#its a really good thing that she was a traveling companion instead of another gym leader ash has to defeat | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

elliewritessometimes · 3 years

Text

IT’S @mattieswheelers BIRTHDAY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVELY WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH

beCAUSE of this, myself and @notsomightymightytiger decided to steal tea leaf’s time travelling mattie au and create a whole entire fic with their ideas and also a design that @ari-is-anxious did a while back!! hope you enjoy aaaaaaa <3333 aLSO stabbies try and spot as many starboard references as you can heheheh

this can be read on ao3 here if you prefer the format :)

tw: swearing, murder (it’s minor and resolved tho jsgh), religion (nicco my love read with care), blood, i really hope i haven’t missed anything please do let me know if i missed anything

Mattie had always been able to time travel. For as long as she could remember, her walk-in wardrobe had been lined with silver metal and held no clothes at all. As a child, this made it all the more exciting, though as she grew older and actually started to want to own clothes, it became a little inconvenient. She supposed all great inventions came with some kind of sacrifice.

Her uncle had made the time machine as a gift when Mattie was born. Her parents, like any basic adults, assumed the wardrobe-sized box was simply a toy and had taken no interest in it. Mattie, from the age of about three when her curiosity had really set in, was the one who discovered that the machine was in fact a working portal and not just a children’s toy. Since then, she had been happily travelling time and space during the darkest hours of night.

(You may have entirely valid concerns about a three year old having full access to time travel - luckily, not just for Mattie’s safety but also that of the entire human race, her uncle had set what were effectively child locks on a lot of the controls. These were diminished the day that Mattie turned thirteen. Uncle Calvin had always been a little weird, but he certainly wasn’t heartless.)

Usually, Mattie’s time travel didn’t affect her life. Sure, it made for some pretty awkward conversations as Mattie spurted some knowledge which could never have been explained through a textbook, but those could often be blamed on watching too much Horrible Histories as a child (“Mattie, I swear to God, you’re so bageling British, and yet you’ve never been there, I don’t understand.” “Horrible Histories is a masterpiece! You’re just jealous that you’re too American to have seen it.” “Actual asshole of a child.” “Farrah-!”).

It was going well until Mattie’s freshman year at Giles Corey. And then three of her fellow highschoolers were murdered. And suddenly Mattie had a way to prevent that from happening.

In some stroke of luck, she passed out at the sleepover and didn’t find out about the murders until she was sitting in the back of a cop car, driving to her house to pick up her things. She remembered thinking how weird it was that she wasn’t being taken straight to the station, but brushed that away in favour of ‘going into her wardrobe to change out of her bloody clothes’.

The time machine was cold like it always was and that forced her out of her muddled state quickly enough. She thought back to the victims. Chess. Farrah. Clark. Snapping on her goggles, she pressed a button, whirled backwards through time and space, and appeared at the gate to Riley’s neighbour’s house.

She really wished that she had actually changed her outfit - the damp blood turned cold with the breeze and sent shivers up her spine. The smell perhaps or just her sudden appearance startled the neighbour’s dogs into a frenzy. A figure, Chess, unharmed and merely confused instead of terrified, stood up from Riley’s bench, calling into the darkness. Mattie’s breath caught in her throat. The second figure, knife glinting in the dim streetlight, slipped out of the back door. Their red hair shone in the reflection of the knife with a sick kind of beauty.

Mattie could have stopped them there, taken the knife from the assailant’s grasp, prevented the tragedy of the evening. But she didn’t. She just watched.

Three minutes later, after arriving back in her present time and pressing yet another button on the wall of her closet, she watched the same scene unfold in the bathroom with a much younger victim. Twenty minutes after that, the third attack. This one was different though, an accident.

Still a little desperate and overly conscious of the police officer standing guard outside of her bedroom, she reappeared in her wardrobe, putting on a jumper before turning back time a little further. She appeared in a gymnastics centre as a girl around Mattie’s age did wolf turns on a beam. A coach entered the scene from the sidelines as the girl stopped spinning, her distinctive plait falling still against her back. Something in Mattie ached at the sight of Chess so lively and innocent, willing to give up her life for her dream of succeeding in her sport. As the two wandered into a side room, picking up water with a smile, Mattie edged forwards, collecting soft gym mats as she went. Within minutes, the area surrounding the beam had been double layered with cushioning, and Mattie could only pray that her plan would work. She’d seen enough YouTube videos to know what happened next.

Chess emerged again with her coach, hopping back up onto the beam with practiced ease. Again, Mattie was forced to just watch as she went down into her wolf turn, then rose up, did a split leap across at least half of the beam, and jumped into a twist to land on the floor. It was a messy landing, the gymnast’s ankle caving in on itself, knee twisting unnaturally in the air, before coming down hard onto her side. But, unlike in the previous videos, there wasn’t a resounding crack, only a weak cry of pain as Chess stumbled back to her feet.

Mattie grinned despite herself as snippets of conversation drifted her way.

“-not broken, don’t worry-”

“The Olympics seem out of the picture…”

“Get her a drink to numb the pain! Yes, limeade’s perfect-!”

Mattie arrived in her room again with a whole plethora of new information just inserted into her mind like it had been there all along. There was no longer and never had been a police officer outside her door. Her shirt was clean, her head undamaged. Chess didn’t go to the Olympics, but still did gymnastics in her spare time as her knee made a full and quick recovery. Farrah wasn’t dropped. Riley, in some weird twist of fate, went to the same therapist as Mattie. Life was… good for the Giles Corey Tigers.

Across town, the sleepover was still going ahead as normal. From what weird memories she just gained, Mattie knew that the team was at a rocky patch, their personalities still clashing in any iteration of the evening. But, with some relief, she knew that it would never in this timeline be bad enough for murder to even be considered as an answer. Her phone buzzed. The lies came easily as she covered up her mysterious disappearance from the sleepover she should currently be at.

Reese (school): Where are you???

Mattieeeee: I went home :( not feeling good

Reese (school): :((( that sucks

Mattieeeee: Ikr. I think it was the ice cream.

Reese (school): I told the others

Reese (school): They all say get well soon apart from Kate and Cairo who actually agreed on something for once haha

Mattieeeee: What did they say skjghdjh

Reese (school): “Tolerate the lactose, Wheeler.”

In her short-but-actually-quite-long-given-all-the-time-travel life, Mattie had witnessed a number of key historic events (and had caused about 85% by some small accident, but that’s a story for another time). The one which ended up unveiling her secret to someone in her actual life occurred overnight one February. Or maybe July. Depends. Time is weird.

She stepped into a small room, luckily through the doorway and not awkwardly through the window, as done many times before. A man sat hunched over a desk by the window, dressed in brown and using a pen-but-not-really-a-pen to craft a page of writing. From Mattie’s extensive historical knowledge, it could have been anywhere from 1000 BC to the 16th century.

“Hello, excuse me,” she began, “But I’m a little lost.”

The man startled, his not-really-pen skidding across the page and leaving a trail of thick ink in its wake as he blinked at her in the doorway. “Who are you?” He seemed perplexed as to how a young girl was standing there, in the opening to his room, in clothing not of any time now or before.

Something that Mattie had realised after travelling not only to different times, but also to a vast number of different settings around the world, was that somehow, she was never stumped by a language barrier. Instead she was always able to fluently converse with those she met in what appeared to her as American English. It was really weird; she tried not to think about it too much or it made her head hurt. She’d also learnt that it was best not to explain her full situation to her companions, becoming accustomed to pulling the classic ‘I’m not here, you’re just dreaming’ excuse. So that was exactly the tactic she applied here. “A dream figure. You don’t need to be afraid.”

The man narrowed his eyes, glancing down at the paper and then back up to Mattie’s face. “That’s a good line.” He scribbled her words down onto a scrap piece of papyrus. “Maybe I can use that later.”

Mattie grinned, sensing her chance to fuck up history just a little bit. “What are you writing?”

“How the world came to be,” the man explained. “God.”

“Ah, of course. The Bible, huh?”

“Pardon?” The scribe locked eyes with Mattie for the first time, confusion etched clearly on his face. She shook her head in response, having learnt that it was hopeless trying to explain events of the future to people who could never even begin to imagine the future that she came from. Seemingly satisfied, the man continued. “As the vision you are, I wonder if you’ve been sent to answer my queries.”

“Of course. Go ahead.”

“I’m struggling for a name. Not for the book itself, but just for this chapter.”

Mattie smiled as wisely as she could. “What do you have so far?”

“‘Generational Crisis’. The chapter describes how our world came to be - the creation of natural elements, the first humans, the beginnings of emotion. ‘Generational’ as it shall be carried on for generations, and ‘crisis’ as it’s a huge event, a crisis for the higher powers.”

Mattie choked. Her mind imagined a world where the entry chapter to the Bible was named as so, and it was a world of chaos and highly differing language choices. “That is very wise, sir. I have one suggestion: how about shortening it? Make it snappier, more catchy. I’m thinking…” She paused, feigning deep thought, “‘Genesis.’”

The man gasped, scrawling her word down at the top of the papyrus. “Genius! Thank you, child. I should write your name in my finished book, to show my gratitude for your kindness.”

“Mattie, sir, Mattie Wheeler. It’s been lovely to meet you and see your studies.” Over the centuries, Mattie had learnt to leave those she met with some kind of reassurance as the humane aspect of her hobby. “Before I go, I may be a dream spirit, but I can assure you that the work you have done right now shall be greatly appreciated for thousands of years to come.”

“You really are a wonder, perhaps a child sent from the power above.”

Unthinking, she snorted, replying, “Oh, boy, you are not ready to hear about Jesus.”

“Jesus? You mean my sister’s husband? I do hear some curious rumours about the man…”

Mattie hid her laugh behind a hand. Of course, this was hundreds of years before Jesus Christ came to be thought of. “I know, right? Jesus? More like JeSUS.” The scribe didn’t reply, mind clearly tired of its confusion and instead turning back to something it knew well. He picked up his writing patterns again. Mattie turned away, back to the doorway. “I will leave you to your writing again. Sleep well.” Leaving a small vial of dissolved sleeping pills on the desk, she stepped out of the door.

The only class that Mattie knew she would see Eva in was Religion. They didn’t actually share the class, but Mattie’s Religion teacher was Eva’s form tutor and the older girl often used the classroom as a quieter study area for her free period. Not that Mattie would call a class of thirty sophomores particularly peaceful, but apparently she hadn’t heard the noise of the senior study area, you genuinely don’t understand, last week Jacob Thomas tried to make toast using the sun on a desk and then, bam, the entire of senior year are creating chants about sun bread, it was so weird, Mattie, I transferred to a school of crackheads.

After her travel to the 7th century AD, Mattie sparked a sudden interest in her Religion classes. Eva, being the older sister that she was, watched closely as the sophomore stayed behind after class to search the Bible for something in particular.

“What’re you looking for?”

“Nothing!” Mattie didn’t look up from fervently turning the pages.

“Well, that’s a fucking lie.” Eva perched on the side of a desk, sliding across to snatch the book out of the younger girl’s hands. “Why the hell are you looking at what is essentially the movie credits for the Bible???”

Eva watched as Mattie bit her lip, eyes darting around the empty classroom. She thought for a long moment, visibly debating points in her head, before leaning over the top of the book to run her finger down a list of names. About a third of the way down the page, she stopped. Eva’s eyes followed her finger as it drew a circle around a certain name. Matte Wheyler

“See. I was looking for that.”

Eva didn’t say anything for a while. Mattie waited with baited breath as Eva’s brain tried to make sense of what they saw. “Mattie Wheeler, what the bagel.” It didn’t bother to even be a question.

“It’s a really long story.” Mattie slumped onto the desk as well. “Hey, did you know that ‘Genesis’ would have originally been called ‘Generational Crisis’ if it wasn’t for me?”

After a glance at both of their timetables, they decided that their next lessons (biology and latin respectively) were worth missing. Instead, they stayed seated on a desk in the Religion classroom, as Mattie explained in detail how her name came to be in the Bible. It was refreshing to finally spill her secret after fifteen years of complete silence, and Mattie wondered vaguely in the back of her mind if one day Eva might be able to share in her time travelling adventures. That might take a little more explaining though, because Eva sure did have a lot of questions.

“So, you don’t change anything?”

“Not anything major. Like, I can’t stop Hitler or anything, that would change too big an event. Little things, however, like names and stuff, it’s fun to mess around with. Ever wondered why the Italian city, Pisa, has its name? I delivered pizza to the guys who were kind of like the government at the time of its naming. Hence, the Leaning Tower of Pizza.”

Eva cackled. “Wait, what?! God, dude, that’s nuts. What the fuck.”

“What can I say, all I really want in life is a little bit of chaos and also mozzarella sticks.”

Mattieeeee sent a photo.

evanescence: is that??? abraham lincoln????

Mattieeeee: Abraham Lincoln was an otter.

evanescence: how so?

Mattieeeee: Point one: look at him.

Mattieeeee: Point two: no seriously. Look at him.

evanescence: oh my god

evanescence: i cannot believe you have a literal selfie with abraham lincoln that’s fucking wild

Mattieeeee: Perks of the job :D

evanescence: literally hire me i want a selfie with cleopatra

farrah o’satanic ritual: yall i got out of the shower like an hour ago and i still haven’t changed

Imposter: What can I say, bath robes are in fashion rn

farrah o’satanic ritual: ive told you before clark stop pretending you know how to dress

Mattieeeee: Farrah did you not die in the shower?

katherine: ????mattie???????

farrah o’satanic ritual: no?? i didn’t

SmileyRiley: dang it

katherine: riLEY-

caicrow: riley i thought we’d moved on from murder

Imposter: Plot twist: Mattie was the murderer all along

katherine: CLARK-

Mattieeeee: oops-

It wasn't meant to happen, she swore up and down it was a mistake. A true and honest accident. And it kinda was? I mean Mattie hadn’t intended for the scaffolding on the new tower being constructed in Pisa to wobble, she’d already fucked up Pisa once in her career, but… Well, that's what she got for letting loose Giles and Corey (her occasional time travelling companions, who also happened to be cats) in the middle of a Italian city in 1252. She could have sworn the catnip was safely concealed in one of the pockets inside her jacket (which was filled with all sorts of trinkets from her travels in the space-time continuum), yet somehow the two had still gotten into it. She guessed that's what she got for not hydrating-feel-greating and eating-to-defeating.

An old citizen eyed her suspiciously, taking in her struggle with the two cats. Or maybe she was just more focused on Mattie’s goggles - she doubted anyone in 13th century Pisa had seen such a bold fashion statement before. The tower continued to lean in the background.

Finally, Giles and Corey settled down, each in a pocket of her trench coat. Mattie breathed a sigh of relief, which only got halfway out of her before she was sucking it back in as the old lady from across the street began to approach her.

“Young lady.”

Mattie smiled sheepishly. “Hello, ma’am. Is everything alright?”

The lady looked mildly amused. “I couldn’t help but notice your two cats going mysteriously close to the tower before it started collapsing. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“Oh, no, ma’am. My cats are very well behaved.” Giles gave a resounding yelp at exactly the wrong time. A hiss from Corey echoed from the opposite pocket.

“Well,” the lady grinned, “If that’s the case, why don’t you leave the animals with me? You seem fairly preoccupied with the tower - perhaps you can try and assist its reconstruction?” She held out a hand.

Mattie thought for a moment and then handed across the two cats. “Thank you ever so much, ma’am. I’ll try and be quick.” The woman nodded and Mattie sped across the square to the drastically swaying tower.

When she arrived back at the woman’s table, there was a second lady in animated conversation with her. As Mattie approached, she stood up to take her leave, pressing a kiss to the first lady’s hair as she left. Something was definitely fruity there.

“All fixed!”

“I’m glad.” The woman nudged the cats back to their owner, looking intensely over Mattie’s shoulder to the stabilised tower. “It certainly looks sturdier.”

“I should hope so.”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “Sometimes,” she said, staring pointedly at an area on the structure, “I think about crabs.”

“Oh?” Mattie tilted her head. “Do you?”

“Yes. And often when I think about crabs, I think that they shouldn’t be in Pisa, and they most definitely should not be crawling over the tower.”

Mattie gasped and followed her gaze, muttering curses under her breath. “I didn’t realise I’d brought a whole crab with me! I thought I’d taken the sea life off the rocks!”

The woman chuckled. “You seem to be a strange character. Child, where on Earth did you find not only rocks large enough to support a tower, but also a live crab in Pisa?”

Accepting her fate, Mattie decided to tell the truth. “They’re from Egypt.” At the woman’s questioning look, she expanded, “I’m a traveller of sorts.”

“Oh. Well, child, you’re a gift of a traveller. Brightened my day. Italy these days is far too serious. Maybe we should put more crabs on the leaning tower, huh?”

Tucking her cats back into their respective pockets, Mattie allowed herself to laugh. “Maybe we should.” With a nod and a smile, she wandered off, eagerly awaiting her portal.

“Why were you in Egypt anyway?” Eva asked as Mattie recounted yet another of her time-travel-gone-wrong experiences.

“Library of Alexandria.”

“Oh, yeah, because that explains so much.”

“Shut up.” She rolled her eyes. “It was 48 BC, Caesar was burning shit, this random Roman dude set fire to the library.” She pulled a book out of her backpack. “I saved this and stashed away a few of the slabs of rock. And apparently a crab.”

Eva took the book in awe. “Jesus Christ… This thing is, like, thousands of years old…”

“I know, right? Weird.” She watched as Eva flicked through the pages, tracing her finger over certain words or illustrations. “But it was such a beautiful library, I couldn’t let it just burn. So, I retaliated. Burnt the house of the soldier who set the original flame.”

“Mattie!”

She shrugged. “Setting someone’s house on fire is a survival skill.”

“Oh my God.”

“I would have done something more dramatic, but I had to get home. I had a cake which would need to come out of the oven.”

Eva laughed, the sound echoing around the empty classroom. They were skiving class again, this time PE, the one class they had which coincidentally fell at the same time for both year groups. “How are you so normal in school, but so badass when you time travel?”

“I dunno. All I can say is that cake and spite are my only motivators.”

“You’re like a superhero. ‘Time Travelling Mattie: The Only One Who Can Lead A Dual Life Successfully’!!!”

Mattie blushed, shrugging. She definitely needed to take Eva with her one day. A superhero duo. “Okay, that name needs some work. How about: ‘Sanchez And Wheeler, The Ultimate Time Travelling Duo’?”

“I think I like the sound of that.”

“Yeah?”

Eva nodded, shaking her hand like they were signing a business contract. “Yeah.”

12 notes · View notes

ms-znodgrass · 5 years

Text

Fuelled by Hope

WARNING: ENDGAME SPOILERS!

In which Steve comes back after returning the infinity stones, but is soon lost again to the fabrics of space and time...

A/N: there’s been some really fab, inspiring, talented fanfics/au/imagines written about the MCU so I thought I’d contribute and try to help everyone else heal from the pain that was Endgame. (not my gif)

On the day of Tony Stark’s funeral you were not only morning the loss of Iron Man, but Captain America too. Steve Rogers was teleported back in time in the late hours of the afternoon, with one sole mission to return the infinity stones.

He was due back approximately ten seconds later, and you feared this wouldn’t be the case. You knew Steve had seen Peggy on the day you collected the stones, his eyes were foggy and dull from the moment you returned to the Avengers base. It was then that you knew, if he were to survive the war, he would return to that exact moment and live his life and he always wanted to. It was then that you lost faith in him – or more so, how you felt for him.

Still, after ten seconds he hadn’t returned. You began to pace back and forth, your mind numb to the shouts of Bruce and Sam. He wouldn’t come back. Your Steve was going to spend the rest of his days with his Peggy. And he deserved it, he deserved to live a life without sacrifice.

You began to turn, walking towards an empty wooden bench which overlooked the green lake. A perfect place to mourn the death of a life you could’ve spent with Steve Rogers.

“Steve?” You hear a voice mutter. Instantly you turn, faced with Captain America – not a single hair out of place. Your knees almost give way, and your heart lurches so far into your chest you think you might choke on it. All those memories, all those worries… faded. Steve was back from his mission, a mission you never thought would end.

He stumbles down from the metal stage below him, eyes red and skin white. You walk towards him, reaching for his arms as he almost fell onto you. “Steve are you okay?” Bruce chimes again from next to you. Sam appears at his other side, holding his body up.

Steve nods, his eyes finding yours. His cheeks return to their normal colour, pupils dilating as he inhales. “I’m fine,” he smiles, eyes ghosting over each of you. Eventually the blue orbs land on Sam. “I have something for you,” he breathes, handing him a round leather case. Inside was the shield, Cap’s shield, in perfect condition.

“How did you-“

“Long story. But it’s yours now, you deserve it,” he grins breathlessly. Sam eyes him; confused, overwhelmed, shocked, unsure whether Steve was joking.

“I can’t take this from you, I…”

Steve pushes the shield towards him, handing over its history, legacy. Sam’s fingers touch the cold leather, taking it in his grasp as if it is the most precious thing in the world – which to him, it was. You see his eyes glaze over as he takes Steve into his arms and holds him tightly.

After that you decided to give him a chance to speak to Bucky. They hadn’t had the chance to be alone, to talk of all the stories they had yet to share. After all, you had all the time in the world to speak to him, a thought which warmed you.

So you take a seat on the desolate bench, looking out over the water. The sun was just beginning to set, casting an orange glow across the sight before you. You almost forget where you were, or more importantly, who you were.

“Hi,” Steve sighs, sitting beside you. You study his face carefully, his skin was tired and worn, eyes grey and grief-struck. He was every element of a broken man, but was still as handsome as the day you met him.

“You saw her again, didn’t you?” You ask softly, careful not to break him. He lowers his head.

“Yeah. I did,” he breathes. A moment passes, silence broken by the sound of birds chirping in the distance.

“Why didn’t you stay?”

“I couldn’t. The guy that went into the ice… he wanted a family, a marriage, a dance. I’m not that same man, and I think only now, I’m beginning to accept that,” he tells you, as if each word is both hurting him yet healing him, giving him a new leash for life. “Plus, I couldn’t leave you all. Especially you.”

You take your hand in his, sitting in silence. He brings the back of your palm up to his lips, and kisses your skin ever so lightly. Your best friend, your closest companion, had made another sacrifice – his happiness for yours.

“You shouldn’t have to give everything up, not again. You had a chance to-“

“I didn’t want to go back. The Avengers are my family now, I’m happy here. As happy as I can be.”

You place your head on his shoulder, “what do we do now?”

“We learn to live again,” he sighs his head falling onto yours, “as Tony wanted us to.”

The wind suddenly feels cool, even with the heat of Steve’s body against yours. You stand, “I’m gonna grab us a blanket, I’ll be back.”

You stand between his legs, kissing his forehead. You hold his cheeks in your hands, holding your tears back. “Thank you,” you whisper.

You rush back to your car, grabbing the blanket you kept in your backseat, and return to Steve. Using your superspeed, your there and back in less than a few seconds.

But when you return, Steve isn’t there. Impossible. You shout over to Bruce, who is disambling the equipment. “Hey Bruce, where did Steve go?”

He looks over to you, shrugging. “Hhe was with you? Was he not?”

“He was… a second ago. Have you checked the background radiation levels? Perhaps the frequency of the air particles?” You tell him, running over to his location. He looks at you, a sudden fear spreading across his face.

“Oh god.”

