#(when i said the past; i do mean when neil inverted to go back for the sator missions) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yesttoheaven · 3 years

Text

AMOR FATI

pairing – neil x female!reader

wc – 3.8k

warnings – mention of death, self-blame, anxious/intrusive thoughts, questioning reality, refusal of help, guns, stalking, but I swear there's a light at the end of the tunnel haha

a/n – The last time I suffered so hard for the death of a character, was when Newt died (Maze Runner) and now Neil has captured all my attention and his death has hit me in the same way 😩 I needed a happy ending so I decided to write this!

The Eternal Return and Amor Fati mentioned in this fic are one of the main ideas of Nietzsche's philosophy.

English is not my first language. I am getting help from google translator and he is not always a good ally, so I apologize for any typos or grammar errors.

Y/N – your name

She approached the painting hanging on the wall, watching the details closely. Ouroboros. A serpent eating its own tail. Months ago, when Y/N was visiting an antique store in Mumbai, she saw that same symbol. The owner of the establishment approached when she realized her interest in the piece and explained that Ouroboros represents the ideas of movement, continuity and, in consequence, Eternal Return. A concept that the universe and all existence and energy has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a self-similar form an infinite number of times across infinite time or space.

"Max finally fell asleep." Kat returned to the living room, attracting Y/N's attention.

She walked away from the painting, taking back her seat on the sofa and asked:

"How is he after everything that happened?"

For a moment, Kat looked at the painting on the wall and then at the friend she won in the midst of confusion over the Algorithm. At that time, despite being fighting on the front lines to prevent a possible Third World War, Y/N seems complete. Happy. Today that happiness no longer exists in her eyes.

Letting out a sigh, the woman sat next to her, answering:

"Sator was never a present father. He was always busy... now i can see the kind of work he was involved in. Anyway, Max just got used to his absence."

"It's notable that he's happier at your side. When we first met Max was a bit of an introvert, but today he is radiant." Y/N confessed, showing a small smile and the blonde shook her head, agreeing with her words. "How's everything?"

"Perfectly well. It's weird sometimes... After years of being stuck in a failed relationship, freedom is good."

"It seems like life is good for one of us." The woman let out a bitter laugh, putting the latest events on a scale, but she didn’t want her friend to think she wasn’t happy for her. She really was. "I'm sorry, I just..." The words remain stuck in her throat, while she covers her face with her hands. In addition to physical and mental fatigue, Y/N tried to hide her grief.

Kat touched her shoulder, showing that she was here.

"I know you're hurt, but it's been three months and you never talked about what happened that day... This is not good for you."

"What do I have to say, Kat? The guy I fell in love with was a fucking time traveler! And now he's dead and I don't know what to do. My life just... stopped without him."

"I can imagine how difficult it's for you to cross that line without Neil at your side, but giving up is not an option. Grief is consuming you little by little and you are just accepting it..."

"We are trained to contain our emotions and deal with death in the best possible way. It used to be easy for me, but then he came and turned my life upside down." Y/N put her hands on her knees and stood up, walking without an exact destination. "Neil was always one step ahead of us all..." She stepped forward too and found the painting again, but her mind was lost in thoughts about him. Neil knew her so well. And he had a charming smile, but completely arrogant at the same time. "I was sent to Mumbai to help two agents and when I arrived at Priya's penthouse that night, there he was. When he saw me, that was the first and only time that he let his guard down. I'll never forget how he looked at me, it was one of those breathtaking moments... Completely cliché, I know."

On the sofa, Kat was impressed. When Y/N turned towards her, there was a bright smile on her face. The simple memory brought her a breath of happiness and Kat enjoyed seeing her friend like that, but unfortunately that moment did not last long. Memories aren't enough. Neil is dead and nothing can change that.

"I miss him so much, Kat." The smile disappeared as soon as tears appeared in her eyes, cascading down her cheeks.

"My dear..." Worried about her, the woman got up quickly and approached Y/N, wrapping her in a tight hug. "I'm really sorry."

"I spent the last three months locked up in my a-apartment because I thought I could handle this situation on my own. At times I b-believed it was just a fever dream... Maybe I was losing my mind, but this is proof that everything was real." Through tears blurring her vision, she looked at the watch on her wrist, remembering that night.

Y/N was in a private cabin on the ship. The others were with Ives and Wheeler, going over the mission in search of any loose ends. A standard procedure. Y/N knew she should be with them, but she needed a moment alone to organize her thoughts. And that moment is now. The past few weeks had been a real mess. The inversion was difficult to explain and mainly to understand. She was used to field missions, but being an inverted soldier on the battlefield was not in her plans. Either way, she agreed to be a part of it and running away with biased assumptions was not going to help. Humanity depends on them.

Three knocking on the door caught Y/N's attention, but she remained silent, waiting for the person to give up and leave, but when it didn't, she just murmured 'Come in'.

"So, here you are." The man used a surprised tone of voice and closed the door behind him. "What will our superior think when he learns that you are running away from the briefing?"

She let out a laugh before answering in the same mood:

"Don't worry, I know this mission like the back of my hand. I just needed a moment."

"There's something wrong? Are you ok?" Neil spilled the questions quickly, visibly concerned for her.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Neil." Y/N smiled at him, but looked away just seconds later, confessing: "Maybe I'm a little surprised by the situation. I have spent years dealing with terrorists, but the inversion is really not my point."

"I'm not good with advice, but someone once said to me: Don't try to understand. Certain things in the world do not need an explanation."

"It's wise advice, but I'm a methodical person. Logic has always been my ally in missions."

"A methodical person, huh?" He asked with an arrogant smile playing on his lips and she just rolled her eyes. "I know how worried you were when Sator shot Kat, but we are using the inversion to save the world and you're one of the most brilliant agents I have ever seen. Everything will be fine."

"Are you praising me?"

"What's that? Can't I praise my partner's talent?" Neil pulled up a chair to sit across from her, crossing his arms.

"In that case, thank you. Remind me to put this on my resume." Those words made him laugh and that sound could easily be compared to music in her ears.

Touching her knee, Neil added:

"We are very confident with the mission. You don't need to worry."

"Are you sure?"

"I cannot say that unforeseen events do not happen, but we are prepared for that." Y/N knew he was right, but this mission is the biggest one so far. It's not about saving a country. It's about saving the entire world. This was arousing insecurities in her and it was like walking in a minefield. Ironically, she was familiar with this, but not in such catastrophic proportions. "I want you to have this." The man took his watch off his wrist and handed it to her.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" The question came out as a whisper from between her lips.

It didn't make sense. Why does everything in this conversation look like a farewell?

"We will be on opposite sides tomorrow, but i want you to know... I will always be with you, Y/N."

"I saw the way he looked at you... That's how I used to look at Sator before he became a monster in my life." Kat started, running a hand through Y/N's hair. "When I was lying on that stretcher and partially drugged with the medicines, I saw him beside you... watching you sleep. There was so much love in his eyes. Love for a lifetime, Y/N. So don't do this to yourself. The way he left hurt us all, but there was nothing you or any other agent could do to change what happened at Stalask-12. Neil saved the world. This gave us a second chance. You cannot give up now. This organization needs you. And keeping your mind busy at that moment is the first step towards a fresh start."

"N-No, I can't..." She broke the hug, shaking her head in denial. "I left the organization."

"What? Don't you work for Tenet anymore? But when we first met you told me that you can't imagine working in another area... And that this is your life's work."

"Being an agent is my life's work. I was in Yemen when Tenet found me and assigned me to this mission. My only job is to make this world a less hostile place, but the motto of this organization is not what I believe, Kat. What's happened's happened. Really? It doesn't work for me." Y/N ended the sentence with drops of anger in her voice and Kat did not say a single word.

Through the newspapers, Max's mother followed what was happening in Yemen over the years – a real endless war – and knowing that Y/N was in the middle of it, makes the situation unquestionable. People died in front of her eyes. Friends of the corporation. And then some time later, Tenet arrived with a fresh start, but in the end everything remained the same. She lost Neil. It is as if her life's work never had a happy ending because the world will never stop being a hostile place.

"He knows?" It was easy for Y/N to identify who she was talking about. The Protagonist. Or just TP.

"Here's another problem. I worked with him and indirectly worked for him at the same time! God, that man created this organization! And his name remains a mystery to us all!" She pinched the tip of her nose, feeling frustrated with all the secrets that haunt this organization. "And answering your question, yes, he knows, but he did not argue about it. I was a complete mess and he was not doing very well either... He stayed in my apartment for the first month, probably to make sure I didn't do anything stupid." And Y/N would be forever grateful for that. She likes him. Just as friends, of course. TP was a reserved man, but it was he who held her when everything was falling apart. "But we've had a fight. I blamed him for what happened at Stalask-12 and since then we haven't spoken anymore."

It was easy to see that they carried more pain than they could actually bear. Y/N lost her great love and the man lost his best friend. The situation just turned into a conflict between them and that was the result.

Realizing the sadness reflected in Y/N's eyes, Kat decided to change the subject of the conversation. Keeping that thought, she smiled and pointed to the painting on the wall. Maybe that could help.

"You seemed interested in this one."

"Oh yes, in my spare time I am a lover of art and its meanings. It is really attractive the way Ouroboros is connected to the Eternal Return..."

"And Amor Fati too." Kat completed, piquing Y/N's curiosity. This part was new to her. "It's impossible to affirm the Eternal Return without loving life. We need to learn that things happen as they do. Sometimes seemingly good. Sometimes seemingly bad. We don’t always get it our way... Unless we choose that whatever way it is, is our way. When we choose to Amor Fati, to love everything that happens, to love our fate, then we will always get it our way. Because the way it is, is the way it is. Unchangable. And therefore it must be good, even if it sucks."

These words touched Y/N's heart. This was a contradiction to what she is experiencing right now. Love your fate. She would like to understand and accept what happened, she really wanted, but why is it so difficult to move on?

Because Neil is dead.

That was the only explanation for her. The end of a relationship would be more acceptable. If he were alive, things would be completely different now. However, grief is overwhelming. How could she just accept what happened?

"I... I gotta go." That was all she managed to say before picking up her bag and leave the penthouse, ignoring Kat's protests.

When the elevator doors closed, an exhausted sigh left her mouth and the instant she saw her reflection in the mirror, Y/N wanted to cry again. After three months alone, she thought visiting her friend would be a good idea. Kat was willing to help, but the problem was that Y/N is not allowing herself to be helped. As soon as the doors opened, she left the metal box and found the hotel lobby partially empty. Her watch showed it was 3:13 AM, this explains the absence of people on the street as well. In front of her car, she searched the bag for the key and coincidentally her cell phone started to vibrate. Probably the text messages were from Kat, but confusion hit Y/N the instant she looked at the identifier and saw that the messages did not belong to any of her contacts.

Stay away from the car

They put a bomb

I'm on my way

Her first reaction was to take a few steps back and look around, trying to understand what’s going on and find the person responsible for these texts, but Y/N was alone in the dark street. When she thought it might be an unnecessary prank, a black SUV approached at high speed. The car stopped just a few meters away from where she was, but that was enough to make her body freeze.

"Y/N, come on!" The man exclaimed, the urgency in his voice would have made her run immediately, but she didn't move. Her feet had frozen on the floor. This cannot be real. "Come on, get in the car! We don't have much time!" He tried again, it was possible to hear the sound of the other cars approaching.

Y/N watched in slow motion the moment he left the car and ran towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"How is this possible?" She asked in a whisper, completely lost in his blue eyes.

"It's good to see you too." Neil admitted, feeling his heart race. She looked so fragile in his arms. Very different from the last time he saw her. "We have to go." He accompanied her to the car and as soon as Y/N took the passenger seat, he returned to his seat.

For her this moment was like a fever dream, so she just looked down and started counting her fingers. One, two, three, four, five... Neil noticed, but said nothing, just kept driving. The cars were fast approaching, but he would do everything possible and impossible to get Y/N away from these people.

"Give me your cell phone." He looked at her for a brief moment, but when Y/N didn’t react, he wasn't sure if she heard it, so he just took the phone from her hand and threw it out the window. That was enough to get her out of the numbness:

"What the fuck, Neil?!"

Despite the adrenaline rushing through his body, the man laughed.

"If I found you because of your cell phone, they can too." After that, he crossed the red light and made a risky turn, trying to end this chase. "Before you ask, no, this is not a dream. Unfortunately this is very real..." Neil didn't like what he saw when he adjusted the rearview mirror. "And now they are getting ready to shoot us."

That observation put Y/N on alert and she looked back, seeing a man with an AKS-74U and another with a Beretta M12.

"If you knew it wasn't a dream, why didn't you bring an armored car?" She ran her tongue between her lips, smiling at the man beside her. Neil tried to argue, but she just took off her seat belt and picked up the Glock 19 stuck in the vest he was wearing.

Y/N crawled out of the car and sat at the window opening. This encouraged the men in the two cars to start shooting, trying desperately to hit her. Neil shouted something that she couldn't understand and then she felt one of his hands on her thigh, giving her stability to continue with the plan. With her arm resting on the roof of the vehicle, Y/N aimed the gun at the car that was closest to them. Her intention was not to start a firefight in the middle of one of the main avenues in the city, but she had no other option. Holding her breath, she fired the first shot and the bullet hit the tire, taking the car out of circulation. Y/N celebrated while preparing for the second car, but dealing with this one was not an easy task. Now they were in a tunnel and, consequently, losing speed because of the other cars that came along the way. Neil left two pats on her leg, indicating that she had better get back in the car and that is what she did. Screams, honks and gunshots echoed through the tunnel, turning the place into a war zone. Whoever these men were, Y/N knew they weren't going to give up.

Tired of playing cat and mouse, she went to the back seat, getting on her knees. Through the broken glass above the trunk, Y/N adjusted the aim of her gun, ignoring the sniper and focusing on the driver. With another accurate shot, the bullet hit the man's chest and he lost control of the vehicle. The car overturned for a while, streaking the asphalt, but no other car was involved in the accident. Y/N sighed in relief and looked for another possible threat, just checking, but when she realized that the area was clean, she returned to the passenger seat, leaving the gun on the dashboard in front of her.

"Next time I'm going to get an armored car." Neil comments, stepping on the gas. "Nice shot, by the way."

"Anytime." Y/N smiled, trying to control her breathing.

With the adrenaline disappearing from her body, it was hard for her to believe that this was really happening. For many nights she cried, wondering what it would be like if Neil just came back to her, but now she was afraid to wake up and realize that it was just another vivid dream.

The sun was rising when they arrived in a shed away from the city. Seen from the outside, the place was a little scary, but the interior wasn't that bad. There was some equipment like trackers, walkie-talkie, bulletproof vests, weapons, ammunition; a table with a mess of papers and on the other side two beds and something that Y/N supposed to be a private bathroom.

"Where we are?"

We. That simple word echoed in her mind. Y/N thought that "we" didn't exist anymore.

"For now in a safe place. It's dangerous for you out there." He answered the question and took a bottle of water, handing it to her after taking a generous sip.

"Who are these people, Neil?" She wanted answers, lots of answers, and that frustrated the british spy because for the first time he didn't know what could happen.

Neil had a mission and that mission ended with him dying in Stalask-12, but after what TP did, everything changed.

"We have a name..." He wanted to say more, he wanted to reassure her, but that was all he had at the moment.

Y/N drank some water and left the bottle on the table, looking at some reports and photos. All photos were of the same man.

Lenard Vaher

"But apparently they don't just want you..."

It took a few seconds and when the realization hit Y/N, concern appeared on her face.

No, not him.

"Where's TP? He's safe, right?"

"He was going to see you when Lenard's men kidnapped him. This happened three weeks ago." And considering the anger in Neil's voice, finding TP was proving an almost impossible task, but in the midst of so much concern, one point attracted Y/N's attention.

"You said he was going to see me..."

"There was something he needed to tell you." Neil sighed, resting his hands on the table. A few strands of blond hair fell over his forehead, but he quickly shook his head back, as he always did. "He returned to Stalask-12, Y/N."

After that statement, the only sound that could be heard was Neil's footsteps closing the distance between them and the first thing she did was put her hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. Neil smiled. And that was not one of his famous smiles. That was a shy smile. His heart was beating like a drum and it was all because of her. Loving Y/N was something so special and pure, that Neil accepted his fate without a second thought. Saving the world, he was giving her a second chance to live, but now he is the one who received a second chance.

"I missed you every day." Before she could begin to consider the meaning behind his words, he settled his mouth upon hers, robbing her of thought.

She closed her eyes and melted against him, flattening her hands on his arms. Neil caught her bottom lip in his teeth, nibbling and licking at it until she thought she might perish from the intensity of the feeling. She whimpered at the sensation, and he rewarded the sound by deepening the kiss, giving her everything she desired. His tongue stroked hers, slow and insistent. A lush, decadent pleasure unfolded within them, snaking through their veins as though it had lain coiled in anticipation for years.

Just waiting for this moment.

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a/n – really hope you enjoy it and thank you soooo much for reading ;)

#neil tenet x reader #neil x reader #neil tenet #neil #robert pattinson #robert pattinson x reader #robert pattinson imagine #tenet fanfic #tenet imagine #ives tenet #tenet #neil tenet one shot #neil tenet imagine #robert pattinson one shot #neil tenet x y/n #x y/n #amor fati #eternal return

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whats-rambled-rambled · 3 years

Text

Smoke & Mirrors - part 3

Neil x Reader

Chapter 3: You know me too well

(see chapter 2, 1)

summary: The mission. And some blowing off steam after that.

warnings: alcohol mention, some violence, language and other explicit things, 18+ and I MEAN IT EVEN MORE THAN BEFORE

author’s note: I need to thank @vaneilla for planting the karaoke scene into my head. I found her choice of song absolutely glorious, and it evolved into... oh, see for yourselves.

As for everything else - I don’t even know.

4k words, bloody hell.

Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think, please?

___

“Thanks for nothing, Wheeler.”

She looked up from her tablet only to see a completely resigned Ives faceplanting on the couch in front of her. As she raised a brow, her glance drifted to The Protagonist pacing back and forth next to the window.

When TP noticed the question in Wheeler’s eyes, he sighed. She realized that Ives must have filled him in already.

As if he could read her thoughts, the boss said, “Apparently, they’ve been at each other’s throats all day”

“You’re both damn lucky you don’t have to deal with their bullshit out there,” groaned Ives into the pillows.

Wheeler shook her head and a corner of her mouth curled into a knowing smile.

“A little patience, guys. It's all going according to plan."

Ives muffled huff was enough of a comment, but TP stopped his pacing and shot her a confused look.

"How so?"

Wheeler bit her lip. It took her one minute around them in the canteen to guess what had happened. But if that somehow wasn’t obvious to her colleagues, she was in no place to share the information.

Of course, for a second she was tempted to say “oh, they fucked”, just to watch Ives’ and TP’s reaction, but she knew better than to do so. Moreover, she had a weird feeling that those two morons would start being weird around them, and that wouldn’t help in the slightest.

