
"Well is everyone ready" hotch says smiling slightly which is a new sight
"Yep!" Garcia smiles everyone else nods
"Let's go then" he says with a full smile now everyone smiles at the rare sight we all walk out the door with hotch going to the plane, im getting more excited by the minute
( I took a complete left turn with this story so I'm a little nervous but I hope you like it regardless :) )
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hrodvitnon · 3 months
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Got a couple new 'Abraxas' questions, on a shared topic. ;)
(1) Considering how intelligent and sentient the Titans are in Abraxasverse, what do you imagine Hokmuto and Femuto were thinking when they went on their natural order-threatening rampage to hook up and reproduce just after hatching into their adult forms? Did they know what they were doing? Were they okay with it or were they slave to their instincts? Did they care either way? Did they understand the damage that their species breeding would do?
(2) How do Godzilla and Barb feel about each-other?
Ohohoho! Well, the first answer's a big one...
Considering both halves of the couple had only recently hatched, it's unlikely they really understood the state of the world or had anyone to teach them what they should or shouldn't do. I'm tempted to say that Hokmuto and Femuto were the equivalent of teenagers who were kicked out of their houses through circumstances outside their control and forced to deal with the world alone, with no advice or help from anyone. A rather daunting idea.
Teenagers can be impulsive and often imagine themselves invincible if only because the world has yet to humble them; Hokmuto might very well be riding on the high of surviving the Honolulu encounter with Godzilla, who he might only instinctively recognize as a threat and/or potential food, but otherwise doesn't know him from Adam (heh). Teenagers also get horny, and I think it's a common occurrence for one to do daring if incredibly stupid things on the off-chance that someone they find attractive may notice (unless of course sexuality circumstances dictate otherwise).
They weren't stupid, though - if they'd met when the world was more densely populated with Titans and they were naturally taught the ways of the world, Hokmuto and Femuto would've made pretty good parents. They had chemistry, they knew how to work together, they put up an excellent fight against Godzilla, and if not for a certain lucky-as-hell lieutenant blowing their nest sky-high, might've won the day and doomed us all. Unfortunately, they wouldn't realize the gravity of their actions until it was too late. How would they? No one else of their kind was around to teach them. They only had each other. Things might've been different if they had experienced adults like the MUTO Prime or even Barb around, but they didn't. Either way, they weren't stupid; they just didn't know any better.
Speaking of Barb! Tensions between her and Godzilla were certainly high, especially early on. But neither of them were keen on starting a fight that could result in serious injury or worse; it's simply easier to leave each other alone and go about their day. They at least have an accord: Don't start shit and you won't get hit. Plus, Barb is much older and wiser than Hokmuto or Femuto, fully aware of what could happen if she were to mate and start a clutch of eggs. The world in its current state can't handle such an infestation (loathe as she is to refer to hypothetical offspring as such).
Sadly, this knowledge also brings loneliness with it. Suddenly Godzilla has offspring of his own in Ladon and Shin, and Barb remains alone. There could be a surge of resentment. Why does he get to be a father again? Why can't she be a mother? Oh, but she knows full well why. Barb envies Godzilla having a family, but she doesn't take out her emotions on others because that wouldn't help her species-wide reputation as a parasite. Naturally, she develops a melancholic disposition. At times her depression is palpable enough for humans to pick up on it.
It takes time for Godzilla and Barb to be near each other without the instinctive, ancient grudge between their species getting in the way of things. They still don't really like each other, and some days "tolerate" can be a tall order, but the accord still stands. She'll still run to his aid if he calls for it. Privately, Godzilla might actually feel bad for Barb. It wasn't that long ago when he was the last of his kind just like her, after all.
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phoenixthemenace · 1 year
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Till Death
Day 22. Shadow of former self-
Johnny was late to work the day after his aunt died. The day after he'd planned her services. The last thing he'd ever do for her.
It was also the day after the day after Roy…
He couldn't think about it. Not now.
"Geez Gage." Chet Kelly began immediately. "You look terrible."
Johnny ignored him and began to change while Chet continued his heckling.
"What's the matter? Some chick dump ya?"
Johnny whipped off his shirt, and when he saw the obviously shoe shaped bruise, Chet let out a whoop.
Fortunately, Cap stuck his head in the door to call everyone to roll call. Chet scurried out, as Johnny turned and caught Hank's eye.
"I'll be right there Cap."
"You okay pal?"
"Yeah."
