#rory has comms open!!!

[waffles-art-writing]

JOKER - Task Force 141 x Reader

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First post - please ignore any mistakes as I write this on my phone at like midnight most of the time haha. Be Nice :’). Anyway, enjoy! Sorry if any of the slang or anything like that is wrong. I’ve never lived there (I’m in Australia)

GIF: thewriterg

Proofread: Half-assed proof-read sorry.

I got inspo for this from the song “Joker -Rory Webley”.

Summary: Joker (you) gets captured on a mission. Ghost and Soap search high and low for you as Gaz and Price gain as much information as they can about the man they suspect has taken you. Will you make it out and get back to your team?

Pairing: Task Force 141!Platonic x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4.4K Roughly - kinda long sorry

Age Rating: 16+ Preferably, unless you can handle goreish stuff- otherwise anyone can read it

Codename: JOKER

Key: Y/N - Your Name, Y/N/N - Nickname. L/N - Last Name

Warning/Info: third person??, descriptions of injury, blood, weapons, normal COD stuff, mentions of Torture, Kidnapping, Childhood trauma, angst?? I think… FLUFF, Soft!Ghost. If theres anything I need to add please say so :)

EDIT: If this gets enough traction or if you guys want! I am more than happy to make a part two or turn it into a whole mini series :) Thanks for all the likes and reblogs <3 (Here’s the part Two)

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The rolling thunder in the distance rumbles, you can feel it through the ground. The air is thick with the feeling of rain, but not a single drop has touched the dry and dusty earth you are currently laying on. You’re watching the rest of the team work their way through the small village, your thermal scope making them glow like glow sticks at a rave. “Joker, how copy?” Price’s voice crackles to life in your ear, you press the button on the comms to reply. “Hear you loud an’ clear Cap” you reply, clicking the button to the pressed position to keep the comms open, you’re watching Ghost and Soap clean house in one of the larger ruins of a house.

“Do you ‘ave eyes on the target yet?” Price’s stern voice rumbles in your ear again. You adjust the scope to get a larger field of view, scanning all the windows in the dilapidated village. Your eyes narrow as you watch a figure poke their head around a wall not far from Ghost and Soap’s position. “Not yet Sir, but there's a shifty guy looking for Ghost and Soap” you comment “Ghost do a one eighty… some guy is looking for you from the building with a red door.” You pick up a low grunt in response from Ghost as Price acknowledges what you’ve said. You’re zoned in on watching any and all movement not yet spotting who you are looking for.

Sweat forms on your brow as you continue watching for any shifty people, the balaclava you wear has red paint smeared on it like a smile like the joker from Batman, the fabric is not helping with the heat. The faint sound of dirt shifting draws your attention from the scope, you push yourself to your knees while spinning around to face the source of the sound. Your glock raises steadily as you lift your arms in front of yourself, the pounding of your heart is deafening, blood pumping quickly, breathing quickens. You scan your surroundings, you’ve perched yourself just in front of a moderately sized group of boulders, shrouded in twiggy bushes.

The little amount of sun casts harsh shadows on the ground as you rock yourself up into a crouched position, your feet light on the ground as you stay close to the boulders. Your breathing falters as you see a shadow not matching up to a group of bushes and rocks in front of you. You whip around to the sound of more footsteps, your vision blurs, you feel your body go numb, black spots decorating your vision like snowfall. The faint sound of Ghost’s stern voice and Soap’s concern calls can be heard as your vision fades to nothing.

“Joker, do you have a visual?” Ghost asks as he looks over the wall he’s crouched behind, Soap just a few feet away. “Joker? Lass, can you hear us?” Soap barks out as he looks over his shoulder towards Ghost, his brows knitted together as he watches Ghost try reaching you again. “Price! Can you reach Joker?” Soap quickly questions through the comms, his mind running a thousand miles a minute as he tries to figure out what happened to you. “You two need to get the fuck out of there now, Joker’s been compromised.” Price barks through the radio, his voice commanding as ever as he himself looks over to Gaz who is desperately trying to figure out why you're not responding. “What?” Soap breathes out as he looks up towards the hill you were perched on, trying to see if you’re still there but to no avail. Ghost is quick as he spits out commands to Soap to follow him to the rendezvous spot you all agreed on if something went south.

“Sir, the locator she has is saying she’s still where she was before the comms went dark.” Gaz states as he types furiously across the keyboard, his eyes flicking between maps and coordinates. “The fuck is going on Gaz?” Price asks as he looks over the younger man’s shoulder. Price runs a hand down his face as he watches the white dot on the map blink, his heart skips a beat when he watches the light go out completely. “Fuck! No, no, no. Come on” Gaze mumbles as he tries to get the locator back online, his attempts falling short of the goal he wishes he reached. “Ghost, Soap, can you see Joker anywhere at all?” Price curses under his breath as he watches Ghost and Soap’s lights nearing the rendezvous spot. “Nothing… What the fuck is going on Gaz?!” Soap sneers down the line, Ghost staying quiet as he looks around, looking where you would’ve been coming from up on the ridge line.

“I don’t know, her locator is offline.”

“I thought you couldn’t turn ‘em off without smashin’ ‘em or disconnectin’ from our comms?” Soap growls out.

“You can turn them off if you know the correct button order but they are hard to get to without the proper tools”

“What do ya mean Gaz?” Ghost questions.

Gaz rubs his brow as he looks at the map again. “She either had to have the patience to disconnect it without breaking it, or someone broke it…” his words hang heavy over everyone’s head, everyone knows you’re not the patient kind, nor are you one to smash her own locator without telling them beforehand or without good reason.

“She’s been taken…” Soap’s voice cuts through the silence, everyone knows deep down that's what has happened yet they don’t want to believe it. “You two go search where she was, try to find anything you can on what happened to her. We need to get her back.” Price growls out, he marches out of the room where he was with Gaz, his footsteps echoing around the building.

Your heart is thumping, body aching, throat dry as the Sahara Desert. Your eyes hurt like they have been stabbed with nails. A small groan escapes you as you attempt to move, nothing happens. Your vision is blurry as you look down at yourself, noticing the rope around your wrists and ankles, securely tied to the chair you have the opportunity to sit in. “Wha- What the hell…” your voice is scratchy, hoarse, but clear. Your head snaps up, your eyes widening as you notice the balaclava you hardly ever took off is now missing, it's gone, your face on full display. “Welcome to the waking world Joker… or should we call you Y/N?” Your breath hitches as the voice sounds out from behind you.

You attempt to look at the man who spoke, your attempt failing as a hand comes to grip your hair holding your head forward. “Get your hands off me!” You scream, attempting to loosen yourself from the binds and get away from the bastard that's behind you. “Oh don’t be so harsh now” “Get your fuckin’ hands off of me you bastard!” “Now, now Y/N don’t be so… callous” his voice drips with a sickly sweet tone, your skin crawling as you watch him walk around to the front of you. You stare at him, brows furrowed, jaw clenched as you see it is the same man you were tasked with finding and killing.

“Cat got your tongue?” His eyes roam your body, the shirt you are wearing now sticking to you from sweat, your combat pants covered in dirt just like your shirt. Boots gone. “My eyes are up here you arsehole” you sneer as you watch his eyes trail back up to yours. They are dark, not dark like Ghost’s cold and calculating stare. They are dark like a man with sinister intentions, a predator who’s on the verge of snapping and turning into a hellbent rabid dog.

“Why are ya doing this? If you want information ye ain’t getting it outta me you sick bastard. You’re just a coward hiding behind a name.” Your voice darkens as you stare him down “You won’t even survive five seconds out there if it weren’t for yer’ guards or yer’ stupid little posse that kisses the earth ya walk on!” The man stares at you, his movements blur in the low light of the dark room. The cold blade of a knife traces along your cheek. “I wonder how you got these scars…” his voice trails off as he follows the pale scar that runs along the apple of your left cheek going towards your nose. The scar is from your early years in the armed forces, you were sparring with a fellow comrade which ended up with you face in the dirt and cutting your cheek on the end of the rough mat you were on.

“How about this one?” The tip of the knife pushes against the corner of your mouth, a small scar going to the side, almost like it’s extending your smile by a fraction. You’ve had it since you were young, you were using a stake knife, you were playing around with the knife and using it like a fork. Your parents were out and they left a steak for the babysitter to cook, yet the sitter was distracted by her phone. You accidentally moved the knife slicing the corner of your mouth open. Your parents ended up scolding you while you sat on a bed in the overnight section of the local doctors surgery.

“That’s none of ya fucking business” you sneer as you lean away from the blade. “Well I’ll now know where this one will come from, hold still… let’s match the joker smile that’s on your mask to your pretty little face shall we?” “No, no no no no no no!”

Boots splash in the puddles of mud, rain falling heavily from the clouds overhead, grumbles of curses can be heard throughout the group as they march through the drenched ground. Soap is quick to push the door to the safe house open, Gaz not far behind, followed by Price, Ghost a few strides out. Price immediately heads to the wall decorated in maps and sheets of information, Gaz opening the laptop on the closest surface. Soap looks over to Ghost. His shoulders rigid, eyes set in a hard stare, hand in tight hold around the strap of the rifle case you decorated with patches from all the places you’ve been.

The gun was gone, you were gone, but the case was still there sitting in the dirt.

Soap and Ghost looked around the area you were in, just as they were getting close, the clouds opened up the heavy rain fell, it drenched the earth quickly like a burst fire hydrant. Ghost was the one to spot the case hap-hazardly thrown into the bushes off to the side. Ghost knew you adored making at least something personalised, make it seem less… daunting…

Ghost places the case on the table, keeping a hand on it as Soap steps up next him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “The lass is probably already on her way back to us L.T…” Soap quietly states, his voice low. “She’s strong… she’ll be back with us in no time”. Ghost looks to Soap out the corner of his eye, watching the Scotsman walk off towards Price. “She better…” His voice is low, a small hint of worry dancing in his tone as he runs a gloved hand over the patches on the case.

The taste of iron rests on your tongue. Blood.

Throbbing, stinging pain burns across your face. Pain.

The burning feeling of aching muscles flows through your legs, arms, back… Just everywhere.

All you see is red, the colour of blood, the smell of death. The corpses of men littler the corridor you stand in, the men that once beat you to a bloody pulp, talked down upon you like you’re some barnyard rat.

Sound of blood rushing fills your head. Your feet drag across the ground as you limp over the dead men towards the door, the door that leads to the outside world, to your escape, to your freedom… to your team.

Rain, water, cool air, wet ground. You let the rain run down your face, your hair a tousled mess as it clings to your forehead. From sweat? From rain or from blood? You don’t know and you don’t care as you stumble through the slippery mud. Your mind is flooded with the desire to get somewhere warm and dry, to be surrounded by your team, your friends, your found family.

The dark silhouette of the safe house can be seen amongst the other small village buildings, the safe house isn’t far from where the mission was taking place, it was for convenience. It was just over half an hour by car, but by foot it was just over seven hours of nonstop walking. Your feet are red with blisters from walking across the earth. You were lucky enough to find a quad bike off to the side of the run down building you were held in, but it quickly ran out of gas within the first 10 minutes of riding it. You were close to giving up right there and then, you were barely able to stay upright, your grip on the handlebars was almost non-existent. You dumped the dead bike in a ditch, not giving a shit about how out of place it looked.

Four hours of nonstop walking, rain, mud, wind and the occasional moments of running to avoid being spotted by someone driving past.

Tears rim your eyes as you approach the front door of the safe house, inputting the code in the keypad, your breathing ragged as you nudge the door, the creaking of hinges sounding out, muttering can be heard from behind the door leading into the main common room. Using your good shoulder, the doors open quickly and the voices go silent as they turn to the sound of the doors opening. Your eyes are half lidded, your right hand clutching your left bicep. “I-.. I’m sorry…” your voice comes out mumbled, your legs quiver as you feel yourself tipping forwards.

Ghost turns to the doors, his back once to them, his eyes widened as he sees your tired, bloodied and dirty face. “I-.. I’m sorry…” his feet moving before he even realises he’s moving, Soap right behind him. “I’ve got you kid, I’ve got you…” he mumbles as his arms wrap around your waist, his grip firm but careful to not hurt you any further. “Lass…” Soap’s voice is soft as he approaches you and Ghost. Your face is pushed up against Ghost’s chest, blood still dripping down your face. Your hands clutch to Ghost’s tactical vest, the rough surface rubbing against the deep gashes that drag heavily across your cheeks. “J-Johnny…” you whimper out as your hazy eyes focus on the blue eyed Scotsman next to you. “I’m here Lass, don’t worry.”

Only you and Ghost have the pleasure of calling the ruthless Sergeant Soap MacTavish ‘Johnny’.

Everything around you is muffled, nothing is coherent enough for your fizzled mind to make out. You feel your body get scooped out from under you, your head leans into the junction of Ghost’s neck and shoulder. His broad frame keeps you stable and warm, Soap is rushing ahead to the kitchen moving everything out of the way on the small island bench. “Shit, kid, what did they do to you…” Price curses, his question comes out more like a statement. “I… I didn’t tell... I didn’t s-say… anything” your mumbled words slur as you lean into Ghost more. “Don’t close your eyes L/N. Keep those pretty eyes open.”

‘Did he call my eyes pretty?’

You whimper when Ghost places you on the kitchen island, grabbing the med kit from Gaz who was running in from getting it from the bathroom. Price is standing to your right, Gaz next to him. Ghost to your left, while Soap wraps a tourniquet around your left thigh.

“We gotta cut your pants lass, I know you like these ones” Soap chuckles lightly as opens the pant leg up to your thigh. He’s quick to clean the bullet wound that marks your flesh. Ghost has gone quiet, his whole body rigid from head to toe, his hands working quickly to rip open your shirt, not hesitating to run his hands gently down your ribs. “Gaz, get a bowl of warm water” Soap barks out as he realises what state your feet are in, his touch is firm but careful.

Your body feels numb, the men around you are fuzzy, your eyes roam Price’s face as he holds your shoulders down when Soap says he’s gonna have to dig the bullet out. You don’t move, other than a pained and strained cry leaves you as you feel Soap pulling the bullet out. It wasn’t too deep. Thank god.

“Joker, look at me girl. Keep your eyes on me, that's it sweetheart.” Price’s voice is stern, commanding, as he desperately tries to keep you awake. “I’m sorry C- Cap…” Price shakes with his head lightly, a small smirk playing on his lips. “I know, kid, I know. You just need to keep talking, okay? Can you do that?” You nod your head slightly, cringing when Ghost touches a bruised rib while applying anti-inflammatory cream to it, hoping to ease the pain. “Ow- you arse…” you mumble as you glance at Ghost, who’s eyes squint slightly like he’s smirking. “M’sorry, keep your eyes on Price for me.” He says gently as he takes a damp cloth to your cheek. You flinch away harshly, tears falling down your face even quicker now. The adrenaline is wearing off quickly, the pain from everything is bubbling to the surface.

“No. No no no” you whimper out as you try to hide your face away from Ghost’s touch. Price and Ghost swap positions naturally. You glance up at Ghost whose face is now upside down when he looks at you, your eyes blurry with tears. “Kid… Love, you gotta look at me. I need to clean your face to see where you’re bleeding from.” His voice is muffled by the Balaclava, and hard skull mask adorning the dark fabric.

“He- He said let’s m-match the mask… make my f-face match my mask… he-” your pained voice states, tears streaming down your face, Price’s grip on your hand and shoulder tightens. Gaz’s hand’s still from cleaning the cuts and scrapes around your ankles and feet. Soap halts his bandaging of your thigh, they all stare at you with stormy eyes, filled with rage. Ghost’s hands cup your jaw gently, his fingers twitching with adrenaline from the rage, his eyes darken as he stares into your teary and puffy eyes. “I’m gonna fucking kill him…” he sneers lowly, your voice sounds like a small kitten when you speak.

“You can’t….” “Why can’t he kill ‘em Lass?” Soap questions as he secures the bandage around your thigh. “He’s… he’s already dead… I killed him.” Your voice breaks when a sob racks through your body. “He’s dead, in a puddle of his own blood… I killed him…” you repeat, “… he’s unrecognisable now…” you lift your hand to place it on Ghost’s forearm. Your hands shake as you do so, Ghost snaps out of whatever trance of rage and concern he was in. He nods his head, Price has gone to call for a medic evac, Gaz and Soap continue cleaning any other wounds you have.

You lean into Ghost’s touch, allowing him to clean one side of your face at a time. The gashes are reasonably deep, not deep enough feel from the inside of your cheeks thankfully. “I can’t stitch these L/N… the doctor will have to do that. All I can do is cover them with gauze and tape…” he sounds sorry, only slightly, his eyes still burning with anger but there is some softness of concern in them. “Just… just do what you can Ghost…” the man nods as he gently sits you up, allowing him to see if the wounds will bleed when you are up right.

You sit there, eyes heavy and dull. The dried tear stains are still on your cheeks as Ghost gently applies antiseptic cream and gauze, followed by medical tape. You wince at his touch. You feel like you just got your wisdom teeth removed, your head cloudy, your face aching, eyes sore.

“Ghost the heli will be here in five minutes, is she ready to move?” Price barks out as he walks over. Gaz and Soap throwing anything dirty and used away in the trash. Ghost looks from Price to you, his eyes scanning your body from head to toe. Noticing the skin around your ribs already turning a dark blue and purple. That’s gonna hurt. Your hands shake as you push yourself to stand on the ground, as soon as your feet touch the ground your knees give way.

Ghost is clutching you to his chest, you whimper as you clutch to him like your life depends on it. “Doesn’t look like it, Sir.” Ghost states as he keeps his arms under your arms, to keep you upright. “Well, gotta carry her then.” Ghost just nods as he leans back, making you look up at him. “Johnny’s gonna carry you okay?” Ghost states as he sees Soap approach you two, one of his shirts in hand and a blanket. “… O-... Okay…” You look over at Soap and let one of your hands reach out to him, doing a grabby-hand motion.

The Scotsman chuckles as he moves over, slipping the spare shirt around your head, slipping your arms through it gently. Ghost wraps the blanket around your shoulders, making sure you’re snug once you’re in Soap’s arms. “Comfy there Lass?” His low chuckle makes you smile as you lean into him more, letting your eyes close. “Yeah… just tired…” you mumble as you nuzzle into his neck, his cologne comforting you in a way. “Don’t sleep just yet, we gotta get you outta here.” He states as he walks to the door, following Gaz and Price. Ghost behind you with your belongings and Soaps rifle and his own. “Keep talkin’ to us, love.” Ghost states as he makes eye contact with you, you nod your head gently. The sound of the chopper overhead is loud, the wind from the blades and the rain makes you bring the blanket up more, making you curl in on yourself.

“Can they go any fuckin’ slower?” Soap laughs at your complaint about waiting for the chopper to land. “I don’t think so or they would stall Lass.” You chuckle with Soap as he tightens his grip on you as you approach the chopper, a medic is there waiting, you groan as you realise that Soap has to put you down. You wrap your arms around his neck, hugging him tightly to show you don't want to be out down. “No.” The medic looked at you confused, she was ready to help you with your injuries. “Lass we gotta put-” “No. No. No.” You cower further into Soap’s chest as you see the medic reach for you. “Fuck off!” You growl, Soap’s arms wrap around you further as he gets comfortable in the chopper. Ghost sits next to him, Price is up by the pilot, Gaz on the other side of Soap.

The ride back to the main base of operations is quick, there's mostly silence amongst everyone, other than the medic who keeps asking questions about your injuries. Soap mainly answers, Ghost pitching in when needed. The whole time you kept your face hidden in Soap’s shoulder or neck, keeping the blanket up by your face.

You wouldn't let go of Soap until you were in the medical wing, laying on a bed. But even then you wanted at least one of the boys to be in the room. The nurses and head medic came in and out the entire time, asking questions upon questions, preparing you for further treatment of your condition. You eventually fell asleep after getting some pain medication and proper medical attention to all the injuries.

But when it came to stitching up the gashes that made you look like the real-life Joker from Batman, you requested Ghost or Soap to be there. They both ended up being in the room, Ghost and Soap were standing to your left, your face turned towards them, having the left side already dealt with and covered. The head medic did whatever he could to help lessen the scarring. Ghost was like a brick wall, unmoving, cold eyes as he watched the medic. Soap was letting you play with his hands, and fingers, which allowed him to play with yours in return.

Blinding lights.

The smell of cleaning products.

Beeping. Bloody Beeping.

Your eyes crack open, your nose scrunching as the blinding lights flood your vision. Your head feels heavy, and your body aches. You hear the sound of the heart monitor and another softer sound. You look around the small room, three figures can be found in the room. Soap and Gaz leaning their heads on the bed. Your right hand is held in Soap’s as he snores softly, Gaz leaning on his arms that are crossed on the bed, out cold. Ghost in the armchair in the dark corner of the room, his chin to his chest, safe to say he’s probably asleep. The door to the room opens softly, you see Price closing the door with his foot.

He smiles when he sees you awake, he approaches and places two paper cups on the table next to you. His hand falls to your shoulder, a light squeeze in greeting. You smile up at him, your free hand wrapping around his. “Got you some juice, they said not hot liquid for a week…” he mumbles softly as he hands you the paper cup. “Thanks, Cap.” You softly say, barely above a whisper, your voice scratchy from just waking up. “Those two-“ Price points to Soap and Ghost “-have been here the whole time, Gaz got up to get food for them but otherwise he's been here most of the time.” “And you?” “I came just after you passed out, Laswell sends her regards as well.” You nod in acknowledgment, your eyes finding sudden interest in the liquid in your cup.

“You did good kid, I’m proud of you.” You look up to Price who is now sipping his coffee, tears form in your eyes as you nod your head. “Drink your juice kid, get some sleep too.” He states as he ruffles your hair.

You are safe, protected, inside, warm and dry. Surrounded by your team, your friends, your found family.

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#fanfic #x reader #soap cod #ghost cod #soap mactavish #ghost mw2 #simon ghost riley #soap mw2 #141 x reader #task force 141 #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare #cod mwii #cod x reader #ghost x reader #soap x reader #x yn #soap x y/n #ghost x y/n #soap x you #ghost x you #simon ghost riley x reader #john soap mactavish #john soap mctavish x reader #x you fluff #ghost fluff #soap fluff #simon riley fluff #fluff #angst with a happy ending

[socially-awkward-skeleton]

3, 8, 10, 15 for Rory x Price 💕

thank you so much cayman!! tagging @kyber-infinitygems since you also asked for 8 and 10 :)

3) By contrast, what was the moment that first made their ~heart~ Soft for the other person? Not necessarily a conscious realization of “I love this person,” but a moment that had them like “Oh...I adore them...”

For Rory the big moment of "Oh...I think I'm soft" really comes in the scenes I've shared during WIP Wed with the tending to wounds scene. It's the first real moment of vulnerability from the both of them, finally letting down the whole "I'm a tough soldier and a hard ass" facade and for her to get to see that more tender side to Price basically breaks down a lot of the barriers for her. It's no longer just lust, it's something more.

For Price, it's definitely after (spoilers) he's heard her fighting for her life over comms, expecting to have to save her and instead finding her standing there as the victor. It makes his little heart go pitter-patter knowing that beneath the soft exterior of her there's the soldier willing to do whatever just like him.

8) What do they think about romantic love? Do they have baggage surrounding it? Do they idealize it? Is it an object of longing and wanting, or were they really not thinking about it until they started falling for the other character? What are their expectations like?

Rory is deathly afraid of romantic love, after witnessing her parent's divorce as a child, having her father leave Canada and return to the UK resulting in her mother having to raise her alone, she's got a lot of baggage surrounding that part of her past (lots of abandonment issues) and it generally makes her push the whole idea of a full fledged romance out of her head, instead focusing all of her energy on her career giving her yet more excuses for why she can't make relationships work. Relationships and romance were something Rory often didn't put much thought into, preferring casual dalliances while on leave, the thought of even having something more than that only started to happen once Price sorta dropped into her lap and despite them being different people from when they last met, they seemed to fit each other even better. She doesn't really know what to expect, especially since their romance has to be kept a secret from the brass, so for a long time she doesn't really expect it to even last.

Price has never had much time for romantic love, jumping from one fight into another, it was easier to keep himself from being tied down so he was able to hop on the next blackhawk and head off into another warzone. It also meant he didn't have to worry about someone left at home to worry about him, giving him even more to think about while trying to lead and keep his soldiers alive. In his heart of hearts, John absolutely would love to get married and have kids (he's got that dad energy lol) but I think he's also given himself over to the idea that it will never happen and it's probably easier to just stay married to his job. So when Rory appears he's thrown for a bit of a loop, especially knowing that in the grand scheme he really shouldn't be feeling feelings for her because it could basically be a career ender for him, and yet...

10) What scares them about entering a relationship?

