#the cruise ship but he gets it now. And he knows that when Evan is looking at Bobby in the hospital bed | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tommykinardkink · 1 month

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This is a first that Buck has been waiting for with a strange mixture of excitement and trepidation. Because that's what happens when you date someone, right? At some point, if things go well, you'll see them naked.

And it's not like Buck's never seen another cock before, okay? He watches porn, he's been in the locker room at the station or whatever.

But this is different. This isn't just some random dick slip at the gym. It’s Tommy.

And Tommy's really big.

They’re lying pressed together on the too-small couch, Buck half on top of Tommy to accommodate the both of them. The movie they’d been watching is playing softly in the background, both of them having forgotten about it when one heated kiss had turned into two, three, his hands slipping up beneath Tommy’s Henley while Tommy’s fingers toyed with the drawstring of his sweats. And then, in a moment of reckless want, Buck had pulled back enough to free Tommy from the confines of his jeans.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Only now, Buck finds that he can't move, throat dry as he stares down at the length of Tommy's cock.

"Evan." He jumps a little when he feels Tommy's fingers thread through his hair, using the gentle grip to force him to meet Tommy's gaze. Tommy's brows are pulled together, lips turned down in a worried frown.

"You know you don't have to do this, right? There’s no rush."

"Yeah, I-I know. I want to." It belatedly occurs to him that maybe Tommy isn't ready for this—he thinks about teeth and suddenly isn't sure he'd want someone with no blowjob experience near his junk either—and he hurriedly begins to back pedal. "Unless you don't want—"

He doesn't get much further than that, Tommy pulling him up further to press a hungry kiss to his parted lips. It's a welcome distraction, and Buck feels his own cock throb in response, his hips thrusting infinitesimally against Tommy's thigh.

But it doesn't get much further than that before Tommy breaks the kiss, resting his forehead against Buck's and breathing heavily.

"There is nothing I want more than to have your hands on me," he says, voice rough.

"Then let me do this for you. Please?"

"Fuck." He watches the way Tommy's throat works before he answers in a shaky voice, "Y-yeah. Okay."

Seeing Tommy look so wrecked when they haven't even started yet bolsters Buck's confidence some as he turns his attention back to Tommy's cock. It's long and so thick. Now probably isn't the best time, but Buck allows himself a moment to study it. The vein running up the length of the shaft, the way the foreskin has pulled back from the sensitive head, his balls hanging full and heavy between his legs...

Buck's mouth waters.

Steeling himself—C'mon, Buck, you rappelled onto a capsized cruise ship from a helicopter in the middle of a hurricane, get it together—he reaches out to take Tommy in hand.

He isn’t sure what he'd been expecting. It's a dick. He's got one of those and he's jerked off plenty. Brow furrowed in concentration, he gave an experimental stroke.

Above him, Tommy hisses. Okay, yeah, that is not encouraging. Buck peeks up at him, only to find Tommy staring at him intensely, his chest already heaving.

Huh.

"You like that?" Buck asks, a teasing grin curving his mouth as he pumps Tommy again, slow and easy.

"Christ, Evan." A muscle in Tommy's jaw jumps and he draws in a deep breath through his nose. "Do that again."

The bite of command in Tommy's voice makes him shiver. He does as he's told despite the awkward angle, his eyes darting between Tommy's expression and the tip of his cock is beaded with precum. Feeling daring, Buck rubs his thumb over the droplet, spreading it out over the sensitive head.

Tommy's hips buck into his hand.

Yeah, this is gonna be fun.

Buck laughs, twisting around to settle himself between Tommy's legs, the shaft only inches away from Buck's mouth. He bites his lip, hesitating, before deciding to just go for it. Holding Tommy's gaze, he leans in to brush a featherlight kiss on the underside of Tommy's cock.

His reaction doesn't disappoint. He curses loudly, hands winding back into Buck's hair and tightening almost to the point of pain. They've only just begun, and already Tommy's control is threatening to fracture.

He's beautiful.

Buck's not feeling brave enough to take Tommy into his mouth, not yet, but it's almost better like this. This way, he gets to watch Tommy's head thrashing against the arm of the couch, see the way his body strains towards the pleasure. Buck jerks Tommy off, rubbing his thumb over the tip of his cock and through the precum accumulating there. With every second, his movements slowly gain confidence as Tommy gets closer to the edge. He categorises the other man's every reaction, filing it all away for the next time they do this.

Jesus, he's already desperate for next time.

"Evan, please, I—"

"What do you need, babe? C'mon, tell me."

But Tommy does something even better. He releases his hold on Buck's hair and reaches down to wrap one hand around Buck's, guiding his movements. Buck's breath catches as Tommy's fingers squeeze his, jerking Tommy's cock harder and rougher and—

"Fuck."

Tommy's body tenses for an endless moment before he breaks. Ropes of cum shoot up Tommy's belly and chest, and a few errant drops land on Buck's face. The sounds he makes as he comes undone, the helpless grunts and shudders that wrack his body are so fucking hot, that Buck has no choice but to get up onto his knees to give himself room to reach for his own cock. Tommy's come slicks the way for Buck's hand as he works the shaft

Tommy stares at him with hazy eyes, lips parted as he tries to catch his breath. Christ, he's so gorgeous like this, utterly debauched with his flushed cheeks and come splattered skin.

And Buck's just going to add to it. It's that thought that tips him over the edge. His orgasm rolls through him, taking his breath away as his own come paints Tommy's abdomen. And all the while, Tommy watches him, dark eyes warm and gentle and hungry for something Buck can't quite put a name to.

His knees give out under him, and he falls forward in a boneless heap, narrowly avoiding elbowing Tommy in the ribs. Tommy lets out a little ooof as he bears Buck's weight.

"Wow," Buck says after a brief, breathless silence.

“Yeah.” Tommy runs a shaky hand up and down his back, and Buck arches into the touch like a cat. He feels his eyes drifting shut, a bone deep satisfaction beginning to lull him to sleep.

“… go shower,” Tommy’s saying from somewhere above him. Buck frowns and burrows closer into his body. It’s gonna take a friggin’ crane to get him to move now.

“Evan.” A quiet sigh. “I know you can hear me.”

“Hng.”

The sound of his laugh makes Buck smile against Tommy’s skin. The hand that had been rubbing his back moves back up into his hair. Buck can’t hold back a shiver at the sensation of Tommy’s nails scratching at his scalp.

“C’mon,” he coaxes. “If you get up now, I’ll even wash your hair for you.”

That gets Buck’s attention. He lifts his head to squint at Tommy.

“Promise?”

Tommy’s smile makes his nose scrunch up and his eyes crinkle at the corners. It’s an expression that never fails to give Buck butterflies.

“Yeah, sweetheart, I promise.”

#i had fun with this #evan buckley #tommy kinard #bucktommy #bucktommy fic #911 abc #my writing

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callmebrycelee · 2 months

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9-1-1 REACTION

This week’s episode marks the 100th episode for 9-1-1 and it is a total banger! I figured nothing could get better than Bobby and Athena trapped inside an upside-down cruise ship, but this week’s episode walked up to the bar and said, “hold my beer”. If you’re reading this, you know exactly why this episode is truly *that girl* and I promise you we’re gonna talk about those last 4 minutes and 23 seconds that had us collectively clutching our pearls, pillows, and pets and left us with nary a hair on our scalps. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover so let’s not waste another second. This reaction is for the season 7, fourth episode “Buck, Bothered and Bewildered” which originally aired April 4, 2024. The episode was written by Andrew Meyers and Bradley Michael Marques and directed by actor turned directed Chad Lowe. Spoilers ahead!

“She has anthrax! Or glitter.” – Bachelor Producer, to everyone

We start things off at the Bachelor mansion where we see real-life runner up of season 20 of The Bachelorette and star of season 28 of The Bachelor, Joey Graziadei. I have never seen an episode of The Bachelor, but I have watched the first two seasons of VH1’s Flavor of Love so I’m quite familiar with the concept of a bunch of women competing for the affections of one man. The opening to this episode does a great job of parodying the hit ABC dating and relationship reality television series while also being respectful. After all, the show and it’s many spin-offs are beloved by many, including 9-1-1 viewers.

We see a handful of hopeful contestants pull up to the mansion in limos, each of them providing a cheesy introduction very reminiscent of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Real Housewives. I love that two of the contestants are named Ashley because of course there would be two Ashleys cast in the same season of a show like this. My favorite contestant, however, is Ashley A., a flight attendant who looks like she just stepped out of the one-season wonder Pan Am starring Christina Ricci, a pre-Barbie Margot Robbie, and Mike Vogel. Now that I think about it, wasn’t Pam Am an ABC show?

The last contestant arrives with a bottle of glue and introduces herself as Conchata. Joey is all of us and asks her about her name because for those of you who haven’t seen the episode, this woman is the whitest shade of pale and is the last person I expect to have the name Conchata. The producers (played by Jamie Denbo and Rique) scramble behind the scenes trying to find out who this woman is because she is definitely not Conchata. The contestant comes clean about who she really is and introduces herself (again) as Bailey, an aesthetician from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She takes the bottle of glue and pours it all over the cobblestone driveway. She then lies flat on the driveway in attempt to glue herself to the surface. Our two producers attempt to remove her, but her skin has adhered to whatever glue she poured on the ground.

Cue title card.

“I love dalmatians.” – Ashley C., Bachelor contestant, to Evan Buckley and Eddie Diaz

Our favorite 911 dispatch, Maddie, gets a call from the season 5 bachelor and host of The Bachelor, Jesse Palmer. We learn Maddie and Josh (played by Bryan Safi) are uber fans of the show and I cracked up when Josh commandeered the phone call and started grilling Jesse about the new bachelor. Maddie deploys the 118 to the Bachelor mansion and it’s heavily insinuated the location of this particular emergency is outside of the area the department usually responds to. Way to keep it professional, you guys!

The 118 arrive on the scene and Chimney and Hen attend to Bailey (played by Sarah Fletcher). Chimney sees Joey and he is awestruck. I can totally see he and Maddie piling up on the living room sofa after they’ve put Jee-Yun to bed to watch The Bachelor. There’s a funny moment where the other contestants flirt heavily with Eddie and Buck. Eddie tells them he’s taken but points to Buck and says that he is single. Buck tells them he has a rule about not dating people he meets on calls which is hilarious considering he nearly got fired in the first episode of the series for taking one of the firetrucks to a booty call with a woman he saved.

Eddie and Buck breakout the jackhammer to cut away the piece of driveway Bailey is stuck to so she can be transported to the nearest hospital. Meanwhile, Chimney answers a FaceTime call from Maddie and Josh who want to know the identity of the latest bachelor. Chimney flips the camera around and tries to be sneaky about filming Joey, but he gets caught. He ducks behind the limo Bailey pulled up in and sees another woman passed out in the backseat. We learn this is the real Conchata and she has been chloroformed by Bailey. Speaking of Bailey, as she is loaded into the ambulance, she yells for Joey to visit her in prison. Yeah, I don’t think Joey Graziadei is going to be visiting you, Bailey.

“That night was the most fun I’ve had since getting struck by lightning.” – Evan Buckley, to Tommy Kinard

We next head over to Air Operations One which I’ve learned is a part of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Tommy Kinard (played by Lou Ferrigno Jr.), our former 118 firefighter turned helicopter pilot, is giving Buck a tour of the unit. I got so excited seeing these two share a scene together because it’s no secret that Buck is my favorite character on the show, and I really like how they’re brought Tommy back into the show this season. Buck is in awe of everything Tommy’s telling him, but the latter believes he has ulterior motives for being there. He asks if Buck is thinking about changing career paths. Buck tells him that he really got a thrill flying in the middle of a hurricane to save Bobby and Athena. It’s the most fun he’s had since getting struck by lightning.

Buck asks Tommy what got him into flying. Tommy tells him that he used to be a pilot in the Army. Buck lights up and tells Tommy that Eddie was in the Army, too. Tommy already knows this. Buck then tells Tommy that he met his ex (Taylor) responding to a helicopter crash and then realizes in that moment that maybe that was a sign of things to come. Tommy agrees that saving someone’s life and dating them never turns out the way you want it to. Upon second (and third) viewing of this episode, I find it interesting how the both of them are ambiguous about the genders of the people they are speaking about. Buck could’ve mentioned Taylor by name, but he chose to just say ex instead. Now back to the topic at hand, Buck says he isn’t sure if he’d want to leave where he is now to pursue being a pilot and Tommy assures him he can do both which seems to be the thesis of this episode. Tommy offers to teach Buck how to fly for fun. Buck offers to buy him a beer and Tommy says he’d love that. Again, how did I not pick up on the subtle flirtation the first time I saw this episode. These two’s chemistry is off the charts.

However, our little meet cute is cut short when Eddie arrives. Eddie is surprised to see Buck there and asks Tommy if he got three tickets to the fight. Tommy says ‘no’ but he wishes he did. Here’s another thing I really liked about this scene. I’m sure, by now, Tommy knows that Buck goes by Buck but each time he addresses Buck he calls him ‘Evan’. I’ve always equated the characters on this show who refer to him as ‘Evan’ as having more of an intimate connection with him, i.e., Maddie his sister or Eddie his best friend. Anywho, Buck is surprised to learn that Tommy and Eddie have tickets to a big fight in Vegas and they’re taking one of the helicopters there. Now I have a question. If Buck wasn’t allowed to drive the firetruck to his hookups back in season one, how is Tommy flying to Vegas with Eddie in one of the LAFD choppers okay? Also, I didn’t know helicopters could fly that great of a distance. Anyway, Tommy and Eddie leave to board the helicopter and our poor Buck is left behind feeling both a little confused and a lot jealous.

“It is so good to have you back.” – Athena Grant, to Harry Grant

Speaking of surprises, Athena does not sleep with her hair wrapped. No shade, but no Black woman I know is going to lay her head down at night without doing something to protect her hair. Okay, I’m gonna leave Athena alone because she is thrilled to have her son back home. Yes, you read that right. Harry Grant is back home but he looks a bit different. The character is now aged up played by a new actor – Elijah M. Cooper. Now, in case you forgot, Harry went to live with his dad in Florida back in season five and we really haven’t seen him since then. When Athena says she can’t believe Michael didn’t say anything about Harry coming to visit. Harry tells her his dad has been really busy and had to fly back to Haiti. Bobby is immediately suspicious of this because he figures that Michael would’ve called about something like this. Athena doesn’t seem to concerned about any of this and is basically just happy to have her youngest back under her roof.

“I saved a baby in a pipe once although it was a preemie and it didn’t speak.” – Evan Buckley, to everyone

Meanwhile, Buck, Eddie, and Ravi (played by Anirudh Pisharody) respond to an emergency at a restaurant where the dishwasher (played by Jibre Hordges) claims he hears a voice coming from inside the sink. Ravi doesn’t think it’s possible that someone could be trapped inside a drain but Buck reminds him of the time he pulled a newborn out of a sewer pipe. The firefighters do finally hear someone yelling for help and the restaurant manager (played by Cesili Williams) shows them footage of a motorcyclist being struck by a car and knocked into a storm drain.

Buck, Eddie, and Ravi head outside and Ravi, being the newest member of the 118, is lowered down into a manhole to extract the poor guy. During this time, Buck grills Eddie about his outing with Tommy. He learns that in addition to going to Vegas, Tommy is also teaching Eddie the Muay Thai style of boxing and they’ve even worked on Eddie’s Chevelle together. Buck does his best to hide his jealously, but he can’t help pressing his best friend for more details. He asks Eddie when he plans on seeing Tommy again. Eddie tells him that Tommy has this karaoke/trivia thing he does on Wednesdays and asks Buck what his plans are for that day. Buck perks up and says his schedule is wide open. Eddie asks if he would watch Christopher for him. He would ask Marisol, but she’s already watched Christopher twice already. Yikes! So, a lot to unpack here. First, is Eddie using his girlfriend as childcare? Second, does this mean Buck’s level of importance to Eddie has decreased now that Tommy and Marisol are in the picture. Lastly, is Eddie really that oblivious? I get wanting to have a new friend, especially one who you have a lot in common with, but he knows Buck, or rather he should know Buck, and him saying these things, even though Buck technically asked him for this information, is hurtful for Buck to here. This, I’ve noticed, is a continuing trend of certain characters getting upset whenever Buck does something wrong, but having little to no regard when it comes to his feelings. This isn’t the first time Eddie has done something like this and I have to believe that he really is oblivious because the alternative means that he’s doing these things because he’s trying to get his friend all riled up. Of course, Buck agrees to watch Christopher because of course he’s going to watch Christopher.

“Is it circled with a heart around it?” – Maddie Buckley, to Evan Buckley.

A few days later, Buck updates Maddie on Eddie’s new friendship with Tommy. Buck is so jealous of the new friendship that he’s gathering intel from Christopher. Although Buck is being a little bit extra about all of this, a part of me can relate to the emotions he’s feeling. He worries that Tommy has made such an impression on not only Eddie but Christopher in such a short period of time. What I find fascinating is that while Buck is jealous, he harbors no ill-will towards Tommy. In fact, he agrees with Eddie and Christopher. Tommy is cool. Buck tells his sister that Christopher would not stop talking about Tommy. Maddie wonders if it’s because Buck kept asking him questions about Tommy. Buck mentions that Eddie has a date written down on his calendar and it’s for a weekly pick-up basketball game with Tommy and other first responders. The date is circled. Buck mentions that Eddie has asked him to this before. Maddie reminds Buck that he doesn’t like basketball and he agrees and says that’s why he always tells Eddie ‘no’ but now Eddie is going with Tommy. Chimney hears the tail-end of their conversation and tells Maddie that Tommy flew Eddie to Vegas for a fight in a chopper. Chimney teases Buck by saying that Tommy’s so cool.