Autumn was slowly dying, the trees bare, ground dusted with orange and brown crisp leaves. It had been a few months since the funeral, yet you were returning to the Stark’s country home to celebrate Thanksgiving. You often hadn’t cared for Thanksgiving, but knowing you and a few other Avengers were requested to join Pepper and Morgan for a feast, well, you couldn’t refuse.

You were driving through the country roads with Bucky and Sam, all silently admiring the sad beauty of the woodlands. Unlike a few others, you had decided to stay at the Avengers headquarters, which now was almost a cold tribute to what you had lost. Still, it allowed you to continue your research on the limitations of space and time, or more specifically, time-travel.

Sam would train often, trying desperately to shadow the moves of the former Captain America, readying himself for the day that post-war peace would become an old memory. Bucky would flitter in and out of the HQ, but always seemed to return home. Bruce on the other hand was continuing his research with Dr Pym. You often met with them to see if there were any breakthroughs on Steve’s whereabouts.

There were none.

You were lost in thought when Sam announced that you had arrived. Upon exiting the car, Morgan rushes towards you with wide arms. “Hi little one,” you smile, picking her up and spinning her around. She squeals with excitement, her arms wrapping around your neck. “You’ve grown!”

“Soon I’ll be as tall as you,” she giggles as you carry her towards the door. Pepper emerges then, a small smile gracing her features. You put Morgan down, allowing her to tackle Bucky’s metal arm.

“Hi,” you greet, hugging her tightly. She embraces you openly. “It smells brilliant in here,” you tell her, inhaling some of the sweet scents drifting through the doorway. She rolls her eyes.

“I wish I could say it was all me, but we’ve had some help,” she laughs, leading you inside.

“So your research into mechanics is going pretty well,” you grin, eyes catching the table adorned with pies, potatoes, carrots, and the biggest turkey you’ve ever seen. She sighs.

“Aside from the kitchen fire, I’d say Tony would be proud,” she nudges you, hands on her hips.

“You really think Tony’s expectations were set so high?” She laughs then, and you fear that the sound of her laughter was a rarity in this house.

“Bruce, Wanda and Thor are all in the kitchen,” she tells you, “help yourself to a drink.”

You find the others in deep conversation. All of them seem happier, as if they’ve accepted what has happened and learned to embrace it. After all, they did save the world.

“Thor! Is that you?” You chime, eyeing his much slimmer figure. He steps towards you and squeezes you.

“Ah, young Y/N, it is good to see you again.”

“You too,” you chuckle, “though if you squeeze me any tighter, it could be the end of me.” He lets you go, hand patting your head. “Been hitting the gym?” You ask.

“Yes well, my travels with the Asguardians of the Galaxy proved to be slightly more strenuous than I first thought,” he smiles, with a sweet promise to explain all after you eat. You then speak with Bruce, catching up briefly. After all, you had only seen each other a week ago when he thought he’d found a breakthrough in forbidden quantum physics.

“Wanda, how are you?”

“I’ve been good. I’ve actually decided that it might be wise to return home to you all,” she sighs. You embrace her.

“Please, it’s been long overdue. Besides, the testosterone is choking me,” you joke.

“Dinner’s ready!” Pepper chimes, and you take Wanda’s arm, both walking through to the dining room.

The meal is wonderful, the room fills with laughter and joy. Happy sits at the end of the table, and looks really… happy. He and Rhodey begin telling tales of Tony, almost reminding you all that he wasn’t there. Almost.

Then it’s Bucky’s turn, he and Sam start bouncing back with stories of Steve and Natasha. Yet you, Wanda, Bruce and Pepper can’t seem to think of anything to say, instead enjoying the stories circulating around the room – some you’d never heard before.

“Did daddy really say that to the Queen of England?” Morgan asks mid-laughter, her eyes brimming with tears. Pepper nods, in stitches herself.

“That’s why he never went back,” Rhodey chuckles, winking at Morgan. Bruce excuses himself from the table, answering a phone call and you decide it’s a good time to help Pepper with the dishes.

“Allow me, honestly Pepper, it’s what I’m built for,” you smile. Using your super speed, you run into the kitchen, cleaning and drying the dishes before Pepper can even protest.

“I don’t know why I try to object,” she sighs, as you hand her a glass of red wine.

“Now sit, and put your feet up!”

The others make their way over to the couches, each close to sleeping their meal off. You’re about to join them, when Bruce appears behind you.

“Y/N, a word?” He asks. You follow him through to the other room.

“What’s up?” You ask, leaning against the wall. He looks at you, silent for a moment. “Bruce, you okay?” You ask, sitting him down on the stairs. He takes a deep breath.

“There’s been a large burst of energy radiating from the forest,” he starts, “in the same location where we lost Steve, the exact coordinates.” You’re about to leave but he touches your arm, “we don’t know what it is, Dr Pym is on his way, I’ll go get the others so just hold on for one second-“

“You’re telling me Steve might be in the woods, possibly injured, and I need to wait for Dr Pym? Bruce, I have to go. I’ll meet you there.”

It’s darker out, the woods casting large shadows across the woodland floor. Still, you would be able to navigate yourself in pitch black. You knew these coordinates off by heart. You had often visited the clearing, whether to conduct some studies or to just think. You knew this location like the back of your hand. And for once you weren’t running from anger or frustration, you were fuelled by hope.

You appear at the bench, frantically searching the area for any sign of Steve. Yet, there was none. You could feel the energy lurking in the air, but as far as you were concerned, that was useless. You sit on the bench, awaiting Bruce’s arrival, only to report nothing. A small part of you was hopeful. But that wasn’t enough to ride on.

Another empty dream. You face the clearing, a stray tear escaping yet again. You mentally reprimand yourself, you’d promised not to cry. Not today. And yet here you were, sobbing. It was almost as if you could still feel Steve’s presence, though it was all in your head.

“Y/N?”

It was all in your head.

“Y/N?”

You stand the second time you hear your name. The voice was too realistic, it was messing with your mind. He wasn’t In front of you. He wasn’t here.

A hand on your shoulder pulls you from your thoughts, and you turn to relay the news back to Bruce. Except you’re faced with a pair of blue eyes, instead of green.

“Steve?”

“Hey,” he smiles, his legs buckling from below him. You catch him before he falls, placing him delicately on the floor. You prop his head into your lap, cradling his features. You softly run your fingers through his hair, as he blinks up at you.

“Bruce will be here soon, they’ll be able to look after you just stay awake, okay?” You tell him, brushing the stray hair from his face. He catches your hand in his, bringing your fingers to his lips. He kisses your knuckles delicately, the corners of his mouth picking up.

“I’m fine,” he says, as his eyelids close slowly. You consider leaving him for just a split second, perhaps to bring Bruce to you. But the sound of footsteps tells you to be patient. Be patient.

You kiss his forehead, continuing to comb through his blonde locks as you await for your remaining Avengers to assemble.

Part 2??

I take requests! Preferable MCU atm to fill the hole in my bleeding heart.

625 notes · View notes

saiilorstars · 4 years

Text

Stars Dance

Ch. 9: All Gobbled Up

Fandom: Doctor Who Pairing: 11th Doctor x Original Female Character

[Previous chapters]

(Fairy Tale Memoirs, One Shot/AU Companion story)

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

Chapter summary: The time travelling group must face a threat from under the planet and, in the process, save Avalon and Amy!

While his companions slept, the Doctor roamed the TARDIS trying to find some entertainment. By now, he was used to the silence that followed every night for an agonizing 8 to 10 hours. Sometimes he had companions who really loved sleep and wouldn't show up for 12 hours! Twelve hours! Who slept for that long!?

Things were a bit different right now, though. Amy and Rory slept the usual eight hours humans took. They were set like stones. Lena and Avalon would vary. Sometimes poor Lena wouldn't be able to sleep well due to her asthma. As much as the Doctor tried, her asthma would just suddenly kick in and make it hard for her to sleep peacefully. Those were the nights he would be on red alert in case she needed something. He didn't want to bring her to the medbay when she had her own comfortable room, but he would make it so that it was the first room next the console room. But other times, she would sleep as soundly as Amy and Rory would. He liked those nights; he didn't like seeing his baby sister suffer.

And then there was Avalon. Oh, Miss Avalon Reynolds was the case when it came to sleeping.

Some nights she would disappear and sleep like anyone else. Sometimes she'd sleep less hours than the others but she would still sleep. Other nights would have her poking her head into the console room and trying to start some type of adventure while everyone else slept. The Doctor admitted that it was nice having somebody around to talk to while it was 'night', but he often worried that she wasn't getting enough rest. It was when he voiced these concerns that Avalon would get irritated and leave the console room in a storm.

That's also when the TARDIS would throw sparks at the Doctor's hands, like she was angry that he upset Avalon. 'Whose bloody side are you on!?' he would yell at the console only to get another spark as a response. And if Avalon happened to be around, she would laugh at him.

The Doctor wasn't very fond of those nights but he was even less fond of the nights where Avalon wouldn't sleep at all.

Those were the nights he sometimes genuinely feared.

Sometimes, Avalon wouldn't sleep for days and it would take a toll on her. She was irritable and sometimes she'd almost doze off in the middle of an adventure. The Doctor would feel sorry for her, as did the others, because it was clear that she wanted to sleep but she just couldn't. He'd offer to help her out but of course she would refuse. Apparently, being hopelessly stubborn was another side affect.

There were various nights where Avalon simply could not sleep and it wouldn't affect her. She didn't seem tired, she didn't act like it, so she would wander through the infinite corridors of the TARDIS. And because the TARDIS seemed to outright favorite her above anyone else - including one possibly jealous Doctor - the box would give her access to nearly every room available. Already Avalon had seen the library, the swimming pool, the bowling alley, the gardens, the gym and one time the Doctor's workroom which she loved and possibly tinkered with until the Doctor had to physically yank her out. She was a wanderer and an explorer, but sometimes the Doctor wanted to shake her until she would just agree to go to sleep.

Of course the Doctor would also admit that they did have some fun together when they actually went out on small trips. He didn't have to wait eight hours to continue adventuring with the others because Avalon was more than ready to go out during 'night'.

To be frank, it was a hit and miss with her. At least the Doctor couldn't say anymore that the nights were boring. He could never be bored when Avalon Reynolds was around.

Tonight, however, the TARDIS began humming in an odd manner...like it was trying to tell him something. Stopping, the Doctor carefully thought what the hums meant. "Avalon and Rory are fine, I just saw them..." he checked the two off his list, "...Amy and Lena...Amy usually's fine, but Lena..." he nodded, "...it has to be Lena. What's wrong with her, old girl? Is it the asthma again?" He raced out of the room and just like the times before, Lena's door was right after the console.

As he neared the door, he began to hear Lena's cries. "Lena?" he knocked on her door. "Baby sister, what's going on?"

"I'M SORRY!" she had screamed and the Doctor, panicking, ran right into the room. Lena was sitting on her bed, chest heaving from the terrible nightmare she'd had. Her eyes were wide and looking from one thing to another to make sure she was in her comfortable room now.

"Lena?" the Doctor cautiously approached her bed, presuming she'd had a nightmare. That was rare, she never had one even with all the trips they had.

Lena's eyes locked with his and immediately softened. "Big brother, did I wake you?"

The Doctor smiled, a bit amused, and shook his head. "Lena, you're the one who woke up screaming. I'd like to focus on you instead."

But that didn't please her. With a snort, she looked down. "Story of my life."

"What's wrong? Do you want me to call Avalon?" the Doctor thought that maybe Lena would feel more comfortable talking with her sister. Seeing as there was nothing physically wrong with Lena, he could go get Avalon now.

"No!" Lena had gasped suddenly, startling him. "I mean...I don't...I don't want her to come for nothing." She swallowed hard.

"It doesn't look like nothing..." the Doctor noted. There was a different sort of fear sitting in Lena's eyes and it made him worry. "I know it's not the same because we haven't known each other for a long time, but...you could talk to me about anything."

Lena contemplated for a moment. Could she trust him with a secret that had been a burden on her ever since she could remember? A secret that she'd learned to put away in the deepest corner of her mind but was now forcing its way back to the surface because...because of where they were?

"Lena?" the Doctor called when the brunette had gone silent. Unlike her sister, Lena failed miserably trying to hide what was bothering her. Avalon was a master at it. Lena's eyes were too frail to act like nothing was wrong. Lena was generally less guarded than Avalon.

"You can't tell anyone," she began in a faint whisper.

"I won't-"

"I mean you literally cannot tell anyone, Doctor," Lena looked him directly in the eyes. "Especially not Avalon."

"I swear I won't," the Doctor raised a hand. "But what is it?"

Lena swallowed hard and looked down, biting her lip. "I...I know something...that I really shouldn't. That I wish I didn't." She closed her eyes for a moment, her lower lip becoming like a chewing gum. "Because it makes me feel really guilty."

"What is it?" the Doctor reached for her hand. The fact she was saying words like those and looking like she did was a big alert that this was no ordinary nightmare she had.

"When I was young, a lot of times I couldn't go outside and play because of my illness so Avalon would invite Amy, Rory and our friend Mels to play inside instead. Our favorite game was hide-and-seek and one time...when I was meant to be hiding...I heard something I shouldn't have from my parents." Lena closed her eyes again and gripped the Doctor's hand. "I really wish I hadn't heard it, big brother, because then I wouldn't have turned into an accomplice and I wouldn't be lying to my sister every day."

The Doctor, although confused, was beginning to make connections on his own but he decided to let Lena get it off her chest. He assumed she had yet to tell anyone and it would do her good to have one opportunity to do it.

"We don't look alike, Avalon and I, not because we're fraternal twins...but because we're not twins at all. I-I don't know what we are, if we're not, but I just know that Avalon isn't my mother's daughter," Lena sniffled more and more as she spoke the words out loud. "I was young, and I got scared...so I ran out before I could finish hearing my parents. Since then I keep getting the same dream over and over of that moment, like a plague..."

"You've been carrying that secret for a long time," the Doctor patted her hand gently.

"I was good at keeping it away," Lena admitted. "But then we came here-" she gestured to the TARDIS as a whole, "-where I thought that Avalon could finally start her own life but instead she keeps focusing on me and missing the bigger picture. It makes me feel awful that she spends all this time on me when I'm not even her sister."

"Avalon has a big heart, and I think she would rather die than let anything happen to you," the Doctor smiled. "But that's no reason to feel guilty, Lena. You should feel special that someone loves you this much."

"I can't, because I don't deserve it,"Lena shook her head.

"What? Lena!"

"It's true!"

"No, it's really not. You've given Avalon the gift of sisterhood, a confidant from the very start of her life. It's always been you two and that is something that no one can replace!"

"I can't tell her," Lena bit her lip, expecting for the Doctor to give her some sermon about telling the truth because Avalon deserved it.

"If you think that's what needs to be done, then you have my support," he surprised her with instead.

"You really...would keep this from her?"

"It's not my story to tell."

"I just...I just don't want you to think that I'm being selfish by not telling Avalon. I-I'm not a bad person, I promise. I just...I would like to spare Avalon from the truth. Because one thing I heard from my parents was that Avalon never had to know."

"I imagine they love her too much to tell her the truth," the Doctor reasoned, and Lena shrugged. "A usual case within adoptive parents. They fear the biological parent or parents would try to take the child from them."

"But Avalon isn't a child anymore. And I think it's really more about my Dad," Lena sighed. "Because my Mum was reproaching him why he never revealed if Avalon was his daughter or not. Isn't that weird?"

"A bit," the Doctor admitted but didn't put that much thought to it. "But parents make the oddest decisions for their children, trust me."

Lena looked at him for a moment, getting that same strange feeling that he was saying this out of experience. "Big brother...did you have children at one point?"

The Doctor's eyebrows rose, and he took his hand from Lena's. "Um..."

Lena saw the struggle to come up with an answer and smiled. "You don't have to tell me. But just like you, I'm always here if you'd like to talk." She scooted closer and hugged him, thinking that both of them needed one at the moment.

~ 0 ~

To say Avalon was upset of the newest destination the Doctor had for them was way past an understatement. He knew, Lena knew, Amy knew, Rory knew that she detested the beach and yet somehow...they had all decided to go to a beach. A big ole Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, the biggest and 'coolest' as stated by the Doctor. Avalon did not care how flashy nor how big this Carnival was, she was not stepping out of the box and that was that.

Did no one understand?

"We're here!" the Doctor cheered when the box had finally stopped.

Nope, guess no one.

"Off we go!" the Doctor rushed towards the doors, Amy and Rory right behind him.

Lena cast a glance back to her twin who sat glumly on the chairs beside the console. Lena sighed and walked towards Avalon, "You don't want to see Rio?" she questioned softly.

"Frankly, the only thing I want to see is my pillow," Avalon mumbled and jumped off the chair, her hand rubbing a circle on her temple. She could feel a a headache coming on from her lack of sleep.

"You do look a bit...pale," Lena observed her twin with concern, "Have you slept?"

"C'mon, Lena, you know me," Avalon flashed a small smile and turned for the corridors, "Sleep hates me."

"Maybe we can ask the Doctor to help you," Lena tried following but Avalon turned back in an instant, making Lena bump into her.

"No, don't you dare," Avalon pointed a warning finger at Lena, "I don't want any help from no bow-tie wearing alien. Plus, I'm crossed with him right now. He knows I dislike beaches and yet..."

"Yeah, Avalon?" Amy poked her head inside the TARDIS with a crossed face, "You can come out, it's not Rio."

"It's not?" Lena turned with a disappointed expression, "Aw!"

"Surprise, surprise, he got it wrong," Avalon flashed a small smile and strode towards the doors, "Good."

"But I wanted to see the beach!" Lena trailed after her.

Avalon stepped out to see a cemetery as the environment, "Never mind..." she mumbled. Cemetery or beach? Today was definitely not her day.

"Big brother, what happened here?" Lena crossed her arms while she gave her best mock-irritated frown, "I was promised sunshine and music!"

"May have been a bit of a mix up," the Doctor walked a bit ahead and came to an abrupt halt, "Ooh, feel that, though, what's that?" he bounced in place for a second, "Ground feels strange...just me?"

"Yes," Avalon compelled to make the clarification.

"That's weird," he had ignored her as he looked around.

"What's weird?" Rory asked.

"Doctor, stop trying to distract us. We're in the wrong place," Amy sighed as the Doctor ran around to the other side of a church.

"Yeah, it's freezing here," Lena shivered and hugged herself. She committed to Rio and chose a green buttoned rib-knit top with jean shorts. It was not appropriate for where they were right now. "I dressed for Rio..."

"Lena go get changed. I don't want you catching a cold." Avalon had no trouble with colder weather because she hadn't dressed for Rio. She said she wasn't stepping out of the TARDIS and had meant it. She wore a white, short-sleeved, high neck shirt tucked under high-waisted brown and white plaid pants.

"But-"

"Go," Avalon pointed. With a sigh, Lena returned inside the box.

The Doctor was plucking some grass and sifting it through his fingers, "Blue grass. Patches of it all round the graveyard. So, Earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit, but it's not a massive overshoot."

Amy noticed three people on the other side of the valley waving at them. Amy squinted her eyes but they were too far away to see the trio clear. "Why are those people waving at us?"

"Can't be," the Doctor murmured, too engrossed with the grass to notice.

Rory started waving back at the trio but Avalon pushed his hand down and shook her head. "Don't wave until we know who they are."

The Doctor finally looked up and took out some binoculars from his jacket to get a better look at the trio. He almost laughed. "It's...hm, it's you two," he pointed at Amy and Rory, "...and...Lena."

"What? That can't be right," Avalon snatched the binoculars and took a look for herself. Sure enough, it was Amy, Rory and Lena waving at them.

"But we're here," Rory looked at each other, "How can we be up there?"

"Ten years in your future. Come to relive past glories, I'd imagine," the Doctor said.

"But where am I?" Avalon frowned and lowered the binoculars. She tried searching for herself anywhere nearby but she wasn't around. "How come I'm not there?"

"Maybe you got married and moved away," Amy teased but Avalon didn't seem to like the joke.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'd never leave Lena."

"Maybe she forced you to," the Doctor mumbled, thinking no one had heard him, until...

Avalon whacked him on the chest with his binoculars, "What did you just say?"

God help the man who married her alright. He rubbed his chest and tried to move the conversation along. "I said nothing. I was actually thinking about-"

"No, you said she'd force me to leave, why would Lena do that?" Avalon moved to stand right in front of him, eyes narrowing for him to start explaining.

"I don't know, I..." the Doctor sighed and took a look at the pair behind the angry ginger for help. He had such a incredible talent at pissing her off and nobody seemed to help him when it happened, save for Lena.

"I'd measure your words very carefully, Doctor," Avalon warned with a pointed finger at his chest.

"Avalon, don't overreact," Amy moved to the ginger's side and swayed her. Fortunately, it rocked Avalon into a nearlike sleep, her eyes even closing momentarily. All arguments had suddenly been forgotten!

"Yeah...sorry," Avalon mumbled and walked ahead, still half asleep.

"That woman is asleep!" Amy exclaimed.

"I've never seen her like that before," Rory mumbled as he moved up as well.

"That's the only side I've seen," the Doctor remarked but still agreed the ginger had not looked so good, even for her natural feisty self. She was in one of her days-without-sleep spree and it would be a bad one.

"I should talk to her, see what's going on," Rory resolved, "She'll tell me and then we can fix it."

"Fix what?" Lena emerged from the TARDIS, now changed into warmer clothes as requested, ordered, by Avalon. Her jean shorts were exchanged for a regular pair and she'd thrown on a thick green sweater.

"Your sister nearly chewed my head off," the Doctor declared and made her laugh. So much for having Lena's help!

"You certainly have a way of pushing my sister's buttons, don't you?" she stepped off the TARDIS onto the mushy grass.

"It's not my fault she doesn't sleep," the Doctor shrugged, "And I'd really not get into that whole mess so how about we go check that big mining thing, eh?" he pointed behind him to the building.

Two different reactions surfaced in the trio: Lena, as expected, simply nodded, while Amy and Rory wore irritated frowns and shook their heads.

"We want the beach," the engaged couple declared.

"But it's a big mining thing," the Doctor insisted, "Way better than Rio! Rio doesn't have a big mining thing!"

"We're not going to have a look," Amy warned.

"Let's go and have a look!" the Doctor took Lena's hand and walked down into the valley.

Rory sighed, "If he can't get us to Rio, how's he ever going to get us back home?"

"Did you not see, over there?" Amy nodded up to the hill where their future selves remained, "It all works out fine."

"After everything we've seen, we just drop back into our old lives, the nurse and the kissogram?"

"I guess. He's getting away," Amy took Rory by the arm and started off when suddenly Rory halted them.

"Hang on. What are you doing with that?" he pointed to her ring finger.

"Engagement ring! I thought you liked me wearing it," Amy raised an eyebrow, not so sure anymore with the face Rory was making.

"Amy! You could lose it! Cost...a lot of money, that!"

"Hm," Amy removed the ring and handed it over, "Spoilsport."

"C'mon, let's go put it away...to safety," Rory eyed her, taking the groaning ginger back into the TARDIS.

After setting the ring back in its box and placed promptly on the console, the two headed back for the doors.

"If we get lost it's your fault," Amy warned as they stepped out.

"We won't get..." Rory stopped once he saw a woman and a little boy standing in front of him and Amy, as if waiting.

"Well, that was quick!" the woman, a brunette, remarked.

"...was it?" Amy replied in an answer as she nervously glanced at Rory.

"It's great that you came."