Hank didn't believe that for a minute. When Johnny hid his eyes, something was wrong. Hank watched as Johnny hastily shoved his feet into his boots and stumbled toward the door. He followed his captain out into the bay, where they heard Chet holding court.
"You should have seen it! He looks like a shadow of his former self with this huge foot shaped bruise. I'll bet he got dumped by the chicks boyfriend."
Chet laughed and even Mike and Marco chuckled. Roy looked like he was going to be sick, and held on to the engine for support. Johnny, head bowed, took his place in line while the captain glared until the rest fell in.
Once roll call was over and the days duties were assigned, Johnny lifted his head and his eyes to Hank's.
"Cap. You got a minute?"
"What's going on Pal?" Cap asked, his instincts telling him to be gentle.
Johnny sat, head bowed, jaw muscles working. It took him some time to answer.
"My aunt passed away yesterday."
"I'm sorry to hear that, John. Were you close?"
"She was all I had." Johnny whispered.
And in that whisper, Hank heard the pain and loneliness of Johnny's childhood. He heard the love he had for the woman who saved him, and the inconsolable loss.
"Are you okay to work?"
"Yes, please. Don't make me go home alone."
Slowly, like he didn't want to spook the man beside him, Hank reached up and gently rested his hand on the back of Johnny’s neck.
"You're not alone, son." He felt a slight shudder. "Is there anything you need?"
"Chet, fellas." Hank said solemnly to the men around the table with their mugs of coffee. "I want you to go easy on John today."
"Aw but, gee Cap…" Chet began.
"Stow it Kelly." Hank barked. "His Aunt passed away early yesterday morning and he spent the majority of the day making her arrangements."
There was silence around the table.
"She was all he had apparently." Cap continued quietly. He saw Roy's agonized expression and assumed he knew more than he'd let on about Johnny’s past. "The funeral is Saturday in Santa Barbara. My wife is going to contact the ladies auxiliary and see what they can do. Meanwhile, she's going to go shopping with him for some clothing for her."
"When?" Roy asked, his voice rough.
"The funeral?"
"Shopping."
"After this shift. Why do you ask?"
"My, ah. My mom was her neighbor and best friend until she had to go into the home. I should call her. She should be there too."
"Go call her."
"She's in Honolulu."
"Reverse the charges."
Roy nodded and went to the phone.
"Man," Chet said as they watched Roy. "The phantom would have gone easier on his pigeon if he'd known."
"What did you do?" Marco asked.
"Water bomb in the supply closet."
"Kelly you twit. I ought to give you a month of latrine duty!"
They didn't notice Roy slipping out the door in search of his partner.
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acesydneysage · 3 years
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A Sydney and Eddie retrospective
@vablappreciationweek Favorite familial relationship: The Melrose Twins
Part 2, Books 4-6: The Heartbreaking Trilogy, Why Are You Doing This To Me This Is So Sad
Part 1 here
In The Fiery Heart, Sydney and Eddie definitely already love each othe like siblings. By the end of the book they prove that in the most painful way possible, but let's ge through some cuteness first while I steel my heart.
We get Adrian's perspective on this book, so it's nice to see Eddie talking about Sydney when she isn't around:
“Because it’s Sydney,”said Eddie from the backseat. In the rearview mirror, I could see an easy smile on his face, though there was a perpetual sharpness in his eyes as he scanned the world for danger. He and Neil had been trained by the guardians, the dhampir organization of badasses that protected the Moroi. “Giving one hundred percent to a task is slacking for her.”
When Sydney wants to soften Zoe's extreme opinions on vampires, she picks Eddie to be Zoe's driving instructor because she wants "someone approachable and friendly who’d show her not all dhampirs were evil creatures of the night."
When Sydney is being a sappy romantic and describes what love is to the group, Eddie is the one who lingers looking at her the longest, he can tell something is different about her. They really know each other by now. When Eddie let's Zoe drive outside of the parking lot, he knows Sydney so well that he knows what she's going to say, and what to say to make it better:
“I can’t believe Eddie of all people would do that. It’s irresponsible.”She nodded. “He said you’d say that and that I should tell you, ‘At least it wasn’t Angeline.’”I couldn’t help it. I laughed at that. “That’s true. He does have limits.”
Later when she tells Zoe frivolity might not be such a bad thing, they have a sweet little moment:
“Sometimes frivolity isn’t a bad thing.” Eddie, who didn’t seem put out about the dance, grinned. “Sydney, when we first met, I never would’ve thought those words could come out of your mouth. What happened to you?” Everything, I thought. I met his grin with one of my own. “We all need some fun. We should forget that dance and go out and see a movie that night. When was the last time we all did that?”“I think the answer is ‘never,’” said Jill.