“We have a problem.” – Bobby Nash, to Athena Grant

Back over at the Grant-Nash household, Bobby tells Athena he talked to Michael. Michael is not in Haiti, and he also had no clue Harry had left and come to Los Angeles which means Harry lied to the both of them. Athena wonders why Harry would lie, and Bobby says it’s because the police is looking for him. They showed up to Michael’s house while he was on the phone with Bobby. Bobby tells his wife that Harry got into a fight and assaulted someone. There’s now a warrant out for his arrest due to him fleeing the jurisdiction. Yikes! Poor Athena. You think you know your kids.

“That’s Jeremy. That’s my son, he’s a doctor.” – Dorothy Nelson, to Athena Grant

Maddie receives a call from an older woman named Dorothy Nelson who is reporting an intruder in her home. Maddie instructs her to stay calm and tells her to find a place to hide until the police get there. The woman panics and tells Maddie she has a gun. Maddie tells her that arming herself can only make the situation she’s in more dangerous. Dorothy starts screaming and then we hear a gunshot.

Athena, Hen, and Chimney arrive on the scene and find a man dead in the Dorothy’s living room. Chimney tends to her and learns she recently sustained a fall in her garden. Athena looks around the room and sees a photo on the mantle above the fireplace. She realizes the man in the photo looks an awful lot like the dead man on the floor. Hen posits Dorothy has face blindness which means she wouldn’t have been able to recognize the guy even if she does know him. This emergency reminds me of a similar one on Lone Star where a kid locked himself in the bathroom because his dad thought he was an intruder.

Athena goes over to Dorothy (played by Meagen Fay) and asks her if she recognizes the man in the photo. She tells Athena that the man in the photo is her son, Jeremy, and he’s a doctor. So, this lady has killed her own son, and the sad part is, she still thinks that it’s an intruder she shot. This is beyond sad, and I felt so bad for her. I also feel bad for Athena who will have to be the one to tell her the truth. Hen asks her if she can imagine looking into her own child’s face and not even recognizing him. Athena says yes she can.

“That’s how they wake you up in jail for sleeping in. Except the water won’t be clean and it probably won’t be water.” Athena Grant, to Harry Grant

Athena returns home and confronts her son. I did not like the way Harry was talking to his mom and I was wondering why Athena didn’t slap him across his lips. Then I realized, she already did this back in season 5 when Harry started mouthing off at her. Athena is extremely patient in this scene while Harry tells her about the incident involving him assaulting a man. The man, in question, is the manager of a convenience store. Apparently this man was following Harry around while he was inside the convenience store and accused Harry of stealing. The man wouldn’t let Harry leave and got aggressive with him which is why Harry hit him. Harry is upset because he believes she is taking law enforcement’s side over his much like he thinks she did when his father was pulled over several seasons ago. Athena reminds him she is a cop, and he counters by reminding her that he is still his mom. He asks her which one is more important to her but says he already knows the answer to that question.

“Hey, what are you doing on Thursday?” – Evan Buckley, to Howard "Chimney" Han

Over at the 118, Buck is trying his best to get Eddie’s attention, but the latter is too wrapped up in his phone call with Tommy. Buck tries to impress by bench-pressing a lot of weight but he’s clearly struggling with isn’t too believable for me because have you seen Buck? The guy is a tank! Ravi asks him if he needs help and Buck declines. I wish Buck wasn’t so short-sighted because as much as he wants Eddie and Tommy to notice him, I think Ravi wants Buck to notice him. For him, I think, Buck is the cool one. Chimney brings Buck a package addressed to an M. Buckley which I found funny because either Buck doesn’t have his own Amazon Prime account or maybe he shares one with Eddie and didn’t want his friend knowing what he’s ordering. Turns out, the item Buck has ordered is a new basketball. When Buck sees Eddie again, he suggests that they can get a basketball hoop. Eddie barely acknowledges this before returning to his conversation. Yeah, I’m beginning to think Eddie is doing this on purpose.

“He was shot when he was mistaken as an intruder.” – Athena Grant, to Dorothy Nelson

Athena puts her cutest outfit and goes to see Dorothy Nelson at the hospital. She rips off the Band-Aid and tells Dorothy her son is dead. When Dorothy asks what happens, Athena tells her that he was killed because he was mistaken as an intruder. I like how Athena delivered this news because it wasn’t accusatory. She lets Dorothy figure out the rest and the moment it dawns on her that she is the one who killed Jeremy she is rightfully devastated. Kudos to the actress playing Dorothy Nelson because she really sold this scene for me. This is the most devasting thing I’ve seen on this show since the story back in season 5 where two best friends were struck during the middle of a parade and one of them died. The scene ends and I’m left wondering what will become of this woman. I can’t imagine the pain she’ll have to live with knowing she killed her son.

“So, I’m your basketball beard. I feel so bonded.” – Howard “Chimney” Han, to Evan Buckley

Buck convinces Chimney to go with him to the pick-up basketball game. Buck pretends to be surprised to see Eddie and Tommy there. Eddie asks Chimney how he managed to talk Buck into playing basketball because every time he asks him, he says ‘no’. Chimney decides to play coy and tells Eddie he has his ways. I love seeing Chimney being supportive of Buck because very soon they are going to be brothers-in-law. The two square off against Eddie and Tommy and the latter are dominating. Buck lets his jealousy get the better of him and trips Eddie up right as he’s about to make a lay-up. We hear something pop as Eddie falls to the ground. Chimney goes into paramedic mode and assesses Eddie’s injury. He thinks Eddie may have a fracture or sprain. Tommy says that Eddie rode with him, so he’ll be the one to take him to urgent care. Eddie gives Buck a hurt look and Buck immediately feels horrible. Tommy lifts Eddie up and takes him away. Chimney looks at Buck and says, “Well you bucked that up, didn’t you?” Geez, I really feel bad for Buck. He is spiraling!

“It seems unjust, but in reality that’s just the way it is.” – Athena Grant, to Harry Grant

With a cooler head, Athena decides to talk to her son. He apologizes for how he spoke to her. He tells her he is not sorry for hitting the convenience store manager. Athena reminds him that he is not only representing himself and their family, but also his community, which means he can’t go around punching people. He tells her that’s a lot of pressure, but she says that’s the reality of the world they live in. She tells him has to be smarter and he asks her if that means he’s not allowed to be angry. Athena tells him it’s okay to be angry because at the end of the day, he’s a human and that’s what humans do – they get angry when they are upset. However, she reminds him that things could have been worst for him. What if the convenience store manager had a gun? Harry asks her what would have been the right thing for him to do in the situation and I like that Athena admits she doesn’t know. At the end of the day, you have to do whatever you have to do to make it home alive. That’s sentiment is so sad to me but as a Black man living in America, in the South to be specific, I totally get it. It’s not fair but it is what it is.

Athena shows him the footage of what happened at the convenience store. Harry watches as the manager confronts him and even gets aggressive. He also sees himself punch the man. It’s sobering for him to see this video. He says it’s like watching someone else. Athena tells him that everyone has something they’ve done that they aren’t proud of (you hear that Buck?) but the true test of character is being able to face the consequences of one’s actions. Harry tells her he doesn’t know what to do and she tells him they’ll figure it out together. Whatever happens, she will be right there with him because he is her son, and she loves him no matter what.

“I’m not a fourteen-year-old girl.” – Evan Buckley, to Maddie Buckley.

Buck brings Maddie lunch at the dispatch center and catches her up on what happened with Eddie. She asks Buck how Eddie is feeling, and he tells her he doesn’t know because he hasn’t talked to him. Maddie is surprised to hear this considering Buck and Eddie are so close. Buck tells her he doesn’t think Eddie wants to hear from him since he’s the one who hurt him. Maddie says it’s an accident, but Buck tells her he was pissed about Eddie and Tommy hanging out so much that he allowed his jealousy to get the better of him. He’s the reason why Eddie got injured. Buck says he was only trying to get his attention. Maddie tells him that is not the way to get someone’s attention. When I first watched this scene, I thought Maddie was going a little overboard with her disapproval of what Buck did. Then I realized, violence is how her husband Doug would get her attention back when they were married. Buck tells her he feels awful for what he did to Eddie, and she tells him not to do it again.

She admits she knows how he feels because she had a similar situation with her best friend growing up. Her friend became friends with another girl and Maddie did everything she could, including dyeing her hair blonde and attempting to change her name, to get her friend to notice her. It never occurred to her that she could have still been friends with her friend even if her friend was friends with someone else. Maybe they could have all been friends. But Maddie was too jealous to realize this. The situation made her look desperate, and she would’ve been better off just explaining to her friend how she felt.

“It’s good to see you Harry.” – Captain Elaine Maynard, to Harry Grant

Athena accompanies Harry to the police station, and they are met by Captain Elaine Maynard (played by Claudia Christian). The captain tells Athena and Harry she spoke with the Miami Dade Police Department, and they have no interest in extraditing for a misdemeanor assault. However, both jurisdictions recommended Harry remain in Los Angeles with Athena and complete 100 hours of community service. Harry is surprised he isn’t going to jail but Athena makes it known that him being under her watchful eye will be worse.

“It’s not like I could ever replace you.” – Tommy Kinard, to Evan Buckley

Now, we’ve finally made it to my favorite scene of the episode. We head over to Buck’s loft. There’s a knock at the door and when he goes to check, he finds Tommy on his doorstep. Tommy asks if they can talk, and Buck invites himself inside. I love the subtle detail of Tommy being in awe of Buck’s loft. Buck offers him a drink and reminds him that he owes him a beer. Tommy declines and says he won’t be staying long. He tells Buck he wants to clear the air between the two of them and he didn’t want to do so over the phone or through a text message. Tommy calls him Evan and says it was never his intention to cause any bad blood between him and Eddie. Buck assures him there’s no bad blood and owns up to his bad behavior. He tells him that he and Eddie make perfect sense as friends. Tommy agrees and reminds Buck that Eddie can have more than one friend.

Tommy says that he would never be able to replace him. He says that Christopher cannot shut up about Buck. I love the smile on Buck’s face when Tommy says this because it’s a reminder that Buck, seven seasons later, still craves the approval and the acceptance of those around him. Even Christopher. Buck asks Tommy if Eddie is mad at him. Tommy tells him Eddie is not mad at him. If anything, he feels bad (they both do) for excluding Buck. He tells Buck that he and Eddie hanging out was never about Buck, but Buck says that’s the problem. He admits he can get pretty jealous. I’m so proud of Buck for just owning everything in this scene. Lisa Rinna would be proud.

Tommy admits that Buck isn’t the only one who’s been jealous. Buck is surprised to hear this. Tommy explains that he’s jealous of what’s become of the 118. When we were first introduced to Tommy, it was back during the ‘Begin’ episodes for Hen, Chimney, and Bobby. The 118 didn’t use to be the family it is now. In fact, the previous captain went out of his way to cultivate a highly toxic environment and it’s because of Chimney, Hen, and Bobby that the team is what it is today. It’s the reason why Buck and Eddie and Ravi were able to be accepted right away without having to be hazed by the other firefighters. Tommy admits he wishes he were a part of what the 118 has become and Buck reminds him that he is. He reminds Tommy of how he made fake mouth static at the fire chief during their daring mission to save Bobby and Athena. Tommy says he’s renowned for his fake mouth static, but Buck says it wasn’t very convincing. The banter between these two men is so cute I could actually explode. Buck tempers his teasing by reminding Tommy that he was willing to put his job on the line to help the rest of them out. That was the moment Buck realized that Tommy was cool and that he liked him. He tells Tommy that’s the reason he called him for the tour. It’s not because he’s thinking about leaving the 118; it’s because he wanted to get to know him. It’s Tommy’s turn to be surprised. Buck says things took a turn when Eddie arrive, but he understands why Tommy wants to hang with Eddie. It was so cute the way Buck gushes about how great Eddie is that he’s known Eddie is great since the first day he worked with him. Aww! At this point, I’m literally yelling at my TV.

“That was better than fake mouth static.” – Evan Buckley, to Tommy Kinard

The flirting is turned up to level 100 when Buck tells Tommy it’s his attention he’s been trying to get and frankly he’s exhausted. Again, Tommy is surprised to hear this. Buck reminds him that he maimed his best friend, and that Maddie told him there are better ways to get someone’s attention. Before Buck can even finish the statement, Tommy leans in and kisses him. There’s a brief hesitation in Buck, most likely because he is shocked, the Buck starts to kiss him back. This moment was beyond shocking to me and even now, three days later, I still have to watch the clip to remind myself that Tommy kissed Buck and Buck definitely kissed him back. I spent years thinking something like this would never happen and I’ve gone back and forth with Buddie shippers online telling them that Buck or Eddie coming out as anything other than straight was an impossibility. Yeah, maybe that was the case when 9-1-1 was on FOX but this is a new network baby and ABC said, let them boys kiss! And yes, it’s not Eddie and Buck that are kissing but in my opinion, this is an even better direction for the characters to go in. I’ve always believed that if either character were to come out as queer, it would be Buck. We’ve only seen Buck in relationships with women, but he’s always struck me as someone who is open to whatever experiences come his way. Perhaps this explains why he's always had difficulty in the relationships he’s pursued on the show. Eddie, on the other hand, is a lot more reserved than Buck and the writers are going to have to put in work to convince me he is anything other than a heterosexual man. I’m not saying it’s out the realm of possibility, but I think the writers did a good job getting us where we are now, and they’ll need to do the same for Eddie in the future should that be the direction they want to go in for that character. Also. bringing Tommy into the equation is a brilliant move on their part because rewatching those ‘Begin’ episodes, there are insinuations there that he may be gay or bisexual.

Okay, back to the scene. The way Tommy is looking at Buck gives me all the feels. The way he’s looking at Buck tells me that if he didn’t have to leave for his shift, they would be going at it on Buck’s new sofa. I’m so happy this isn’t just a one-sided interest. After the kiss, Tommy asks Buck if he’s okay with the moment they just shared. Buck is looking every bit of the bewildered that’s a part of the title of this episode. He tells Tommy that the kiss was better than his fake mouth static. Tommy tells him he has a shift, but he wants to take Buck out on a proper date. Buck tells him he’s free and man is that statement layered. Free to go out. Free to be who he wants to be. Free to kiss anyone he wants to kiss. Tommy tells Buck he will come around on Saturday at eight to pick him up. Tommy goes to leave but before opens the door, he tells Buck to call Eddie. We end the scene with Buck looking the happiest he’s looked in a long time.

This episode is hands down one of the best of the series and that’s just not recency bias. I feel that way about all the episodes we’ve gotten this season. 9-1-1 is firing on all cylinders at this point and things feel fresh and new again. The plot with Athena and Harry was perplexing at first but then I grew to like it by the end. I like that the show reminds us that Athena being a Black woman and a cop is controversial, especially in today’s climate, and I like that her kids aren’t afraid to call her out. I love seeing Athena reckon with both identities and how they relate to each other. I especially loved her conversation with Harry because it’s very reminiscent of conversations I’ve had with my own mom. Her telling Harry that it’s unfair that he has to always be on his best behavior but necessary rang so true to me. Athena has always known this, even before she had kids, yet she chooses to continue to work within a system that reinforces this kind of thinking.

The storyline with Buck was also fun. It was a nice balance to the sadness of the story with the woman killing her son on accident. I like how Buck is never afraid to be vulnerable, even if it’s to his detriment. I hope we get a conversation between him and Eddie next episode because I love their friendship and I don’t want it to ever change, and something tells me Buck is going to lean heavy on his friendship with Eddie now that he might be dating Tommy. And I hope that Eddie continues to be supportive of his friend when he finds out the truth about his sexuality. I don’t think Eddie would have a problem with it. After all, Hen is an out and proud lesbian, and we also have Josh who is gay. I do know that some people do question the legitimacy of bisexual people but again, I don’t think Eddie will have a problem with whatever Buck labels himself as. Maybe we’ll even get a double date between Eddie, Marisol, Buck, and Tommy. That would be fun.

Lastly, I wanted to talk about Buck and Tommy. I think the show did a great job getting us to the moment where they shared a kiss this episode. As I mentioned earlier, I have seen this episode quite a few times and I’ve watched the scenes involving Buck and Tommy more than that. If you watch the scene where Buck is visiting Tommy, there’s so many little looks the two are giving each other. I think at that point that Buck is only infatuated but Tommy is clearly interested. Also, if you go back to the previous episode, at the end once everyone has been rescued, there’s a look Buck gives when he is telling Tommy goodbye. I love things like that and it’s proof to me that this isn’t just gaybaiting or queerbaiting. This is the show telling us that one of their beloved characters is queer and they have taken special care with letting us know that. I love how Oliver Stark and Lou Ferrigno Jr. are invested in this story. In fact, the cast is supportive of Buck going in this direction. I’m so happy that the fans have this moment. It’s been so fun engaging with people online about this episode and while there are viewers who have and will balk at Buck being a queer character, I say screw those people. If a character’s sexuality can make you that upset, you clearly haven’t been watching the show and you’re not a fan.

Okay, this reaction has gone on way too long. I’ll say it one last time. I’m so happy Buck is bi!!!! I can’t wait to see what happens next! Until next time …

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evanfixes · 1 month

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Excuse me I'm gonna headcanon Tommy as having massive doom brain re: "we're all gonna die anyway" because nothing truly wonderful would ever come to him, and he's made peace with that, he's fine with good, he doesn't deserve much more anyways—

—only there's this firefighter that's a ray of sunshine and he grins so big when they pick Bobby up from the cruise ship, which is so insane by the way, and Evan doesn't stop talking and he's adorable, really, he's very cute and then they keep running into each other?