"Bit retro," the young boy was staring at the TARDIS, "What is it, portable crime lab?"

"Oh, er..." Rory looked back at the box, "...sort of."

"Ambrose Northover," the woman introduced herself as she shook Rory's hand, Amy next, "I was the one who called. I run the meals on wheels for the whole valley. This is my son, Elliot," she gestured to the boy.

"Where's your uniforms?" he questioned the pair.

"Don't be cheeky, Elliot, they're plain clothes," Ambrose scolded, "CID, is it? Anyway, it's over here."

As the mother and son departed, Rory and Amy exchanged uneasy glances...what was going on?

~ 0 ~

"Avalon? Avalon! What are you doing?" Lena gasped and ran forwards.

Avalon was already at the drill site in front of the gated entrance...which she was currently climbing up on. "What does it look like I'm doing?" Avalon grunted and swung one leg over before looking down at them.

"What? Get down from there!" Lena ordered in her best authoritative tone. But when she saw Avalon swinging her other leg she gave up on that and turned to the Doctor, "Do something!"

"Um...it's restricted access..." he looked around, "No unauthorized personnel. Mm..." he gave the ginger a smirk.

"Hm," Avalon smirked and hopped off, now on the other side of the doors. She curled her hands around the gate's bars and grinned, no longer looking like the sleepless night were an issue. "Come along!"

The Doctor pouted at her words. "Those are my words! I say that!"

Avalon smirked again. She pressed her face against the bars, almost reminding Lena of a few times Avalon had been sent to the local precinct, only this time Avalon seemed content. "You gonna stay there or what, Fairy Tale Man?"

"You watch me," he whipped out his sonic and let it tap Avalon's nose between the gates.

"Big brother!" Lena whacked his arm while he sonicked the gates. "You're not supposed to encourage her!"

"Why are the Reynolds hitting me today!?"

Avalon laughed and stepped backwards for when he opened the gates.

Lena groaned at his lack of attention. "That's breaking and entering!"

"What did I break, little sister?" he gestured to the unbroken locks, "I...sonicked and entered, totally different."

"You and Avalon are going to go to jail!"

"Ah, been there done that," the Doctor said as they stepped through the entrance. "We'll keep each other company."

Avalon's eyes widened at him. "You!? What!?" She promptly burst into laughter, once again making him pout.

"You might not believe me-"

"You're right, I don't!"

"Right, okay, so if you're not extra cranky you just make even more fun of me!" the Doctor shook his head at her and linked arms with Lena. "Let's go baby sister!"

~ 0 ~

Ambrose and Elliot had brought Amy and Rory to the graveyard where a plot laid with no tomb inside. Ambrose stepped beside it and peered down, "It's a family plot, see. My aunt Gladys died six years ago. Her husband, Alun, died a few weeks back. He lived in the house two doors down. There's not many of us left up here now."

"Mum, they don't care about that! They want to know about the dead bodies," Elliot reminded.

"Yes, sorry," Ambrose nodded in agreement, "Well, they always wanted to be buried in the same plot, together. But when we went to bury Uncle Alun, Gladys wasn't there. Gone. Body, coffin, everything."

"What?" Rory blinked, glancing at Amy who was just as confused as he was.

"The mad thing is, on the surface, the grave was untouched. No signs of it having been messed with."

"But..." Amy began but shook her head, "...nope, sorry, not getting it."

"Nobody has touched the grave since my aunt was buried," Ambrose reiterated, "But when they dug it open, the body was gone. How is that possible?"

~ 0 ~

"What about now, can you feel it now?" the Doctor asked the twins as they strolled through halls inside the drill station.

"It's the ground," Avalon sighed, "It just feels like...ground."

"But it doesn't feel like it should," he explained, unaware of the roll of eyes she'd given him behind his back.

"It's ten years in the future, maybe this is how the ground feels like now," Lena offered.

"Good thought! But no. It doesn't," he shook his head. They stopped at the sound of a whirring not too far up ahead. The Doctor listened carefully. "Hear that, drill in start-up mode. Afterwaves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass." He still held a few pieces of the blue grass he picked up from outside and placed it in his mouth.

Avalon made a distasteful face when she saw that, Lena simply giggling when he made a face and had to pulled the grass off his tongue.

"You are disgusting," Avalon declared, almost gagging. "Have you always had that...erratic quality?"

"No..." he genuinely considered, "That's recent."

"Ugh, don't ever kiss my twin nor me," Avalon shivered and moved on ahead.

"I gotta agree there," Lena made him shake off the grass still in his hand, "Repeat after me: blue grass is not food."

"Blue grass is not food," the Doctor muttered.

"Hey, maybe I can be a teacher," she clapped, "If I can make a 907 year old alien pay attention, I'm sure I can make 5 year olds do it!"

"That's what you want to be, then?" the Doctor took her by the arm and led her after Avalon, "A school teacher?"

"Mm, I always liked the idea," she shrugged. She never truly put much thought into what type of career she'd want because of her illness. Her father (and Avalon) wanted Lena to take it easy for a few years before she decided going to a college away from Leadworth.

"My baby sister as a teacher, I can see that. And what about Avalon? What super-twin team are you making?"

Lena faintly smiled, "I...don't know. I don't actually know what she wants to be."

"Oh c'mon, isn't that one of the primary teachings you humans always do with your children?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Always asking your kids what do they want to be when they grow up?"

Lena just shrugged, her smile completely gone, "I don't know. Avalon doesn't say much, she doesn't say anything, actually..."

"Not even to Rory?"

Lena shook her head, "Rory's more of the comforting friend. But she doesn't really say much about herself. Still, I'd rather Rory be able to help her out than for her to have absolutely no one. I mean, she comes to me, we have good talks, sometimes...I can get her to talk about what she wants, but those are rare times."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor genuinely said to her, "I promise after this I will get us all to a nice place, no beach, something calm and I'll make sure you get some sister time with Avalon. How does that sound?"

"That sounds really nice, thank you," she softly smiled.

The two finally entered the room where they heard the sound from. They'd arrived just in time to see Avalon being questioned by a woman with short, black hair. The woman seemed to be getting upset that Avalon wasn't answering any of her questions.

"Time to go in and save your sis...again," the Doctor mumbled to Lena as he took out his psychic paper, the brunette chuckling as he moved ahead, "Hello, see you've met my friend here," he flashed the psychic paper to the woman, "Ministry of Drills, Earth and Science! New Ministry, quite big, just merged, lot of responsibility on our shoulders, don't like to talk about it. What're you doing?"

"None of your business," the woman looked at the trio with suspicion, even more towards the Doctor when he started moving around the monitors.

"Where are you getting these readings from?" he asked.

"Under the soil," the woman replied as she moved towards a hole in the ground with certain equipment around it.

Another man entered the room in a quick stride. "The drill's up and running again-" He came to a pause when he saw the newest intruders in the room. "What's going on? Who are these people?"

"Hi!" Lena waved, deciding to go ahead and give introductions seeing how the Doctor was at work and Avalon was...well..half-asleep again. "That's the Doctor and that's my sister, Avalon."

"Why's there a big patch of earth in the middle of your floor?" the Doctor looked up, curiously.

"We don't know, it just appeared overnight," the woman answered.

Lena walked closer to the hole and peered down, confused as she only saw soil. The Doctor stood up rather fast and looked at all of them, "Good, right, you all need to get out of here very fast," he rushed to the monitors.

"Why?" the woman raised an eyebrow.

"What's your name?"

"Nasreen Chaudhry."

"Look at the screens, Nasreen, your readings. It's moving," he pointed at the monitor.

"Lena, get away from there," Avalon instructed, currently rubbing her temple again. She felt a head-ache coming soon to her.

The man that'd walked in had moved to the Doctor and Nasreen, irritated to see the stranger touching all their equipment, "Hey, that's specialized equipment! Get away from it."

"What is?" Nasreen asked the Doctor, concerned of the man's words.

"Why is there steam?" Lena frowned as said steam rose from the hole, "Avalon, come and look," she motioned for the ginger to move over.

"Lena, move away," Avalon made her twin stand up, "Doctor?" she called, "There's steam coming out of this thing. I'm gonna go on a wild guess and say it's not good."

"Very correct," he looked over his shoulder and saw the steam, "It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting."

"What shouldn't?" Nasreen asked, a bit irritated that none of her questions were being answered.

The ground started shaking as if an earthquake was striking, prompting the Doctor to quickly move his hands over the monitors, "The ground, the soil, the earth, moving, but how? Why?"

"Is this an earthquake?" Lena stumbled back.

"What's going on?" the man demanded.

"Doubt it, baby sister," the Doctor looked around, "Cos it's only happening under this room," he said just as more holes formed on the ground as it subsided underneath, "It knows we're here. The ground's attacking us."

"No, that's not possible!" Nasreen exclaimed.

"Under the circumstances, I suggest... RUN!" the Doctor grabbed Nasreen and headed for the doors.

As Tony quickly followed, the twins made move only to have Lena get trapped.

"No!" Avalon turned, gasping at her fallen twin.

"Stay back, Avalon! Stay away from the earth!" the Doctor, quickly looking for a way around the opening holes.

"No, Avalon, go away," Lena tried waving Avalon to leave, "Don't-"

Avalon leaped over a hole and pushed everything she could to help Lena, "Don't be stupid, Lena. Like I'd ever leave you, hm?"

"Don't...just go," Lena pleaded, whimpered.

"Look, I got - AH!" Avalon found her feet being sucked by the ground underneath, "What the hell!?" she looked down with wide eyes, "Ah! It's pulling me down!" she gave a cry as she went further down.

"No! N-n-n-no!" Lena cried from her spot, feeling so incredibly useless being stuck, "Someone get me out of here so I can help!"

Luckily enough, the Doctor had found a way around the holes and ran towards them, "It's okay! It's okay!" he grabbed onto Avalon's hands while Nasreen and Tony ran to help the other twin in distress.

"Something's got my feet!" Avalon yelped as she sunk to her waist.

The Doctor fell to his stomach with the great pull the ginger had endured, but he never let go, "It's okay, we're going to get you out of here, you'll see."

Avalon had stopped her shouts and looked around with shiny eyes, "Doctor, what is it, why is it doing this?"

"Stay calm, keep hold of my hand, don't let go," he looked over to the others, "Your drill, shut it down! Go! Now!"

Lena was finally pulled away from the hole she was in and so Nasreen and Tony rushed off. Lena tried moving to help the Doctor when Avalon gave a shout.

"Stay where you are! Don't move!"

"But Avalon, I can help-"

"STAY BACK!"

Lena froze in her spot once her sister screamed with full force. It even stopped the Doctor for a moment. "But..." Lena couldn't even open her mouth when Avalon shouted again.

"Just stay where you are! I didn't save you so you can put yourself in danger again! Whatever needs to happen, you let it happen!"

"Don't say that, Avalon!" the Doctor was the one to snap next. "Nothing is going to happen to you! We're gonna get you out! But you gotta stay calm. If you struggle, it'll make things worse. Keep hold of my hand. I'm not going to let you go."

"Ah!" Avalon's arms slipped from his grip as she sunk even lower, "I-i-it's pulling me!" she cried.

"Stay calm. Hold on," he gripped her one wrist with both his hands, "If they can just shut down the drill..."

"I can't hold on!" Avalon sunk down to her neck and arms, "Doctor, you gotta tell me what's down here..." she swallowed, her eyes becoming shinier as more water filled them, "What is under the earth? I don't want to suffocate under there! I'd rather drown!" And considering her hatred of beaches, that meant a lot.

"Avalon, just follow orders please. Concentrate!" the Doctor did his best to keep her spirits up despite the situation. He could feel her hands slipping from his grip so he squeezed as much as he could. He'd apologize for breaking her bones when she was safe in the TARDIS. "That's all. Concentrate. Don't you give up! That's not the Avalon I know!"

"Please don't let them take me..." Avalon whimpered as she went down again, her chin beginning to go under as well. Once she tasted dirt in her mouth, she realized this was happening. She would be going under no matter what. "Fairy Tale Man...look after Lena."

The Doctor's eyes widened. He recognized the resignation but before he could tell her things would be okay, her hand slipped out of his and she sunk into the ground.

"AVALON!" Lena cried and rushed forwards, forgetting all about the holes still threatening them.

"No! No!" the Doctor shouted at the ground, unable to believe he'd actually let that happen. "Avalon! Avalon!" he frantically dug through the whole, hoping nothing more than to see her fiery ginger curls. Suddenly, he wanted to hear her snaps and jabs! He wanted to take her night adventures and play cards when she couldn't sleep! The idea of never being able to do that struck chord that he hadn't felt a in a very long time. "No! No! No! No. No! No. NO!"

"Where did my sister go!? Where is she!?" Lena watched the Doctor use his sonic over the spot Avalon had been in but he got nothing from it.

Nasreen and Tony ran back inside the room thinking everything was good until they saw one angry man and one crying woman. It took them a few seconds to realize that Avalon was missing.

"Where's your other friend?" Nasreen asked.

"She's gone. The ground took her," the Doctor answered quietly, his eyes glued to the hole.

"And it's my fault...again," Lena dropped to her knees in front of the hole. "Always has to save me and then she gets in trouble!" she ran her hands through her hair, completely frantic, "Always, always, always me!"

"Is that what happened to Mo? Are they dead?" Tony questioned, the Doctor shooting the man a death glare as he was not helping the case.

The Doctor bent down and helped a frantic Lena to her feet, "Baby sister, baby sister, breathe," he gave the order, "I need you to be calm and to breathe!" he articulated the last word as he searched inside his jacket and pulled out her inhaler, "Breathe!"

Lena took the inhaler and took her breaths as requested, slowly calming down with each take, "Doctor, you have to save her, please," she sniffled, "I'll help you, but...she needs to be here and she needs to be alive!"

"Exactly what we're going to do," he assured her and took a breath himself before he started to think, "So...it's not quicksand, clearly. She didn't just sink..."

"She said something was pulling her," Lena reminded, wiping away some tears off her face, "If she was being pulled then it meant what ever was down there wanted her."

"The ground wanted her?" Nasreen raised a doubtful eyebrow.

"You said the ground was dormant, just a patch of earth, when you first saw it this morning," the Doctor looked at her nod, "And the drill had been stopped."

"That's right," Tony said.

"But when you re-started the drill, the ground fought back."

"So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling?! Doctor, that is ridiculous," Nasreen shook her head.

"Don't you dare call this ridiculous if it just swallowed my sister!" Lena snapped, surprising the Doctor as he sonicked the hole. Lena never snapped. But she looked so frustrated, so angry and so...sad. She was right in that somehow Avalon seemed to have a habit of getting hurt.

The Doctor felt a twinge of guilt as he recalled Avalon taking a death shot for him as well. Once again, she'd taken a bullet for someone and ended up hurt.

His thoughts were interrupted when the ground started vibrating, "Oh! Oh of course! It's bio-programming!"

"What?" Tony frowned.

"Bio-programming," the Doctor clapped, "You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects! It's mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that's way in the future, and not here. What's it doing here?"

"Sorry, did you just say jungle planets?" Nasreen raised an eyebrow.

"You're not making any sense, man!" Tony added.

The Doctor took a moment to throw the man an indignant look. There was no time to waste and here this man was doing exactly that! "'Scuse me, I'm making perfect sense, you're just not keeping up! The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack."

"Yeah, even if that were possible, which, by the way, it's not, why?" Nasreen asked.

"Stop you drilling! We find what's doing the bio-programming, find Avalon, get her back!" he suddenly spun around as if he had twenty people talking to him at the same time. "Ssh ssh ssh! Have I gone mad?! I've gone mad!"

"No time for personal questions, big brother," Lena sighed, "Can we find Avalon now?"

"Ssh ssh! Silence! Absolute silence!" the Doctor held a finger to them and shushed, "You stopped the drill, right?"

"Yes," Nasreen nodded.''

"And you've only got the one drill?"

"Yes!"

"You're sure about that?"

"Yes!"

But the Doctor dropped to the ground on his stomach and pressed an ear to the gun beside the hole where sure enough he heard that faint whirring sound again.

"Doctor, what is it?" Lena stepped forwards, for a second thinking he could hear Avalon still shouting. She shook her head and snapped out of those thoughts.

"So, if you shut the drill down... why can I still hear drilling?" the Doctor looked to Nasreen and Tony, "It's under the ground."

"That's not possible," Tony shot the idea down.

The Doctor ignored the man as he jumped back to his feet and ran towards the machinery with his screwdriver.

"Oh, no, what, what are you doing?" Nasreen quickly followed when she heard the screwdriver making its usual noises.

"Hacking into your records. Reports, samples, sensors, good, just unite the data, make it all one big conversation, let's have a look. So. We are here and this is your drill hole. 21.009 kilometres. Well done!"

"Thank you. It's taken us a long time," Nasreen faintly smiled with pride.

"Why here, though? Why drill on this site?"

"We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for 20 million years."

"The blue grass? Oh, Nasreen, those trace minerals weren't X marking the spot, saying dig here," the Doctor gave a small chuckle, "They were a warning. Stay away. Cos while you've been drilling down... somebody else has been drilling up," he pulled up a screen with a vertical network of the tunnels underneath the ground, "Oh, beautiful. Network of tunnels all the way down."

"No, no, we've surveyed that area," Tony said.

"Clearly you only saw what you went looking for," Lena shot him an irritated look. If they had paid more attention maybe her sister would still be around.

Nasreen noticed three little green dots that were moving up via the tunnels registered, "What are they?"

"Heat signals," the Doctor started looking into it, "Wait, dual readings, hot and cold, doesn't make sense. And now they're moving. Fast. How many people live nearby?"

"Just my daughter and her family. The rest of the staff travel in," Tony answered.

"Grab this equipment and follow me," the Doctor instructed and headed for the door with Lena.

"Why? What're we doing?!" Nasreen called.

The Doctor stopped ans turned around, "That noise isn't a drill. It's transport. Three of them, 30km down, rate of speed looks about 150km an hour. Should be here in...ooh, quite soon, 12 minutes," he picked up one of the computers, "Whatever bio-programmed the Earth is on its way up, now!"

~ 0 ~

The group were carrying computers and a wheelbarrow with more equipment as they trundled of the building.

"How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there?" Tony insistingly asked.

"You saw the readings!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"But whoever is down there...they've got Avalon, right?" Lena hoped, "They took her..."

"Hopefully, and then we can have a nice little chat about that..." the Doctor mumbled, not so sure that a chat was what the creatures were coming for.

"Who are you, anyway?!" Nasreen cut in, "How can you know all this?"

They all stopped when a red light struck across the sky.

Lena gasped, "What was that?"

"No, no, no!" the Doctor took out across slingshot from his pocket and picked up a rock.

He shot the rock to the sky where a force field appeared at the contact in the form of a red light. He used the sonic and made visible the dome-shaped field around the village and drill site.

"Energy signal originating from under the Earth. We're trapped," the Doctor explained.

Rory and Amy joined the group with Ambrose and Elliot behind them.

"Doctor! Something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people," Rory really had no other way of putting it.

"And what was that in the sky?" Amy pointed above, "Red lights and stuff appeared."

"Energy barricade. Invisible to the naked eye," the Doctor waved them off, "We can't get out and no-one from the outside world can get in."

"What if we use the TARDIS?" Lena suggested.

"The what?!" Nasreen looked at the girl like she was crazy.

"No, those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes."

"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"We're trapped. And something's burrowing towards the surface," Nasreen answered with and huff.

"Oh..." Amy nodded but blinked when she realized what had just been said, "No, wait, hold on, what!?"

"Wait, where's Ava?" Rory looked around, realizing they were missing some remarks from her.

"Get everyone inside the church!" the Doctor ordered the others as he picked up the computer he'd been taking out.

"Lena?" Amy asked, knowing the brunette would answer much easier than the Doctor.

"She was taken," Lena whispered guiltily. "Because of me."

"What d'you mean 'taken'? Where's she gone?" Rory demanded as he looked at the Doctor. A growing anger was taking over his expression and a well deserved one too if the Doctor was being honest.

"She was taken. Into the Earth," the Doctor sighed.

"Into the Earth!?" both Amy and Rory exclaimed.

"She saved me, as usual, and she got swallowed down into the Earth," Lena sniffled, "It's my fault."

As Amy moved to comfort the lonely twin, Rory raged at the Doctor, "You need to get Ava back!"

"I will, I'll find her," the Doctor assured, glancing at Lena, "I'll find Avalon. I'll keep you all safe. I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me."

Lena nodded and together they all headed towards the church.

~ 0 ~

The group was buy setting up the brought equipment inside the chaotic mess the church's room was in.

Ambrose was closest to the door, overlooking everything that was happening with a frustrated face. She'd been told that her husband, Mo, had apparently

been sucked down into the Earth along with another girl. The whole thing was just mad!

"So we can't get out, we can't contact anyone. And something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the Earth," she recited what she'd been told and it still didn't sound very convincing

"Yes. If we move quickly enough, we can be ready," the Doctor said

"No, stop. This has gone far enough. What is this?"

"He's telling the truth, love," Tony, her father, looked up from the equipment he was setting up.

"Come on! It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish."

"Listen lady!" Lena nearly shouted, shocking her friends her voice could actually reach a level like that, "You can sit there and not believe a thing or you can come and help! Your husband my sister are down there and I will not have you waste our time with your unbelieving rants!"

Ambrose stood still with blinking eyes, unsure of what to do or say next. The brunette looked awfully pale and frantic, something Ambrose didn't want to push even farther.

"Lena," Amy gently came forwards to her friend, "You need to calm down," she set an arm around Lena's shoulder, "It's not good for your health."

Nasreen looked between the frantic brunette and the stunned Ambrose. She stayed looking at Amberose and sighed, "Look, Ambrose, we saw the girl's sister get taken, okay? You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only person who's made any sense of it, for me, is the Doctor."

"Him?!" Ambrose cast a worried look to the Doctor.

"Me," he nodded.

"Can you get my dad back?" Elliot suddenly asked, making the room go silent as everyone looked at the Doctor for his answer

"Yes," he answered and walked towards Ambrose, "But I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say from this second onwards because we're running out of time."

"So tell us what to do," Ambrose breathed, resigned.

"Thank you. We have eight minutes to set up a line of defence. Bring me every phone, camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find," he ordered, "Every burglar alarm, every movement sensor, every security light. I want the whole area covered with sensors."

The group nodded and rushed to do the task. The Doctor returned to Lena and Amy and signaled Amy to go ahead and follow Rory out. Once the ginger had left, he set his hands on Lena's shoulders and the brunette promptly looked up with tears in her eyes.

"It's my fault," she sniffled.

"No, it's not. Stop saying that, please," he hugged her.

"It's always my fault, big brother. I always get into trouble and need saving from Avalon. I don't deserve that."

"You're saying you don't deserve your twin sister's love?" the Doctor gave a short chuckle.

She parted to look up at him. "You know I don't."

"Doctor?" Ambrose poked her head back inside the room, "We need help outside," she pointed then rushed out again.

~ 0 ~

Ambrose and Rory finished hooking up cameras in ideal positions where the Doctor sonicked them as the last touch.

Once back in the room, the Doctor monitored the oncoming green dots, "Right, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up," he looked to Elliot beside him, "I need a map of the village, marking where the cameras are going."

"I can't do the words. I'm dyslexic," the boy shrugged.

