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anothertimdrakestan · 4 years

Text

Light Of My Life Pt.2 Jason Todd x Reader

Words: 2.5k

Requested? Yes! From a lovely returning anon!

“I’m the anon who requested the avenger reader and ......... *chefs kiss* *chefs kiss* *chefs kiss* It’s so good! i love the readers powers and how they get sparky when they’re happy! I always thought that captain America and tony stark and Natasha and everyone else would be protective of the reader so I wonder what would happen if she introduced Jason to the avengers? Do you think they’d find out that he was red hood? (And they’d keep it a secret but maybe then they’d be REALLY protective)”

LINK TO PROMPTS -> REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN!

HI AGAIN IM SO GLAD YOU’RE BACK LOVE!!! We been knew I love me a good protective family and Jason sooooo my beautiful anon you did it again! Chef’s kisses right back at you angel <333 Because you liked the happy sparks let me show you what happens when all the emotions come out to play.... mwahahahaha CHECK OUT PT 1 HERE!

“Fuck no.”

You rolled your eyes at your boyfriend as he pouted. “Hey I met your family you have to meet mine!” you chided, Jason had been reluctant to meet the other Avengers. The last time he’d ever met one besides you was as Robin pre-death when Stark came to visit Bruce Wayne and Iron Man visited Batman. The two never really got along and since Jason idolized Bruce he hadn’t been the kindest to Stark.

You’d only recently learned this when you told the other Avengers why you always wanted to be in Gotham. Cap was happy you’d found a friend, he understood the necessity of having a person you can talk to and rely on, and he missed his person so he wished you the best. To say Stark was pissed was an understatement. Not only was he secretly rooting for you and Spidey to get together but he always got a bad taste in his mouth thinking about the Wayne family. “No” was his only reply and you had to give him the “even though you’re my father figure and my boss you don’t control my personal life” speech which ended in a hug and some cursing under his breath. To your surprise Peter was equally upset and said next time you went to Gotham he needed to meet this elusive, powerless, gun wielding, Jason.

And just like that here you were in Gotham, wrapping in your boyfriend’s arms, trying to convince him to come meet the “A-list” as he called them. “You’re going Jay. Maybe you can bring Tim he loves the Avengers he’d die to meet them!” you cooed, knowing Jason would agree because he never wanted to tell you no. Jason knew how excited you were, he could feel the light shocks that danced on your skin as he held you. Begrudgingly he agreed. You had decided it would be better to meet as your human personas rather than stir up the media with an Avengers visit to Gotham.

“Hey gorgeous” Jason grinned as you gave him a spin in one of your favorite outfits, beyond excited to introduce him to the people who were your family you rushed over to him. As you toyed with his t-shirt collar you admired his appearance, Jason was fashionable in the lowkey, vibey kind of fashion, it was perfect, and undeniably attractive. You could tell he was trying to hide his nerves, he gripped your hand tighter than normal and fidgeted slightly, he knew these people were your home and you could tell he wanted to make a good impression even if he wouldn’t admit it.

You’d invited them to your now shared apartment with Jason. The two of you had spent a while cleaning and prepping for guests and the apartment was spotless. Getting the text from Stark that him, Peter, and Natasha were headed up and you saw the three of them cloaked in jackets and hats entering the main lobby. Giving Jason’s hand a squeeze you gave him a quick peck on the cheek and a reassuring looking. Jason leaning into your embrace whispered “it’ll go fine” and you couldn’t tell if he was saying it to himself or you. Almost on cue there was a loud knock and before you could get to the door Tony burst in with Natasha and Peter following. “WHERE IS HE!” Tony yelled and you rushed over grinning. “Shut up Stark behave yourself!” he brought you into a quick hug before looking at Jason. “Hello Todd” he said, Jason looked a little shocked that Tony had either remembered from those years ago or had done his research. Jason stuck out a hand feigning confidence and Tony took it strongly.

Inviting everyone in you all sat cooly around the living room. As you talked with Natasha about recent events and living in Gotham you noticed that Jason looked afraid to touch you, sitting rigid next to you. Glancing over you saw him getting death stares from Peter and Tony anytime he moved a muscle. “The two of you stop it!” you chided, grabbing Jason’s hand and realizing it was slightly shaking. “I expect it from Mr. Father Figure but really Parker?” you quipped as he shrugged in agreement.