Rory's greatest fear about entering a relationship is becoming attached to someone and then having them leave her. She has suffered a lot of loss in her life and she's not sure how much more she can handle. She also fears opening up, there's a lot about her past in the military that she can't share with most people (not just because it's classified, but also, because well...it's not exactly easy to bring up the fact that you've helped take part in CIA coups and assassinations, and torturing/interrogations)

With Price his big fear is having his relationship affect his work. He can't afford to be thinking about his SO when he's knee deep in the shit and lives are depending on him. With Rory specifically, there is of course also the fear of just straight up losing his job due to fraternizing with a subordinate which of course leads to them maintaining their secret (yet no so secret amongst friends/confidantes) relationship despite the fact that they both would like to have more. There's also the fact that he too struggles to actually open up regarding the things he's seen and done in his career (let's be honest this man has done some war criminal level stuff) so with most previous relationships he's had to keep his partners at arm's length in that way

15) What, for them, constitutes a level of intimacy that they would only rarely share with someone? This can be physical, emotional, etc.

For the both of them it's very much letting anyone get close enough to actually see the real soft side of them. They both very much function in a world where they have to put on the face of being the hard ass soldier, that the things they do have no effect on them, even if they think they're doing it for the right reasons.

Price has rare moments of real tenderness and vulnerability, where the soldier slips away and instead it's just the man underneath, the one who has nightmares and feels the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Rory is like peeling an onion, she has layers upon layers, a soft face she uses normally (friendly, inviting, and good natured), then there's the stoic soldier ready to do whatever is needed, and under that are the parts of her that are bruised and broken. She does a very good job of protecting her heart and head, and so to open up and share her fears and trauma with anyone is the greatest form of trust and intimacy she can possibly show to anyone.

#thank you for the ask!! #ship asks #ship: you are the sword to my shield #oc: rory sinclair

[andydrysdalerogers]

Aurora ~ Part Seven

Pairings: Andy Barber vs Lloyd Hansen; Andy Barber x OFC Aurora "Rory" Thatcher; Lloyd Hansen x OFC Rory Thatcher

Word Count: 4.8K

Summary: The final showdown begins....

Warnings: implied SMUT 18+, angst, character death

This work is 18+ only. Please heed the warnings and walk away as this story does get violent as it goes on...

Banner by @justawriterand

Mood board and dividers by @firefly-graphics

Series Masterlist ~ Main Masterlist

Andy couldn’t sleep.

He knew he needed rest, but his mind was on Rory. Was she ok?  Did he hurt her? His mind wondered to if Lloyd had taken advantage of her. Knowing his brother, that was a strong possibility and the thought made him violent.  He got up, noticing it was still about an hour before dawn and got ready.  He could hear the rest of his men preparing as well.  This needed to be precise and effective.  If they left one of Lloyd’s men still standing, retaliation would be inevitable.  As Andy pulled out his weapon, his eyes fell on the picture of Rory.  It was from their second date, the carnival.  “I’m coming my love.”

Rory laid awake in her cage.  After Lloyd left her, she crawled to the bathroom and cleaned herself up.  She didn’t want his saliva on her a moment longer.  She was ashamed that she couldn’t stop the release of her own juices from her body.  It felt like betrayal, like cheating on Andy.  Would he ever forgive her for this transgression?  She could only hope. As light began to brighten the room, her anxiety spiked.  Is Andy out there, trying to get to her?  Will he be hurt in the process?  She just wanted this nightmare to be over.  She wanted to be in Andy’s arms forever.

Lloyd laid in his own bed with a smile.  The dress would be ready today and he wouldn’t waste time.  He would marry Aurora today and make sure to leave his mark in her.  His child.  The life he should have had with Laurie, but Andy took that away.  Now he would take this away. He decides to get up early, have some coffee and make sure the security around the house was tight.  He slipped on a robe cover his sweats and walked to the kitchen.  As he prepared his coffee, he glanced out the window and spotted a movement in the trees.  Looking out he noticed nothing, but something was off.  He headed to the security room.  “Any motion on the cameras?”

“Nothing sir,” one of the morons he hired replied. 

Lloyd always followed his gut instincts, and he knew something wasn’t right.  “Have all teams report in.”

“Teams report in.”

“Alpha team check.”

“Bravo team check.”

“Charlie team check.”

And then there was silence.

“Delta team check in.  Report in Delta team.”

Lloyd had enough.  “Get the Solider to post now, all teams in defensive positions. I’m headed to defend my girl.  Take no prisoners.” As her got to his own room, he slipped on a polo and pants, his knife holster to the side, his rifle in his arms. He ran to Aurora’s room and began to unlock it.  The Soldier appeared and takes a defensive crouch next to the door.  “Nobody goes in, understand?”

“Sir.”

Andy’s men surrounded the house, taking out the men that surrounded the perimeter.  They watched as the remaining men took up defensive positions around the house.  “Boss, chief of police has cleared the houses around the home so we should have no innocent casualties,” Nick said over comms. 

“Was Rogers amiable?”

“He was furious that Hansen was hold up here so anything to get rid of him he was for.”

Andy snorted.  Steve Rogers was always a law-abiding man.  Unless it came to his twin.  Especially after Lloyd screwed his sister and left the poor girl in a traumatized state. “Alright.  I’m headed to the back with Parker and Diskant. Let us know when we have an opening to enter.”

“Copy boss.  Alright, stealth sweep and strike.”

Nick, being former military, had set up the strike perfectly.  He had clusters of men together, trained in hand to hand to bring down Hansen’s men as quietly as possible.  No way to alert the ones inside, though they are sure they have already been tipped off.  Peter has a rope ready and clipped to his belt to help get Rory up the window.

“Boss, we’ve drawn away most of the guards on the outside, but we have no idea how many inside,” Nick says.

“Any casualties?”

“Not yet but if we breach the door, I can’t say we won’t take a hit.  We know the Soldier is still inside.”

“Fuck me.  Ok.  We need a distraction.”  Andy looks around and sees another window.  “Wilson, bring a couple of guys and a smoke grenade.  There’s another window we can lob it in and push them out.”

“What about Rory?”

“Hansen is not stupid.  He’ll protect her as much as he can.  We need to draw the Soldier out.”

Sam gets into position with a couple of men and throws the bomb in.  It flashes and smoke starts to billow out of the window.  Men come pouring out the front and side, allowing Nick and the other to take them out.

“Is he fucking insane?!” Lloyd screams as he closes the door to protect Rory.  He grabs a towel and soaks it in water to put on the floor by the door to stop the smoke from entering.  “Aurora, get in the far corner.”

“Please, let’s just run.  Please.”

“I said get in the goddamm fucking corner.” He back hands her and she falls.  She scoots back holding her face as Lloyd cocks his gun.  “I don’t know why you just don’t listen to me Aurora.  I’m trying to protect you.”

“I hate you.  I wish I could just die.”

“Believe me, it would have been easier at this point to kill you, but I’ve had a taste and I want it all,” he sneered.  Smoke continues to seep in, and Lloyd decides to take a chance and open the window.  He’s thankful he’s tall and can reach the window.  Smoke starts to clear out of the room as Rory coughs from the inhalation.  “Ok baby, just breathe.”  He rubs her back, and she pushes him away.

“Don’t touch me! You already hurt me!”

Andy could hear Rory’s screams and got up to move but Paul stopped him.  “Boss, we have to be smart otherwise she could be hurt.” Andy gritted his teeth, but Paul was right.  They needed to be smart.  They needed to be precise.  He needed to get to his girl. “Parker, go.”

Peter scaled the wall with ease and was able to position himself with a view inside the room.  He could see Rory huddled on the floor in the far corner from the door and Lloyd standing guard.  The smoke made it impossible for Lloyd to see out the window.  Peter than had an idea.  He went to the window that they had thrown the initial grenade in and slipped inside.

“Peter! What are you doing?” Andy hissed.

“Forcing this guy out so you only have one to deal with,” he replied.  He looked out the window to see the Solider still crouch but pointed the other way. He quickly crossed to an adjacent room and threw another smoke bomb.  This one did affect the Soldier and caused him to start coughing.  He moved away from the source in an effort to get air.  Peter smiled.  “Soldier is on his way out.”

The Soldier stumbled; the bomb laced with a gas that was affecting his breathing.  He made it to the door where a shot rang out and the Soldier felt a prick on his neck.  “Son of a …” and he fell.

“Boss, Soldier neutralized.”

“Ready to get your girl?” Paul asked.

“Let’s do it.”  Andy went through the same window Peter did as Paul got ready at the open window. Paul took position and aimed his gun through the window and Lloyd saw the red sight on his chest.  He quickly grabbed Aurora put her in front.

“What are you gonna do, huh, asshole?  Shoot her?  What do you think Andy will do?”

“Shoot you,” Andy appeared in the doorway, gun aimed at his brothers head. He saw his sweetheart, red mark on her face.  “Rory,” he breathed.

“Andy!” Rory struggled against her capture, clawing at his arm.

“Ow, God dammit. Stop that!” Lloyd moves his grip on her from around her waist to around her throat.  She tried to pull his arm away and he squeezed tighter. “She is a feisty one, isn’t she Andrew?”

“Let her go Lloyd.”

“Boring. What are you gonna do? Can’t have your sniper shoot because she is in the line of sight.  Could hurt her.”  Lloyd laughed.  He turned his head into Rory’s hair. “God, she smells so good.  Tastes even better. That sweet nectar she gives, hmm, I could feast on it every day.”

Tears slide down Rory’s cheeks as her adulterous activities have been outed.  “Andy. Andy, I didn’t want to.  I didn’t mean it…”

“Its ok sweetheart.  I know it wasn’t you.”  Andy’s heart clench at her anguish.  She felt guilty for being violated.  Raped.  That wasn’t her fault, and he knew it.

“Yawn.  Love. Gross.  Something for fools.” Lloyd brought her in tighter and she felt it. The knife cover.  And she thinks.

“Ok Rory,” Peter tells her while its slow in the bakery.  “This is a hunting knife.  It’s a crude weapon but effective.”

“Why would I need to know this, Peter?” She asked with a giggle.

“Because most assassins have one on them for a quick, but messy kill.  Knowing what it feels like if you are being held could save your life.  Here,” he pulled Rory close to him, her back to his front.  “Can you feel that?”

“It’s, well, it’s hard,” she said with a blush.  Paul snickered.  “Shut up!”

“Ok, well you are not flush to me so that’s not it,” Peter said gently. “But good, it will feel like hard plastic.  It’s almost aways sheathed here for an easy grab.”

“Ok.” Rory paid rapid attention to him.

Paul cleared his throat.  “The trick is how to lift it off the body.  You want to be subtle but quick.  You may have seconds after the realization you have it to reach.  Try and grab it.”

Rory tried to pull it off Peter but failed miserably. “I don’t know how…”

“Ok, it’s all about subtle movements. If he has you like this, you want to try and turn, make him think you are conceding. That will give you a chance to pull it but not let him feel it.  Now Peter is the same height so it’s harder but try.”

Rory thought of how she turned in Andy’s arms and turned slowly, grasping the handle with her covered hand and dropped her arm to her side.  Paul saw the glint of the knife.  “Peter, did you feel that?”

“No,” he smiled as he looked down to see the knife in her hand.  “Good job.  We’ll keep practicing so that its perfect. Paul is taller so it will give you a great range.”

Rory snapped back to the present.  Lloyd wasn’t looking down at her, so she looked at Andy through her tears and wink.  Andy to his credit didn’t make a move, keeping his face hard.  Rory turned in Lloyd’s arm, her neck receiving a burn from the twist. She palmed the knife and got it out from the sheath. Now to distract.

“Lloyd.  Lloyd, please, let him go.  I’ll leave with you.  Please don’t hurt him.”

Andy’s face turned to horror. “Rory, please. Don’t do this.”

Rory’s face softens as she turned to Andy. “This is how much I love you.” 

He caught it.  The glint of the knife. “Boss, I see it,” he hears from Paul.

“Lloyd, please let her go,” Andy begged.  “Take me instead. Just let her go.”

“You are not creative at all.” Lloyd wrapped his large hand around Rory’s head.  “I think I want to take you in front of him,” he said in a low voice near her ear. “I’ll accept your terms pumpkin.  I’ll let your precious Andy live.”

“Good,” she whispered. 

She thrusted the knife into him, like a knife in butter. Rory was surprised how  easy it slid into his gut.

“Shame you won’t get to see us happy.” 

She withdrew the knife and stuck him again.

The look on Lloyd’s face was shock.  Pure shock. “You bitch,” he whispered.  He dropped to his knees, used his hands to try and stem the blood flow.  He dropped the gun in process. Rory stepped back and dropped the knife as Andy grabbed her arms to pull her away.

“I didn’t want it to come to this,” Andy said.

“It was always going to come to this the moment you took Laurie from me.”

Andy sighed and kneeled in front of Lloyd. “I’m sorry about Laurie.  But you hit her, and she wanted out.” He stood back up and wrapped his arms around Rory, who had been eerily quiet. Rory’s eyes never left Lloyd’s. They were wide, full of anxiety, disbelief.

Lloyd could see she was regretful of her actions, taking a life.  “Pumpkin, don’t worry.  I know you did what you had to do.”

Andy pulled Rory to face him.  “Don’t look. You didn’t kill him ok?”  She nodded as she stared into eyes she thought she would never see again. He wrapped a hand around her head and pulled her close, kissing her temple. “I did,” he whispered as he aimed for Lloyd’s head.

Bang!

Rory woke up with a scream, bolting upright, chest heaving, sweat across her brow.  Andy sat up with her.  “Baby, you’re ok, I’m here,” rubbing her arms.  She threw herself into them, breathing him in and trying to calm herself. Andy pressed sweet kisses to her temple.

The last couple of weeks were the same.  After rescuing Rory, Andy and his team worked on clearing the house.  The Soldier had been subdued the entire time after he had been injected, alive but disoriented.  When Sheriff Rogers came to collect the men who were still alive, he was she shocked to find an old friend among them.  “Bucky?”

“Who the hell is Bucky?” replied the Soldier.

“We hit him with a tranq.  He may be out of it for a while,” Nick explained to the Sheriff.

“Thank you.  Let’s get him to medical,” Rogers instructed his deputies.  He turned to Andy.  “How is your girl?”

“I think she is in shock.  She hasn’t said much since she stabbed Lloyd.” Andy ran a hand over his face.  “I’m just glad he hadn’t done much damage.”  He watched as Lloyd’s body bag was pulled from the house.  He felt a pain in his heart.  His twin, the last connection to his family, was gone, and by his hand.  But he couldn’t let Rory live with the shame of causing his death.

“Well, I’ll take of this.  Take your men and your girl out of my town.  No charges, since it was self-defense,” Rogers said, hands on his belt.  “Thank you for letting me know Andy.”

“No, thank you Sheriff, for letting me handle this.”  The men shook hands before he headed to the ambulance that had Rory.  He approached cautiously.  “Rory?”

“Andy?  The blood, they won’t let me wash my hands.  The dress,” she gestured down to the night gown she still had on.  “I’m cold,” she said as a matter of fact.

Andy took off his jacket and draped it over her. “Let me get you home and we’ll get cleaned up.”

“Ok, yes, ok.” Rory stood up and tried to take a couple of steps before her knees gave out.  He caught her and lifted her in his arms, her head lolling against his shoulder.  She had fainted, probably exhaustion, stress, malnourishment.  She was light in his arms.

“Fowler, Parker, Distkant, let’s make sure the house is secure.  I’m taking her home.”

Andy got the best therapist in Newton to sit with Rory, who had been quiet for the most part.  She hadn’t wanted to go back to the bakery just yet, fear of being alone gripping her.  She was only really calm when Andy was in her presence, but she slowly got used to having Peter and Paul with her again.

“How are you doing today Aurora?”

“Please don’t call me that,” she whispered.  “He called me that.”

“Ok,” the therapist made a note. “Rory.”

Rory nodded as she played with her hair.

“Rory, we have to talk.  I know it’s hard, but you have to get out those feelings.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do I have to talk about him?  He hurt me, took me from my family, tried to…” she swallowed hard. “I stabbed him.  He’s dead because of me.”

“It was to save yourself.”

“Doesn’t feel like it.  It feels like he’s still holding me here, hostage in my own mind.” Rory looked at the woman straight in the eye.  “I see him when I close my eyes. I see him in the bakery, in our home.  We passed the carnival, and I melted down.  I know he was there. I know he was watching us.  He’s dead but he won’t leave.”

“Have you said anything to Andy?”

“No, it would break him.  They were twins.  They were different. But I still see him.”

“Have you tried visiting Lloyd’s grave?”

Now there is a place that Rory never thought about.  Andy decided to bury his twin in the cemetery in town.  It was on the outskirts, so Rory didn’t have to pass by it or really think about it.  It has been a month since she was taken.

“And do what?”

“Talk to him.  Tell him how you feel.  Tell him to fuck off. It might give you some liberation.”

As the session ended, Andy was sitting patiently in the waiting room, going through emails.  When the door opened, his smile fell as he noticed the tear tracks on her face. “Sweetheart?”

“Can you take me somewhere?”

“Anywhere.”

Andy found it a little concerning that you wanted to go to the cemetery to see Lloyd but when the therapist nodded subtly to him, he agreed and immediately took her.  He had guided her to the place where he had buried his brother, the headstone just being erected the previous day.  No flowers were present. Just a dark gray headstone.

Lloyd Hansen

Brother

Lost Soul

Rory stared at the tombstone and her face turned angry.  Her grip on Andy’s hand was fierce. She took a breath.

“Fuck you Lloyd.  Fuck everything you have ever done.  Fuck you for hurting me. For hurting Laurie and Jacob.  Your brother.  You ordered my parents dead.  You manipulated everything and I hate you. I hope you are rotting in hell for everything you’ve done. I hope you know that one day I’ll marry Andy and there isn’t a fucking thing you can do about it!”

She took a knife out of her purse, the same knife that she had stabbed Lloyd with and flipped it before flipping it into the ground. She dropped to her knees, sobbing.  “You tried to take everything from me and I will never forgive you.  But you will stop owning a piece of me from now on.  If you get to see how I am from your own personal room in hell, I hope you get to see me at my best because you sure as hell won’t be owning free real estate in my head.”

Andy wrapped her in his arms as she cried the last tears she wanted to shed over Lloyd Hansen.  It took a few minutes, but she was finally strong enough to stand again and flip his grave off before walking back to the car.  “Take me home Andy.”

“Of course, my love.”

A few days later, Andy walked Rory into the bakery, her first time entering the door. Peter, Paul, Nick, her grandparents and Sheriff Rogers were waiting for her.  She looked and saw Jensen and Sam as well.  “What are you guys doing here?”

“We wanted to welcome back the best baker in town,” Jensen said, munching on a cookie. “These are delicious! Is that nutmeg?”

Then Andy heard his favorite sound in the world.  Rory’s giggle. “Its nutmeg and cinnamon with double vanilla.” It was there, her smile. Andy kissed her temple and let her go as she hugged her friends and family.  When she got to the Sheriff, she became timid.

“Miss Rory, I’m glad to see you looking much better.”

“Thank you Sheriff.  You didn’t have to come down here.”

“I know. Just wanted to show my support.  Also heard you have the best brownies across three counties.” He shot her a wink as she blushed.

“Hey, Rogers, stop flirting with my girl,” Andy growled.

As everyone laughed, Rory moved to behind her counter, put on her blue apron over her dress and took a moment. Her friends and family sat around her tables, talking and enjoying her treats.  Her life was always destined to be chaotic, she supposed, but she was on the other side and found peace.

That evening, Rory got ready for bed, pulling out a night gown when she stopped.  Andy had been so patient with her, acknowledging that she had been traumatized from Lloyd’s actions.  She allowed him to hold her while she slept, needing his warmth and touch to feel safe and sleep.  But today, seeing how life is now, no Lloyd, no threats, just Rory and Andy, she wanted to go back to a happy place.  She replaced her nightgown in the drawer and selected something else.

Andy sat in their bed, reading a book, waiting for Rory so they could sleep.  It had been a long few weeks, but Rory made strides since visiting Lloyd’s grave.  His phone chirped and he checked the message.  He sighed and decided to deal with it in the morning.  As he set his phone into sleep mode, he heard the door to the ensuite open and he looked up.  He stopped breathing.

Rory came in, wearing a white slip nightgown that accentuated her breasts.  Her long hair was tousled down her back.  She swayed her hips as she walked towards Andy.  She noted his eyes never leaving her body. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and Rory stepped into the space between them.   Her hands were on his shoulders before she raked her nails through his beard, eliciting a sound between and growl and a moan. She placed a gentle kiss on his lips.  “Make me yours, please.”

Andy rans his hands from her back, over her ass and to her thighs to lift her up into his lap, straddling him.  “You are still the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, my love.”  He kissed her deep as he pushed her hips into his groin, letting her feel how hard he was for her.  Her gasp was perfect as he could feel the heat between her legs. That’s when he noticed that she was bare under her slip and he let out a growl. He pulled her hair to expose her neck to him and he assaulted her with sweet kisses and licks, tasting her skin.

Rory moaned and her head tilted back with the touches Andy was giving her.  Her breasts pushed into his bare chest and the silk of her gown gave friction to her nipples, hardening them. Andy pushed the strap of her night gown down off her shoulder, allowing one breast to flash.  He immediately took it in his mouth, sucking and nibbling on the point. The soft moans and breathy releases she was giving him was making his cock harder and harder.  He did the same on the other side, her down now bunched around her waist.  “I need you, Andy.  I want you so bad.”

That’s all Andy really needed to hear.  He let go and pulled the material over her head, so she was bare to him. He pushed his sleep pants and boxers down enough to release his cock from its confines as she sat on his stomach, kissing his neck and beard.  He lifted her up and guided her onto him, both moaning at the sensation of being fully reunited once again.  Andy guided her, helping Rory bounce on him.  “Yes! Andy! So full!”

“You are doing so well, sweetheart.  Taking all of me at one. You like that? Tell me pretty girl, you like my thick cock stretching you wide?” Andy’s dirty talk was getting to her. “Tell me baby girl or I can’t satisfy you.”

“Need you daddy, need you to make me yours,” she cried.

“Fuck,” he mumbled.  He pushed her up and laid her down on her belly.  He grasped her hips and pulled them into the air. “This is going to feel intense Aurora, are you ready?”

“Yes,” she shook from the cold air hitting her warm pussy.

“God, what a sight,” as Andy teased her between her folds.  He sunk into her slowly, letting her get used to how intense the stretch was from behind.  She moaned loudly as Andy started to pull back slowly but then started to set a steady pace.  “You feel amazing like this my sweetheart.  So tight, fuck, like a vice on my cock.”

“So good daddy, oh so full.”

“Good.”  He tightened his grip on her hips, feeling her ready to explode.  He wanted to make it last and if she cummed right now, he would lose it.  He pulled out, with a protest from Rory but he flipped her and slide back in right on top of her.  “I want to see you cum, my love.  I want to watch you fall apart.”

“Andy, please, let me cum.  I need to,” she wailed.

He started thrusting into her, a steady pace that worked her back up. He grunted and she sighed, in tandem, one couple, two pieces of one soul, fusing together.  “Rory, baby, marry me,” he grunted as he continued to hit her spot inside.

“Andy!” She could feel it. She was almost there.

“Say it, my love, say you will be my wife,” Andy begged. “Please Rory.”

“Yes! Andy yes!”

“Cum now!”

Stars explode behind Rory’s eyes as she met her euphoric release, her walls vice-gripping Andy as he continued to work her.  Just a couple of snaps later and Andy finds his release, shooting rope after rope of white hot cum into her womb.  He thrusts slowly as he finished and stopped.  He pressed his forehead to hers as they breathed deeply, trying to slow their hearts.  After a couple of moments, Rory studied her lover’s eyes.

“Did you mean it?”

Andy smiled. “Every word.  Marry me love.  Become my wife.  I love you so much Aurora Thatcher.”

Her face was neutral, thoughtful. He was still buried inside of her, still half hard but he had no intention of moving. But as the seconds ticked by, he started to frown, until Rory traced her fingers down the side of his face. “I love you. Yes, of course. I want to be Rory Barber.”  His soft lips met his in a gentle kiss.

“Tomorrow?” He asked hopefully.

Rory laughed.  “Crazy man. Not tomorrow, no.  You still gotta talk to my grandfather.” She kissed his nose. “But if Natasha can have what I want done fast enough, I can marry you then.”

True to her word, Rory and Andy got married in the town square just a few weeks later.  It was the perfect fall weddings, all of their friends and family were there, even in spirit.  Rory laid out four chairs in the front with a candle on each.  One for Jacob, two for her parents and one for Ransom. Gone but not forgotten.

Once the minister pronounced the husband and wife, Andy led his new bride to the vintage Mustang for a ride through town before they got to the reception.  It had been perfect, everything Rory and Andy wanted.

Rory and Andy would continue to live and work in Newton, growing her bakery and ruling the town.

**

Welcome to Newton.  A sleepy town outside of Boston.  Where kids can play with their friends and shop owners advertise with signs on the street.  It’s a quiet town.  An unassuming town.  A town where one-man rules and no one forgets it.  This town, Newton, is Andy Barber’s town and he is their king. Their king had found a princess that he made into his queen and the city was safe once again.