"Oh, that's all right, I can't make a decent meringue," the Doctor turned to him and smiled, "Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot," the boy nodded and ran off. A moment later the Doctor checked his watch and read the time, "6 minutes 40."

~ 0 ~

Lena watched the Doctor going through Ambrose's van, still confused why he needed this particular car. She went around to the back and opened the doors, "Refrigerators!" she called.

"Oi! What're you doing!?" Ambrose hollered as she walked by, her arms full of garden tools, or...weapons.

"Resources! Every little helps!" the Doctor poked his head around the van, Lena closing the doors.

"I still don't understand what this vehicle can provide for us," she sighed.

"Well, it's a bit chilly for a hideout, mind," Ambrose had joined them and set the tools in the front seat.

"What are those?" Lena eyed what Ambrose had set down.

"Like the Doctor said, every little helps."

The Doctor gave the woman a suspicious look and checked the pile, "No! No weapons," he shook his head and stepped back, "It's not the way I do things."

"You said we're supposed to defend ourselves."

"Oh, Ambrose, you're better than this. I'm asking nicely. Put them away," the Doctor linked his arm with Lena and walked off.

"She was just trying to help," Lena offered as a valid reason, "Her husband's gone missing."

"Your sister's gone missing," he pointed out, "I don't see you carrying a weapon," he stopped and eyed her outfit, "You're not...you're not-"

Lena laughed, the first real laugh she'd given since Avalon had been taken, "No, silly."

"Sorry," he gave a small chuckle, "But I mean you have lived with a feisty ginger who hides weapons in her shoes."

"But she never let me near them," Lena shook her head and started walking again, the Doctor going at her pace beside her, "And you know, the only reason she knows how to use them is because she wanted to know how...protect me. It's not because she likes them. I mean, she kind of does but not for bad reasons."

The Doctor knew Lena was trying to sway his opinions on her twin with weaponry. Lena understood completely his opposition to them and knew that it was a big disagreement between him and Avalon. She just didn't want him to think that Avalon was a bad person for handling weapons. Avalon only used them because of, well...her...again.

"Everything Avalon is, is because of me," Lena continued, sighing, "She's stolen because of me, gone to jail because of me, learned weaponry because of me. But she's not a bad person, big brother. Honest. She's really sweet and caring, you two will be fine."

And the Doctor had to make another stop there, "Why are you saying that?"

Lena slowly turned with fiddling hands, "Because I'm going home after this."

"What?"

"I don't want to travel anymore," she continued walking again. She couldn't look him in the eyes just yet.

"But...b-b-but...what!?" the Doctor shook his head and quickly caught up with the brunette, "Lena, Lena, what are you saying?"

Lena gazed ahead so she could say what she needed to. "Let's be honest, big brother, I stink at traveling. I get scared of everything, I can't run very fast, and I'm not smart. This is not me."

"Lena, you're just saying that because of the circumstances. You'll see that once you have Avalon back-"

"No, Doctor," she turned to him with watery eyes, "I don't want to do this anymore. I keep getting my sister into trouble. She's supposed to be traveling and having fun and actually making a life of her own. But with me here she's just doing what she'd do at home, only here she can actually die," she swallowed hard, "I don't want to be the reason my sister loses her life."

"And you think that Avalon would just stay here when you go home?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, challenging her thoughts, "The only reason she's here is because of you. If you leave then she'll leave."

"No, that won't happen. I'll make her see that she has a right to make her own life. She needs to go out and meet new people, talk about herself and not focus on me."

"But Lena-"

"Big brother, I've thought about this before. I've known that I can't handle this kind of life and...I think I've finally had my fill. It's okay," Lena touched his arm, giving him a soft smile. "You've shown me more things than I could've imagined. I'm okay to go now."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," the Doctor said almost with the tone of a child. He felt like he only just started traveling with her. She'd truly grown to become his 'baby sister' and he didn't want to have her leave him.

"Just because I won't be in the TARDIS doesn't mean you stop being my big brother," Lena said as if she'd read his mind. "In fact, I fully expect you to pick me up for a trip here and there."

"I guess so," the Doctor sighed. He couldn't be upset with her, especially his baby sister. It wasn't the first time a companion of his decided that the TARDIS life wasn't for them. "So how exactly are you going to tell Avalon this? Because once she hears you're leaving, she'll go too." And maybe he didn't quite want that either...

Lena smiled innocently, making it clear she'd already thought ahead. "I have a way for her to stay. And you're gonna help me."

"What? How and why?" the Doctor was genuinely fearful of what this idea would involve.

"You're going to drop me off home in secret and for no matter what, you are not to bring Avalon home. And why? Simple, because I'm your baby sister and I am asking you to help me."

The Doctor made a face and bowed his head, "I hate that line. I really hate that line."

"Please, Doctor? Please help me?" Lena took his hands and continued to plead, "Without me Avalon can finally live her life and explore the world with no worries about some sick ole twin and have some fun because she really deserves to have fun and even maybe meet someone who'll make really happy and-"

"Alright!" the Doctor gave up and sighed, stumbling back with the great hug Lena attacked him with, "But fair warning, if you never hear from me again it'll be because your sister killed me and buried me in some planet."

"That's...oddly accurate based off her personality," Lena admitted and shrugged, "But I'm sure she won't...ish," she quickly scurried off.

The Doctor took a breath and continued on his way, actually praying to every deity he knew that the ginger wouldn't react so...murderously when she'd find her twin had departed without her knowledge.

~ 0 ~

Back in the church, Elliot ran inside with his finished map paper in his hands, "I did it!" he exclaimed and handed it to the Doctor who was checking one of the computer screens.

"Look at that!" the Doctor saw the map, "Perfect! Dyslexia never stopped Da Vinci or Einstein, it's not stopping you."

"I don't understand what you're going to do," Elliot admitted with confusion.

"Two-phase plan. First, the sensors and cameras will tell us when something arrives. Second, if something does arrive, I use this to send a sonic pulse through that network of devices, a pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the universe. "

"Knock 'em out. Cool," Elliot nodded.

"Lovely place to grow up, round here."

"Suppose. I want to live in a city one day. Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off."

"I was the same, where I grew up," the Doctor related as he went back to a a monitor.

"Did you get away?"

"Yeah."

"Do you ever miss it?"

"So much..." the Doctor answered a bit late on it, could he be blamed though?

"Is it monsters coming?" Elliot peered at the screens, "Have you met monsters before?"

"Yeah."

"You scared of them?"

"No! They're scared of me," the Doctor smirked.

"Will you really get my dad back?"

"No question."

"I left my headphones at home," Elliot remembered and ran out.

~ 0 ~

After setting the last of the cameras, the group returned to the church but had trouble getting inside as the wooden door would not budge open.

"I can't open it! It keeps sticking!" Ambrose exclaimed as she continuously pushed, "The wood's warped."

The Doctor had gone to help Ambrose, Lena quickly hurrying to help, "Oi you two!" the Doctor looked back at Amy and Rory, "Any time you want to help!"

"What? Can't you sonic it?" Amy raised an eyebrow, heading over nonetheless to help.

"It doesn't do wood!"

Rory snorted, "That is rubbish!"

The Doctor stopped pushing to turn around, showing his offended face, "Oi! Don't diss the sonic!"

"Oi!" Lena grabbed him by the arm, "Get back to helping!"

Once inside, the ground had started shaking with the nearing creatures. The Doctor ran to the computers, dodging the falling objects from above, "See if we can get a fix!" he tried working on them but after a couple second it sparked and shut off with the power gone.

"No power," Tony remarked.

"It's deliberate," the Doctor mumbled.

"What do we do now?" Lena asked, already afraid as the shaking wouldn't cease.

Tony turned on a bright torch that gave some light in the room. The Doctor looked away from the screens with a face, "Nothing. We've got nothing! They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems."

Once the shaking stopped, everyone gathered together and took a look around.

"Is everyone OK? Is anyone hurt?" Rory questioned them.

"I'm fine," Nasreen sighed.

"Lena?" Rory turned to her, knowing out of everyone she'd be the easiest to hurt.

"Fine too," she crossed her arms.

"Anyone?"

"I'm good," Tony said.

"Me too," Ambrose nodded.

A loud rumbling emerged from the outside, making everyone freeze in their spots.

"Doctor, what was that?" Amy whispered.

"It's like the holes at the drill station," Tony remembered.

"Is this how they happened?" Nasreen asked the Doctor.

He knelt down and bent over to listen to the ground, "It's coming through the final layer of Earth."

"What is!?" Nasreen cried.

The Doctor stood quickly just as silence overtook the area.

"The banging's stopped," Lena mumbled, her eyes darting from one place to another.

Ambrose had started looking around and realized something very important, "Where's Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?"

Everyone looked around for the missing boy, no one seeing the Doctor stiffen, "...I did," he answered eventually.

"Where is he?" Ambrose turned to him.

"He said he was going to get headphones."

"And you let him go? He was out there on his own?"

Suddenly, they heard pounding on the other side of the door, followed by Elliot's pleading voice, "Mum! Grandpa Tony! Let me in!"

"Elliot!" Ambrose ran to the door, "He's out there! Help me!" she looked at the others.

"Open the door! Mum! There's something out here!"

Everyone hurried to the door and worked on opening it, the wood once again stuck.

"Push, Elliot, push, Elliot!" Ambrose called.

"Mum!"

"Hurry up!" Ambrose ordered the others.

"Mummy..."

"Come on!" Tony exclaimed and finally opened the door, Ambrose being the first to run out.

"Elliot!" she called but saw no one around anymore, "Where is he? He was here. He was here! Elliot!" she ran towards the graveyard.

"Ambrose, don't go running off!" the Doctor called after her, Tony going to follow her out.

~ 0 ~

By the time the rest of the group had caught up to Ambrose and Tony, a lot had happened. Ambrose had found her son's headphones and was attacked by a creature with apparently green scaly skin. Tony, in trying to protect his daughter, had gotten lashed with a...tongue? on his neck.

"My dad's hurt!" Ambrose was at her father's side, trying to help him up.

"Get him into the church now!" the Doctor ordered the others.

"Elliot's gone," Ambrose whimpered, "They've killed him, haven't they?"

"No, they can't have!" Lena shook her head frantically, "Don't say that!"

"N-n-n-n-no!" the Doctor tried calming both women down, "Listen to me, both of you, all of you," he eyed the remaining three silent humans, "Now, they've taken three people, when they could've just killed them up here. There's still hope, Lena, Ambrose. There is always hope."

"Then why've they taken him?" Ambrose sniffled.

"And my sister," Lena looked down, her eyes getting ready to release fresh new tears.

"We'll find Avalon and Elliot," the Doctor assured both, "I promise. But first I've gotta stop this attack. Please, get inside the church."

"Come on, Dad," Ambrose helped Tony up with the help of Amy.

"Lena, you go with Amy," the Doctor instructed.

She nodded and helped the women get Tony back.

"So, what now? Rory raised an eyebrow, still in the dark about the exact plan going through the alien's head.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor walked through the street wearing sunglasses that picked up heat signatures all around him. He noticed something move in the bushes that hadn't given off heat, "Cold blood," he smirked and started to sing-song, "I know what they are..." he moved towards the meals on wheels van where he took a fire extinguisher from the front seat and shut the door, all the meanwhile casually whistling.

Through the van's mirror he saw a creature heading towards him. He spun out of the way when it attacked and used the extinguisher on it. Once the creature screamed, Rory jumped out of the van's backdoor and together pushed the creature in the refrigerated back and locked the door.

"We got it!" Rory exclaimed.

"Defending the planet with meals on wheels!" the Doctor laughed and raised hands to do a high-five when a rumbling cut them off.

"What was that?" Rory looked around.

"Sounds like they're leaving..."

"Without this one?" Rory nodded to the van. The darkness went away and allowed the sun to once more hit the area, "Looks like we scared them off!"

"I don't think so. Now both sides have hostages," the Doctor mumbled.

~ 0 ~

"NO!" Avalon gasped awake, her hands flinging to her neck...only to have them crash against the clear wall in front of her that sealed her inside a near-like coffin. She panted as she came around from the awful nightmare. It seemed that even when she'd been swallowed by the planet and being unconscious wouldn't help her get some sleep. She placed her hands on the wall and tried pushing it off with all her might, "Let me out, whoever you are! I'm alive and you better RUN!" she slammed her hands on the wall repeatedly, "I am Avalon Reynolds and I'm not...I'm not scared!" she saw a distorted figure approaching her, "LET ME OUT!"

"Shh!" it said to her.

Avalon raised an eyebrow, "Did you just shush me? You're dead do you hear me!?" suddenly gas started to fill the coffin, "What are you doing!? Stop that!" she coughed, "Sop that..." she coughed some more then fell unconscious.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was heading inside the basement with Lena behind him, a rather cautious engaged couple behind her, tentatively reaching for her arm in case the creature sat in the shadows attacked again. They all agreed that when Avalon returned, because she would return, she would definitely kill them all if anything happened to Lena.

"Are you sure? By yourself?" Lena whispered to the Doctor, "She could hurt you."

"Very sure," he assured her.

"But the sting..."

"Venom gland takes at least 24 hours to recharge," he stared at the silent creature, "Am I right?" he called to it but received no answer, "I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine."

Amy and Rory reached out for Lena finally and pulled her back upstairs, leaving the Doctor to deal with the creature. He walked down the remainder of the steps as the creature finally inched out of the shadows with chainmail and a mask over its face.

"I'm the Doctor, I've come to talk," he raised his hands up in peace as he grew closer to it, "I'm going to remove your mask," he he squatted down and removed the creature's mask to reveal a bright green humanoid, scaly face, "You are beautiful. Remnant of a bygone age on planet Earth. And by the way, lovely mode of travel! Geothermal currents, projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous! Mind if I sit?' he stood up and reached for a folding chair which he placed in front of the creature and promptly sat down, " Now. Your people have a friend of mine. I want her back. Why did you come to the surface? What do you want?" the creature remained silent, making the Doctor sigh. "Oh, I do hate a monologue. Give us a bit back. How many are you?"

"I'm the last of my species," it responded.

"Really? No. 'Last of the species', the Klempari Defence. As an interrogation defense, it's a bit old hat, I'm afraid."

"I'm the last of my species."

The Doctor grew serious, "No, you're really not. Because I'm the last of my species and I know how it sits in a heart. So don't insult me. Let's start again. Tell me your name."

Seeing no other alternative, the creature responded truthfully, "Alaya."

"How long has your tribe been sleeping under the Earth, Alaya? It's not difficult to work out. You're 300 million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?"

"We were attacked," she spat.

But the Doctor knew that wasn't exactly what happened, to the human's perspective anyways. "The drill."

"Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault," and by the looks of her face, Alaya had already made her decision on how best to eradicate their problem. "We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet."

"Do we have to say vermin? They're really very nice."

"Primitive apes."

"Extraordinary species," the Doctor countered. "You attack them, they'll fight back. But, there's a peace to be brokered here. I can help you with that."

"This land is ours. We lived here long before the apes."

"Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid," the Doctor shook his head, "Humans won't give up the planet."

"So we destroy them."

"You underestimate them-"

"-you underestimate us."

"One tribe of homo reptilia against six billion humans, you've got your work cut out."

Alaya stood up, "We did not initiate combat. But we can still win."

"Tell me where my friend is," the Doctor stood up, "Give us back the people who were taken."

"No," she spat again.

He sighed, "I'm not going let you provoke a war, Alaya," he folded the chair up and returned it to its place, "There'll be no battle here today."

"The fire of war is already lit. A massacre is due," Alaya nearly cheered at the idea.

"Not while I'm here."

"I'll gladly die for my cause. What will you sacrifice for yours?"

The Doctor gave one last look then turned and left in silence.

~ 0 ~

"You're going to what!?" Rory exclaimed after hearing the Doctor's plan.

"I'm going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe," the Doctor repeated, "To talk to them."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Amy crossed her arms.

"You're going to negotiate with these aliens?" Ambrose nearly shouted.

"They're not aliens! They're Earth...liens!" the Doctor plopped down on a chair with an amused smile, "Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or Homo reptilia. Not monsters, not evil," he stood up, "Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that's all. Look, from their point of view, you're the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt. Her name's Alaya. She's one of their warriors and she's my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Avalon. While I'm gone, you six people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity."

"What if they come back?" Tony reminded, "Shouldn't we be examining this creature, dissecting it, finding its weak points?"

"I don't think dissection is going to keep my sister alive," Lena almost snapped again, "We hurt this creature and they hurt Avalon and I will not risk that, you got it?"

"Lena's right," the Doctor set a hand on her shoulder, hoping she'd calm down soon. Her emotions were rather radical and heavy today, certainly not the best way to keep her health in good state, "No dissecting! No examining! We return their hostage, they return ours. Nobody gets harmed. We can land this, together. If you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?"

Nasreen gave an applause but stopped when no one joined in, feeling a bit nervous afterwards.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was heading towards the TARDIS when he heard two pairs of footsteps running closer to him. He looked back and saw Lena and Nasreen coming towards him, "No, sorry, no. What are you doing?"

"Coming with you, of course!" Lena panted for breath once they'd caught up, "Nasreen just came for her life's work."

"What is it?" Nasreen nodded to the TARDIS, "Some kind of transport pod?"

"Sort of," the Doctor answered her then looked at Lena, "You're not coming, baby sister. And neither are you Nasreen."

"He's right, you're not," Tony joined them, looking at Nasreen.

"I have spent all my life excavating the layers of this planet. And now you want me to stand back while you head down into it? I don't think so!" Nasreen shook her head.

"And I have to go," Lena declared, "My sister is down there. You can't expect me to wait up here. Amy and Rory didn't stop me and neither will you," she pushed open the doors of the TARDIS and stepped inside.

The Doctor sighed and let the brunette go, though he did look at Nasreen with a doubtful face, "It'll be dangerous," he warned her.

"Oh, so's crossing the road," she shrugged.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, all right, then! Come on!" he went inside the box and saw Lena already at the console, "Baby sister, your twin is gonna kill me for this."

"I'll explain to her that I forced you to take me," Lena crossed her arms.

Nasreen stood at the doorway, the doors now closed behind her, and stared with wide eyes at the bigger room inside, "Oh my..." she breathed.

"Welcome aboard the TARDIS. Now don't touch anything!" the Doctor called, "Very precious."

"No way!" she walked over with awe, "But that's... this is..." she slapped him on the arm and laughed, "What does it do?"

"Everything! I'm hoping, if we're going down, that barricade won't interfere," the Doctor said just as the box started pitching drastically, making everyone cling to the console, "Did you touch something?!"

"No! Isn't this what it does?!"

"Doctor, what's going on!?" Lena cried.

"We've been hijacked! I can't stop it! They must've sensed the electro-magnetic field!" the Doctor looked at the monitor, "They're pulling the TARDIS down into the Earth!"

The box shook for a couple minutes before it gave a final lurch and sent everyone the floor, finally becoming still. Nasreen lifted her head up and looked around before snapping one of the Doctor's braces.

"Oi!"

"Where are we?" she demanded through a small laugh.

The Doctor got up and helped Lena then rushed to the doors with her. They all stepped out into a yellow-colored tunnel with roots and fungus covering the walls. The Doctor looked up from the way they fell and whistled in impression, "Looks like we fell through the bottom of their tunnel system. Don't suppose it was designed for handling something like this."

"How far down are we?" Nasreen gasped.

"A lot more than 21km."

"So how come we aren't burning alive?" Lena asked the question that made them all think.

"Don't know. Interesting, isn't it?"

"Scary," she corrected and crossed her arms.

"Oh, not really," he swung an arm around her shoulders and the three began walking ahead.

"Is it like this is everyday to you?" Nasreen asked them, curiously.

"Not every day. Every other day," the Doctor shrugged. Nasreen couldn't fathom that type of life; she imagined it was what Lena felt like based off the facial expressions of the young woman.

In reality, Lena just really wanted her sister back already.

#11th doctor #doctor who #ocappreciation #ocapp #11th doctor imagines #dw imagines #doctor who imagines #11th doctor fics #doctor who fics #doctor who imagine #11th doctor imagine #11th doctor fanfics #amy pond #rory williams #oc: Avalon Reynolds #oc: Lena Reynolds #fic: stars dance #noblecrescentedit

14 notes · View notes

v-thinks-on · 4 years

Text

Generations - Part 3

First | Previous | Next

There was no reason to delay. Kirk didn’t even have a career to sacrifice. He would rather not steal a starship, but having recently returned from the dead, he didn’t have many options.

“Computer, put me through to Admiral Brackett-” Kirk began.

The beep of his communicator cut him off.

“Wait on that,” Kirk ordered and tapped on his communicator.

It was Picard. “Jim, we’ve received a transmission from Ambassador Spock.”

Kirk’s heart leaped. “I’m on my way.” He turned off the communicator, cancelled the call to the admiral and nearly ran down to Picard’s quarters.

“What did Spock say?” Kirk demanded as the doors slid open to let him inside.

Picard was at his desk, working on the computer terminal. He turned it off when Kirk entered and answered with a smile, “He’s on his way. We’ll meet him between here and the Neutral Zone.”

It took Kirk a few moments to truly register what Picard had said. Spock was on his way. There was no need to go to Romulus. He would see Spock soon, in a matter of days. He remembered seeing Spock off like it was just a month ago, but it had been eighty years since Spock had last seen him, since their minds had touched - a whole lifetime. Kirk couldn’t imagine how much had changed in his absence.

A jittery rush of nerves and excitement spread through his veins. He couldn’t hold back a grin.

“Good,” Kirk said, “great.”

“I imagine he’ll be pleased to see you.”

“I hope so,” Kirk said, though he couldn’t really bring himself to doubt it. “Is there anything I can do around here in the meantime?” With nothing left to plan, he could easily go crazy just waiting around.

Picard shook his head. “The Farragut is over staffed as is. I’ve just been doing my best to stay out of the way.”

Kirk couldn’t help but sympathize with the captain stuck on another’s ship. “I don’t envy your position.”

“It gives me some time to catch up on my reading.” Picard gestured toward the book on his desk.

“You collect antique books too?”

“I find it makes for a richer experience.”

Kirk nodded in agreement. He glanced at the novel and exclaimed in surprise, “The Tale of Two Cities?”

“Are you familiar with it?”

Kirk grinned. “It’s a favorite of mine.”

“I didn’t realize you were interested in history.”

“I am, but that one was a gift.”

“I was curious about its portrayal of the French revolution, but it’s clearly written from an English perspective.” Picard frowned at the thought.

“You’re actually French?”

“Yes, I was raised on an old-fashioned vineyard near the border with Switzerland.”

“With your accent, it’s easy to forget,” Kirk said with a wry smile. “I have a similar interest in American history.”

“I know less French history than maybe I should,” Picard admitted. “Usually I prefer archeology; studying lost alien civilizations.”

“Sounds exciting. You’re in the right place to do it, though I was usually preoccupied with the civilizations we found.”

“That’s often the case,” Picard said with a touch of disappointment, “But occasionally I have the chance to uncover something no one has seen in millennia.”

“There’s so much out here, we can barely even brush the surface,” Kirk marveled, leaning back in his chair.

“I’m certain the admiral’s offer stands.”

Kirk waved it off. “I’m retired.” After a moment’s thought he asked, “She said something happened to the fleet?”

Picard nodded. “The Borg. They’re part organic and part machine. They assimilate sentient species into their empire - for lack of a better word. They’re adaptable and relentless, just one of their ships destroyed most of the fleet. They would be centuries away, but a powerful alien we’ve encountered a few times decided to introduce us to them as a sort of practical joke.”