But there's no way he just said "trying to get your attention," right?? No way he's nervous and fumbling and just within reach for Tommy to tilt his chin, gently, just two fingers because he's still expecting it to be a mistake, a misunderstanding, short-lived—

—and then it's so not because Evan tries so hard and who is Tommy to deny this good thing?? Even if he still feels like this isn't quite for him, maybe isn't going to last, he can't help enjoying every moment of it. Because he gets to see Evan flourish, watch him bloom and blush and break apart in Tommy's hands, loud nights and quiet mornings, and doom might come one day but it's not now. Not yet.

Maybe he can live in this for just a bit. Especially when Evan smiles at him like that. When all he knows is a ducked head and messy curls in the morning. Blue eyes.

Morning, he says. How's my man in the sky?

And for once, it's the truth when Tommy says, never been better.

#evan buckley #tommy kinard #911 abc #911 headcanons

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monicaaaaatje · 1 month

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You asked, I deliver: Athena prompts that came rolling out of my sleeve:

Mass casualties event. During a marathon in LA, a bomb has gone off. When first responders rush to the scene and start with triage, the 118 is among them as well. When a second bomb goes off, the city doesn't know what hit them. While coming up with a battle plan, two rookie police officers get the task to make a list of which first responders are encountered for and which ones are MIA. Sergeant Athena Grant's name is on that list. When her name gets called off, a few officers scoff. The two rookies, who have no idea who Sergeant Grant is as they have only been on the job for two weeks, are shocked when they hear that the woman survived earthquakes, mudstreams, almost drowning in the pacific and apparently put on a turn out suit to keep her husband from getting killed in a fire. Her husband, a firefighter captain at one of the houses near the police station, his reputation isn't much better when it comes to encountering danger... Both are compared to miracles; they always make it out, but will they be found now? What about the other members of the 118? How will their families handle this disaster?

Soulmates AU. It is common knowledge in the world: the moment that you fall in love with your soulmate, your eyes turn a shade of gold and you feel as if a new part of you has been unlocked. Some bonds are even this strong that they can communicate with each other from a distance and the stronger they get, more interesting abillities can appear. Amongst the firefighters of firehouse 118, the event of the golden eyes is a real thing: Henrietta Wilson her eyes turned a shade of gold the moment she fell in love with her wife Karen, while her best friend Howard "Chimney" Han believes that he will never fall in love with a soulmate, because he is such a desperate cause. Evan Buckley screws women for a living and claims that golden eyes are a myth, while the just appointed captain of their house, Robert "Bobby" Nash chooses not to meddle in such silly things as the golden eyes. He believes that he is not deserving of finding true love, especially after what happend to him before he moved to Los Angeles. That all changes when he meets a certain police sergeant...

How the world would look like if Athena died and Bobby stayed behind.

How the world would look like if Bobby died and Athena stayed behind.

Three times the cruise ship disaster could have gone differently.

A tiny bit younger Bathena. Athena has always been told by her doctor that she will have her menopause around the age of thirty, as literally every woman in her family has had this issue. It's why they all became moms at a young age. After having menopause symptoms for a good three years, Athena goes to work feeling a bit under the weather. When she eventually collapses at work, her captain Elaine has her send to the hospital. Both Athena and later her husband Bobby as well are in for the surprise of a lifetime...

Evolution is a scary thing. Acts of mother nature make sure that different kinds of evolution take place in nature. One day, people wake up with all kinds of powers. How will Bobby and Athena adjust to this different kind of life?

On a normal day on the job, Athena and two rookie officers find themselves on a crimescene of a man whose house seems to have turned in some kind of lab. Upon entering the lab, one of the rookie officers doesn't watch what he is doing and gets white powder blown straight into his face. When dispatch calls through that the dead suspect worked for a criminal group specialized in weaponizing deadly diseases, Athena and the two rookies are placed into immediate isolation. Not long after the start of isolation, one of the two rookies dies with horrible symptoms. That is the moment Athena truly knows that she has something to fear.

#8 prompts #9-1-1 #Bathena #Bobby Nash #Athena Grant #there you go #U asked and I deliverd #god I wish I had time to write

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racerchix21 · 2 months

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I’m Not Jealous

Relationship: Evan Buckley x Eddie Diaz

Summary: Buck isn’t jealous of Tommy. He’s not jealous of how close Tommy and Eddie have gotten since the cruise ship happened. It’s not like he’s got any claim over Eddie anyway.

Not like he’s been Eddie’s best friend for years or anything….

Eddie seems to have a new bestie and Buck’s pouting about it. Cue some good old fashioned big sister meddling.

Note: This story is also posted on AO3! My user is the same over there too!

Work Text under the cut

Buck isn’t jealous of Tommy. He’s not jealous of how close Tommy and Eddie have gotten since the cruise ship happened. It’s not like he’s got any claim over Eddie anyway.

Not like he’s been Eddie’s best friend for years or anything. Not like he knows what Eddie’s blood feels like splattering across his face. Not like he knows what it feels like to look in terrified brown eyes in the middle of a panic attack. Not like Buck has first hand knowledge on what an Eddie Diaz hug feels like after a rough call. It’s definitely not like Buck’s got legal guardianship of Eddie’s kid if something happens or anything.

HE’S NOT JEALOUS no matter what Maddie says watching him slam down his 3rd empty bottle of beer on her dining room table. It’s just that he’s the one Eddie’s supposed to want to hang out with on Saturdays. He’s the one that Eddie is supposed to go play basketball with.

He knows he’s spiraling when he looks at his sister and sees nothing but heartbreak and concern for him. “Mads, I thought we were starting to become something. I thought I was his best friend and now he’s got Tommy to be his best friend. What if he doesn’t like me anymore but he doesn’t know how to tell me so he’s slowly trying to distance himself? I need him Maddie. Him and Christopher are my family and I can’t lose them.”

“Ev, I know that it sucks right now but I promise you Eddie doesn’t hate you. I don’t think anyone could hate you little brother now give me that bottle and let’s go watch a movie with Jee,” Maddie says easily taking Bucks drink away from him. “When the movies over I’ll call you a ride to come get you, okay?”

“K, thanks Mads. Can I just crash here cuz I don’t wanna let anyone see me like this,” Buck asks following along behind like a duckling. “‘M sorry if I bothered you with my problems.”

“Buck you know you’re welcome here anytime. Besides I love that you wanna hang out with your big sister. Now why don’t you watch Moana with Jee and I’ll go make sure the guest room is all made up so you can crash in there later,” she says pushing Buck onto the couch before helping her daughter get comfortable on her Uncle Buck’s lap.

Cuddling Jee-Yun close Buck knows he isn’t gonna last very long into Moana before he passes out. Alcohol makes him sleepy on a good day and today nor the last couple weeks definitely haven’t been good if he’s being honest. He just hopes his niece lets him sleep and he doesn’t wake up to doodles on his cheeks like the last time he’d fallen asleep holding her.

****

Seeing Buck beginning to dose off, Maddie walks down the hall and ducks into her bedroom to call her baby brothers man. She knows that Eddie isn’t technically Bucks boyfriend but she’d watched the two idiots dance around each other long enough to know that feelings were mutual.

She doesn’t know exactly what she’s gonna say when Eddie answers his phone but it won’t necessarily matter if it means that Buck is finally in a good healthy relationship with someone who cares about him.

“Eddie, it’s Maddie. I need you to come pick Buck up at mine,” she says as soon as Eddie picks up the phone.

“Maddie, what do you mean Bucks at yours and needs a ride? Is he hurt? WHO THE HELL HURT HIM,” Eddie growls out questioning exactly why Buck would need a ride home and he hadn’t called himself. If he worst case scenarios it while he’s gathering his stuff up and leaving Tommy’s garage without so much as a goodbye that’s his business and nobody else’s.

“No one hurt him, Diaz at least not physically. Emotionally is another story just get here soon, okay?”

“I’ll be there soon, but Maddie what exactly do you mean he’s emotionally hurt? If this is just Buck getting his feelings hurt by a woman I’ll go pick up a 6 pack and then be there to get him.”

“He’s sad and I need you to come make it better. You are the only person who can make him happy outside of Jee and Christopher. I think he’s struggling but he’s too afraid to reach out to anyone because we all have our own lives. I’m guessing because he hasn’t said much to me since he got here and he’s pretty tipsy too.”

“I’ll be there soon and I’ll fix it. Just keep an eye on him and I’ll do the rest because I’m the one who screwed up.”

****

When he wakes up to the final credits rolling, he finds himself staring at Eddie. He blinks a couple times before rubbing his eyes because there’s no way that his best friend (ex best friend?) is sitting on his sisters coffee table. He only accepts that it’s who he thinks it is when he hears a familiar laugh and feels someone touch his arm.

He’d recognize those calloused hands anywhere and that deep, rich laugh. “Eds, what are you doing here? I thought you were hanging out with Kinard today like you have been the last 3 weeks,” Buck says sounding sad. “It’s not like you care anyway since you’ve got Tommy to be your best friend and you don’t need me anymore. Just let me keep seeing Chris, okay?”

“Evan, you’re sad and drunk and hurt because of me so tell me where else would I be? I like Tommy a lot but he’s not you. He might be good for a laugh or two but that’s it. He doesn’t laugh at half the stuff you and I do. He doesn’t get me like you do. He’s a nice guy but he’s not the one I wanna watch movies with or drink with after a shift. He doesn’t make my kid feel like he’s a superhero like you did and do every single day. Tommy isn’t the one I’m in love with. That’s you, Evan Buckley.”

“You love me? Like a white picket fence love me,” Buck asks leaning forward to take Eddie’s hand and smiles at his man, “Cuz I love you too. But how did you know where I was?”

“Maddie,” they say at the same time laughing.

“Of course I love you Buck. Now why don’t we go say goodbye to Maddie, Jee-Yun and Chimney because I don’t really want our first kiss to be while you’re holding our niece in your sisters living room. We can go home and see what our player of a son is getting into.”

“Home sounds perfect Eddie. Let’s go but can we get to the kissing part in the car,” he whines at Eddie. He’s only waited years to get to kiss Edmundo Diaz and he doesn’t particularly wanna wait any longer than he has to.

“Yeah, Ev now come on. The quicker we say goodbye, the sooner we can make out like horny teenagers.”

#pining Evan Buckley #Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz #Maddie is the best big sister in the world #Season 7 spec #911 abc #pining Eddie Diaz #7x04 speculation #Evan Buckley #maddie buckley #Eddie Diaz

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cryptid-killjoy · 1 year

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Jace Evans (Charlie Plummer) - Scout’s Friend (NPC family for now) -

Some family that’s started to live in my head that may or may not ever get fully used cause you know me. lol. But world building in the NZ.

Tripp - The Dad - Kieran Culkin - single-ish dad hanging on during a trial separation refusing to let go. He wanted to save this family and be the hero in a way and the family man but it’s not working out as planned.

Wanda - The Mom - J. Smith-Cameron - The workaholic - who is twice married. Her first husband and the father of the child ran out on them when he realized how difficult it was to raise a child with such health/mental problems. She’s been there for her son for it all but being American the debt and struggle was real for their income status, that sweet space in the USA where you’re not poor enough for medicaid, but don’t make enough money to afford the healthcare it’s against the law for you to exist without, must less use if you scrape by the payments to have it, unable to actually walk into a medical facility with it because the copays are too high. God bless the USA. But, Hallelujah she’s worked her way into a position that lead them to the opportunity to move a world where there’s universal health care in New Zealand. That doesn’t erase her debt. But, she’s moving up in the world. With position comes a shift in the mind and even though they’re where her son can get proper treatment she’s pulling away. She works on cruise ships where she’s often not even in the country. This leaves the step father to take care of everything with the son, house, medical, school, day to day. Pets.

The more she’s gone, the more he feels she’s pulling away, and can’t seem to get her to focus on them when she comes home which was supposed to be the deal. It’s a back and forth. One day they’re on a date. The next they day they’re discussing divorce.

Meanwhile, the kid has met Scout. He’s a new kid at school making her not the new kid anymore. He had the air of someone who was a little off so Scout was drawn in. That was it. Picture him like a Bastien-ish condition person minus the gargoyles of course, but his own “problems” like that. All still in development, inspired by Words on the Bathroom Walls. But, this guy actually does the normal thing and gets treatment and therapy like a regular person would.

Also, kinda want to save Macauley face as the Dad’s brother from American Horror Story as his homeless addict brother as why he was so taken with this woman and her son to begin with. Regrets. Like an inability to help his own family so he thought he could play savior elsewhere.

#bio #ish #npc #or not #head canon

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toosicktoocare · 3 years

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emergency contact

pt 1 of 2 and also found on ao3!

(i promise i’m not ignoring my prompts- this idea just kinda popped into my head)

“Hi, may I speak with Mr. Evan Buckley?”

Frowning, Buck pulls the phone away from his ear. He doesn’t know the number; however, the area code is local, so he can probably rule out a scam call. At least, he thinks, the woman on the other line sounds very much real and not a robotic recording about to lead in with a cruise ship he didn’t sign up for.

“Uh, yeah. This is Buck—I mean Evan. This is Evan Buckley.” He clears his throat. He can hear a lot of background noise—a lot of muffled speaking, intercoms crackling. He’s heard it before, but he’s struggling to equate the noise to a particular memory, only having a small rock of dread burrowing low in his stomach to go by.

“Hi, Mr. Buckley. I’m Nurse Johns at LA General. I have you listed as the second emergency contact for Christopher Diaz.”

Buck’s stomach bottoms out, leaving him nauseous, weightless, and far too cold despite the LA sun beating in through his window and warming his bed. He shivers and forces himself upright in bed, muscles rigid, jaw a tense, jutted line.

“His father,” Buck starts into the phone, shaky, “Eddie—Edmundo Diaz—”

“—didn’t answer. You’re next on the list. Sir, if this is incorrect, I’ll need to move on to the next person—”

“—no!” Buck jerks to his feet, nudging abandoned clothes around with his foot until he finds a pair of gym shorts. “I’m… His father’s on a shift with the LAFD. Is Chris okay? What’s going on?” Composure, he thinks, is out the window. Then again, he’s never been capable of the whole ‘cool, calm, and collected’ thing when it comes to Chris. He snags the same shirt he tossed to the floor when he climbed into bed this morning after his 24-hour, a short-sleeved, blue shirt, and slips it over of his head, careful of his phone.

“Sir, I can’t disclose that over the phone.”

“Right,” Buck mutters, nodding more to himself. “I’m on my way now. Tell Chris—tell him Bucky’s on the way, okay?” He ends the call, taking the steps down from his loft two at a time. He’s only faintly aware that he’s shaking, and the rock of dread’s grown triple in size and sits heavily against his gut. He fumbles with his keys, pockets his wallet, and just remembers to slip on a pair of sandals. If he weren’t moving against a rush of fear, he’d take the time to give a mental ‘look who’s laughing now’ to everyone who’s made fun of the sandals in the last two months since he purchased them, but, the fear is a cold hand that’s pulling on him, disrupting his thoughts, chiseling against his composure.

He doesn’t dwell. He races out of his apartment, and in seconds, he’s in his jeep and whipping out of his parking spot. He knows LA well, knows the traffic patterns, and he’s unfortunately hitting lunch rush, which, he thinks, is probably similar to some twisted second layer of hell. He wishes, more than anything in this second, that he had an engine, that he could dominate the road with the power of a siren, but his jeep will have to suffice. Still, his grip on his steering wheel is tight, his knuckles fading white, when he hits the first of many red lights.

He uses hands-free to call Eddie, not surprised to get his voicemail after only two rings.

“Eddie! Chris is in the hospital—They didn’t give me any details, and I’m on my way now. They called you first. I’m next on the list?” Buck pauses briefly on that, gets lost in that fact, but then he shakes his head. “Look, he’s at LA General—just get there when you can, okay?”

He ends the calls, somehow feeling even worse, and then he tries Bobby. Logically, he knows that if Eddie’s not answering, Bobby probably won’t either. Still, when he’s teetering on the edge of panic, Bobby can talk him down, can ease him safely back to the present.

“Buck?”

Buck’s foot slips a little too hard on the gas, and he sucks in a sharp breath. “Bobby? Bobby! Where’s Eddie?”

“Currently? He’s probably making his way back to a second story window, hopefully with one of the victims of an expansive house fire.” A pause. “What’s going on, Buck?”

Buck peers around, swallows back a groan at the cars on every side of him. “Look, can you get Eddie to LA General ASAP?”

“You’re at LA General? Are you hurt?”

“No! I mean, I will be, but it’s not me—it’s Christopher. Bobby, I don’t…” Buck sighs, drags a free hand down his face. He can feel his lungs constricting. The pressure of panic’s a bitch.

“They didn’t say anything over the phone. They tried Eddie first, and then they called me. I’m—”

“—Buck, take a breath. I’ll get Eddie there as soon as possible. You be careful driving there, okay? Keep us updated.”

Buck comes back down to earth with a low breath that’s been trapped in his lungs. “Thanks, Bobby,” he says, and he means it, pushing his gratitude hard into the two words. The call ends, and Buck forces his focus onto the road, onto making it to the hospital in one piece because Christopher needs him.

***

Concussion.

It’s the only word Buck keeps coming back to. He’s being led down hallways that are too bright, too loud, and annoyingly familiar, and the nurse is explaining that Christopher took a tumble at school and is currently being monitored for a possible concussion. Buck nods when appropriate, offers a few non-verbal affirmatives, and then he’s stopping before two large, glass windows, and behind them, Chris is sitting in bed chatting with another nurse. His hand finds the glass, fingers spread out, anxiety spread even to his palms.