When Neil comes up with his crazy plan to test the Stigoi vaccine, Eddie is very shaken up by the similarities to the event in Spokane that lead to Mason's death. While Sydney thinks that "if Eddie was involved, one Strigoi seemed feasible", what finally convinces Eddie to go is her magic. Although Neil puts her on the spot, she does ultimately make the choice to trust him with this dangerous knowledge about her:
Eddie wasn’t swayed, and there was a look on his face I’d never seen before. “I’m not denying the principles, but it’s too dangerous. And not just to you. I did something like this once . . .” A pain so intense that it tore at my heart crossed Eddie’s features. “Me and some friends. We thought we could take on Strigoi . . . and my best friend ended up dead. No matter how prepared you think you are, even against only one, the unexpected can happen.” [...] The more this got out, the more trouble I was in. And yet, as I looked into Eddie’s steady gaze, I was reminded of our friendship and all we’d been through. In a world of secrets and lies, there were few I could thoroughly trust anymore, but I knew then, without a doubt, that Eddie was one I could. Taking a deep breath, hoping I wasn’t being a fool, I held out my hand. A nervous glance around confirmed we were alone, and I brought forth a spark of fire in my palm that soon grew into the size of a tennis ball. Eddie leaned over and gasped, the orange flames reflecting off his face. “Maybe . . . maybe our odds have gotten better,” he said.
During the fight with the Strigoi they go after, we get a little more about their similarities, how they're both so dedicated to helping others, and they both seriously admire each other so much. You get a bit of that from Sydney's perspective,and how much she cares about Eddie:
I knew what agony Eddie had to be in because I shared it. We both wanted to help Neil. Doing nothing, even for a handful of seconds, went against every part of our beings. [...] For his part, Eddie was magnificent. It had been a while since I’d seen him fight, and I’d nearly forgotten that the adopted brother I joked and ate lunch with was a lethal warrior. [...] I had to act. I couldn’t just stand by and let Eddie be annihilated, not if there was anything I could do.
After the fight, Sydney is caught up in the euphoria of surviving a near death experience, and she makes pretty much zero effort to hide her relationship with Adrian from Eddie:
As soon as I was on the road with Eddie and Jill, I told them, “I need to see Adrian. Drop me off and take my car. He’ll give me a ride back.” Eddie looked totally surprised by that. “Why do you need to see him?” “I just do.” I didn’t feel like attempting an excuse, and Eddie wasn’t the type to badger me. The most I got was a curious look when we reached the apartment. His curiosity turned to panic when he realized I’d be leaving him alone with Jill. “Good luck,”I said as I got out, not entirely sure who needed it the most.
When Eddie figures out that they're together she tries to avoid the conversation, expecting condemnation, but he's very supportive. This is the last conversation they have before everything falls apart, and everything I tried to remove to shorten it felt like an important character moment, but the most relevant parts are bolded:
“Sydney . . .”Eddie’s light mood vanished, and even with my eyes on the road, his tone tipped me off that something serious was about to happen. “About that. About you going to Adrian’s . . .”I felt a tightening of my throat and couldn’t answer immediately. “Don’t talk about that,” I said. “Please.” “No, we need to.” Eddie knew. Eddie knew, and if the subject wasn’t so dire, I would’ve laughed. He was oblivious to his own social affairs, but guardians were trained to watch and observe. Eddie did that, and no doubt he’d picked up all sorts of little things between Adrian and me. We tried so hard to hide from the Alchemists, but hiding from our friends, who knew us and loved us, was impossible. “Are you going to lecture me?” I asked stiffly. “Tell me I’m breaking taboos that have been in place for centuries to preserve the purity of our races?” “What?” He was aghast. “No, of course not.” I dared a look. “What do you mean ‘of course not’?” “Sydney, I’m your friend. I’m his friend. I’d never judge you, and I’d certainly never condemn you.” “A lot of people think what we’re doing is wrong.” It felt strange and oddly relieving to acknowledge my relationship with Adrian to another person. “Well, I’m not one of them. If you guys want it . . . that’s your business.” “Everyone’s suddenly very liberal about this,” I said with wonder. “I just heard a similar thing from Trey and Angeline—about their own relationship, that is. Not about . . . other people’s.” “I think my ill-fated time with Angeline may be part of it,” he said, with more humor than I expected, considering she’d cheated on him. “She talked enough about her people that after a while, it didn’t seem that weird. And, well, my race exists because humans and Moroi got together and had kids way back when.”I felt a smile start to grow on my lips. “Adrian says it wouldn’t be fair to the world if he and I had kids, what with the overwhelming power of our collective charm, brains, and good looks.” Eddie laughed outright, not something I heard very often, and I found myself laughing too. “Yeah, I can see him saying something like that. And that’s the thing, I think . . . the real reason I’m not that weirded out by you two. It goes against all sound logic, but somehow, you two together . . . it just works.” “‘Against all sound logic,’” I repeated. “Isn’t that the truth.” A little of his amusement faded. “But that’s not what worries me. Or the morality of it. It’s your own people I’m worried about. How long are you going to be able to go on like this?” I sighed as I took the exit for the meeting spot. “As long as the center holds.”