“And there’s no reasoning with them?”

“No, at least not until they see us as a real threat.”

Kirk glanced away, his mind already racing far ahead of him, trying to figure out how to beat such an opponent.

“I’m sorry, I’ve brought you into a dangerous time,” Picard said, jolting Kirk back to reality. “Thankfully, we think most of their fleet is still years away, so we should have some time to improve our defenses before we have to face them again.”

“Every age has its challenges.”

Picard nodded. “I wouldn’t have wanted to get in a fight with the Klingons.”

“We didn’t fight them face to face much. It was mostly just competing over allies and resources, but they did play dirty.”

“The Klingons? They can be ruthless, but they have their honor - for the most part. The Romulans on the other hand…”

“Maybe things have changed in eighty years. We only encountered the Romulans a few times, but they seemed to be honorable in their way.”

“I’ve just read about your times, but it seemed like the galaxy was a very different place.”

“I have a lot of catching up to do,” Kirk said with a smile.

“If you want any lighter reading, you’re welcome to borrow a book,” Picard offered. “My quarters were mostly undamaged in the crash.”

“What do you have?”

Picard led him over to a small cabinet in the corner, full of books. Some were a little charred around the edges and others had been banged up pretty badly, but they all looked readable. Kirk bent over to peruse the titles. There was Shakespere, some Klingon poetry, a few books in French, and other classics from all over the galaxy, even some Vulcan philosophy.

Kirk was considering the Vulcan philosophy when something else caught his eye - “The Campaigns of Alexander, it’s been years since I last read that!”

“You’re welcome to it.”

“Thank you.” Kirk carefully drew the old book out of the cabinet and flipped through the pages, scanning for familiar names and places - in all honesty, he was mostly looking for Alexander’s loyal companion, Hephaestion.

Picard hesitated. “If you get tired of reading, I’ve been meaning to go fencing when I have the time, you could join me,” he suggested a little awkwardly.

“I’ve never fenced before, but I could give it a try.”

“I can teach you the basics.”

“Sure. Just tell me when and I’ll meet you in the gym - this ship does have one?”

“Yes.”

“It has about everything else.” More seriously, Kirk said, “Thank you.”

“Not at all.”

Kirk took the book and returned to his quarters, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus on reading - maybe later in the evening it could distract him from tossing and turning in bed. Instead, he left The Campaigns of Alexander on the table and made his way up to the ship’s bar. It was still bustling, but he recognized a few familiar faces in the crowd. Guinan waved to him from the bar and he spotted Riker and Worf at a table, not far from where they had been sitting when he ran into them the day before.

Kirk greeted Guinan with a nod and headed over to the table staked out by the senior officers.

“Captain Kirk,” Riker exclaimed, “I see you’re as bored as the rest of us.”

Kirk shrugged. “I’m helping by staying out of the way.”

“Those are the captain’s orders,” Worf grumbled.

Riker stood and insisted, “Have a seat.”

After much rearranging and polite apologies, Kirk ended up in a chair that had been hastily vacated by a timid ensign, who would not reclaim it despite all his protests, and promptly fled to the far corner of the room.

“Rank has its privileges,” Riker said wryly.

Kirk just shook his head.

“So, Ambassador Spock is on his way,” Riker remarked once Kirk was settled.

Kirk grinned. “News travels fast.”

“I heard you married him to keep him from being assigned to another ship when he was your first officer,” Riker said, though he was careful to neither endorse nor deny the assertion.

“No, it was for the joint shore leaves once Spock had a ship of his own,” Kirk countered.

Worf glanced between them, as though he couldn’t decide if it was worse if they were lying or telling the truth. “I thought Vulcans were supposed to be logical,” he said at last.

“But when a man is in love…” Riker trailed off.

Worf looked dubious.

“I’m surprised you decided to get married at all, or do the history books have you pegged all wrong?” Riker asked.

“Vulcans have a different idea of marriage than humans,” Kirk said, though he couldn’t say much more.

“I see,” Riker said with a grin. “And it sounds like he was one hell of a first officer too.”

“I couldn’t ask for any better. Does Mr. Data have much command experience?”

“Putting together a command team already?”

“No” - Kirk waved off the suggestion - “I was just wondering what the crew makes of him.”

“He took a little getting used to,” Riker admitted. “But I don’t think there’s anyone who’s gotten to know him that doesn’t like him.”

Worf nodded in agreement.

“What about you?” Kirk asked. “Do you have your eyes set on a first officer?”

Riker shook his head. “I’ll probably get a command one day, but I’m happy here for now.”

“Really? I was probably promoted too young, but I’m surprised you’re not ready to get out of here.”

“So am I, But I’m happier as first officer on the Enterprise than I’ve been anywhere else, and I think that’s more important than a promotion.”

“Who am I to argue with that? I accepted a promotion to admiral and where did it get me?”

“Was it really that bad?”

“For someone else, maybe not, but I don’t belong on Earth commanding a console. There’s nowhere better than the bridge of the Enterprise.”

“I’d toast to that.” Riker raised his glass and tipped it back.

“Hear!” Worf exclaimed and followed suit.

“She was a good ship. I hope the Enterprise-E will live up to the name, but I don’t know if it’ll ever be quite the same.”

“It isn’t,” Kirk said. “You were in command when she was destroyed?”

Riker nodded.

“I sacrificed the first Enterprise for a lot less. It was still worth it, but the Enterprise-A never felt like home in the same way.”

Riker finished the dregs of his drink. “Speaking of, I should probably get back to approving those transfers for when we do get the Enterprise-E. It was good talking to you, Worf, Captain.” With that, he stood and took his leave.

Another officer promptly stole the vacated chair to take it to another table, and Kirk found himself alone with the Klingon. They seemed to size each other up, neither quite ready to make the first move.

To Kirk’s surprise, Worf spoke up, “At Starfleet Academy, I read about your battles with the Klingons.”

Kirk nodded. He would have been lying to say he regretted them.

“You were a true warrior,” Worf concluded.

“I admit, I was sometimes lacking in diplomacy, but our mission was peaceful exploration,” Kirk attempted.

“But you fought well,” Worf protested.

It sounded like it was intended as a compliment, but Kirk wasn’t quite ready to take it. Instead, he asked as casually as he could, “Are you the only Klingon in Starfleet?”

“Yes,” Worf said.

“Why? The Klingons must still have their own fleet.”

“After my family was killed in the Khitomer massacre, I was raised by humans,” Worf explained, but with the way he said it, he might as well have been talking about someone else’s family.

Still, Kirk’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, I didn’t realize. That can’t have been easy.”

“I faced some challenges,” Worf acknowledged stoically.

“You almost sound more like a Vulcan than a Klingon,” Kirk suggested with a smile.

“Vulcans are pacifists” - Worf said the word “pacifist” with some disdain.

“That’s usually the logical course of action,” Kirk argued, “But there’s no one I’d rather have on my side in a fight.”

Worf gave him a look of disbelief.

Wryly, Kirk asked, “You’re set on being a Klingon?”

“That is what I am,” Worf insisted.

“You’re right,” Kirk said. It had been unfair of him to suggest otherwise. “How is it, serving on a ship full of humans?”

“They are not warriors, but they are good colleagues” - Worf hesitated - “And friends.”

“Good. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d been assigned a Klingon officer,” Kirk admitted. “I can only hope I would have followed your Captain Picard’s example.”

“Many Klingons still have a difficult time accepting the Federation as our allies. Most humans would not fare well on a Klingon ship - they do not understand the glory of war.”

“Some do, but they usually end up as the villains.”

“Yes, I do not understand why humans place so much value in reluctance.”

“Maybe we’re just indecisive,” Kirk suggested with a wry smile.

“That is not how I would describe my human colleagues.”

Kirk tried again - “Isn’t it better to go to war for a good cause than a bad one?”

“Perhaps,” Worf acknowledged, “But humans seem to place no value in the glory of battle.”

“No, I suppose we don’t. We’re not so fond of death and destruction.”

“You fear it,” Worf charged.

“With good reason.”

“Why fear the inevitable? At least a warrior can die well.”

“Is anything really inevitable?”

“All things die.”

“I don’t know, I’ve managed to cheat death well enough myself.”

“Your case is a unique one,” Worf admitted, “But eventually you will die.”

“Maybe, but I don’t believe in no-win scenarios. Even if everything supposedly dies, there’s no reason to surrender and let it happen.”

“You would consider charging into battle, prepared to die, a surrender?” Worf demanded.

“Isn’t it better to live to fight another day?”

“Not if all your days are spent fleeing in fear of death.”

“Maybe you’re right, but if there’s a way…” Kirk trailed off, his eyes gazed out the windows that made up the far wall.

For a moment Worf drank in silence. Abruptly, he remarked, “I don’t understand how you humans can spend days on end doing nothing but waiting.”

Kirk looked back at the Klingon with a smile. “We don’t like it any more than you do. We just try to distract ourselves.”

Worf seemed to consider the suggestion. “Maybe I will go see if the Farragut’s holodeck has a suitable calisthenics program. You are welcome to join me.”

Kirk was curious, but shook his head. “Maybe another time.”

“Very well.” Worf finished his drink and took his leave.

Kirk was in his quarters reading when Counselor Troi dropped by. She joined him at the desk, no doubt ready with another barrage of questions.

“Good afternoon, Counselor,” he said, putting the book aside. “What can I help you with?”

To his surprise, she asked, “What are you reading?”

He smiled. “The Campaigns of Alexander. I borrowed it from your Captain Picard.”

“Alexander the Great?” she clarified.

He nodded.

“May I ask why that book in particular?”

“It’s a classic.”

Troi could tell there was another reason, but she didn’t press him on it. Instead she said, “The captain told me that Ambassador Spock is on his way.”

Kirk grinned. “Yes, I know.”

“How do you feel about seeing him after so long?” Troi attempted.

“It’ll be good to see him again,” Kirk said with half a shrug, as though there wasn’t anything else to be said, but the counselor could sense a deeper turmoil of nerves and uncertainty.

She decided it was time to take another approach. Starting on more solid ground, she asked, “When did you last see your husband?”

Kirk glanced away in recollection. “It was a little over a month before the launch of the Enterprise-B - Spock could tell you exactly how long. He was on Earth for just a few days between meetings with the Klingons. He wasn’t an ambassador yet, but he was well on his way.” Troi could feel some bitterness amidst his pride.

“Did you have many chances to talk to him while he was away?” she asked.

Kirk gave her a wry smile. “A few.” Troi could tell that it was intended as a joke, but she didn’t know why.

“You spoke with him frequently?” she clarified.

“You could say that,” Kirk said with that same private bemusement.

“Is there anything you wish you could have told him before you fell into the Nexus?”

He shook his head. “If I knew I wasn’t going to be in there forever, it would have been nice to let him know, but there weren’t any secrets between us.”

Kirk was carefully keeping something out of the conversation, Troi could feel it, but she didn’t know what. Unless… She hesitated. “When I first met you, in sickbay, I sensed that you were attempting to contact someone telepathically. I am aware that Vulcans have significant telepathic abilities, did you and Ambassador Spock have a telepathic connection?”

Kirk grinned and she could feel that she was correct. “Vulcans are a very private people, Counselor.”

“I see…” she said. Delicately, she continued, “I take it you and Ambassador Spock have not been in contact since you left the Nexus?”

He shook his head. “Not a word.”

“I’m sorry. To go from constant communication to nothing must be very unsettling.”

Kirk grimaced. “We were ‘out of contact’ for a few years after Spock’s death. It was a lot worse then, but it is still unsettling.”

“How do you think your husband is feeling right now, on his way to see you?”

“He is a Vulcan,” Kirk said with a wry smile.

She just gave him a look.

Again, Kirk glanced away, out the window, in thought. “I don’t know,” Kirk admitted at last. “I know I miss him, but it’s been so long… Eighty years… It’s longer than I’ve been alive. I can’t imagine… Maybe he’s just coming here to prevent me from going to Romulus.”

“Do you actually believe that?”

“No. But it might be easier for him if I hadn’t come back.”

“Why?”

“I’ve given him a lot to worry about.”

“You seem to worry a lot about him,” she pointed out.

“While I was in the Nexus, at least I was safe. I can’t say as much about him.”

“If your connection really was severed” - Kirk winced at the thought - “He may not have known you were safe,” Troi remarked.

“I don’t know…” Kirk trailed off. He hoped the bond hadn’t been broken. Even if it hadn’t, it was probably silent on Spock’s end, but he was a proper telepath, maybe he could sense something that Kirk couldn’t.

“How do you think he feels?” Troi prompted again.

“I hope he hasn’t been too worried. Jean Luc said Spock still feels guilty for the time I spent on Rura Penthe, but I don’t even think an illogical human could spend eighty years worrying.” He gazed out the window, lost in thought. “I wonder how much he’s changed…”

“En garde!” Picard called out.

Kirk raised his sword for another attack - it was surprisingly heavy between his fingers. The stiff uniform was stifling, the helmet like a cage over his head. He peered at Picard through the mesh - not that he could see his opponent’s face - his sword bouncing in his hand.

Kirk let Picard come to him - they had barely bothered with footwork. Their swords met. He could tell Picard was going easy on him, maneuvering his blade this way and that in small neat motions that Kirk was sure left him wide open for an attack that Picard was kind enough not to take. Kirk circled Picard’s blade with his own in an attempt to replicate them, but it didn’t get him anywhere.

Finally, he threw caution to the wind and took a wild stab.

The alarm went off - the tip of Picard’s blade had caught on Kirk’s glove, winning him the match.

Picard raised his blade in a salute and Kirk only belatedly remembered to follow suit before pulling off his helmet. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of fresh air.

“Good bout,” Picard said.

Kirk opened his eyes and accepted Picard’s gloved hand with a wry smile.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks,” Kirk remarked as he tried to shrug off the thick jacket.

“It just takes practice,” Picard said, though he looked a little smug. “Not up for another?”

Kirk shook his head. “I think I’ll stick to wrestling.”

Kirk accepted a towel from Picard, grabbed a glass of water from the replicator and let himself fall onto the bench by the wall to catch his breath. Picard soon joined him.

They sat in silence, catching their breath. Abruptly, Picard asked, “You’re married - I don’t suppose you ever had children?”

A grimace flitted across Kirk’s face. “I had a son, but I barely knew him.” More lightly, he asked, “Do you have kids?”

“No,” Picard said. “The closest thing I had to a son was my nephew, René, but he and my brother were killed in a fire recently.”

“I’m sorry. David died a few years ago - give or take a few decades - but I never really mourned him.”

“I never liked children,” Picard continued, “But René was the exception. Now, I wonder if I made a mistake not settling down and having children of my own.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t settle down either. David wasn’t really mine. I was his father, but his mother and I weren’t together; she didn’t want him taking after me and running off across the galaxy, so I stayed away. I didn’t think twice.”

“Do you regret it?” Picard asked.

“Of course I regret not being there when I should have, but I wasn’t ready then and I don’t know if I’ve ever been ready. Spock certainly didn't want kids," he added a little less seriously - though he didn’t know what Spock wanted now.

"I didn’t think I did either, but now I’m not so sure.” Picard hesitated. “That’s what the Nexus showed me - a whole family in a stately old home. I thought that was what my brother wanted, that I’d moved beyond it somehow, but maybe we were more similar after all.”

“Maybe,” Kirk said, “But it would be hard to captain the Enterprise from the family homestead.”

“True. Perhaps the Nexus merely shows us a path not taken rather than our hearts’ desires.”

“I would rather be on a bridge than that old cabin any day,” Kirk said with a smile.

“Why did you retire?”

Kirk’s smile quickly faded. “I gave up too much. Spock died because of me. He came back, but I couldn’t risk it happening again.”

“Surely it was dangerous before,” Picard attempted.

“We always made it out alive somehow.”

Picard hesitated. “I didn’t die, but I was assimilated by the Borg to be their representative to humanity. I lost my identity - part of myself. I considered leaving Starfleet, that it wasn’t worth the risk, but with more than a little help I learned to live with it.”

“You’re a braver man than I am, Captain.”

“I don’t know. Perhaps I just have less to lose.”

#v writes #Star Trek: The Original Series #Star Trek: The Next Generation #Star Trek: Generations #Spirk #Generations

4 notes · View notes

scribeofmorpheus · 6 years

Text

Opposing Elements Part 3 (Peter Parker x Reader)

Part One, Part Two

A/N: Ahhh! So I had waaaayyy too much fun writing from Peter’s point of view, as a result, we were gifted with a lot of rambling and playful dialogue! Not much reader presence in this chapter, but we do get to see things from Peter’s POV! (Also, I’ll be travelling for the next few days and even though I did a quick spellcheck I’m sure there are a few (many) mistakes I overlooked. I’ll fix that later. I just had to update this fic! It was overdue!)

Remember: Reader is a version of Felicia Hardy AKA Black Cat

Words: 2086

Warnings: Does Crime fighting and therapy multitasking count? Some angst.

(Gif isn’t mine)

Peter’s POV

Peter was perched atop one of the thousand fire escapes on one of the indistinguishable apartment buildings in Queens. His mask was lifted up from the bottom half of his face as he snacked on a Snickers bar. Legs dangling over the edge like he was a little kid at a play park. He was exhausted, but not from crime fighting, sadly. To his dismay, it was one of the slowest nights he'd had in a while. The most action he'd gotten was saving a cat from a tree. Twice! And it was the same cat.

He had patrolled many dark alleyways and shady corners the last month alone. He and Ned had been slowly working towards finding all the remaining alien tech the Vulture -Adrian Toomes- had repurposed and sold on the black market. It hadn't been easy. Tracking down alien technology was time-consuming and difficult, he and Ned barely had any free time lately. He was a little disappointed that he had to miss attending Felicia's gymnastic try-outs today. He really wanted to be there for her.

"Hey, Karen, anything?" Peter asked the AI in his suit, he was getting impatient.

"Nothing as yet, Peter."

"Great," Peter groaned. He was in need of blowing off some steam. After everything that happened with Liz and her dad, for which he felt partially responsible, Peter had been a little on edge. It didn't help that Aunt May found out about his leading a double life either. She had sworn that if she ever saw him wearing the colours red, blue and white together, on a night that wasn't Halloween where it'd only be acceptable if he dressed as Captain America, she would ground him for life. Either that or she'd slowly kill him with walnut-date loaves. Everything was just so much more complicated now.

With Felicia's return, things just seemed to get even more complicated. He had missed her fiercely when she left, she had been his only friend back then. She was like this unstoppable whirlwind that set its sights on him one day and, for some reason or the other, she had swept him up and carried him away. Away from the bullies and the stolen lunch money. Away from having to think about his parents all the time. She was a force to be reckoned with, but at least then he knew what his feelings for her were. He knew what she had meant to him -and he to her. But now, now they didn't seem to fit so well together anymore. Like two puzzle pieces from two separate puzzles that once looked identical. Turns out they weren't.

To make matters worse keeping secrets from Felicia felt unnatural. When she had asked about the bruise he couldn't bare lying to her face. Not when they stood so close together and she hung her slender arm around his. So the best he could offer her was a half-truth. He had gotten the bruise from falling on gym equipment, the truth was he had gotten the bruise when some hoodlum in possession of a magnetic field generator weapon had flung a piece of gym equipment at him.

Peter sighed, "Anything yet, Karen?"

"No, Peter."

"Oh man! I have so much homework to do. Can't these guys just hurry up and take the bait? I mean it's not like I don't have a life of my own ya' know. Why is it criminals always show up at the most inconvenient of ti--"

"Peter, my scanners have honed in on a frequency. It appears we have some activity," Karen interrupted.

"Yes!" Peter exclaimed excitedly as he pulled the mask over his face completely. He stuffed the candy wrapper in his bag and webbed it to the fire escape. "Let's go re-poses some alien weaponry!"

***

When he reached the source of the frequency, Peter had spotted four guys, all heavily armed with weird looking alien tech. They were loading a truck with duffle bags. They had probably just robbed an ATM or something. Peter mentally scolded himself for failing to stop the robbery before it had occurred.

Peter crawled up to the ceiling from the wall to get to a better vantage point. Once positioned perfectly above them he used his enhanced vision to focus on the gang of criminals.

"Alright, one more score like this and then we're set!" Said the largest of the four, he was without a doubt proud of his winnings.

"Come on, come on! Hurry up! Don't want to be around when the fuzz shows up," one wearing a red bandana around his face hurried the others.

"Or that Spider-Dude," the smallest one added. They all laughed at him. Peter tried not to take much offence.

"Would you like to activate instant kill mode, Peter?" Karen asked innocently.

"W-What, no, no. Karen, we talked about this. No instant kill," Peter panicked for a fleeting second, keeping his voice low so as to avoid detection.

"Acknowledged."

He slowly descended down towards the truck using his retractable web sling. The four men were too preoccupied with stuffing the van to notice Peter was suspended above them. Peter stayed there, hovering above them for a few extra seconds hoping one of them would notice him, but to his chagrin, they didn't.

His second wave of impatience hit him and Peter cleared his throat to garner their attention, "Hey, not to be a buzzkill, but would you guys mind returning all the money you stole?" He quipped childishly.

The big guy pointed his weapon at Peter and fired off a pulse beam, Peter avoided the beam by somersaulting away and landing a few feet away. The surrounding windows of the building screeched in distress before they exploded, the resulting effect was a beautiful yet dangerous shower of microscopic glass shards falling to the ground. Peter shielded himself under some cover.

"I guess that's a no then?"

"You two-" the big guy pointed to the smaller, unarmed two of the group, "-keep loading the truck. We got this," confidence practically oozing off him as he urged his bandana wearing companion to join him in his fight.

If Peter hadn't faced guys twice as dangerous as him, he may have wavered for a second. The smaller guys (including the one who had called him 'Spider-Dude') hurried their efforts to fill the truck with the duffle bags.

"Karen, notify the police, someone's gotta return all that money," Peter ordered.

"The police have been notified."

"Who is he talking to?" The armed man with the bandana asked the bigger guy, who in turn shrugged. He seemed just as confused as his partner in crime.

"Probably hallucinating from all that blood rushing to his brain from hanging upside-down for so long."

"You're familiar with the basic physics concept of gravity weighing down on your organs due to the human body being upside down, thereby crushing your lungs causing asphyxiation which can lead to side effects like hallucinations or blurred vision?" Peter asked in surprise.

The large man didn't answer, he chose to fire off his pulse weapon instead. Peter dodged the energy pulse, barely, with another summersault. He then used one of his webs to swing around and kick him in the back. He went down easy.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Peter said with a cool head and a touch of self-gratification. This was exactly the kind of mind-numbing distraction he needed.

In a moment of hysterics, the other armed man fired his weapon carelessly in a flurry of pulsing attacks. Eventually, the power was too much for one ordinary man to withstand and he was blown away by the very weapon he used to defend himself. Ironic, Peter thought.

In short time he managed to subdue all the criminals and webbed them up in a collective ball to the side of the truck. He was about to make his grand exit when his suit notified him he had an incoming call. The caller ID read: Felicia.

"Would you like to accept the call, Peter?" Karen's constantly calm and composed voice was always hard to adjust to after taking on a few criminals in a rush of adrenaline and aerial kicks.

Peter debated whether or not to take the call, "I- I don't know, maybe? Actually, n- no. I can't talk to her right now. But what if she thinks I'm avoiding her? Or worse, what if she thinks I'm a terrible friend for standing her up twice in one day. First with the auditions and now this phone call… No, I'll just call her and apologise later. Y- Yeah, that's what I'll do."