“You’re welcome to go in. We’ve told him you’re coming.”

Buck nods absently. He’s going to go in—of course, he’s going to go in. He just needs to take a single second to fully capture the image of Christopher alive and breathing in his mind, an image that can break through the muddle, clear his head, bring breath back to his lungs.

“Mr. Buckley?”

“Sorry,” Buck mutters, nodding. He turns when the nurse opens the door for him, and he wills away any and all fear etched deep in his face the second he crosses over into the room.

“Bucky!”

“Chris!” Buck’s no stranger to concussions, so though animated, he keeps his voice soft, and he walks toward the end of the bed, glancing at the clipboard. “How’re you feeling, bud?” He asks, satisfied to see that the doctor’s notes are promising.

“My head hurts.”

“I bet it does,” Buck mutters, sympathetic, and he drops onto the edge of the bed, one hand resting atop Christopher’s covered knee. “What happened?”

“Me and Caleb were playing firefighter, and I fell down a step.”

Buck sucks in a sharp breath, holds it in his lungs to brace for the familiar wave of guilt that’s soon to tangle in his breath, jab past his rib cage to his lungs. “Is that so?” He settles for, breathless, and Christopher’s face falls, his eyes dropping to his lap.

“Don’t tell dad. He’ll get mad.”

“Chris—”

“—Mr. Buckley, I presume?”

Buck’s never been more thankful for a doctor to walk in for he wasn’t sure how to unpackage Christopher’s quiet plea in a way that wouldn’t be considered as overstepping Eddie’s parental authority but also in a way that wouldn’t have Christopher demanding he leave.

“Uh, yeah—It’s Buck.”

“Okay, Buck. Want the good news?”

“Will it be followed by bad news?” Buck asks, one brow arched, stomach twisting. “Because his father—”

“—no bad news today,” the doctor interrupts, and Buck huffs out a quiet sigh of relief and gives Christopher’s knee a squeeze. He gives a nod, and the doctor plucks the clipboard up.

“Christopher’s been cleared of a concussion. He’s got a few scrapes and bruises, and his head will probably hurt for a few more hours, but otherwise, he’s fine. I’ll leave a note at the front desk to begin the discharge papers. He should be out within the hour.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Buck mutters, and he nods when the doctor and nurses exit, giving him space to breathe; though, he’s not sure how much he can actually breath encompassed in four, blinding walls that bring back a pressing dark cloud of memories.

“Buck?”

Buck blinks slowly, peels his gaze from the door to see Christopher smiling softly at him, poking at his side.

“Can you lay with me?”

Buck eyes the small bed, mentally works round the best way to squeeze in, to maximize Christopher’s comfort, and he slips his sandals off and climbs onto the bed, impossibly gentle when he adjusts Chris. When he’s got Christopher against his chest, he sighs, and Christopher sighs with him, content, safe.

***

“That’s the last of them, Cap,” Eddie coughs lightly, tugs his helmet off. His lungs burn faintly from smoke inhalation. It’s not bad by any means, but he’s dabbling with the idea of having Hen look him over anyway.

“Should I help with fire…” Eddie’s words trail off when the 122 pulls up onto the scene, their members already hopping out of the engine and working the hose. “Was backup necessary?” He glances back over his shoulder. Sure, the fire’s large, but he doesn’t think it’s classified as a level high enough to warrant local support.

“Are you okay?”

Eddie whips back around, squints at Bobby. “Yeah, why?”

“Let me clarify: are you okay to leave the scene right this second, or do you need to a look-over now?”

Eddie’s still struggling to read Bobby’s tone for it’s always frighteningly composed, even in the face of emergency. “I’m okay now.” He nods slowly, and then Bobby’s turning on his heel and wordlessly gesturing him toward the engine.

He slips into the back, pausing to see Bobby sitting in the back with him, stationed across from him.

“Cap, what—”

“—have a seat.”

Eddie sits slowly, slips his headphones on, and then the engine’s roaring to life beneath him and pulling away from the scene. He’s alone with Bobby because Hen and Chimney left earlier with a patient, and he can’t shake the feeling that he’s in trouble for something. He replays his actions at the house fire, yet he can’t find an error that would warrant a private conversation with Bobby.

“Buck called,” Bobby finally says, and Eddie drags his gaze from the cars moving onto the road shoulders, now finally tuning in to the fact that the sirens are wailing overhead still, the engine demanding the street with the shrill sounds and flashing lights. The sirens shouldn’t be on unless…

“Is he okay?”

“Buck’s fine. The hospital called him because Christopher was brought in. They tried you, and he was next on the emergency contact list.”

There’s dread, Eddie thinks. Dread when he rides up to a call and gathers the first, initial assessment of the situation. And then there’s bone-deep, crippling fear—fear that twists in his gut, pools into his lungs, walls around his heart. It drains the blood from his face, freezes his muscles, steals his breath, and buries his mind in a series of what if scenarios that range from grim to downright terrifying.

“Eddie, breathe.”

He does, but only because his mind is trained to respond on command to Bobby’s voice. The breath he sucks in his short and cold, and he finally reaches in his pocket for his phone. He’s got four missed calls, three voicemails, and a series of texts from Buck, all fairly close in time to the other.

He goes through the texts—he won’t be able to hear the voicemails right now, and he really doesn’t think he’ll be able to stomach Buck’s panicked, broken voice.

[From: Buck] Chris is okay. He fell at school and hit his head

[From: Buck] no concussion. Doc said he can be discharged within the hour

[From: Buck] I’ve checked him over. There’s a bruise on his side I want to keep an eye on but otherwise he’s okay

[From: Buck] we should talk about why he fell

[From: Buck] but not until later! Sorry that last text sounded weird…

[From: Buck] discharge in 20 minutes. I’ll bring him back to yours if you aren’t able to come yet. I still have the spare key you gave me

He’s blinks around the tears pooling in his eyes, swallows thickly. “Buck said he’s okay. He fell at school.” He’s aware his voice is shaking, and then Bobby claps him on the knee.

“That’s a good thing.”

It is, Eddie thinks, swiping the back of his hand over his eyes. He works on his breathing, controlling it, counting breaths, but when they pull up to the hospital, the fear comes back, muted now, but still there, always there.

He hops out of the engine, Bobby not far behind, and in just seconds, a nurse is guiding them back. When he reaches the door and looks beyond the glass to see Christopher curled up against Buck’s chest, he breathes, deeply and fully, for the first time since he pulled himself up into the engine. Relief, he thinks, is the singular image of the two most important people in his life safe and together.

***

“Christopher!”

Buck whips his gaze from his phone where he’s got a story pulled up to read to Christopher, and he slowly turns Chris over just as Eddie rounds the bed and pulls Chris to his chest tightly. He notes, to himself, that Eddie’s in full turnout gear, that he’s got soot smudges on his face, that his jaw is a set, unwavering line jutting against his skin.

“Daddy!”

“¿Estás bien, hijo?”

“Sí.”

Buck wordlessly slips from the bed, toes his feet into his sandals. He crosses his arms and backs away from the scene, feeling all too overwhelmed, suddenly suffocated despite the brush of relief before him, and then Eddie’s looking toward him, frowning, eyes unreadable, and Buck offers a small smile.

“The discharge papers,” he motions toward a stack of papers on the end of the hospital bed. “I’ll bring my jeep around.”

“Wait, Buck—”

Buck slips out of the room, eyes cast to the ground, and he bumps right into someone, his hand coming up to fist around the turnout jacket and his head dropping against a shoulder.

“You okay, Buck?”

There are so many ways Buck wants to say no, but the one that’s most alarming, one that’s been a nagging twinge in his lungs, is the one he opts for. “I don’t think I can breathe.” His voice is breathless, and then Bobby’s guiding him with a hand to his back toward the nearest exit. The second he bursts through the double doors, he sucks in a sharp gasp that breaks way to a few coughs, and he’s being gently eased onto the edge of the sidewalk.

“Easy, Buck. Breathe with me, okay?”

Buck meets Bobby’s eyes, nods, and drags his gaze down to Bobby’s chest, watching the steady rise and fall, mimicking it, until the fog clouding his brain breaks, leaving him far too tired. His shoulders slump, and Bobby claps a hand to his shoulder.

“What’s going on?”

“I didn’t know…” Buck sighs, dropping his face into his palms. He can hear his therapist’s voice reminding him that he’ll feel better if he’s more open with others. “I’m really overwhelmed right now.” He can feel Bobby’s hand tighten around his shoulder, a wordless sign to continue. “Just… Getting that call that Chris is in the hospital really freaked me out. I know he’s fine, but just… He’s the last person I ever want to see in a hospital bed.”

“Now you know how I feel every time I get a call that you’re in the hospital.”

“Bobby,” Buck groans, lifting his head to match Bobby’s smile.

“You look tired—I don’t imagine you got much sleep before the call?”

“A few hours,” Buck admits, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Not sure I’ll get back to sleep anytime soon. I’m exhausted, but it’s definitely going to take some time for the adrenaline to die down.”

“Do you need me to take Eddie and Chris back?”

“Nah,” Buck drags himself up to his feet, yawning. “I’m going to need to physically see Christopher safe in bed before I can even think about unwinding.” He can see one of the engines not far off in the parking lot, and he laughs quietly. “Though, I bet Chris would love to be back in the truck.” He frowns at Bobby’s turnover gear. “Did you leave right after a call?”

“I requested the 122 to come in for backup.”

Nodding absently, Buck looks back toward the doors they came from, and he crosses his arms, fingers digging into the skin. He knows that he’s taken all necessary steps when faced with an abrupt situation, yet he can’t shake the underlining burn in his stomach that he overstepped, that he didn’t get here fast enough, that he should have added a step, or even removed one, when getting here.

“You did good today, Buck.”

His shoulders slump, tension falling with them, and he huffs out a low sigh.

“Thanks, Bobby.”

***

“You keep looking at him like he’s going to disappear.”

Buck jumps; he didn’t hear the shower cut off, nor did he hear Eddie slip into Christopher’s room behind him.

“I keep thinking he might,” Buck whispers, and Eddie tugs at his arm, urging him up from the chair he’s got pulled up to Christopher’s bed. He lets Eddie guide him from the room, but when Eddie tries to ease him onto the couch, he digs his heels into the floor, and Eddie turns to him, brows furrowed.

“Buck—”

“—when were you planning on telling me I’m second on Christopher’s list of emergency contacts?”

Buck doesn’t miss the deep, calculated sigh Eddie breathes, and he opts to remain standing when Eddie sinks down onto the couch, only watching wordlessly as Eddie runs fingers through his damp hair.

“It was Chris’s idea.”

Buck blinks slowly. “What?”

“After the tsunami. When we were leaving the hospital, he mentioned how you saved him. He said he wanted you to be the person who comes to save him again.” Eddie pauses, rubs smally at the shirt fabric just above his chest. “I resisted at first—I told Christopher we couldn’t ask something that big of you, but I’ve seen countless times since then how far you’ll go for him, so I called and had you added second on the list.”

Eddie takes in a low breath, and Buck’s mutely envious because he can’t do the same.

“If I can’t get to him, it needs to be you.”

Buck’s struggling to pick something to focus on. His heart wants to chase the heat of Eddie’s words, yet the guilt, as it always is, is an overpowering force that leaves him shaking his head, backing up until the back of his leg hits the coffee table.

“It can’t be me.” He watches Eddie’s face fall, but Eddie still nods, understanding even now.

“I get it. I should have asked first. I know it’s a big responsibility—”

“—what?” Buck shakes his head again, crosses his arms. “It’s not the responsibility. You know I would do absolutely anything for that kid. It’s the fact that it’s my fault he ended up in the hospital today.”

Eddie cocks his head to the side, lips in a firm line, and Buck knows this look well—it’s Eddie’s way of signaling for Buck to continue, knowing well that Buck will finish on his own, that he doesn’t need verbal prompts to guide him toward his point.

“He was playing firefighter with one of his friends at school, and he fell down a step.”

The silence that follows feels thick enough to clog Buck’s lungs. He wants to sit—his legs are shaking, but if he sits, he can’t flee as fast, and he just knows Eddie’s going to ask him to leave, to not come back. And, Buck thinks, Eddie should. Eddie should yell at him for filling Christopher’s mind with stories from work, for encouraging this imaginative behavior that dropped him onto a hospital bed.

“Is that it?” Eddie says instead, calm, and Buck frowns, jaw opening and closing, struggling for words.

“I mean, I’m waiting for the part where you tell me how this is your fault,” Eddie clarifies, and Buck sinks onto the coffee table at this, not trusting his legs to hold him upright.

“Eddie, I’m constantly telling him stories from work, glorifying the job, painting all of these verbal, detailed images that fill his mind and plant ideas.”

“And you think I don’t?”

“Eddie—”

“—Buck, we have the same job. If Chris asks me what I did at work, I tell him. I spare him the calls that don’t go in our favor, but otherwise, I tell him.”

Buck blinks slowly, mind operating around 30% capacity, and Eddie leans forward, cupping a hand to Buck’s knee.

“No one’s at fault. Kid’s got one hell of an imagination.”

“Wait, hold on. You’re not mad?” Buck expected yelling. He expected to get kicked out of Eddie’s house, and yet, Eddie’s calm before him, relaxed, a little tired around the edges, but he’s showing no signs that he’s seconds from blowing up.

“There’s nothing to be mad about.”

Buck can only blink at Eddie. He’s faintly aware that his eyes are watering, and then Eddie’s pulling him back up by the arm.

“Okay, we all know by now that you get sappy when you’re tired.”

Buck stops in the doorway when Eddie steps into the bedroom, watching as Eddie pulls back the covers and motions toward the bed. He shakes his head, one hand gripping tightly at the doorframe.

“Eddie, I’m not taking your bed. You should be with Chris. I’ll go—”

“—Chris will want you here when he wakes up. Plus, it doesn’t take but basic math to realize you’re working on only four hours of sleep after a 24, so you’d be doing everyone a favor by shutting up and getting in the damn bed.”

“Eddie.”

“Buck.”

Buck holds Eddie’s gaze, breaking it after a few, heavy moments with a weighted sigh. He shuffles toward the bed, kicking off his sandals and climbing in on the side farthest from the door, knowing that the side closest to the door is reserved for Eddie, to accommodate Eddie’s needs to be the first to act if something happens.

The bed is heaven against his sore body, and the second his head hits the pillow, he’s struggling to keep his eyes open. The adrenaline is fully fleeing now, leaving him exhausted to the core in more ways than one. He blinks slowly, watching as Eddie climbs into the other side of the bed, sighing loudly, and he rolls toward Eddie, studying the way Eddie gingerly rubs at his chest for the second time.

“You give your oxygen mask to someone during the house fire?” Buck asks around a yawn, and Eddie nods.

“It wasn’t for long.”

“You didn’t get checked over.” It’s not a question; Buck knows, based on the sight of Eddie arriving at the hospital looking rough for wear and donned in full gear, but Eddie still responds.

“No, but I’m fine.”

Buck forces himself up on one elbow, frown deep, brows furrowed. “You should get checked out now. I can call Hen—”

“—did you forget I was a field medic?” Eddie arches a brow, and Buck sinks back against the pillow.

“No, you always find a time to remind me. You can’t check yourself over, though.”

“And how many times have you ignored a fractured rib because you ‘checked yourself over?’” Eddie fires back, and Buck groans, draping an arm over his eyes.

They fall silent, and Buck’s body is urging him to give in to the fatigue draping over him. Still, he can’t fully settle. The adrenaline of the last hour and a half is a flame that’s almost completely burned out. Still, it flickers smally, and he rolls onto his side, watching Eddie.

“The bruise on Christopher’s side. We should—”

“—I looked, and we iced it until he fell asleep. Now, please shut up and sleep.”

#911 fox #9-1-1 fox #buddie #fanfic #hurt/comfort #fanfiction #evan buckley #Eddie Diaz #christopher diaz #Bobby Nash #whump #whumpfic #op is 100% not a dr #my writing #my 911 writing

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officialleehadan · 3 years

Text

Beneath Bahamian Waters

Eione couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling of water all around her, cradling her as she swam. It had been a hot day, and it had been hard to stay in the boat. The sun had beaten down, especially when she so badly wanted to feel the sea on her skin.

She barely fluttered her tail to move through the water. There was no reason to hurry. Eione rarely hunted around Anita’s house and she knew where the shellfish would be.

The reef here was bright with coral.

Everywhere she looked there were schools of fish, and on another day she might have stopped to chase them.

They were too small and had too many bones to be worth the trouble of hunting, but it was fun to catch them. When she held them cupped in her hands, they would flutter like butterflies until she let them go again.

Not today, though. Today she had dinner to find and the promise of Anita’s chowder was enough to keep her from getting distracted. Anita had bribed many people with that chowder over the years. Eione was one of them.

“Eione?”

Unlike Eione, Calliope’s scales shimmered delicate pink and yellow with blazing red that flowed down from her hips to form her fins. She was showy and she knew it. Eione teased her about it from time to time.

“I heard you saved another human,” she commented, bright blonde hair fluttering around her face and down her back. “How did that one go?”

“I did,” Eione said, one eye out for the lobsters Anita had requested. “A diver who got lost in the caves.”

Calliope rolled her eyes playfully and twisted in the water to rest on her back.

“They’re always going into deep water and forgetting they’re not made for it,” she mused. “Was he cute? The last two weren’t, but you never know.”

Eione glared at her and batted at Calliope with her tail.

“Why does it matter?” she grumbled. She did not want to admit that yes, her newest rescue was very handsome. Calliope would never let her hear the end of it. “He was past half to dead when I found him.”