You could feel your aura radiate with annoyance and Peter and Tony looked taken aback. “Hey Sparky- Y/N it’s fine” Jason looked embarrassed at his use of one of his many nicknames. “Dude you use electric puns too!” Peter looked excited as he told Jason about some of his favorites. As the two bonded you groaned when Peter said “DUDE LIGHTNING MCQUEEN IS SUCH A GOOD ONE!” and went in for a high five over your embarrassment. Tony broke the bro-moment, “So Jason Todd, second Robin, heard you died. Haven’t seen you in a bit do you prefer Todd or Hood?” Jason gulped, straightening up as he squeezed your hand. “Um, Todd is fine, yeah I did and it was really hard but I have Y/N and she’s really been amazing and also yes I was Robin when I saw you a long time ago and you totally already know that but yeah” he took in a deep breath as Tony processed his answers. Turning to you he asked “and he’s nice to you? Good friend? Good lover? No ring yet right? I learned the hard way waiting too long isn’t great but you better not rush this kid” you rolled your eyes hearing the same line of questioning as always. “Tony shut the hell up” Natasha interrupted. “Look, Jason’s whole body is angled to Y/N, he’s holding her hand through the sparks and probably shocks, he hasn’t gotten angry at your dumb overprotective dad moments, and everytime one of them looks at the other they calm down a little more. They’re in love Tony leave them be.” Tony starred in silence before standing up, drawing in a breath you could feel Jason tense. “Alright then I approve. Let’s get this party started! You guys got booze?”

A couple drinks in an everyone was best friends with everyone. You and Peter weren’t of age yet so you both skipped but Tony was definitely nicer a couple drinks in, and Jason was a lot less tense even though he wasn’t drinking, determined to stay sober to answer any questions he was asked. Peter still looked like he didn’t trust Jason but you couldn’t help but grin as you watched the only father figure you’d ever had bond with your boyfriend. You finally felt like you had a family, it was perfect.

Perfect until Peter Parker got attacked.

As you frantically zapped through light posts you heard Jason on his bike behind you. Tony and Natasha didn’t want to alert the press with two of the most prominent Avengers being seen in Gotham and after a couple drinks they decided to let you and Jason take the lead. So as Red Hood and Y/H/N took to the Gotham streets after Clayface who had engulfed a terrified Peter Parker, Black Widow and Iron Man watched from above.

You zapped in front of Clayface, your skin practically sizzling. “you!” ZAP “are!” ZAP “interrupting!” ZAP “my!” ZAP “DAY!!!” you screeched, letting out all the anger and stress pent up from the day. Unfortunately, your electricity didn’t have much effect on a giant piece of dirt, so you went for keeping it’s attention while Jason fiddled with some explosives.

You zapped around the scene, being careful not to let Clayface get a hand on you for fear of him trying to engulf you too. You could barely hear Jason, cursing yourself for leaving you comm somewhere in the apartment but you could make out “Y/H/N it’s ready but Peter’s in there!” from Jason. “Shit alright I’m going in I guess!” you called, unsure if your powers would even work inside of Clayface. With a deep breath you ran straight ahead, preparing for whatever came next when a figure shoved you out of the way. Instinctively you shot into a lamp post for safety when you saw Red Hood press the button for the explosives and dive into Clayface. Once you realized he just sacrificed his life for yours appeared on the pavement screaming for Jason. Lightning cracked above you as you cried out amid the explosion. At the peak of the explosion everything you felt was too much, needing to know if Jason was okay and it Peter was still alive you felt stuck to the ground. Letting out a guttural scream you gave up trying to hold everything in. The lightning dissipated as you felt your energy connect to every current in Gotham. As the smoke cleared you saw a pile of Clay and no Red Hood and your heart snapped in half. Sinking to your knees you felt the power of every light in Gotham and it was too much. As your tears poured you needed the pain to stop, it had to stop, you’d lost everything.

And then it did. No more sparks, no more current, no more emotion, no more pain.

Your eyes fell out of focus as you stared ahead. You didn’t see two figures emerged from behind the corner of a building. Your eyes were blurry and you felt numb, unable to recognize the voice of Jason as he called out for you. Everything was quiet and muted, no buzzing from the streetlights or vibrations from cell towers, you felt disconnected, lost. Slowly blinking, thoughts of your past boyfriend jolted through you so quickly you couldn’t comprehend the fact that he was right in front of you. His voice sounded like a faint whisper calling for you. A different reality almost. You felt yourself get lifted into the air, off the ground and into someone’s embrace.

This embrace carried you home. Home. That was your apartment. With Jason. But he was gone and someone had brought you home, setting you softly on the couch.