"The call already went to voicemail," Karen informed him too late.

"Uh, hey! Spider-Dude, are you… are you alright?" Asked the smallest of the four men roped up in the ball of webs. His voice soft and sincere. He was definitely the furthest thing from a hardened criminal, Peter thought.

Peter turned to him, he could feel his cheeks flush from embarrassment, it was a good thing he was wearing a mask. He never meant for anyone to witness his little inner dialogue of indecision with himself, let alone the guys he just strung up. Although, since they were all here and not going anywhere anytime soon, Peter decided to make do with what he was given. He sat cross-legged, facing towards the balled mass of men stuck to the side of the truck, he figured it wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion on his current relationship problems.

"Okay so here's the deal: there's this girl right, we used to be besties back in the day, when we were kids, but then she moved away and things… changed. We both changed. But now she's back and at first, ya' know, I was happy, I got my best friend back and I figured things could go back to the way they used to be. Except, they didn't."

Peter used his hands as visual aids as he moved them about from point A to B to A again actively, the four men were forced to do nothing but listen to him overshare about his current predicament, "To be honest, I don't really understand it. When she's happy, I'm happy and when she's sad I get so exasperated because I can't help her. To make things worse, I have this whole other secret life I can't tell her about and lying to her, even by omission, is killing me!"

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" the small guy asked.

"Yeah, just tell her how you feel," one of his companions backed him up.

Peter let out an exasperated sigh, "See, that's the thing, I don't know what it is exactly I feel for her. Don't get me wrong, she's amazing and quick-witted and has a horrible habit of swearing all the time -which I find hilarious… "

"But?"

"But, my last relationship didn't end well and I was somewhat responsible for how things ended. I just- I don't want that to happen with her. I don't want to hurt her, I also don't want to ruin what we have," Peter's head hung low, he didn't realise this had bothered him so much.

"Maybe you should stop trying to control everything and just let her decide," the largest of the men offered. Peter hadn't expected someone like him to say something like that, he was at a loss for words.

"Peter, the authorities are closing in. I recommend leaving now," Karen informed him.

"I gotta jet, thanks for everything. You are all great listeners."

Peter left before any of them could say anything, the distant sounds of the sirens blaring through the wind.

***

Peter climbed through his bedroom window still clad in his suit, he had been so preoccupied with making sure Aunt May didn't see or hear him that when a lively feminine voice spoke out he had nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Spider-Man?" Felicia gasped in utter astonishment.

Peter whipped his head around so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash, "Wh-What? Who-"

Suddenly he realised his voice still sounded like him. Peter cleared his throat and deepened his voice to an almost comical extent, "Hey, this isn't my apartment!" He tried to sound perplexed.

"Obviously," Felicia said sarcastically.

She squinted her eyes at him, he knew that look, she was definitely thinking up a storm in that brilliant mind of hers. Peter had to find a way to throw her off the scent.

"Uh… “His mind drew a blank. Peter couldn't think of a smart way to try and explain why exactly Spider-Man was in Peter Parker's bedroom.” I’ll just-" Peter pointed at the window and seconds later he flung himself out of it, leaving Felicia looking on completely flabbergasted.

"What the hell just happened?" Peter heard Felicia ask herself in astonishment.

"Next time, use the fire escape," he spoke out loud to himself. "Oh, shit my backpack!" Peter shouted, his voice normalised, as he swung away from his apartment building back in the direction he came from to pick up the third backpack he had forgotten.

MASTERPOST For Tumblr App

As always: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know I did! If you want to be added to the tag list don’t be afraid to ask!

Tags: @carry-on-ms-believer @itsjaynebird

Permanent Tags: @gruffle1 @thechickvic @notawarriorjustyet

50 notes · View notes

cerealmonster15 · 6 years

Text

i still have that pokemon au in the back of my head of whiskey tango and foxtrot being traveling buddies

starts w/tango and his froakie... traveling around bc tango is a curious boy and wants to know Everything there is to know about pokemon. he wants to learn it All but he wants to go experience it instead of just sitting in a classroom.

whiskey’s got snivy and is probably the son of a gym leader or something like that so he’s training to take over the gym one day but generally doesnt go far from his hometown, until tango appears. they probably run into each other when tango’s first arriving so hes like “hi wheres the gym? like for pokemon battles?” and whiskey’s a trainer and they made eye contact lol so of course he’s gotta BATTLE THIS BOY, probably like “it’s back there but if you really think you can beat them you’ll have to go through me” and tango’s like “oh ok is this part of the test?? im not even in the gym yet wow they really get to the point here” and whiskeys like uh sure let’s just battle

tango maybe doesnt win at first-- whiskey does have type advantage after all-- but when whiskey expects tango to give up and go home tango just trails him with questions like “how’d you get so strong” “what kind of pokemon does the gym here have” “can we have another battle tomorrow i want to train more”

so whiskey gets used to tango coming by every day for battles

and his parents are excited that whiskey is socializing

so when tango does eventually challenge and win (probably after a few tries) at the gym and gets his badge, tango goes to whiskey and hes like “thank you for helping me train i’m really gonna miss you”

whiskey, dies, this adorable boy is being too fuckin nice and he cant handle it

and tango’s like “i wish we could travel together youre so smart and ive had a great time hanging out with you!!!” and whiskey kinda wants to go with him but hes not gonna just Say That and he’s never left off on a journey before

but then like his mom or someone comes out like “plz connor go with him hes nice and friendly and can help you come out of your shell” and whiskeys like MOM PLZ

idk maybe his dad comes out too to be like “blah blah son i was about your age when i went on my first journey and it shaped me as a pokemon trainer if u really wanna take over the gym someday you should take this time to go see the world especially with such a promising young lad as ur companion”

so whiskey and tango set off together

at some point tango acquires a psyduck bc he Has To

whiskey probably finds a swadloon bc like, look at its face [this also happens to fit their theme of water and grass but that was a coincidence]

they meet ford w/her fennekin in another town; she’s the daughter of a pokemon coordinator and a pokemon researcher so shes got the Knowledge and the Dramatic Flair

they probs meet when tango pulls whiskey to a contest hall like “let’s enter one!!!!!” “i’m good” “connor plz it could be fun” “you can if you want i’m good on the sidelines” “aw ok but you gotta watch us!!” “of course”

tango runs off to go register or something and ford walks up to whiskey with like a potion or somethin idk not relevant, and is like “ur boyfriend dropped this?”

whiskey stares at her like ??

“that guy that was just talking to you?”

“oh, tony. hes not... not my boyfriend-”

“oh, my mistake, you two just seemed really close”

“-but thanks. ill get it back to him-”

tango runs back over “hey who ya talkin to??”

tango and ford hit it off right away of course, ford mentioning her dad’s a coordinator and tango bein like “!!!!??” and that her mom is a researcher

[tango: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

so tango of course wants to stick to her and learn as much as possible. whiskey finds ford to be fine as she is but he is mildly uncomfortable bc A. she invited the two of them to come over and have a meal with her parents so tango can Ask Them Anything He Wants, and that’s a Lot of New People At Once, and B. he’s maybe like, a smidge jealous that tango’s so quickly attached to someone new who can get him information when that’s what brought the two of them together, is their friendship in jeopardy when tango has professionals to talk to now??

no, it’s fine, he was just bein an anxious young teen boy. the parents are nice, ford is nice, they watch a contest of ford’s, tango does a contest, ford and tango battle, ford and whiskey battle, they go back to ford’s and watch a movie and have a sleepover i guess. it’s fun and theyre all friends. when theyre getting ready to go, tango goes to whiskey and asks how he’d feel about inviting ford on the adventure with them. whiskey’s grown fond of her by that point and things shes pleasant to be around and hes like “sure” in his very concise whiskey fashion. tango asks ford to come with them and shes stoked to travel and see some new faraway towns.

they are the b e s t trio.

also jack zimmermann is probably the champion or something. whiskey is the biggest fan of jack zimmermann that ever lived. he buys a new poster in every town they visit that sells them.

PLUS ALSO TANGO WOULD PROBS GET A ROCKRUFF AT SOME POINT AND FORD A MIME JR ok goodbye

for now

#pokemon au #omgcp #tony tangredi #omgcp whiskey #omgcp ford #i dont think ford has a last name yet? shrug #cereal writes #i guess it goes in writing tag lol why not #theres implied whiskeytango and potential whiskeytangofoxtrot

27 notes · View notes

zdbztumble · 6 years

Text

Ah yes...this one...

Well, I was writing posts back when the Japanese release was imminent about how spoilers painted M20 as overstuffed, that I wasn’t happy about swapping in two new characters for the OS cast, etc., so I obviously didn’t come to my viewing without baggage. Still, I kept as open a mind as I could about I Choose You.

And there’s credit to be given here. Aside from the usual stellar animation - which may be at its best to-date in this flick - I Choose You is, ironically enough for a film that’s part-retelling, different. Volcanion laid bare just how stale the typical pattern these movies follow had become, so even a look back to the start of the series represents a welcome break from routine. And the divergence from those early days comes fairly early in the film. Even having been spoiled on the broadstrokes of the plot, I didn’t feel like I knew exactly how things would play out, which was another pleasant change of pace.

FROM HERE, THERE BE SPOILERS

And those first few scenes, telling an abridged version of the first episode, are delightful. This is the most personality Pikachu’s shown in quite a while - cheeky, mischievous, even bratty. Voice acting and animation work together beautifully to sell that side of him, and it’s easily one of the highlights of the film. Ash is given some great lines unique to this telling (”There’s something wrong with this Pokemon,” Oak tells him. “That’s alright - I was late, so there’s something wrong with me, too!”), and if you overlook the absence of a certain redhead, this is about as nice a retelling of Ash and Pikachu’s first meeting as you could ask for.

I Choose You earns credit on another score - it actually has Ash as the protagonist. It’s still shocking to me how rarely the main character of the anime gets the through-line, or even an arc, in these movies, but he certainly does here. The plot isn’t as laser-focused on his and Pikachu’s friendship as some of the comments by staff would have you believe, but I wouldn’t say that’s bad in and of itself. Reviving the “Chosen One” angle for Ash was something that wasn’t spoiled for me, and seemed appropriate for a story featuring the second member of the Legendary Duo.

And there are Easter eggs aplenty here for hardcore fans. I suspect there are many more that went over my head, me still being so far behind on the series.

But these highlights can’t compensate for all the defects. I Choose You is a seriously flawed film, in ways that could be predicted from the synopsis, and in unexpected ways as well.

Everyone who’s reported that the film is overstuffed is correct, but that doesn’t hurt the film in the way one might think. An overstuffed plot will often feel overbearing and unrelenting - too much going on for there to be any focus. Diancie is a good example of this from the Pokemon canon. This is the odd overstuffed film where, too often, it feels like nothing is happening. And I blame this on the way the film structures the middle section. After the abridged first episode section, the movie falls into what I can best describe as the almost-montage. An example: Ash and Pikachu are battling the Celadon Gym, but instead of leading into a montage of Gym Battles, we go into Ash calling his mom at the Pokemon Center. Or, when Ash and his friends are battling some Trainers after getting together - instead of leading into a montage of traveling and battling, it leads into an encounter with Cross. Time and again in the middle of the film, vignettes that feel like they should be part of a sequence instead segue into scenes that introduce plot elements. This isn’t an inherently wrong way to plot the film out, but these elements never get followed up on immediately; they just peter out into another vignette, which in turn leads to a different element. The effect, then, is one of momentum getting lost over and over again, and nothing substantive happening until the last third of the movie. It makes watching the middle section extremely tedious.

Worse, many of the elements introduced don’t have much of a purpose for being here. The abridged recap of Ash’s Butterfree’s story is probably the worst example. It’s devoid of any of the rough times or more quirky, humorous moments that played out in the series, it’s so compressed that it’s impossible for their departure to carry the impact it did in the original, and it’s completely unconnected from everything else in the film. It’s a lushly-animated abridgment of a well-known OS arc, just for the sake of having it.

But while Butterfree’s inclusion is probably the most disparate meaningless plot thread, the Legendary Beasts are the most frustrating for me, because there was a lot of potential there. Exploring the origin story of those Pokemon and how they tie in to Ho-Oh was a wonderful concept, and Entei at least provides a decent action scene. But it all amounts to nothing. The Beasts do not in any meaningful way affect Ash’s journey to find Ho-Oh, and their connection to him only serves as a neat bit of trivia. Like Butterfee, they’re just shown for the sake of showing some Legendary Pokemon - Legendaries that had already been used in previous films.

I Choose You also struggles with forced moments. I know some people were moved by how Ash dismisses Pikachu in his moment of frustration after losing to Cross, but I found that scene a dreadful piece of writing. Ash’s reaction to that loss - especially compared with how OS Ash would’ve reacted - is rather muted. It isn’t nearly strong enough to suggest that it’s eating away inside of him and tempting him down Cross’s path. This in turn makes the rest of the group’s impatience with him seem needlessly harsh, which makes Ash’s continued muted reaction seem like a failure to move his character forward, which makes his comment to Pikachu a random, unearned moment of anger rather than a significant moment of weakness springing organically from his character. It takes a lot of the impact away from the subsequent dream sequence, because Ash never feels like he’s fallen low enough to have that sort of nightmare or take away any lesson that he really needed.

And then...there are the new guys.

Let’s get this out of the way up-front: being upset that Brock and Misty aren’t in this movie is a pet peeve. In and of itself, creating new characters to be Ash’s first friends on his journey is not a writing flaw. And Sorrel, at least, is very much his own character, not a cheap stand-in or replacement for Brock. He has an interesting personality and a shockingly dark backstory. Verity is a less successful character. A tomboy with a Water-Type who gets into a bickering/teasing relationship with Ash right off the bat and has family she wants to prove something to - she does feel like a replacement, and a rip-off, of Misty, with a bit of Dawn thrown in. (Side note: if her mother really is meant to be Cynthia, then that photo could’ve looked more like her.)

But the thing is: both of them are expendable. If you took them out of the film, Ash would still get the Rainbow Feather from Ho-Oh and be on his way. You could say that he wouldn’t get the background on Ho-Oh that Sorrel provides, but old man Bonji could’ve done those honors. Neither of their backstories factor into anything in the main plot, they don’t have arcs for themselves; they’re just there to be Ash’s friends, provide some brief character moments, and drop exposition now and again. I would have rather this been Ash’s solo journey than have two new characters with some potential but no payoff, but if there had to be traveling companions...with all the other homages to the OS, why not use two characters from the OS? Two characters well-loved by much of the audience and who played an important role in the show’s history, I might add.

I don’t have much to say about Cross. He’s what I imagine many fans think Paul is, if you took away any humanizing characteristics. Cross’s turn to the side of right at the end was an arbitrary change that didn’t really sell as organic character growth to me. Leaving him as the villain would have been preferable to the sudden heel turn by Marshadow, something that felt very much as if the staff felt obligated to have a big battle with a Mythical Pokemon. It’s a point where the old formula rears its ugly, tired head. As is Ash’s not-death, a concept that should be retired permanently. At this point, the only way Ash dying can have any impact anymore is if he really dies.

Oh, and the TRio were there. They were a waste of screentime. Nothing else to say.

All in all, I can’t say the film isn’t without its charms. And I do hope anyone who’s refused to see it thus far over Brock and Misty’s absence will give it a chance. But if it isn’t the worst of these films, it’s far from the best, and outside its opening moments is a very flawed if well-meaning effort at a 20th anniversary.

5/10

(You may have noticed I didn’t comment on The Speech. Frankly, I don’t see what’s so offensive about it. It was a dumb idea poorly executed, but nowhere near the low point for me.)

#critique #commentary #pokefilm #pokemon #M20 #Pokemon the movie: i choose you!#film school training at work #z's crits

9 notes · View notes

blastingxff · 7 years

Text

Fate that Binds pt. 3

This part: Everyone has questions. No one has answers.

first part // previous part // next part Series: Pokemon Characters: Jessie, James, Meowth, Pikachu, Ash, Brock, May, Max, Jessebelle Ships: hints of rocketshipping if you read it that way, mostly just friendshipping though Summary: It had been a throwaway wish, something made out of the frustration of the moment- it wasn’t actually supposed to happen. But the magic of a well haunted by a pokemon’s spirit ended up altering reality. Now, Jessie, James, and Meowth aren’t in Team Rocket. They don’t even know each other. And it’s created far darker a world for the TRio than Ash could have ever imagined, and now he and his friends want nothing more than to change things back to how they were. Genre: Friendship, hurt/comfort, so much angst, all the angst, drama, butchered canon, Words: 1,897 / part 3 out of 16 Trigger Warnings (this part): swearing Notes: This popped into my head and didn’t get out until I wrote it down. It’s 16 chapters, and entirely written already in about three days. So that will explain a helluvalot. Like the bus-sized plotholes. I just wanted to be mean to my favorite characters, geeze, is that so bad? XP Also can be read on Ao3.

Chapter 3

“Why can’t they just leave me alone?!” The young boy pulled his foot back, swinging it forward hard against the nearest rock. Theoretically, the rock was supposed to be loose. A kick would punt it forward as though it were a ball. Reality’s a cruel mistress, however, and the rock was deeper in the ground than it seemed, “OW! OW! OW!”

“Pi…ka….” Pikachu, just happy to have been freed, and just as furious, had been sitting by his trainer’s grounded foot until a few seconds earlier. Now he was by the youngest boy in their group, watching with sympathy and a little bit of shame.

“I understand your frustration, Ash, but perhaps we shouldn’t allow it to cloud our judgment,” Brock was smiling despite feeling a similar sentiment. It was no use dwelling on, however. Though the chase had been unusually long and convoluted, the three Rockets had been blasted off just as usual. Everything was at peace once again. But… there was one big problem, “Where are we by the way?”

“Good question,” Ash, still nursing a sore foot, saw nothing but tall grass and wild bushes. There were roots breaking the ground that would tempt to disrupt the balance of any travelers if this were a path often journeyed. Instead the ground showed little evidence of being trampled by the soles of trainers making their way from one gym to the next.

Ash and his friends had started in Cerulean, hoping Misty would be around to join them for a day. And then the Rockets had struck. The disguise had been classic, they had fallen for it. The pursuit itself had lasted too long for Ash’s comfort. They had gotten too close to getting away. By the time the chase had finally ceased, the four of them were in the middle of some forest. Ash wasn’t entirely sure which one, or if it was even marked.

“Oh great, don’t tell me we’re lost,” May frowned, hugging herself as the unknown forest began to darken with the night. The air was cold and crisp, but it was less than refreshing.

“I’ll go see if I can find any markers or road signs,” Brock started towards a split between two bushes. It was the closest looking thing to a path he had found, even if it seemed long grown over.

“You shouldn’t go alone, Brock, I’ll go with you,” Max adjusted his glasses, trotting behind the taller one. For a moment, Brock seemed uneasy with having the youngest go into such potential danger, but after a moment of thought seemed to agree with the kid’s words. In a moment, the two had been swallowed by the forest.

As he watched them leave, anger began to bubble inside the Pallet Town native once more. This was all their fault! If only Team Rocket would just leave him alone… this would never have happened! He could have a normal Pokémon adventure. He could make friends and he could sleep peacefully and not find himself constantly worried he’d wake up to find his Pokémon had been stolen in the night.

“Ash? Are you okay?” he hadn’t realized how angrily he had been staring at the ground. He hadn’t realized his hands had balled into fists and he had been muttering nothing under his breath. Pikachu leaned against his leg.

“I… I just hate them!” Even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t entirely true. Hate was a strong word after all, but they were certainly getting close to it. He saw May shift a little. He knew she felt similarly, but she had also started getting close to at least one of them. He had seen her and James interacting. It always seemed sincere and pleasant.

But then the memory of the day flooded back. They had gotten so, so close to stealing their Pokémon. So close to taking Pikachu away from him forever. He just… he couldn’t forgive them. May offered a hand on his shoulder, “I understand,” it was a statement of solidarity. For some reason, they couldn’t hate Jessie, James, or Meowth. But they sure didn’t like them.

“Ash! May!” Brock’s voice called through the bushes, pulling them from their angered thoughts, “We found something!”

Avoiding the ragged and pointed fingers of the lush forest’s plants, they found Brock and Max standing in front of a large, beautifully decorated well. Blue-gray bricks, a golden circle at its mouth. The purple roof of it elaborately carved with a Pokémon’s shape.

“A wishing well?” May tilted her head, moving to get a closer look at the carvings. Max stayed by her side as he too tried to decipher the Pokémon depicted. Ash was already taking out a small coin.

“I wish Team Rocket would just leave me alone.” With a flick, the coin fell down the dark abyss. The faint sploosh told them the offer had been accepted. And then the well began to glow.

* * *

“We then noticed a path,” Max continued, “it seemed like it popped out of nowhere! Brock and I had searched that area pretty good before and we hadn’t seen anything. Following it led us to the edge of Celadon City and, well, you aren’t in Team Rocket anymore.”

“I was never in Team Rocket, that was my mother,” Jessie’s voice was flat, her half-drunk glass of cola sweating in front of her. In her hand, relaxed, was a fry dipped in ketchup, behind her the TV pundit was talking about the politics of the day in closed captioning, “So what, why’d you stop him from killing me? Hell of a lot of work to go through for someone who you don’t even like.”

“Well,” Ash bit his lip, trying to think of a way to explain it to the beaten woman in front of him, “I mean, you guys were really annoying- don’t get me wrong. But… when I saw how you were being treated, I just… I couldn’t let it happen. You drive us insane but… you’re not all bad.”

“Uh…huh….” She spoke slowly, biting off a piece of the fry. The guy named Brock frowned; he seemed to get she was merely humoring them with her comments. Good, “And I apparently have friends?”

“James,” May spoke up immediately. “And Meowth.” It was an addendum. The haste didn’t go unnoticed.

“You were quick to volunteer. Crush?” Jessie tilted her head. A light pink began to spread on the apples of the young girl’s cheeks.

“No!” The word came a little too fast. Apparently her companions didn’t find this bit of information as new or surprising as the girl believed it to be. Perhaps it wasn’t something unsuspected?

“I don’t even know the guy, I’m not gonna tell him,” the grin came out of the corner of her mouth. Her eyes then scanned the four sitting around her, lingering a bit on the Pikachu. Is that thing really so rare? “What I don’t get is, okay, sure, you’re not a horrible person and you don’t want me being dead,” for some reason, she did sorta believe them on that note. Not entirely but… well, it seemed plausible. “But why are you guys talking about undoing it? Isn’t your life better now? We’re not gonna try to steal your stupid- no offense- pokémon anymore.”

Ash glanced down at his food. There was still quite a bit of his own dinner left. Her gaze kept on him as he seemed to struggle to come up with an answer he liked “You’re miserable,” he finally said, “At least… at least before you had a family. And they loved you. But here you’re all alone,” her brow rose. Did she sense guilt? Did he feel guilty for his wish? “I’d rather have to deal with you trying to steal Pikachu than take your family from you.”

“So you’re a martyr.”

Ash glanced up at her; he seemed at a loss for words. His mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again.

“Don’t stress about it,” she let her arm rest on the table as she frowned, “You have a game plan or anything?”

“Well… I- guess… I guess we need to first find the well. Maybe we can just wish everything back to normal,” he offered, but he didn’t seem so convinced.