“It matters,” the blonde mermaid said cheerfully and flared her tail out to duck Eione’s swipe. “Especially if you had to kiss him. Did you have to kiss him?”

“Yes, Calliope. I kissed him. He would have drowned otherwise.”

“Ooh! Then it really matters. Come on, cousin. I can tell when you’re hiding something from me.”

“You don’t always notice when a grouper swims past your nose. You can’t fool me. What are you doing on this side of the island anyway? I usually have to come over to the west side if I want to see you.”

Calliope idly flipped her tail to keep up with Eione. “Jeremy wanted to visit Thomas. I rode in with him,” she explained.

“Just decided to come visit?” Eione asked absently as she ducked around another reef, briefly ignoring her cousin to prod under the coral shelf until a lobster darted out. She grabbed it, careful of the spines, and measured it with the little ruler she kept in her belt before she added it to her bag. “Why? You hate this side of the island.”

“I needed to talk to you, too,” Calliope answered. She was serious for a moment and Eione paid more attention to her. It was rare for Calliope to be serious about anything. “The shoal went south today. They’ve headed out with the ship that left yesterday.”

The cruise lines were highways for mermaids. The immense ships were easy to hold on to and it was far less effort to catch a ride with a ship than it was to make the long trip to California on their own power. Under the cover of the hull of a cruise ship, a whole shoal of mermaids could sneak through the Panama Canal and into the safer waters of the Pacific for the summer.

“You decided not to go this year?” Eione asked, surprised.

There were a handful of mermaids who stayed during storm season, but Calliope usually went with the rest. Eione was bemused when the older mermaid blushed and looked away.

“Jeremy asked me to stay,” she admitted shyly.

“I’m not surprised he did. I’m happy for you; I know how you feel about him.”

Calliope shifted uncomfortably, fins drifting in the clear water. “He wants me to stay with him when a storm comes in,” she blurted out. “And I need you to teach me to walk. I don’t want him to be carrying me around whenever we’re on land.”

That actually did startle Eione, but she nodded. She had forgotten that of the shoal, only she was on land often enough to be comfortable on legs.

Even though Calliope had been in love with Jeremy for almost two years, she spent hardly any time out of water, and then only in a boat or on the beach where she didn’t need to walk. That she wanted to learn now was telling.

“Of course I’ll teach you.”

HGE - Riptide

Evan Ross survived what no one before him ever has, and now he’s on the hunt for answers. His only clue is a single word that echoed through the water of a flooded cave.

Breathe.

Under Stone

White Sand Sky

The Hint of Answers

Drift to Home

Boats and Salt Wind

Eyes of the Ocean

Dinner Cruise (Free on Patreon!)

+++

More Stories!

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harley-sunday · 4 years

Text

Final Approach [02]

Summary: Something’s different at Sandspit Airport when you return after some much needed time off.

Pairing: Chris Evans x reader (f)

Warnings: Language

Word count: 3466

AN: Here’s part 2 for y’all :) Not much else to say about it, so I hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

The Thursday flight to Sandspit is always the first on your schedule for that day and so the sun is still pale in the sky when you make the first call, “Sandspit Tower, this is PASCO seven five, fourteen miles out south, requesting inbound.”

He responds almost immediately, “PASCO seven five, report over channel three for runway one left.”

Switching to channel three you report back, “Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, requesting inbound for runway one left.”

“PASCO seven five, enter right for runway.”

Huh. You’re a bit taken aback by his cool demeanour and wonder if you should comment on it. Joanne was always such a chatterbox, but maybe this is just how it’s going to be from now on. You decide to leave it for now, “Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, entering right for runway. Twelve miles out.” You grab the checklist you need to complete before starting your final approach and work through it methodically, like you always do. And like always it doesn’t take long before you get to call out again, “Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, ready for final approach.”

“PASCO seven five,” he hesitates for a second before he continues, “confirmed for runway one left.”

You come back to him once you’ve started your descent, the tops of the trees below you getting closer and closer until you feel like you can almost touch them, “Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, ready for touchdown on runway one left.”

“PASCO seven five, landing confirmed. Please taxi via Bravo to parking six.”

“Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, parking six, taxi via Bravo confirmed.” There’s a little bit of wind, the trees swaying from left to right, and so the landing is a little more bumpy than you’d like it to be, but once again you get to release the breath you were holding when you touch down safely.

Like always, Dave waits for you at your designated parking spot and the sight of him immediately brings a smile to your face, the call with ATC temporarily forgotten once you shut your engine off.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you to the tower so you can meet the guy?” Dave tries again. He’s assured you, a few times already, that the new guy is actually pretty alright once you get to know him and seems determined to make sure you share his opinion.

“Very,” you reply with a grin, while you hand Dave another mailbag, “I’ll see him next time, Dave, it’s fine.” It’s not that you don’t want to go meet the guy, because you’re sure he’s exactly how Dave’s described him to be, it’s just that you have two other flights lined up for today.

“Uhu,”

“Dave,” you draw out, warning him, but with a smile, “I promise I’ll go see him next time, ok?”

“Fine.” Dave closes the hatch and wipes his hands on the rag he keeps in the backpocket of his overalls, before he gently pats the side of your plane, “You’re good to go, kid.”

“Thanks, Dave,” you open the door and climb in, giving him a quick wave before you focus on the necessary checks before takeoff. Once that’s done you put on your headphones and radio in, “Sandspit Tower, PASCO seven five ready for takeoff and awaiting instructions.”

“PASCO seven five, line up on runway two left via Bravo.” He clears his throat then, “Please be advised you’ve got some crosswinds coming in from your left once you’re in place.”

“Sandspit Tower, PASCO seven five, aware of crosswinds.” Once you’re lined up at the start of the runway you do your final checks, the clear skies in the distance letting you know you’ll at least be flying into better weather. Just as you’ve opened your mic back up a crosswind hits you, rattling your plane, an excited, “Woah!” escaping you.

“You ok?”

He sounds worried and so much different from earlier today that it takes you a moment to find your voice, “Yeah, I-, I’m fine.” You sit up and grab your yoke, ready to get this thing airborne, “Sandspit Tower, PASCO seven five, ready for takeoff.”

“PASCO seven five, fly straight out until advised, runway two left, cleared for takeoff.”

“Sandspit Tower, PASCO seven five, taking off, flying straight out.” The crosswinds prove to be a bit of challenge, one hitting you just before liftoff, but years and years of experience means you have anticipated this to the best of your abilities and so you’re quick to correct the plane. Doesn’t mean it didn’t scare you though, but at least there’s no one around to hear you mutter a quiet, “Fuck.”

Once you’re airborne he’s quick to compliment you, “Great takeoff, PASCO seven five! Please turn at your discretion.”

You can’t help but smile at this surprise turn of events at the end of his call, “Sandspit Tower, PASCO seven five, thank you and turning at my discretion. See you on uh,” you hesitate, trying to remember your schedule, “Tuesday.”

“It’s just different, you know?” You look at Deb, hoping she’ll agree with you, but of course you know she’ll be the voice of reason in all this.

“Just give him some time,” she offers, “it’s all new for him as well, kid. You and Dave and Joe all go way back and I’m sure he’s just trying to find his ground. Plus, how many more pilots come into Sandspit? All of them have probably been around for a few years as well, so he’s just getting to know everyone.”

“I guess,”

Deb laughs as she hits you on the head with the menu, “It’ll be alright, trust me.”

You pull a face at her as she walks away, but she just shakes her head and you can tell she tries not to laugh.

Like every Friday it’s pretty busy in Sporty’s Grill but unlike last week happy hour is well on its way already because you got back from work a little later than usual. Prince Rupert Airport had some problems with its fuel system and so you were grounded there for an extra two hours before you could fly back to Port Hardy. Still, you made it home before dark though and as far as you’re concerned that’s all that matters. Even after all these years you hate flying at night, mostly because you heavily rely on visual orientation.

Thankfully business always slows down a little during winter and so for the next three months there won’t be any late afternoon flights scheduled unless an emergency of some sort comes up. Your boss already let you know he’ll try to give Chad as much of those flights as possible, because he doesn’t like you flying in the dark either. You can’t help but smile when you think of your boss, Clive, who looks like he can take out six men in a matter of minutes, but who really is just a giant teddy bear with a heart of gold.

“Here you go,” Deb says, interrupting your thoughts as she puts the Sporty Burger you ordered in front you.

“Thanks,”

She winks at you as she walks back to the kitchen to pick up another order no doubt. Your eyes travel across the room when they land on Mike, who gives you a quick wave from behind the bar. You smile and hold up your glass as a toast before you turn your attention to the food in front of you.

You eat in silence, like you always do, sometimes nodding to the familiar faces that greet you on their way inside, most of them people you know from way back when, and most of them married with kids now, their weekly night, or nights, at Sporty’s a sort of getaway from the everyday bustle. You know for a fact babysitting here is a lucrative business because of this and, like you did in high school, it’s how a lot of sixteen-year old girls make some extra money.

Deb is right on cue with your bill and so you hand her your card while you put your jacket on. It’s not as cold as it was last week, but the weather has been pretty unpredictable these last couple of days and you can’t help but wonder how long it’ll be until the first flights get grounded because of bad weather.

“Here you go, sweetheart,” Deb says as she hands you your card back. “Enjoy your weekend.”

“I will, thanks.” You kiss her cheek, “See ya next week.”

Sandspit is always a little busier on Tuesdays, with helicopters dropping off tourists they’ve picked up from cruise ships anchored in the bay nearby, flying to and from the airport in a heavy rotation. Apparently they're all going on a two-day wilderness retreat somewhere over at Skidegate Lake, which is fine if not a little annoying. You know for a fact there’s a helipad close to Skidegate and so you always wonder why they can’t just drop the herd off there.

To be honest, usually this isn't such a big deal, but a late departure from Bella Coola means you’re hitting Sandspit in the middle of rush hour and so you’re stuck in a holding pattern until the runway is clear again, although you’re sure your Cessna could easily take out one of those Robson 44 fuckers should you happen to run into it on the ground by accident. Or on purpose. Preferably the one with N1903 as the tail number, but let’s not get into that right now.

Mostly you’re just annoyed that this waiting game means you’ll probably have to cancel the hot stone massage you had an appointment for tonight because there’s no way you’ll make it back on time. And so are you a little on edge when he comes in over the radio? Maybe.

“PASCO seven five, runway is busy, please perform another hold.”

“Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, still holding,” you all but bite back.

“Woah, what- Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,”

“Uhu,” he replies, but he doesn’t sound convinced. “Dave told me.”

“Dave told you what?” you ask, voice still a little shrill, while you perform another round of checks. The fuel’s getting a little low and so you ask, “Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, any idea how long I still have to hold?”

“PASO seven five, there’s two more incoming, after that I can clear you.” He sounds unfazed by your mood, which surprises you because you know you can sound like a total bitch over the radio and after last week you didn’t expect any smalltalk like, maybe ever. “Dave told me you’re always a little grumpy on Tuesdays after what happened between you and that rotor-head.”

Are you surprised that Dave told him? No, of course not. Not really anyway. And so you can’t help but smile at his choice of words, knowing all too well there’s some hostility between ATC and helicopter pilots. Jo always called them ‘little fuckers’.

“Just give me the guy’s tail number” he continues without missing a beat, “I know a guy who knows a guy, who knows a guy who can probably help us out here.”

“I’m not sure what it is you’re offering, but I think I’m good.”

“Hey come on,” he sounds a little offended, “we can handle this.”

“This is in no way a ‘we-situation’,” you reply with a smile, a little unsure about whatever is going on right now, the mood so much different from last time. “The only situation we are in together right now is this crazy holding pattern you’ve got me in.”

He chuckles, “Well, PASCO seven five, I’ve got some great news for you, you are confirmed for runway one left.”

“Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five confirmed on runway one left.” His timing is perfect because you’re just at the end of your holding pattern and so you come back to him rather quickly, “Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five ready for touchdown on runway one left.”

“Pasco seven five, landing confirmed,” he hesitates for a moment before he continues, “Please taxi via Charlie over to parking seventeen, one seven.”

You snort, “Really? All the way in the back again?”

“I know, I know,” he sounds sincere, “the whirlybirds are still taking all the good spots.’

“Ugh,” you roll your eyes for good measure. “Whatever. Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, parking one seven via Charlie confirmed.”

Time to land a plane, you think to yourself, before you turn all your attention to the instruments on your dashboard and the runway in front of you. Like always, you take a deep breath and hold it in until you’ve touched down.

“PASCO seven five,” he comes back on as soon as you’re taxiing to your designated parking spot and sounds strangely excited, “great landing, as always.”

“Thank you, Sandspit Ground,” and you mean it because it really does make you feel a little bit better.

Dave’s waiting for you at parking seventeen and waving his paddles in such an overexaggerated manner that you can’t help but laugh and so you’re all smiles when you jump onto the tarmac, “Hi, Dave!”

“Hey, kid,” Dave slaps your shoulder, “heard you were having a bit of a rough day?”

“Yeah, got stuck in a holding pattern that took-,” you stop then, because how the hell does Dave know about your shit day? Unless, “Did ATC tell you?”

He grins and winks, “Told me to cheer you up a little-” he waves his paddles around, “hence the little dance.”

“Did he now?”

“I told you he’s not bad,” Dave says over his shoulder as he opens your cargo door, “just give him a chance, eh?”

“I didn’t- I’m not,” but you know he’s got a point. It’s not fair to take out your bad mood on someone who’s not even remotely responsible for it. “Fine.”

“Good on ya.”

By the time you’re ready to leave it’s a little after five in the afternoon and there’s no way you’ll ever make it back in time for that hot stone massage but it’s fine, you’ve cancelled it already anyway. “Sandspit Tower, PASCO seven five, idling at parking seventeen, ready for takeoff.”

“PASCO seven five, cleared for immediate takeoff on runway two right via Charlie.”

“Sandspit Tower, PASCO seven five, immediate takeoff on runway one right, via Charlie.” And maybe it’s because it’s been a long day, or maybe it’s just because you weren’t expecting him to be so kind, but you actually choke up a little when you say, “Thank you.”

“No worries,” he replies almost instantly, ‘I know you’re running late. Just want to get you home before dark.”

It starts raining about halfway to Louise Island, even though the forecast told you it’d be dry for at least an hour after your scheduled landing and so you’re quietly cursing. It’s your last flight of the week and you were hoping to make it back to Port Hardy at the end of the afternoon before the predicted bad weather would hit the island. Thing is, your boss told you to skip this flight, said the cargo delivery could wait until Monday, but you insisted on making the trip anyway and promised him you’d make it back on time. Still, you figure, rain is something you deal with more often than not, so you’re not too worried.

Flying through the rainclouds means Mathers Lake’s not visible today and so you have to rely on your instruments to tell you where you are, “Sandspit Tower, this is PASCO seven five, fifteen miles out south and requesting inbound.”

“PASCO seven five,”his voice more than familiar by now though he sounds a bit off, “report over channel three for runway two right.”

“Two right,” you whisper quietly with your mic off, “two-” Shit. They only ever use runway two right for inbound when the weather is really bad. As if on cue the rain turns to sleet and the wind starts to pick up and so you let out a quiet, “Fuck.”

“PASCO seven five?” He sounds worried.

“Sorry Sandspit Tower, PASCO seven five reporting over channel three for runway two right.” You turn the dial to channel three and report back, “Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, requesting inbound on runway two right.” Then, because you there’s no use ignoring it, “How bad is it out there?”

It stays quiet a little too long for it to be a reassuring answer and so you’re not surprised when he finally answers, “It’s going to be a tough one.”

You let out a breath, “Ok.”

“PASCO seven five, enter left for runway.”

“Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, entering left for runway,” you look at your display because there are no visual landmarks to tell you where you are, “eight miles out.” You turn your mic off and grab your checklist, one hand still on your yoke because you don’t trust this weather one bit. It takes you a few minutes, but at least everything on your end is as it should be although the sheets of sleet and flurries and is that hail hitting your windows have you worried. “Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five,” you hesitate, because you have a bad feeling about this but figure now’s not the time to have second thoughts, “ready for final approach. Please advise.”

PASCO seven five,” there’s a kindness to his voice that you haven’t heard before, “confirmed on runway two right.”

“Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, ready for touchdown on runway two right.”

“PASCO seven five, landing confirmed. Please taxi via Bravo over to parking one.”

“Oh now you give me the good spot, eh?” It’s supposed to be a joke, but your voice catches somewhere in your throat and so it almost comes out as a sob. You take a deep breath before you confirm, “Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, parking one, taxi via Bravo confirmed.”

“You got this,”

“Yeah,” you reply absentmindedly. You are surrounded by a blanket of grey and so you still only have your instruments to rely on and you hate it. You hate it, you hate it, you hate it. But then you give yourself a firm talking-to, because it is time to put on your big-girl panties and land this plane, godammit. You take an extra deep breath, hold it and mutter something about ‘no guts, no glory’ as you watch the six pack on your dashboard - the six instruments that tell you everything you need to know to make this a successful landing - and it almost feels like time slows down as you start your descent.

It’s bumpy and it’s scary and you wonder if you should attempt a go-around, wonder if maybe you should have chosen a different career path, wonder if you’ll really be able to land this plane but then you feel your wheels hit the tarmac and you get to breathe again and fuck, maybe you ain’t half bad at being a pilot anyway.

“PASCO seven five,” he comes in not much later and sounds, well, nervous, “please confirm touchdown.”

You let out another shaky breath and clear your throat before you open your mic, “Sandspit Ground, PASCO seven five, touchdown confirmed.”

“Oh thank God,” you hear him mutter before he clears his throat, “Dave’s already waiting for you.”