THE END

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A man on the hill, overlooking the city, smoking a cigarette, watching them. His plan worked and Andy was firmly in his seat of power.  He looked at the other four cities, the hill the center. One down, four to go.

#andy's hea #andy's shenanigans #andy barber #lloyd hansen #andy barber au #chris evans #chris evans fic #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans au #andy barber fiction #andy barber fanfic #lloyd hansen fic #andy barber smut #aurora #Andy barber vs Lloyd Hansen

[kitkatt0430]

Season 1 episode title meta

Pilot - Generic first episode name, doesn't really seem to have any deeper meaning beyond referencing the fact that it's the first episode of a new show

Fastest Man Alive - References Barry's new tagline and his growing confidence in himself and his powers. Probably also a reference to one of the comics.

Things You Can't Outrun - trying to 'outrun the past' is a fairly common turn of phrase, but in this episode the past catches up to a lot of people - Kyle Nimbus' roaring rampage of revenge gets a lot of people killed; Joe starts making good on his acknowledgement of Henry's innocence by facing his past mistakes head on, reopening the case, and apologizing to Henry in person; and Cisco struggles with the survivors guilt he feels with regards to Ronnie's death when he's forced to return to the accelerator pipeline.

Going Rogue - A comic's reference to the Flash's Rogue's gallery and Leonard Snart in particular, since he was often seen as the leader of the Rogues. Can also be seen as a reference to the Cold Gun being created by Cisco as a failsafe in the event Barry ever 'went rogue' and Barry arguably 'going rogue' in the episode by going off comms and risking himself in a fight without backup.

Plastique - A reference to Bette's code name in the comics as well as her powers - turning things to bombs - and the source of her powers - the bomb fragments she was in surgery for at the time the accelerator exploded.

The Flash is Born - I'm pretty sure this is another comic book title reference. Also refers to Barry finally getting Iris to use the name 'the Flash' instead of 'the Streak' and him being officially established as a superhero in her eyes.

Power Outage - A direct reference to Farooq's powers as Blackout and his ability to cause power outages. Also to Barry's loss of his powers and confidence during their initial fight. Could also be a reference to the outages in the city on the night of the accelerator incident, which caused Farooq's powers in the first place.

Flash vs Arrow - A literal reference to Barry and Oliver's fight while Barry's under Bivolo's influence. Could also refer to the contrast between how Team Flash and Team Arrow operate, with Barry being more open with his teammates compared to Oliver's need for operational secrecy.

The Man in the Yellow Suit - The Reverse Flash finally shows up to fight Barry after being last seen when Barry was a child and the audience has it confirmed that the shady Dr. Wells is the Reverse Flash. This episode's reveal places a number of events in previous episodes in new context and sets the tone for the latter half of the season.

Revenge of the Rogues - Firmly establishes thematic 'Rogue' naming for episodes with Snart in them. Also includes the addition of classic Rogue Heatwave - Mick Rory. No one is really getting revenge here, but Len chooses to drag himself, Mick, and Barry into the limelight of supervillainy and superheroism for maximum dramatic effect.

The Sound and Fury - A reference to some of the earliest Pied Piper comics where Hartley was part of a criminal duo. Also refers to Hartley's use of sound as a weapon and the rage currently fueling his attacks on Team Flash, Wells in particular.

Crazy For You - Refers to self destructive actions taken out of love throughout the episode: Shawna's love for Clay lands her in the pipeline, Cisco's love for Ronnie has him making a dangerous deal with Hartley, Caitlin's desire to get over her love for Ronnie leads to hilarious drunken escapades, and Barry's desire to move on from his love of Iris leads him into a relationship he's not actually ready to commit to.

The Nuclear Man - Comic book title reference alert! Refers directly to Ronnie and Stein as Firestorm and the concern that splitting them could cause nuclear fallout.

Fallout - Continuing the thematic naming of the episode before, while there is no literal nuclear fallout there are still repercussions to splitting Ronnie and Stein leading to a confrontation with General Eiling.

Out of Time - Barry runs out of time to save the city from Mark Mardon. Cisco's amateur sleuthing has him 'run out of time' when Eobard chooses to kill Cisco to preserve his secret.

Rogue Time - Len returns, with Mick and Lisa, and wins basically everything he wants through kidnapping, manipulation, torture, and blackmail. Very much a 'the Rogues win' episode.

Tricksters - Most literally taken as a reference to the two Tricksters - James Jesse and Axel Walker - who cause havoc throughout the episode. Also refers to the Trickster archetype, often depicted as shape shifters, which Eobard embodies during flashbacks to him stalking, killing, and shape shifting to replace the original Harrison Wells.

All Star Teamup - Comic book title reference alert! Ray Palmer and Felicity both show up to team up with Team Flash, both to help Ray with his shrinking problem and Team Flash with their electronic bee issues.

Who is Harrison Wells? - Cisco and Joe learn definitively that the man they think is Harrison Wells is not. Plays off the episodes themes of identity theft, as Hannibal Bates has stolen so many identities that he no longer knows who he is.

The Trap - Team Flash sets a trap for Eobard Thawne. Eobard Thawne sets a better trap for Team Flash. Shenanigans ensue.

Grodd Lives - Grodd is used as Eobard's distraction for Team Flash while Eobard attempts to sew discord in Eddie's mind about his relationship with Iris since Eddie is Eobard's ancestor, but Iris is not. Grodd lives because Eobard is trying to ensure his own survival too.

Rogue Air - Barry chooses to depend on Leonard Snart for help moving the pipeline metas to what is supposed to be a flight to ARGUS's secret prison facility, leading to what was heavily implied to be the official formation of the Rogues as a group. This is never followed through on.

Fast Enough - Barry is forced to face the fact that no matter how fast he gets, there are some tragedies he'll never be fast enough to prevent. And while Eobard Thawne ultimately loses, Barry is unable to save his mother or Eddie and still requires the help of Firestorm to stop the singularity threatening the city.

#the flash #fandom meta #the flash meta #just had some thinky thoughts about the season one episode titles and how a lot of them had multiple meanings

[dailyrugbytoday]

watch the Springboks Vs. Australia in the 2023 Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld

New Post has been published on https://thedailyrugby.com/watch-the-springboks-vs-australia-in-the-2023-rugby-championship-at-loftus-versfeld/

The Daily Rugby

https://thedailyrugby.com/watch-the-springboks-vs-australia-in-the-2023-rugby-championship-at-loftus-versfeld/

watch the Springboks Vs. Australia in the 2023 Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld

The Springboks schedule for 2023 has been confirmed by SA Rugby, outlining South Africa’s path to the World Cup Final beginning with their first test against Eddie Jones’ Australia in Pretoria in July.

The defending champions have confirmed that they would compete in six matches before facing Scotland on September 10 in Marseille for their World Cup debut.

On July 8, Jacques Nienaber’s team plays Australia at home to open the 2023 Test season before going to New Zealand to play the All Blacks.

On July 29, a match against Argentina will mark the conclusion of the condensed Rugby Championship at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

The Wallabies will visit Loftus Versveld for the first time since 2016, and the Springboks will host Argentina in Johannesburg for the first time since 2013. All of the Springboks home tests will take place in Gauteng, at an altitude. Both of both games were won by South Africa, who defeated Australia 18-10 and Argentina 73-13.

wallabies vs Boks

Kickoff times and live stream for the rugby match between the Springboks and Australia

Kick off: 17:00

TV and live stream: Supersport 1 (SS1). You can also follow our live updates from two hours before kick off.

These two parties frequently engage in violent conflict. However, 52,000 people were present at Loftus Versfeld on the Highveld near Pretoria. really difficult to win in. The last time an Australian side won a Super Rugby final on New Zealand soil was Michael Cheika’s Waratahs in 2014. Australian teams are currently 0-16 in final matches played on New Zealand continent.

Tim Horan, a former Wallabies player, admitted on Stan Sport that he was both nervous and enthusiastic for this first Test match.

“South Africa is such a difficult country to influence. In Adelaide, where the Wallabies won 25-17, I believed it was one of the best Test matches I’ve ever seen for the Wallabies.

TEAMS: SPRINGBOKS  VS AUSTRALIA

South Africa

Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Andre Esterhuizen, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Francois Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Tendai Mtawarira.

Substitutes: Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff, Wilco Louw, RG Snyman, Marco van Staden, Embrose Papier, Elton Jantjies, Damian Willemse.

Australia

Dane Haylett-Petty, Israel Folau, Reece Hodge, Matt Toomua, Marika Koroibete, Kurtley Beale, Will Genia, David Pocock, Michael Hooper (captain), Ned Hanigan, Izack Rodda, Adam Coleman, Taniela Tupou, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Scott Sio.

Substitutes: Folau Faingaa, Sekope Kepu, Allan Alaalatoa, Rory Arnold, Rob Simmons, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley, Jack Maddocks.

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

ROUND 1 – Saturday 8 July Springboks Vs. Australia , Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria – 17:05 Argentina v New Zealand, Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza – 16:10

ROUND 2 – Saturday 15 July New Zealand v South Africa, Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland – 19:05 Australia v Argentina, Comm Bank Stadium, Sydney – 19:45

ROUND 3 – Saturday 29 July Australia v New Zealand, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne – 19:45 (Bledisloe Cup 1) South Africa v Argentina, Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 17:05

Additional Fixtures – Saturday 5 August New Zealand v Australia, Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin – 14:35 (Bledisloe Cup 2) Argentina v South Africa, Estadion Velez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires – 19:10

Springboks Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup warm-up fixtures:

Saturday, August 5 – Springboks v Argentina (venue TBC)

Saturday, August 19 – Springboks vs Wales (Principality Stadium, Cardiff)

Friday, August 25 – SA vs New Zealand (Twickenham, London)

Rugby World Cup pool fixtures:

Sunday, September 10 – Springboks v Scotland (Stade Velodrome, Marseille)

Sunday, 17 September – Springboks v Romania (Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux)

Saturday, September 23 – Springboks v Ireland (Stade de France, Paris)

Sunday, October 1 – Springboks v Tonga (Stade Velodrome, Marseille)

Weekend of 14/15 October – Quarter-finals

Weekend of 21/22 October – Semi-finals

Saturday, October 28 – Final

[h0nkch0c0late]

11th doctor

Summary: something goes wrong when Amy and the Doctor decide to go an adventure alone, knowing it was dangerous, they left Rory and Y/n in the TARDIS. Though this wasn't the first time this has happened

Today was one of those days where the Doctor hadn't allowed Y/n to go, which of course, meant that she had to stay with Rory.

She never understood why the Doctor made her stay inside of the Tardis whenever something really dangerous or wrong happened, and let Amy go with him. Now, don't get her wrong, she likes spending time with Rory because hell, he never really gets the recognition he deserves after they come back from an adventure. But at the same time, she was quite jealous that Amy got to go.

At some point during this certain adventure, though, the Doctor and Amy's comms had gone out, and they hadn't been able to find them since.

Rory paced around worriedly, as Y/n sat on the floor against the console, her eyes focused on the watch on her wrist as she watched the time tick by with her mind swirling with thoughts.

She was worried. Of course she was worried! Why wouldn't she be? But she couldn't show it, that was Rory's job and he was doing it very well.

"Whats taking them so long?" Rory spoke up worriedly, "they never take this long!"

Y/n sighed and tore her eyes away from her watch, looking at Rory. "Rory, I'm sure they're fine. It's the doctor and Amy they'll be here eventually."

Rory looked over to her, "I know. But what if they're not?!" He exclaimed.

Y/n stood up and walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Rory, listen to me. This isn't the first time this has happened and they've always come back. They're very good at making us worry but you know they'll be fine."

Rory looked at her, "you say that but the look in your eyes says different."

"What look? There's no look." She furrowed her eyebrows together.

"Yes there is. You have that little glint in your eye that you always get when you're worried about something." He pointed out.

"Wh-how do you know that?"

"I pay attention to people I care about." He stated.

"Okay, so I may be slightly worried, but it's fine! They're fine! They're fine as long as we say they are!" Y/n reasoned.

"And what if we find out that they're actually dead? What will we do then?" He questioned.

Y/n sighed, "if they are, then we can get find their bodies and leave."

"How would we leave? The Doctor is the only one who knows how to drive the TARDIS." Rory stated.

Y/n raised a brow at the man, "I've been travelling with the Doctor longer than you have, do you really think he wouldn't teach me how to drive it?"

Rory shrugged, "well, no."

Y/n sighed as she listened to the soft hum of the TARDIS, her eyes travelling back to her watch as she watched the hands ticked over the numbers.

'It's now been more than an hour. I have to do something.' Y/n thought to herself. She stepped away from Rory, turning away from him and walking towards the TARDIS doors.

"Where are you going?" Rory asked.

"I'm taking matters into my own hands and am going to find them myself." Y/n answered.

"I'll go with you-"

"No, Rory. You stay in here, it's dangerous out there and I'm pretty sure if Amy ever finds out that I let you go with me, she'd probably kill me. So no, I'm going myself." She cut him off.

"And the Doctor would be pissed at me if he finds out I let you go. You know he doesn't like you following him out to the really dangerous places." Rory pointed out.

Y/n turned around, "yeah, I know. And I'm sick and tired of it! He let's you and Amy go with him all the time, and always makes me stay, and it's not fair!" She huffed as she turned back around.

"Y/n-"

Y/n ignored whatever Rory had said after that, pushing open the doors, expecting there to be no one there.

Instead, Amy and the Doctor come running in, neither looking injured, only tired.

Amy went straight for Rory, hugging him tightly as he hugged her back, a relieved smile on his face.

The Doctor had stumbled to the TARDIS console, turning around to see Y/n standing near the now-closed doors, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed.

The Doctor walked over to her, "Hello, Y/n! I'm alive!"

She didn't say anything, her frown deepening.

"What's wrong?" He asked, immediate concern evident.

"You're lucky you and Amy aren't even hurt. Why were you two gone so long?" She questioned him.

"Well uh, our first plan didn't go so well, and so we resorted to our second plan. The second plan didn't go so well either, and I couldn't really think of a third plan. So we uh, got captured for a while, and we were going to tell you both but they had taken our comms and broke them." He explained.

"You said that this was the most dangerous adventure yet, and all you did was get Kidnapped??? If you had just let me go with you, you could have escaped sooner!" Y/n groaned.

"Well, I thought it would have gone a lot worse. I apologize. Though when we did escape they were trying to shoot us, didn't work though." The Doctor shrugged.

"You could have died, Doctor! And Amy as well! You two put your lives at risk once again without thinking about how Rory and I would feel! I would rather be out there knowing that you'd be okay and that I could protect you, than being in here wondering if you or Amy would ever come back!" Y/n exclaimed.

"But We're okay, see?" He waved towards himself and Amy, "maybe we've got a couple of cuts and bruises, but other than that we're fine, and alive! You know I'll always come back."

"But what if, one day, you don't? What if something goes wrong again and that time none of you come back, huh??? You always used to bring me to the most dangerous ones, especially with Rose! You always said that it was because you wanted me to have fun, and it was also a good way to protect me! And ever since you regenerated into, well, you!, you've made me hide away in the TARDIS like some child! And what makes me feel even more like a child is the fact you made Rory stay with me this time! I was okay with you changing, because I've experienced it before, but this is too far. Treating me like a child is just too far, Doctor. I'm absolutely sick of it." She snapped.

The Doctor went silent, Amy and Rory having turned their attention to the two.

"Oh, and you have nothing to say about this? Nothing to justify why you treat me so differently now? Is it because I'm not like Amy? Am I not strong enough for you anymore? Not brave enough?" Y/n taunted angrily, tears brimming her eyes.

The Doctor suddenly grabbed onto her shoulders, pulling her closer to him as he made her look up at him. "I did it because I care about you too much!" He cried, "and after I regenerated, I realized just how much I really did! And just the thought of putting you in so much danger hurts me! I already lost so many people because of it, and the only one I never lost was you by some miracle. I just wanted to make sure that it definitely wouldn't happen because losing you would be my final straw. I make Rory and Amy go with me all the time because they don't listen to me like you do. It's not because Amy is stronger than you or smarter or braver. It's because you're more than that. And sometimes...sometimes being the way you are puts you in so much more danger. I'm sorry I worry you so much, and I'm sorry you feel that way but that was never my intention. I just don't want anything to happen to you."

Y/n looked at him, her hard glare softening as the tears she tried so hard to hold in started to escape and slowly roll down her cheeks.

The Doctor's hands moved from her shoulders to her face, his thumbs wiping away her tears as he tried to hold in his own, "I love you too much to see you go." His voice cracked a little.

And at that very moment, she didn't just see the 11th Doctor, she saw the other hims all at once. The ones she grew to love, and to let go. But they were never really gone, were they? They were just hidden away in the back of his mind, keeping the memories they shared. She saw all of him I'm that moment, and she tried to look for any hint that he was lying. That he was only saying that so she would stop being angry.

But all she saw was compassion, love, and truth. Each time the Doctor regenerated, he always showed a different side. And this one was more open, more loving, more protecting. She was just too blind with envy to see it.

"You...love me?" Was all she could muster.

"Yeah." He gave her a broken smile.

She wrapped her arms around his waist as she pressed her face into his chest, "I love you too, Doctor. I'm...sorry I reacted like that."

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he laid his chin against the top of her head, "don't be sorry. It was quite understandable, I should have told you sooner." He told her softly.

They stood in a comfortable silence, both of their eyes closing as they just let the moment sink in.

"Can you two give us a few minutes alone, please?" The Doctor requested Amy and Rory who were still standing there watching the two.

"Right! Yes! We'll leave you two alone! Come on, Rory!" Amy said quickly as she dragged Rory off with her.

Y/n and the Doctor chuckled as they held the embrace.

"Does this mean you're still gonna keep me in here or will you let me go with you?" Y/n asked.

"I'll find a way to make sure you can still see me when I'm gone." The Doctor replied.

"So, in other words, no?" She questioned.

"Do you really need me to answer that?"

"Darn, I was really hoping you'd let me go." She mumbled.

"You should really stop hoping like that, it's a waste of hope."

"Oh, shush."

-----------------------------------------------------

I really need to learn how to end things properly like dang.

And yes I know it's a little bit all over the place but it's the best I could do and this fic has been in my drafts for months.

I'd like to thank @okay-j-hannah for giving me some feedback while writing it and I hope yall enjoy it :)

Please I love every regeneration of the Doctor but there's just something about Matt Smith's version that just tickles my brain 🫂

#11th doctor x reader #doctor who #imagine #x reader #amy pond. #rory williams #tardis #9th doctor #10th doctor

[elfwoodfae]

“Nightcall” Harrison Eo Wells x reader

Chapter 3

Summary: As you taunt the devil another criminal may be ready to strike.

Gif credits go to the owner, I found this one on google.

Author’s note: let me know what you all think, if you have any suggestions, I hope you like it!

Once again, you were all brainstorming ideas about the man in yellow, nothing concrete, but the team had been stuck for a few days without making any progress.

“I just don’t believe that he doesn’t go somewhere after,” Barry commented.

You were sitting on Cisco’s desk and as you saw Wells roll into the cortex you decided to chip on your own ideas. Even tho he had specifically told you not to.

“You know I bet he has a day job too,” you said while noticing from the corner of your eye how Dr. Wells moved his head to look at you and rub two fingers over his lips, how he tended to do when he was thinking, probably how to get rid of you without attracting heat to himself.

“He seems smart, I bet he is some kind of doctor,” you spurred on. “I mean his suit seems pretty legit so he probably is very smart.” Now you were sassing him up. Oh boy were you sassing him up. You knew this risky comment had the potential to blow up on your face, but honestly it was a risk you were willing to take just by the look of Wells’ eyes.

“Very interesting idea y/n.” Wells said looking at you with that fake smile he gave people. God how you wanted to whip it off his face.

“Actually Dr. Wells I was wondering if I could talk to you about something” you asked him as you hopped off the desk.

He only nodded and signaled you to follow him. This plan could very much make you or break you. You were hoping for the first one.

“Those two seem to be talking a lot lately” Cisco commented once you were out of earshot.

Once in Wells’ office you reclined yourself against his desk and looked at him.

“So I have been thinking about your proposition.” You began to speak.

“My proposition? I don’t believe I have proposed anything to you” he said, the look on his face was unbelievable, you had some nerve to be sassing him up so much, and the worst part was that he couldn’t kill you or get rid of you just yet without making it obvious and drawing attention to himself.

“Yes, your proposition about me not speaking and you not killing me” you continued.

“I have thought about it, and I’m willing to accept with one condition.”

He couldn’t believe you. He just couldn’t believe that you were either stupid enough or brave enough to face him.

“I don’t believe I gave you a choice or that you have one, what part of dying was not clear to you?” He added.

“Trust me it was very clear to me since you literally stuck a hand in me, but killing aside, I will keep your secret on a condition, so please at least humor me, we both know you can’t kill me, for what reason is unclear to me but if you really wanted me dead I would be by now.”

You would be the fault in his plan if he didn’t do something about you fast. You were too smart and too fearless of him to be scare that easy. Or too stupid as he had previously thought.

“What is that condition?” He would humor you, play your game and let you think you had the upper hand until he could get rid of you.

“I will play along with you and keep your secret safe, going as far as making sure no one else suspects of you, only if you promise me that once this is all over, and you get whatever it is you are trying to achieve that you will leave a confession freeing Barry’s father of the murder of Nora.”

Now that wasn’t that hard, he would be gone, it wouldn’t affect him in any way, and if that’s what it took to keep you quite then he would oblige.

“Fine, I give you my word.” He said.

“And you won’t hurt Barry badly, or anyone else in the team” you added, feeling a wave of bravery.

“Don’t push your luck little one or you will find out what happens when you taunt me.” he said through gritted teeth, he was a very patient man, but you had a way of pushing his buttons like no one that he had encountered in a long time.

After your little conversation with Wells you felt more confident than ever, you had managed to at least get something out of it and the enjoyment of messing with him, it made you feel powerful.

“Well someone is in a good mood” Cisco said as you entered the cortex smiling and more relaxed than they had seen you in a long time.

“What happened back there?” Cisco insinuated as he looked at you suspiciously.

“Gross Cisco! Gross!” You screamed at him with a fake look of disgust.

“I’m just saying!” He added raising his hands in the air in an apologetic manner.

“Alright you guys,” you called everyone’s attention.

“I’m going to get some coffee, anyone wants anything?”Everyone made their orders and you left to Jitters.

It was getting dark by the time you were getting out of Jitters, walking to your car with your hands full, you struggled to get the key out of your pocket, and as you placed the coffees on the roof of your car and looked at your window to open the car you screamed in fear as a hand covered your mouth with some kind of clothe and the other one grabbed your neck beginning to drag you away.

Back at Star labs, the team had began to wonder what was taking you so long. It was normal to take some time since Jitters wasn’t exactly a street away, but you had been gone for almost two hours.

Just as Barry was about to tell Cisco to try and call you for the twentieth time, a message was being broadcasted on the tv.

“Cisco!”Caitlin urged him as she pointed to the monitor. “Put the volume up!”

“Flash!” The knowing voice of Captain Cold came through the speakers. “I have a friend of yours. If you don’t come and surrender yourself, she will die.” He added in his typical singsong way of speaking.

“Flash don’t come for me!” You could be heard screaming in the background, the focus changed to you as the image showed another man putting a gag in your mouth while you were tied to a chair.

“We need to do something fast” Barry said as he raised his hands to his hair in desperation. In that moment doctor Wells who had seen the whole ordeal from the entrance to the cortex spoke.

“We need to be careful Mister Allen, we don’t know where they are keeping her or if Captain Cold still have the cold gun.”

“Dr. Wells is right, we need to be careful, acting on impulse may not be the best call right now.” Caitlin added.

“I know but we can’t just stay and do nothing! He has y/n” he desperately added.

“I’m aware but I do caution restrain.” He added.

They planned a strategy, as Barry made it to the meeting point, Cisco and Joe would go to see the location where they suspected you were being kept.

As Barry struggled to defeat Cold and Heat Wave. Dr. Wells and Caitlin stayed behind guiding them through the operation. When Barry finally manage to neutralize Cold and Rory a bigger problem arose.

“Guys!” Came Cisco desperate voice through the comms. “She isn’t here, this was a decoy” he added.

Barry looked down on Cold, and as he grabbed him by his shirt collar he shook him.

“Where is she!?” Desperation could be heard in his voice.

“Flash, you really thought it would be that easy to find her? I hope you said your goodbyes earlier since in a matter of around two minutes your little friend will blow into the air.”

Dread came over Barry as he realized that no matter how fast he managed to search the city it wasn’t enough time to find you.

“I will give you a hint, why don’t you start in the East side?” Cold added as he smiled sarcastically at Barry.

Back the labs Wells excused himself from Caitlin and went to his time vault. He needed to find you fast. It was true that this was the perfect chance to finally get rid of you, but he just couldn’t bring himself to let you die by the hands of Cold.