“Okay, that’s a great start,” her voice was filled with sarcasm, “You even remember where it is?”

He swallowed, staring down at the food. The realization that this entire thing was irreversible seemed to come into his mind. His guilt…. Ugh. She rolled her eyes. “Kid, stop it,” he glanced up, as though surprised by the hidden kindness that seeped into her tone. That irritated her more, “Stop moping. It’s not a big deal. I don’t know any other life than this. If I’m stuck here then fine. Whatever. It’s not like I’m missing anything I know. Worst case scenario, nothing changes.”

Ash seemed to be struggling with the words. He didn’t seem to want to accept them. She sat back in the booth, crossing her arms. I hate moping. As she began to open her mouth to berate him for wasting her time with a pity party, the smallest pipsqueak’s eyes widened and he offered his voice.

“It’s James!” His small arm lifted above the table, pointing to the television screen. The others instinctively turned their heads and she glanced up herself. Of course she was curious. Of course she wanted to see her supposed “best friend” and “family.” But if this was all a joke? If it was another prank by… by that man then she didn’t want them having anything on her. I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care.

Her eyes finally reached the screen, the murmurs she heard from her new companions told her that it was, indeed, James. It was a portion of one of those shady tabloid-esque programs, yammering on and on about some rich person’s wedding in just over a week’s time. James and Jessebelle. It would be large, lavish, and- most importantly- highly exclusive. Just enough leaked to make the ‘peasants’ jealous they would never have what the upper crust breathed as easily as air.

She focused on the guy. Wait a minute, “I do know him.” The phrase sent a mini shockwave through her dinner partners. She turned around and returned to her crossed-arms position, “Oh yeah, he went to Pokémon Tech same time as I did. I saw him maybe once, typical rich kid. Fucking wimp, wouldn’t dare touch anyone with a pokédollar less than him, if you’re not wearing mareep’s wool then you’re pathetic. There’s no way we were ever friends,” their lie had been blown right open, even if the supernatural stuff wasn’t obvious enough. She leaned forward, glaring at them, “you four can tell him to suck my dick. I won’t be back.”

Yeah. He might get pissy at her for quitting the gang. For not going through with this joke of his, but she had had enough of his mind games. Sure she’d be alone, but it wasn’t the first time. Taking one more fry she slid herself out of the booth, turning on the heels of her worn sneakers. Her legs still told her she shouldn’t be walking with such force, but her dignity told her to do it anyway. She passed under the television, leaving the restaurant.

#{my writings}#{rebloggable}#fatethatbinds #pokemon fanfiction #team rocket fanfiction #pokemon fanfic #jessie #james #musashi #kojiro #((I'm gonna be on in my morning! I queued this up but I'm so tired from work. a bunch of kids were unhappy with their grades #but I tried to warn them so many times #no one cared #now they care enough to yell at me #ugh))

0 notes

anavoliselenu · 7 years

Text

Heart of stone chapter 20

It had been a stimulating morning, making the let down for the next two days that much worse. Before dawn, I awoke to the feel of Selena’s warm body spooned tightly against mine. Never one to miss an opportunity, I seized the moment and made sure to leave her with a farewell that neither of us would forget about during my absence. Unfortunately, there was no sex, for obvious reasons. Instead, we kissed and caressed in ways that were surprisingly fulfilling. It was another first for me, and a completely unique experience in itself.

The early morning hours that I had spent with her almost seemed surreal as I climbed aboard the Airbus ACJ318. Hale was already on the private jet when I arrived, neatly stowing our travel bags into an overhead compartment.

“Morning, Hale.”

“Good morning, sir.”

“If my speech is in with those bags, take it out for me. I want to review it one more time before we get to Boston.”

“Already done. It’s in a folder right over there,” he said, pointing to a corner end table in the spacious lounge area of the plane. “I think Laura made a few adjustments to it.”

I went over to the table to review the contents. Laura had actually made quite a few changes, and I was thankful for her sharp eye. The speech was a couple of years old, and needed updating. If I had more notice, I would have written a new one.

Satisfied that Laura had done it justice, I tucked it back inside the folder and turned back to Hale.

“I assume the flight will be leaving on time?”

“Yes, sir. I just confirmed it with the pilot. The trip to Boston should be a smooth one. However, we may encounter an issue on the return flight. There’s a bad storm moving in on the overnight, the remnants of a hurricane that’s traveling up the coast.”

“Monitor the situation and make other travel arrangements for the return trip home if needed. I want to be back no later than eight o’clock Friday evening.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you have time to arrange the delivery that I emailed you about this morning?”

“Vivian will be setting it up this afternoon,” Hale informed me. “You should get an email confirmation as soon as it’s received.”

“Excellent. Oh, and I meant to ask you. How is your mother settling in?”

“Very well. I appreciate your help to secure her placement. After the fall she took, I can rest easier knowing that she’s getting the proper care. Thank you again.”

I acknowledged his gratitude with a nod, glad that things had worked out. Before reaching the age of sixty, Hale’s mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. It had come as quite the blow to my security detail, and when I heard that he was unable to afford the cost of a reputable nursing facility, I immediately made calls to get her the best care in New York and covered the expenses. Hale protested of course, but I would hear none of it.

The pilot came over the intercom system, interrupting our conversation to let us know that it was almost time for take off. I settled into my seat and looked out the window. Cumulus clouds dotted the bright blue sky, making it hard to imagine that we were under a severe storm alert.

I heard the soothing hum of the plane engine as it came to life and I rested my head back with the hopes of catching a quick snooze on the flight. My mind quickly filled with images of Selena.

I wish she had agreed to come with me.

I opened one eye to look at Hale. He sat across from me, already engrossed in the New York Times.

Hale accompanied me on nearly all of my business trips. He was a good traveling companion, and always willing to discuss whatever I had a mind for. Usually the topic was business.

That’s me. Always business.

“Hale, let me ask you something,” I said on a whim. He looked up from the newspaper, his expression attentive. “Do you ever regret not settling down?”

“Sir?”

Yeah, I know. The question sounds crazy to me too.

“I mean, with a woman,” I clarified. “Do you have any regrets?”

If he was surprised by my inquiry, he didn’t show it. Instead, he looked thoughtful.

“My mother always wanted grandchildren. When I think of how happy that would have made her, I do have regrets. However, now that she’s sick, it doesn’t really matter. Either way, I’ve never met a woman that I wanted to spend the rest of my days with.”

“Or maybe it’s because I keep you too damned busy to meet anyone,” I joked.

The corners of his mouth turned up in a rare smile.

“I believe that we all have our own calling. So far, mine has been the service of your employment and it has suited me well. If I were meant to settle down before now, I would have done so.”

“Hmm, perhaps,” I mused.

“Sir, permission to be frank?”

I laughed at his seriousness.

“You’re not in the military anymore. Speak what’s on your mind, Hale.”

His lips tightened into a thin line, as if he were concentrating on selecting the right words. He looked pointedly at me.

“Miss Cole is a lovely young woman. Don’t let her be your regret.”

****

I had deliberately packed my schedule, so that I had more than enough reasons to deny Justin’s multiple requests for me to accompany him to Boston. Because of that, the next couple of days went by quick. I worked out my remaining shifts at Wally’s, went to my gynecologist appointment, and caught up on lost gym time. Keeping busy allowed me not to dwell on the fact that I felt unexpectedly lost without Justin.

I didn’t like that I missed him and the time apart made be realize that we needed separation more often. I had become entirely too familiar with his presence. With that it mind, I didn’t answer his calls, and kept all communication to strictly texting. I knew that just the sound of his voice would cause me to fold.

By the time I arrived home Thursday evening, I realized that Justin and I would have to negotiate some sort of compromise. If we continued the way we were going, I would end up with very little time alone, especially come Monday when I started the job at Turning Stone. I had never agreed to give up every night and weekend for him, despite his original wishes. Yet somehow, I ended up doing exactly that.

I went to the fridge to see what I could use to throw together a quick dinner for myself. Settling on a green salad with various fixings, I pulled out the ingredients that I would need. I went to work on slicing up chicken into thin strips and contemplated how I should approach the subject of maintaining my personal space with Justin.

Boundaries. We need to establish some boundaries.

The sound of my phone vibrating on the counter tore me away from my thoughts. Setting the knife down, I picked up the phone to see that there was an incoming text from Allyson.

Today

6:34 PM, Allyson: My flight is delayed. What’s up with the weather in NY?

I looked out the window at the storm that was getting worse by the minute. Wind slashed at the windows and the rain appeared to be going sideways.

6:36 PM, Me: Tail end of a hurricane that moved north.

6:40 PM, Allyson: I’ll be lucky to get in by late Friday at this point.

6:41 PM, Me: Stuck in Paris. Gee, I feel so bad for you…

6:43 PM, Allyson: Ha-ha. Not funny. I’m miserable. It’s nearly 2AM and I’m holed up in an airport indefinitely.

I paused in my texting to glance at the clock. I had forgotten about the time difference.

6:45 PM, Me: Sorry, that sucks.

6:50 PM, Allyson: Can you reschedule our spa day? Maybe for Saturday if you’re free?

Justin planned on taking his boat out on Saturday, but by the looks of the weather forecast, that wasn’t going to happen.

This is my chance at creating a little space.

It took me about a half of a second to make the decision.

6:53 PM, Me: Saturday it is. I’ll change the reservation.

6:55 PM, Allyson: Great! Hopefully I’ll be home by then. I’ll text if there’s another delay.

I looked up the number for the Mandarin. It was no trouble switching our reservation to Saturday. However, I knew that rescheduling with Justin would not go off quite as easy and I dreaded the conversation.

I went back to preparing dinner, and layered arugula with sliced chicken, walnuts, and feta cheese. I was about to pour a balsamic over the top, when a knock at the door interrupted me.

My stomach grumbled in annoyance over the second disruption as I went to answer it. I peered through the peek hole to see who it was, but there wasn’t anyone on the other side of the door.

That’s weird.

I opened the door anyway and found that there was a flower delivery on the floor in front of the threshold. Unsure as to whether the flowers were for me or for Allyson, I picked up the beautiful arrangement of blue delphiniums and baby’s breath and brought them to the kitchen. Placing the bouquet on the counter, I removed the envelope from the vase. The card was addressed to me.

“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”

- Maya Angelou

Looking forward to the weekend…

Justin

I smiled after reading the quote, appreciating Justin’s attention to detail by citing my favorite poet.

I was about to put the card back into the envelope, when I noticed a blue velvet satchel tied around the neck of the vase.

What’s this?

However, I predicted the answer to the question almost as soon as I thought it. Knowing that Justin wouldn’t take back his gift of the necklace, I had decided to forgo any sort of argument by simply leaving it on his dresser the morning that he left for Boston. Apparently, this was his way of turning the tables on me.

Loosening the drawstring tie from the cloth bag, I dumped the contents into my palm. Just as I expected, out poured the platinum triskelion and chain. It was then that I understood the reason for the Maya Angelou quote – Justin wasn’t only referring to the flowers, but to all of his gifts.

In the face of his sweet gestures, I couldn’t help but to feel a little sad about it. It would be so much easier if I could simply accept everything that Justin had to offer, but I didn’t feel right about it. I sensed that he wanted more from me, but there were some things that I could not give – at least not without compromising my standards.

I’m at a crossroads.

One path would have me push Justin away in order to create more distance between us. He may not like it, and it could potentially lead to our demise. It would be a risky choice, because I knew that I wasn’t ready for things to end.

But if I chose the other, I would become deeper involved. I’d expect more from Justin, and would want him to be more open about the secrets that I knew he was carrying. From the history of his parents to his underground life, everything was a mystery to me. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to continue without answers. However, that path had its risks too, as it may force me to reveal my own truth.

The prospect of facing that pain frightened me, for giving up my secret would hurt me in ways that physical submission never could. The choice should have been an obvious one, knowing that I did not have the strength to handle the latter. However, I couldn’t decide what to do – for emotional surrender was my only true hard limit.

The conference was going relatively well, even if it was boring as all hell, and I arrived back to my hotel room shortly after dinnertime. I considered going out to the Faneuil Hall area with Burke in search of a bite to eat, but decided on the solitude of room service instead. I didn’t feel like keeping company with my old friend, but rather wished that I had pushed Selena harder about coming to Boston.

A short rap on the hotel room door signaled the arrival of dinner. I opened the door to find a pretty brunette balancing two platters. I was absently wondering how she managed to knock with her hands full, when I noticed that the trays were balancing precariously in her small hands.

I was dangerously close to wearing stuffed flounder and hollandaise sauce.

“Here, let me take one of those,” I offered, removing a tray from her wavering grasp.

“Thank you, sir,” she appreciated.

We both entered the room and set the trays on the small dinette set that was situated in the suite’s living room.

“Do yourself a favor and use a cart of some sort next time,” I told her, fishing out my wallet to get her a tip.

“Oh, yes,” she readily agreed. “I’ll make sure to use one the next time I come up. Will you be staying here long? Um, Mr.…”

She sounded giddy, almost school girlish. My head snapped up to look at her. I was all too familiar with the tone that she took. She was watching me with a pair of innocent doe eyes, but this girl was anything but naïve and was obviously looking to score more than a tip.

I pursed my lips in annoyance, choosing not to answer her. I handed her a twenty.

Be on your way, doll. That’s all you’re going to get.

“Thank you,” I told her, albeit dismissively.

She looked momentarily disappointed, but took the dismissal in stride and left me alone to enjoy my dinner in peace. The transparency of some women floored me at times, and I suddenly had a newfound appreciation for Selena’s ambiguous personality.

I wasn’t impressed by the hotel fare. The flounder was over cooked and the sauce was flavorless. I began to regret my choice to not accompany Burke to one of the cities more notable seafood restaurants. As a swallowed the last bite of the rubbery fish, my phone pinged with the notification of a new email. I pushed the plate away and pulled out my cell.

It was a confirmation notice that the flower delivery was received. The time stamp on the message told me that it was just after seven, which meant that Selena should be home from Wally’s.

I’ll try calling her now. Maybe she’ll actually pick up this time.

Exiting out of the email, I dialed Selena’s number.

“Hello, angel,” I greeted after she answered. It felt so good to hear the sound of her voice.

“Hey. How’s the trip going?”

“Incredibly boring.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Next time, you’re coming with me,” I told her.

“We’ll see,” she murmured on the other end of the line. She seemed distracted. I had been so pleased that she finally answered her phone, that I hadn’t picked up on how distant she sounded until that moment.

“Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. Oh, and thank you for the flowers by the way.”

I noticed that she didn’t mention the returned necklace, but decided not to bring it up. I missed her and I didn’t want to spoil our conversation by risking an argument.

“Are you sure that you’re alright?” I asked again instead.

“I’m good, really I am. I’m just tired and a little sore. It’s been a long day.”

She does sound tired.

Perhaps that was truly all that was wrong.

“I thought Walter would have gone easy on you since today was your last day.”

“Oh, work was alright,” she assured me. “I’m just worn out because I was up early and at the gym by six o’clock this morning. I couldn’t get an evening appointment with the trainer that I like to work with, so I had to go early if I wanted to meet with him.”

Him?

The idea of Selena having a one on one training session with another man made me uncomfortable.

Extremely uncomfortable.

Am I jealous? Since when do I get jealous?

“I didn’t know that you had a trainer,” I tried to say indifferently.

“It’s pricy, so I don’t do it often. But Eric is a good motivator and I needed him to get me back into a routine.”

Eric? So the asshole has a name.

I pictured Selena in spandex shorts, possibly a sports bra. With her midriff slick with sweat and face flushed from exertion, she would have been a provocative sight to behold. Hopefully she had the sense to cover up with a t-shirt.

Either way, I didn’t like the situation one bit. I made a mental note to set Selena up with my own personal trainer, someone that I knew and could trust to keep his sweaty paws off of her.

“Routine is good, but don’t over do it. You need to save some energy for the weekend,” I joked lightly, suppressing the uncharacteristic jealousy that wanted to come lashing out.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that – the weekend that is,” she said a little too quickly.

“What about it? I mean, I’ve been keeping up with the storm and I know that flights into New York have been delayed indefinitely. But I’ll make sure I’m back in time for the party at Murphy’s.”

“Oh, it’s not that. Although, I’m glad that you decided to come. This is about Saturday.”

“What about it?”

She went on to tell me about her planned girls day out and how flight cancelations forced them to reschedule for Saturday. Then she proceeded to talk non-stop about how poor the weather would be for boating, barely pausing to take a breath. She sounded nervous, almost as if she was afraid to tell me about the change of plans.

“I’m sorry. I know that I promised you the weekend,” she finally finished.

Amused by her ramblings, I decided to go easy on her.

“That’s fine. It’s only for the earlier part of the day. If you’d like, I could have Hale drive you and Allyson to and from your appointment.”

“Allyson would get a kick out of that for sure,” she laughed. And if I wasn’t mistaken, she almost sounded relieved.

“Consider it a done deal. Just email me the reservation details and I will forward it on to Hale.”

“I’ll do it in the morning. Right now, I’m going to change into pajamas, eat my dinner, and then collapse on the couch. Maybe I’ll catch up on a few shows that I had set to DVR,” she considered.

“That sounds exceedingly dull,” I teased.

“Oh, not to me. A stormy night, house to myself…I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing.”

“I could think of a few things,” I said suggestively. I could hear rustling in the background. “What are you doing?”

“Exactly what I said I was going to do,” her voice was echoing, like she had switched me over to speakerphone. “I’m changing my clothes.”

An image of her slipping out of her bra and panties caused a stirring in my groin.

“What are you wearing right now?”

“Um, a tank top,” she said, sounding slightly confused.

“Anything else?”

“Just my…” she paused. “My underwear.”

Sweet Jesus…nothing but panties and a tank top.

I suppressed a groan as the image of Selena’s lithe naked legs clouded my vision. I stood up and began pacing the room in an attempt to work off the restless energy that had suddenly come over me.

“Are you trying to torture me?” I asked.

I could hear her fumbling with the phone, switching it off of speaker mode.

“No, I’m not,” she tried to convince me. However, her words sounded raspy, a sure sign that she was connecting the dots and that her mind was beginning to gravitate to the same dark place as mine.

“I don’t believe you. In fact, I may have to leave Boston right now just to come home and punish you.”

“Oh, really?”

“You sound excited by the possibility, Miss Cole.”

“Maybe I am,” she teased.

“You’re asking for it,” I warned.

“I’m not asking for anything. But now that you mention it, how would you punish me exactly?”

Oh, game on baby.

It was time to enlighten Selena on the many ways I could punish an obstinate submissive.

“I would bind you face down, with your arms and legs spread to all four corners of my bed. You won’t be able to move,” I told her. There was dead silence on the other end of the line. I waited a moment before continuing, hoping that she was forming a visual. “You will be blind folded so you can’t see what’s coming. You remember the bite of the flogger, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“It will be different this time. I’m going to run it torturously slow down the length of your body, over and over again until you beg me to mark you with it. But even then I won’t. The more you beg, the more I’ll introduce new tortures, ones that will bring you near to the edge of your breaking point and keep you there.”

“What kinds of tortures?”

I smirked at the way she provoked me, knowing that she didn’t have an inkling of knowledge about the torments that I could introduce her to.

You want to play femme fatale…let’s see how you react to this.

“You’ve felt my finger, but just wait until you feel a plug stretching you impossibly wide.” I heard her breath suck in sharply. “Yes, Selena. You know what I’m talking about. Close your eyes. Picture it. Now imagine the plug, with me standing over you, finally giving you the flogging that you begged for. But even then, I won’t let you come until you’ve earned it.”

Her breathing became heavier, the sound a turn on that left my head spinning. I leaned back against the wall of the hotel room and stared at the ceiling. If only I could reach through the phone and touch her. I wanted nothing more than to leave the mind-numbing conference, go home, and plunge into Selena’s satin heat.

“When will I have earned it?” she prodded me further.

I suppressed another groan.

Oh, angel…keep pushing me and I’ll be on a plane within the hour.

“That depends on how quickly you begin your penance.” I continued the game, but decided to add a twist.

“Penance?”

“Go to the full length mirror in your bedroom. Stand in front of it,” I told her. “Are you still just wearing panties and a tank top?”

“Yes, why?”

“Don’t question. Just let me know when you’re in front of the mirror.”

“I’m here,” she said after a few seconds.

“Good girl. Now look at yourself. See what I see when I look at you. Follow the long lines of your legs, to the curve of your hips. Notice the swell of your perfect tits…I imagine that your nipples are poking through your tank top. Am I right?”

“Y-yes. They are.”

Her stutter sounded hoarse.

“That’s because you’re incredibly turned on. Now I want you to feel what I would feel. Touch yourself, Selena.”

“Justin…” she hesitated.

“Earn it, angel. Slip your hand down the front of your panties. Feel how wet you are.”

“I – I can’t do that. I’d rather wait for you.”

I could hear the shyness in her voice, but I could also hear the longing. I only had to push her a little further.

“Not following my directions will only make your punishment worse. How much do you think you can take?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out when I see you next. Until then, goodnight, Justin.”

At that, the line went dead.

Goodnight!

I banged my head back against the wall.

Once. Twice.

She’s gotta be freakin’ kidding me!

I had a hard on that rivaled any other, yet she left me hanging.

I took me a solid five minutes to steady my racing pulse. My only consolation was that I knew her frustration was surly matching my own.

I stepped away from the wall and rubbed the back of my now sore head. I stared down at the phone, resisting the urge to chuck it across the room. Instead, I pocketed the cursed thing and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

A very cold shower.

****

The wind and rain slapped at my face, but the storm was no match for the resolve that ran hot through my veins.

I had to find her.

I will find her.

I just wasn’t searching in the right places.

Out of the rain and into a dark building. It smelled musty in here, like unwashed hair and dirty laundry.

I stepped into a room that had long been neglected, abandonment taking its toll over time. I knew this place all too well – the curtains that hung from the windows, the tattered couch against the wall. Cobwebs covered the lampshades on the end tables.

I hadn’t been here in so long…

I glanced down at the throw rug in the living room and saw a large brown stain of blood. Bile rose up in my throat at the sight, and I quickly turned away.

How did I end up here?

I knew she wasn’t here. I had come to the wrong place again.

“Justin.”

I heard my name, but the voice was wrong. It wasn’t the voice that I had been searching for. It belonged to someone else – it was the voice that had the ability to soothe and frighten me all at once.

“Selena?” I called out.

“I’m here,” I heard her say from another room.

I ran through the dingy apartment in search of her. She didn’t belong here, not in this dirty, tainted place.

How did she find out about it?

How did she know to find me here?

“Selena, where are you?” I yelled.

I tore through the hallway, searching room after room. But it was as if every time I closed a door, another would appear. The dim lights began to flicker, until eventually they went out completely and I was left in nothing but darkness.

“I’m here,” she said again. With only her voice to guide me, I stumbled into another dark room.

“Where? I can’t see you?”

“Here,” her voice came from somewhere behind me.

I turned to go towards the sound, but my feet came out from under me and I was falling.

“Selena!” I yelled through the air that whipped past my ears. “Help me!”

“I can’t,” I heard her say, but her voice seemed to be further away now. So much further…

Falling.

I couldn’t let her slip away. She was my only hope. I grappled for something to hang onto, anything to keep me from plummeting to the ground.

“Selena!”

“Justin,” her distant voice echoed through the endless abyss that threatened to swallow me whole.

I sat up like a shot, sweat drenched and shaking. The sound of rain lashing at the windows caused me to become disoriented, and it took me a moment or two before I remembered where I was.