“Trust me, they are close to figuring it out. And then-...”

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

You rushed to the next cover, sending a round into a merc running in your direction. As you slid behind a crate and started reloading your rifle, the rest of the squad slowly made their way through the abandoned apartment complex. How all those mercenary groups kept getting their hands on inverted materials was beyond you, but as the boss was trying to figure it out, it was up to the ground teams to secure the cargo.

"What's with the silent treatment today?" Neil’s voice rang in your earpiece.

Your eyes quickly located him at the other side of the corridor. Even from a distance, you could see his raised brow as he glanced at you right before heading into the next room.

"I'm focused on the mission,” you scoffed, checking out on the team before moving further ahead. “You should try that one day."

As soon as you entered a new location, a bullet whizzed past you and your reflexes kicked in. A quick shot and you spun on your heel, hiding behind a pillar.

Meanwhile, Neil glued his back to the wall. As another merc walked past him, he disarmed them in one swift move, tossing the gun away.

"Nah, I’m good,” he said casually. You watched him as he ducked under a fist flying at his face and threw a kidney punch himself. “Multitasking."

You snorted, quite amused, jumping out of your cover to down two more men coming in. You caught Ives’ murderous glare as he moved past you, motioning you to keep up the pace. Nodding, you followed him into a staircase.

"I must admit, not hearing your voice almost made me forget how annoying you are,” you huffed through comms to Neil. Ives shot the merc waiting for you around the corner and you moved up. “And as I don't believe you can actually stop being annoying,” you continued, taking a position at the door, “but how about you don't talk to me ever again instead?"

You heard footsteps behind you and as you looked over your shoulder, you saw Neil standing right there with his pistol cocked in his gloved hands. He leaned in, a smug grin plastered on his face.

"And lose that spiteful edge to sex we have going there?" he teased quietly and chuckled as your eyes widened at the audacity.

Wishing you could just shoot him in return, you turned away and entered the corridor. Ives waited for you at the door to another unfinished apartment and as soon as you reached him, he blasted through it, while Neil and his team took the door at the other side of the hall.

"We, and I cannot stress this enough, do not have anything going there, blondie," you uttered through gritted teeth, sweeping through the rooms.

Sharp laughter resonated in your earpiece.

"Sure sounds like someone needs round two, though."

Your mind involuntarily wandered back to the events of that late evening in the locker room. Neither of you has mentioned it for the last couple of days, and you kinda hoped it would stay that way. Not that you could ever erase it from your memory. And the worst part was, there were moments you were no longer sure you would ever want to.

A movement in the corner of your eye.

That confusion might keep you up at night, but with daylight, you came back to your senses, and a little remark was not enough to cloud your lightning reflexes while you held a gun. A shot echoed through the room and another merc dropped to the ground.

"In your dreams," you scoffed on your way back to the corridor.

"Funny you should say that…"

You noticed Neil walking into the line of fire in the last second.

“Watch out!” you shouted, grabbing him by the vest and pulling him back inside the apartment. You shoved him against the wall and pressed your forearm to his chest to keep him in place as the round meant for him cut through the now empty hallway. While the rest of the team returned fire and pushed forward, you caught a glimpse of fear in the blue eyes just before Neil managed to compose himself. The corner of his lips twitched into a nervous version of his usual half-smile.

For fuck’s sake...

“Well, this brings back fond memories,” he panted, raising an eyebrow.

You flashed your teeth and pressed him to the wall even harder.

“Shut up and focus, goddamnit, or I swear I will let you walk straight into the next rain of bullets,” you fumed.

Your serious glare made Neil gulp and nod slowly. You took a step back as you exhaled shakily.

Readjusting the rifle’s strap, you shook off any remains of panic from your system. Neil watched you with an indecipherable expression on his face as he reloaded his pistol. You met his eyes, just to make sure he was good to go. Finding there what you were looking for, you smacked his arm lightly and ran towards the sounds of combat.

You joined your squad, focusing on providing support as you closed in on the final location. Neil rushed to the front of the action, and even from afar you could see his moves got more vicious, every blow and shot landing now with deadly precision. For a second you wondered what exactly got triggered inside of him back there.

Whatever that was though, it wasn’t enough to hold his tongue for too long.

"Hey, at least now you had a chance to slam me against a wall."

You rolled your eyes and sighed dramatically, already regretting saving his infuriating ass.

“You know, I daydream about strangling you more and more often every day.”

A few shots later, the all-clear sounded through the earpiece. You moved to secure the exit as Ives checked the contents of the crates in the back of the room.

Neil took a position right next to you, eyeing you curiously.

“Is it a threat or a promise?”

Seeing the familiar roguish sparks sent your blood boiling.

You narrowed your eyes, letting a sly grin on your face.

“Do you really wanna find out?”

“You two either kill or fuck each other already,” huffed Ives, walking by you with the most done expression you’d seen on him in years. “Whatever you decide, please keep it off comms, eh?”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, trying not to blush furiously. Neil’s failed attempt at stifling an amused giggle wasn’t helping in the slightest.

As you finally looked back at the bane of your existence, he tilted his head, biting his lip before speaking up again, and somehow you knew exactly what he was about to say.

“I’m up for whatever.”

You groaned.

...yep, that was it.

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

One of the teams’ unwinding rituals included going to the nearby pub for drinks and karaoke. You weren’t the biggest fan of singing in public yourself and no amount of alcohol could change that, but you never skipped the opportunity of watching your squadmates getting shitfaced and pouring their hearts out through the mic. That night was no different, and even though you were taking it easy with drinking, the rest of the crew was already deep in the party mood.

You watched Wheeler singing Black Velvet from your spot at the counter. You used to spend much more time together, but she’d got designated to leading inverted teams and you got stuck at Ives’ squad. Not that you were complaining.

You always had good banter with him, and even the unfortunate beginning of your relationship wasn’t enough to change that. You ended up being good friends and you knew he always had your back no matter what. Even when he was absolutely tired of your bullshit.

You cringed at the memory of his comment earlier that day.

And because the universe wasn’t done with tormenting you just yet, you felt Neil’s presence next to you. You turned your head and glanced at him, ready to meet his aggravating stare. To your surprise, you found him standing there with his eyes fixed on his drink instead, evidently having an internal battle with himself.

Neil noticed your puzzled expression and took a big sip from the glass before looking at you. A sheepish smile on his lips was something new, and it only made you even more confused.

“Hey,” he said, raking the fingers through his hair. “Thank you. For earlier.”

“Don’t mention it,” you huffed, frowning slightly.

“It’s nice to know you have my back, just in case.”

You were annoyed that he was making such a big deal out of it. But there was something in the blue eyes that softened your gaze and you gave Neil a reassuring smile.

“Of course,” you said and cleared your throat. “Besides,“ - a corner of your lips twitched - “I couldn’t let you get killed in such a stupid way right under my nose, I wouldn’t want it to taint my next eval’.”

“Sure,” he shrugged. “No other reason?”

“Like what?”

You regretted asking the question as soon as it left your mouth. Because of course, Neil’s eyes lit up in response and he smirked.

“You would miss me.”

"Ah, there it is," you snorted, fighting the urge to punch him. "For a moment I was scared I was starting to like you, thanks."

He chuckled. “Oh no, we wouldn't want that now, would we," he teased, leaning your way with a roguish smile.

You clenched your jaw, trying to ignore the heart fluttering in your chest.

Neil hummed and downed his drink. A mischievous spark in his eyes suddenly made you nervous.

“What now?” you asked, dreading the answer already.

Neil’s expression was nothing but innocent.

“I believe it’s my turn.”

You watched him make his way to the mic. Letting out a deep sigh, you shook your head.

That man was going to be the death of you one day.

You finished your drink and joined the rest of the team in the booth right in front of the makeshift scene. As soon as you sat down, a familiar song started and your widened eyes darted at Neil, who was just casually adjusting the rolled-up sleeves of his striped shirt.

...it must have been a mistake.

His wicked grin as he met your horrified gaze was enough to tell you he knew exactly what he was doing.

He started singing with no hesitation, smiling to himself.

Under the lovers sky

Gonna be with you

And no one's gonna be around

Neil’s eyes fixed on you and he raised a brow. A small incoherent noise escaped your mouth, luckily drowning in your squad’s encouraging whooping.

If you think that you won't fall

Well just wait until

'Til the sun goes down

You met Wheeler’s amused look over the table.

“Why is he that way?” you whined, hiding your face in your palms.

Underneath the starlight, starlight

There's a magical feeling so right

You could hear the smile in his voice and you forced yourself to glance back at Neil.

it will steal your heart tonight

Catching your eyes again, he winked, making you exhale sharply in response.

You can try to resist

Try to hide from my kiss

You thought about the way you evaded his kiss at that locker room and your chest tightened at that memory.

Don't you know, don't you know

That you, can't fight the moonlight

He knew the song by heart, and you couldn’t wrap your head around that fact.

Deep in the dark, you'll surrender your heart

But you know, but you know that you

And by the way he commanded everyone’s attention, you saw it wasn’t his first performance.

Can't fight the moonlight. No

His voice was clear and he was definitely having fun up there.

You can't fight it

...too much fun, if anybody asked you.

It's gonna get to your heart

He walked up to the booth and a spike of panic flashed in your brain.

There's no escaping love

He made his way to Ives, a mischievous grin lighting his face.

Once the gentle breeze

Neil ran a finger along your friend’s bearded jaw, leaving Ives frozen in shock.

Weaves a spell upon your heart

Neil turned to you and your breath hitched as you realized what was about to happen.

No matter what you think

A few steps more.

It won't be too long

He stopped right in front of you.

'Til you're in my arms

He leaned your way, putting a finger under your chin and tilting it up gently.

Underneath the starlight, starlight

He moved even closer, his eyes wandering along your features.

We'll be lost in the rhythm so right

The emphasis on the last words combined with the look on his face made your mind go blank.

Feel it steal your heart tonight

...that was clearly his plan for the night, huh?

You forced yourself to start breathing again as Neil chuckled through the next line.

Bloody hell, you hated the effect he had on you.

You caught a glimpse of a smug smile before he turned away. Leveling your breath, you watched as he stepped back on the stage, hoping he wouldn’t have any other stupid ideas.

But Neil seemed to be satisfied with what he’d put you through and just continued the song.

He even aimed for one of the high notes, scrunching his nose and giggling as his voice wavered for a second, and you couldn’t stop your lips from curling at the sight. There was something endearing in his joyful demeanor out there, and you wondered how many sides to him you had yet to discover.

Before you had a chance to get too soft, he finished singing and looked at you again. The dark shade in his gaze sent a shiver down your spine.

You needed another drink. Stat.

At least he had enough decency to let you collect yourself before he joined you at the bar. Neil ordered a vodka tonic and leaned his back against the counter, eyeing you curiously.

“So?”

You stifled a giggle, shaking your head. “For a second I thought you might start dancing on the counter."

He laughed at the reference.

"And for a second, I thought about doing that,” he said, reaching for his drink. He smiled slyly at your amused snort and continued, lowering his voice slightly, “but I didn't want you to lose your mind. Or faint, for that matter… I want you conscious for later."

Neil took a sip from the glass, savoring the effect of his words on you as you stared at him with a slack jaw.

"You want me--"

"Yes."

You blinked rapidly, composing yourself. The last thing you needed was to give him the satisfaction of making you flustered so easily.

But you couldn’t resist playing his game even for a moment.

Just to see if he would back down.

"And what is it exactly that you think it's gonna happen later?" you said, taking a step in his direction.

Neil raised a brow, turning your way. His gaze flared up as he searched your eyes for your intentions, moving even closer to you.

"Spoilers.”

"Riiight,” you smirked. The rising temperature between the two of you was slowly hazing over your mind, making your breath shallow as you taunted, “Or maybe you're all talk."

The throaty chuckle sent the heart racing in your chest.

"Want to try me?" he teased, grazing his knuckles against your bare arm, and it took all your resolve not to tremble at the sensation.

The pulse pounded in your ears as you took his drink from his hand, finishing it in one swing. You looked into his eyes, dark and yearning, and a corner of your lips curled.

"Well, no need to wait 'til the sun goes down', anymore."

“Blimey.”

A few moments later, you found yourself in an empty restroom, tugging at Neil’s shirt until your back hit the cold wall. His wicked grin widened at your eagerness as he grabbed your waist with one hand, running the other one through your hair. You splayed your palms on his heaving chest, moving them up to his neck to pull him closer.

Neil tilted his head and leaned in to kiss you, but just as your lips were about to meet, your whole body tensed and it was enough to make him stop instantly. He pulled back to look at you, concerned.

"What's wrong?” he asked in a husky voice.

You huffed, frustrated. At your own reaction. At him suddenly being all gentleman about it. And at yourself again, for not appreciating his concern.

But it wasn’t the right moment to talk about it, and you were pretty sure he would be all weird about it if you didn’t say anything.

"It's just--... “ you hesitated, your mind rushing to find any plausible excuse. As you finally found one, your face lit up and you nibbled at your bottom lip, staring at him challengingly. “Don't you get all soft on me now, blondie."

You almost squirmed under his predatory gaze. Neil brought his hand to your throat, and as his fingers wrapped around it, he leaned to whisper to your ear.

"Suit yourself."

When his teeth grazed your earlobe, you gasped, feeling the feverish heat rushing through your veins. His mouth trailed down your neck as he moved his hand higher, tilting your chin with his thumb just before he brushed it against your lips. You shut your eyes and bit back a moan, feeling Neil smiling and then he ran the tip of his tongue along the crook of your neck.

All of the sudden, you heard voices on the other side of the door. Before you could react, Neil grabbed your hand and pulled you into the stall at the farthest corner of the restroom, turning the lock and pinning you to the wall again with your wrists above your head.

You exhaled sharply as you spotted the roguish sparks in his eyes.

As some people entered the restroom, Neil stroked your temple with his nose and breathed, “Looks like we need to keep quiet.“

You swallowed hard and shuddered, the pulse thumping in your ears.

Still keeping his fingers wrapped around your wrists, his other hand wandered down your body slowly. He studied the way you melted into his touch, taking pleasure at the sight of the animalistic need that clouded your eyes. The last coherent thought left your mind when you felt his hand sliding under your dress, grazing against your thighs, higher and higher, and you bucked your hips, silently urging him to keep moving.

Neil’s lips parted slightly and he leaned in, kissing your neck just as his fingers trailed under the hem of your panties right to your pulsing core. You threw the head back against the wall and your thighs tightened involuntarily as if to prevent him from backing away now.

“Christ, I’ve barely touched you and you’re already this wet,” Neil chuckled breathlessly to your ear and yanked your underwear down your legs in one swift motion. Securing the grip on your wrists, he palmed over you again, moving his hand back and forth, his digits pressing against your folds firmer with every stroke and you let out an inaudible gasp, feeling the fire at the pit of your stomach growing by the minute.

But when his thumb started rubbing circles over your clit, you buried your face in the crook of his neck to stifle a cry ready to escape your mouth any second now. Without skipping a beat, Neil gently tapped his foot on the side of your shoe and you instantly followed his suggestion, spreading your legs for him. He hummed in approval, slipping one, then two, fingers into you, and you sank your teeth in your bottom lip as the sudden bolt of pleasure seared your every nerve.

Neil picked up the pace, curling his fingers inside you just right, and a quiet moan built in your throat and you nuzzled your face into his neck even further; the spicy scent of his cologne ingraining in your hazed mind with every shaky breath you took.

Feeling you getting closer to the edge, Neil let go of your wrists and pushed you back on the wall. Cupping your face with his free hand, he pressed a thumb against your mouth firmly. You panted heavily as he kept tracing your parted lips in almost the same rhythm as his fingers slid in and out of your throbbing core. You closed your eyes as the fire from the pit of your stomach almost consumed you.

And just when you thought that you couldn’t take much more, you felt the pad of his thumb grazing against the tip of your tongue at the same time the other one flicked your clit. Your mind went blank and you sucked on his finger, trying to muffle a whimper.

“Good girl,” Neil breathed into your ear. “Now come for me.”

And so you did, your every particle dissolving into a blissful pleasure roaming through your body wave after wave.

When you regained your senses, you were greeted by the self-satisfied grin you knew all too well. You scoffed and shook your head, too much of a mess to form a coherent comment. You listened for a second, trying to figure out if there was anyone outside, but it seemed that you two were alone, at least for now. Then your eyes wandered down and your mouth watered at the sight.

Without thinking twice over it, you palmed the bulk in Neil’s trousers, looking up to meet his gaze.

The hint of surprise mixed with the sheer hunger in the dark blue eyes made your racing heart skip a bit.

"Are you sure?" he rasped, placing hands on your waist.

You nodded, your fingers already fighting with his belt.

"Stop talking."

Neil raised a brow, amused.

"Maybe you should ask nicely."

You looked at him in disbelief and turned towards the stall’s door, huffing, "Maybe I should leave you like this."

Neil wrapped his arms around you.

"Mhm," he murmured into your neck as he squeezed your breast, his other hand sliding down your body.

"Fuck--" you gasped as his fingers pressed to your clit again.

His throaty chuckle vibrated on your back.

"What was that?"

You moaned, rolling your hips to brush against him.

"...please."

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

You dampened a paper towel to clean your smudged makeup.

"Wanna grab something to eat?"

You glanced at Neil’s reflection in the mirror, watching as he tucked the shirt in his pants.

"You're reading too much into this,” you tried to make your voice as casual as possible.

"I wouldn't dare," he laughed, joining you by the mirror. "What if I promise not to talk to you unless you ask me to?"

You mused over it for a moment, staring at Neil’s attempts to fix his messy hair.

"And if you break the promise?"

The blue eyes met yours and lit up.

"I'll let you punish me however you see fit."

You scoffed.

...but then a corner of your lips twitched into a half-smile.

(next chapter ->)

#neil tenet x reader #neil tenet #tenet #robert pattinson #neil tenet fanfiction #tenet fanfiction #the protagonist tenet #ives tenet #wheeler tenet #neil tenet imagine #neil x reader #smoke & mirrors #tags hate me

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neutron-stars-collision · 3 years

Text

The Art of Inversion

Neil x Reader

Chapter 12 - A Little Death

Masterlist; Chapter 11

Summary: You have to help Neil get back onto his feet after the tragic news. The lack of control and overwhelming grief lead to a few revelations...

Warnings: This is quite angsty still despite mentions of comfort; excessive drinking; self-harm (only implied); swearing

Author’s Notes: Okay so the length of this is beyond me and I’m sorry. This takes place just before Neil’s departure to Mumbai, film-wise. I really hope you’ll enjoy and please let me know what you think!