“What the fuck happened to Y/N” Jason pleaded Tony who looked just as confused. “I think she’s in shock, maybe she didn’t have her comm in and didn’t hear the plan for rescuing Peter then dealing with Clayface?” Tony whispered as he looked at you as you stared at a wall, tears slowly cascading down your cheeks. Natasha squatted next to you, waving a hand in front of your face. “She’s in shock but we need to shock her out of it, anyone got a spark?” Tony quickly reprogrammed part of his suit to deliver a fair amount of voltage into your body. Taking a deep breath Jason just wanted to hold your hand but he knew that was not going to be safe until you woke up. As everyone stood back Tony counted down “One, Two - ”

Suddenly you felt the connection again, it jolted through you and danced on your skin, you felt the humming of the fan in your apartment. Your apartment, you were home. Home. Home is with Jason, and you could feel him next to you. Jason, was, home. Safe.

“JASON YOU IDIOT WHAT WERE YOU THINKING YOU FUCKING DIED AGAIN!” you bolted up and began wailing on his chest, shocking everyone around you at your burst of, well, energy. Without thinking Jason just pulled you into his chest, swaying slightly back and forth you melted into his grip. “Y/N baby Stark thought your comm was on like mine and we thought you knew the plan, you were making a good diversion and everything” Jason explained. “Then Parker and I come out after the big boom and you’re like completely zoned out. Like even the sky was clear, and your eyes didn’t have the little sparkle they always have, we thought you’d lost it or something” he rambled as you finally put the pieces together. Glancing up at him you whispered “so you’re okay?” and he nodded, giving you a reassuring smile. “You can’t get rid of me that easily Sparky” you found comfort in the nickname that was slowly growing on you.

After a cup of tea and some relaxation you were feeling a lot better. Peter was impressed at how quickly Jason thought on his feet and that he’d put himself in danger to save him and was a lot happier with your relationship. You’d told him about Tim and how well the two nerds would get along so he tagged along with Stark who was out meeting Bruce and trying to explain why there had been an explosion and Avenger sighting in his city, and Natasha used her expertise to know it was time for you and Jason to have some alone time, so she headed out as well.

Now you were resting in Jason’s arms as he toyed with your hair. Breaking the silence you admitted “I think I severed my powers when I thought you died” and Jason looked up, his face asking you for more. Delving into some of your own truths you admitted “I always knew my powers were emotion driven. Like our kiss that one night. And I knew there was a reason that I have to keep some energy inside and reign it in, but now I know that releasing it all doesn’t explode, it makes me implode on myself. Like the energy I use is raw emotion and when I thought you were gone it hurt too much and I cut it off” you sighed, enjoying the feeling of letting it off your chest. You could’ve sworn Jason slyly wiped a tear away before pulling you in close as he too sighed. “I think you’re right Y/N but that means your powers are more interesting than we ever knew. And I know what it feels like to lose everything, and I’ll spend the rest of my life apologizing for ever being the reason you felt the loss. It kills me to think of you in such pain you couldn’t feel it anymore. Because you are the strongest person I know and I know how painful it must’ve been. I’m so sorry. And I love you”

The big eight letters. They felt right. Raising your head to his you took his lips in yours, trying to convey the same words right back at him. In the moment of pure love you felt warmth envelop your entire body, unable to contain the joy. Mid-kiss you let a grin slip onto your face and you pulled away. “Jason Todd I love YOU!” you moved to throw your arms around him and as you outstretched your fingers you released some of your love into the air and suddenly everything in the room when black.

“Y/N you just shorted out the apartment building. But I love you too” You were kind of glad the lights were now off because Jason couldn’t see the furious blush that developed on your cheeks. Flopping down on to him you mused “Too many emotions for one day, I feel pretty shorted out too” and Jason hummed in agreement. As the two of your drifted off into sleep you heard him mumble:

“You better get control of these emotions I can’t be telling you I love you then having you break my toaster. I need my waffles you know” and you groaned.

“I’ll put that on the list of things to worry about. Right beneath the end of the world so pretty high up there”

“Thanks I appreciate it. Good night my lovely bolt of lightning”

“Goodnight you sappy fuck”

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shuatoyou · 4 years

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hello!! can i request a fake dating f2l au with joshua w a bit of jealous joshua and mainly fluff with a teeny bit of angst thanku!

here’s the long awaited request anon! thank you for this i hope you enjoy reading as much as i enjoyed writing.

fluff with some angst i think?

joshua x reader

wc; 1,896

“y/n are you bringing a date to the wedding?” your mom curiously asks while you observe the dress you had on in the mirror in front of you. the question makes you turn around to face her.

“um no?” you hesitate and your response makes her look up at you.

“bring your boyfriend sweetheart.” she smiles diverting her attention to the dress you had on. “that joshua kid, he’s your boyfriend right?”