=X=X=

You’re on your second cup of coffee with Dave, the rain and sleet constantly beating down on the roof of the hangar slowly driving you crazy, when you check the weather forecast for what feels like the umpteenth time only to see that it’s still the same and so you let out a frustrated sigh, knowing you won’t be able to take off in this weather.

“That bad, eh?”

“Yeah,” you put your phone down and smile at Dave, “seems like I’m going to be stuck here for a while.” You remember something then, “You guys still have that cot stowed away in the back of the break room? Maybe I could just wait it out? I’m sure you want to get home too.”

The hangar’s lit up by some headlights then and just as you wonder who it could be the door swings open and a tall figure steps inside, backlit by his headlights and so you don’t really get to see his face. “I have some bad news, guys,” he says and it’s then you recognize the voice even though it sounds a little different now that it’s not coming over your headphones. “They shut us down.”

“Shit,” both you and Dave curse at the same time.

“Yeah,” he agrees with shrug, “I just got the call. We’re closed until tomorrow morning but-”

“With only me here and no other flights scheduled for the weekend,” you continue, “probably until Monday, right?”

#Chris Evans fanfic #Chris Evans imagine #Chris Evans x reader #Harley Sunday x Chris Evans #Chris Evans

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thejilyship · 5 years

Text

If You Want Him

First of my jilytober one-shots. This is the ‘employees on a singles cruise’ au. I was not surprised to find that it had the most votes. I had a really hard time keeping this short. I wanted it to be under 1k, but it’s over of course, but it’s fine. One of my other one-shots managed to stay under 1k. (one out of the three I have written, but whatever, I’m fine. You’re fine. We’re all fine.)

Enjoy the fluff and the non-death

They had been flirting all summer.

He was easy to flirt with and it entertained the old people that they were hosting for BINGO and she liked to make his ears turn red when they were in front of everyone. And when they were working on different parts of the ship, she liked it when he brought her ice cream before his shift started, or a mocktail margarita when he showed up to host BINGO wearing an obnoxious Hawaiian shirt that she’d picked out for him from the ships retail store.

She liked to go and visit James when he was on duty as a life guard, and even though she never would, she liked to tell him how she as going to pretend to drown so that he had to jump in the water and rescue her. And even though he knew she was joking, he liked to tell her that he was very good at CPR and she had nothing to worry about.

He’d wink and she’d laugh and the old men and women around them would whisper behind their hands and call them into conversations about when they had been young and in love.

They were halfway through the summer season- which was six separate groups of cruise goers- when James brought up the fact that every single group had assumed that the two of them were dating.

“Yeah,” Lily shrugged, walking up and down the rows of tables, collecting BINGO chips and cards. “I mean, they look at you and they can just tell that you’re irrevocably in love with me, so?” She shrugged and he laughed.

“Yeah, right, it’s written all over my face.”

“Especially when your ears are the color of the afternoon sun.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’ve never blushed in my life.”

“I bet you’ve also never lied.”

“Not once. I swear.” He said solemnly, holding up his right hand.

“Cute,” She deadpanned.

She hadn’t thought that she was being secretive about how she felt. She sought him out as often as he found her, and they had their meals together when their schedule allowed it. But no matter how many winks or flirtatious smirks she sent his way, he didn’t seem to be biting.

“You two are just the cutest,” This was Glenda’s second cruise of the summer and she’d already promised Lily many times that she’d be back at least once more after this cruise was over. “I’ve never seen two young people so perfect for one another.” She reached out and patted Lily on the cheek, which she got away with because she was very old and very sweet.

“Can I let you in on a secret,” Lily leaned over to stage whisper. “We’re not dating.”

“Oh pish,” The woman shook her head. “There’s no need to tease me.”

“I’m not teasing you, we’re really not together. I’ve been waiting for him to ask me out, but he hasn’t gotten around to it yet.”

Glenda narrowed her brows and Lily and crossed her arms over her chest. “And why is a smart, capable, young women, such as yourself, waiting around for him to do the asking? If you want him, you can ask him.”

And Lily had known this of course, and she’d thought about doing just that, but she kept thinking that James would have asked her out already if he’d had any interest, that asking him now, after all this time, would be roping him into something that he didn’t want to do and therefor ruin the rest of the summer.

“What have you got to lose?” Glenda asked, reading the look on her face rather well.

Lily looked up at her with a sad smile. “My friend.”

Glenda shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re worried about. I’m sure he’s having this same conversation with someone down by the pool right now. I know how to spot a man in love, and honey, that boy is falling for you.”

She said it so matter-o-factly that Lily couldn’t help but be bolstered.

“Alright,” She nodded. “I’ll ask him out.”

“That’s my girl,” Glenda smiled and gave Lily a quick hug before she turned off and headed to a different part of the boat, “I still can’t believe you two aren’t already together though. You flirt more than anyone else on this ship.” Lily laughed, unable to argue with her.

The next day, Lily and James were working together in the BINGO hall and Glenda was sitting in the front row. Lily could tell that she was trying to ask Lily if she’d asked James yet. Lily just kept shaking her head. She hadn’t. She wanted to wait until the two of the had a moment alone, until they weren’t both working.

But the longer the night went on, the more obvious Glenda was being about things.

James looked between Glenda and Lily, and Lily sighed.

“What’s going on?” James asked.

“I promise you that I wanted to do this nicely,” Lily said, looking at him and then reached for the microphone. He’d been calling the numbers today, so it was in front of him. He handed it off to her.

“Do what nicely? Are you going to tell off Glenda?”

“Later,” Lily nodded. “James, I need to ask you something.” She said into the microphone.

James’ brow shot up his forehead.

“And I need to do it before Glenda does it for me, so here we go,” She took a deep breath and looked over him, her heart pounding in her chest. “Will you go out with me?”

James looked confused for a moment, and then his mouth quirked up at the corners and he let out a laugh, the kind of laugh that made Lily’s heart stop pounding and start fluttering. “Wait,” He ran his hand through his hair. “Have I not asked you out already?”

“See!” Glenda called out.

“Hush,” Lily looked over at her quickly and then back at James. “No, you know that you haven’t.”

“I was getting to it,” He shrugged. “But yeah, I checked the schedule and we both have Wednesday afternoon off.”

“Yeah?” She wanted to tease him, say something clever perhaps, but she was just giddy and relieved that she had finally worked up the nerve, and that she had been right.

“Yeah, I’d love to go out with you, Evans.”

Lily might have kissed him, had the room of elderly people not started clapping and cheering for them. She almost decided that she didn’t care, but then Glenda wolf-whistled and Lily had to hide her face.

Luckily, there would be plenty of time to kiss him later.

#jilytober #jily #jily fic #jily au #fel writes #my fic #i don't remember what tags I use for my own writing #it's been a minutes since I posted a one-shot

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chris-evans-indian-fanfic · 4 years

Text

Across Seven Seas

Chapter 12

Description: This fanfiction series is set in the year 2022, after the horrid COVID-19 has finally come to an end. In this fanfiction, Chris Evans holidays with his family in India and meets Meera Shankar. The story explores their rollercoaster journey and raises a question, whether two people, from two contrasting backgrounds and cultures, can build their future together?

Series Masterlist

Chapter 13

Main Masterlist

This series is Chris Evans x OFC with Chris Evans' family and friends having recurring appearances. Please find below a lot of Original Characters-

Meera Shankar - The female lead

Meera's Mother

Poppy - Meera's maternal grandmother

Rohan - Meera's elder brother who is 6 years older than her.

Ankur - Concierge of the Hotel Maple-Fawn in Mussoorie

Warning: Curse words, beginning of rape, alcohol consumption, angst

This is a work of fiction. The names of the hotels and companies have been changed to avoid copyright issues. Meera Shankar and her family is based on the author and her kin. No offense is intended.

I don’t consent to have any of my work published or featured on any third party app, website or translated. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but tumblr, it has been reposted without my permission. In that case, please do share the link and let me know.

...

Chapter 12

Meera rang the doorbell of the Evans suite. Situated on the top floor of the hotel, the passage way to the suite was lined with ornate arches, marble statues and impeccable sophisticated lighting. The entire decor screamed opulence in capital letters. It also made her feel uncomfortably out of place.

Scott opened the door and let her in. He welcomed her to take a seat in the living room of the suite, along with Lisa, Chris, Shanna and Carly. "Did all of you see the news?" Meera asked as she took a seat, wincing a little. "Yeah we did. We just wanted to ask a few questions. Thank you for coming up here even though you are exhausted. It means a lot," said Scott.

Meera brushed him off, "It's okay. I will try my best to put your mind at ease." She looked around at their silent faces. They looked a little nervous and Meera soon realised why. She was sitting in her usual position, legs wide apart, back slightly bent, forearms resting on her knees with her palms meeting in the middle. While she felt comfortable in this position, her Mother had always reminded her that women sat with their legs closed and not like mobsters planning to threaten people.

"Umm... Yeah so… I mean…" Scott struggled, clearly hesitant.

Meera chuckled under her breath, "Why don't I start with the obvious questions. You can ask me later on if I miss out on anything." Scott nodded.

"So first of all, why did I not take any credit for the fight? Simple. I wanted to protect my family, especially my brother. He works with a cruise ship in the US and," she sighed, "stuff like this will make it harder for him to renew his visa."

Meera looked at Chris, "You gave your honest statement to the police officer. It was I who translated it and signed the false statement. So… So please be assured, you will not get into any legal trouble." She removed her phone from her bomber jacket, "I have a voice recording of your original statement. I can give it to you right now if you want. So that just in case, in the future, if this matter ever comes to light, you will have proof to back you up."

The 5 looked considerably relieved now. Scott gave her his email ID where she could send the recording. Once she did, she deleted the sent email and his email ID from her contact list in front of them.

"Now for the next question, how and when did I manage to plan all this? I spoke with Inspector Rima when she came to arrest those 3 gentlemen. I explained to her that since you were US citizens, you were planning to file a complaint with your embassy and would see to it that this matter received international coverage. She understood that her police force would be insulted and she would definitely get suspended. So," Meera sighed again, only this time pain visibly flashed across her face, "she agreed to take the credit and include you guys in the report as just tourists."

"From whatever little I know, there were 26 members in the gang and all of them have been caught. So you guys are all safe. Plus, the hotel is…," she groaned a little with pain, "is providing us with increased security. Nobody can enter our respective floors without avoiding the hotel guards. So yes, you can stay here for the remainder of your trip," she ended.

She looked around at them with a small smile, "Any questions?"

"I do," said Shanna slowly, "Why did you not use your knife to fight those guys? I mean they had knives too right? You were lucky only your sweater was torn."

Meera nodded, "I was incredibly lucky today. The fight could have gone sideways very fast. I didn't use the knife because…" she paused again, running fingers on her forehead, "Aah... because it would have further complicated the crime scene. See you can easily explain punches and kicks as self-defence to the police, but when a knife or any other weapon gets involved, it comes close to the murder-territory. I figured if… if I could distract them with my laughter and insults, I could take them on one-by-one."

She looked at Chris again. He was still wearing her sweater and cap, "That reminds me, can I please have my sweater and skull cap back?"

Chris became tongue-tied. He could feel everyone's attention on him now. Quick! Say something smart! He kept looking at Meera. He knew her body must be paining, but he saw a greater pain in her eyes. Her pink lips were slightly quivering, as if she could cry in an instant. Her eyelids were heavy with sleep. He knew she needed rest, yet here she was, reassuring his family. He wanted to hold her, hug her tight and tell her everything would be okay. But would she let him? He should have protected her today, and instead, he was a coward. Would she ever forgive him for that?

"Umm Mr Evans?" Tell her why can't you return her belongings. SPEAK YOU FUCKING MEATBALL!! His breaths started coming in rapid successions as his eyes grew wider. You are a fucking 41-year-old man, TALK!!! But the more he thought about talking, the more he shut himself.

"Oh God baby no it's okay," said Lisa, lightly rubbing his hands while Shanna and Carly started fanning him with the newspapers. "Hey do you want to sing the Little Mermaid song?" Scott suggested, kneeling in front of his brother.

Meera got up, headed to the refrigerator and brought the ice cube tray in front of Chris. "Pop one in your mouth," she suggested in a commanding tone. Chris looked at her, a little confused but still panicking.

"What are you talking abo…" Before Scott could finish his sentence, she said, "Trust me. Pop one ice cube into your brother's mouth."

Raising his eyebrows and shaking his head in disbelief, Scott still did as she instructed.

The confusion on Chris' face grew, then the cold hit him. "AFHASGHAHAGHHFA," he said with his mouth open, his panic attack now forgotten. He looked at Meera, dancing a little on his feet with the cold ice cube in his mouth. She just nodded, "Yes you can go and spit it out now."

She placed the ice tray back in the refrigerator.

When Chris came back, she asked him, "Feeling better?" He nodded, managing to say "Thanks" quietly.

"Umm why… and how?" a stunned Carly managed to ask her.

She addressed them, "There are 3 reasons why putting an ice cube in your mouth works while having a panic attack. One," she raised a finger, and immediately winced in pain, "...the idea acts as a distraction. Two, the cold shocks your system and confuses it. And three, I figured... you might not be drinking enough water, which would have caused your mouth to produce more… ummm…," Meera shook her head as if thinking, "more saliva, which would calm you down."

She stood while they took a seat. "Mr Evans," she spoke gently, "I am sorry I caused you to have a panic attack. When I asked for my stuff, I didn't mean immediately right now. You can return it tomorrow," she closed her eyes and gripped the chair as she felt a little dizzy, "I didn't mean for you to shed your clothes in front of me if that's what you thought."

"Oh no no," Chris finally found his voice, "I didn't... I didn't think that. Please take a seat, you are clearly injured. Have you seen a doctor yet?"

Meera smiled again, "No I haven't. I don't need to. I will be fine. I will take your leave now."

As she was leaving, the family thanked her once again. Lisa asked her, "Are you sure you want your sweater back? It's been torn quite horribly."

"Yes," Meera looked even more exhausted now, if that were possible. "I… I come from a family of… of…" she shook her head and again placed a few fingers on her forehead. "Ummm you know those people who… who do repair work… but of clothes… and they sew new clothes as well? What is the word? What are they called? I am sorry I am having a hard time translating things into English now."

"No don't be sorry. Did you mean a tailor?"

"Yes! Yes a tailor. I come from a family of women tailors. Yes tailors. Thank you. I will stitch it back together," Meera bid goodbye to them, thinking about her bathtub and soft bed longingly.

…

Back in Meera's room, her phone chimed again. Vikranth: 20 missed calls flashed across the screen.

…

Meera collapsed on her bed. She closed her eyes, the pain in her arms and legs increasing with each second. She groaned as her mobile buzzed. Can't I have a minute of peace? Slowly reaching out for the phone, she saw it was Rohan.

"Are you okay?" he asked on the call.

"Yes. Will order room service and go to sleep."

"What's your room number? Ma is freaking out here," Rohan sounded concerned, "Look she is worried. Don't do this to her."

"If I give her my room number then she will come down here. She will not give me an iota of space or freedom. Tell her I am in the hotel and I am safe. Explain to her all the security measures the hotel is taking. Even after that, if it doesn't help her paranoia then I cannot do anything about it. No, Rohan, YOU please understand," she interrupted her brother, "I am in pain right now. My hands and legs hurt like crazy and I cannot take any medicine. Right now, I just need my space and time to heal. I am in the hotel so she has nothing to worry about. If she still chooses to worry then I cannot help it. Good night," Meera disconnected the call.

…

2am

Meera was back on the road. 6 big, strong men headed towards her as she ran. She knew she couldn't fight all 6 at once. She tried to run fast but couldn't. Her foot got stuck in the uneven road and she fell face-first. She felt multiple hands on her, ripping her clothes apart. Rough hands turned her around, and she saw her rapists as they started devouring her body in front of her family.

She woke up trembling with shock. Her mouth was open in a silent scream as her body was covered with sweat. She felt breathless. It took her a solid minute to realise she was safe in her room. It was just a nightmare, it was just a nightmare, she tried to calm herself down. Switching on the lights, she headed towards the refrigerator, and popped an ice cube in her mouth. She was on her 3rd ice cube when she finally stopped trembling.

Reaching for her phone, she decided to watch anything to divert her mind. That's when she noticed the multiple missed calls and messages. She clicked on the notifications and saw her Mother's messages first.

I gave you my life and this is how you repay me?

I have done everything for you! Cared for you, cleaned, cooked, drove you around, was with you every step of the way and you left me all alone? No mother deserves this.

You should be ashamed of what you have done.

No parent should have a daughter like you.

Look at how your brother is supporting us in these times of crisis. And you did nothing. You didn't even ask Vikranth for help because of your ego.

You don't deserve to have anybody in your life.

I am extremely disappointed in you.

Wow, Meera thought as she held her head in her hands. She tried to cry, but maybe her body was still in shock, because no tears came to her eyes.

Nodding her head, she hugged herself and kept repeating, Okay, okay we will get through this. We are okay. We just need to freak out and cry right now. Okay, okay. Freak out and cry. We need to leave this room now. Okay.

…

Chris couldn't sleep. It was all just too much for him to process. The light snores of his brother filled the room. They had all decided to sleep in the suite after the day's events. He couldn't even think straight, let alone sleep. Deciding he needed a drink, he quietly crept out of his bed, taking the room key with him.

He headed towards the hotel's 24x7 bar, hoping to find it deserted. As soon as he entered, he saw the bar was empty, except for one chair in the corner. He couldn't see the person except for a corner of their shawl hanging from the side of the large armchair. The person was playing soft music on their phone. Chris approached the bartender, noticing the shocked and… almost repulsive look on his face as the bartender kept looking at the person in the corner. 3 bottles of different soft drinks were open in front of him but he only focused on the person, his mouth slightly open.