P.S. The referenced song is ‘A Little Death’ by The Neighbourhood

You did not check how long you were sat like that on the floor, cradling Neil and letting him cry and shake as though those were the only things he was capable of. Later you realised it was probably close to two hours as by the time you got up, it was nearly evening. But for those two hours, you just let him take his time. He did not speak, and you only occasionally whispered words of reassurance into his ear. You kept on drawing soothing circles into the skin of his back. After the first half-hour, you found a much-needed package of tissues and placed them in his lap. Despite his silence, you knew that your presence meant everything. And so you stayed, ignoring the rumbling in your stomach and tiredness. For the most part, you also ignored your own tears, fully aware that this was not about you, nor it should be.

Neil’s heart-wrenching sobs stopped after those two hours and were replaced with small gasps as though he was struggling for air. That is when you knew that the breakdown was past its culmination point. Slowly, you shifted so that you could look at him and gently tipped his chin. His eyes were puffy and red. The heart-breaking look he gave you was enough to nearly tip you off the edge. But you had to be strong. So you just took a deep breath and broke the silence:

“Don’t say you’re sorry for this because that’s the least I could have done for you” he nodded hesitantly upon seeing your determined gaze “I’m here for you, and I won’t make you talk about anything but sometimes it helps” you kissed him on the forehead.

When you met his gaze afterwards, you were struck by the admiration you saw there. He smiled at you slightly as though trying to convey something difficult to be expressed otherwise. You smiled back and took his hand in yours, giving it a comforting squeeze. After another beat, you got up and filled a glass of water for him. You knew well enough how something so simple is needed after crying for so long. You watched as he emptied the whole glass, placed it on the side, and took a deep breath. Then he spoke for the first time in two hours.

“I… I know that this isn’t what you’re used to from me” he shrugged helplessly.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re still someone I care about deeply” for a second you wondered why you felt like you wanted to say more.

But now was definitely not the time. So, instead, you added:

“Tell me what happened? If you’re ready, of course” you took his hand back and smiled when he entwined your fingers on reflex.

“When we arrived, he…” Neil swallowed hard “TP called us to his office and started explaining the next steps in the operation. He mentioned the bloody Mumbai and how I’m needed there tomorrow” he clenched his jaw, and you felt the tension rise.

You placed your free hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. Then you let your hand linger on the side of his neck. He sighed at your touch before resuming the story:

“Then he asked Ives to leave, and we talked a bit about everything… It was like the old days, you know” his brow furrowed “He mentioned how I’m probably his greatest friend in the whole world… How I helped him make Tenet into what it is now and how that wouldn’t be possible without my contribution” he exhaled shakily “We even talked about you” he glanced up and met your surprised look “Just about how it was seemingly fate that brought us together and how you fit in so well here, just taking everything in your stride” you smiled at the words shyly.

Even though it hurt you to know that he was not allowed the truth about your hiring. But maybe that was for the better, you mused.

“We talked like that for over an hour before he started acting strange… The things he said…” he seemed to gather words “It didn’t make much sense, but now I think I should’ve realised that he was…” he shuddered slightly “That it was supposed to be a goodbye” you saw the tears in his eyes again and shifted so that he could rest his forehead on your shoulder.

“Don’t blame yourself for not predicting what will happen. There’s no point in that” you leaned against the foot of the bed behind to be more comfortable.

“Maybe… But I felt something was wrong, so an hour after I left his quarters, I went back in” you tightened the hold on his hand, feeling the moment approach “The door was unlocked and he… he was just sat there” Neil brought his head up to look at you with teary eyes “I thought that he was fine but then… there was no pulse, and he wasn’t breathing” you felt him become breathless and gently urged him to slow down.

When he stopped hyperventilating, you let him lean on your shoulder again.

“He died alone… and I couldn’t do anything about it” you were not sure if you preferred the dejected tone or the former sobs “I was supposed to be his best friend, his partner”

“I think that he didn’t want to hurt you even more by making you watch it happen” you suggested, trying to make sense of the situation.

After the earlier text and what Neil told you begun to understand that TP intended to do it. To end his life. You just had to find a reason why.

“But I don’t understand why he did it” Neil’s voice broke through your contemplation “There was no reason to… He said himself that the plan is going well” you could hear anger creeping into his voice.

“I know… But maybe there was a reason…” you trailed off.

Neil watched you sharply, and you felt like if you said something wrong, you could risk losing him again. You had to tread softly.

“You once said that he never did things without reasons” you stumbled over the tense and frowned “And that’s the same feeling I got when I talked with him… Maybe he had to do that to avoid clashing with his former self in any way” you glanced at Neil to gauge his expression.

He was staring ahead into space with a serious look in his eyes, considering what you said.

“Is like… they mentioned during training that it would be bad if we ever came in contact with our other selves, inverted and so on” you kept on rambling, hoping it was helping somehow “So maybe he was afraid that his existence now would coincide with his younger self out there”

“There must have been better ways of dealing with that” you could tell that he was angry.

At himself. At TP. At the universe. And there was nothing you could do.

“Maybe that was all that he could think of”

You watched helplessly as he turned away from you, suddenly overcome with the emotions. You urged yourself to calm down. Maybe now was a good moment to mention the text…?

“I… I got a text message from him actually… as I was getting here in the cab” you took out your phone and gingerly offered it to him.

Neil took it without question and read over the recent message. Then you saw his eyes dart to other text conversations. But you did not mind. There was nothing to hide. He handed you back the phone without a further word. Then he got up and wandered over to one of the side cabinets.

Now that was concerning.

“Neil?” you scrambled after him and watched in horror as he hastily threw the cabinet contents onto the floor.

Finally, he found a whisky bottle hidden in the back and took a triumphant swing out of it. That sight made you shake off any paralysis you fell into. You crossed the room and snatched the bottle from him. The dark look he gave you was somewhat terrifying. He took a step closer as you took one back. Then he met your gaze challengingly as though doubting your ability to deny him anything. But this time, you were not going to give in. You shook your head and extended the gap.

“It helps with the pain” Neil shrugged helplessly.

“I know, but I think you’ve had enough for today” you gestured towards the empty bottles on the floor.

Thinking fast, you decided to act. You took out your phone and summoned Ives, asking him to come by Neil’s room in a moment. He responded instantly, evidently waiting on the news. Once that was dealt with, you went on to pick up the reminders of Neil’s state. When he saw you do that, you heard him speak:

“If you’re going to take away all the alcohol, then at least leave me the empty bottles” you turned to see an unfamiliar cynical smile “The glass might come handy” the emptiness in his eyes made the delivery worse.

You could only stare, processing the words. Suddenly everything felt too overwhelming.

“Neil…”

You stared at him pleadingly, hoping that maybe the look of panic in your eyes will help him realise what he said. You did not dare breathe until he somehow denied your worst anxieties about the situation. You watched as his face fell, then he covered it with his hands and breathed out a long exhale.

“Fuck. I’m sorry…” he stared at the floor “I didn’t mean it” he looked up at you remorsefully “I don’t know why I said that…”

“It’s okay. Just don’t ever scare me like that again” you gave him a weary smile.

Before you could say anything more, a knock on the door interrupted you. At Neil’s quizzical stare, you answered:

“Ives. I’ve asked him to come” you moved to the door, clutching all the bottles in your arms “Give me a second. And please don’t do anything stupid” you gave him a final warning look before you exited into the corridor.

Ives waited there with a worried expression on his face that seemed fixed at this point.

“Is he alright?” he asked, glancing at the door you closed.

You shuddered, thinking about the situation you just dealt with. But he need not know all that.

“He will be. For now, though…” you placed all the bottles of alcohol in his arms “Take these please and maybe get us a little something to eat from the kitchen… and tea” you tried to gather your thoughts.

“Okay” he nodded “If you need anything else, let me know”

“Thanks” you sighed, feeling the tiredness slowly descent upon your whole body.

But there was no time for that. Not yet.

“I’ll stay with him tonight” for once, Ives did not tease you about it, and you were grateful.

“His plane is at 3 pm tomorrow. Do you think that’s manageable?” he looked sceptical.

“It has to be” you smiled as Ives squeezed your shoulder reassuringly “I better go back to him. Just leave the food outside and knock on the door, please. Think it’s best if he doesn’t see anyone else tonight”

“Of course”

Without further word, you entered the room again and locked the door behind you. Neil was sat on the bed, anxiously picking at the skin around his fingernails. His hair was falling in his eyes, and he was staring at his lap, looking incredibly lost. It hurt you to see him like this. Ignoring the growing ache in your chest, you approached him slowly.

“I asked Ives to get us some food and tea because I think we both could do with that” you attempted a smile when he looked up “But before it arrives, you could shower and get changed… that could help a little”

You stood near enough to reach out and brush your fingers over his cheek tenderly. He seemed to consider your words for a moment before he leaned into your palm.

“Okay, I’ll try” you saw him hesitate before adding, “Thank you for putting up with this”

“Of course, that’s what friends are for” for some reason, the word felt wrong. And he noticed that too as you saw a small frown appear before he smiled at you and left for the bathroom.

When you heard him put the shower on, you started cleaning the room. You put away the pages that landed on the floor and made the bed. While you were smoothing the covers, your brain came up with a rather intrusive thought about how there you were, alone with Neil in his room. Again. And how that really did not fit in with the friendship story you desperately clung to. Because it was rather obvious that you would end up sharing the bed again. That was not something friends did this frequently. You did your best to shut that voice, but you could not deny the facts. So you just sighed and waited patiently for Neil to remerge.

Food arrived before he showed up, so you just set the coffee table. Once you were done, you heard the bathroom door creak. You turned to look at him and were taken aback by the casualness of his get-up. For the first time since you have met, he was not wearing suit trousers and a shirt, and instead had loose joggers and a t-shirt on. Despite the reality of the situation you found yourself in, you could not help but stare. He caught your look with a rather sheepish expression that you did not expect.

Interesting… But there was no time to dwell on it, so you just invited him to the table and encouraged him to have something from the selection Ives got you. Sometimes you would anxiously glance at him to see whether his mood has not changed for worse again. But he seemed fine; quiet and sombre but there with you, physically and mentally. And that was what mattered for the moment. So after you ate, you suggested settling in bed to rest. Neil agreed to that without any objections, giving you hope that maybe he was past his worst point.

After the initial awkwardness of the situation wore off, and you both relaxed onto the pillows, you asked:

“Should we put the tv on? Just have some music on or something…” you searched his eyes, trying not to get too conscious of the moment.

While this was certainly not the first time for you to casually share a bed, this time it somehow felt different. But you blamed that on the rollercoaster of emotions you both went through in the recent days.

“Yeah sure” Neil nodded and sent you a small smile.

This silent version of him was strange to get used to. It felt like he was holding back from you, and you were not sure whether you liked that. But there was nothing you could do apart from giving him unlimited space and time for expression should he need it. So, to provide a distraction, you put on the tv and quickly found a suitable music channel that was not blasting annoying pop songs. Silence fell on you again, as you let the music help you relax. You were not even paying attention to the exact songs played.

‘Make me feel like I am breathing Feel like I am human’

That is until you felt Neil shift, and you glanced in his direction only to meet his intense stare. The blue eyes were fixed on you with a hazy tint on the pupils. Before you could ask him anything, he moved closer. You were struck by the look of intoxication on his face. Somehow you knew that it was not due to alcohol. You felt slightly paralysed by the multitude of feelings that came then. Neil ended his scrutiny of your face to ask:

“Can I kiss you?” his voice was huskier than usual.

‘Touch me, yeah I want you to touch me there’

“Neil...” his name usually came quite handy in those speechless moments.

There were millions of reasons why you should not let him, but the look on his face and what he said next started breaking down the resolve.

“I know” he was looking at you with something close to pleading “I know this won’t fix anything, but if for at least a few seconds I can forget about this mess... then please give me that”

‘She sought death on a queen-sized bed And he had said, "Darling, your looks can kill, So now you're dead.’

He was close now. So close that all you had to do was lean in and kiss him softly. He sighed at the contact, and you brushed away the damp hair from his eyes. Then he deepened the kiss, pulling you closer with his hands on your waist. You were too lost in the moment to stop him when he urged you to lie down on the covers. Feeling your heart pound in your chest, you continued the kiss as he hovered over your body. His hands wandered until you felt him slide them underneath the fabric of your shirt. The warm, sudden touch on your bare skin acted as a warning. You gasped and broke the kiss, but not before he managed to bite on your lower lip, drawing blood. The desperate whine he let out made you open your eyes in a flash. The darkness of his eyes made you realise how close it got to the point of no return. That was enough to help you shake off the daze.

“Please, not like this” you pushed him away gently.

Your cheeks were burning as you came to realise what nearly happened. But once you met Neil’s gaze again, you could tell that he was still not quite aware of the reality. The passionate look in his eyes was replaced with something akin to begging.

“I just want to get lost in you” he murmured, still keeping his hands on the bare skin of your waist.

He ran his fingers along your sides, and you shivered. Inhaling slowly, you tried to calm down. Normally his words would have made you throw caution to the wind. But something like that could be disastrous right now.

“I don’t want it to happen like that” you pushed him off you completely and sat up, suddenly unable to look him in the eye.

“But you want it?” the hopeful tone made your insides flutter with thousands of anxious butterflies.

Fuck… Of course, he wouldn’t let it go easily.

“Ask me again when we’re both better” you hoped that you sounded surer than you felt.

You touched the split lip and wiped away the blood droplet with your thumb. That moment must have awakened something in Neil, as suddenly you heard him inhale sharply before he blurted:

“God, I’m so sorry” you looked up to see him staring at you in terror “I don’t know what overcame me… It’s not that I didn’t want to…” he was clearly struggling with whatever he wanted to say.

“It’s okay. I won’t hold you accountable for whatever happened… or almost happened” you gave him your most convincing smile despite feeling more confused than ever.

“But I… I want you to know I didn’t do that only because I’ve lost control” that was enough for you.

“Neil, it’s fine” you interrupted him “You don’t have to explain. It doesn’t matter” you forced another smile onto your face, praying he will drop the topic.

You could not even explain why it hurt so much. Maybe because you worried it was just him losing control? And that if there was someone else with him in your place, it would have happened anyway? But it felt selfish to have those thoughts after everything that happened, so you just tried to rake your brain for some other distraction. Somehow, this moment felt right to breach a topic that has been on your mind for the past few hours. Slowly, you turned to face Neil, who was evidently still pondering the situation while staring at the tv screen unseeingly.

“Neil…” he turned to you the instant you said his name “Before I came here, Ives told me about Alex…”

The moment you mentioned the name, you could see a plethora of emotions flash in Neil’s eyes. There was shock, sadness, and worry, among others. He visibly tensed and tried to school his features before responding.

“I- I would’ve told you” he was desperately searching for the right words “There just wasn’t a good moment, and I didn’t know if you…”

“No, no. Stop right there” you interrupted him, worried by the rambling “I didn’t mention that because I want an explanation or because it hurt me in any way” you met his gaze steadily “I only wanted you to know that I’ve been told. And that if you ever wanted to talk about it, I’m here” you tried your best to convey the support and love (?) into the long look you gave him.

“But… is-is this okay? Are you okay with that?” the doubt and genuine worry in his eyes made your heart clench painfully.

You wanted to hurt whoever made him question things like that.

“Of course it’s okay. You loved and lost him, and that’s the only thing I care about” tentatively, you reached out to take his hand again “It’s a vital part of your story, and I want to know you better” you smiled, seeing him relax slightly.

“Thank you… I’ll tell you one day, I promise” he brushed his thumb along your knuckles “But I think he’d like you”

You were not expecting that.

“Yeah?” you blushed slightly, suddenly flustered.

“He used to call me out on my bullshit too… and never fell for my charm too easily” he smiled fondly.

You liked the way pleasant memories seemed to light up his whole face.

“I can see some similarities then” you grinned shyly “To be fair, you need someone to keep you from getting too cocky” experimentally, you reached out to ruffle his hair.

If his blissful smile and the way he leaned into your touch were anything to go by, he did enjoy the gesture.

“I’m not sure I deserve you” he opened his eyes and looked at you with some kind of new emotion.

But before you could find any ways of answering that, he yawned. Once, then twice. The tiredness was finally catching up with him.

“Think you should try to get some sleep” upon his silent question, you added, “I’ll stay in case you need me”

For a second you wanted to offer that you will take the sofa, but somehow you knew that was not what he would have wanted. And neither did you if you were to be honest with yourself. So you just watched as he hesitantly started shifting on the bed, trying to find the most comfortable position. You switched off the forgotten tv and the lights and slowly laid down on the pillow. In the quiet, you could hear his shallow breaths. One look in his direction was enough to help you decide. You moved closer, closing the safety gap, and carefully placed your arm on his waist. After a beat, you curled up around him, with your head resting on his shoulder.

“Is this okay?” you asked, following the tense silence.

“Yeah… It’s just that I really don’t think I deserve any of this” you could hear the apprehension creeping back into his voice.

“You deserve much more” you pressed a small kiss to his neck “But let’s start with this. Good night, Neil”

“Good night…” he hesitated but then just exhaled, letting you hug him closer to your body.

*** The peace lasted only for the first two hours. After that, you were awoken by Neil tossing nervously. Before you could properly come to your senses, he let out a few soft whimpers. Shit. You shifted so that you were hovering over him and took a long look. His brow was furrowed, jaw clenched, and he was incredibly tense. Whatever nightmare he was having, it was escalating quickly. The next thing you knew, tears were falling down his cheeks, and he was mumbling something, sounding distressed. That was enough. You cupped his cheek, as softly as you could, and leaned in close:

“It’s just a dream” you kissed him on the forehead “Wake up love” you were not sure where the endearment came from.

You leaned back to see his eyes open in a blink. His gaze was unfocused, evidently still lost in the nightmarish world. Using the hand that was cupping his face, you brushed the stray hair away from his eyes. His breaths were fast yet shallow. Knowing the experience well, you immediately kicked into action.

“Neil, listen to me” you waited until his eyes locked with yours “It was just a dream. It’s all okay now” you placed your hand on his chest over the heart “You need to calm down”

“I can’t breathe” he choked out and sat up suddenly, nearly knocking you in the head.

“You’re panicking” you shifted so you could be sat in front of him.

The fact that you nearly climbed into his lap in the process had to be ignored for the time being. You took his hand in yours and placed it in the middle of your chest so he could feel the rising and falling with every breath you took. With your other hand, you tilted his chin so that he was forced to meet your gaze. His pupils were darkened by panic and adrenaline.

“Follow my breath” you made him match your breathing for a few cycles.

Once you heard his inhales and exhales elongate and level off, you let go of the hand you kept pressed to your chest. He kept it there for a moment longer, as though making sure you were really in front of him.

“I’m sorry” the heartbroken and tired look he gave you was enough to make your heart ache “You really shouldn’t have to deal with this mess”

“It was my conscious choice, and I would never leave you alone after something like this” you leaned in closer and pressed a small kiss to the corner of his mouth “Now, let’s try going back to sleep, shall we?”