You were seated in some kind of abandoned warehouse. In what part of town you had no idea, but you were painfully aware of the ticking bomb at the bottom of your chair. And as you heard the ticking get faster you were sure that was it, this is how you were going to die. If Barry hadn’t found you yet, you doubted he would on time.

As the seconds came to cero time seemed to stop all together, and in flash of red you were whisked away as the bomb went off and the explosion resonated all around you.

Your eyes watered as your mouth opened to let a sigh of relief come out. You squeezed Barry’s neck and placed your forehead on his shoulder as you breathed him in only for a second later to recognize this particular smell. This wasn’t Barry. As you opened your eyes you were met with a yellow suit and a pair of red glowing eyes. Still in his arms you hugged him again, adrenaline controlling your actions.

“I have never been happier to see you” you said, he only nodded and put you down on the floor.

As he speeded away you saw Barry coming to you fast. Relief could be read all over him the moment his eyes landed on you.

“She is safe” is all he said through the comms to the team.

“How, how did you managed to escape?” He questioned you once you were all back at Star labs as Caitlin checked you over.

“ I am not sure, I managed to free myself from the ropes but the bomb may have glitched as I had enough time to run as far as I could” you explained, trying to sound convincing.

“I mean but you don’t even have a scratch on you” Barry kept questioning you.

“I think I just had a lucky star tonight.” You said as you looked over at Harrison, who had just entered the med bay area.

“I think we should let Miss y/n rest for tonight Mister Allen.” Dr. Wells added.

“Yeah, I am just glad you are okay.”Barry added as they all walked out to let you rest for the night.

Wells was the last to leave and as he was about to roll out the door you stopped him. You had so many questions to ask him. He could have easily let you die and get rid of you without being suspicious, but he hadn’t.

“Why did you save me?” You asked when you were sure no one was close by. He only smiled at you and turned around, leaving as you sat there with now more questions about the man than ever before.

@mintchipcupcake

@nellethiel-aranel

@saltykidcreation

@twilightlover2007

#the flash imagines #eobard thawne fanfic #eowells fanfic #eowells x reader #harrison wells fanfic #harrison wells x y/n #eobard thawne x reader #harrison wells fanfiction #harrison wells imagine #harrison eo wells fanfic #harrison eo wells x reader #eobard thawne x reader fanfic #the flash fanfiction

[pricemarshfield]

merci beaucoup

[Image ID: a woman with brown hair and highlights facing away from the camera, edited so that it’s colorized purple and with the text merci beaucoup | zava 2.0 / 3k over it. End ID.]

Image Source: found on Pinterest, earliest source I could find was WeHeartIt.

Title: merci beaucoup

Pairing: Zava 2.0

Rating: E (minors DNI).

Word Count: 3475.

Summary: A Zava 2.0 smut fic, diverging from 5x04, requested by @hizzieluthor.

Warnings: Infidelity, minor dom/sub (explicitly negotiated in-story).

Created For: @lgbtqbingo, filling the kiss on the forehead square! Read below the cut or on AO3 here.

"Behrad, now!"

The burst of wind is perfectly timed to keep Zari from getting tackled by the rabid mob of paparazzi and publicists and CatChat influencers, and Ava allows herself a little pride. Sure, this mission's gone haywire, thanks to Zari's theft, but it's a well-executed move, and under her command, at that. It gives Ava the chance to move in front of Zari, stop her in her tracks and execute the most important step of the plan.

Zari looks touched, eyes wide and open and surprised. "You guys came back for me."

"A Legend never gets left behind, even an interim one," she says, grabbing Zari's hand. "Follow me." Zari does, letting Ava lead her up to the fountain.

She stops there, though, and Ava looks back at her. "What are you doing?"

"Trust me!" Ava reaches a hand out, and Zari glances at it for just a second before turning to stare at the crowd. Behrad's still holding them back, but it's clear they're not gonna be able to do that forever even before he gets on comms to say as much. "Come on!"

"Okay," Zari says, grabbing Ava's hand. It's warm, which is a weird thing to notice when the timeline is in danger.

Staring down at the fountain, Ava thinks for what's far from the first time about how well-made the A.L.O.H.A. system is. They don't even need the last step this time! "Hydrate!" They jump into the fountain together, and even with the Dragonesque fucking up her sense of smell, she'd swear she gets a whiff of the best thing she's ever smelled as a spray of green sparks go flying up and away.

Ava stands up in the fountain, Zari ineffectually brushing herself off next to her. "You know, there's a reason I never did this."

"Because it's gross?"

"So gross."

Ava smiles, just a little, and moves to help her on her way out of the fountain, Nate scrambling on the other side to help them. He looks completely infatuated with Zari as he helps her out, but he does at least get Ava out of the fountain, too.

Now that people have their minds back, Ava'd like to get out of here sooner rather than later. She always keeps her time courier handy, though, so it's just a matter of meeting up with Behrad before they transport back onto the Waverider.

There. Only a bad showing for her first time as captain, rather than an abysmal one.

"Wait, what does that last A stand for?" Nate asks as the portal closes behind them.

"Attack!"

Before Ava has a chance to be surprised and delighted at Rory actually reading her post-briefing email notes on the mission brief, he and Ray tackle Marie Antoinette's body. She stares at them in abject disbelief.

"We got her," Ray says brightly.

"I can see that," Ava says, and is about to congratulate them for a job well done when a draft reminds her that she is soaking wet, and not in the fun way. "And we'll have a post-mission wrap-up once I'm wearing anything else, okay?"

"Sounds good, captain," Behrad says casually. "You gonna need the bathroom?"

"No, go ahead, I'll be in my room," Ava says. "If anyone needs me--knock first."

"Aye, aye!" Ray says with a little salute that's--appreciated, if unnecessary.

It's nothing like her old apartment, but Ava's grown to love her room on the Waverider. Her and Sara's room, even if Sara's out on missions in the timestream or Star City more often than she's not. She's got the blazer of her jacket off when someone knocks on the door.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

Ava honestly isn't feeling up to conversation with Zari right now, but she's captain, so it's her job to be here. "Yeah, go ahead."

The door slides open and Zari walks in, thankfully closing it behind her. She stares at Ava for a second, eyes catching on her arms before her gaze snaps back up to Ava's face. "I just--I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Oh." Ava hadn't honestly anticipated that, at least not before a few missions worth of development. "Well. I appreciate it."

Zari frowns. "And thank you. You saved me."

"Like I told you, a Legend--"

"--never gets left behind, yeah," Zari says with a huff. "But, I mean...you know, I really appreciate it, Ava."

"Okay...?" Clearly there's something else going on here, but Ava can't quite pick up on what. "Is that...all?"

"Oh my god," Zari says, like Ava's the one who's missing something here. "You know what? No, I can do this. I'm glad you came to save me!"

"I am too?"

"I mean, I'm sure I had it handled," Zari says with a cocky little shrug. Ava rolls her eyes and is about to refute the point with a numbered list of reasons why no, she didn't "have it handled", but Zari keeps going before she can. "Not that I didn't like getting wet with you, but--"

"I'm sorry, are you serious? You're--what, hitting on me and ignoring your extreme irresponsibility--"

"Well, you didn't seem to be getting what I was after with just me thanking you, so! Yeah! What if I am? Are you gonna punish me for it?"

What Ava should say here is, "No, and get out of my room. My and my girlfriend's room." What she says instead is, "Why, do you want me to?"

Zari smiles and Ava hears the click of the door locking behind her. "I think I'd like that."

"This is--" Ava laughs, the situation absurd. "You barely know me. And I'm taken! And for that matter, aren't you?"

Zari's expression shutters. "After that stunt, I doubt it. And besides, he--I don't want to talk about him. There's better things we could do with our time, don't you agree?"

"Look, I don't know why you--"

"I needed you to help me, and you did," Zari says, interrupting her. There's an openness to her voice that she's not used to hearing from Zari. (Or, for that matter, from anyone, when it's directed at her, not even--) "And that's--I don't get that a lot, okay? Or ever. And I just--Ava, I didn't exactly come here looking to talk feelings."

Maybe it's the raw honesty in how she's talking. Maybe it's the speed Sara ditched her with earlier. Maybe it's that she's as selfish as the man who made her what she was, maybe she's just as unable to love as she's worried about, maybe it's that she's more human than she thinks of herself as being. But instead of doing any of what she should, she pulls Zari in.

At least Zari doesn't make it complicated, lets herself be pulled in with a grin still too-smug for Ava's taste. Ava's sense of smell is still--pretty much gone, so she can't taste whatever probably-lovely lip gloss Zari has on, but she's still as warm as she was earlier, even with the fountain water all over her, dragging her dress down.

Ava kind of wants to rip it off of her.

Zari lets Ava pull the dress off, leaving her in her unsurprisingly pretty underwear, even soaked through as it is, follows Ava to the bed and straddles her lap. Ava's clothes are getting pretty uncomfortable at this point, but not enough to distract her from the weight of Zari in her lap. This is--stupid. She already feels guilty for doing this to Sara, there's no reason to keep going except that she doesn't seem to want to stop.

Ava pulls back from the kiss. Zari makes a little dissatisfied noise that quiets  as soon as Ava leans back in, pressing kisses to the corner of her mouth, the line of her jaw, the column of her throat, being careful not to leave a mark. As she does, she tries a few times to unlatch Zari's bra. On the sixth unsuccessful attempt, she pulls back and says, "Okay, you deal with it, that's needlessly complicated."

Zari huffs, annoyed, but does take her bra off, setting it next to them on the bed rather than doing what Sara does and tossing it to whatever corner of the room she's facing. "Seriously? My bra stumped you?"

Ava's hands tighten on Zari's hips, and Zari's eyes get a little darker as she looks down at Ava. "You seriously want me to punish you, don't you?"

"Mm, yeah," Zari says, a surprisingly shy smile on her face. "I mean, I'll sleep with you anyway without that, if you don't want--"

"I didn't say that." Ava taps her fingers on Zari's hip. "What were you thinking?"

"Uh, I'll leave that up to you." 

Ava rolls her eyes. "That's terrible kink etiquette. Negotiations are an extremely important part of any BDSM scene."

Zari snorts. "You probably have a binder full of notes on it somewhere, don't you? Listing all your limits and safewords and things to do in scenes where verbal safewords aren't possible?"

Ava's cheeks feel warmer than the contact between the two of them, which is to say, very. "I find it's best to be prepared."

"Oh, I'm not complaining," Zari says, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, which shocks Ava into stillness for a second. "How about this: stoplight system, and really basic stuff. Spanking and the like. We can work our way up to the rest."

It sounds fair. Well, actually, it sounds like a terrible idea, but no more than sleeping with Zari at all is a terrible idea, so. "Works with me."

"Great," Zari says. "Oh, wait, do you have toys? Because I'd like to try a lot more if you have toys."

Ava groans, leaning in to rest her head on Zari's shoulder. "You're gonna be the death of me. Yeah, I have a few."

Zari hums, pleased at her reaction. "Any strap-ons?" Ava nods without moving off of Zari. "How do you feel about anal? Me receiving, obvi."

At this point, Ava's hands have to be tight enough on Zari that they're going to bruise. "Pull your underwear off and get on all fours."

"Ooh, that's a yes, then!" Zari rolls off of her, and Ava goes to grab a strap-on from the drawer of toys. Most of what's in here are Sara's, but this strap-on had been hers, something from a date that had gone so disastrously wrong that they'd run into the nearest store to hide from cops and they'd had to shop for something to blend in.

Sara's not a huge fan of it. Ava's been dreaming of using it for ages.

She doesn't put it on yet, though, just turns to the woman waiting for her on the bed. Zari's done exactly what she asked, though somehow is visibly impatient even though Ava can't see her face. Rather than hurry right to her, Ava strips, the weight on her clothes back to uncomfortable without Zari pressed against her as a distraction.

"I can hear you," Zari says. "Hurry up."

"What, you thought spanking was gonna be the only punishment?" Ava says. Zari shivers. "You can wait. Color?"

"Green," Zari says quickly, and only mutters something brattish once it's clear that she's fine with everything that's happening.

Once Ava's got all her clothes off, she throws the toy and a bottle of lube next to Zari for easy access later and climbs up behind her so that they're both in arms reach. She runs one hand down the line of Zari's back, the angle such that she can't arch into it. Ava can't help but move closer, until they're hip-to-hip, Zari wet against her thigh. Zari whines and tries to grind into it until Ava grabs her hip, more a warning than actually holding her from it.

Leaning down so that she's holding herself over Zari, she says, low and right into Zari's ear. "Remember you asked for this."

Pulling back so that there's no place they're touching, Ava slaps Zari's thigh. Zari jolts and hisses at the pain. After giving her a moment to adjust, Ava hits her on the other side. This time, she yelps, loud enough that--

Ava freezes, stopping completely and wondering if there's any possible ways to wipe the memory of not only everyone on the ship, but Gideon herself. Fuck, fuck, she knew she shouldn't do this, but she just--

Zari looks back at her over her shoulder. "Why'd you stop?"

"This room is only soundproofed when we ask--" She can't say Gideon's name; on the off-chance she's not paying attention, this is hardly the type of thing Ava wants to call attention to. "Everyone can hear--"

"Oh, is that all? Yeah, I made sure to turn on the soundproofing before I went in," Zari says, as though that's not encrypted. "And I also made it so that the computer can't look in here for the next couple hours. Told her it was because I wanted to apologize in privacy. Technically not a lie, too!"

Ava didn't know she could do that, and is honestly pretty impressed at the display of competency. "Oh." 

"So, you know, you can keep going."

Against her baser instincts, Ava waits for her to close her mouth before hitting her again, this time a little lower so it doesn't overlap the last place she hit completely. It would be harder to explain away bringing Zari to Gideon for a bitten tongue. "That's three."

"Oh, don't count, I don't like that," Zari says. "Just--you know, color check occasionally."

Works for Ava. "Color?"

"Green," Zari says, resting her face against the bed. Ava keeps spanking lower and lower, trying to make it so that there won't be an inch where Zari doesn't feel this later. She alternates sides so Zari has an idea where the next hit will be. She's holding back, but every hit still makes Zari gasp and grunt and, when Ava accidentally hits the crease between her ass and her thigh, screams.

"Color?" Ava asks, rubbing her lower back in a hopefully-comforting gesture.

"Green," Zari says. "Sorry, I'll be--quiet--"

"It doesn't bother me," Ava says. "If you want to sing, we don't have an audience."

Zari sighs and looks up at her with eyes that are too fond by half for a tryst. "You are checking every one of my boxes, just so you know."

Ava doesn't acknowledge that because she has, quite frankly, no idea what to say, just hits her again. Now that she's been given the go-ahead, Zari can barely stop moaning long enough to breathe in more air. The sound's the hottest thing Ava's heard in a long, long time. She doesn't want to stop, but she also doesn't want to actually hurt her, so at around fifteen strikes she stops completely, waiting for Zari to catch her breath before she runs a hand over one cheek.

The pain has to flare up at that, but Zari just moans again, sounding barely pained at all.

"Good job," Ava says, because she did take it well, and she's trying really hard to give concrete feedback the times when the Legends don't fuck up, too. Zari preens at the praise, a smile on her face even half-pressed into the pillow. Her eyes are wet, though Ava can't see any tear tracks on her face. Still, she did well, so Ava presses a quick kiss between her shoulderblades before working her way down until her head's buried between Zari's thighs.

The noise Zari makes at that is going to haunt Ava's fantasies for the rest of her life. Even if the guilt catches up to her, she won't be able to forget it, has to actually press her thighs together as a distraction even with her mouth otherwise occupied. Ava licks into Zari, coaxing her onto the edge and then pulling back so the friction won't be enough to push her over. Zari whines, frustrated, and Ava pulls back completely when she tries to jerk her hips herself to get some pressure.

"I'm so close, please--"

"I know," Ava says, reaching for the toy. Her hands are shaking slightly, making it a little harder to get it on. Eventually the thing's tightened enough that she can move without it slipping, and she moves closer so Zari can feel it against her thigh.

"Yes, yes, c'mon--"

"I still need to open you up," Ava says, grabbing the lube and drizzling it over her left hand.

"Oh, ugh, it's vintage," Zari grumbles. "You need to stop by 2040. They have toys that open you up as you go, makes this way faster--"

Rather than argue the point, Ava slides the tips of two fingers into Zari's hole. Zari's noise of surprise is going to haunt Ava as much as her moans did, so Ava teases her, pushing only the very tips of her fingers in and out, over and over, slow and careful. One, it'll be good to open her up slowly, and two, Ava loves the sight of it.

After awhile of the slow  pace Ava's set, Zari starts begging. "Ava, I can take more, just give me more, I'm so close and I want you inside me--"

Ignoring the stir of heat she feels at that last part, Ava says, "Oh, come on, you can ask more nicely than that."

Zari whines and pushes back, but Ava does the same so she doesn't actually get any more pressure. "Please, please, I'm sorry about being irresponsible but I've been good, please please please--"

"Well, since you asked nicely," Ava says, though mostly because her control's already fracturing and better to speed things up now than rush and hurt Zari later. She opens her up as quickly as she thinks Zari can take after that, generous with the lube and unable to tear her eyes away from the marks she's left all over Zari. No one will be able to see but Zari won't be able to forget it, will have to shift in her seat for days.

When Zari can take three fingers easily, Ava pulls out entirely, drizzles some lube onto the toy for good measure, and guides the toy into her. She doesn't bother with teasing at this point, Zari already on the edge and Ava not far behind even though she hasn't even gotten a hand on herself, sliding into her in one quick motion. Zari winces when Ava's hips meet the bruises on her ass, but still pushes back into it, a constant stream of please and yes and thank you. (That last one has Ava's hips jerking forward almost involuntarily.)

Ava waits until they've gotten a rhythm to get a hand around to touch Zari, who shudders out an orgasm practically two seconds after Ava finds her clit. Fucking her through the aftershocks, Ava doesn't pull out until Zari's stopped begging. It's easier to take the harness off than it is to get on, so she manages to get it fully off before Zari's fully back to herself.

She expects that she'll just have to make do with her hand, but Zari surprises her yet again, rolling over and eating her out. She lets Ava grab her hair and direct her, even though her pace stays leisurely. Really, her whole demeanor is like the cat who got the cream, and it's working for Ava more than she'd like it to be, following Zari over the edge not long after.

This whole thing is a mistake, Ava knows it, but when Zari nestles up next to her, mumbling something about how that was exactly what she needed, she can't help but picture next time, picture having Zari in the shower, on her knees, in the library, a practically endless menagerie of mistakes they could make.

"You're thinking too loud," Zari says, breath fanning out over Ava's neck. "Interrupting my beauty sleep."

"We'll have to set you up with a room of your own," Ava says, and doesn't miss the way Zari's arms get a little tighter around her. "Make it permanently soundproofed and Gideon-free."

"So you do wanna keep doing this," Zari says, sounding surprised. "You're not kicking me out of the Legends forever?"

"What? No. For--this? This is at much my fuck-up as yours, if not more--"

"No, for the perfume."

"Oh, that. Listen, screwing up the timeline is as much a part of being a Legend as fixing it. More, even. Just--try not to steal things that come from hell anymore, and we're good."

"Good," Zari says, and promptly falls asleep. Ava pets her hair--still soft, even with the fountain water, and Ava has got to get the name of the shampoo she uses--until she dozes off herself.

#lgbtqbingo #legends of tomorrow fanfiction #hizzieluthor #zava #ava sharpe #my fics #fic: merci beaucoup #dc #arrowverse #zava 2.0 #zari tarazi

[justsomethingfromafilmilike]

Souls Among Stars - Chapter 8

A/N: His smile in the above gif ^_^... How can Weyland say this man has no soul?! Also I never know how long to wait before posting updates.. =/

Warnings: None

(Previous Chapter)

Words: 2111

After getting suited up, the group headed to the ship's loading bay and to one of the RT Rovers. Janek asked Ravel about a glitch over the radio which prompted David to ask,

"What glitch, Captain?"

"One of them probes," Janek answered as he climbed in and sat beside Rory. "-picked up a life-form. Pops up every hour or so for a few seconds and then it's gone."

"I could find the probe and fix it for you, if you like," David offered.

"Knock yourself out," Janek said. 

"By himself?" Rory piped up as the loudspeaker started,

"Ramp door will open in three…"

"He'll be fine," Janek assured her before looking back and forth between the two. 

"Perhaps, Miss Stevens could accompany me?" David suggested. “To film.” Janek looked to Rory then across to Shaw.

"We're going around near the door where we found the head, that's the last place they checked in. The probe is somewhere we haven't gone, yes?" Shaw asked. Janek nodded.

“That’s right,” Janek said. "The probe is in the other direction."

"Is that a yes?" Rory asked over the sound of the ramp doors opening. Shaw started to nod.

"If you think you'll be okay with just him," Holloway added from beside Rory, seeming much grumpier than the night before. 

"Of course she will," David said and held out his hand to help her down from inside the vehicle. Rory gave Holloway a glare before moving past everyone, and taking David's hand as she stepped down. "Good luck, doctors," David said, looking at Holloway. 

The two moved to an ATV as the larger vehicle’s doors closed and soon after it took off down the road. Rory climbed onto the back seat of the ATV and David enjoyed seeing her flustered face as he secured her seat belts before she could. She playful swatted him away while he grinned. 

They followed behind the RT Rover about halfway to the dome before David slowed, coming to a stop.

"David, everything alright?" Rory asked, turning to look over her shoulder.

"Everything is fine,” he said but then hesitated. “Rory?"

"Yes?"

"When we get into the structure, I need to ask you not to connect your feed and not say a word until I say."

"What? Why-?" Rory frowned.

"Do you trust me?"

"I-I mean, yeah, of course I do." He couldn’t help his smile at that.

"Then please. I will explain later. I promise." 

"Okay, I trust you," she said.

"Thank you."

...

David drove the ATV around the dome until he found an opening large enough and managed to drive the ATV inside the cave. He drove in a fairly straight path for a while until he finally stopped as the path began to narrow, the path changing from a plain rocky cave to having more defined walls. Rory heard a muffled voice come from David's comm. She turned her head to look at him as best she could.

"Yes Miss Vickers," David answered and turned his head as he put his finger to the front of his helmet, but it a clear gesture nonetheless for Rory to remain quiet, knowing she had turned to look at him. Vickers said something else, the radio still muffled by David's helmet. "Copy," he replied and took off his helmet. Rory kept hers on, knowing Vickers must be watching David's feed and knowing the woman would probably hear her suit depressurize if she did.

 They walked silently down the hall, David holding a flashlight in one hand and his helmet in the other. Rory made sure the light on her camera was off and that the light from her suit didn’t show up in front of David. Soon they saw a red light coming from the end of the tunnel and what sounded like a puppy whimpering. One of Fifield's pups. David approached the door, placed his helmet on the ground, and after 'pushing' a few symbols on the wall the door opened. The pup flew in and began mapping the room. The two entered and Rory's eyes widened seeing more of the vases they had seen the day before. Thousands more, stacked in columns and lining the walls up to the ceiling. She no longer thought they were simply urns.

Rory followed David through the room, filming as she went, to where the pup had stopped at another door which David soon opened. A few of what she thought were either statues or empty suits lined the short hall that led to another round room. This one had no urns but a large round platform, a few feet tall, in front of them was a small ramp. Rory watched David reach up and disconnect his camera feed.

"We can speak now," he said quietly, his voice barely echoing around the room. David turned to her and was surprised to see her taking off her helmet.

"You knew she was going to watch your feed?" she asked as she disconnected the helmet before putting it beside his, on the ground.

"I had an inkling, yes. I knew she would want to see if the probe truly picked up a life-form or if it was simply just a glitch."

"And… she couldn't know I was with you?" Rory tilted her head.

"There was no need for her to know." He turned back to the room. Rory frowned but followed him around the bottom of the platform.

“Am I not supposed to be here with you?” she asked.

“It’s not that.” He turned to her. “It’s not that you shouldn’t be here. You are one of the few members of the crew who know Weyland is aboard and you know his true reason for this expedition… You know why a possible life-form would be important for me to find... her knowing you were here with me wouldn’t cause issues in that regard. You told me before how you find her intimidating. I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable, if you knew that she knew you were here,” David said and felt a smile form as he watched her smile at him slowly grow.

“Thank you, David.” She gave a light chuckle. “You’re always looking out for me, aren’t you?”

“Of course.” He enjoyed seeing her smile grow even more to the point where she turned away in an attempt to hide it.

"So, what do you think this room was?" she asked, following him around the outside the platform as she filmed.

"I have no idea." They approached what seemed to be a control panel covered in round white bulb-like buttons. David pressed a few of them and weak electronic noises echoed. 

"Should you be touching those?"