Eddie thinks Sydney and Adrian make sense. Obviously I agree that they absolutely do, but on a surface level it doesn't look like it. You have to know them and have a better understanding of their personalities to figure out how they actually fit together. What he's worried about is the Alchemists. Of course, by this point, since the ending of TFH is a sadistically drawn out torture, we already know from the ending of the last chapter that she's about to be captured.
I made it the door first... and found Eddie. His clothes were dirty and torn, and the right side of his face was swollen and red. There was a wild, half-crazed look in his eyes I’d never seen before. A feeling of dread settled over me, and the darkness and despair and fear that had left me alone for so long began to rear their collective ugly head. I knew, even without Eddie saying a word, what had to have happened. I knew because of that terrible look of pain on his face, a pain similar to when he hadn’t been able to save Mason. [...] “Adrian,” he gasped out. “I tried, I tried. There were too many. I couldn’t stop them.” He came forward and gripped my arm. “I tried, but they took her. It was a setup. I don’t know where she is. She tricked me, damn it! I never would have left her if she hadn’t tricked me!”
When they figure out it's a trap and he tells her to run, her first instinct was that she couldn't leave him behind. When they're running together through the woods the Alchemists start shooting at Eddie, specifically. He's running at Sydney's pace and she knows he would never leave her, the he would die to save her. And she knows she could not let him die.
Eddie won’t leave me, I thought frantically. He’ll never leave me. They want me, but they don’t care about him. He can live or die, and it won’t matter to them. But if he’s what’s keeping them away, they’ll shoot him and destroy his body. “Eddie,”I said, panting. “We need to split up.” “Never.” That answer wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise was that out of all the things rattling around in my mind, Abe Mazur’s words popped up in the forefront:. Don’t think for an instant that I wouldn’t do terrible, unspeakable things if it could save someone I love. Because it was Abe, I’d naturally assumed he was talking about doing terrible, unspeakable things to other people. But as Eddie and I held on to each other, the words took on a whole different meaning. In that moment, I knew I would do anything to save Eddie—my friend—whom I loved. Even if it meant doing something terrible and unspeakable to myself.
The first thing established in the first paragraph of Bloodlines is that re-education is Sydney's greatest fear, literally her worst nightmare. But she faces that, she walks right back and turns herself in in order to keep Eddie safe. She tricks him into spliting up by claiming that it's part of a spell, and he believes her because he's seen her do extraordinary things.
“I tried,” he whispered. “Adrian, I tried. I never would have ever left her if I’d known. I would have stayed with her to the end. I would have laid down my life and—” I had to forcibly hit the pause button on my own feelings as I dealt with his. Eddie had lost another person. It was bad luck, that was all. He was one of the most badass , capable guardians out there, but he couldn’t believe that about himself, not when he kept seeing these failures laid at his feet. Looking into his eyes, I recognized the intense self-loathing consuming him. I knew the feeling well because I was carrying around a fair amount of it myself. “I know you would have,” I said. “There was nothing you could do.” He shook his head and stared off with a haunted look. “I was an idiot. I never should’ve bought into that spell stuff. After what I’d seen her do with fire, it just seemed so . . . well, real. I believed her. It made sense.” I smiled without humor. “Because that’s what she does. She’s trained to make people believe things. And outsmart them. You didn’t have a chance.” She also was willing to trade her own life to save her friend’s, but no one had trained her to do that. It was just something within her. Eddie wasn’t going to be swayed so easily, and I left him to his grief as I huddled with mine.