This time he was holding on to you as though you were the only constant thing. With his arms around you and the warmth of his body, you could almost forget about the mess you both had to face in the morning. Before drifting off to sleep, you pondered his words again. More and more, you were sure that he got it the wrong way around. It was you who did not deserve someone like him. And you were afraid he would soon realise as much once the initial crush (or whatever it was) passed. But for now, you allowed yourself peace as you relaxed into his embrace and buried your face in his chest. If by some accident, the universe decided to be on your side, you would not complain.

*** In the morning, you were both awakened by Ives calling to make sure both of you were alive and awake. You had to blame the awkwardness that followed it on that very phone call. You only managed to shake it off when you sat down to the breakfast you brought from the canteen. You passed Neil coffee in silence, cursing your inability to hold a conversation after everything. But this time, he had some solutions. As your fingers brushed, he set down the coffee cup on the table and turned to you:

“I’m sorry about everything that I did and said yesterday” he glanced at your split lip “I wasn’t in control... and I don’t want you to be scared. I’d never do anything like that normally” he shifted nervously.

You knew an apology was coming, especially after seeing the way he looked at you ever since waking up. And while, admittedly, his behaviour worried you, you did not dare to think about how your ‘almost’ made you feel.

“I know, and I won’t judge you on how you acted last night” you put on your best smile, hoping to end the topic as quickly as possible.

But it was not meant to be as he clearly thought hard on what to say next. All you could do was wait and listen.

“I know that I crossed some lines” finally, he found the right words “And while I can’t deny that I was acting on my genuine desires…” he searched your eyes to make sure you understood “I won’t do that again because I respect your wishes to keep this strictly friendly”

Was this your imagination, or did he sound like he did not want to say that? If you were honest with yourself, that was not something you wanted to hear either. But now was most definitely not the time, so you just reached out to squeeze his knee reassuringly.

“Thank you, and don’t worry about it. We’re all good” he covered your hand with his and mirrored your smile.

Maybe all this confusion was worth it? After a short beat, you took your hand away and went back to breakfast. The silence was still there, but at least it was less awkward now. When you noticed him frown at the headache that was undoubtedly bothering him, you passed a painkiller. He smiled gratefully.

“So… when is my plane?” he asked after you both cleared the plates.

You could tell that he was dreading the trip. And it hurt to know that there was no way for you to help him.

“3 o’clock” you glanced at the watch “Which gives us about five hours to get you ready” you took in his sombre expression.

“I really don’t want to go” he met your gaze with emotionless eyes “It’s so fucking cruel to have me assist whoever the fuck that guy is when my best friend just killed himself. And I don’t even know why” the anger and hurt in his voice were somehow worse today.

Maybe it was because you could not blame it on his intoxication anymore.

“I know… And wish I had any answers, but I don’t know more than you do” you could only give him an apologetic half-smile “But I know that you have to be there to help… him”

Calling the younger version TP seemed somehow wrong. And you could only imagine how it must feel for Neil, on the eve of meeting that different version of his partner.

“He won’t even know who I am” there was a broken edge to his voice “How am I supposed to meet him and act as though he’s a stranger?”

“Alright, walk me through what you’ve been told, and I’ll try to help as best as I can”

“Sure you wouldn’t rather go back to sleep?” he eyed you sceptically “You must be tired, and it’s all my fault”

“Neil, stop” you have had enough of the self-depreciation “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m here for you” you took his hand in yours “And I wouldn’t rest anyway without knowing you’re well. So let’s go through the plan and then I’ll help you pack”

He only gaped at you with a dazed expression on his face. You wondered how someone so incredible could ever doubt their importance so much.

*** Surprisingly you managed to get Neil ready in time for the taxi departure. Together you planned the mission, made sure he had all the necessary information and contacts and was as mentally well as he could be after everything. When the time was near, Ives knocked on his door. This time, Neil let him in. You watched as the two men embraced tightly, sharing the trauma and sadness. Ives then took a step back and eyed Neil coolly.

“You did a good job” he flashed you a smile “He looks much better than I expected”

“Would you mind?” Neil looked at you nervously, and you laughed at the brief moment of lightness.

“Must say it wasn’t easy, but I did my best” to prove a point, you wandered over to Neil and smoothed his suit jacket.

After disagreeing over the wardrobe choices you managed to convince him to take a few linen suits and shirts for the warm weather in India. Now you were proud you succeeded. To be fair he looked good in anything, but there was something more intimate in the fact that you chose his outfits. But once again, you were brought to the present moment by Ives clearing his throat:

“The taxi is leaving in half-hour. I’ll leave you two now” he gave you a knowing smile and exited the room before you could roll your eyes at him.

Realising you still had your hand on Neil’s shoulder, you took a step back. He was watching you attentively with a small smile on his face. That probably explained Ives’ allusions…

“I won’t ask if you’re ready but… are you okay?” you met his gaze.

“As much as I can be, I suppose” he shrugged dejectedly “I really wish I could stay with you instead”

You saw his hand twitch at his side and decided to choose for him by taking it into yours, naturally entwining your fingers.

“Unfortunately, this time we can’t decide for ourselves. But remember that you can call me if you need help or just to talk. Don’t worry about the time zones, I’ll always pick up” you tried your best to show how you felt through the expression in your eyes.

But that was a dangerous game as soon enough you got lost in the blue of his eyes. As always.

“Thank you” he breathed out, looking at you with such tenderness that almost made you feel faint “Still don’t think I deserve you though” he grinned shyly.

“Oh you do, and I’ll keep on saying that till you believe it” you raised your joined hands to your lips and kissed his knuckles “While I enjoy this slightly subdued version of you…”

“What?” his affronted face made you laugh.

“You know very well what I meant” you smirked and let go of his hand, only to pull him in for an embrace.

It took him only a second to hug you back, with his arms wound tightly around your waist.

“You said we should hug more often so” you whispered into his ear and enjoyed the laugh it prompted “Hope this is good enough for you” you ran a hand down his back.

Then, upon a sudden thought, you pushed your hands underneath his suit jacket and splayed them on his back, relishing the feel of his skin through the shirt fabric. The only indication that he felt the difference was a sharp gasp he let out as he drew you even closer.

“More than that” he kissed the top of your head.

After at least two minutes more, you took a step back but still kept your hands on his waist.

“Please be safe out there. Don’t do anything stupid. And…” you shut his mouth with a hand upon seeing him protest “And don’t get too drunk before the meeting. I know that it will be hard, but that could only make you more likely to fuck up”

Before you could take your palm away, he placed a peck on your wrist, near the pulse point. The voice in the back of your head kept screaming about how this definitely was not something friends do. But you told it to kindly fuck off. At least for now.

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try” he flashed you a signature smile as though you could ever forget it “After all, I’m not the one to behave” proving the point, he brushed the pad of his thumb along your lower lip.

You inhaled sharply at the sensation. Looking questioningly into his eyes, you wondered whether he remembered about the earlier promise. But there was no time to find that out as sharp knocks interrupted you. It was time.

#tenet #neil tenet #neil tenet x reader #neil x reader #neil tenet imagine #neil tenet fanfic #tenet fanfic #robert pattinson #the art of inversion

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piccolini-cuscino · 4 years

Text

What’s happened’s happened.

After an argument, Neil’s wife is killed in a car accident. Riddled with guilt and desperate to see her again, Neil inverts with disastrous consequences.

“She’s dead – and there’s no way you’re gonna bring her back. It’s like you always said; ‘what’s happened’s happened.’”

“I know,” Neil said, unable to meet his coworker’s stare. “I just want to see her again. One last time.”

“You realise you can’t even talk to her?”

Neil kept his eyes on the floor and nodded.

“And you can’t change how things play out.”

Neil swallowed hard.

“I’m warning you, Neil. We– the world… needs you here.”

He slipped on his mask and moved towards the inverter, pausing with one foot on the threshold. “I just want to see her again. That’s all. I’m gonna go back a week. I’ll let you know when I catch up.”

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

It had been so long since Neil had driven a car like this; whether it was the change in handling or the sense of dread he felt at what he knew was about to happen, the tyres seemed to screech a little louder than usual and the gears jammed. Even finding his way back home felt like a challenge. He hadn’t been back since she died.

He glanced down at his watch and back up to the door – from a safe distance across the street. He’d see her again... any second now.

His heart sank, watching the scene play out. Helpless to do anything.

Neil shifted forward in his seat as the door to his home flew open and his wife stormed out. A past version of himself followed her. Right to the car. They were still screaming at each other.

Neil’s jaw clenched, willing that version of himself to just back down. He could diffuse anything at work – bombs, hostage situations… why couldn’t he do that with her? She might have still been alive if he had just mastered that art.

He glanced down at his watch again as her car sped out of the driveway. Two minutes to go.

Deep down he knew he could stop it and save her and be happy again. He tried to keep his hands occupied, away from his phone. Trying anything. Fiddling with the radio. Drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. Knitting them together in his lap. But before he knew it, his phone was in his hands, dialling her number.

“Neil, I don’t want to talk to you!”

“Please, darling I need you to listen to me. Calm down. Pull over. I’m coming to get you.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Neil cursed. Remembering that he was inverted.

“Is this some kind of–“

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

Neil’s coworker seemed to understand. With a wistful sigh and a serious, worried look, he finally came up with what he thought were the right words. “The way I see it is that you could leave – we both know what that means for you. You could keep going back and back and back and try to change things every time until you waste away and you’ll never get your wife back. Or you can stay here. We need you. Nobody knows inversion tech like you do and you’ve got the chance to do something humanity’s gonna thank you for.”

“I’m doubly responsible for my wife’s death,” Neil said through gritted teeth. “And I have a chance to change things.”

“Maybe things shouldn’t be changed.”

“And if this fucking thing hadn’t been invented, she’d still be here.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, I do.” The manic look in Neil’s eye sent a chill through his coworker.

“You said it yourself, that’s unknowable.”

“Well, you can either help me figure this out, so that I can get her back. Or I’ll walk.”

“And then I’d have to kill you, Neil. You know that.”

Neil got to his feet and shrugged, “what more do I have to lose?”

#neil #robert pattinson #TENET

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jsteneil · 5 years

Text

andreil + the beach

The reception is held in the ground floor rooms of one of Charleston’s many seaside hotels. There’s a lot of seafood on the menu, because Aaron is that kind of person, and vegetarian-like dishes Andrew can pretend he likes so he doesn’t starve until dessert. Aaron glances at him over the tall cake, just before the cheerleader—ex-cheerleader, technically—joins him and they cut the first piece together.

People cheer. One of the little sugar flowers falls off the side of the cake, rolls onto the table, and is picked up by Neil before it can continue its course on the floor.

“Here,” he says, handing Andrew a plate. He drops the flower on top of it like a cherry. His phone clatters on the table when he sits down. “I told them to make it bigger than the others.”

“I don’t care,” Andrew informs him.

The cake is dark chocolate with lemon icing, not sweet enough. Andrew scoops the latter up and drops it in Neil’s plate, who eats one bite, nods and says, “It’s good,” before pushing the plate away.

“I’ll eat your piece if you get rid of the icing,” Andrew says. With Neil, it’s barely a bargain, almost a favor.

Neil eyes the pale yellow mess Andrew deposited in his plate.

“Just eat the cake,” he says, dipping the prongs of his fork in the icing.

He relaxes against the back of his chair, half-turned toward the room and the dancing floor that starts to fill up. He looks exactly the same as he’s always looked at banquets, happy to watch and unaware of what a sight he is. The differences are only more glaring now that they’re out of college. His suit is more expensive than the one he used to don for the NCAA, certainly. Fast on the heels of want is the insidious bite of knowledge that their time is limited and the need to make the most of the hours they have together before they both fly away at the end of the weekend. This feeling was a new discovery for Andrew two years ago, freshly graduated and resigned never to be entirely free of exy.

“Hey,” Neil says when Andrew puts down his fork. He’s staring at Andrew in that insufferable way of his. “Look at me?”

“You seem to be doing fine on your own.”

“Andrew.”

Andrew looks. Neil’s hair is slightly ruffled from where Allison hugged him to her chest earlier. His tie is askew—Andrew’s fingers twitch with the impulse of reaching and tugging it off entirely.

“I didn’t think you’d be the kind to be affected by weddings.”

Neil smiles a little self-deprecatingly. “Didn’t you?”

“Are you?”

“No.” Neil looks away. His hand is resting on the table, half-curved inward like he was starting to put it flat and got interrupted mid-way. Andrew nudges it with his own when Neil fails to keep going. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Yes or no,” Andrew says, not a question. “Simple.”

“Not that simple.”

Andrew reaches out for his hand, shell half-empty lying on the sand, and clasps it in his own.

“Talk,” he says. Neil has mostly always told him the truth, but he needs a gentle nudge from time to time.

Well, Andrew can nudge. The future will be the judge of any gentleness.

“The Hooligans have been doing well lately,” Neil blurts. Habit is the only thing that keeps Andrew in his seat. “They called me before dessert. My transfer’s been accepted. I sign on Monday.”

Andrew squeezes his hand tighter.

“They told you all this in a two-minute phone call?”

“Well, no. But they said everything was going according to plan and that they’d contact me later.” Neil smiles, the secret grin that is only part threatening confidence. “We’re going to play together again.”

Even when he’s maudlin, Neil sees exy before most things. A long-standing relationship makes Andrew suspect it’s only an understatement. He’s expecting a reaction, as he always is, but Andrew only gazes back. Let Neil read what he wants in his eyes—he’s so attuned to Andrew that he’s close to the truth more often than not.

Andrew breaks away first. He lets his eyes glaze over Neil’s shoulder, past the tables more or less empty and to the busy dancing floor. He sees Aaron twirling his wife, her white dress fanning around her like a handkerchief dropping to the floor. Behind them, Kevin and Thea are standing very close together like they’re about to stop talking and start kissing.

“Come on,” he says, standing up suddenly. The door is close; he can already feel the breeze coming from the sea.

The party hasn’t started to spill onto the beach yet. The evening is gray and cloudy, a hint of rain threatening in the distance. They’re the only ones outside and they start down along the pier leading back to the beach and running parallel to the sea.

The heels of their dress shoes echo against the wooden planks, until Neil stops and removes them, bunching up his socks inside them. He half-jump the few inches down to the beach, sinking into the sand up to his ankles.

Andrew stops on the edge of the pier, considering. Neil is still holding his hand—or rather, Andrew is still holding Neil’s hand, and wasn’t that a disorienting thought when it first started to happen—, their height difference reversed by the angle.

Sand in his shoes, or sand on his feet. Andrew doesn’t have much of a choice, not when Neil is looking at him with his serious and earnest expression. His eyes are brightened by the gray light of the twilight.

Andrew takes off his shoes.

Neil smiles. He doesn’t try to hide it, maybe because he knows that these days Andrew won’t do much more than try to kiss it away. Neil never quite manages, but it’s worth a try every time.

Neil’s lips taste like lemon icing. Andrew licks it away, deepening the kiss before a burst of voices from the restaurant make them break apart.

“Sorry,” Allison calls from the terrace of the restaurant. She looks down at them for a moment, grinning, and turns her head when Renee joins her.

Neil doesn’t move, staring at her in that insistent, judgmental way of his. He nods to Renee when she waves, watching her tug Allison back inside when Dan leans into the open door, yelling something indistinct at them over the beat of the music.

They go back inside. Neil and Andrew start walking down toward the sea, the sand getting wetter and colder the farther they go.

The day was warm, but a storm is brewing that will fall later that night or the next morning; for the moment, Andrew enjoys the wind in his hair and the warmth of Neil’s hand in his.

Neil tugs him toward the water until the waves lap at his feet. He kicks at the water without paying much attention to it, and it’s such a stark contrast with his reaction the first time the Foxes went to the beach for a team vacation that a vicious part of Andrew nearly wants to bring it up.

“I can’t believe we’ll be together by the time summer’s over,” Neil says. Andrew hums an agreement instead of talking. As good as Andrew has become at the patience game in his life, this is one he’s glad to see over.

“Old rule still applies,” he replies. “You can fold your own socks.”

It’s almost a joke: Andrew is the one who can never find the pair to his socks. Neil, who’s lived from a duffle bag for half of his life, keeps everything almost too organized.

“I know.” Neil’s tone grows serious. “We need to talk about the apartment.”

“We visit some when you come up in a few weeks.”

“You want to move?”

“Don’t you?” Andrew mocks gently.

“I’d be fine living at your apartment.”

They’ve stopped, halfway into the water. Foam swirls around Andrew’s bare feet. The sensation of disappearing under him is almost disagreeable enough to make him step back toward the beach. Neil is still looking at Andrew, patient as he always to hear what Andrew has to say, like an inverted game of chess.

Andrew could say, “I don’t,” and Neil would probably drop the issue for now.

“I don’t want you to live at my apartment,” he says finally. He means, we and ours.

Neil’s lips twitch. “You know, sometimes, you say the sweetest things.”

“You can sleep under a bridge for all I care,” Andrew lies. One of his rare lies, which doesn’t even count.

Neil’s laugh comes out then, breathy and mutedly joyful. Neither of them is used to expressing their joy and happiness loudly, but as warped as this word has become in their vocabulary, it’s fine. Andrew tugs Neil closer; the shoes Neil held in his other hand knocks into the small of his back when Neil draws his arm around his waist.

Andrew kisses him around his smile, toes digging into the wet sand.

#aftg #all for the game #tfc #the foxhole court #andreil #andrew minyard #neil josten #my writing

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aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Tenet: Robert Pattinson’s Neil Timeline Explained

https://ift.tt/3tjao7T

This feature contains Tenet spoilers.

I think this is the end of a beautiful friendship. Those are the (near) final words of the ever wry Neil in Tenet. Riffing on the last line of dialogue from another Warner Bros. film, Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca, it’s a wink and a nudge from Christopher Nolan toward classic Hollywood cinema. But it’s also an admission by the Robert Pattinson character that he is at least vaguely aware that he’s headed toward his death, and though he is about to die, his relationship with the Protagonist (John David Washington) has only just begun.

On first viewing it’s a bit of a bewildering revelation. In fact, many watched the whole film without realizing the Robert Pattinson character had already died onscreen before he saved the Protagonist and Ives (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), plus the Algorithm, from certain death in the bowels of subterranean Siberia. And, speaking candidly, even I was initially a little bit foggy on whether Neil really died, as well as when exactly he first met Our Man Protag in the future-past.

But with the movie gaining renewed interest on HBO Max, now seems like an excellent time to revisit Nolan’s most trenchant timeline to date, and just where the man who calls himself Neil falls in it.

When We First Meet Neil

Technically, the first time Neil appears onscreen is during the movie’s opening moments at the opera house in Ukraine. Neil is the fella who fires an inverted bullet into his gun, killing the corrupt cop (or mercenary) who is working for Sator.