"Don't you want to know what this room is?" he asked, flashing her a smile before hitting a bulb that seemed to be glowing. A large chair pulled out and turned to him. He slowly sat in the chair and grinned. Rory found herself smiling and zooming in on his face. A bright cyan light in the corner of her eye caught her attention, making her gasp,

"David." He sat up quickly as he turned to see the hologram walk up the ramp and sat forward as two more entered through another hall. "Damn they're tall," Rory said, stepping out of the way as one of them headed past her and went straight for the chair. David quickly got up and moved to watch it sit. "It's actually them," Rory whispered as the seat moved back into place, then the hologram picked up a flute and began to play. A large green orb appeared before it and green waves of light bounced between the bulbs, the sound of the flute being real enough to trigger the electronics in real time. David moved his hand over the lights and watched as they reacted to his hand. 

“Rory,” he looked to her and held out his hand for hers. She extended her hand and he gently placed his over the top of it before showing her how the light moved and reacted. He grinned at her expression of awe.

David watched which buttons the Engineer pressed before he climbed up onto the platform and crouched for a better look. They watched another Engineer crouch across from the seated one and begin to speak to him. The sound was all warbled, but Rory wouldn’t understand it even if it was clear. The second Engineer stood as a much larger blue sphere appeared in the center of the platform. David stood and entered it while Rory tried to capture as much of what was happening that she could. 

Planets appeared and as Rory turned her gaze, and in turn her camera, back to the center of the room she couldn't help but smile and stare at the wonder on David's face. Green lights highlighted a planet, Earth, and David reached up to hold it before he slowly let it rise. The lights suddenly grew brighter then flickered out just as suddenly as they had begun. Rory let out a gasp and turned her camera to the one light that remained. 

“They were going to Earth?” she asked, her voice in a whisper. The small holographic sphere of Earth now hovered on the panel beside her. It too slowly faded away, but another noise and light caught their attention. Rory swung her camera behind her and started to climb up. David, momentarily distracted by the hypersleep pod lighting up, hesitated before turning and offering her a hand. She nodded in thanks before holding her camera again. "This is amazing," she breathed as she slowly filmed up to the pod. "Are they alive?" She turned to look at David who had approached. He slowly put a hand on the pod before kneeling and placing his ear against it. David started to smirk.

"Listen," he said. She got down next to him and laid her head against the pod. He smiled at her as they listened to it's heartbeat. 

“Shaw and Holloway are going to be ecstatic!” Rory quickly aimed her camera down at the figure. “This is amazing,” she whispered as she panned the camera along the pod.

“You said that,” David said with a slight chuckle.

“Well it is,” she said, flashing him a smile. “Maybe now Holloway will stop acting like such a jerk to you.” David’s smile faltered slightly. 

---

As they walked back to where they left their helmets they heard Vickers through the radio on David’s helmet.

“I can’t see you, but I know you can hear me, you tin can, now report.” Rory frowned and flipped off the helmet with both hands. David made a small sound as he held back a laugh and Rory put a hand to her mouth with a grin.

"She can't hear us yet," he assured her. David crouched and pressed something on the helmet before responding in an exasperated tone. “Yes, Miss Vickers.” He made a show of rolling his eyes to Rory who bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

“Better get your ass back here right now. These idiots are about to infect my ship,” Vickers said. Rory’s smile dropped and her brow furrowed. David looked from Rory back to the helmet.

“Of course, right away. I do apologize; technical difficulties.”

“Have you located your objective, David?” Vickers asked. Rory tilted her head as David glanced at her.

“I believe I have. It’s time.” He stood, holding his helmet. As he put it back on he looked at Rory. “You can speak.” He picked up her helmet and helped her put it on.

“What did she mean, infect the ship? You think Millburn and Fifield caught something while they were here overnight?”

“I don’t know,” he said as he shook his head. “We’d best hurry.” Rory nodded as she secured her helmet back to her suit.

---

As they drove closer to the ship she could hear yelling and Shaw screaming for Charlie.

“What’s happening? David?” Rory scrambled to release the seatbelts. The ATV skidded to a halt and before she could get up and turn around David was in front of her.

“I must ask you not to look.”

“What? Why? What happened to Holloway? Why is she screaming?!” Rory got off the back of the ATV. As she went to turn David grabbed her shoulders and made her stay facing him.

“Rory, please.” He looked over her shoulder at Holloway’s body burning on the ramp, Vickers staring in horror as she held the flame thrower, and a group holding back Shaw as she fell to the ground sobbing. David looked Rory in the eye. “Trust me.”

(Next Chapter)

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A/N: So I’ve pretty much finished writing out this fic, still have more scenes I can probably add and chapters to edit/revise but now I can start working more on the third part to this series =D 

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Tag list:  @profoundtyrantharmony​   @zerocanonlywriteshit  (I hopefully that last tag worked because it doesn’t show up when I type it)

Hey if you wanna be added to the tag list for this fic (or removed, don’t feel bad about asking to be removed from the list for any reason.) please just reply on any chapter or send me an ask ^_^

#Souls Among Stars fic #David 8 x Original Female Character #alien prometheus #fanfic #Michael Fassbender

[singledarkshade]

Magical Mix Up

Chapter Seven

(Chapter Six can be found here.)

Author’s Note: Again a huge thanks goes to @theadrogna for being my historical guide for all things Roman. I have learned some fun things for this fic.

Amy hated that Rory had been taken from her once more. Sometimes it felt as though the universe did this to them every few years just for laughs.

“We’ll find him, Amelia,” the Doctor wrapped his arm around her, “You two always find one another. Even when he died and was erased from time, Rory came back to you.”

Amy took a deep breath, “I know.”

“Then don’t worry,” the Doctor smiled, “This place especially is somewhere that he knows. Somewhere he can blend into, so we just have to look for any signs he’s left for us. And if we’re in the wrong part of the city, then Rip will find him.”

She sighed looking around what she once would have been excited to see. The Romans had been her favourite subject at school, but while Rory was missing nothing else mattered.

Amy had tried every so often to ask him about the memories he held but Rory didn’t like thinking, never mind talking about them.

They continued through the marketplace, hoping that they’d find him but so far nothing. Amy’s heart leapt every time she saw a flash of red, hoping Rory would appear before her but there was no luck so far.

As they walked on Amy suddenly sighed, “Why haven’t we found anything? Rory would leave us a sign, where is it?”

The Doctor mused before shaking his head, “Of course, we arrived here not long after him. He wouldn’t expect us yet. Rory is probably finding a place to hunker down first.”

“So, what do we do?” Amy demanded.

The Doctor wrapped his arm around her once more, “We keep looking for him. He would have entered through the same gate we did. We’re in the right section of the city and there are only a certain amount of places Rory will be able to go without connections. We’ll find him.”

                               *********************************************

 John winced as he was tossed out the window and slammed into the ground. Scrambling to his feet, he turned to see the multiple guards appear swords drawn.

“Look,” he held out his hands, “Obviously mistakes were made, and I shouldn’t have been in there, even if she did invite me but there’s no need for all this. I was just asking for help to find someone.”

John grimaced as his explanation wasn’t swaying them and they continued to advance. Spinning round to run away, John found there were two guards behind him and groaned as someone hit him across the back of his head. Dropping to the ground, John swam in and out of consciousness as he was grabbed by each arm then dragged through the crowd. His head was buzzing, and John wanted to pull away but couldn’t. John groaned as he was yanked to his feet and came face to face with a large man who listened to one of the guards before nodding. John struggled weakly as he was dragged through the gates and into a room with a hole in the floor covered by a metal grate. The grate was pulled off it and a rope ladder tossed down.

John was shoved to the hole and pushed down.

“Climb or fall,” the guard told him, “Your choice.”

Against his growing headache, John climbed down the ladder knowing the other way would probably result in worse injury. The moment he touched the dirt covered ground, the ladder was pulled up, leaving him in the cell with circular walls and nothing but a hole in the ceiling.

Waiting until the guards were gone, John gently touched his ear to activate his communicator, but it wasn’t there. Frantically checking his clothes and the floor of the cell, he sighed finding nothing.

“Bollocks.”

                                 *********************************************

 Gideon sipped the tea she’d made for herself while the others worked to fix the Waverider. She could hear the annoyed cries as things wouldn’t work, no matter what they did. Jax was currently swearing at the systems as Rip had shown him several tricks that normally got the computer to start, but this time everything refused to work for him.

“Gideon,” Cisco appeared, “Can I talk to you?”

She nodded, “Of course. Take a seat.”

“Okay,” he frowned, dropping into the chair across from her, “I get you’re annoyed at them, especially the fact Sara hid they’d found Rip from you.”

“And kept him imprisoned,” Gideon added sharply.

Cisco nodded, “I get all that but fixing the ship should be a priority?”

She smiled slightly at him, “It is. Mr Ramon, I would never do anything to put the Waverider in danger. The self-repair systems are already working, and the ship shall be repaired within the next six hours.”

Cisco frowned, “Then why are you letting them struggle?”

Amusement covered her face, “Because they believe they do not need me.”

“What about Rip?”

“Sending more people is not a good idea,” Gideon remined him, “Mr Constantine is currently searching for him. Adding the others while the situation is unknown is reckless. Once the systems are running again, I will be able to locate him within seconds.”

Cisco frowned, “You can find Rip that easily?”

“Now we are within the same time, yes,” Gideon told him, “It was a problem when I had to search the entirety of time and space.”

“Then what?” Cisco asked softly.

“Gideon smiled beatifically, “Then I take my ship and if others wish to travel with me, then we shall work out an arrangement.”

Cisco nodded, “Sara is going to love that.”

                                 *********************************************

 Rory gripped his sword, feeling the familiar handle bite into his hand. He felt better now, having his own weapon but they couldn’t use them just now and caught Rip’s arm holding him in place.

“Where will they take him?” Rip asked, watching his friend dragged away.

Rory turned asking, “Don’t you know?”

“I learned enough to pass myself off as a soldier within a guard station in order to retrieve a shotgun,” Rip told him, “Not to mention it was one of my very first missions, so I’m a bit rusty on the customs.”

“He’s been taken to the Tullianum,” Rory explained, “It’s a dungeon. Prisoners were left in there until trial, usually without food and water.”

Rip frowned, “How long until he’s put on trial?”

“Depends on who the house belonged to,” Rory mused, “And whose bedchamber he violated. From what I know that house belongs to a very important member of the Senate. Your friends are not the best at keeping a low profile, are they?”

“John tends to not to think at times,” Rip sighed, “Not with his head anyway,” he bent down and picked up a small metallic disc, “And this is his comms link, so he can’t call for help.”

“Let’s face it from what I’ve seen of the others is a blessing for the timeline,” Rory noted.

“How do we get him out?” Rip asked.

Rory frowned as he thought, “Well, that’s the problem. I suggest waiting until tonight, there will be fewer guards for us to get past on the night shift. The sun will be going down in about three hours if I’m right.”

Grimacing Rip said, “Then I suggest we get back to the TARDIS and reunite you with Amy. We can make a plan there.”

Rory nodded, “That is a great idea.”

Motioning towards the city gate, Rip smiled, “This way.”

 The blue box Rory expected to see was not there and he frowned turning to Rip.

“There’s a camouflage shielding on,” Rip explained, “The Doctor told me to look for a pattern on the wall,” he stepped forward and studied the area finding finally a few squiggles made by chalk. Turning Rip took a small step forward and banged into the hidden TARDIS.

Rory began to laugh, the lightness made him feel more like Nurse-Rory and less Centurion-Rory.

“I appear to have found it,” Rip winced, rubbing his forehead.

Rory stepped forward, his hand stretched out and gently touched the door feeling the wood beneath his fingertips.

“It’s me,” he whispered, “Can I come in?” There was a pause before the lock clicked, and the door opened for him. Stepping inside, Rory smiled, “Thank you.”

Rip followed him inside, closing the door and joined Rory at the control console, “Do you know what you’re doing?”

Nodding Rory replied, “The Doctor showed me how to send a signal to the sonic once. Just in case. I could, in theory, also take us somewhere.”

“How did you unlock the door,” Rip asked suddenly, “I noticed a lock earlier. And a ship this advanced, the Doctor would not leave it accessible.”

Rory shrugged, “Normally I’d have a key, but the TARDIS likes me. Don’t ask me why but she apparently does.”

Rip frowned in thought, “Like an AI?”

“Like a soul,” Rory replied.

 Rip watched the other man for a moment before deciding to ask what had been weighing on his mind since he’d connected with the computer on his own ship.

“Rory,” he said, “When you were on the Waverider, did anyone mention Gideon?”

Musing for a moment, Rory finally replied, “Your friend John stated Gideon wasn’t able to help at the moment.”

Rip sighed, “I’m really hoping they haven’t damaged her permanently.”

“Who is she?” Rory asked softly.

“She’s the AI for the Waverider,” Rip replied shortly.

Rory stared at him for a moment before asking, “Who is she to you?”

Amazed by how perceptive the other man was Rip shrugged, “My best friend. The only family I have left.”

“He only said at the moment,” Rory reminded him, “We can ask him when we get him out, so don’t lose hope.”

Rip shook his head, “You are very different from me. I lost the ability to hope a long time ago.”

Before Rory could answer they heard the door opening and Amy ran in, followed closely by the Doctor. Without a word, the redhead ran to her husband and grabbed him in a tight embrace. Rip watched Rory’s eyes close in relief as he held onto Amy. Pulling away from Rory, Amy turned to Rip.

“Thank you,” she breathed, as the Doctor hugged Rory, “Thank you.”

Rip shrugged, “He was fine without any of us.”

“So,” the Doctor said, “Where to now?”

“Actually,” Rory spoke up, “One of Rip’s people has been arrested and we need to rescue him.”

Amy’s eyes darkened, “Is this one of the people who held you hostage?”

“They thought I was Rip,” Rory soothed before continuing, “Besides, he violated the sanctity of a Senator’s wife’s bedroom and, as he is definitely not a citizen, then this will not end well for him unless we get him out.”

“What about his friends?” Amy demanded, “Can’t they risk their lives instead of yours, again.”

“His communicator fell out,” Rory replied softly, “He has no way to call for help.”

Annoyance flickered across Amy’s face, but when Rory took her hand, she sighed and nodded.

“Fine,” Amy said, “But I’m coming with you.”

“No,” Rory told her, “I’ve seen you with a sword. We’re not looking for that level of carnage.”

Before Amy could argue, the Doctor spoke up, “I agree with Rory, Amy. He knows what he’s doing.”

“Besides we’ll need you to come after us if something goes wrong,” Rip noted wryly, “Which, with my current track record, it will.”

“You’re a bundle of joy,” Amy rolled her eyes.

Rory wrapped his arm around Amy and pressed a kiss to her temple before turning to Rip, “First thing first. I want my own uniform back. Then we’ll work out a plan.”

#fic #legends of tomorrow #rip hunter #gideon #john constantine #doctor who #rory williams #amy pond #eleventh doctor #the flash #cisco ramon #crossover

[abundanceofsoph]

SkyFire 1: Chapter 22

The Columbia University Shooting - September 29th, 2015

Word count: 3.7k

SkyFire 1 MASTERLIST

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CW/TW: This chapter contains a mass shooting and the aftermath of that event. It includes details of injuries and blood. None of the main characters die, but please proceed with care if this is something that can be difficult for you. If you want to skip this chapter message me for a summary of the key points 

A month into the start of her 3rd year at Columbia, Aurora was sitting in the library with a few friends from one of her painting classes. It was the end of September and they were talking about the fact that she would be at the CMAs in a little over a month. They were chatting happily when the first sound of gunfire rang out, at initially she didn’t realize what it was. Her first thought was that someone had set of firecrackers in the hallway outside the library and then realization dawned. Rori saw the fear in the eyes of other students around her as everyone scrambled for somewhere safe to hide. They’d all run through the drills countless times over the years and every one of them knew what to do, stay away from windows, hide behind something solid and stay quiet. When she’d first moved to America the concept of an active shooter was so foreign but that had been years ago now and there had been countless school shootings across the country since. She could feel her heartbeat in every limb, her breathing rapid and her hands were trembling as she cowered under the table in the library beside her friends. She remembered watching a documentary on the Columbine massacre and let out a small whimper as she remembered those kids also hiding under tables in the library. 

Aurora reached for her StarkWatch on her wrist, scrolling through the menu to pull up the panic button Tony had shown her when he’d first designed the product, the same button she’d used the previous year the night that she’d almost been mugged in central park and first met Peter. She hit the button, knowing that JARVIS would alert any Avenger in the state. “J activate Eyes and Ears protocol,” she whispered, ensuring that the AI was now recording everything that the microphone picked up, while muting any and all notifications so as not to draw attention to herself. “Send the following alert to Avengers; There’s a shooter on campus. I’m in the library and they sound like they’re close to…”

She was cut off from continuing her message as a girl let out a shriek of fear nearby when the doors were thrown open and the sound of gunshots echoed off the walls, deafeningly loud. Rori whimpered, clasping one of her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound, the other reaching out to hold onto one of her friends beside her. She listened in horror as the unknown gunman moved from one table to the next, indiscriminately shooting everyone they came across, and eventually their blood stained shoes came into Rori’s view. Her cheeks were damp with falling tears when he ducked down, locking eyes with her as he raised his weapon.

“Please don’t,” she begged helplessly, raising her left hand in front of her as if it could shield her from what came next.

The pain was excruciating, beyond explanation as blood ran down her arm, pooling on the ground. A second wound blossomed across her lower abdomen, quickly soaking through her pale grey sweater. More gun shots continued to ring out as Aurora’s vision became hazy and she fought against the desire to rest. She slumped backwards on the floor as still more blood continued to pool around her, a lot of it her own, but more still coming from her friends. 

She was barely holding onto consciousness when Steve found her. He hadn’t even taken the time to suit up when the alert rang out through the tower, sparing only enough time to grab his shield before he was running for the balcony, Tony meeting him there in the Iron Man suit. They flew together, covering the distance in mere minutes, arriving on the campus to hear the discharging of an automatic weapon and the screaming of victims. The police arrived hot on their tales and the couple shared a brief moment to coordinate before heading into the sprawling campus. Tony would seek out the shooter, while Steve would head for the library to find their daughter. The live broadcast from Aurora's watch was playing out over their comms link, so Steve could hear the injured wails surrounding his daughter. His heart had lurched when he’d heard her beg for her life, a sound he knew he would hear in his nightmares, but since then she had been silent. He tried not to think about what that meant, pushing his muscles to the extreme as he sprinted across the campus. 

He found her curled up beneath a table, blood soaking through her sweater and her left hand a mangled mess of flesh and bone. He sucked in a deep breath, pushing aside his torment as a father and focusing on the scene as a soldier. He slipped his arm through the straps of the shield, freeing both of his hands and bent down, scooping her up and cradling her against his chest, his white button down shirt instantly turning red with blood. Aurora’s eyes fluttered open briefly as she moaned in pain. 

“Pops?” She mumbled, squinting up at him from where her head rested against his shoulder. 

“Shhh, I’m here bug,” he soothed, already exiting the library and heading for where the triage point had been set up. “Everything’s gonna be ok.”

xXx

Harry was sitting with Niall on a sofa in the green room of the O2 Arena in London while Louis and Liam were playing table tennis across the room. That night’s show was set to start in a little over 2 hours and there were plenty of people coming and going from the room as the boys relaxed before they had to go out on stage. Harry was laughing at Liam’s failed dive to save a shot when a member of their management team, Dan, rushed into the room.

“Everyone not in the band, out, now!” he yelled. Confused looks were exchanged before the order was followed and within a few minutes the room was empty of everyone except the four boys.

“What’s going on,” Louis asked as he and Liam walked over to join the other two on the sofa.

“I’m not sure how to break this so I’m just going to say it,” Dan said, his gaze nervously flitting to Harry before he looked away. “The news is reporting that there’s been a mass shooting at Columbia University in New York.”

The silence that followed his words was thick in the air. No one moved, barely even breathing as the words slowly settled between them. Louis was the first to recover, quickly looking to Harry in dawning horror as Harry pulled his phone from his pocket, already dialling Aurora’s number. Liam also pulled his phone out, pulling up the latest news report. He gasped in shock when the first article included a photo of Steve carrying Aurora out of a building, blood soaking through both of their outfits.

“Haz,” he whispered, unable to make his voice any louder but not needing to in the dead silence of the room. Harry looked towards Liam, his phone still pressed to his ear as it continued to ring and ring and ring. Liam turned his phone around to show the others the photo, watching as all the colour drained from Harry’s face. He hung up his phone, knowing now that there was no one to answer his call.

“I…” he stammered. “I need to be on a plane.”

“You have a show in 2 hours,” Dan replied.

“Fuck the show!” Louis shouted, causing everyone in the room to jump in response to his outburst. “Get him on a plane, we’ll deal with the show later.”

xXx

The flight was the longest 8 hours of Harry’s life. He’d tried to call both Tony and Steve before he boarded the plane, but when neither answered he’d opened up the JARVIS app that Tony has installed on his phone when he last visited the tower. He informed JARVIS of his flight details and asked the AI to let both of Aurora’s parents know that he was on his away and then he turned his phone to airplane mode and ran his hand over his face, exhausted but unable to sleep. By the time he reached JFK, Harry was unsure how he was still on his feet. He was beyond tired and scared to the point of being sick as he walked through the terminal, his duffle bag hanging from his shoulder, grateful that there weren’t any fans to stop him for a photo. He recognised Happy once he made it to the curb and slipped into the backseat of the town car, closing his eyes as he lent his head back against the seat for the brief moment it took Happy to round the car and climb into the driver’s seat.

“Any news?” he asked.

“She was in surgery last I heard,” Happy told him, swinging the car out into traffic and heading for the hospital. “How are you?”

“Terrified,” Harry said honestly. “Tony and Steve?”

“About the same,” Happy replied.

They lapsed into silence for the rest of the drive and when they finally arrived, Happy walked Harry passed the media camped outside the front doors, waiting for any updates on the survivors.

“They’ve got a private waiting room set up for you guys,” Happy told him once they reached the correct floor. “It’s the second door on the left up there. I’ll go take your things to the tower and then I’ll check in with Pepper.”

“Thanks Hap,” Harry said, offering the man a tired smile before slowly walking down the hall.

When he opened the door, he found most of the Avengers team sprawled out across the hard, unforgiving seats, a few looked up at the sound of his entrance and offered him sad, exhausted nods in greeting. It was Steve who stood and made his way over to Harry. Tony remained in the seat next the one Steve had just vacated, his head buried in his hands, somewhat oblivious to anything around him.

“Harry,” Steve said, pulling him into a hug. “Thanks for coming.”

“Of course,” Harry replied, patting Steve’s back before the pair stepped apart. “How is she?”

“She’s been in surgery for the last few hours and we haven’t had an update yet,” Steve explained, walking Harry back over to where Tony had still yet to move. They both fell into the empty seats on his right. “She was in pretty bad shape by the time we got her here, but the doctors seem pretty confident that she’ll be ok.”

Harry didn’t realise he’d been holding his breath until he heard Steve say that Rori would be ok. He let the air rush out of his lungs as a sob burst from his lips. Steve placed a comforting hand on the younger man’s shoulder as he finally let out all the built up emotion that he’d been desperately holding back since he’d first seen the photo of Aurora ,unconscious and blood-drenched in her father’s arms. His sobs echoed around the room, filled with all the fear that had been building for hours and the relief that his worst nightmare had not become a reality.

“I thought I was gonna be too late,” Harry confessed when he finally regained enough composure to speak. “I was terrified that by the time I got here she’d be gone.”

“She’s gonna be ok,” Steve promised, wrapping his arms around Harry and hugging the young man again. “Our girls a fighter.”

“I love her so much, Steve,” Harry whispered. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”

“We know,” Steve replied, his voice also soft in the quiet room. “Everything’ll be ok. You’ll see.”

xXx

A few more hours passed before a surgeon came out to explain Aurora’s condition to them. She’d sustained serious damage to her left arm below the elbow, with much of the limb needing to be reconstructed with future surgeries. She had also been shot in the upper arm and shoulder, both wounds being less severe through-and-throughs, however her collar bone had been broken, as had her shoulder blade. While most of her injuries were confined to her left arm, one bullet had pierced her lower abdomen, causing a wound that had been the main focus of her time in the operating theatre. The surgeon explained that given the circumstances that she had been incredibly lucky that none of bullets had impacted any of her vital organs and that she was now being transferred into a recovery ward.

A nurse had come in half an hour later to escort them to Aurora’s room and the rest of the team had headed home. Tony, Steve and Harry were slumped in uncomfortable plastic chairs at Aurora’s bedside when she finally awoke from the anaesthetic.

She was disorientated at first, groggy from the anaesthetic and confused by the harsh fluorescent lighting. All three men surged forward out of their seats as she started to wake, rushing to her side immediately. Her eyes flitted from her fathers to Harry before she burst into tears. Harry reacted quicker than either of the other two men, gently wrapping his arms around her, cautious of her injuries, and pulled her against his chest as she gasped for breath.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” she sobbed.

“I’m right here,” Harry soothed. “You’re ok. I’m here. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“I love you Harry,” she continued. “I love you so much, I was so scared.”

“God, I love you too,” Harry replied. “More than anything. I love you, you’re safe now. I won’t let anything else happen to you. I love you.”