When Sydney's captured, Eddie feels like he failed her, just as he'd failed Mason in Spokane, and Jill when the rebels killed her. But still, he has faith in her, that she can hold on to herself:
“How much can they really change her, though?” asked Eddie. “I mean . . . she’s Sydney. She’ll be the same . . . right? She can fight them.”
In Silver Shadows,Sydney is in re-education, and she still finds it in her to be worried about her friends on the outside. Eddie's humiliation and guilt over having lost Sydney killed the kindling romance he had with Jill. There isn't much he can do to help find her at this point.
Once they find a lead on where she is, going to her rescue is very important to Eddie, but he also feels conflicted about leaving Jill with less protection. When the time comes, Jill convinces them to take Eddie because he needed to be part of her rescue, he'd been consumed by guilt this whole time, and that might be the only thing that would allow him to feel redeemed.
With some urging from Jill, he leaves her behind, and goes off to break into a prison again, to rescue a much worthier prisoner this time. After getting mostof the prisoners out, Eddie and Adrian go back into the burning building to get Sydney and the remaining people. After they bring her out to freedom, they have this moment where they hold each other and cry, it always makes me so emotional:
Eddie came last, and as we sized each other up, the tears hovering in my eyes finally spilled. “Eddie, I’m so sorry I lied to you that night.” He shook his head and pulled me to him. I heard tears choke up his voice. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them. I’m sorry I wasn’t protection enough.” “Oh, Eddie,” I said, sniffling. “You’re the best protection. No one could have a better guardian than you. Or a better friend.”
I hope Eddie did feel redeemed, because Sydney pretty much immediately tricks him, and gives him the slip again. She does take the time to try to nudge his love life again first. Then she goes off with Adrian, going against the plan, because she thinks the other fugitives will be safer without her.
"Eddie shot me one last parting smile that nearly choked me up again." “I never thought I’d see Castile brought to tears,” said Adrian as he started up the Mustang. “This really hit him hard. Hell, it hit all of us hard, but he really beat himself up for it. He never forgave himself for you giving him the slip.” “Let’s hope he can,” I said, putting my seatbelt on. “Because it’s about to happen again. We aren’t meeting them at the safe house.”
Eddie was furious about this, but at least this time she didn't get captured. And soon enough he had something else to feel bad about, since Jill went missing right after he got back to her. She disppeared without a trace in the middle of the night, and there's another failure laid at Eddie's feet.
He's not in a great state in the beginning of The Ruby Circle:
Eddie appeared in the doorway. Seeing him almost always brought a smile to my face. In Palm Springs, we’d passed ourselves off as twins, sharing similar dark blond hair and brown eyes. But over time, he’d truly come to feel like a brother to me. I knew few others with such courage and loyalty. I was proud to call him my friend, and as such, it hurt me to see all the pain he felt over Jill’s disappearance. There was always a haunted look about him now, and sometimes I worried whether he was really taking care of himself. He hardly ever shaved anymore, and I had a feeling the only reason he bothered eating was so that he could keep training and stay in shape for when he located Jill’s abductors.
Sydney isn't doing all that great either, stuck in a hostile environment while she deals with her trauma and worries about Jill. When Sydney and Eddie sneak out of court to look for Jill, the power of Raptorbot can make him smile:
“It couldn’t have been that unexpected,” I argued. “I mean, why did he build a dinosaur body for her? Why not something more human? Or at least a more friendly animal?” “Because then there wouldn’t have been much of a movie,” said Eddie. “There’s still got to be a plausible backstory …” I said. A wry smile crossed Eddie’s features, and although the entire topic was absurd, I realized I’d hardly ever seen anything but a grim expression on his face since Jill had been taken. “I don’t think you can really sit down with a movie called Raptorbot Rampage and expect a plausible backstory,” he said. The attendant looked offended. “What are you suggesting? It was a fine piece of film. When the sequel comes out, people will be lined up out the doors to see this exhibit!” “Sequel?” Eddie and I asked in unison.
I love it when the twins talkin unison, even if they probably had opposite tones. And I really love Eddie being a fan of Raptorbot I'm sorry. He and Declan have matching Raptorbot pajamas, you can't change my mind. This is another exchange that screams siblings to me:
“We were probably his only customers today,” I remarked. “That’ll make us memorable—that and having someone who’s actually seen and liked Raptorbot Rampage.” “Hey,” warned Eddie. “Don’t judge until you’ve watched it.”