Like everything with the opening sequence, it’s a tad confusing since all characters—cops, undercover CIA agents, and undercover gangsters/military personnel participating in what is secretly a “vanishing” hit—dress the same way. That includes Neil. But after viewing the movie all the way around, we can recognize Neil is the Protagonist’s savior because the mysterious not-a-cop who shoots the evil not-a-cop with a reverse bullet is wearing a backpack with a red string tag.

At the end of the movie, we see Neil walk off with that same backpack and tag (more on that later). So Neil knew to be at the Kiev opera house on this day to save the Protagonist, likely because the Protagonist told him about the event sometime in the future and/or past.

Indeed, when the Protagonist first properly meets Neil in Mumbai, and finally gets a look at Pattinson’s gorgeous mug, Neil has actually been friends with our main character for years. As he later explains to the Protagonist on an empty Siberian landscape, “You have a future in the past, years ago for me, years from now for you.” Which explains his already cheeky sense of familiarity with the Protagonist on their first linear meeting, with Neil knowing that his buddy never drinks on the job and only orders Diet Coke.

At the end of the film, Pattinson paraphrases Claude Rains’ famous line of dialogue to Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, but the duo’s instant camaraderie in India here reminds me of other “buddies at war” movies from yesteryear, including The Man Who Would Be King (1975), which starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine on misadventures in India. Considering the setting and Caine’s presence in this film—as well as the overt James Bond influences on Tenet —it’s hard to imagine this is coincidental for Nolan.

In any event, Neil completes the circle by helping recruit the man who really recruited him into the Tenet organization. For much of the rest of the film, he’s patiently letting the Protagonist know how this all works and helping with the mission at hand. That includes leaning into his British foppishness by posing as a rich man wanting to use a freeport tax haven he’s actually about to rob, and it includes stopping the Protagonist from killing his future self in a fistfight.

It really isn’t until the end of the movie Neil begins going his own way again through both directions in time.

When We Last See Neil(s)

During the end of the movie, Neil and the Protagonist are on different sides of a temporal pincer movement in Siberia. This assault on the site where Sator (Kenneth Branagh) first began amassing his fortune also not-so-coincidentally is occurring on the exact same day as the opera siege in Kiev. This is by design, because when Katharine (Elizabeth Debicki) thinks about the time her vile husband was last happy, it was on their trip to Vietnam. However, he vanished one evening during that trip because he had business in Kiev, where his men were retrieving another piece of the Algorithm (which we explain here).

It’s actually Neil who puts together that Sator left his yacht 10 days ago on the 14th because of the siege. At the time, the Protagonist shoots a suspicious look and asks, “How do you know about that?” (Psst, because he was there too, dummy.)

So along with a fella named Ives, the leader of the paramilitary side of the Tenet operation, Our Man Protag and Neil participate in the siege to retrieve the Algorithm on Sator’s perfect day, which is thereby also the day he’ll assemble all the pieces in Russia. The Protagonist is part of the Red Team, who will be performing the operation through the normal direction of time while Neil is part of the Blue Team, which observed the operation from afar and then were inverted, traveling backward in time, knowing what they need to do to be victorious.

And if that is a little hard to grasp, we see Neil effectively perform a temporal pincer movement within the operation’s larger temporal pincer movement to clarify how this all works. During the siege of Sator’s hometown, Neil is the cheeky Blue Team member in a gas mask who helps fire a rocket launcher, clearing a path for the Protagonist and Ives to enter the closed city’s tunnels. He then sees Sator’s right-hand goon lower himself from a helicopter and go into the tunnels from a different entry point. In the film, we see this from Neil’s perspective. Since Neil’s entropy has been reversed, he is traveling through time in reverse, however everything with normal entropy will appear reversed to him, including the thug’s arrival by chopper.

Neil then abandons the rest of the Blue Team to run off, as we later learn, to reverse his entropy again and provide a helping hand to Our Man Protag and Ives from the explosion that is to come. With that said, we get the classic Nolan misdirection in this moment since we also see Neil running with his gasmask back on toward the tunnel in which Goon #1 entered.

That is because at this moment there are three Neils on the battlefield. There is the one who is going to reverse his entropy to save the Protagonist and Ives; there is the one who, with normal entropy, is driving a truck to save Ives and the Protagonist; and then there’s the one who’s already done that, and reversed his entropy again and who is now going to open the door that will be blocking Ives and the Protagonist’s way. Since he already knows they saved the world, he knows exactly what he needs to do.

“I’m the only one who can get that door open in time, right Ives?” Neil asks at the linear end of the movie. “I don’t know a locksmith as good as you,” Ives cracks back. Boom. It’s a temporal pincer movement within a larger temporal pincer movement. And since this is happening concurrently with the opera house siege in Kiev that means there are technically FOUR Neils chewing bubble gum and kicking ass. (Does your head hurt, yet?)

Movies

Tenet Ending Explained

By Chris Farnell

Movies

Tenet’s ‘Inversion’ Logic Explained

By Chris Farnell

When we see the climax of the film play out in the missile silos below, we are watching the events from the Protagonist’s point-of-view, which means time is flowing in the natural direction. It’s why when he gets there, a masked Blue Team member with a backpack attached to a red string and tag is already dead on the other side of the locked door. That is Neil’s corpse, which means, speaking strictly from a linear perspective, this is the last time we see Neil in Tenet: a martyr who’s taken a bullet for his buddy the Protag.

However, since the dead Neil had his entropy reversed yet again, he dies while moving in reverse. It’s why we see him rise up and take a bullet for Neil while opening the door to the missile silo, allowing the Protagonist and Ives to get in there and claim the Algorithm. But in reverse, it looks like Neil has risen from the dead to open the door for our living heroes—a ghost from the future.

The Protagonist puts this altogether at the linear end of the film when he, Ives, and Neil are discussing what to do with the pieces of the Algorithm. Neil rather knowingly gives his share of the Algorithm to the Protagonist before announcing he’s going to go back into the past for another pass with reversed entropy.

“It’s me in there, again,” Neil says, “weaving another past in the fabric of this mission.” It’s unclear whether he knows he’s about to die, but by spotting Neil’s backpack, the Protagonist realizes in this moment it’s his newfound friend who died down there in the tunnels and also saved his life in Kiev. He asks Neil if they can try to do things differently—implying to Neil that he’s about to die. But like a good Tenet man, Neil refuses to tempt fate by trying to change it.

“What’s happened’s happened,” Neil says, “which is an expression of faith in the mechanics of the world. It’s not an excuse to do nothing.” He sadly adds, “Now let me go.”

Before he dies though, Neil offers one last head-spinning nugget: “This whole operation is a temporal pincer movement.” The Protagonist’s operation to be exact. Which means, technically, Neil is performing a temporal pincer movement within a temporal pincer movement, within an even larger years-long temporal pincer movement. Great Scott!

When the Protagonist Recruits Neil

Before his death, Neil also confirms that the Protagonist recruited him years ago in his past, and years from now in the Protagonist’s future. “We get up to some stuff,” Neil smiles. “You’re going to love it.”

However, what is intentionally fuzzy is exactly when the Protagonist recruits Neil. The conventional wisdom is that sometime in the distant future an older Protagonist creates the Tenet organization—which is stated elsewhere in the movie—and then recruits a young Neil (if that’s really his name) into the group. This seems entirely plausible and makes a certain amount of sense.

With that said, it’s worth keeping in mind that time travel is basically possible in this film only through the process of traveling for the same amount of time into the past as one does going into the future. Which means if you need to travel years into the past, you must spend years with your entropy reversed going backward.

While it’s possible Neil did this, Robert Pattinson is a relatively young man at the age of 34 (33 when Tenet was filmed). So the idea that he spent years, or maybe a decade, traveling backward seems a bit hard to swallow. But… what if the Protagonist’s future is in the past? It’s implied that Ives and the Protagonist could use inversion to hide their pieces of Algorithm further in the past, just as a future scientist did when she put those pieces in late-20th century nuclear programs.

It’s worth entertaining at least the idea that the Protagonist begins the Tenet program directly after the events of the film and then travels further back to hide his Algorithm. He could’ve recruited Neil years ago in both the character and our world’s literal past. It would make recruitment easier, as he’s already completed one half of the Pincer movement. The “halfway” point, as Neil calls it. But this interpretation is up to each viewer.

About That ‘Neil is Max’ Fan Theory

On the subject of viewer interpretations though, there is one doozy of a fan theory out there: Neil is Max, Kat and Sator’s much talked about, if little seen, son.

I am not entirely sure what this is based on other than folks liking to imagine there is a hidden mind-bending twist out there that only they can deduce. But what is the logic behind this? Kat has a posh English accent and Neil as a posh English accent, ergo they must be related? For some American viewers, I guess that’s enough. Although it sure gives an added satisfaction to the scene when the Protagonist saves Kat at the end of the movie by receiving her text message in the future that she’s being spied on and then traveling into the past to save her.

However, I’m going to call shenanigans on this theory based on Neil’s simple disinterest in Kat and quick acceptance that she’s an asset who’s become collateral damage when Sator shoots her with a reverse bullet earlier in the movie. When one of the Tenet organization’s men says she’s going to die, Neil even smirks, “Standard operating procedure,” lightly mocking the Protagonist’s CIA tactics.

Granted, if he’s Max he knows this isn’t how his mother dies and could therefore take comfort in the idea the Protagonist will eventually figure out how to save her. Maybe. But while Neil’s a cool customer, I don’t think even he could be so cool with his mother bleeding out before his eyes. So this theory doesn’t really hold water with me.Still, it’s kind of fun to think that if Max is Neil then there was a brief moment where FIVE Neils walked this Earth at the same time.

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wilsonelisa430 · 4 years

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Theories That Will Flip Your Understanding of Tenet

Let us look at the theories that explain some unanswered questions about Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending movie Tenet.

Remember the film Donnie Darko? Or Primer? Some films require theories after theories to just wrap our heads around the film and actually get to a point where you can confidently say that you finally understand what the hell was going on there.

Are you watching it closely? The famous dialogue from Christian Bale’s character Alfred Borden from the film The Prestige describes Nolan films in the best way.

Christopher Nolan is one of the directors who just does not believe in making a straight forward film. He believes in creating a puzzle. An enigma that will capture the audience’s imagination for days once they walk out of the theater.

Spinning top. Dream or Reality? One simple question compelled several fans to watch the film Inception again and again. Of course, fans prodded Nolan for an answer for several years, but he never gave it. He swung the question in a different direction rather than addressing it directly. That is the fun part of his job. He considers himself no different than Alfred Borden; once he will reveal the secret that you are looking for, the veil of enigma will vanish, and he will be nothing to you.

So, right here, we will list five theories that will not only help you untie the intricate knot of time-inverted interconnected events in Tenet but will also help you look for clues that are hidden in layers in each scene in your second watch.

Spoiler Ahead! Obviously.

Neil was Max

The Protagonist’s friend and partner in crime, Neil (played by extraordinarily talented Robert Pattinson), was actually Max, the son of Elizabeth Debicki’s character Kat and Kenneth Branagh’s character Sator.

You may ask the question, how is that even possible? The answer to that lies in the structure of the story, which you can correlate with Netflix time travel thriller Dark.

We come to know nothing about the backstory of Neil and nor do we hear a word from Max in the entire film. The bombshell is revealed not up until the climax when Neil reveals that the Protagonist himself had recruited him. So, it is likely that the Protagonist meets Max in the future and convinces him to head back in time to stop his father, Sator, from instigating a calamity.

One of the fascinating aspects of this theory is that Max could be a shorter version of the name Maximilian, a French name. If you flip the name backward, you will get Neillimixam, which would give Neil for short.

It’s a mind-blowing theory, but it does have some loopholes, such as the inconsistency between the timeline of events and Max’s age.

Who Discovered the Algorithm?

This is actually very similar to some of the events that happened in aforementioned mind-bending Netflix thriller Dark.

We are exposed to the information that a female scientist who invented the algorithm killed herself after realizing the true potential of her creation. This had happened years after the events shown in the movie, but there is no reason to believe that we haven’t seen that female scientist. Clemence Poesy, who played the character, Laura, appeared in the first half of the film and explained the concept of time inversion to The Protagonist. But how did she know all of that? Perhaps her older self taught her through time inversion means.

She never knew how to build an algorithm; the information came from the future. She then built the concept on that knowledge and thus created that deathly algorithm responsible for eradicating the past in order to save the future. After doing that, she sends the knowledge back to the past, completing the whole cycle.

I know this is hard to understand, but the same concept was used in Dark season 2 when the ambiguity surrounding the origin of the book “A Journey Through Time” intensified when the author HG Tanhaus revealed that he never wrote that book. The book had come from the future, which had guided him in building the time machine.

Sator Was Never Meant to Succeed

The antagonist, psychopath Sator (played by Kenneth Branagh), always believed that he had one final trump card with him. “A dead man switch,” which, when activated, would spring the algorithm in action and end the entire world.

Now, in a scene, the future Sator confronts Kat and tells her about the capsule pill, which is a suicide device that he said he had acquired from the CIA and it is capable of ensuring the future. However, we had heard about the suicide pill before when The Protagonist tried to use it in the beginning of the film, and he realized that they are never meant to work because they have been devised only as a “test” pill. It is possible that what Sator was showing to Kat was the same pill that the Protagonist had left on the yacht on purpose because he knew that it wouldn’t work.

One more thing to understand is that if the algorithm had ever been activated, then the past would have wiped out, and the events of “Tenet” wouldn’t have happened. The algorithm was never going to be activated so the “dead man” switch could have been a ploy to keep Sator in the sense of false security.

Have We Already Seen the Glimpses of Tenet Sequel in the film?

Neil reveals in the final scene that though his relationship with The Protagonist has to come an end, he and the Protagonist’s future self have shared a long list of adventures that the Protagonist is yet to live through. It is possible that in the future, we might see Robert Pattinson and John David Washington reprise their roles in another time-bending thriller in a race against time to stop other groups with Sator-like intentions.

Now, it is imperative to remind ourselves about Nolan’s philosophy of a film, which revolves around concentrating on one story at a time without overthinking about the future.

There is a Secret Nolan-Verse in Play

The theory has originated from the twitter account called @movieshardy. It expounds that Inception, Interstellar, and Tenet are stories from the same universe.

Although there are some wacky ideas, the theory is worthy of a look.

One crazy idea about the theory is Laura (Clemence Poesy) and Neil (Robert Pattinson) being children of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character from Inception, Dominic Cobb.

One correlation that the theory alludes to is the similarities between the Interstellar and Tenet worlds; both of them facing an impending doom. Could the mysterious, powerful group from the future that is trying to save the Tenet world by working in the shadows be the same group that guides Cooper to the Black Hole. It’s a far-fetched idea, and nobody knows for sure except maybe Nolan, who is right now more worried about financial gains than anything else.

Conclusion

Theories about a story is a tricky business. Some may make sense and get it spot on while others just float around the fringes of nonsense. At the end of the day, like other things in your life, it is your wish whether to believe in a theory or not. Make a wise decision to ensure you are not disappointed in the future.

Source :- https://my-blogsearch.uk.com/theories-that-will-flip-your-understanding-of-tenet/

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iloveyoupittsburghpirates-blog · 7 years

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I Don’t Understand You, Pittsburgh Pirates

My Dearest Pittsburgh Pirates,

This is getting harder and harder to watch. The week actually started off fine. You took the first two of a four game series from the first place Chicago Cubs, a team that you have fared well against this year. Obviously being as far out of first place as you are makes all these games meaningless but anyone with a competitive edge still wants to win. Those two wins would be the only thing to smile about this week. The Cubs won the next two games so it turned out to be a series split. You followed that with a trip to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. That did not go well. Besides my absolute rage over the Juan Nicasio situation (more on that later), there’s nothing more annoying that watching you get your clocks cleaned by the Cardinals and that’s exactly what happened. A three game sweep punctuated by the 7-0 shutout yesterday. You are now 10 ½ games back in a division that is still up for grabs. The Brewers, fresh off sweeping the Cubs this weekend, are two games out of first place as are the Cardinals. This division was winnable this year and did almost everything in your power to avoid being competitive. A team with money like the Cubs isn’t always going to be this vulnerable. Chalk this season up to a wasted opportunity.

You announced this week that manager Clint Hurdle has received a four-year contract extension to remain manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Some people might object to this and I can understand why. Hurdle is far from perfect. His bullpen management leaves plenty to be desired and his teams constantly seem to be lacking in basic fundamentals which in my opinion always falls on the manager. He also seems to screw up when and when not to bunt far too often. I say all this and I’m still happy with this extension. It’s not Hurdle’s fault his front office handicaps him at every turn as far as what they’re willing to spend. When I think about the potential of firing a manager, I always ask myself one question: Is there a better option available? I was actually concerned they would fire Hurdle and hire bench coach Tom Prince. I don’t know much about Prince and maybe he will be a fine manager someday but doing that would have seemed like a money saving move and I can’t stomach more of those right now. When you look around the league, there aren’t any other glaring candidates that excite me. Hurdle is a good leader and I like his decision making more often than not. Overall, this team’s success really isn’t contingent upon Clint Hurdle. It’s the higher ups that make or break it.

You also announced this week that general manager Neal Huntington also received a four-year contract extension to remain in his current position. I’m more on the fence about this one. Let me preface this by saying that I realize Huntington is handcuffed by whatever budget owner Bob Nutting sets for him. He has no control over how much he can or can’t spend. That being said, Huntington has had back to back putrid seasons. If I was terrible at my job for two straight years, I would be fired rather than receiving a four year extension. Huntington’s downfall started after the 98 win season in 2015. Entering 2016 with Jeff Locke, Ryan Vogelsong, Jon Niese, and Juan Nicasio as your rotation options was insane. I know it was a ‘bridge year’ but that was embarrassing. We have discussed how awful trading Keon Broxton for Jason Rogers looks now with Broxton’s 20 homers and Rogers no longer even on your team. Having Broxton would have been especially helpful this year with the Marte suspension and the bevy of Polanco injuries. This season has been defined by his decision to basically do nothing. Actually, nothing would be better than a couple of the moves he has made. He lets Juan Nicasio go for nothing to “get the younger guys more opportunities so they are ready for 2018” but before that had already acquired 40 year old relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit for no reason. Huntington managed to do a lot from 2013-2015 with very little money spent and made the playoffs. That should be applauded. These last two years will have me questioning this extension every step of the way.