Boston. The hotel. Only a dream.

But I could still smell the damp air. I still had that sinking feeling in my gut from falling – the kind you get on a roller coaster after it goes over the first crest.

It was the second time in a week that I had been shaken up by a dream. I could blame the dreams on my heightened emotional state since meeting Selena. Or maybe it was an underlying fear that my sister’s ex-husband would dredge up the long buried past. Or perhaps tonight, it was simply that I had bad fish for dinner.

I lay back down against the overly soft pillows and tried to shake off my unease.

A shrink would have a field day with me.

I rolled on my side in an attempt to get comfortable again, but my efforts were futile. There was no downplaying certain elements of the dreams. They left me with a feeling of emptiness that made my heart ache. I could not ignore the fact that while I was sleeping, I had been searching for my mother.

In0�H��P*q�

0 notes

ncetosyd · 7 years

Text

New year, new blog post. (Lizzy)

“Woops, I did it again” doesn’t even cover my failure to keep up the writing. At least I have two months’ exciting content to now splurge.

Really, I should have written a post when I got back from Melbourne after exams. But I’ve been busy! If getting a Netflix trial for the sole purpose of binge-watching The Crown counts as busy. I believe I even got to the gym a few times. In all seriousness, I was actually at work fairly solidly for the few weeks between going to Melbourne and my family arriving for Christmas. And I realised that I was also simply exhausted, having thrown myself into uni every week since the semester began in July - this is not a complaint, I hasten to add. Passing all of my modules with good grades - apart from Japanese, but even passing that was some sort of miracle - was proof enough for me that I deserved to give my brain a break.

Strawberry Fields festival was certainly an interesting kind of break. I flew to Melbourne the same afternoon as I finished exams, and the next day I was out in the middle of nowhere at Strawberry Fields. My friend Liam had found himself with a spare ticket and I’d essentially invited myself - apparently I wasn’t too bad a companion for what ended up being one of the weirdest weekends I could have imagined. With a crowd of five or six thousand people, Strawberry was a far cry from my previous festival experiences - namely, Glastonbury. This didn’t just manifest in the size of the festival, but also in my general inability to tolerate life in a tent. I can say with confidence that I was absolutely no help pitching said tent, and that our choice of pitch - which turned out to be next to a near-24/7 deep house stage - was possibly the worst decision we made all weekend. Nearly two months on, I can still feel the bass vibrating through the ground that I was trying to sleep on. Also, at a gathering whose dress code appeared to be “go crazy or go naked”, complimented by a hefty amount of drinking and drugs, I clearly didn’t fit in: rising at the sort of time that people were wandering towards their tents after partying all night, and taking advantage of the lack of phone signal to sit and read my book for hours each day. But for all the sweat, dirt and portaloos, there were also some pretty amazing things. Namely morning swims in the Murray River, the amount of hammocks and general chilling areas built into and around the art installations, and the Tea House stage that saved my life (see: reggae/disco/jazz, fairy lights and tea ceremonies). By the time we left, everything we had brought with us was covered in a layer of grime, and I was ready to sleep for days. A break? Absolutely not. But intriguing/amusing/eye opening? Very.

I only spent another day or two with Liam before heading back to Sydney on the 23rd November, and on my only afternoon actually IN Melbourne, I foiled my own plan to visit a museum or some other culturally enriching entity by stumbling across a cat cafe instead. Even returning to Sydney turned out to be a small nightmare: with my flight being cancelled, I ended up spending the night in an Ibis Budget hotel (essentially a luxury prison cell) and catching a rescheduled flight the next morning. As I have explained to my mother, this was the only instance for as long as I can remember that I have been to McDonalds - a bad night’s sleep and being torrentially rained on had added insult to injury, and chicken nuggets for breakfast was the only thing that would pacify me.

Other than a few beach trips and walks in between working, that was the end of my adventures until my family arrived on the 14th December. I spent every day of this three week interim bouncing up and down with excitement - I’ve loved every minute of living here, but I’ve of course missed home somewhat, or mainly the people that I call “home”. For the first five days of our holiday together, we stayed in a gorgeous traditional terrace house in Newtown, thanks to Airbnb. I'd say that Newtown is to Sydney what Shoreditch is to London: a youthful, trendy hub of liveliness, with more than its fair share of hipsters. It therefore makes for a fantastic collection of restaurants and bars, and apparently I didn’t fail once in my choice of food - I lost count of the number of times Mum told me I should become a food critic (I can dream, right?) Unfortunately the weather was less fantastic, soaring to a humid 36 degrees on the first day (unsurprisingly, after 24 hours’ travelling, my family didn’t entirely share my enthusiasm for a brisk walk around my suburb and the uni campus), and then proceeding to rain heavily for two days solid. In classic Caroline fashion, Mum not only brought her hot water bottle, but also a multitude of jumpers - one of which I hand delivered to her when she spent a morning working at a colleague’s office, because apparently wearing two still hadn’t been enough. You can take Caroline out of Britain, but you can’t take the Brit out of Caroline. Whilst Will staved off his jet lag by partying with a friend whose gap yah stop in Sydney fortunately overlapped with our holiday for a few days, Mum and I wandered around Surry Hills in the rain, drank a lot of tea, and were in bed before 9pm most evenings. I might as well have been at home, it was bliss.

We had a unexpectedly sociable holiday, too. A trip up the coast to Palm Beach with Colin, a friend of Mum’s from her skydiving days (pre-me); an impromptu beach afternoon with family friends we haven’t seen for ten years; and coffees, lunches, dinners and ice creams with various other people. After Newtown, we spent the pre-Christmas week in Manly, beaching and beaching and beaching. Will surfed every day, and even Mum and I managed a surf lesson. It was another Airbnb triumph, this time a gorgeous loft house - two minutes from the beach, cosy, and complete with a visiting flock of cockatoos every evening. Christmas lunch was amazing: a beachside restaurant, no turkey in sight (I don’t have anything against turkey, but a change was nice - though I still stuffed myself to the point where I couldn’t physically function until I’d taken a nap). On Boxing Day, we flew to Melbourne to visit Liam’s family, who lived in the UK when I was in primary school but have since lived abroad. Said trip was proceeded by trying to hire a car online on Christmas Eve for Boxing Day (the only time I’ve ever witnessed Mum not booking something weeks/months/years in advance), and so we found ourselves driving the couple of hours out of Melbourne to our friends’ house in someone’s 2003 Honda Jazz. Glamour personified. It was a wonderful few days, including a visit to a wildlife sanctuary, and a small local food and music festival we visited one night, at which Will and Liam drank competitively to build the tallest mountain of empty beer cans possible. This venture resulted in the boys bunking off to the pub, stealing a childrens’ scooter on their return to the festival, and Liam being covered in countless insect bites the next day, having fallen asleep in the garden in just his underwear.

The last few days of our holiday were spent back in Sydney, and despite a hiccup with the accommodation, it was a relaxed and happy note to end on. For New Year’s Eve, we spent the evening on a ferry in the harbour with a picnic. Although expensive, a boat trip was completely worth it: the views of the sunset, the aerial display, the city skyline and, of course, the fireworks, were stunning. I left Mum and Will at the airport on New Year’s Day with a heavy heart; I’m so looking forward to what the next six months of my exchange will bring, but having my family here for Christmas made everything even more special. Admittedly I’ve spent the last few days really missing them, but I’ve also been keeping busy and having some really great me-time: getting some admin done, treating myself to a coffee if I’m out and about, reading, seeing friends, and getting back in the gym. I should be back at work in the new few days, and it’s only a matter of weeks until Helen gets here!

As ever, onwards and upwards.

Liz x

#lizzy

0 notes

zdbztumble · 7 years

Text

“I’m Not That Girl”

Decided to take a stab at my own prompt. First piece of fan fiction I’ve written since the teenage years.

To get our canon straight: everything happened just as it did in the show through the end of XY/Z, except that they age. One year per region, and if you count the Battle Frontier, that’d make Ash and Misty 17 going on 18.

"Pikachu is unable to battle! Gyarados is the winner!"

The great fish let out a mighty roar. Louder and fiercer than usual, or called for in this situation in Misty's opinion.

He must be proud, she thought as she recalled him. Not many Water Pokémon could take down two Electric challengers in a row without breaking a sweat. They weren't the biggest or strongest Electric-types in the world, but that wouldn't matter to Gyarados.

She felt a bit of pride herself. It was her best match in two weeks. Ever since the call, she'd been distracted and unsure, had messed up in pitched fights and blown some easy wins. Today, her mind was clear and focused, and she'd led her team to a flawless victory.

Even if it hadn't been much of a challenge. A low-level Magnemite and a freshly-caught Pikachu might damage some Water teams, but not one as well-trained and powerful as Misty's. And the trainer at the other end of the pool - Ken - couldn't have been more than twelve, and had just started his Pokémon journey.

He wasn't taking the loss well. He held his unconscious Pikachu tightly in his arms, and even with his eyes covered by the brim of his blue Kanto League hat, he looked as if he were about to cry. Misty sighed at the sight; competitive as she was, winning was the best part of being a gym leader, but facing up against as many rookies as she did, hurting their spirits when she won was the worst part. And this little kid was clearly hurt.

"Poor guy," Misty said softly. She took a step toward the edge of her platform.

"Hold on, Misty."

"Huh?" She looked over at her sister. What's wrong, Daisy?" She probably wants another breakdown. Her oldest sister had taken to serving as a battle judge to try and learn more about Pokémon training, and she had a list of questions as long as her make-up bill after every match. It was good that she wanted to learn, but right now, it could wait.

But that's not what Daisy had in mind. "I think you might, like, wanna skip the pep talk this time."

"What? Why? I always talk to trainers after a match, win or lose."

"Yeah, but usually you haven't, like, totally destroyed the trainer's team."

"I didn't destroy his team!"

Daisy just pointed in response. Misty followed her finger back over to Ken. His Pikachu still hadn't come to, and now that Misty really stopped to look, it did seem to be in rough shape. Its fur had been crisped black from ear tips to tail tips by Gyarados's Flamethrower attack. Both his Flamethrower attacks, and the second one hadn't been necessary. That Bite really did a number on Magnemite too. And I didn't need to swap Gyarados in at all; Milotic was doing just fine on her own.

And before she could even ask herself the question, Misty realized why she'd been so brutal. The League cap; the Pikachu; he even had the same sort of messy hair and big brown eyes. She'd noticed all of this when he came in, but she'd forgotten about it right away...she thought.

Daisy had come over to her. "I'll, like, talk to him. But I don't think he needs us."

"What do you mean?"

Daisy pointed over towards Ken again. He had been joined by his travelling partner, who Misty had barely noticed when they first came in. She was around the same age as he was, if a little taller, with red hair kept in a long braid. She knelt by Ken's side, but while Misty couldn't hear what she was saying, it was clear that she wasn't giving a typical consoling speech. There was a frown on her face and she was shaking her finger at Ken. But her methods had gotten him out of his funk; he seemed much more focused on bickering with her now, even as their hands latched together.

Hands touch, eyes meet

Sudden silence, sudden heat

Hearts leap in a giddy whirl...

A hand fell on Misty's shoulder. Daisy was looking at her with a sad smile. "I think we should close the gym for the day after they leave. We don't need you taking it out on more challengers, right?"

When she was Ken's age, Misty would've blushed and vehemently denied what her sister had just implied. Now, she simply nodded. Without another look at her challenger and his friend, she stepped off her platform and slipped down the hall leading from the battle arena to the main lobby.

Her bike was there, right outside the glass doors, chained to one of the pillars. What started it all. Beyond the bike was the path that led away from the gym, away from Cerulean. Not a day had passed since she'd taken up the role of gym leader where Misty hadn't thought at least once about striking out on that path again. She'd been needed - was still needed - here at home, and she was happy and proud of the work she'd done. But something inside her still longed to roam. And would roam again, someday - someday soon, if Daisy kept up with her lessons.

And if she hadn't dreamt of going down the path, she'd dreamt of someone coming up it to see her.

Don't dream too far

Don't lose sight of who you are

Don't remember that rush of joy

He could be that boy...

While never as prim and proper as her sisters, Misty did like to keep a clean bedroom. It was anything but right now. Her busy schedule didn't leave her much time clean as it was, but she'd been in no state of mind to care about appearances since the call. Her sheets were ruffled, papers and books lay scattered everywhere, and the garbage bin was overstuffed with containers from all the cheap take-out places she'd ordered her meals from.

At least it's no messier than I am, Misty thought as she caught herself in the mirror. She'd been swimming laps for almost an hour when Ken had turned up, and she'd had no time to change or shower off before the match. She was sticky with dried sweat and pool water, her hair was fried from the chlorine, and she could still taste the salt of the sea water pool on her lips.

"Psy?"

Psyduck waddled over to her from the bed, carrying a light blue swimming jacket and dark blue short shorts in his flippers. The dope had popped out of his pokéball during the call and had refused to go back in since. Misty had stopped trying to return him; she was glad for the company.

"Thanks, Psyduck." She slipped into the shorts first, then tossed the jacket over her white bathing suit. Her bed was what she came up here for, but it didn't seem worth the effort to cross the room, so she fell into the chair at her desk instead. It was covered, as it had been for two weeks, with photos. Photos she'd taken, photos she'd had taken, photos she'd been sent. The common figure linking them all wasn't her; it was a Murcrow-haired trainer with chocolate eyes and a great big smile. Misty was with him in some of the pictures, but not in any on top of the pile. Those were the ones Ash had sent from Kalos.

"Sent" was being generous. He'd dropped Misty a line a few times during his latest League quest, but most of the pictures, and most of her news of him, came from Mrs. Ketchum. She'd made sure to keep Misty even more in the loop for Kalos, not only to keep the girl up-to-date on Ash's journey, but because she knew how much a romantic like Misty loved Kalos culture. The photo nearest to her was taken at the base of Prism Tower in Lumiose City, the one place in the world Misty most wanted to visit before she died. When she and Ash were travelling together, she used to fantasize that they'd take on the Kalos League after Johto and spend plenty of time in the city. And while Brock was distracted by the local Joys and Jennys, she and Ash could slip off to the tower...

Every so often we long to steal

To the land of what-might-have-been

But that doesn't soften the ache we feel

When reality sets back in...

With Ash at Prism Tower were his Kalosian friends; a roly-poly boy with glasses, a little blonde instantly recognizable as the boy's sister, and a beautiful girl. Misty knew all their names, had even talked to them the two or three times Ash had called her. Serena was soft-voiced and a little shy on the phone, but she had been perfectly sweet and charming when they talked. Ash and Mrs. Ketchum had nothing but nice things to say about the girl. Misty had really liked Serena, and had no reason to be upset with her.

Except the way she looked at Ash. And talked to him. And talked about him. And how, when their time as travel companions came to an end, she'd said good-bye to him.

Mrs. Ketchum always called when Ash came home from a League. When she'd called after Kalos, Tracey had happened to ring at the same time, so they'd made it a conference call. Both of them had seemed a little nervous, but Misty couldn't imagine why. Until, while talking about Ash's flight, Tracey had let the news slip. News that they clearly hadn't wanted to break to her, but aside from one good scream, Misty felt she'd taken it well. After all, it wasn't the first time. And at least Serena was a nice girl, not some hot-stuff festival maiden looking to show off. Jealousy was much easier to keep under control when the one stealing a kiss from Ash was a sweetheart half a world away.

Still, once the cat was out of the bag, she couldn't help but ask questions, and she wouldn't let her callers dodge them. It seemed that Ash hadn't been himself since he'd told his mother about that kiss. He'd taken to that most un-Ash of activities: brooding. And, when he'd paid a visit to Oak Ranch, Tracey had walked in on him making a phone call to Brock, asking for girl advice.

A call he'd immediately come to regret, from what Tracey had heard, but that didn't change the facts. Ash Ketchum; the boy Misty had followed all over the continent for three years and met up with as often as she could for another two; the young man whose exploits she'd followed for the three years since meeting up stopped being an option; the reason every stab she made at dating fell apart; direction-challenged, thick-headed, Pokémon-obsessed, big-hearted, hero-playing Ash Ketchum had finally been turned on to girls by a kiss.

And it wasn't Misty's.

Blithe smile, lithe limb

She who's winsome...she wins him

Gold hair with a gentle curl

That's the girl he chose

And Heaven knows

I'm not that girl...

She'd made it through the rest of the call well enough. She'd even managed to smile and change the subject. Only after Mrs. Ketchum and Tracey had let her go had the tears started. Only then had the rage kicked in as she lashed out at Psyduck, screaming at her poor Pokémon all the things she wanted to scream at Ash. When her anger was spent, the tears got worse, and she'd pulled the duck into a tight hug, crying into his feathers for the rest of the night.

She hadn't cried since. That had to be a good thing, right? That when it's obvious that your childhood crush turned much, much more is in love with someone else, you only let the water works flow once?

Of course, she'd been crying inside for the two weeks after the call, so that didn't help her argument.

"Psy."

Psyduck had taken hold of her legs. The look in his eyes as he stared up at her was as uncomprehending as ever, but his feathers felt warm.

"Well," she smiled, reaching down to pat the water fowl's head, "at least I'll always have one dopey man in my life, right?"

"Psy." She assumed that meant yes.

"YOU!"

Daisy might have been in the room for how loud her voice was. From shock Misty kicked out, sending Psyduck crashing into the book case.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Psyduck!" She started over towards him.

"YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE SHOWING UP HERE, KID!"

"Wha - what did I do?"

Ash.

Psyduck would be fine, she decided - the dumb duck crashed himself into at least three things a day. She bolted out the door, following the sound of her sister's screaming.

"DON'T YOU PLAY DUMB WITH ME, MISTER! YOU'RE LUCKY I ANSWERED THE DOOR, OR ELSE YOU'D, LIKE, TOTALLY HAVE GYARADOS IN YOUR FACE RIGHT NOW!"

"Huh? Why would Gyarados -"

"YOU'RE NOT EVEN HERE FOR HER, ARE YOU? YOU JUST WANT A BATTLE OR A TRADE, OR SOME ADVICE ON HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR FROAKIE OR WHATEVER!"

"Actually, he already evolved, but -"

"WHERE'S YOUR FLOOZY, ANYWAY?"

"My what? Look, is Misty -"

"IF YOU THINK I'M LETTING YOU ANYWHERE NEAR MY SISTER, THEN YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING -"

"Daisy!"

Misty practically slid into the lobby. Her sister was flush with rage, and her fists were trembling. Ash stood back by the doors, looking utterly lost. So did Pikachu, though he perked up as soon as he saw Misty. With a happy "Pikachupi!" he leapt from Ash's shoulder, bounded across the room, and jumped into Misty's arms.

"It's OK, Daisy," Misty said, smiling in spite of herself as Pikachu cuddled against her. "I can handle this."

Daisy looked as if she wanted to say are you sure, but she nodded and walked back toward the battle area, stopping to give Ash the death glare and the "I'm watching you" sign with her fingers.

"What's her problem?" Ash asked as soon as the blonde Waterflower was out of earshot.

"Nothing." She's just learned to be a good sister. Misty hadn't exactly told Daisy and the others what had upset her so much, so they'd guessed. They hit close to the mark, but their imaginations had also invented a whole mess of shady details that weren't true and weren't fair, to Ash or Serena. Misty hadn't been in the mood to correct them, but as much as part of her loved seeing Daisy cow Ash like that, she couldn't let him suffer.

"It's been a long time, Ash." Her standard greeting.

"Yeah." His standard reply. He'd grown since they met last. He was taller than her now, with a lanky build, and he'd started to grow some side burns. She stayed at the mouth of the hallway, and he stayed over by the doors. Pikachu climbed from her arms to her shoulder, his little paws digging into her hair.

"I saw your final match in the Kalos League. I'm really proud of you, Ash. That was an amazing battle."

"Oh..." Ash's hand went to the back of his head as he gave her an almost sheepish grin. "You saw that?"

"Uh-huh. And I was with your mom watching the news when Team Flare attacked. You really had us worried." Not that they ever weren't worried about him. He doesn't have me to pull him out of the water anymore. She wondered if Serena was a strong enough swimmer to save him, because knowing Ash, it was a miracle he hadn't been in a near-drowning situation in Kalos.

"Yeah - it was amazing, Misty!" And he was off, regaling her with a cliff notes version of all his exploits since his last message. His storytelling had improved over the years, and if he still bragged a little, Misty didn't mind. He asked after the gym too, and she did her best to make it sound more exciting than it was. There were some pointed barbs and shots thrown back and forth, but that was just how they were. It was nice. It was as if she'd never had to leave him.

And never had she more wished she hadn't had to than now.

"So what's next, Ash?" she finally asked him. "Are you going to try re-challenging one of the Leagues you've already faced?"

"Actually, we're going on vacation!"

"Pika!"

"Yeah, Mr. Mime won us a trip to Alola. We're leaving from Vermillion City in two days!"

"That's amazing! I wish I could go!" If Lumiose City was first on her bucket list, Alola was second. The Orange Islands had been nice, but Alola had all those Water Pokémon she'd never seen. The island trials were fascinating. And the beaches...she could just imagine walking along one at sunset as the tide came in, hand in hand with...

Don't wish. Don't start

Wishing only wounds the heart...

"Ahem."

She'd been staring off into space, she realized. She turned back to Ash. He was standing up tall, and he looked more mature, and more serious, than she'd ever seen him.

"I'm glad I caught you before I left, Misty. There's something I need to tell you."

"Oh?"

He nodded. Some of the maturity left him as he looked away nervously, hand back behind his head. Pikachu hopped from Misty's shoulder and ran back to his master to give his leg an encouraging pat. Ash smiled down at his starter before looking back up at Misty.

"See, when I left Kalos, Serena... it shouldn't have been a big deal. I mean, I was surprised, but it's not like girls haven't kissed me before. Or Pokémon. The name of her flight was even Latias, if you can..."

He stopped; something on Misty's face must have tipped him off how little she liked where he was going with that. "Anyway - I didn't really think about it 'til I got home, but after I told Mom about it...I knew it wasn't the same kind of kiss. I know I've never been good with all this love junk, but...well, it made a lot of funny stuff she did around me make a lot more sense..."

Misty wasn't sure where Ash was going with this. If he was just embarrassed to tell his best friend that he was in love, if he was planning to follow Serena to Hoenn once he got back from vacation, or if his sudden revelations about girls included finally realizing how she felt and he was trying to let her down gently. And she wasn't sure how she'd react when it came time to answer him. Even after all these years, anger was still her go-to cloak for grief, and she lashed out the worst at those she loved most.

What Misty was sure of was that she could never truly give Ash up, and if that meant they would only ever be best friends and that she was doomed to an empty love life, then she'd just have to find a way through this and save the tears for later. She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes, steeling herself for what she was sure was coming.

I wasn't born for the rose and the pearl

There's a girl I know

He loves her so...

"Yeah..." she opened her eyes. He'd come much, much closer. "And it made a lot of funny stuff that you - that we - always do around each other make sense too..."

...I am that girl?

Lest there be any confusion - yes. Yes she is. And presumably, it never occurred to Ash to tell his mother or Tracey or anyone else just who he was brooding over, hence the confusion. Sudden epiphany ≠ cure for lifelong denseness.

#pokeshipping #satokasu #aaml #fan fiction #ash ketchum #misty waterflower #wicked #i'm not that girl #z's fics

92 notes · View notes