He kept whispering his promises and confessions of love until her breathing finally calmed and he loosened his hold on her just enough to turn her towards her fathers.

“Please don’t scare me like that again kiddo,” Tony begged, his own tears welling in his eyes as he gazed at his daughter. “We can’t lose you, ok?”

She nodded silently, tears dripping down her cheeks as she leant away from Harry’s chest and reached her uninjured hand out towards her dad, urging him to move forward and pull her into a hug. Steve added his arms around them both and Harry watched on as the small family held each other close, trying not to think of what the alternative scene would have looked like.

xXx

For the next 3 days following the shooting, Aurora found herself meeting with one surgeon after another, first discussing the recovery process for the abdominal wound and her broken collar bone and shoulder blade, and then they were making plans to reconstruct her hand and forearm. The initial surgery had merely stopped the bleeding and stabilized the bones to avoid further damage but as the doctors explained, more surgeries would be needed if she wanted to regain use of the limb. 2 days after the shooting Aurora went back into the OR to have a steel rod inserted where her radius and ulna used to form her forearm and countless plates, pins and screws were imbedded into her hand to stabilize the shattered bones and torn muscles.

While she was in surgery, Steve and Tony went back to the tower to shower, change clothes and update the team while Harry remained in the waiting room having refused when both men had tried to convince him to go with them. Instead he used the time to call Louis, filling him in on everything the doctors had told them and getting updates on the status of the tour he was currently missing. They had 2 shows out of 6 to go in London when Harry had left, and those along with the Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham shows had all been postponed. Louis told Harry that they were rescheduling the shows for the week following the Sheffield shows that were originally slated to be the end of the tour. This left Harry with 2 weeks in New York before he needed to fly back, although Louis promised that if he needed longer, they would make it work.

The morning after her second surgery, Aurora was sitting up in hospital bed, checking social media on her phone, while Harry sat on the side of her bed with her and Tony and Steve sat against the nearby wall in the uncomfortable plastic chairs. They were interrupted when a nurse came in to start the paperwork for her discharge and Tony followed her out of the room. Once he was gone Steve announced that he was going to go get everyone coffee and he invited Harry to join him. At first, he had declined, arguing that he would stay with Aurora until she pushed him to go.

“I’ll be alright for 10 minutes while you get coffee H,” she said. “Go stretch your legs. Promise I’ll be here when you get back.”

Reluctantly Harry had agreed and followed Steve out of the room and down the hall.

The moment the door closed behind them; Aurora burst into tears. She’d been holding it in until that moment, knowing that if she cracked in front of any of the three men hovering over her, she would only cause them to worry and she knew that they had worried enough in the past few days to last a lifetime.

Aurora was crying softly when Tony walked back into the hospital room and at first, he didn’t say anything. He just sat down next to her on the bed and let her lean into him, his arms wrapping around her and holding her gently as she gasped for breath. By the time she pulled herself together, Tony’s eyes were shut, and he was humming softly, his lips pressed into her hair. 

“Every time I close my eyes, I’m back in the library,” she whispered, “and I feel like I can’t breathe, and my chest is so tight it feels like my heart’s about to burst.”

“Sounds like a panic attack,” Tony told his daughter. “I had them after the wormhole.”

“You did? How come I never knew?”

“I didn’t want to worry you,” he admitted, “and I was ashamed. I shouldn’t have been, but I was. I thought I should have been stronger, and I was scared to let you see me be weak.”

“What made them stop?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper but hope clear in her tone.

“It’s still there,” he admitted. “I’m not sure it will ever fully go away, but it got better when I talked about it. Wilson’s offered to help. You know he worked at Veteran Affairs back in DC helping soldiers with PTSD?”

“I’m not a soldier,” Aurora replied. 

“But you did experience something pretty traumatic.”

“You want me to talk to him, don’t you?”

“I want to help you get through this.”

“I don’t know how to talk about it. I don’t even want to think about it.”

“We don’t have to do anything right away,” Tony promised. “Let’s get you home first and then you can sit down with Sam and just see how it goes. Sound like a plan?”

She nodded in agreement, pressing her cheek back against his chest, finding comfort in the soft hum emanating from the Arc reactor lodged next to her ear. By the time Harry and Steve returned, Aurora was sleeping soundly, and Tony was reading up on PTSD treatments on his phone. Steve passed him a coffee, placing a kiss on to his temple before slipping into the seat next to him. Harry sunk into the empty seat on the other side of Rori’s hospital bed, pulling out his own phone to update the boys on Rori’s condition and letting them know that she was being discharged later that afternoon.

xXx

Aurora was relieved when Happy pulled the town car into the tower’s underground carpark and she let Harry help her out of the car and into the elevator. She leaned heavily against him as Tony and Steve joined them and the car slowly ascended to the penthouse apartment. She was exhausted and was grateful for Harry’s strong arms holding her up by the time the doors opened. They stepped out together and slowly made their way over to the nearby sofa. After helping her to ease herself down onto the cushions, Harry excused himself for a moment.

“I’m just gonna go grab something from my bag,” he announced heading off down the hallway to where his bag had been left in Aurora’s room. Tony helped Rori get herself comfortable on the sofa with her legs propped up on the edge of the coffee table and a small cushion placed between her arm and stomach to take the pressure off of her sutures. Steve pulled a soft blanket off the back of the sofa and draped it over her lap and when Harry returned to the living room, both Steve and Tony excused themselves, leaving the young couple alone.

“You get whatever you needed?” Rori asked her boyfriend, watching as he stepped up to stand between the coffee table and where she sat, but instead of sitting down next to her like she expected him to, he dropped down on one knee. Rori’s breath stuck in her throat as Harry held the ring box open in front of him, a soft smile stretching across his face, making his dimples pop and his eyes shine. 

“Aurora Louise Stark, I love you so much,” he began softly. “Loving you and being loved by you has made me the happiest and the luckiest man on earth. I’ve wanted to ask you this for so long now and I was waiting for us to be together again at Christmas to finally ask you, but things haven’t gone the way any of us expected. I spent 8 hours on a plane fearing that by the time I got here I’d be too late, and I just kept thinking that I couldn’t lose you. I couldn’t imagine my life without you, and I don’t ever want to find out what that would be like. I want to spend every minute of every day of the rest of our lives making sure you know how much I love you. Rori, will you marry me?”

NEXT CHAPTER 

OR CONTINUE READING ON AO3

#skyfire #skyfire fic #aurora stark #dad!tony #iron dad #step dad steve rogers #stony #stony fic #boyfriend harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #superfamily #harry styles #tony stark #school shooting #mass shooting

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor Chapter 15

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor Chapter 15 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 15/? SUMMARY: The Doctor’s death is looming on the horizon and Elise is growing every day. What the Doctor doesn’t know is that he has 200 years to teach Elise all he knows. Amy, Rory, and River let Elise in on their secret, because River knows she will keep it. What will Elise do when he’s gone?

Loud music played through the speakers in the console.

It was some rock song that Elise had never heard by a human band she’d never heard of. Elise decided she didn’t like Rock n’ Roll.

Amy and Rory played darts while Elise was sitting on the stairs sketching Idris while the Doctor stood in front of the monitor.

“Forty six. Rubbishy, rubbishy, rubbish,” Amy told Rory.

Elise rolled her eyes. She’d never understand human games. She and the Doctor played football sometimes when the Ponds were sleeping and she wasn’t too tired.

“Hello? It's a double top,” Rory argued.

“Wrong side of the wire, mister.”

“You're on the oche, Red.”

The music abruptly cut off.

“Who wants fish and chips?” the Doctor asked.

Rory raised his hand. “I'll drop you both off. Take your time. Don't rush.”

“Er, and you?” Rory asked.

Elise had once again been forgotten. Maybe she needed to speak up more.

“Things to do. Things involving other things.”

“Well, we'll stay with you. We'll do the other things,” Amy said, joining the Doctor on the platform.

“Nope.”

“Whatever you're up to, I'd personally like to be a part of it.”

The Doctor looked at her apprehensively.

“What?”

An alarm went off and the TARDIS lurched.

Elise was thrown from stairs. The Doctor grabbed her before her face could slam into the console.

“Solar tsunami. Came directly from your sun. A tidal wave of radiation. Big, big, big.”

The Doctor pulled levers as he tried to direct the TARDIS.

“Oh Doctor, my tummy's going funny,” Rory moaned.

“Well, the gyrator disconnected. Target tracking is out. Assume the position!”

“What does that mean?!” Elise yelled.

“Do I what do,” Amy told her. Amy ran to the jump seat and put her head between her knees.

Elise copied her.

Rory knelt down on the platform and did the same.

The TARDIS landed and everything was quiet.

The Doctor jumped up. “Textbook landing.”

They made their way to the TARIDS doors and the Doctor threw them open. “Behold, a cockerel! Love a cockerel.”

They all stepped out.

“And underneath, a monastery. Thirteenth century.”

“Oh, we've gone all medieval,” Amy commented.

“I'm not sure about that,” Rory told her.

“Really? Medieval expert are you?”

“No, it's just that I can hear Dusty Springfield.”

There was indeed music coming from the monastery.

The Doctor knelt beside a hole with an exposed pipe. “These fissures are new. Solar tsunami sent out a huge wave of gamma particles. This is caused by a magnetic quake that occurs just before the wave hits.”

“Well, the monastery's standing,” Amy said.

The Doctor took a snowglobe out of his jacket and shook it. Elise failed to see how that helped anything. “Yeah, for now.”

“Doctor, look,” Rory told him.

“Yeah. It's a supply pipe.” The Doctor scanned it with his screwdriver. “Ceramic inner lining. Something corrosive. They're pumping something nasty off this island to the mainland.”

“My mum's a massive fan of Dusty Springfield,” Rory commented.

“Who isn't? Right, let's go. Satisfy our rabid curiosity.”

The Doctor and Amy took off for the steps leading to the monastery. Rory and Elise cautiously followed after them. The steps led to a courtyard.

“So where are these Dusty Springfield loving monks, then?” Amy asked as the Doctor scanned their surroundings.

“I think we're here. This is it.”

“Doctor, what are you talking about? We've never been here before.” Rory said.

“Hmm?”

“We came here by accident?” Amy reminded him.

The Doctor turned to face them. “Accident? Yes, I know. Accident.”

Rory reached out to touch one of the pipes, only to yank his hand back. “Ow!”

“Acid. They're pumping acid off this island. That's old stuff,” the Doctor reassured him, “Fresh acid, you wouldn't have a finger.”

Amy inspected Rory’s hand as the Doctor walked off.

“Intruder alert. Intruder alert.”

The Doctor walked back to them. “There are people coming. Well, almost.”

“Almost coming?” Amy asked.

“Almost people.”

Amy and the Doctor ran off.

“I think we should really be going,” Rory said.

Elise nodded, agreeing with him.

“Come on!” Amy yelled.

“I'm telling you. When something runs towards you, it is never for a nice reason.”

Amy grabbed onto his jacket, pulling him after her.

Elise ran to catch up with them.

They ran into a room full of people in harnesses.

“What are all these harnesses for?” Amy asked.

“The almost people?” Rory guessed.

“What are they, prisoners, or are they meditating, or what?”

“Well, at the moment they fall into the “or” what category,” the Doctor told them.

“Halt and remain calm.”

“Well, we've halted. How are we all doing on the calm front?”

A group of people, the same people in the harnesses, came running into the room. They were all brandishing spears of some kind.

“Don't move!” a man told them.

“Stay back, Jen. We don't know who they are,” another said.

“So let's ask them. Who the hell are you?” Jen asked.

“Well, I'm the Doctor, and this is Amy, Elise, and Rory, and it's all very nice, isn't it?”

“Hold up. You're all. What are you all? Like identical twins?” Amy asked them.

Two people in odd looking suits came down a set of stairs.

“This is an Alpha Grade industrial facility. Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetson, you are in big trouble,” the woman said. She seemed to be in charge.

“Actually, you're in big trouble,” the Doctor said, pulling out his psychic paper.

The woman snatched it out of his hand.

“Meteorological Department? Since when?”

“Since you were hit by a solar wave.”

“Which we survived.”

“Just, by the look of it. And there's a bigger one on the way.”

“Which we'll also survive. Dicken, scan for bugs.”

“Backs against the wall. Now,” one of the men in the orange suits said.

The Doctor, Elise, Amy, and Rory did as they said.

“You're not a monastery, you're a factory. Twenty second century army-owned factory,” the Doctor said.

“You're army?” Amy asked.

Elise smirked as she remembered Amy in Churchill’s bunker.

“No, love. We're contractors, and you're trespassers,” the woman said.

“It's clear, boss,” Dicken told her.

“All right, weatherman, your ID checks out.” She held out the psychic paper as the Doctor came towards her. “If there's another solar storm, what are you going to do about it? Hand out sunblock?”

The Doctor took it from her and laughed. “I need to see your critical systems.”

“Which one?”

“You know which one.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The woman, named Cleaves, led them into room with a vat full of a milky white substance.

“And there you are,” the Doctor said, wonder in his voice.

“Meet the government's worst kept secret,” Cleaves said, “The Flesh. It's fully programmable matter. In fact, it's even learning to replicate itself at the cellular level.”

“Right. Brilliant. Lost,” Amy said.

“Okay. Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything. Replicate a living organism down to the hairs on its chinny chin chin. Even clothes. And everything's identical. Eyes, voice…”

“Mind, soul?” the Doctor added.

Elise’s eyes met his. She narrowed them, wondering what he was up to. What was he thinking? She knew by the way he was acting that they hadn’t landed there by accident. An idea hit Elise. Was this to do with Amy? She’d seen the Doctor scanning Amy for pregnancy, but the monitor couldn’t make up its mind.

“Don't be fooled, Doctor. It acts like life but it still needs to be controlled by us, from those harnesses you saw,” Cleaves told him.

“Wait, whoa. Hold it. So, you're Flesh now?” Rory asked.

“I'm lying in a harness back in that chamber. We all are, except Jennifer here. Don't be scared. This thing, just like operating a forklift truck.”

“You said it could grow. Only living things grow,” the Doctor said.

“Moss grows. It's no more than that. This acid is so dangerous we were losing a worker every week. So now we mine the acid using these doppelgangers. Or Gangers,” Cleaves explained, “If these bodies get burnt or fall in the acid…”

“Then who the hell cares, right, Jen?” Buzzer, one of the men, asked.

“Nerve endings automatically cut off like airbags being discharged. We wake up and get a new Ganger,” Jennifer said.

Rory nodded, understanding.

“It's weird, but you get used to it,” the other man, Jimmy, commented.

“Jennifer, I want you in your Ganger. Get back to the harness,” Cleaves ordered.

Jennifer left as the Doctor scanned the Flesh.

“Hang on, what's he up to? What you up to, pal?” Buzzer asked.

“Stop it.” The Doctor jerked his hand back and pocketed his screwdriver. “Strange. It was like for a moment there it was scanning me.” He placed his hand on the surface.

“Doctor…Get back, Doctor! Leave it alone,” Cleaves told him.

He finally pulled his hand back. “I understand.”

“Doctor? Are you all right?” Amy asked.

“Incredible. You have no idea. No idea. I mean, I felt it in my mind. I reached out to it, and it to me.”

“Don't fiddle with the money, Doctor,” Cleaves said, her tone patronizing.

“How can you be so blinkered? It's alive. So alive.”

It finally dawned on Elise.

“You're piling your lives, your personalities directly into it.”

There was flash from outside and the monastery shook.

“It's the solar storm. The first waves come in pairs. Pre-shock and fore-shock. It's close,” the Doctor said.

“Buzzer, we got anything from the mainland yet?” Cleaves asked.

“No, the comms are still too jammed with radiation.”

“Okay. Then we'll keep pumping acid until the mainland says stop. Now why don't you stand back and let us impress you?”

Elise did not like Cleaves one bit.

#eleventh doctor #eleventh doctor imagines #eleventh doctor fanfiction #doctor who #Doctor Who fanfiction #doctor who imagine #amy pond #amy pond imagine #Rory Williams #rory williams imagine #the littlest timelord #the littlest timelord: the death of the doctor

[kassies-take]

If You and the Legends went to the carnival

You: finally sometime away from the ship

Sara: *on comms* this is a recon mission

Zari: better than a meta human prison

You: thanks Z. But look rides, games and food

Zari: love this place even more *pays for a donut*

Nate: *on comms* yeah but rude kids, lines and pushing.

Kid: *runs into Nate’s leg*

Nate: *groans* not my cup of tea

Wally: *on comms* I’ve got eyes on Toyman

Amaya: *on comms* I can’t believe someone would plant bombs in toys to hurt someone else.

You: yeah sorry to break it to you Amaya

You & Zari: it only gets worse from here

Sara: *on comms* figure out why he is here. More importantly how he has access to time travel

Mick: *grumbles* on it

Ray: *on comms* we have another problem here Damien Darhk is here

Zari: now we know how he has access to time travel

Sara: Rory, (Y/N), and Z get toyman, take him back to 2019 Arkham Asylum and get rid of his time stone if he has one. The rest of us will deal with Darhk

You: can’t we have one day where we can relax

Zari: not on this ship

Mick: *points fire gun at Toyman* Toyman!

Toyman: let’s play a game. You let me go I won’t bomb the carnival. There a ten bombs hidden in ten random to-

You: *hits Toyman in the back of the head with a pipe*

Zari: Sara you have to get everyone out of the carnival there are ten bombs around here

Sara: I’m a little busy *fighting Damien Darhk*

Wally: I can look around for the bombs

Ray: there are too many we won’t be able to find them in time

You: I’ll jump into the electricity of the bombs. Wally run Zari to my point, Z use your totem to send it in the air, Ray blast it

Amaya: everyone else get the carnival cleared

Mick: *opens time portal and throws Toyman into his cell* I got that part *theatens people with his fire gun*

You, Wally, Zari & Ray: *zaps, whooshs, totems, blasts & repeat till all the bombs are gone*

Sara: *defeats Damien* nice work team, I’ll take Damien back to the ship. You guys enjoy the carnival

You: *tired* Nuh uh, I’m going back to the ship I don’t like carnivals anymore

#dc legends of tomorrow #dclegendsoftomorrow #legends #legends of tomorrow #sara lance #zari tomaz #mick rory #ray palmer #amaya jiwe #nate heywood #toyman #damien darhk #wally west #If You series

[zrtranscripts]

Season 8, Mission 30: Lady In Red

Last Stand

~

JODY MARSH: This is seriously not good! Sam, is there anything left of the Undaunted?

SAM YAO: Just sinking wreckage. No sign of more lifeboats. The cliff face next to the wreck has completely sheared off. The red fungus underneath is-is pulsing. Mor Island must be bursting with the stuff. Shona, the skincoats and the V-types are converging on the town. A few V-types are sticking by the boulder, guarding it.

MORAG BROWN: Those bloody Reids. That family's become nothing but trouble.

JODY MARSH: Sam, are you seeing this? We're still by East Loch. There's clumps of red fungus sprouting out of the countryside around us.

SAM YAO: It's coming through the soil all over the isle. The fungus is shifting in the earth, like you saw in that cave, Five. Like what made the rockslide on the cliff path. The islanders in town are all barricaded into their homes. That won't protect them long.

PAULA COHEN: Nothing's going to protect any of us long. If we can't move the boulder blocking that geyser, the silver mud won't spread. Nothing will stop the fungus. Frances, any ideas from Dearg?

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Uh, we need something to move the boulder. A bomb or a powerful source of traction.

JODY MARSH: Morag. Callum's old drilling equipment, it's still on the island, right?

MORAG BROWN: Aye, Jody. Rusting on a beach. You think we can use it for this?

JODY MARSH: It's our best bet for moving a big rock. We've got to be fast. Once those V-types have hit the town, anyone left who's still resisting the red fungus is as good as gone. Morag, lead us to that beach. Paula, Five, keep your weapons out. Run!

~

MORAG BROWN: There's the equipment, just up the beach. A few rusty diggers and a tractor with a whacking great drill in the front.

SAM YAO: Guys, Shona and the other eight skincoats, they're ignoring the townspeople. She's giving a speech. I've got audio.

SHONA REID: The red god wakes. We are its shepherds! And we rise with it!

[crowd cheers]

SAM YAO: The skincoats are around Shona in a ring. They're drinking something. Oh, don't tell me... it was accelerant. Lots of it. There's, there's wreaths of fungus ripping out of them and coming from the ground under them, exploding from the cracks in the pavement. Shona's clapping.

MORAG BROWN: She's lost her mind. How-how do we get this big tractor thing started?

JODY MARSH: No idea. Paula, Morag, work it out. Meet us by the geyser. Five, we're going to distract the V-types guarding the boulder, pull them away.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Jody, I'm hooked into Sam's feeds. The fungus is sprouting everywhere on Mor. Where it's densest, it's forming fruiting bodies. It's going to release spores, go airborne.

JODY MARSH: And since we're all already infected, it's going to push us into zombiedom really fast. Guys, get that equipment hot-wired now. Five, with me. To the boulder, run!

~

JODY MARSH: Sam, Five and I just shot past the boulder. There's a bunch of V-types chasing us.

SAM YAO: Morag got the drill tractor started. She and Paula are roaring towards you.

AMELIA SPENS: Sam, it's Amelia. I'm near Gaisgeach ruins with Janine and a few marines from the Undaunted. Had to flee the coast to avoid V-types. Janine's still out. I'm seeing red spores in the air. Tell me there's a plan.

SAM YAO: Stand by, Amelia. Jody, I see the tractor coming over a hill. It's going to hit the boulder head on!

[tractor crashes into boulder]

FRANCES DEMSPEY: The tractor rammed the boulder, pushed it aside! The V-types are pulling back to town. The geyser's unblocked!

SAM YAO: Nothing's happening.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Oh no! The rain's died down in that part of the isle. The storm's moving too fast. The tides have calmed around that blowhole's inlet and the whirlwinds are past East Loch. Even if the geyser does spurt, the silver mud won't be sucked into the storm!

JODY MARSH: Five, do you feel that burning in your lungs? The spores! [coughs] No! No! We are not losing to her! We need another option! [coughs]

FRANCES DEMPSEY: The eye of the storm's approaching town. There's a blowhole there big enough for our needs, but it was sealed by the locals. They built a museum around it.

AMELIA SPENS: Then we need to unseal it. My marines salvaged what they could from the Undaunted. We have explosives. Also, my Armani dress.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Explosives might be enough to open the blowhole in town, but you have to do it before the winds blow the bulk of that storm past the museum. You guys need to meet Amelia at Gaisgeach fast. Run!

~

SAM YAO: Jody, Five, you're approaching the ruins. Watch out. The ground's splitting open left and right, creating fissures of fungus. Oh, [coughs] it's definitely in the air. Keep sleeves over your mouths.

JODY MARSH: I see Janine and Amelia huddled by that collapsed wall, marines with them. Janine's trying to stand.

JANINE DE LUCA: Miss Marsh, the Prime Minister informs me this is no time to be sleeping on the job.

PAULA COHEN: Janine, it's Paula. Morag and I are still in the tractor. The collision damaged the engine. Janine, if you start moving, you'll burn out fast.

JANINE DE LUCA: Unfortunately, Doctor, duty is not a matter of convenience. Marines. [marines come to attention] Present Miss Marsh your explosives.

AMELIA SPENS: Oh yes, obey her orders in a snap! Bloody military. Oh God, there's fungus growing on my fingertips. I refuse this, I simply refuse!

SAM YAO: Problem, guys. The town square's basically a red fungus forest. The stuff's everywhere. Shona's in the middle of it. The fungus is growing over her. She's half submerged by a mountain of it. Oh, that's awful.

JODY MARSH: We can't risk more fungus exposure. We need a path through that stuff.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: The fungus doesn't respond well to being frozen! It doesn't die, but it's inhibited. If you had some of the chemicals from the ice bridge left...

AMELIA SPENS: There's a storehouse near the remains of the ice bridge on the Mor side. My forces may have fished several containers out of the sea and hidden them there. The Undaunted had far too little space for loot.

SAM YAO: I'm closest to that area, guys. I can reach that storehouse fastest.

JODY MARSH: Sam, go. Five, meet Sam at the storehouse. Make sure he gets the chemicals safely to us. Oh. Sorry, Janine.

JANINE DE LUCA: My orders precisely, Miss Marsh. Five, Miss Marsh and I will rendezvous with Dr. Cohen and evacuate any townspeople we can. We will meet you at the town.

AMELIA SPENS: I think... I'm feeling dizzy, Janine. I think I'd better stay here. The marines can cover me. God, there's fungus on my hands, my arms! Oh, I can feel it pulsing in my head! Five, for God's sake, hurry! For your Prime Minister, run!

~

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Five, that wooden shack is the storehouse. Sam's already inside.

[door creaks open and shut]

SAM YAO: Five! Five, over here! I found a container of the freezy chemical. Uh, can you carry it? [coughs] No, I'm okay. It's just a headache.

[door opens]

RORY: Sam. Sam, is that you?

SAM YAO: Frances, Rory just came in here. Rory from the shop. He's leaning on the doorway. Rory, are you okay? Look, step out of the shadows, eh?