Later Sydney tries to tease him about it again, but he's focused on the search so his good humor doesn't come back. I think it's very sweet thet she saw something that had made him momentarily happy through the pain, and tried to press that button again.
Eddie is understandably very protective throughout this book. It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you, they actually run into Sydney's family, while they're trying to stay off the Alchemists' radar:
“Then get out of here. Hurry—before he comes out. Both of you.” I was stunned at this complete reversal in her behavior, but Eddie didn’t need to be told twice. He took hold of my arm and nearly dragged me to the car. “We’re going—now,” he ordered. I caught one last glimpse of Zoe before Eddie shoved me in the car, where Ms. Terwilliger sat waiting for us. A thousand emotions played over Zoe’s face as we peeled out, but I could only interpret a few. Sadness. Longing. As we quickly got back on the road, I found myself shaking. Eddie was driving and kept anxiously checking the rearview mirror. “No sign of pursuit,” he said. “She must not have been able to see which direction we went to tell him.” I slowly shook my head. “No … she didn’t tell him at all. She helped us.” “Sydney,” said Eddie, in a stern-but-trying-to-sound-kind voice, “she’s the one who turned you in the first time! The one who started that whole re-education nightmare.”
He doesn't really belive that Zoe had a change of heart, and he tries to be so gentle with Sydney, while anxiously trying to get her away.
With how sad he is in this TRC (he even has broody beard to show it), the bits where he gets excited about things are really adorable. He's very enthusiastic about meeting Malachi Wolfe:
“Are the Chihuahuas really trained to attack?” he asked. I couldn’t help but grin. “That’s what Wolfe claims. We’ve never seen them in action, though.” “I can’t wait to see his nunchucks.” “Do not touch them,” I warned. “Or any weapon, without permission. If he approves of you, he might lend you something too.” [...] “Oh, man,” breathed Eddie. “There really is a herd of them.” I’d seen Eddie fearlessly face down an attacking Strigoi, but he took an uneasy step back at the sound of the canine charge. I grinned and turned toward the door, waiting for Malachi Wolfe himself to answer.
There's a lot of hugging after Sydney leaves re-education. Sydney and Eddie hug a lot, but just in general. Good for her it's what she deserves. "“Eddie,” Sydney exclaimed, running to give him a hug. He grinned back. “You guys okay?” "
When Sydney and Eddie are preparing to infiltrate the Warriors of Light as recruits, she gets a super strength spell while he gets super excited about it, and they have the cutest arm wrestle in history:
“And how much stronger?” asked Eddie eagerly. “Like lift-up-a-car stronger?” Maude smiled. “Sorry to disappoint, but no. [...]” She glanced between Eddie and Sydney speculatively, her smile growing. “I’d say you’re strong enough to hold your own with a dhampir in an arm wrestling match.” “I would kind of love to see that,” I admitted. Eddie’s face said he would as well. Sydney groaned. “Really? That’s so barbaric.” Eddie leaned over and propped his arm up on the table that had previously held the canteen. “Come on, Mrs. Ivashkov. Let’s do this. Besides, if you’re squeamish about arm wrestling, how are you going to handle going head-to-head with the Warriors?” [...] Ultimately, Eddie pushed his strength to its limit and finally defeated her, but not without her holding her own for a while. I held up her arm triumphantly, like a victor at a boxing match. “My wife, ladies and gentlemen. Beauty, brains, and now brawn.” “Awesome,” said Eddie, in a rare moment of delight.
He's really excited about human magic in general, such an adorable nerd. And again, they really do admire each other so much. Following Sydney's blackmailing the Alchemists: "I hung up, and Eddie regarded me with awe. “That was pretty badass. But do you actually think it’ll work?”"
In the epilogue, Eddie pulled strings to live with Sydney and Adrian as a Guardian, and he's one of the people who's in on Declan's secret. He even chooses to sleepin Declan's room.
I sprinted out of the room and up the stairs, to the bedroom that doubled as both a nursery and Eddie’s room. I had high enough royal rank to finally be assigned my own guardian, and Eddie, in that noble way of his, had pulled strings to be assigned to us. I’d initially protested because I wanted him to stay at Court and have a semi-normal dating life with Jill. Eddie, however, felt obligated to be with us—both out of friendship to Sydney and me and for all the times Neil had helped him. We’d offered to turn the house’s small study into Eddie’s own bedroom, but he always ended up sleeping in Declan’s room anyway.
I'm really glad they didn't get separated by the end, it always makes me happy to think about them living together.
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