The bizarre circumstances around losing Juan Nicasio took an even more ridiculous turn this week. Huntington put Nicaiso on irrevocable waivers (meaning all a team has to do is pay a player’s salary to claim them) rather than regular waivers because reportedly a rival had claimed him and you didn’t want him to go there. Reports are saying that team was the Cubs. Instead of trading him to the Cubs for a prospect, you allowed the Phillies to claim him on irrevocable waivers so they only have to pay the remaining $600,000 of his contract this year. This week the Phillies flipped him to your rival, the St. Louis Cardinals, for a prospect who ranked tenth in their system at the beginning of the season. Not any huge return but at least some return. Salt was rubbed in an opened wound this weekend when Nicasio saved Friday and Saturday’s games against you. This move is an embarrassment for the organization and particularly Huntington. Maybe Nutting said he needed to get rid of 600,000 but this a mess either way. Huntington has done things in the past I didn’t agree with but I at least understood his mindset. This one made no sense at all. During his press conference after signing his extension, he started making excuses for their failures. He said that your playoff record could be different if there was only one Wildcard team and that he regrets voting to make it two teams. That’s great. It’s also incredibly pointless. He also said that if you invert your record against two bad teams this year (Giants and Reds) you would only be a game and a half out of first place. You might as well say if you invert your current overall record you would be a ½ game out of first. That is as meaningless as it gets. There isn’t even logic involved there. What is he talking about? I know Huntington’s extension was decided on a while ago. It’s just a terrible look to extend the man after two terrible seasons and one truly indefensible decision.

The road-trip continues this week with more divisional games. You will start a three game series in Milwaukee today against Neil Walker and the Brewers. That’s always a friendly reminder of how a team with a smaller payroll that was supposed to be rebuilding is still in the playoff race. It’s also fun to remember how you gave up Neil Walker for nothing and then had a chance to get him back this year for the playoff run for almost nothing but instead allowed the Brewers to get him. You just love making your rivals better than you. You get a day off Thursday, which is a mental break for me, before heading to Cincinnati for a weekend series against the Reds. The Reds are one of those teams where if you invert your record against them you’re magically a better team. I use the word magic because that’s what would be necessary for that scenario to have any merit at all. I do like that you are giving the young players more chances. Gregory Polanco and Adam Frazier returned from the DL which helps too. Even with Polanco and rookie Jordan Luplow on the roster for some reason you decided to start John Jaso in right field yesterday. Makes no sense to me but illogical decisions have been a recent trend for you. There’s nothing the players can do about it except keep playing the best baseball you can and keep trying to get better. That’s all I can really ask of you. Take care this week and sorry your GM/owners keep taking your legs out from under you.

Your Bewildered Beau,

Brad

P.S. stand for Pittsburgh Steelers and they sure made us sweat out the first game of the season. Against the lowly Cleveland Browns, they had to sack the rookie QB DeShone Kizer seven times to help seal a 21-18 victory. The dynamic offense looked pathetic until late in the game. The play-calls early were too conservative and I think it might simply be a case of rust. Nowadays, starting quarterbacks barely play in the preseason. It used to be a least a series or two in most preseason games and now they basically only play a few series in game three to avoid injuries. I agree with the concept. It just means that it might take the offense more time to adjust. That might explain why all the games yesterday were kind of duds. The ‘W’ is all that matter as they move to 1-0. Go Steelers!!

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whats-rambled-rambled · 3 years

Text

Long Nights - part 3

Neil x Reader

Chapter 3: Difficult

(see chapter 2, 1)

summary: the morning after.

warnings: 18+, explicit language and other things, not that descriptive but I am not leaving you with -implied- this time, nsfw

author’s note: Right, this is actually half of what I wanted to write for this chapter, but I thought that it might work better this way. A bit shorter one, 2.4k words, I hope you’re still gonna like it.

Also - apparently all fandom writers share one brain cell, so let me just say that any resemblance to other works is purely coincidental. (hi Tessa!)

The song for this part is Billy Raffoul - Difficult

Enjoy! All feedback is greatly appreciated, let me know what you think?

——————

Tag list: @cxnnienikas @neutron-stars-collision @ergunbilge @invertedneil @wanderedaway @the-gazette-of-tea @wonderwoman292 @buckysgoldenheart @townmoondaltwistle (please let me know if you want to be added/removed from the list)

------

Even before you opened your eyes, you knew something was off. The smell of bedsheets. Their texture. You rolled to the side, groaning slightly. A pulled muscle. Or two.

And a few other sore places.

Oh, right.

You heard the muffled sound of a door clicking shut and you glanced towards the entrance to the hotel room.

Neil looked like he’d just woken up himself, the lack of proper sleep painting dark circles under the blue eyes, a somewhat crumpled olive green t-shirt amplifying the usual dishevelance of his appearance. He caught your stare as he removed his shoes, balancing two cups of what you hoped was coffee in the other hand, and smiled lightly.

“Did I wake you?”

“No, but your timing is impeccable,” you laughed, stretching your arms and stifling a yawn. And then you smirked. “Glad to see it still holds true in the daylight.”

Neil snorted, his gaze lit up as you sat on the bed, not really bothered to cover yourself up.

“Coffee?” he said and handed you a cup.

“Yes, please and thank you.” You took the first sip and sighed with delight. “You’re an angel,” - a wicked grin crept on your face - “...a naughty one, but still.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, trying to hide the smug smile behind his cup.

“I did exactly what you suggested numerous times during the training,” he said, and then tugged the bottom lip between his teeth. “...and maybe elevated it here and there.”

You hummed in agreement as your sleep-deprived brain rolled a pretty vivid the best of tape; the string of flashbacks quickened your pulse more efficiently than the hot beverage in your hand.

“That you did, all right.”

Then your gazes met, and you pushed back the urge to curse. Yep, that was it. That scanning look. Vibe check. When both of you tried to figure out if the previous night changed anything between you. You wondered if he could see the silent plea in your eyes.

Please, don’t make this weird.

Neil hesitated, suddenly tense.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked sheepishly and took a swig from his cup, grimacing with regret as he evidently burned himself in effect.

“We had a fun night. Now we’re enjoying the coffee,” - pursing your lips, you tilted your head - “Did I miss anything?”

Seeing you all casual about it, Neil relaxed and exhaled slowly.

“I think that covers it.”

With the air cleared, you finished your coffee and put down the empty cup on the nightstand. Your clothes still scattered the floor, but there was something you needed to do first. You got up and stretched again, smirking as you caught the blue eyes wandering across your naked body.

“I’m gonna hit the shower,” you said, walking past Neil on the way to the bathroom. “Feel free to join me.”

Soon the hot water was soothing the stiff muscles and you closed your eyes, blessing the minds behind the concept of the rain showers.

The glass door creaked behind you.

“There you are.” You smiled, pouring a bit of the shower gel on your hand and spreading it on your shoulder. “For a second you got me thinking you’re not gonna come.”

Neil scoffed, amused.

“As if I could say no to an offer like that.”

His hand replaced yours on the shoulder and you gave him the bottle, groaning quietly as he started slowly rubbing your neck. The tension eased under his fingers, and you took a step back, turning your head and reaching to his cheek. As Neil leaned in to kiss you, his hands slipped down your sides. then up your stomach, and when they cupped your breasts, you gasped breathlessly. He smiled against your lips, looping one arm across your waist and pulling you closer.

You tangled your digits in wet blonde strands, tugging at them and shuddering as Neil stopped teasing your nipple and moved upward, wrapping the long fingers around your throat gently while he deepened the kiss. As if the act alone wasn’t enough to haze your mind, it awoke the memories from the night before, wiping any coherent thought from your head. Maybe that’s why a delicate stroke on your clit was almost enough to make your knees give out.

You whimpered and broke the kiss, then turned around and rested your forehead on his collarbone, catching your breath. Neil’s chest heaved under your palms as he embraced you, chuckling lightly.

“Still tired?” he asked, tucking dripping hair behind your ear and pressing his cheek to your temple.

“Not that tired,” you replied, smirking as you dragged your fingertips down his body.

A moan built in his throat but you were there to capture it with your lips. Your mind overcast with desire as you felt him getting even harder under your touch.

Even with the weary mood of the morning after, that pull between you was too strong to resist. And with your current state, it was so easy to get lost in each other’s closeness, in shared shaky breaths, in pleasure flowing through you to the rhythm of your bodies. Slow and careful at first, gentle brushes and gliding fingers - with the steam from the hot water enveloping you, the temperature was rising, and soon you wanted more. So did Neil.

He waited for a sign from you, and when your hips bucked and you started pushing against him, needy and desperate, his hold on you got firmer, his kisses more hungry and the pace of his thrust faster. The pulse pounded in your ears. Cold tiles against your back. You buried your face in his neck, gasping. Faster. The fire roamed through your veins, leaving you a moaning mess. Faster. The sounds of your bodies coming together filled the air. He cursed and pulled you closer. Harder. You cried out, so close to the edge. Neil tilted your chin and when his lips met yours, the world dissolved and you came undone, clinging to him as he joined you with a guttural groan.

You rode out your highs, trembling in each other's arms, huffs and giggles breaking in between sloppy kisses.

Neil pulled back to take a look at you.

“You okay?”

“Mhm,” you mumbled, running your fingers along his jawline. “Thank you.”

A smug smile dangled in the corner of his mouth.

“My pleasure.”

You scoffed and smacked his chest, making him laugh in response. Pressing his forehead to yours, he cupped your face as the other hand stroked your back in a soothing manner, and you closed your eyes, letting out a small sigh.

“I think I need a moment to recover,” you said, melting into his touch. “Feels like I could crash right here and now.”

Neil’s thumb brushed your cheek.

“Good thing we have some time before the meeting.”

“Wait, we...?” - you furrowed your brows, trying to focus - “What meeting?”

“With the boss. He left a message a few hours ago.”

You pushed him away, staring at him in disbelief.

“And you’re only telling me now?!”

He shrugged, unfazed by your outburst.

“Was there any appropriate moment earlier?”

“Okay, fair enough,” you said and pinched the bridge of your nose, collecting yourself. You’d been waiting for a chance to ask your questions for so long, and now that you finally could get it, you were exhausted from indulging yourself with a hook-up. A stellar one, hard to mark as a mistake, really, but a stupid thing nonetheless. “Do you know what it's about?”

Neil studied you intently, puzzled by the sudden mood swing.

“I have an idea or two, but you never know with him.”

“Perfect.” You drew a long breath, and then you felt a reassuring squeeze on your shoulder. The blue eyes finally found yours and you couldn’t hide that fond smile any longer. “Pass me that shampoo, will ya?”

-----

“So to recap - you have a tech that allows you to move backwards in time,” you said, combing a hand through your hair. “Sure, yeah, cool, makes total sense.”

You recalled Neil's reverse entropy theory and you looked at him just to catch his stare, checking on you if you made that connection. You knew better than to mention it aloud, chances were that he hadn’t told the boss about his slip-up.

“Glad to hear that it does.” The Protagonist smiled, but he was watching you closely as if he could see right through your bullshit.

Because to be completely honest, though? It didn’t. The whole concept was absolutely fucking mental. But at this point, all you could do was simply roll with it. Especially since it somehow explained why that goddamn lock they’d used to lure you into cooperation behaved the way it did.

You slumped on the chair, processing the new take on good ol’ reality. All the answers you got somehow led to even more questions, but before you could decide on one, The Protagonist leaned in.

“I asked you to come because I need to know if Neil is ready to check his skills in the field.”

You shrugged. “Depends. We’ve covered most mechanisms, but there are still things I need to introduce to him. But from the ones he knows? He’s good to go.” You smiled, your expression nothing but innocent as you glanced at your student. “He passed his recent stress test with top marks.”

If The Protagonist noticed the way Neil’s eyes widened at your words, he didn’t let it show.

“What if he had to be inverted?”

“Beats me,” you said and puffed your cheeks, exhaling slowly, considering the implications. “I assume that would mean the lock remains regular?”

The boss shook his head slightly. “I can’t guarantee that.”

You looked at Neil. He was sitting on the edge of his seat, pinching his little finger, the eyes darting between you and The Protagonist. Probably not too comfortable with being a passive subject of the conversation, bless his heart.

“Have you ever tried picking any of those locks that way?” you asked Neil, shifting on your chair to sit in a way that was supposed to make him feel more included in the discussion.

“Once, at the very beginning,” - he sent you a nervous smile - “but I failed miserably. Since then I’ve only practiced on the old locks in our regular setting.”

“I see,” you said, shifting your gaze to The Protagonist. “Then I can’t guarantee anything as well. We’ll add that to our training plan, when’s the first mission?”

The dark eyes bore into you.

“Yesterday.”

You scoffed, but then you realized he wasn’t kidding. You bit back a hysterical giggle and sighed.

“If I’d known about that from the start… about the mere possibility of training like that, I would’ve included it in the schedule a long time ago.”

“I had no idea it would take so much time.”

You didn’t know if that it was aimed at your teaching skills or at the pace Neil was learning, but it pissed you off enough to not care to ask for clarification. You weren’t having any of those.

“Listen, pal, you can’t learn it fast if you want to learn it well. Even with all the shortcuts provided, you need practice, and you can’t do that without spending hours polishing the skills enough to use it in the real world,” you huffed, glaring at the indifferent man behind the desk. “Neil can be exceptional all he wants, but he simply can’t cheat the process and skip right to the end.”

A light split-second brush against the side of your knee made you miss a beat. You blinked twice and you looked at Neil, but he was focused on the boss, using your moment of hesitation to chime in.

“Do you have any intel about locks on the location?”

The Protagonist nodded, handing him a folder.

You watched as the blue eyes flitted through the documents, the color draining from Neil’s face with every other page. Uh-oh. He cleared his throat.

“What’s our window to prepare?”

“Two days.”

Neil stifled a curse and rubbed his face. The boss fell back on his chair, reading enough from that reaction. You watched as they both considered the options.

“Is it just a b&e kind of assignment?” you asked, cutting into the heavy silence.

The Protagonist looked at you, puzzled.

“You mean breaking and entering? Yes, it should be, why?”

“Take me there, then.”

Neil straightened in his seat. “You can’t know for certain what we might find there,” he blurted out at the boss and turned to you. “No.”

But you ignored him, locking your eyes on The Protagonist.

“Seems like I’m your best chance.”

He couldn’t deny it, and from that brief glance at the information he’d collected on your jobs, you knew he got an idea about the things you were capable of. A certain level of flexibility was required in your line of work, and some of the stuff you’d gotten yourself into while working with Mahir proved you could get shit done, even if everything came crashing down on your head. Once or twice - quite literally. Ah, fun times. The Protagonist drummed the fingers on the desk, weighing his decision.

Meanwhile, you finally granted Neil some attention. He stared at you in silent protest, the features clouded with concern. The fact that he could be worried about you was utterly adorable, even if totally out of place. A corner of your lips twitched and you winked. Neil slouched against the back of the chair, rolling his eyes as a faint smile crept on his face.

Finally, The Protagonist made up his mind and nodded.

“All right. But I’m not sending you there without a basic training. Neil, I’ll ask Ives to clear his afternoon. He’s at the shooting range now, both of you should get there and start preparing straight away.”

“Oh, I know how to handle a gun,” you said, waving a hand dismissively. You’d rather jump straight into something more fun than that.

“Not an inverted one, you don’t.” Neil grinned and raised a brow, playful lights shining in his eyes. “Have you ever tried catching a bullet instead of shooting one?”

You fought the urge to massage your temples. Of course.

And then you beamed, barely containing your excitement.

That was more like it.

(next chapter ->)

#neil tenet x reader #neil x reader #neil tenet fanfiction #neil tenet #robert pattinson #tenet #tenet fanfiction #neil tenet imagine #long nights

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iamtheprotagoneil · 4 years

Text

okay fuck it. let’s talk about ives.

he’s only a side character, i know, and mr. n*lan really didn’t leave us with much to work on, but there’s something about him that i’d like to look further into: the fact that he played along.

now, by this, i am referring back to the @zolotaia-ptitsa ‘s brilliant insight when we were discussing the richard siken’s quote from planet of love: “i said the phrases that keep it all going, and everybody plays along.” at first, i was too focused on protagoniel; thinking about how it’s true that the protagonist was the one to give the order, to set everything in play, and everybody just went along with it.

but well, sonia (may i call you sonia?) pointed out that the line also worked for when speaking about neil as well. it’s the moment when neil called out for ives to wait, then gave the protagonist his piece of the algorithm. there was a little frown on his face when he turned away from the protagonist, to put a little bit of distance between them. there was also a certain sort of conviction in his voice, when he asked ives the question.

“i’m the only one who could get that door open in time, right, ives?” neil asked. he said it almost as a joke, and ives immediately picked up on it. i think he worked it out for himself already, what this – this whole mission – meant for neil.

so, he answered, “i don’t know any locksmith as good as you,” casually, with a shrug, like it was a simple fact.

does that mean they were friends? they must have known each other well enough for him to make that statement, right?

well, no, personally, i don’t think so. mostly because i’m a fiend for drama and angst, and the fact that he just played along, added, yet, another layer of something so bittersweet to the whole scene.

he played along, because he knew this was neil’s last mission.

now, as i understand it, you can only invert to the past. then, you may revert back to normal, but you stay in the past, wait it out until the moment your future self inverts and you can go on and live normally. that’s how kat could go and live with her son at the end of the movie without the world implode by having two kats in it.

so the moment ives saw neil walk out from the turnstile and report that he was here from a distant part of the future for the sator operation, ives knew. neil wasn’t going back. that neil had given up something very important for this mission. be it the life he had in the future or, well, as ives later found out, his own life.

so yeah, it made it much more bittersweet that they weren’t friends, that ives didn’t actually know neil as the “best locksmith” as he’d said, but he just played along, because he knew, he figured it out that neil was the one who opened the door for them down in the hypocenter (you could almost see it on his face when he pointed the gun at neil and the protagonist, working it over in his mind, giving neil a significant look before deciding against shooting them).

so, he knew what neil was asking for – confirmation, the last push he needed to leave the protagonist behind and go on to do what he must to save the world, and ives – professional agent that he was – could do nothing else but give it to him.

knowing this, though, and looking back at the scene, his answer actually became very much impersonal. it was said casually, because this was all business here, and they didn’t know each other well enough for ives to get emotional over it. he made it seem like nothing, like he didn’t just nod towards the edge of the cliff and told neil ‘well, off you go now.’

and woah, let’s also talk about the implications of this for the future. because, certainly, they (neil and ives) would cross path again when neil was recruited into tenet. it wouldn’t be much of a surprise. he’d take one look at neil, all considering and knowing, before walking away and continuing on with whatever he was doing.

like i said, it was quite impersonal between them. all business, here.

it was, however, a surprise, when he caught neil and the protagonist together. it wasn’t something explicit, no. he just walked in the room without knocking and caught the two in question standing a bit too close to each other. he looked at them, considering and understanding, before giving his mission report, all nonchalantly, and walking out.

later, when neil was already sent away to the past. the protagonist and ives would have a drink together. it wasn’t a regular occurrence – they don’t do shit like this in tenet – but the protagonist was mourning and he needed company, someone who knew, who’d been there with him.

after the first drink, the protagonist would ask something like, “was he really the best locksmith you knew?”

“not at the time, no,” ives would answer without missing a beat, already knew what – or when – the protagonist was referring to.