RORY: Can you feel the tide in your head, the way it pulls? Help me, Sam.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Sam, careful! He could be turning.

RORY: I need help, Sam. The skincoats stabbed me. I'm bleeding. Please.

SAM YAO: Uh, Five, I'll-I'll check him for wounds. Rory, it's okay.

RORY: I was just out walking. I saw you. So did she. She's got so many eyes!

[RORY and SAM YAO struggle]

SAM YAO: Rory, get off. Five, gun down. You'll hit us both.

RORY: The whole island's throbbing in my head, but she's the loudest. She says I have to, Sam. She says drink up!

[liquid splashes]

SAM YAO: Five, stay back! Rory's not hurt. There's fungus growing on him. That was accelerant he poured on me. Oh God! Some went in my eyes. Five, run! Take that container to Janine. [coughs] I can feel it inside me, Five! Get away. You can't help me. You have to stop Shona. Tell Paula and Maxine – tell them they're my – tell them I'm sorry! Just run! Go!

~

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Five, you're almost at the town. The fungus creates a hive mind for V-types. The more of it people have in their blood, the more it's linking them. Shona's piggybacking on that connection to control people! Like poor Rory. Sam's still in that shack. I've... I've lost him on comms!

JODY MARSH: Five, Janine and I are over here behind the boulder. There's the town square just ahead. We can't evacuate anyone. Fungus is covering buildings, streets, flowing out of pits in the ground. Shona's outside the museum with a line of V-types. She's half enveloped in fungus. It's rising around her like a cloak.

JANINE DE LUCA: The geyser is in the museum forecourt just behind the gates. We must get past Miss Reid.

JODY MARSH: Preferably with deadly force.

JANINE DE LUCA: Abel's priority must be to save, Miss Marsh, never to destroy. Though in this case, I would not begrudge that outcome.

JODY MARSH: Janine fixed the tractor.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Morag's charging the tractor into town, straight at Shona! Paula's on the back, pouring a petrol can over the side. Morag, don't wind the window down.

MORAG BROWN: [coughs] Shona Reid! Your ma was the kindest woman I ever knew, and she'd be ashamed of you 10 ways for this!

JANINE DE LUCA: The fungus is dragging Miss Reid out of the tractor's path like a tide. V-types are charging it. Paula is lighting the petrol. Burning fungus, that is our distraction!

SHONA REID: Morag Brown, I have had enough of your prattling tongue.

JANINE DE LUCA: Five, give me the container. The fungus dislikes my blood. I will run ahead through the square, lay down a path of ice. You and Jody follow with the explosives. The V-types are swarming the tractor, pulling Morag and Paula out! We can only save them and Mr. Yao through victory. Head for the museum! Run!

~

FRANCES DEMPSEY: That's it, Five. Follow Janine. Stay on the ice path she's pouring on the fungus. You're halfway to the museum. Shona's seen you!

SHONA REID: I am the red god's favorite, Five. It'll take the world, but my isle will be paradise first! My blood has the perfect balance of silver to delay our union. It can embrace, not subsume, so I can savor it.

JODY MARSH: Five, there's a crowd coming after us. V-types. Townspeople half-turned. There's Paula and Morag, fungus growing on them!

SHONA REID: It's letting me steer them, Five. I'm better with people. My puppets find weapons tricky when they're turning, but they all have teeth.

JODY MARSH: You go ahead, Five. Take the explosives. I'll keep them back.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Jody, you can't kill the townspeople, and V-types are indestructible!

JODY MARSH: An arrow to the leg will still slow them, and maybe she'll feel it. [bowstring stretches, arrow whips through air] The half-turned townsfolk are up front. If I slow them, it'll trip the rest. If I don't, they'll overtake us. Go, Five! Follow the ice path! I'll buy you as long as I can. Run!

~

FRANCES DEMSPEY: You're almost there, Five. The geyser's in the museum forecourt under the roped off gazebo. Hurry, the eye of the storm is passing!

DUNCAN MACALLAN: Hello, Five. It's Shona here. You're a clever, stubborn mind. That's why I kept this body in reserve.

[DUNCAN MACALLAN and Runner Five struggle]

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Five, get up! Get him off you! Jody's too far to help. I can't see Janine on comms. Does anyone copy? The chief just tackled Five!

DUNCAN MACALLAN: This one killed your friend by accident, Five. He cried over it. But he still served me. I was the only one bold enough to lead. He'd cry now, if I let him.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: There's fungus all over him. He's turning V-type fast! [gunshot, metal crumples] He crushed your gun like nothing. Five, he's going to bite. Get up! [zombie splatters] Oh my God! Janine, you caved the chief's skull with a mace!

JANINE DE LUCA: Apologies for the delay, Five. Had to borrow a weapon from the museum. Rather heavy for everyday use.

JODY MARSH: Five, I'm falling back your way! The mob's inches behind me. Throw those explosives at the geyser.

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Good throw, Five. The chief's gone full V-type. He's getting back up. Everyone, get away from the museum before the explosives blow. Run!

~

JANINE DE LUCA: Five, get down. We're beyond the square. The explosives – [shouts]

[explosion, water rushes]

FRANCES DEMPSEY: That did it! The museum blowhole's open. It's erupting with silver.

JODY MARSH: Five, Janine, Shona's mob is running from the geyser. There are no whirlwinds hitting the town square. I don't see Paula or Morag. Janine isn't breathing. Janine, get up! Frances, there's just drizzle, no silver rain! Why isn't it - ? [thunder rolls, rain pours, JODY MARSH shudders]

FRANCES DEMSPEY: The rain's falling! Gleaming silver... it's beautiful. The fungus is wilting wherever it touches, turning to ash. The V-types are dropping dead!

[JANINE DE LUCA gasps]

JODY MARSH: Janine! She's breathing!

FRANCES DEMPSEY: It must be the rain! It's soaking her in the material her nanites are made from. If there's enough, they can use it to reproduce, repair her!

PAULA COHEN: Jody, Five. It was in my head, the fungus, and then it just... faded. Morag's unconscious. Oh no, Janine!

FRANCES DEMPSEY: You need to get as much silver into her system as you can. Jody, I've spotted Shona. The fungus is all melted away from her. She's fleeing town towards the cliffs.

PAULA COHEN: Jody, Five, go after her. It's okay, I've got Janine. Make sure Shona doesn't get away. Run!

~

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Five, Jody, Shona's just ahead of you along the cliffs.

JODY MARSH: Stop right there, Shona. I've got an arrow aimed at your back.

SHONA REID: Look at that sunset. It's peeking through the clouds. Gorgeous. Are you going to shoot me?

JODY MARSH: I should. You deserve it.

SHONA REID: Go on, then. Go on, then! It was mine! Do you understand? I was going to be powerful. I was going to rise with the island. I was going to last forever! It chose me. It was mine. I was going to see my mum. It promised me.

JODY MARSH: We don't kill the powerless at Abel. It's not what Ellie or Tom would have wanted. Five, grab her. She's under arrest.

SHONA REID: You can't arrest me. I'm part of the land. [runs away]

FRANCES DEMPSEY: Oh my God. She threw herself over the cliff. She's hit the rocks below. She's... gone.

SAM YAO: Five? Jody? It's Sam. I'm okay. The fungus in me just died. I felt it die. I uh... I think I know where the Edda is. While the fungus was in me, I could feel all these memories, feel some of Shona's thoughts. There's something major hidden in a cave near Gaisgeach. Amelia felt it, too. She's heading there with her marines. You better join them, make sure this is for real. Run!

~

FRANCES DEMPSEY: You're at the ruins, Five. Looks like everyone's gathered there. Morag, Paula, Janine, Sam, Amelia and her troops. Silver rain's sweeping over the archipelago. The fungus is dying everywhere. Anyone who hadn't turned full V-type is recovering.

JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five, Mr. Yao alerted us to the Edda situation.

PAULA COHEN: Janine's vitals are stable, Five. The nanites are healing her fast, now they're in good numbers.

JANINE DE LUCA: I owe you my life, Five. I owe all of you. Thank you. Our losses here were not in vain. We have wiped out the fungus in the Far Hebrides, and we have the Edda.

MORAG BROWN: Aye, it was in that cave over yonder. Bloody well hidden, too.

JANINE DE LUCA: We will remember the fallen, Five. Tom and Ellie will not be forgotten. Nor will the laird.

SAM YAO: It's kind of wonderful, isn't it? The silver rain, the sunset poking through the clouds. I think... I think they'd have liked this.

JODY MARSH: The people here are safe, Sam. We're safe. That's what would have made them happy.

AMELIA SPENS: Yes, yes, et cetera. The important thing is we have the Edda. [paper rustles] And about time, too. Now we can get back to the mainland, work out how to wipe out all the V-types and assorted zoms forever, and have a nice comfortable... oh.

SAM YAO: Oh? Oh, what? Amelia, what's written in there?

AMELIA SPENS: Ah. Well, obviously I now have more familiarity with Old Norse than I ever desired to have, and if I'm reading this correctly, I think we may have a problem.

[thunder rolls]

~

#zombies run #zrs8 #s8m30 #lady in red #zr transcript #zrs8 spoilers

[delkios]

Come Sail Your Ships Around Me (DC TV)

Title from The Ship Song by Nick Cave. This is essentially a prologue (that i'll never continue) from an idea I had a good while back inspired by the first season of Alice Isn't Dead and the first two episodes of Eureka. Title: Come Sail Your Ships Around Me (And Burn Your Bridges Down) Fandom: DC TV Rating: PG-13 Word Count: 2360 In Responds to: ColdWave Weekend 2018: Friday the 13th Characters: Mick, s2 Legends Summary: There's a temporal anomaly following the Legends. One capable of writing things out of the timeline. The first time it showed up the thing nearly killed Ray. Not that any of them had know that at the time, it had just shown up in the middle of a fight against anachronistically armed hussars during the War of Austrian Succession. Reinforcements had shown up for the hussars, one of which had a goddamn rocket launcher that he had fired into the skirmish without thought for his allies. Ray had flown into its path and Mick had lunged after him. Ray's armaments had been damaged earlier in the fight and Mick knew a sacrifice play when he saw one. But inches between Ray and the explosive the air ripped open with a sound so loud and distorted, folded in on itself until it was like reality was tearing itself apart. The tear pulled back into a ragged, shapeless opening that swirled in blues and greens with deep fingers of purple crackling around a humanoid silhouette like a halo. The projectile disappeared inside its chest and, with the same terrible roar that announced it, it vanished. Everyone had frozen, staring at the spot the thing had occupied. Except for Mick. After so many years working as the Time Masters' bounty hunter, he knew how to work through weird, using it to his advantage. He fired a gout of flame at the hussar's already terrified horse, not aiming to hurt it, just spook it. It reared back, throwing its rider to the ground before bolting, a couple other horses following its lead. Once they were clear, Mick fired again, this time detonating the remaining ammo in the hussar's bag. The explosion broke through the mass stun and the hussars that didn't immediately surrender out of fear threw down their weapons and ran.

Clean up was fairly easy after that, word of mouth claiming the Legends were slaughtering anyone using these 'magic gifts'. When they finally trudged back onto the Waverider the only answer Gideon could give as to what happened was 'a massive temporal distortion'. "What does that mean?" Sara asked. "I'm afraid I cannot be any more specific. I have no records of any similar event." When Sara turned to Mick, he just shrugged. Jax said to the room in general, "So this is definitely something we're gonna have to deal with eventually, isn't it?" Sara sighed and pushed away from the console. "I don't doubt it." It showed up again almost a month later as a time pirate ambushed a couple of them checking a crashed ship in pre-history Nepal, swinging what looked like a machete-shaped lightsaber at Mick. The air ripped open again, flickering briefly around everyone like it was trying to find the correct spot- right in front of the pirate. She twisted, trying to maneuver around the thing but her arm brushed against the swirl of color, the purple immediately crackling along the limb, dragging her into the tear. When the pirate's hand brushed against the silhouette it was like she'd reached the event horizon of a black hole. Her body stretched, limbs turning into ribbons that twisted as she was pulled in and in. Her scream was the only thing that lingered as it thunder clapped out of existence. In that time, Nate had grabbed Mick and Amaya, dragging them against him as he backpedaled against the side of the ship, all three stunned silent. It took him a while to find his voice, announcing into his comm, "Uh, Sara? We saw the thing again." And it kept showing up. Again and again and again, each appearance coming quicker than the last. At first it seemed to happen only when the Legends were in a fight. Then it started happening outside of any overt threat. Then, according to Gideon, it started showing up before or after their arrival, the temporal distortion lingering for days, on one occasion an entire week before they came. Sometimes it stayed in one place, sometimes it flickered to different spots, the length of its appearance ranging anywhere between instantaneous to a minute long. It didn't seem to care about casualties, of the people or things it sucked into its body, one time appearing over top an injured man. The Legends hadn't heard him scream or seen him vanish, but he was gone all the same. To make it worse, the victims weren't merely killed, they were erased from the timeline. Each and every one, no matter how Gideon scoured her records, not even Rip's team able to go back and find any trace of them even before they vanished. In response Sara had gotten more cautious in assignments, dividing the team into groups when they went out and told to call in the moment the thing showed up. Or maybe it was less caution and more trying to figure out the anomaly's pattern. She'd called Mick into the study after a particularly harrowing encounter, the anomaly seeming to follow the Legends back to the Waverider for a mile before stopping just outside of the Waverider's weapon range. One wall of the study was taken up by a board that had the locations of each encounter as well as the names of who saw it underneath. Mick didn't have enough time to parse the list before Sara said, "Are you sure you don't know anything about this thing?" Mick gave her a mildly irritated look. "Sure as I was the last four times you asked." Her mouth pressed into a thin line, looking like she was trying to figure out the best way to phrase what she had to say. She settled on, "I think it's after you." His brow furrowed. "What?" "You're the only one that's witnessed every single appearance and whenever it intervenes in a fight, it's almost always when you're in direct danger." For a long moment Mick didn't say anything. Couldn't think of what to say. His mouth worked soundlessly for a moment before asking, knowing she wouldn't have an answer, "Why?" Sara shrugged, looking helpless. "I don't know. But I don't know if I should let you back into the field unless necessary. At least until we figure out how to deal with this thing. I don't know if it can track you while you're on the ship-" The alarms blared. They looked at each other, both acutely aware of the timing, before charging into the hall to meet the sudden danger. "It's on the ship!" Jax called out over the ship wide com. "Holy crap, it followed us into the timestream!" Mick and Sara skidded to a halt. There, at the other end of the hall, was the anomaly, flicker as it stopped by each door as if it were peering inside. Thankfully it didn't seem interested in the crew, having ignored the fact it had Ray and Jax cornered in their respective rooms before it moved on. It flickered again, suddenly jumping halfway down the hall to appear within a yard of Mick and Sara. Then, for the first time, the silhouette moved. Its arm lifted and reached out, the rift reshaping itself around it. Its hand and fingers outstretched, as if it was going to touch Mick's cheek but Sara pushed Mick behind her, firmly putting herself in the anomaly's way. With a snap her staff extended, held at the ready even though she knew what would happen if it touched her. But the thing stilled, head tilting slightly to one side. And vanished. For a long moment no one spoke. Then Ray said, forced brightness in his voice, brittle around the edges, "Well, that was terrifying!" "Gideon," Sara said, absently patting Mick's arm as if to assure herself he was still there, "any damage?" "None, Captain Lance," Gideon replied. "However, given the anomaly's ability, it may be best to have someone confirm that." Jax nodded to her. "I'll get on it." Nate heaved a sigh. "I did not need to know it can show up in the timestream." "I'm actually a little glad it showed up," Amaya said. "Something about the noise it makes has been bothering me but I haven't managed to get a recording of it. Gideon, were you able to do that?" "Yes, Miss Jiwe, though I am not programmed to do complex noise filtering." "Perhaps I can be of assistance," Stein said. "I have some amount of experience in that area." Nate grinned, equal parts amused and disbelieving. "You?" "Like any good nuclear physicist, I have a number of friends in SETI," Stein said matter of factly. "One of whom took the time to show me how to filter out noises surrounding potential signals." "Is that really a typical association?" "Absolutely." No one could tell if he was being sarcastic. "Alright, then," Sara said. "Gideon, set him up with a soundboard and let's see what you can find." Gideon had one fabricated and waiting in the study and as Stein went to it, Mick followed. Stein paused, looking a bit unnerved at the company. "This may take a while, Mr. Rory. Rest assured, I'll have Gideon alert the crew once I've gotten something." "I'm the one being stalked by Space Ghost," Mick told him. "I'm gonna be there when you figure out why." Stein looked to Sara who just shrugged back. Stifling an unhappy sound, Stein continued on his way with Mick right behind him. After a moment, with no one having anything better to do, the rest of the Legends followed. It took some time before Stein got anything. Long enough for Mick to wander off and bring back a bottle of stout and a bottle of bourbon, the latter he placed next to the chair he claimed, the former he cracked open and drank from. After a little longer, Ray went out and came back with a tray of sandwiches he passed around to everyone. Then Jax returned with a clean bill of health for the Waverider and, not much longer after that, Stein abruptly froze. Jax, feeling his apprehension, asked, "You find something, Gray?" "Indeed I have," he replied, voice strained. "This... will be upsetting for most, if not all of us, but Mr. Rory is likely to be the most affected." In reply, Mick leaned over the side of his chair to pick up the untouched bottle of bourbon. He flopped back into his original position, took a long pull and said, "Hit me, Professor." Stein removed his headset, pressed a button and a faint crackle filled the room. He pressed another button and a voice said, "Mick" Mick abruptly sat upright. Sara, her posture stiffening from her place against the wall, asked, "Was that..." Stein held up a hand. "There's more. Much more." He started raising sliders, layers and layers of voices- of one voice -speaking over each other, each layer looping through a single word or phrase over and over again. "Mick" "where are you" "you and me partner" "I'll find you no matter what" "don't leave me" "I'm coming Mick" "That... that's Snart," Ray said softly, glancing at Mick for confirmation. Mick wasn't looking at anyone. He took another drink from the bourbon, hand shaking. Nate's brow furrowed. "Wasn't he the guy that killed that alternate-" Ray cut him off with a sharp jab of his elbow and Nate, catching Sara's glare, said, "Not the time. Right." "My immediate hypothesis," Stein said, turning off the voices, "would be this anomaly resulted from Mr. Snart's presence at the Oculus explosion. The question is: is this anomaly an echo of his consciousness or is it actually Mr. Snart in some form? Is he aware that he's been following Mr. Rory? Or even of the danger he's presenting? Or is the echo merely chasing the presence of the most important person in Mr. Snart's life?" Mick pulled a face. "I ain't the most important person to him." The others gave him odd looks. "Evidence points to the contrary," Jax said dryly. "Nah. That was always his sister." "Is her name Lisa?" Amaya asked. Mick's jaw went hard and eyes sharp. "How do you know that," he growled. "It was in the voices," she said, stepping up next to Stein. "It was very faint. Can you turn them on again?" Stein did as she asked and Amaya studied the waveforms for each channel. "That one." She said, pointing it out. "I think it's on that one." Stein put on his headset again and fiddled around again. "My god, you're right!" He shut off every channel but the one that said "don't leave me" and in real time the others heard the words fade and another gradually coming out of it. "Lisa" Mick stood up, the bourbon falling to the floor and splashing under his feet as he strode swiftly through the hall. "Gideon," he barked out, "get us to Central 2017." "Belay that order, Gideon!" Sara called, chasing after him. "Override CHR-A31163DC. Central City. 2017. Now." "Understood, Chronos. Setting course." Sara brushed passed Mick, planting her feet and putting a hand to his chest. He probably could've barreled over her if he really wanted- she probably would've found a more painful way to stop him in that case -but Mick stopped. "You need to calm down." "You need to get outta my way, Blondie. I damn near helped Snart raise Lisa. She's as much my sister as she is his." "Mick," she said firmly, eyes intense on his. "I'm not saying no, I'm just saying we need to think about how we're going to do this. She already hates most of us for what happened to Leonard and you, that means you're the only one that she'll listen to." Mick's jaw twitched but he stopped straining into her hand. "I know she's a spitfire, I know she's independent. I'll get us to her, but you need to think about how to convince her to let us protect her." His eyes traced over her face, looking for even the slightest hint of a lie. His shoulders slumped and he said, voice low and tight, "She's all the family I got left." Sara's expression softened, hand moving to squeeze his shoulder. "Then let's go get her." --- Easter egg- the code Mick gives is the date of Atom 3 which marks the first appearance of David Clinton aka Chronos

#dccoldwave #coldwaveweekend2018 #fic 2018 #mick rory #dc tv

[robininthelabyrinth]

Countless Roads - Chapter 46

Fic: Countless Roads - Chapter 46 - Ao3

Fandom: Flash, Legends Pairing: Gen, Mick Rory/Leonard Snart, others

Summary: Due to a family curse (which some call a gift), Leonard Snart has more life than he knows what to do with – and that gives him the ability to see, speak to, and even share with the various ghosts that are always surrounding him.

Sure, said curse also means he’s going to die sooner rather than later, just like his mother, but in the meantime Len has no intention of letting superheroes, time travelers, a surprisingly charming pyromaniac, and a lot of ghosts get in the way of him having a nice, successful career as a professional thief.

———————————————————————————

Len follows the Time Masters.

It's not like he's found any other leads in this desolate place, and as long as he glides along purposefully, looking nobly distracted with serious questions about life, the universe, and everything, no one questions the presence of yet another robed figure.

Distraction is a pretty easy look to pull off.

Mick.

Fuck, Len knew this whole thing was a bad idea. He's known this was a bad idea from the beginning, this whole time travel bullshit, but coming here – Len knew this job was snake-bit cursed, and like a total idiot he went in on it anyway.

Getting swept up in ghosts and Time Masters and angels is no excuse for forgetting the fundamental principles of the job, and number one, above all else, is: if it feels like it's going bad, it almost certainly is, and that means it's time to jump ship.

Everyone always talks about how superstitious sailors are. In Len's opinion, they've got it no worse than thieves.

Mick.

Len has to remind the part of himself crying out for his partner that Mick's an adult – and more than that, a ghost, a powerful poltergeist, nearly a century old – and that he's perfectly capable of handling himself. If Mick left, and Len’s got to assume that he left voluntarily, it's probably because of that damn dream of his. And because of those damn time puppies.

Besides. Len can handle himself without ghosts, and Mick knows that. It's...unusual for Mick to ditch Len in the middle of a job, but it's not necessarily unheard of. Len's good at his job, with or without ghosts. With or without his partner.

The fact that he strongly prefers with is irrelevant.

Len’s so incredibly tempted to break his own rule on radio silence and call for Mick over the comms, but without evidence of any wrongdoing beyond Mick wandering off, he knows he can’t. It’s his own rule – he knows it, Mick knows it, Jax knows it.

A moment’s worry about a crew member, even a partner, doesn’t qualify as an emergency sufficient to break radio silence unless there’s an actual reason to believe something’s gone wrong.

Len hates his rule.

The group of Time Masters surrounding Rip split off from the Hunters, who start ushering the ghosts into what are clearly holding cells.

Len lingers for half a minute – he knows that the information he's looking for will be with the Time Masters, not here, and he can at least comfort himself with the fact that those are definitely holding cells and probably not whatever the hell they used to make people into Hunters, but he can't help the moment of worry for ghosts carrying themselves with the unfamiliar weight of solid flesh – and he hears one of the Hunters scoff and say, "Where'd they even pick you up? And why?" at Parvati.

That clinches a suspicion Len's been nursing as he's followed them all this way, watching the way the Hunters have been treating the ghosts – not like ghosts at all, but rather like people, like thieves, like no threat at all.

Parvati's eyes flash white – less a sign of power here than of sheer ghostly rage – but it's only a split second before it fades away again, drained out by the force of this place.

The Hunter doesn't notice.

Len's not surprised. If the Hunters are too mindless to properly identify the ghosts as ghosts, then obvious signs are clearly lost on them.

No, whatever they’ve managed to accomplish, the Time Masters are clearly still terrible mediums.

It's not necessarily a comfort to know that his plan would've worked if this place wasn't cursed or whatever the hell is going on with it, but it's good to know.

But in the end, there's nothing he can do about the ghosts' predicament for now. Len has to assume the ghosts will be fine – though he desperately wants to know where Svetlana is; hopefully she escaped? – and leave them where they are. Rescuing them now would blow his cover wide open, and it doesn't look like they'll suffer anything worse than cages for now.

The mission takes precedence.

So Len follows Rip, instead.

The Time Masters - one walking in the lead with Rip, flanked by three others - are clearly so confident that Rip won't resist them that they go so far as to dismiss the Hunters entirely.

That seems to surprise Rip.

"What, Rip?" the head Time Master – the same one who called the Matron about the alarm, who goes by the name of Druce, and Len thinks he might even be the one that tried to ambush Rip in the forest way back towards the beginning – asks, looking smug. "Did you think you are nothing more than a prisoner, my friend?"