"Ahem," Chris slightly coughed, drawing the attention of the bartender towards him. As Chris asked for a whisky on the rocks, he swore he heard the bartender murmur "Thank God."

He turned to look at the figure in the corner. While he still couldn't see them, he saw their reflection in the floor-to-ceiling glass window. He saw Meera.

He glanced at his drink on the counter debating whether to approach her or not. He couldn't afford to have another panic attack in front of her. He had to be strong. He took two large gulps of the strong whisky, immediately regretting his action. As he coughed and sputtered, he asked for a refill.

He felt his throat and chest burn, somewhat fuelling his courage. Taking his drink, he approached her.

As Chris neared Meera, he heard the melodious song more clearly. Even though it was in Hindi, he understood the sad tune. He saw her tear-stained cheeks and stopped. There wasn't another chair besides her where he could sit and comfort her.

Maybe she needs to feel the pain. I should just leave her alone. She might not like me interrupting her… Chris thought, but he couldn't help himself. Taking another step towards her, he gingerly asked, "Meera?"

She turned her head to look at him. Squinting her eyes, she was still unable to see the person. Putting on her glasses, she spoke through tears, "Mr Evans?" her red eyes registering slight surprise.

"Do you want to talk about it? What can I do to help you?"

Meera wiped her nose with a tissue, "Please leave me alone Mr Evans. I just want to be alone," she begged.

Chris nodded, but still stood in his spot. He looked around and decided to bring another comfortable armchair near Meera's.

He dragged it and placed it right besides the sidetable where her phone and glasses were kept.

Meera looked at him in disbelief, "Mr Evans I just want to be left alone. So please! Leave!" she said, her voice breaking.

He looked at her, feeling his own emotions overwhelming, "I am not asking you to talk to me. Just think of me as another guest in this bar. I will not interfere in any way. I promise you I will stay quiet. But if you think I will leave you alone, after everything that you have done for us, for me, after what you have gone through, then you are wrong Meera. I will not leave you."

"Why do you not understand," Meera broke down further, "I need to cry, I need to feel this. This is going to get ugly. You will feel uncomfortable! Please just leave."

Chris considered her for a moment, then nodded and left. He soon returned with a stack of paper napkins and placed them on the table besides her phone and glasses. "This should get you through the next hour," he said.

She looked at him, helpless, then sunk her head in her hands, crying further. Chris settled back in his chair, his body angled towards her. He wished she would let him comfort her, but somewhere, he also understood the importance of going through this alone. God only knows how many nights he had cried himself to sleep, refusing help from his own family, all because he wanted to stay alone.

Slowly, her sobs lessened. She used the new tissue and wiped her face, discarding it in the nearby bin. As she reached for the phone, Chris placed his hand on her mobile before her. "Don't change the song." "But you don't understand the lyrics," she said, her voice still broken. "No, but I like it. Let it play on loop," Chris said kindly. She nodded and took a sip of her drink. It looked a lot like neat whisky. Chris wondered, Why was the bartender repulsed? Was it because she was crying? That asshole.

After a few more sips, she said in a quiet voice, "Our Night."

"Hmm?"

"Our Night. The name of the song is Our Night. It is about how our night is a friend of the moon, but after a long time, she has come alone. She is darkness." Meera took another deep breath, "In the song, the singer wants to switch off all the lights and talk to the darkness. She understands that the darkness is hurtful. It is crazy even, but it is still hers. She just wants to be alone with the darkness."

Meera looked ahead and started crying again. Chris just looked at her, his own eyes brimming with tears now. He knew something had happened after she had left their suite. She didn't look like the type of person who broke down easily. He would give anything to find out who or what had upset her.

He looked at her reflection in the window, his own tears trickling down his cheeks. Finally, he allowed his emotions to take over.

That night, the stars in the moonless sky smiled down at them, as two people, from two different walks of life, cried together over what had happened, completely unaware of what the future had in store for them.

(This is the song if you want to listen ⬇️)

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#chris evans #chris evans fanfic #chris evans fanfiction #chrisevans #chris evans family #chris evans x india #chris evans fandom #india #chris evans x ofc #chris evans x poc!reader #chris evans x plus size reader #chris evans x oc #chris evans x original female character #chris evans imagines #chris evans imagine #scott evans

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willieloomissavescollinsport · 5 years

Text

Hawkes Harbor Review

"Surely, Louisa, you are not suggesting I take Jamie to Disneyland."

After a bestselling author's work is rejected, in a move of irony & karma, Dark Shadows finds ITSELF the subject of plagiarism. And now, brought to you by the letter 'H', here is my review of Hawkes Harbor by S.E. Hinton.

As the legends go, the novel 'Hawkes Harbor' was originally intended to be an entry in publishers HarperCollins' Dark Shadows series. What changes were made to the storyline & characters afterwards are hard to pinpoint, but for all pretense and purposes, I chose to read this book while mentally changing each character or location to its DS counterpart:

Jamie Sommers..........Willie Loomis Kellen Quinn............Jason McGuire Grenville Hawkes...Barnabas Collins Dr. Louisa Kahne...Dr. Julia Hoffman Sophia Marie........................Josette Katie Roddendem........Maggie Evans Richard..................................Roger Lydia.................................Elizabeth Ricky.....................................David Barbara...............................Carolyn Hawkes Harbor.................Collinsport Hawkes Hall......................Old House Terrace View....................Wyndcliffe

This comes in handy mostly because, with the exception of the 3 male leads, not many details are given regarding the other individuals mentioned in passing or who enter the storyline from time to time.

The plot itself more or less follows Willie's storyline early on the show, with some added details & flashback accounts to his time spent with Kellen/Jason, along with a few other changes. For starters, Jamie gets more tail in a chapter of this book than Willie could ever hope to get throughout his entire run on the show. He gets it on with a rich bitch who scratches his back up; with Katie/Maggie, IMMEDIATELY after Grenville/Barnabas kidnaps her; with two girls on a cruise ship, at the same time. Hell, even the book's equivalent of Nurse Jackson climbs into bed with him to give him a pity handjob.

Whereas onscreen, I think Willie only got as far as copping a feel while holding Maggie hostage.

And as I mentioned before, there are rather large sections of the book devoted to Jamie/Willie's backstory, which had previously been unexplored in the show's official canon. The story begins by showing Jamie/Willie, an out of wedlock child with a dying mother, being placed in an orphanage at the age of 7. There, his mother's heirloom crucifix necklace is taken away from him, hinting at his future fascination with shiny trinkets. In his adulthood, he enlists in the Navy & later befriends Kellen/Jason after defeating two Hawaiian men in a brawl.

For the years to follow, Kellen & Jamie primarly travel together on the high seas, makin' cons, makin' scams & fightin' round the world. During the course of their adventures: Jamie is accused of rape by a rich heiress who seduced him; Kellen tells a story where the punchline involves a frozen sausage; and the two are robbed by pirates while a shark attacks Jamie as he dives for a ruby.

After their resources are dried out, the duo end up back in the states in the town of Hawkes Harbor, Delaware/Collinsport, Maine. Which, of course, is where these characters were introduced on Dark Shadows. But since this isn't suppose to be a Dark Shadows novel, some of the details have been mixed around. For starters, instead of Kellen being Lydia/Elizabeth's husband's two-timing friend, HE is her husband. They were married overseas while Lydia/Elizabeth was working as a nurse for the war. After the marriage went sour, Kellen took a buyout to produce a death certificate, vanish & allow her to go back to her family as a widow.

Posing as the brother of Lydia's late husband, Kellen moves into the grand family mansion & collects clothes & money while Jamie stays at a boarding house nearby. There, he befriends one of the workers: Katie Roddendem/Maggie Evans, as well as her little sister Trisha(/Amy, perhaps?) & their mother, Mrs Pivens (who seems to be playing the role of Mrs Johnson, as evidenced by this line: "Well, my landlady, Mrs Pivens, she liked me. Don't ask me why-'cept she had a son around my age, he turned out bad. I guess she wanted to believe guys like us were good, deep down somewhere.") Ricky Hawkins/David also forms a bond with Jamie & later tells him of buried pirate treasures located in the caves of a nearby island, said to be haunted.

With just that information to go on, Jamie foolishly goes a treasure huntin' & unchains a coffin revealing vampire Grenville Hawkes/Barnabas Collins. Grenville, who's sounds more like a chain of motels than a scary vampire, puts Jamie under his power & to work on restoring Hawkes Hall/Old House. Now, it is worth mentioning that some changes were made to Grenville, from the Barnabas we all know & love/hate. Most notably, Jamie describes him as being around the age of 50, with no trying to pretend that the middle aged vampire was 25 when confined in a coffin. In addition, Grenville has had *gasp* MULTIPLE wives! One of which produced an offspring named William, which is perhaps a nod to the our protagonist's original name. Guess William also dodged a bullet in that he wasn't named Bramwell.

Some time after Gren's first wife passes on, he marries a young woman by the name of Sophia Marie/Josette. Soon afterwards, Grenville finds himself turned into one of the living dead. Sophia/Josette is all too anxious to join him in being eternally damned, but unfortunately for her, Bizarro-Barnabas will have none of that & decides chokes a bitch instead. Fast forward a few centuries and Grenville spots Katie/Maggie & makes up his mind that he wants Sophia/Josette to be a bloodsucking creature of the night after all! But here's where it gets WEIRD.

Instead of slowly brainwashing Katie into believing she IS Sophia, he plans to have Sophia's spirit, who just happens to be hanging around Hawkes Hall for no good reason, inhabit her body. I guess just like in 'Ghost', when Patrick Swayze jumps into Whoopi Goldberg or something. So, Gren attacks Katie & leaves her alone in the Hawkes Hall long enough for Jamie to find her, allowing THIS exchange to take place:

"Jamie," she said suddenly. "Make love to me." "W-w-what?" he stammered, drawing back from her, searching her eyes. "Make love to me. Now."

Yep, you've only got mere moments to escape, but why not do the nasty instead? I mean, it's not like an angry jealous killer vampire could walk in at any second or anything! Actually you know what? If I didn't believe it was impossible, I think Willie Loomis himself wrote this book. That's right, after hearing about his parallel time self being a famous writer, he thought to himself 'Well, why can't I do that?' And then he proceeded to write a thinly disguised biography of his life, giving everyone a different name & changing the events to the way he thought they SHOULD have happened!

Oh & here's another kicker, Katie/Maggie claims to be a virgin. Ha! Yeah, I know Joe is always shown sleeping on the couch in the show, but I've figured that was because Sam had a short fuse & a shotgun handy amidst his paintbrushes, just in case someone dared to lay a finger on his daughter. Trust me, if Maggie's a virgin, then Carolyn's in the freakin' convent. So Katie is saying that she wants her first roll in the hay to be with pretty boy Jamie instead of Count Hawkins. Actually I wonder if Grenville is even capable of performing such an act. Usually vampires in popular culture are as dead below the waist as the rest of their bodies, & Barnabas never seemed to be any exception. Sure he was interested in anything under 30 with a vagina who walked within his line of vision. But as a vampire, he never showed an interest in sinking anything except his fangs into a young lady.

But, getting back to our story. Jamie & Katie are engaging in some fluffy coitus. They kiss, they cry, they climax together. Cherubs come down from the heavens & sing. Then Grenny shows up & doesn't seem to show any reaction to the fact that some hard core nookie just took place in that very room. But no matter to that, because Grenville has to deliver some corny dialogue to his sweetie:

"Come, my heart, " the low voice beseeched the air. "Come and join me."

"All right!" (All right! Let's get this party started!) Jamie shouted as he struggled back up. "You go ahead and do this, kill Katie, I can't stop you. I seen people kill before-for money, God, or country, and you with your 'necessity for existence.' I even did it myself once. But don't you call it love! This isn't love!"

After that speech, I half expected Jamie to break out into song, but instead Sophia Marie talks through Katie, forming a ghostly glow over her body. The lovers embrace, kiss, cry, the cherubs come back for an encore & Sophia Marie/Josette basically tells Grenville that although she loves him, they can't really be together like this. A ghost & a vampire together? Might make for a decent mid season replacement sitcom, but doesn't lend itself to being very practical for real life.

So with Katie now useless, Grenville tells Jamie to get rid of her. Maybe he just meant to dump her in the trashcan out back for pickup, but Jamie takes Katie & runs for the hills. And who should see them on their way, but a Sheriff Patterson/Joe Haskell hybrid known as Mitch Morgan. To make matters worse, Katie is Mitch's main squeeze & she's been missing for awhile. Mighty Mitch takes aim & Jamie gets 3 bullets in his back, as opposed to Super-Willie who recieved FIVE & recovered in record time!

From there, Jamie is taken to a criminal insane ward & later transferred to Terrace View/Wyndcliffe under the request of Grenville & Dr. Louisa Kahne/Dr. Julia Hoffman. This is where the majority of the story takes place in the forms of flashbacks & remembrances while a physician named Dr. McDevitt conducts therapy sessions with Jamie. Which is an affective tool for storytelling, but I wouldn't really buy as being able to take place. Think about it. Would Julia really allow anyone to ask Willie questions, taking the risk that he might reveal something? Frankly, I've always imagined Willie as being kept heavily medicated & isolated in his room while at Wyndcliffe.

Oh, & while it's not even brought up until much later in the novel, you should know that, much like on the show, Kellen/Jason became worm food some time before Jamie got shot. Worse yet, instead of Grenville merely using Barnabas's trusted M.O. of strangling someone to death, here Grenville drinks all the blood from Kellen's body. And then orders Jamie to stake his friend to prevent him from rising as a vampire. Adding yet another thing to give Jamie nightmares at night.

After several months of being at Terrace View/Wyndcliffe, in following the storyline of Dark Shadows, Jamie/Willie is released into the care of Grenville & Dr. Louisa Kahne/Dr. Julia Hoffman, against the wishes of Dr. McDevitt. Grenville is magically now 99.9% vampire free but it's still alluded to that he needs shovels for misdeeds, which are never fully explained in detail. Meanwhile, Jamie has become the Boo Radley of Hawkes Harbor, with small children throwing rocks at him. And on top of that, from his ordeal & time spent in the institution, he's become greatly addicted to prescription drugs.

Following Jamie accidentally ODing on his pills, Louisa/Julia finally gets it through her thick wig that Jamie just may have problems & observes he's likely suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Although since this takes place in 1968 & that term will not be conceived until 1973, I guess Louisa took some trips to the future that we didn't know about. She suggests that Grenville should take him someplace to relax while he is gradually reduced from his meds, to which he reacts with this line:

"Surely, Louisa, you are not suggesting I take Jamie to Disneyland."

Oh man, I'd pay good money to see Barnabas & Willie in Disneyland! Can you imagine it? Within the first 24 hours, Willie will have beaten up Goofy & been banned for life from Mr. Toad's Wild Ride while Barnabas has already made plans to kidnap Snow White & turn her into his new Josette!

But unfortunately for us, Louisa/Julia has other plans in mind.

"Richard was saying..." she began. His look warned her he had little interest in what his cousin had to say, but she went on. "The Collins shipping industry needed to look into passenger cruises. They are the wave of the future-You know Roger and his puns."

(That above line is NOT a typo, by the way. For two sentences they let the names 'Collins' & 'Roger' slip through without changing them!)

"No," Grenville said. "No." "Of course he offered to go. But you could investigate for yourself. And it's not unusual for a man of your position and background to travel with a valet."

So, Grenville & Jamie are off to the high seas in a high class cruise ship. Jamie manages to come down off his drug dependency while he spends his vacation having nonstop threesome with 2 babes who hang on him like bark on a tree. Grenville also finds time to cheat on Louisa/Julia score with an older lady by the name of Leslie while on board. This leads to another quotable line:

"So Grenville," Jamie said conversationally, "yours give good head?"

Greetings from Commodore Cruise Line! Wish you were here. Love, Jamie.

Yep, Jamie/Willie & Grenville/Barnabas discussing oral sex. An area most fan fiction writers wouldn't even dare venture towards. But all good things must come to an end, including the boy's pleasure cruise & they return to Hawkes Harbor with Jamie greatly improved & more confident in himself. In time, he becomes a productive member of society, working odd jobs & donating his services to schools & charities.

The book then flashes forward 10 years where Jamie has become Harvey Lacey & lives a content comfortable life with his former captor. That Christmas, Grenville 'Last of the Big Time Spenders' Hawkins gives him a quilt. Jamie gets to enjoy it for exactly one night before a deer crashes into the car while he's driving Grenville home. He dies moments later & meets Kellen/Jason in heaven. Kellen claims that Jamie's act of lighting a candle & saying a prayer, allowed him into a much less fiery accommodation in the afterlife, but personally I think he just had some dirt on God & blackmailed his way through the pearly gates. The two sail off into the sunset of the great beyond. The End.

So that's the book. It has its pros & its cons, but it actually might have been much better if released as originally written, with the characters' names, places & events as we know them still intact. If you are familiar with Dark Shadows, it's impossible not to associate the book with it & become annoyed with some of the changes. While if you're NOT acquainted with the show, you're very likely to read the novel not being completely clear of the characters' personalities or motivations. It's really a no win situation.

In general, I like the way Jamie is written. But I think he's made out to be too much of a Gary Stu in some parts of the book. For one thing, Jamie is written as being primarily well liked by anyone he comes across, whereas this is certainly not the case for Willie. Early on, he insults & gets into fights with nearly anyone he meets. Jamie acts as an older brother towards Ricky & Trisha while Willie is mostly seen just throwing David's ass out of the Old House. The character of Katie is deeply fond of Jamie, going as far to name one of her sons after him. Regarding Maggie & Willie, early on she deeply despises him as he continually comes on to her, even when she makes it perfectly clear that she is not interested. After he is shot & she comes to believe in his innocence, her feeling towards him becomes one of friendship. But it's still more of a commiserative manner rather than romantic as Willie would like to believe. Often her interactions with him come off as if she's dealing with a child or slow minded adult.