“why did you say it, then?” the protagonist would ask, a bit solemn.

“he was going to die, anyway,” ives would answer, blunt as ever. “and that door still needed to be opened, so when he asked for a push, i gave it to him.”

again, so impersonal and lacking of any real connection despite the years they’ve spent working together. still, he looked over at the protagonist, who wasn’t meeting his eyes but staring off to the night outside the window, and felt the man's melancholy seep right into his own skin. so, he stayed through the night, helping the protagonist through his sorrow. it’s the least he could do for the man who held the fate of the world in his hands; who just sent the man he loved to the end in exchange for it.

#tenet #ives #there's some #protagoneil #in there as well but barely #and welp it seems my Thoughts pertaining this movie don't stop at protagoneil #hahahahahahh #here you go either way #the end got me real fucked up there not gonna lie #it's all about the IMPLICATIONS #*my ramblings

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whats-rambled-rambled · 4 years

Text

Stuck in reverse - pt 3

Neil x Reader

Chapter 3: Bad guy

(<- see Chapter 2)

(<- see Chapter 1)

summary: you and Neil end up on an undercover mission together, but what should you do with all that free time?

warnings: alcohol consumption, blood mention, swearing

author’s note: this one surprisingly works as a standalone fic as well, I had fun writing playful banter and flirting, hope you enjoy it!

---

It was a chilly evening, but it wasn’t bothering you. You inhaled a cold air deep into your lungs.

That’s more like it.

You really enjoyed the thrill of being on a mission, when you could lock all the bullshit deep inside and just focus on a task ahead: quick undercover scout of the location, then stopping a local kingpin from acquiring some inverted materials. You could already feel all your senses sharpening, you were ready for the hunt.

You heard Neil’s footsteps behind you. You glanced over your shoulder and smirked.

“Aww, no tie?” you teased, trying not to laugh as you watched the hint of confusion on his face.

“What?”

“Nothing, you not wearing one on a..." – you cleared your throat - "...night out used to be a rare sight, that’s all.”

You didn’t mind though.

Neil blinked twice and crossed his arms. “Oh I’m sorry, should I go and change now?” He looked you up and down, a shade of smile tinted his lips. “I wouldn’t want to be under-dressed.”

“What, you don’t like my converse?” you huffed and mirrored his pose. “Hey, I enjoy a good pair of heels, just can’t save the day wearing them.”

“Fair enough,” he said and smiled, tilting his head and looking at you with those playful sparks in his eyes. “You look amazing.”

You raised one eyebrow and chuckled. “So do you. Now... shall we?”

The loud music hit you as soon as you entered the club, the bass blasting in your eardrums. While you were trying to mentally match the club’s layout from the brief to the actual location, Neil reached to his pocket for the phone. After few seconds he tapped you on a shoulder and showed you the screen with a message from Ives: “Uncle Bob is running late – looks like an hour, so have fun.”

You nodded and pointed at the bar. “Drinks?” you mouthed. No point in yelling, he couldn’t hear you anyway.

By the time you reached the counter, you already spotted eight security guards in various locations inside the hall, two of them trying to remain undercover in their civilian clothes.

Neil leaned against the bar.

“Nine,” he said, looking at you for confirmation.

You positioned yourself close to him so nobody could eavesdrop. The music was still annoyingly loud. You knew everyone entering the club was carefully examined at the entrance and that the club’s security was paying close attention to anyone behaving suspiciously, they weren’t willing to take any chances, especially that night. You were more than happy that Neil was your partner for that mission – you trusted him enough to just roll with anything the situation might require to remain unnoticed.

“Huh, I have eight, who did I miss?”

Neil gave you a half-smile.“The redhead at the end of the counter,” he said.

You didn’t even have to look at that direction, you knew exactly which one he meant. You smacked your lips, annoyed at your poor judgement.

“Damn, she’s hot,” - you nudged him lightly - “you sure she wasn’t just checking you out because of how incredibly handsome you are?”

“One hundred percent,” Neil laughed dryly.

“Nine then. Excuse me,” - you waved at the bartender to get their attention- “one gin&tonic and one vodka tonic.” You could hear Neil’s chuckle, so you shot a quick look at your partner. “Two can play that game, my dear.”

“Blimey.”

The smug expression on his face definitely made your heartbeat increase its pace. You shook your head and tried to stifle a giggle.

When your drinks arrived, you switched to a meaningless small talk, so no one would bother you while you were focused on locating things that might give you any advantage later on. There was still over half an hour of time left and you felt that you need to move to cover more ground, but you couldn’t just get up and walk around without drawing too much attention to yourself. Then you heard a familiar melody and gasped at that perfect excuse.

“Hey, wanna dance?” you grinned at Neil, your hips already swaying to the rhythm.

He pointed at his half-full drink. “Go ahead, I’ll join you in a bit.”

The dance floor was an excellent vantage point, you spotted two more guards hanging out at the back near the entrance to the VIP lounge. You let the music run through you, it almost felt like every part of your body was vibrating with that insane bass. You noticed Neil staring at you from across the room, but that only boosted your self-confidence. You knew you were good at this and it surely felt nice.

The song switched to something new, so you went back to the bar. You wanted to tease Neil about just sitting there instead of joining you but someone tapped your shoulder.

“Eyyy sexy, can I buy ya a drink?”

You turned your head and saw a guy smiling slyly from his seat. A quick look told you enough: a random stranger, pretty drunk, one of those business douches who considered themselves gods.

“No, thanks,” you replied, turning your back to him to strengthen the message.

“Come on, one drink!” he insisted. And then he grabbed your arm.

You could hear Neil’s glass clanking against a counter a bit too hard, but you were quicker. With one swift move you grabbed a toothpick from an abandoned drink next to you and pressed it against man’s thigh, hard enough for him to feel pain, but not hard enough to break the skin. He yelped and his eyes widened.

“Touch me one more time, I dare you,” your voice was dripping with sugar, but your eyes were deadly serious. “No means no, you twat, now piss off!”

The man squirmed and raised his hands in a defensive way. “Okay, okay,” he hissed and stood up. “Fucking bitch.”

You realized you were holding your breath the entire time, so you forced yourself to inhale and turned back to Neil. Your partner’s expression was a mixture of concern and amusement, so you let out a nervous laugh and ran the fingers though your hair.

“What’s wrong with those guys, I swear,” you shook your head, disgusted. You checked the time, 20 minutes.

Neil finished his drink and leaned your way. “Redhead and baldie over there have been watching the whole thing, come on,” - he said and reached out his hand - “I owe you a dance.”

You took Neil’s hand and followed him to the dance floor. You both knew you had to put on a bit of a show to keep the suspicion off your backs.

The rhythm of the song playing was a bit slower than before, the mood was heavier, made you think about a hot summer night. You could feel the bass pulsing in your veins, your heartbeat slowly getting in sync with it. Neil’s eyes found yours, you felt his gentle touch on your hand. You remembered he was a good dancer. He wasn’t a party beast, far from it, actually, but damn, seeing him move always made you swoon. That night was no different. Your bodies tuned to each other instantly, on one hand that was a familiar feeling, on the other- ...something changed, but you couldn’t put your finger on it yet, and to be honest, you didn’t really care in that moment. For the next few minutes nothing else mattered anymore, there was no mission, no past, no guilt. Only Neil and you, lost in the music, in each other’s closeness, in the rising warmth between the two of you.

Someone bumped into your back, making you lose your balance and fall into Neil’s arms.

“I've got you,” he said softly right into your ear.

His warm breath on your neck sent shivers down your spine and made you forget how to speak for a second. You pulled back to look at him and smiled, your heart singing in your chest.

With the corner of your eye you noticed a sudden change in the security’s behavior. Go time.

Neil must have seen the same thing, because he nodded and guided you back to the bar. The next few moments were crucial, but you already had a plan. You winked at Neil, took his hand and began to lightly stroke his long fingers. Then you got the bartender’s attention.

“Hey, settle this for us, we were wondering if you have any...” - you intertwined your fingers with Neil’s - “...tenets about PDA here,” you said, biting your lip at the sudden touch of Neil’s hand on your waist.

The bartender rolled their eyes and slid a glass of water your way. You could see a shiny metal object under the glass.

“Not really, but I recommend avoiding the main lobby,” they laughed and turned to the next customer.

You exchanged a quick look with Neil. So they are switching the swap location. With his hand still on your waist, he pulled you a bit closer, raising the other hand and slowly tucking a part of your hair behind your ear. That gave you enough time to get the key and hide it in his pocket.

You made your way to the toilet area of the club, where the storage was supposed to be. You maneuvered around the guards playing a tipsy couple, giggling and leaning on each other, not so different from other party couples around you. There were less people next to the storage, thank the Universe, you couldn’t proceed with the mission without getting your stuff first. Neil took the key and opened the lock, he was about to press the handle when you spotted another guard coming your way. You grabbed Neil by the front of his shirt and pulled him your way, slamming your back against the wall painfully. Your eyes locked with his. You buried your face in the crook of his neck. Neil’s hand grazed your hip, the other one, holding the key, slid behind your back. You closed your eyes so you could focus on the sound of footsteps around you, trying to tune out the overwhelming scent of Neil’s cologne.

“I think we’re clear,” he said in a husky voice.

You decided not to comment on it, focusing on leveling your own breath.

Neil entered the storage and you followed him, quickly closing the door behind you. You found your gear hidden in one of the boxes at the back of the room: a lockbox with a laptop, a pair of pistols, silencers, ammo, walkies, a backpack and two bulletproof vests. You opened the computer and ran a program, connecting it to the club’s security system and allowing it to access all the cameras in the building. Meanwhile, Neil got final instructions from Ives and checked the guns. The meeting had already begun. You watched two men carefully examining the contents of a black suitcase. There. Some of the parts dropped back into their hands. What the hell did they need it for?

Neil tossed you your vest, already equipped with everything you needed. Then you had to trigger some silent alarms to smoke the bastards out of that place, but without scaring the civilians in the club. The less people outside, the better. You tapped few command lines into the software and watched the guards outside the transaction room jump at their places, one of them going inside to alert the bosses, the other one rushing to check for the intruders.

You packed all your things to the backpack and gave it to Neil. He pushed three boxes together so you could easily reach the small window near the ceiling, allowing you both to drop in the back alley.

Clear. You jumped down quietly and ran towards the back entrance, where you expected some company. Neil was right behind you, taking cover at the other side of the door. 3...2...1.

The door opened with a loud thud and you grabbed the first man that went through them. He didn’t put up much of a fight, bless his soul.

The next one was quite a different story.

Same as all the others after him.

Next thing you knew, you were ducking into cover behind some dumpster, shots being fired in your direction.

“Just like old times, huh?” Neil laughed as he joined you a moment later, hitting his back against the dumpster. There was a moment of silence and he wanted to get up, but you grabbed his arm and shook your head.

“Wait.”

Two more shots.

Why does nobody count?

“Now!”

You focused your fire at two remaining guards while your partner ran after a guy trying to escape with the inverted materials. Poor bastard didn’t have a chance. Neil shot him in the leg long before he could reach a car parked at the end of the alley.

You made sure none of the guards remained a threat and you joined Neil near the knocked-out man.

“Took you long enough,” you said, looking around for any witnesses. Luckily, the street was empty, thanks to late hour and the work of Ives and the rest of the team, of course.

“You told me to wait!” Neil scoffed, checking out the suitcase. Everything seemed to be in place.

“And you’re welcome.”

You wiped the sweat from your forehead and hissed from the sudden pain. You looked at your fingers. Blood.

Neil jumped on his feet, clearly worried.

“Y/N, your brow...” he raised his hand as if he wanted to examine your wound, but he hesitated. He placed it on your shoulder instead and looked into your eyes. “You okay?”

You put your hand on his chest and smiled reassuringly. “I’m fine Neil, what about you?”

Neil nodded and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into a hug.

Oh.

You noticed your team’s car approaching from the distance.

(next Chapter ->)

#neil tenet #neil tenet x reader #neil x reader #tenet #robert pattinson #tenet fanfic #neil tenet fanfic #stuck in reverse

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whats-rambled-rambled · 4 years

Text

Stuck in reverse - playlist

You can find it on Spotify here.

Okay, let’s talk about it!

Sam Smith – Fix you

I remember crying to the original song (by Coldplay) back in 2005. Whoo boy, lots of teenage feelings!

I’m not the biggest fan of Sam Smith’s music, but one day I was just driving home from work and this song began playing on the radio and by the end of it I could barely see the road.

// When you try your best, but you don’t succeed When you get what you want, but not what you need When you feel so tired, but you can’t sleep Stuck in reverse And the tears come streaming down your face When you lose something you can’t replace When you love someone, but it goes to waste Could it be worse? //

That one line – stuck in reverse – felt just so perfect for a story set in the universe where people invert themselves back and forth.

It became one of the three main songs that inspired me to write the whole damn thing, and also the only title in the story that is not a title of a song as well.

Chapter 1: Ben Platt – Ease my mind

This is one of the songs I have on my daily playlist, I just love it, and the lyrics are so fitting:

//Most days I wake up with a pit in my chest There are thoughts that I can’t put to rest There’s a worry that I can’t place

Most nights, I am restless and quiet won’t come So I lay there and wait for the sun There’s a trouble that won’t show its face

You came out of nowhere and you cut through all the noise I make sense to the madness when I listen to your voice//

We learn more about the nightmares in the next chapters, but it all starts here. That melancholic vibe stuck with me for the rest of the story I guess.

Bonus song: Lewis Capaldi - Before you go

The combat scene in one song, or at least what I imagined was going through Reader’s mind at that point.

//I fell by the wayside like everyone else I hate you, I hate you, I hate you but I was just kidding myself Our every moment, I start to replace ‘Cause now that they’re gone, all I hear are the words that I needed to say When you hurt under the surface Like troubled water running cold Well, time can heal but this won’t//

Have you ever felt that way? Trying to hide your broken heart under anger? I don’t know, it just resonated deeply.

The second part of the song kinda seeped into the next chapter:

//Was there something I could’ve said To make your heart beat better? If only I’d have known you had a storm to weather

//Would we be better off by now If I’d have let my walls come down? Maybe, I guess we’ll never know//

Chapter 2: Kaleo - I can’t go on without you

Another song from my daily playlists (side note – I saw Kaleo once live on a music festival and they were mind-blowing, you should really check out more of their work).

It worked with the story because of its desperate and painful mood.

Bonus: Calum Scott - Dancing on my own

Holy shit, I FELT this one. (Been there, done that). Of course I had to write it into Reader’s past. Actually, I wrote it first and then found the song, but it doesn’t matter, that’s the flashback scene right here:

//Somebody said you got a new friend Does she love you better than I can? And there’s a big black sky over my town I know where you’re at, I bet she’s around And yeah, I know it’s stupid But I just gotta see it for myself I’m in the corner, watching you kiss her, I’m right over here, why can’t you see me? And I’m giving it my all //

Chapter 3: Billie Eilish – Bad guy

No feels, pure bop. This song is so BADASS, I really needed to get that vibe into the undercover mission, I didn’t want Reader to be an emotional mess and nothing else, you know?

Bonus: Tones and I – Dance Monkey

I shit you not, I’ve had that one on repeat for the dance scene. There is something incredibly seductive in that beat, I just couldn’t get it out of my head.

Bonus: Kings of Leon – Closer

It just makes my heart clench and leaves me breathless.

Chapter 4: Ben Platt – Bad habit

Ah, that was the moment when I cursed at myself for using Ease my mind for chapter 1, but we already talked about it.

Even though this song is very emotional, it’s not that heartbreaking, you can hear a faint smile here and there and it just makes my heart sing.

And oh my god, those lyrics:

//You always said that I’d come back to you again ‘Cause everybody needs a friend, it’s true Someone to quiet the voices in my head Make ‘em sing to me instead, it’s you Hate to say that I love you Hate to say that I need you Hate to say that I want you But I do Bad habit, I know But I’m needin’ you right now Can you help me out? Can I lean on you? Been one of those days Sun don’t wanna come out Can you help me out? Can I lean on you?//

They just work with that plot, you know?

Bonus: Dodie – Sick of losing soulmates

Another song that just resonates with the story.

//What a strange being you are, God knows where I would be If you hadn’t found me, sitting all alone in the dark A dumb screenshot of youth Watch how a cold broken teen Will desperately lean on a superglued human of proof

What the hell would I be, without you (what the hell would I be) Brave face talk so lightly, hide the truth (hide the truth)

'Cause I’m sick of losing soulmates, so where do we begin I can finally see, you’re as fucked up as me So how do we win?//

Chapter 5: Adele – Someone like you

The whole damn sunset scene + this song on repeat = feels

The pain in her voice? God, it just reduces me to a puddle of tears.

Reader could just sing it at some point to Neil almost word for word.

Bonus: Passenger – Let her go

Okay, the case of that one is quite funny, because I kinda needed to figure out how to get from point A to point B of the chapter, and I was browsing Spotify looking for „campfire songs” or something like that. Of course I’ve heard this one before, but I’ve never actually focused on the lyrics.

And oh boy, suddenly it all became clear.

Headcanon time – in my head, Wheeler and Neil are close friends, she treats him a bit like a younger brother, I just can imagine they know each other very well at that point. Of course she knows hows about his past. Of course she heard about Reader. And she thinks they are both silly babies and they should just kiss, right? That’s why she chooses that song.

Those lyrics – they fit Neil’s backstory so damn well.

//Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go//

And he was stupid enough to let her go. Because his timing was off.

Those lyrics are also perfect to make Reader think about his ex-girlfriend, because of course that is what you’re gonna it’s all about.

Bonus: Del Amitri – Tell her this

Ahh, there it is – the second out of three main songs for Stuck in Reverse.

I remember the moment I found out that Rob Pattinson sings and writes music, then I listened to some of the songs and my heart went whoooosh. So I just had to make Neil play a guitar, I just needed to find out what song would be The One.

Do you remember that flashback about them both watching a tv show on his couch? Here, you’re welcome.

I recently started rewatching Scrubs and when I got to that episode – ding, ding, ding!

This is the ultimate “hey, I fucked up, I shouldn’t have let you go, I’m an idiot and I love you.”

Chapter 6: Imagine Dragons – Next to me

I adore that song. It warms my heart. I think it fits Neil and Reader’s relationship.

And I needed all the fluffy feelings to switch the tone of the story to something lighter.

Bonus: Michelle Branch – Everywhere

This one is a silly bop, and it always puts me in a good mood. A nice song to listen to when you are happy, in love, and you are making breakfast.

Bonus: Ashlee Simpson – Pieces of me

This one (same as the one before) came to me from Zach Braff’s workout playlist, haha. I mean I almost forgot about it, but it makes me smile every time I hear it, and the lyrics work nicely:

//On a Monday I am waiting Tuesday I am fading And By Wednesday I can’t sleep Then the phone rings I hear you And the darkness is a clear view Cause you’ve come to rescue me

Fall, with you I fall so fast I can hardly catch my breath I hope it lasts

It seems like I can finally Rest my head on something real I like the way that feels It’s as if you know me better Than I ever knew myself I love how you can tell All the pieces, pieces, pieces of me//

Bonus: Kaleo – I want more

Is there such a thing as a warm melancholy? Because that is a vibe I get from that song.