He puts a friendly hand on Rip's arm.

"I- I mean - I broke the rules," Rip stammers. "As you pointed out when we last met."

"Ah, yes," Druce says, his voice still smug and condescending with the assumption of victory. "But before you did not know the truth. Once you see the truth, you will understand everything we have sought to do here, why we have done all the things we have done, made all the sacrifices we had to make." He smiles. "That is why I dismissed the Hunters. These are matters for Time Masters only."

Len wonders spitefully if they're taking Rip to the large antechamber he'd seen earlier, clearly designed for either show trials or ritualized murder. For all of Druce's pretty words about dismissing the Hunters, there are still three hooded Time Masters following them, and they're clearly there to keep an eye on Rip.

"You really are working with Savage," Rip whispers, something in Druce's manner making him believe it, really believe it at last. Perhaps it was Druce's slick, unashamed demeanor. "My family..."

"We warned you against unnecessary emotional involvements," Druce says. His voice is warm, friendly. He's charismatic and he thinks it'll get him everywhere. Len hates that type of guy. "It was for your own sake, Rip. We tried to spare you this pain."

"You caused me this pain!"

"Yes, we did. But it was in the service of a higher cause," Druce says.

"For what?" Rip demands. "For the timeline?! What, are you going to tell me that there's some devastating attack on humanity that only this course of action could prevent? What could it possibly be? Savage is a tyrant –"

"Rip, Rip, Rip," Druce says. "Please, be calm."

"If you had an argument as to why Savage's evil should've been permitted to flourish and take root throughout the world, you could have just told me," Rip says, no longer yelling, but his voice filled with hurt. "There was no reason to – to – to kill my family."

"You think too small, my friend," Druce says. "The timeline – yes, the timeline is sacred. But there are still higher causes."

Rip stares at Druce, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. He clearly hadn't expected that.

"I will show you," Druce says.

He takes Rip – and Len, drifting close behind but not too close to be noticed – to a remote outpost of the station, down long, grey corridors that all look the same.

The actual place Druce is headed to is actually a building a little outside of the main complex, surrounded by some sort of pseudo park. If parks were soulless collections of bushes put in place to make people regret being alive, anyway.

Really, the fact that Len, a city boy to the bone, has started criticizing horticultural design says everything you need to know about these people...

Of course, all that open space makes it a little more difficult for Len to follow along.

A little.

Not much.

Besides, now that they're out in the park, Len can observe that the building isn't even actually really an outpost: it's actually connected to the rest of the complex by a long corridor leading straight through it from the other side, which means that Druce just chose to go the scenic route for some reason. Worst case scenario, Len can double back and go down that route. But Len is far from needing to fall back on the worst case scenario.

Druce also unhelpfully leaves the other Time Masters as guards at the door to the outpost, but ye old "throw a rock to distract them with a noise" gag – surprisingly useful even outside of movies – works like a charm and he can slip inside.

Of course, it's only once Len's inside the building that he gets the sickening twist of nausea building up in his stomach, the horrible feeling of wrongness, of horror, of suffering, of – he doesn't know what to call it, not really, but it feels the same as being filled up with the insane angel's rotting energy. Wrong, and sick, and Len hates it immediately.

"– is that?" Rip is asking, gagging.

"You become accustomed to it, in time," Druce says soothingly, like that's not the most horrible thing that could be said about the place. Sure, you can acclimate to horror – but why would you? Willingly, even?

They're not even all the way inside yet, either; it's a small entrance room. Druce's waiting for Rip to get over himself before they pass through the internal door at the other end.

Len does not want to go through that door.

He doesn't think he has a choice in the matter.

Those goddamn time puppies had better know what they're about, sending Mick on this horrible mission.

Mick, who is – somewhere.

Mick, who can handle himself, damnit.

"Feeling better?" Druce asks after a few minutes of Rip composing himself.

"No," Rip says bitterly, but it's obvious he's not as bad off as he was when they first came in. "What is this place? I never knew of it."

"It's our holiest of holies," Druce says, smiling and calm. Len imagines that genocidal war criminals smile the way Druce is smiling right now, utterly oblivious to the blasphemies against basic humanity spilling from their lips. "We call it the Oculus."

"The Oculus?" Rip echoes.

"Oh, yes," Druce says, and he opens the door. "Our friend Savage, though, he has a different name for it."

The second that door cracks open, Len is rooted to the spot. He can't run, he can't hide, he can't maintain his cover; the only thing saving him is that Druce and Rip aren't looking back.

"He calls it a Well of Souls," Druce says, and steps through into the screams.

A Well.

The angel had spoken of a well, a pit, a valley –

Come to think of it, Len's mother had mentioned a valley the few times she'd lost her temper enough to curse in front of him - Gehenom, she called it, the valley of lost spirits, the word that when it was converted to English was mistranslated as Hell.

Len's not so sure, anymore, that it's a mistranslation.

They're screaming.

Those of them that can, anyway.

Not all of them can, though, and that's the real horror of it.

Ghosts.

So many ghosts.

Len fancied himself capable of calling armies of ghosts – he was an idiot.

This is more than an army. Numbers uncounted, numbers uncountable, more than Len's worst nightmares as a child could have even conceived of.

Len can't even see them all. The ones at the edges – Len uses the term lightly – swirl around in furious madness, trying to escape, pulled in inexorably despite pulsing with power.

And at the center –

Infinity.

A shining white light at the core, the color of ghostly rage and pain, ghosts entrenched and centered as if frozen in ice, ghost upon ghost upon ghost until they've lost all definition, boiled down to their very essence and nothing more.

It’s an abomination.

There are more dead here than there are currently living in the world. Add to that alternative histories, timeline changes, history itself, and the number of dead is truly endless. A ghost should move on, Len has always held that truism close to his heart; no matter how much he likes one or wishes one would stay, what's best for them is to move on.

And he's always lived by that, too, for all of them except for Mick, who laughed in Len's face when he tentatively suggested it, who promised that they would pass on together and who wouldn't take no for an answer, who is not here –

Focus.

Focus, Len, you need to focus or they're going to see you.

Len grits his teeth and scans the area for a hiding spot. There aren't really any good ones, but ducking behind a slight curve in the wall seems to work well enough. Druce is staring at the center of the Well - a glowing light emerging out of a pit buried beneath the building, with some sort of platform on top of it - as if entranced, and Rip's head keeps swiveling between Druce and the Well as if he were a bobble-head doll.

Len can scarcely look at it. He can scarcely look away.

He mostly just wants to throw up.

The ghosts, normally attuned to Len's presence, haven't noticed him yet, which is one small piece of luck. Len hates having to count luck in the pain of others, but they're far too frenzied to pay attention, even to him.

Or perhaps it's that they know that they could bleed him dry and it still wouldn't be enough power for them to break free of this ghastly pit.

God, king of the world, who would do something like this?

And why?

"What is it?" Rip asks, breaking Druce's almost ecstatic contemplation of the horror that is the Well, but Druce is only put off for a moment – the briefest hint of a snarl, wiped away almost as soon as it's formed – and then he's turning to Rip, all smiles and smoothness and as if that small break in his façade had never happened.

But it had, and Len's lived in the slums too long not to know what a man forced away from his addiction looks like.

"We call it the Oculus," Druce tells Rip, charisma back in full force, the charming teacher once more. "It's a wellspring of time itself - a quirk of the timestream that captures spirits in the moment before their passing –"

More than a moment. Much, much more than a moment.

"– and gathers them here, where the power of their lost lives pools together into a powerful core. It offers unimaginable possibilities – to look into time, not as visitors in the time stream, but as true masters of it. From where we stand, we can change the very flow of time itself."

"Then – that's why," Rip says, his voice strained. "That's why I couldn't rescue my family. That's why we couldn't kill Savage! You were stopping us the whole time, from here! Using this!"

"That's correct," Druce says.

"But we got close," Rip says. "Closer than you’d like. The Hunters – the time in the 1950s –"

Again, that flash of a snarl, followed by composure.

"The Oculus is a delicate tool," Druce says smoothly. "We can influence the very circumstances of events, but individuals can sometimes disrupt even the most finely calibrated adjustments."

Len translates that as meaning that the Oculus is all well and good, but free will is still free will. Good to know.

Druce doesn't seem like the sort of person who appreciates the philosophical niceties of free will, though. No, anyone who would look at the tortured ghosts of the Well and think not of helping them but of using them, and not just using them, but using them to try to subjugate time itself for his own ends –

Well. Len has words for that sort of person, but none of them are fit for polite company.

Rip's mind seems have been working along different lines. "You say it works by – by capturing the power of spirits?" he asks.

"It does," Druce says.

Rip looks around. "They're screaming," he says, very faintly.

Len shudders. If Rip – who is generally oblivious to any ghosts but the two that haunt his mind – can see the ghosts of the Well, then they must be visible to anybody. Their pain on display for all.

"Hardly," Druce says dismissively. "That sound is merely the by-product of the Oculus' working. Here, let me show you a mere taste of its power."

Len has to swallow the instinctive cry of denial. Stay hidden, he reminds himself. This is why you're here. You need to fix this.

No matter what.

Fuck, this must be why the ghosts are visible here, in the Vanishing Point; they're close enough to be affected.

Maybe even to be drawn in.

Mick –!

Mick is still outside, Len reminds himself. Mick is still safe. Right now you need to stay hidden, and watch, and learn, and once they are gone, you can figure out a way to destroy this thing.

Len finds he talks to himself a lot more, without ghosts around. He's not sure he likes it.

Druce, meanwhile, has pulled a lever or two to move the platform above the center of the Well, what he calls the Oculus, around so that it extends out a bridge from that platform straight to their feet. On the platform is some sort of giant hulking machine, and the infinite brightness of the Well pours out from beneath the platform, and as far as Len can tell the only way on and off is that newly extended bridge, an extremely narrow bridge that Len can see is shaking with the power of ghostly hands trying to disrupt it.

Druce walks over it without paying the slightest bit of attention.

Rip looks more dubious.

"Rip, my old friend," Druce says, turning. "Come now. You never used to be this cowardly."

That hits Rip right where Druce aimed it, making Rip puff up in annoyance and march forward across the bridge.

Druce looks smugly pleased at his successful manipulation; Rip, when he realizes what just happened, looks angry at himself for falling for it.

Druce puts a hand on Rip's back. "Now, my friend," he says. "Look."

The machine in the center of the platform rumbles to life, cracking open to reveal a single broad beam of light, a foot or two wide, heading up to the ceiling. And in that light –

Images.

Faces, shapes; people moving; things happening.

"All this," Rip says, struggling to keep his voice level, "for an inferior version of television?"

Len can't help a small smirk. Go, Rip.

Druce looks put out for a moment, but quickly regains his equilibrium. "Hardly just that," he says. "We can look throughout history, any moment, any era –" He smirks. "– and change it."

He reaches out and touches the beam of light, where an image of a battle plays out before them.

One of the figures staggers, distracted mid-battle, and dies from a sword to the chest.

"Why did you do that?" Rip demands.

"An example of what we can do -"

"You killed him!"

"He wasn't important to the timeline anyway," Druce says dismissively. "Rip, can't you see what this means? We can preserve the timeline, adjust it –"

"You have Time Masters for that," Rip says. "And Hunters, too, when you need them."

"This is so much more than that," Druce says, his eagerness evident. He's not just an addict, he's on a mission to convert others to his cause. "This is Time, Rip; Time itself at our command. And once we are able to access the full power of the spirits, we will be able to move through it and shape it at will, creating the history we should have had, the history humanity should have had, a glorious history –"

"You're speaking of changing the timeline for your own interests!" Rip cries out. "That's contrary to everything you ever taught me – that the timeline is sacred – the only people who change it at will are pirates – you declared me a pirate, just for trying to save my family from their fate - for changing the timeline –"

"We're not talking about changing the timeline, Rip," Druce says calmly.

"No?" Rip says challengingly. "Then what are you talking about, Master Druce?"

"We're talking about rewriting it," Druce says, and smiles that same genial, pleasant, charismatic smile. "There won't have ever been a different timeline, when we're done with it."

Rip stares at him in horror.

After a few moments, he says, "But you can't yet, can you?"

Druce frowns. "What do you mean?"

"You've been controlling the timeline all along," Rip says. "Gathering up Time Masters and using us to keep history the way you prefer, but time wants to happen and you couldn't change everything. The method you controlled time through us was too inefficient. That's why you turned to this. But you can't just start using the Oculus to change everything the way you want it, either, because you don't know how. That's why you're working with Savage – you think he can do it."

"Yes," Druce says. "His knowledge, paired with ours –"

"He'll only betray you," Rip says bitterly. "Betray and manipulate, the way he has every other empire he's puppeted. Surely you must know that."

"We're hardly novices at this," Druce reminds Rip with a genial laugh. "We know very well what he does, or at least tries to do. Do not worry. Savage will be very firmly under our control. In fact, we've even agreed to let him rule the world for a period –"

"Oh, yes, in 2166," Rip says. "When my family was killed by him and his soldiers – following the intentional release of a plague that more than decimated the world's population!"

"Yes," Druce says. He sounds undisturbed by the prospect. "Speaking of which, why didn't you and your little crew go to the Kasnia era? We'd set up the signs and hints for you; your interference there would have been most beneficial – you wouldn't have been able to bring yourself to actually kill Per Degaton, of course, it's not in your personality to murder children. But your interference would have radicalized him much sooner, leading to an earlier takeover timeline for Savage."

Rip stares at his former mentor. "And at what cost? Millions dead? Kasnia's utopia replaced by Per Degaton's ruthless rule years earlier than it should have been? An earlier start to the conscriptions, the executions, the wholesale slaughter?"

"Savage needs to take over in that period," Druce says calmly. "The loss of 60% of the world's population to the plague, Per Degaton, and Savage is better than the total elimination of humanity at the hands of the Thanagarian invasion some years later. Under Savage's unified control, the world will be able to resist them."

"And it gets him the control he wants," Rip says, disgusted. "Which in turn gets you what you really want – his help. Did you even try to find another path? Or did you just throw in all your chips with him at once?"

"Rip, Rip, Rip," Druce says, shaking his head. "You're missing the bigger picture. Once Savage helps us crack the Oculus and turn it to our use, we won't need his assistance anymore. And once that happens, we can simply rewrite the timeline from an earlier period for the betterment of all humanity so that none of that pain and loss and death ever happened. Imagine it, Rip: no Dark Ages –"

"No Renaissance," Rip shoots back. "No spread of Arabic culture with all its magnificence. No freedom, no ingenuity, no adversity – damnit, Druce, can't you see the madness in what you're proposing? And tell me, how will you guarantee that this power you're suggesting you harness not fall into the hands of madmen and dictators, who don't want the betterment of all humanity but nothing more than their own power? What happens, Druce, when you die?"

"Savage has agreed to help us solve that problem as well," Druce says mildly.

It takes Rip a second to make the connection. "Immortality," he says flatly. "You want to share in his immortality – you do know that he's obligated to go and murder two innocent beings in each of their lifetimes in order to preserve himself, right?"

"A minimal cost," Druce says with a shrug. "And one that we can work on repairing once we have the time and leisure to do so. Rip, you're not seeing – "

"The bigger picture," Rip says. "As you were always telling me when I was your student. No, Druce. This time I think I'm seeing the bigger picture just fine."

Druce shakes his head sadly. "I had such hopes for you, Rip," he says ominously.

Rip crosses his arms, trying to look intimidating or angry and mostly coming off like he's trying to ward off the blow of yet another betrayal. "So what now?" he asks. "Old friend."

"The magnitude of what we're doing here is a lot to take in," Druce says calmly. "We'll see if you come to your senses. If not, it will be most regrettable to lose someone of your skills."

"Lose," Rip says bitterly. "You mean you'll kill me."

"Likely," Druce agrees, sounding regretful but not enough to actually stop. "Or you'll be sent to Declan for modification into a Hunter."

"Modification – good lord, you mean the Hunters are actually brainwashed? I'd always thought that was some ridiculous propaganda."

"We encourage that perception," Druce says agreeably. "Now, come along."

"You expect me to just – come along with you?" Rip exclaims. "When you've just told me you intend to have me killed or worse?"

"Yes, I do," Druce says. "Because if you don't, the individuals we found stowed away on the Waverider will be turned into Hunters as well."

"How do I know that's not the plan anyway?" Rip says challengingly.

"You don't," Druce says. "But I was your mentor, Rip. I know you. If there's a chance you can save them – and there is – you won't be able to resist taking it."

Rip hesitates, clearly torn.

“You can’t win, Rip,” Druce says. “You know that. What happens after this is your choice.”

“My choice,” Rip says bitterly. “My choice – just like it was the Matron’s choice, I assume?”

Druce nods as if Rip had confirmed something. “We knew you lot had to be involved in that,” he says.

“What did you do to her?” Rip demands. “And all for what? For being the mother you made her into? For trying to defend her children from – whatever it was you were hiding there?”

“A pillar,” Druce says. “The Oculus is unstable; it requires four pillars here, in the Vanishing Point, just to keep the power of the Oculus from overflowing, and several more pillars outside to anchor it in place. The Refuge was the most powerful of the pillars – the Matron’s actions in removing it are causing tremendous instability to the entire Vanishing Point. What mother takes action that puts her children’s life in danger?”

“She was trying to protect us,” Rip says stubbornly. His eyes are narrow and he’s angry, and they’re alone. He takes a step forward. “And you went after her –”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Druce says, watching him calmly. “Whatever it is you’re thinking – that you can kill or incapacitate me, that you can escape – you know it’s not possible. There are guards outside the door, and an army of Hunters just beyond them, ready to attack if there's a disturbance.”

Rip falters. He knows.

“Listen to me,” Druce says coaxingly. “I was your mentor and your friend, Rip; I was never your enemy. The least you can do is think about what I’m offering you here. And, if nothing else, I'm offering you time, Rip; time to think about your choices. Time is the most precious thing we have."

"So you've always told me," Rip says heavily, and Len knows he's given in, at least for now.

The two of them head out, Rip's head bowed low and his shoulders slumped. It's not easy having someone you look up to turn out bad, Len knows from experience, but assuming that Druce is telling the truth about giving Rip some time, that only works to their favor. It gives the rest of them a chance to rescue him.

The two Time Masters are halfway back to the door when Druce says, almost off-handedly, "And what did you do with the rest of your crew? You said you dropped them back off in their own time, but I know that was a lie."

"What makes you think it was?" Rip asks.

"We've checked," Druce says bluntly. "You are capable of depressive moments which would explain your actions in yielding up your mission and returning here for punishment, but the fact that they do not actually appear to be in the right time period speaks volumes."

"Why do you care?" Rip asks.

Druce doesn't respond.

"It's Kendra, isn't it," Rip says. It's not a question this time. "You want to turn her over to Savage."

"He's our ally," Druce says. "It's incumbent upon us to make sure he gets what he needs."

"And you expect me just to turn her over to you?" Rip exclaims. "If you think I would ever –"

"As I said, Rip, I know you," Druce interrupts smoothly. "If you decide to join with us, you will be reinstated to your former post, with all the attended honor and respect – and Miranda will, as well."

Rip stops, his mouth agape.

"She was forced to yield up her position as a Time Master because of your relationship," Druce says. "Our rules about attachment are very strict. But once we have the Oculus working at full capacity, well. Perhaps then we need not be so strict. Think of it, Rip: you will be a Time Master once more, but this time, you’ll have your wife and your son at your side, and the remainder of your little crew left hale and hearty – all but the one already doomed to die, who will reincarnate shortly thereafter anyway. Hardly a real loss in the long run, wouldn't you say?"

Rip's eyes are filled with longing.

"But as I said," Druce says. "You'll have time to think on it."

They go out, Rip following Druce in a daze.

Len watches them go with a grimace. That's tempting, for someone like Rip – all he ever wanted, and more that he never dared to let himself dream, no doubt.

He'll just have to hope that the budding sense of morality Rip’s been developing underneath all that childhood miseducation and indoctrination is strong enough to stand up to his desire to return home.

As for Len – he has other work to do.

He raises his hand to his comms. He hadn’t wanted to make the call while Rip and Druce were in the room, for fear they’d hear him; the comms really need a silent mode, maybe something that translates sign language – Len’s sure he can convince either Gideon or Cisco to make something that would work just on the basis of claiming that they're discriminatory against the deaf and non-verbal – but now that they’re gone, he can –

He can’t.

The goddamn thing’s broken. Len pulls it out of his ear to confirm, but even someone with Len’s entirely practical amount of technological knowledge can tell that the whole unit’s fried. Hell, some parts of it have fused together.

It must be some feedback from the Well.

No back-up.

Great.

It doesn’t change what Len has to do.

Guess the time puppies weren't wrong after all. This is worth all of that pain, all of that anger, all of that, to come here, to find this. To destroy this.

Len turns back to the Well.

It's such a horrifying thing to have as pretty a name as Oculus, and it, like Savage, cannot be permitted to remain intact now that Len is aware of its existence.

He waits until he's sure the Time Masters are gone and heads in, hoping that he's correct that there are no undetectable cameras watching over the room.

Walking closer to the Well is a horrible experience.

Len can barely bring himself to do it; it's like his first experience with the unquiet dead as a small child, the creeping choking terror, the feeling of being scooped apart inside, but so much worse.

"Help us," a ghost chokes out at him, using her last bit of strength to do so, disappearing into a blur of white.

"I'm trying," Len says through gritted teeth. "Oh, am I trying."

Crossing the bridge to get to the platform is, if anything, even worse.

Len stands in front of the machine the Time Masters have built, the machine called the Oculus, and tries to figure out how to destroy it.

He knows at the first touch that his half-formed ideas of blasting it with his cold gun and shattering it are unlikely to work: this machine is made of the same material as the Waverider, tough and almost invulnerable, and likely self-repairing to boot.

No, this will require another approach.

Exactly what that approach will be, Len's not so sure. Maybe it can be rigged into some sort of bomb, or set to self-destruct? But who would have the expertise in this sort of future tech to do that, much less do it secretly enough that the Time Masters wouldn't notice someone tinkering with their holiest of holies?

Maybe there's a way to do it already.

Len prods at the machine and it abruptly unfolds again, the bright beam of light shooting straight up to the ceiling once more; Len hadn't even noticed it closing up again the first time, he'd been so distracted.

There are no images this time; Len wonders why.

Then, of course, it hits him.

It's undoubtedly set to show him what he wants to see.

Mick?

The beam ripples and shows him Mick, walking through the grey corridors of the Vanishing Point unharmed, his face screwed in concentration as if he's looking for something, one time puppy on each side of him, tugging him onwards.

He's okay.

He’s okay.

Len lets out a breath of relief at that.

"I'm gonna get you for that one," he tells the image, which for obvious reasons doesn't respond. "I'll think of something real nasty. Or better yet, I'll get Lisa to think of something; she's the real specialist in nasty pranks – "

And then his voice trails away, because the image is changing again, a different image.

Lisa.

Lisa, in her favorite date clothes, sitting in a chair in STAR Labs, Cisco Ramon at another next to her, showing her something on the computer, a wide, adoring smile on his face as he natters on about something. Barry is standing behind them, scarlet suit on and cowl pushed back, rolling his eyes at them with a grin.

Len is hit by a sudden, overwhelming surge of homesickness.

"You have fun, kids," he tells them, wishing he could be there with them. “Bet whatever problem you’re facing ain’t half as bad as the one we’ve got here.”

Cisco is frowning, now, for some reason, and he's waving Lisa's questions off and trying to focus on something.

"Now, Cisco, that just ain't nice. You gotta let the girl talk if you want her to like you. And don't think I'm gonna let you dating my sister rest," Len tells Cisco's image. "I will come and bust your chops over it. Just you watch me."

And then Cisco looks up and stares straight at Len.

Len rears back a step.

Cisco's saying something. There's no audio in the Oculus, but Len can read lips and the words 'Snart' and 'hear him' are featuring heavily.

"Holy crap," Len says, realizing what it must be. "Your stupid vibe powers. You can hear me!"

Now Cisco's mouth is forming other words, chief among them 'Where' and 'When'.

"Not sure," Len says honestly. "The Time Bastards call this the Vanishing Point; they say it's outside of time –"

Barry waves his hands. He's mouthing the word 'Gideon'.

Right, they have the other Gideon, old Eobard's Gideon, down in their basement.

"Yeah, Gideon might know where it is," Len says. "Good thinking. It’s –"

But Cisco has leapt to his feet, eyes wide with alarm, and he's pointing at Len.

No, not at Len.

Behind Len.

Len spins around just fast enough to see the Time Master holding a pulse rifle, like the ones the Hunters used, over Len's head.

He's not fast enough to avoid it coming down on his head.

And then everything fades in darkness, accompanied only by the screams of the ghosts that surround them.

#dccoldwave #leonard snart #mick rory #rip hunter #sara lance #ray palmer #Kendra Saunders #Jefferson Jax Jackson #Martin Stein #time masters #dc's legends of tomorrow #my fic #deadfic #lisa snart #cisco ramon #barry allen