“yeah! o-of course” you stammer on your words hoping your mom would take no notice and turn around on your heals swiftly facing the mirror watching your reflection panic.

you and joshua were not dating in fact you doubted he would have any feelings for you whatsoever seeing as you were best friends, however he was a regular plus one to the family events because of them constantly getting on your case about dating and it would be embarrassing for them if their only daughter kept attending these events alone after all they boasted about your social life. so joshua continuously offered to attend alongside you and pretend to be your lover which was a role he played successfully to your luck.

you walked out of the dress store shortly parting ways with your mother to go back to your home with the new dress for the upcoming occasion.

you walk in to your humble abode dropping all your bags down beside the sofa and letting yourself fall onto the soft seat. truthfully you dreaded asking joshua to go to this wedding with you as your date mainly due to the fact you had some unrequited feelings you’d recently develo=ped towards the other but you knew it would be even more awkward asking someone else from your friendship circle so he was the only answer at the end of the day.

picking up your phone you dial joshua’s number startling once you hear his soft voice come through.

“hey y/n whats up?” joshua asks cheerfully making you close your eyes tightly at the tone of voice that always gave you butterflies.

“nothing much, i was just wondering if you were free this weekend?” you ask him as confidently as you can.

“are you asking me on a date?” at this point you knew he was smirking as he asked that.

“no but i do need someone to go with me to my cousins wedding this saturday. you’re being weird though maybe i’ll ask jeonghan instead” you somewhat tease knowing the boy will object.

“you better not, of course i will be there as your date” he emphasises on the date and you can feel a blush creeping up to your cheeks

“yes you will. my dress is light blue” you state nonchalantly notifying the boy.

“bet you’ll look great, i’ll find a tie to match.”

his sudden compliment catches you completely off guard and its evident as you barely manage to let out a small ‘okay’ a few seconds late causing joshua to chuckle over on his end knowing he had this effect on you.

“bye y/n” he exclaimed before abruptly hanging up.

you groan into a pillow frustrated wondering how you would get through the weekend, the answer should be like all the other times but you felt nervous nevertheless.

joshua eyed you intently watching you walk over to him with your dress flowing all princess like around you and every little detail such as the colour and the fitting of the stunning material complementing all your features.

“hi” you both breathed out at the same time making eachother giggle in unison.

“you look amazing” joshua smiles opening the door to his car on the passenger side, a gentlemanly courtesy from the one and only gentleman. you blush getting into the car ready to return a compliment to him as he gets in to the driver seat to drive you both to the venue, however nothing leaves your mouth. perhaps it was the nerves.

the drive is filled with joshua talking about his week with you commenting here and there whilst trying to avoid glancing over at him, nodding your head to the music playing quietly from the radio.

thankfully the journey wasn’t longer than twenty minute, at the hall you step out of the car only to be greeted with joshua offering you his arm which you shyly accepted either way as you walked in and began greeting your family with joshua beside you attracting stares left and right.

“y/n sweetheart!” your mother rushes up to you giving you a hug which made you untwine your arm from joshua’s to return it.

“i see you brought your handsome boyfriend” she winks causing joshua to widen his eyes and laugh at the suddenness of her compliment. you glanced up to him to see his cheeks flushed which you found endearing to say the least.

“you guys are sitting over there” she points over to a table a few steps away. “whenever you’re ready come join us” the last words are spoken and soon enough your mother is gone to deal with other business.

joshua turns to you, instinctively you turn around to face him.

“should we go sit down now?” he speaks out watching your gaze soften as you listened to him speak.

you nod so he reaches to hold your hand and leads the way to the table, the sudden action shocked you so you stopped at a halt making joshua stop with you.

“is something wrong?” he asks eyes showing worry.

“no... just- you’ve never done that before” you mutter looking down at your intertwined hands.

“sure i have, but i’m especially your date for tonight so i think i have the privilege to hold your hand even more.” he winks before continuing the way to the table and even pulling out your chair for you to sit making the adults at the table coo at his gentlemanliness.

the entire night joshua spent talking to you, making you laugh here and there at the little jokes he would throw in, hearts doing backflips unknown to one and other but you couldn’t help enjoy the company.

he left momentarily for the bathroom leaving you alone until another figure approached you tapping your shoulder to gain your attention you respond by turning around to see your childhood friend who you immediately stood up to greet the individual.

“seungcheol? it’s been a while!” you exclaim, eyes widening trying to adjust to the new appearance of your long time friend before pulling him into a hug.

“yeah we’ve both changed a bit clearly.” he chuckles looking down at his own suit once pulled away.