And in turn, I think many of the secondary characters seem to have been made less likable, perhaps to make Jamie even more of the hero. The Hawkeses are described in brief as simply a family of rich snobs. Richard/Roger has to be taken to detox clinics, Barbara/Carolyn gets involved in one scandle after another. Granted the Collins themselves were far from perfect, but never near the level of arrogant highbrows as they are presented here as the Hawkeses.

Dr. Louisa Kahne is also written as a very flawed individual. In addition to being extremely controlling towards Jamie, it is mentioned by Dr. McDevitt that Louisa barely has any medical training or knowedge & yet goes around acting as a doctor. And while I'm not gonna defend Julia's treatment of Willie which ranges from small acts of kindness to being a complete bitch, I think it's unfair to quickly write her up as an unqualified quack. Her Doctor Feelgood reputation of passing out sedatives like Halloween candy precedes her, but Julia has been shown treating vampirism & creating an artifical person, & seems able to handle whatever injury or emergency is thrown at her on a daily basis.

But while we're on the subject of the Queen of Barbiturates, I do want to discuss a subject which I thought the book did well in covering. Which is in dealing with Jamie's health & mental state. On Dark Shadows, after Willie is shot enough times to kill a person two times over & regains consciousness from his coma, he is shown as being in a great amount of pain. And furthermore, he appears to have undergone a complete mental breakdown. Showing signs of amnesia (whether genuine or as a protective defense), he seems to have regressed to his state after being attacked by Barnabas, begging for it not to be dark & for no one to hurt him.

When we next see Willie a few months later at Wyncliffe, he claims to be physically strong as ever, but is still showing occasional signs of delusions, bad decisions, as well as sparks of his old mean demeanor that was repressed after being bitten. Miraculously, following his release, his mental state actually seems to improve over time, even while he is seen getting thrown into one dangerous situation after another. This I've always found hard to believe, especially considering Willie's parental caregivers rarely give him a thought of concern at all.

Willie: (After being forced to dig up a corpse & bring it back to the Old House) "You know, every time I touched it I felt sick. When I came back here I couldn't even go to sleep. I put it down here & I went to my room & I just lay there, Barnabas!" Barnabas: "Well, next time Julia will give you a sedative."

Yeah, I don't find it hard to picture Willie becoming dependent on painkillers & tranquilizers with his environment or the health problems that would come from 5 bullets in the back. But by this point, Willie mainly served as a background character, carrying out duties for Barnabas & Julia, with limited insight into his own personal life, or lack thereof. After all, what reason did the writers have to give his character a story arc of his own, when the viewers seemed content with watching Barnabas repeatedly pine on a lost love or mope over his vampire state?

But that's where its the viewer's job to watch, observe, read between the lines & ponder the untapped stories, feelings & adventures for characters who remain a mystery. And for that, despite some of the book's shortcomings, S.E. Hinton has done a respectable job in trying to make the reader better understand the character of Willie Loomis. Or Jamie Sommers, as she chooses to call him. Or if nothing else, I'm at least thankful that the author wanted to give Willie his moment in the spotlight.

#dark shadows #willie loomis #hawkes harbor

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turtle-steverogers · 5 years

Note

Ralbert for #20 please?

hi i asked for these requests like a week ago and then ignored them til now so yeah

anyway this sucks, sorry.

warnings: hospitals, implied suicide attempt, scars mentioned

ship: ralbert

word count: idk, a fair amount

20. ...On a scar

“Pull in there.”

Albert frowned, pressing on the brake briefly and putting on his turn signal.

“Into...that train station?” He asked, turning a questioning eye on Race.

“Yes,” Race was staring pointedly out the front windshield, his eyes flickering over the parking lot wildly. His hands were drawn in close to his body, nimble fingers fiddling anxiously with the buttons on his jacket.

Albert pursed his lips, easing the car into the train station and cruising around the empty parking lot for a moment before pulling into a space.

The train station itself was outdoors and held a strange sort of energy, the usually hectic vibe completely absent in the late hours of the night. It was peaceful and if it weren’t for the events of that afternoon, Albert would have turned on some music and enjoyed the atmosphere.

“I owe you an explanation for earlier,” Race was speaking firmly, as if it had taken every ounce of willpower he possessed to talk.

Albert swallowed, glancing at him, but Race’s gaze never met his. He was ashamed.

“If it’s too much…” Albert began.

Race shook his head, “No, I...I should.”

“Okay,” Albert nodded, “Yeah, what happened back there?”

Race took a deep breath, finally looking at him.

That Afternoon

“I think we need to get you to a hospital,” Albert murmured, kneeling in front of Race, who was sitting against a grimy brick wall, heading hanging low between his knees. Blood was dripping smoothly from his nose and a gash on his temple, where glass could still be seen poking from the wound.

His eyes were screwed shut, pained hums escaping his lips every few seconds. Apparently, picking fights with random assholes in bars wasn’t a good idea and might end up with one getting hit rather hard in the temple with a bottle, several times in a row. Race swore he hadn’t blacked out for a couple seconds, because really, he hadn’t, but Albert wasn’t convinced. Just like he wasn’t convinced that Race didn’t have a concussion.

Race’s state turned from barely conscious to wildly alert in a matter of seconds as his head whipped up at Albert’s words, eyes widening for a moment before scrunching up again. Albert’s eyebrows furrowed, Race’s sudden change in demeanor sending a shocked pang through his chest- as if warning bells were ringing resolutely.

“No,” Race slurred, resting his head against the wall, “M’fine, Albie.”

“You’re bleeding from several places and probably concussed, I wouldn’t call that fine,” Albert reasoned, grabbing Race’s forearms and hoisting him up, much to Race’s dismay, “C’mon, there’s one a few blocks away.”

Race struggled in his grip, pulling away clumsily. He opened his eyes completely, fixing Albert with an unsettling look, fear glistening just beneath the surface.

“No, Al, I don’t wanna,” he whined, taking another step back.

Albert frowned, shaking his head, “Race, it’s alright. I’m sure you’re okay, I just wanna- whoa,” Albert stepped forward to steady Race as he swayed, head lolling for a moment, “Okay, yeah, we’re definitely getting you to a hospital now.”

“Don’t need to,” Race said, “Don’t want to.”

“Well, you don’t have a choice,” Albert said, a certain authority taking over his tone.

Race seemed to weak to fight it any further, and Albert held him upright as he hailed a taxi, knowing they were too far from their own car to walk. Besides, the parking garage they’d parked in was in the opposite direction from the hospital.

After a few minutes, a taxi drove up and helped Race in. Race immediately rested his head against Albert’s shoulder and Albert watched as he covered his ears, no doubt to block out painful noise. He was definitely concussed.

When they arrived at the hospital, Albert tapped Race’s chin, reluctantly rousing him. Race blinked his eyes open and he looked around, confused.

“Where’re we?” He asked as Albert unbuckled him, helping him out of the car. Race’s head lifted and he winced when he took in the bright sign at the head of the hospital doors. Immediately, his grip on Albert’s bicep tightened, “No, no, no. I told you I’m fine,” he rushed out, turning to climb back into the taxi, but whimpering when he discovered it was no longer there.

He turned back to Albert, unadulterated panic in his unfocused eyes, “Please, Albie, don’t make me.”

Albert huffed, “Okay, but- shit,” he swooped forward to catch Race when his knees buckled, “Nope, okay. I’m once again convinced that this is strictly necessary.”

They made it as far as the waiting room before Race tried to run for it again, fighting as fiercely as he could against Albert’s hold around him.

“Race, stop,” Albert hissed, wrangling him into one of the crappy chairs and kneeling in front of him, “You need to- Race?”

Race wasn’t looking at him. Instead, his eyes were transfixed intensely on a spot over Albert’s shoulder. He was shaking violently, breaths coming out short and strangled and for a moment, Albert entertained the prospect of calling it a day and taking Race to urgent care in the morning. But one hurried glance at the abrasion on his head cancelled those thoughts.

“No, no, not again. I don’t wanna do this again, not here.” Race was mumbling hysterically to himself, hands finding their way to his forearms. He gripped them tightly, tears making their way down his cheeks as he began to cry.

“Jesus, what’s gotten into you?” Albert mumbled, lifting a hand to brush away some stray tears, but quickly withdrawing it when Race jerked away from him violently.

“Higgins?” Albert cursed to himself when the nurse who had checked them in called them back. Race was in no state to be looked at right now, but he was getting paler by the second. From pain or panic, Albert didn’t know.

Race looked dazedly from the nurse to Albert, shoulders sagging, “M’gonna throw up,” he mumbled, lurching forward.

“Shit,” Albert bit out, turning to look for a trash can and humming thankfully when the nurse, who had been hovering nearby, handed him a plastic bag.

Albert held it in front of Race, wincing when his sick piled into the bag. He retched for a few moments, sobbing uncontrollably as he did so. Albert forced himself to remain neutral, speaking absent-minded comforts to Race as he finished.

“Let’s get him back,” The nurse said, making to help Race up.

Race pulled back, ignoring the nurse and looking at Albert, “Don’t make me,” he gasped, “Please, don’t make me.”

Albert and the nurse exchanged confused glances, a silent question between them.

Albert shrugged, turning back to Race, “Why? Talk me through it, love.”

Race shook his head, “I- no. No, just- don’t.”

Albert sighed, refusing to lose this battle, “It’ll be super quick. In and out, right?”

The nurse nodded, “We just need to make sure there’s no serious damage.”

Race curled further in on himself, “Can we do it out here?” He asked, weakly, “don’t wanna go back.”

The nurse considered for a moment, “Alright.”

Present

“When I was in...tenth grade? Yeah. When I was in tenth grade, I, uh, fuck,” Race looked to the side, clenching his jaw. He open and closed his mouth a few times before swearing and turning his body to face Albert. He kept his eyes down as he tucked one leg underneath him and held out his left arm, palm facing upwards. He seemed to steel himself for a moment before sucking in a breath and slowly inching his shirt up.

Albert’s eyes traveled from Race’s face to his arm and he swallowed, the blood draining from his face. Starting at his wrist and traveling to the middle of Race’s forearm was a long, vertical white line. The skin was raised, and although the scar itself had faded, the outline was stark and jarring against Race’s smooth skin. Oh.

Race heaved in a breath, “It didn’t work, obviously,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. Albert watched him intently, waiting for him to continue, “And when it didn’t, of course I had to go to the ER…” he trailed off, lost in thought, “Worst night of my life. Ever. Swore to myself as they stitched me up that I’d never fucking go back.”

“Race I…” Albert felt numb, scared, unsure of what to do. In place of words, he reached down and carefully lifted Race’s arm, pressing his lips to the scar.

Race held his breath as Albert sat back up, “I’m so sorry you went through something like that and I’m sorry that I put you back there today.”

Race seemed as a loss for words, glistening eyes moving from his arm to Albert. Albert’s fingers skimmed down to clasp their hands together tightly.

“Today was scary for you, I know,” he said, gently, “But I promise to keep you safe,” he squeezed their hands together, “and if there’s anything I can keep, it’s my word, right?”

Race nodded, squeezing back, “Right.”

mmm yeah my writing ain’t the best in this lol

i’ll try and get the other requests that i abandoned done soon

thanks for reading, chiefs

hmu to be added to my tag

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newyorktheater · 5 years

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Three years after he spoofed “Hamilton” in “Spamilton” (with “I am not throwing away my shot” becoming “I am not gonna let Broadway rot,”) Gerard Alessandrini paints Lin-Manuel Miranda less heroically in “Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation,” the 26th edition of the hit-or-miss, but must-see, satirical revue.

Miranda (portrayed by Chris Collins-Pisano in a Hamilton costume) duets with Billy Porter (Immanuel Houston in a red dress) with “Ev’rything’s Coming Up Roses” from Gypsy retitled “Ev’rything Now Is Inclusive,” and given new lyrics:

Billy: Linny, ev’ryone now can dress up in their mama’s clothes!

Lin-Manuel: Ev’ryone now can start rapping when they compose!

Billy: Ev’ryone now has a chance to play Mama Rose

Both: Ev’rything now is inclusive

For me….. And for me!

I detect a stinging rebuke in that song – a comment on how self-serving some of the most admired socially conscious artists can be. Who else could get away with such criticism besides Alessandrini, who for nearly 40 years has been delivering sometimes lethal barbs gift-wrapped with humor by a small ensemble of talented entertainers on a cabaret stage.

If “Forbidden Broadway” is uneven, so is Broadway. Indeed, as in past editions, the Next Generation at the Triad offers something of a snapshot of the current state of The Great White Way — where, as Houston sings in the opening number, “the white is gray and the great is only okay.”

It is telling that some of the best numbers in this Forbidden Broadway aren’t about theater at all, but theater-adjacent movies and TV shows — “Fosse/Verdon” on FX and the movie “Judy,” both of which feature stand-out cast member Jenny Lee Stern. Stern also portrays Mary Poppins (or more precisely Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins) in a version of the song “The Place Where Lost things Go” from the movie Mary Poppins Returns, re-titled “Where the Lost Shows Go” – which manages to puncture not just Broadway flops ranging from Tarzan to Pretty Woman, but also cruise ship shows and the city of Buffalo.

A couple of numbers lampoon Broadway’s reliance on old movies for new shows. In “It’s Got To Be A Musical,” Collins-Pisano as Beetlejuice says:

You know, there are three things certain in life: Death, taxes aaaannnnd… Sooner or later most every old movie has got to be a musical.” Following Beetlejuice are parodies of Tootsie (“Toot, toot, tootsie you’re hexed/ Mrs Doubtfire’s next”) and Frozen (to the tune of Let It Go, Aline Mayagoitia sings:

Overblown, overblown Is imagination dead? Overdone, under fun kids would rather be home in bed…

Should you see this show?

Rip up your ticket and let it go

Forbidden Broadway reserves its greatest venom for the vulgarity of movie-to-musical Moulin Rouge, renaming it Moulin Rude, and having Mayagoitia as Karen Olivo singing “Diamonds out my wazoo.”

The theater’s tilt towards A Great Woke Way is another current trend that Forbidden Broadway spoofs, not just in that Miranda/Porter duet but in a more sustained effort in “Woke-lahoma!”

Oh! What a mis’rable mornin’

Oh! What a terrible day i got a sneaky suspicion Jud Fry is possibly gay

The pleasures of Forbidden Broadway The Next Generation aren’t limited to the cleverness and savvy of Alessandrini’s lyrics, which often scan perfectly with the familiar melody onto which they are grafted. It is also an entertainment because of the physical mimicry, sometimes so spot-on that it’s hilarious. The only time I laughed out loud at the new Forbidden Broadway was during the spoof of “The Ferryman,” especially the dance scene and the way they handle the baby doll. I suppose you would have had to have seen “The Ferryman” to appreciate what the Forbidden cast does (which is probably true of much of the humor in the revue.)

The unsung heroes of the Forbidden franchise are costume designer Dustin Cross and wig designer Conor Donnelly, but the cast members’ facility with the physical mimicry can make a skit… or break it: The “Forbidden Hadestown” number counts as a missed opportunity, in part because Houston fails to evoke De Shield’s distinctive physicality, his silky smooth jazz slide.

The cast members vocal talents can salvage an otherwise relatively lackluster number, such as the skit where three divas (a staple of Forbidden shows) lament how few roles are available for them nowadays; this allows Stern as Bette Midler, Mayagoitia as Bernadette Peters and especially Houston as Jennifer Holiday to belt it out.

That is one of several numbers looking at old Broadway that are unmistakably affectionate, veering on occasion almost into sentiment, and among the most satisfying. These include Harold Prince as the Starkeeper giving the graduation speech from Carousel.

It might just be a coincidence that the ones looking at new Broadway, featuring the “next generation” – particularly Harry Potter and Dear Evan Hansen – are the weakest. These tend to star Joshua Turchin, who has gotten much ink lately as a musical theater wunderkind, “singer, actor, dancer, musician, accompanist, music director, composer, writer,” who got raves for his musical at the Rave Festival about the lives and loves of showbiz preadolescents, entitled The Perfect Fit. The kid is 12 years old. He may not be the perfect fit for “Forbidden Broadway; The Next Generation” or maybe Alessandrini simply doesn’t know yet what to make of the next generation of musical theater and musical theater artists.But Turchin feels certain to be among those who will dominate American musical theater in the 21st century, and he is almost as certain to wind up spoofed in Forbidden Broadway: Deep Space Nine or Forbidden Broadway: Discovery.

Click on any photograph by Carol Rosegg to see it enlarged.

Forbidden Broadway The Next Generation Triad Theater Created, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini; Choreography by Gerry McIntyre. Costume design by Dustin Cross, sig design by Conor Connelly, set and poster design by Glenn Bassett. Fred Barton at the piano Cast: Joshua Turchin,Aline Mayagoitia, Chris Collins-Piasano, Immanuel Houston,Jenny Lee Stern Running time: 80 minutes with no intermission Tickets: $75-$99 plus 2-beverage minimum per person. Forbidden Broadway The Next Generation is scheduled through January 5, 2020

Forbidden Broadway The Next Generation Review. Broadway Barbs Both Lethal and Loving Three years after he spoofed “Hamilton” in “Spamilton” (with “I am not throwing away my shot” becoming “I am not gonna let Broadway rot,”) Gerard Alessandrini paints Lin-Manuel Miranda less heroically in “Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation,” the 26th edition of the hit-or-miss, but must-see, satirical revue.

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