//Turn back, leave all you had Forgive, I’ll forget 'Cause what we need is what we once had Time won’t stand still Just say you will 'Cause I need you there and now

If you leap, I’ll come falling too Running deep 'til that rivers through I don’t mind what you have to do 'Cause I won’t think less, less of you

Yes, I want more, more Looking for more I want more, more 'Cause I want more

Old grounds Feels like the weight has been lifted away So don’t you leave me there wanting more//

Chapter 7: Ben Platt – In case you don’t live forever

I mean it’s not my fault that Ben’s songs make me FEEL things, damn it.

The whole damn song = utter heartbreak when you think about Neil coming back to Reader before he goes back to Stalsk-12 to open that damn lock.

//I, I’ve carried this song in my mind Listen, it’s echoing in me But I haven’t helped you to hear it We, we’ve only got so much time I’m pretty sure it would kill me If you didn’t know the pieces of me are pieces of you

I’ve waited way too long to say Everything you mean to me

In case you don’t live forever, let me tell you now I love you more than you’ll ever wrap your head around In case you don’t live forever, let me tell you the truth I’m everything that I am because of you//

Bonus: Charlene Soraia – Wherever you will go

Why am I doing this to you? Because we all like pain.

This one is for the scene on the deck:

//So lately, been wondering Who will be there to take my place When I’m gone you’ll need love to light the shadows on your face If a great wave shall fall and fall upon us all Then between the sand and stone, could you make it on your own

If I could, then I would I’ll go wherever you will go Way up high or down low, I’ll go wherever you will go

And maybe, I’ll find out A way to make it back someday To watch you, to guide you through the darkest of your days If a great wave shall fall and fall upon us all Then I hope there’s someone out there who can bring me back to you//

Bonus: Rhys Lewis – No right to love you

No light, only pain and suffering.

//'Cause I have no right to love you When I chose to walk away I have no right to miss you When I didn’t wanna stay And I have no right to need you And I knew what my heart was gonna lose I have no right to love you But I do, I still do Yeah, I still do//

Bonus: Knox Brown x Gallant – Reignite

This song is just so incredible, it makes my palms sweat and my mind going places. Yep, it was on repeat.

Oh you know which scene this one is for.

Bonus: Freya Ridings – Lost without you

The last dialogue. On repeat. Because this song breaks my heart and leaves me a sobbing mess.

//Strangers rushin’ past Just tryna get home But you were the only Safehaven that I’ve known Hits me at full speed Feel like I can’t breathe And nobody knows This pain inside me My world is crumbling I should never Let you go I think I’m lost without you//

(OI, SPOILERS)

Chapter 8: Florence + The Machine – Never let me go

I have only one thing to say:

Fuck you, Nolan.

Third out of three.

//And it’s over and I’m going under

But I’m not giving up I’m just giving in

Oh, slipping underneath So cold and so sweet

In the arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold And all this devotion, well, I never knew at all And the questions I have for a sinner released In the arms of the ocean deliver me

(Never let me go, never let me go Never let me go, never let me go)//

Bonus: Sasha Sloan - Dancing with your ghost

Suffer with me.

//Yelling at the sky Screaming at the world Baby, why’d you go away? I’m still your girl Holding on too tight Head up in the clouds Heaven only knows Where you are now

How do I love How do I love again? How do I trust How do I trust again?

I stay up all night Tell myself I’m alright Baby, you’re just harder to see than most I put the record on Wait 'til I hear our song Every night I’m dancing with your ghost Every night I’m dancing with your ghost//

#stuck in reverse playlist #stuck in reverse #bts stuck in reverse #im gonna make yall suffer with me

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iamtheprotagoneil · 3 years

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so, my lovely ao3 commenter alicia, sent me this italian song along with its english translation and like, strap in, gang, it’s rambling time.

Maybe one day we’ll have a place Hidden or far away from the many hospital wards* In which we lay to rest the loves, by then in disuse Those not historical, of which no one will speak

*The word Tiziano used is “astanterie”, which is not really a hospital ward but an area of the hospital where patients wait before being moved to a department. In an interview he said it’s like a “middle zone” for people who suffer. And it seemed perfect for the song, because he speaks of love that does not go down in history, but love that is still significant. Loves that are there, in the middle.

god i’m just so sad right now, alicia, i can’t believe you’ve done this.

“love that does not go down in history, but love that is still significant.” this line here, i feel, just perfectly encapsulates protagoneil’s love. i mean, they literally cannot have a record on anything that they do, and it, of course, pertains also to the nature of their relationship. it’s something known to so few people that it’s almost not worth mentioning, but god, it’s so significant still. this is a love that transcends time and space, after all.

“Loves that are there, in the middle” makes me think of how their love, imo, isn’t at its peak, and probably won’t ever get a chance to reach its peak. at the beginning the protagonist would only realize much too late that there had been (would be) history between himself and neil. and when history would finally be made, they wouldn’t get to have so much time together, and what little time they’d have would be riddled with saving the world, with getting neil ready for this one mission, with everything else that demanded their attention. then, neil would invert and there would still be so many things left unsaid because that’s just the nature of their relationship, when paired with tenet. duty vs desire, and the former always wins out.

this line also sort of reminds me of a line in 505 by arctic monkeys that goes: “middle of adventure, such a perfect place to start.” it’s about a relationship that started in the wrong place, and if that isn’t protagoneil. i know alex wrote that line to be ironic, but i get a different feel from it for protagoneil. the way they’d always have a first meeting with one person knowing too much about the other; the way they could never truly be on even grounds because of that very fact. but to them, that was perfect - the middle of adventure, where the begin and ending had both past in front of their eyes. it was just perfect because it was all they could get, you know? where else would they get that beautiful friendship if not in the middle of their story, of their adventure together?

And if you want to, your smile shows itself in a star For tonight even that would be fine And happiness won’t be needed anymore Not even imagination anymore I’ll be happy with the times gone by

A tear will blow in the wind and return to you To tell you goodbye, goodbye My little memory in which I’ve kept years of happiness, goodbye And watch me face this life as if you’re still here

Maybe one day the universe will honor my request And bring us back together Between the afterlife and my nest in this town there’s a lot of difference Even if I try not to see it And I travel the world, and I’ll call your name for millennia And you’ll show yourself when I don’t want it anymore And not now, here on this bed in which I sadly realize Your scent is slowly fading

now this is what i was yammering on about in that ‘i wish you saw’ fic of mine. idk what else to say that i haven’t tried to get out in that fic already. it’s just so painful to think about how neil had to comfort himself during the years in inversion... “i’ll be happy with the times gone by.” and even beyond that, when he had to meet the protagonist again, and come to peace with the fact that everything he’s done to this point has not been in vain, and his efforts have been witnessed, that the love of his life had seen it, and known it, and be grateful for it. “watch me face this life as if you’re still here.”

it’s the ‘i wish you saw’ hopelessly spoken to the empty of the airlocked space neil must spend his time in in version, to the darkness of night when sleep refused to come, and to the traces traces (ghost) of the protagonist in neil’s mind. it’s neil trying to retain memories of his lover but failing because years have past, because he’s seen this protagonist and his mind’s grown attached to him too.

ahhh it’s too much, alicia. i am CRYING lskdjflsdjkflj

And without peace in my chest I know that I can’t do it all But if you’d return I would do it all and that’s that And I watch this door intently, because if you came in another time It’d mean that I’m already dead as well And I’d go back to you and tell you hey, hey My little miracle descended from heaven to love me, hey And the memories collapse, the whole universe collapses And there, you remain Life like you remember it One day I’ll go away with you

god, i never truly thought about neil wanting to die - was ready to die, so he could go and meet his protagonist again in the afterlife. and bro... “my little miracle descended from heaven to love me, hey / and the memories collapse, the whole universe collapses / and there, you remain” i am absolutely in love with these lines? it conjues up this scene in my head, where we see things in neil’s pov at the very end. he takes the bullet between his head - all thoughts instantly disappear - the rubbles fall down on him from the explosion - he opens his eyes and there he was, the love of neil’s life being there to welcome him, once again, to the afterlife.

#alicia the ao3 commenter #protagoneil #tenet #music #ah bro i'm just-#i don't have any words for this #this song is just so beautifully tragic #PROTAGONEIL is beautifully tragic #i've 205 posts on this blog already most of them about these two time-traveling dudes #and somehow there's still so many things left to say about them #to explore and discuss #and all of them seemingly so tragic and sad and just ahhhhhh #too much T^T #*my ramblings

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Tenet Opening Opera Scene Explained

https://ift.tt/3tjao7T

This article contains Tenet spoilers. You can read our spoiler-free review here.

Christopher Nolan has a reputation for making complicated, hard to understand movies, but in all honesty, that reputation is unearned. In Memento, the scenes filmed in color are running in reverse order, the scenes filmed in black and white are running forwards, and the film ends when they meet in the middle. Inception is a pretty straight forward heist once you get your head round the idea that the dreams are nested inside each other like Russian dolls, each running a little faster than the one inside of it. Even Tenet isn’t as complex as it’s made out to be. There are no branching timelines, just an awful lot of bootstrap paradoxes and loops.

However, while the film as a whole has a fairly easy to understand plot after a viewing or two, one part of the movie really lives up to Nolan’s reputation. The opening.

A lot happens, zero context is given for any of it, and most if it is never referred to in the film again. So what the hell was going on?

Tenet Opening Recap

Let’s start by taking it step by step. Please pay attention, and remember the hand is quicker than the eye.

The film opens on a concert hall, and just as the musicians finish tuning up, a bunch of terrorists with machine guns come barging in shooting people and taking everyone hostage.

The police arrive on the scene.

However, there is another party of armed men—not the police or the terrorists—already there, waiting in a black van in SWAT uniforms.

One of the men in SWAT uniforms is John David Washington’s Peter Rotagonist—or the Protagonist for short. Pete is one of this team. As they see the police arrive, they slap on Velcro patches to match the incoming fuzz.

Then they burst out of the van, merging seamlessly with the incoming SWAT team as they storm the concert hall (which it turns out is an opera house because Nolan is too damn clever for his own good).

The police (the real police) pump sleeping gas into the vents of the concert hall, successfully knocking out all the hostages but, presciently, the terrorists understand the importance of wearing a mask at public gatherings.

At around this time we cut back to the box over the concert hall and a man who the script only refers to as “Well-Dressed Man,” even though he’s wearing a pretty non-descript suit to the opera. The person next to him, wearing a really much smarter looking military dress uniform, pulls a gun.

At this moment, the SWAT teams start busting into the concert hall, and Pete and his team storm up to the boxes, busting into the one where the Well-Dressed Man is sitting. They kill his military friend and anyone else in the room. Then Pete addresses the Well-Dressed Man, saying, “We live in a twilight world,” to which Well-Dressed Man responds, “And there are no friends at dusk.”

Then the Pete tells him, “You’ve been made. This siege is a blind for them to vanish you.” The Well-Dressed Man complains that he has already established contact, but Pete insists that he has to either bring the Well-Dressed Man in or kill him.

While this conversation is going on some of the Real Cops are coming down the corridor, shooting terrorists.

Who is “Them?” What’s the significance of “We live in a twilight world?” Who has the Well-Dressed made contact with? Shhh. Save your questions until the end, because right now we’re jumping out of this window to escape from the Real Cops.

But not before Pete can ask where “the package” is and be told “coat check,” and given a ticket.

We are three minutes and thirty-five seconds into the movie.

The Pete and Well-Dressed New Friend run and hide from the Real Cops among the audience, because if someone’s shooting at you there’s no better place to hide than a crowd of unconscious innocent by-standers. At the same time, the Real Cops come in and murder the last of the terrorists.

At this point the Pete notices the people in SWAT uniforms are planting bombs around the concert hall.

One of the Bomb Planting Cops tells Pete to grab a bomb from a dead cop’s bag. Pete stops to stare at the bomb for a few seconds, and then another cop sees him, thinks he’s sus, leading him to rip off Pete’s Velcro patch. Only then does Suspicious Cop gets shot by a Fake Cop who says, “No friends at dusk, huh?”

Pete tells Friendly Fake Cop to get Well-Dressed Man to the rally point, then runs to the coat room to pick up Well-Dressed Man’s bag.

The bag contains a strange metal object that, if you’re watching this for the second time, you will immediately recognize as part of the Algorithm (a secret formula for inverting the flow of entropy on a global scale, bringing past and future crashing together and ending the universe as we know it). Then Pete hoofs it to the rally point to meet up with Well-Dressed Man and the rest of the Fake Cops.

Pete says the Ukrainians are expecting a passenger. This is a Ukrainian opera house, so presumably he’s talking about the cops. Is the Ukrainian government behind this? No time to discuss that because we’reswapping outfits!

Well-Dressed Man, who I guess now is just Regularly-Dressed Man, puts on a SWAT uniform while a Fake Cop puts on the suit, presumably meaning he is now the Well-Dressed Man, and I’m sorry I may be making this more complicated than it needs to be, but please give your characters actual names in the future, Chris.

Pete tells the Regularly Dressed, Formerly Known as the Well-Dressed Man that he’s “never seen an encapsulation like this,” referring to the bit of Algorithm. “Encapsulation” is a term that often refers to the storage of nuclear waste, so Pete clearly thinks he’s there to retrieve parts of a nuclear bomb.

RDFKATWDM says, “We don’t know how old it is, but it’s the real deal.”

Pete wants to know if RDFKATWDM has an out, he does, the sewer, so Pete tells him to take that route, because he doesn’t trust the one they had planned. Pete also asks if the bomb (the cop bombs, not the nuclear one) can be defused. It can’t, and there are more among the audience. So even though it isn’t his mission, Pete goes back to rescue all of the audience members who didn’t get killed by stray bullets when he was climbing over them earlier.

He collects all of the bombs in a big bag, but as he picks up the last one a Cop (we think a Fake Cop) pulls a gun on him.

Pete says, “Walk away, you don’t have to kill these people.”

We know this because of the script. Until that became available there was a lot of debate online about who said that, because that’s a risk when everyone is wearing masks and delivers their lines in the same low-key tone of voice.

Then a bullet shoots backwards out of a bullet hole, through the Fake Cop, killing him, and into the gun of someone standing behind him.

Even on first viewing, this was the moment that made the most sense in the entire scene for me.

Pete has time to see his savior jogging away with a distinctive orange tag hanging off his bag. This is because he has just been rescued by Neil, the posh, trashy Robert Pattinson-portrayed English agent who we later learn has a timey-wimey River Song-esque relationships with Pete.

Fake Cop in Well-Dressed Man’s Clothes notices this and points out he’s not part of the Fake Cop club, but Pete isn’t fussed.

They run out, lobbing the bombs up somewhere I hope nobody else was hiding, and they explode behind them.

Pete and Fake Cop in Well-Dressed Man’s Clothes get back to the van, and as soon as they open the door, someone in the van says in Russian, “That’s not the guy!” presumably referring to the Fake Cop Who is Not the Well-Dressed Man, and shoots him in the gun. Then they knock out Pete. On second thought, maybe these are the Ukrainians?

Pete wakes up tied to a chair between some train tracks where the driver of the Fake Cops van tells him a man can be trained to hold out for 18 hours, so Pete’s colleagues will by free by seven. He points to Pete’s colleague to boast he didn’t last 18 minutes and knew nothing. The torturer confiscates Pete’s suicide pill, and tells him the clock is fast and turns it back an hour. This is called “Foreshadowing.” There are also trains running backwards and forwards either side of the torture scene. This is also “Foreshadowing.”

There’s some nasty implied torture, but in a moment of opportunity, Pete lunges forward and swallows the suicide pill that Fake Cop in Well-Dressed Man’s Clothes was smuggling behind his back.

Pete wakes up in bed to discover it was a test, despite the fact they pulled his teeth out for real and apparently it’s taken a lot of reconstructive surgery to put them back. Also despite it being a test, Pete’s team are all dead and the bit of algorithm is lost.

This all took eight minutes, and then we launch into the film proper.

What Was the Plan?

So questions. First, what was the actual plan here?

Near as we can tell, the once Well-Dressed Man works for the organization run by Kenneth Branagh’s Sator (the “Private Russians” mentioned during Pete’s post-death debriefing). Sator had the Well-Dresed Man infiltrating the Ukrainian government to make contact with someone (if you want to go down that rabbit hole of who, the mystery third party could be the Protagonist’s future, Tenet-running self).

The siege was executed by a senior Ukrainian military officer and apparently enough of the Ukrainian police force that Pete’s team didn’t know which unit would respond to the terrorist attack. The police also very clearly shoot a lot of the terrorists dead. So on discovering the Well-Dressed Man is a mole, the Ukrainian government decide to vanish him and either get a hold of or retrieve the piece of Algorithm in his possession.

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The corrupt personnel decide the best thing to do is take him to the opera with one of their senior military officials. They then pay some mercenaries to act as terrorists and take the audience of the concert hostage. Some of the civilians, or the terrorists, must have informed the police, so that a SWAT team made up of what must be real police turn up.

The police gas the concert hall, and a team of real cops go up to the box where Well-Dressed Man is. Along the way they shoot some of the mercenaries they share an employer with.

At this point, Plan A is that Ukrainian Military Official will shoot Well-Dressed Man. Plan B is that if somehow the Military Official slips and lands on his own gun, a SWAT team will burst in and kill Well-Dressed Man.

Sator’s team knows about this, and have their own fake SWAT team ready, not knowing that their fake SWAT team has also been infiltrated by Pete and his CIA friends. Sator’s team plans to extract the well-dressed man and steal the bit of Algorithm, then plant a bunch of bombs in the concert hall the blow it up and destroy any evidence.

Pete extracts the Well-Dressed Man, hands him over to his undercover CIA pals, but dresses up his friend as the Well-Dressed Man to take back to Sator’s people. Sator’s people don’t fall for it.

They kidnap Pete, torture him, and when he takes a pill and drops unconscious, they think “Well, we’ll leave this body somewhere it can be easily retrieved by his colleagues” and call it a day.

Alternatively:

The torturers are on Tenet’s payroll, and Future Pete has instructed them to go back, kidnap and torture him, then let him commit fake suicide so he can be recruited. This plan means Pete gives the order to have his own teeth ripped out, which you have to admit is pretty hardcore.

Meanwhile Pete’s friends, the Algorithm piece, and the Well-Dressed Man all run into some more of Sator’s team as they escape through the sewer, and are killed.

Having watched the same eight minutes of film over more times than I care to count, this scenario is the best explanation I can come up with. Feel free to offer your own theory in the comments.

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