“sit, im sure my parents would love to see you again!” you speak out pointing towards the nearest chair as you sit down on your own.

joshua returned to see you in deep conversation with the boy unknown to him the pang of jealousy hit hard causing him to frown at the male at the center of your attention making you laugh like he was earlier. silently he approached taking a seat in the next vacant chair as his previous one was now occupied by the stranger.

it wasn’t long before you to noticed joshua’s presence and you wasted no time introducing the two to each other.

“joshua this is seungcheol, we grew up together and seungcheol this is my date joshua” you introduce the two boys to each other both of them passing on friendly smiles before turning their attention back to you.

“oh are you guys dating?” seungcheol asks genuinely curious.

you stutter unable to answer the sudden question however joshua speaks up anyways. “yeah we are” he reaches to hold your hand repeating the action that turned you into a flustered mess but you nod anyways going along with him.

“im happy for you y/n! i hope you both last a long time”

seungcheol’s words had more of an effect on you two than expected and it was the same for joshua who you felt squeeze your hand gently.

“anyways, i’m going now but i’ll see you around?” seungcheol gives you both a little wave and you nod in return before watching him walk off. you turn around to joshua straight away only for the boy to let go of your hand and more immersed in a glass of wine.

“you’re gone red” you poke at his cheek snickering ever so slightly making joshua put down his treasured glass to look at you with a blank expression before turning away again. you huff getting up hoping for a slight change of expression from the boy but to your dismay - nothing.

a slow tune started playing and you glanced around to see guests getting up to join the slow dance at the centre of the hall. you sit back down only for joshua to get up this time and hold out his hand to you. puzzled, you give him a questioning look.

“dance with me” he mumbles and you dont waste anymore time giving into dancing with him despite your heart racing like crazy.

to be honest you could barely concentrate on dancing with joshuas hands resting on your waist with yours around his neck. his touch felt like fire and you couldn’t help but feel warm inside despite your nerves now skyrocketing.

“you haven’t given me much attention tonight” joshua spoke with a low tone down into your ear as you both swayed to the gentle music.

“w-what do you mean” you pull back slightly to see his face better but regret it almost immediately realising how close in proximity your faces were.

“i thought it was obvious.” he chuckled and you could feel your heart racing at a dangerous number of miles per minute. sure you were a little bit oblivious but you were scared of misunderstanding his words so you stayed silent not breaking eye contact waiting for him to continue which he did.

“i like you y/n” he muttered once again into your ear, you felt his breath fan your neck sending shivers down your spine and your cheeks burning. the fact that your feelings were not so unrequited brought a lot of shock to you but you couldn’t help the smile now taking over your expression out of happiness.

joshua examines your face searching for an kind of indication you were okay with his confession before setting his gaze onto your rosy lips. you dont hesitate before reaching up to connect your lips that went together perfectly.

the both of you pull away first aware of your surroundings and it wasnt long till both of you were betrayed by the visible blush forming.

the song finally came to a halt and joshua led you outside where it was quieter.

“so what do you say? we should date for real now right?” he’s close to you again and hoping you cant hear the pace of his heart.

“not how i expected to be asked out at someone elses wedding but yes dummy we should” you laugh out lifting up your hand to push back his hair messing it up as joshua’s arms find their way around your waist again pulling you closer to him.

“good” he whispers connecting your lips once again both of you smiling into the kiss feeling pure bliss and completely content with the events of the night.

#anon!!#joshua request #enjoy <3 #seventeen #seventeen blog #joshua hong #joshua #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #seventeen drabbles #seventeen request #seventeen fluff #seventeen angst #f2l

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argumentl · 3 years

Text

The Freedom of Expression Ep 6 - 'Antrum', the most cursed movie in history.

K: Hi this is Dir en grey's Kaoru, and The Freedom of Expression..Joe san, Tasai san..

J: Yep

K: I think the viewers already realise this, but we're shooting four epidodes at once. (note:* the covid episodes were aired at short notice after ep 3*).

J: Yes, four.

T: Our clothes havn't changed.

K: Is our positioning ok like this? Wouldn't it be better with you in the middle, Kaoru?

K: Well, next time we could change seats if we want? But, I havn't seen you two in a long time, I thought it would be better to look at you from over here.

J: Ah, yes. If you are in the middle you have to keep looking from side to side..

K: Yeah, so..we could change seats next time...We might even change our filming location?

J: For sure

K: I don't know though...we can carry on without making too many set plans.

J: I see.

K: He's not coming out today, is he?

J: He's not. Let's leave him alone.

K: Well, shall we get started?... Oh, actually, when we finished recording the last epidode, my boss came here, and said 'that was a lie, thats wrong'.

J: Oh, what was it again? He took offense to something written in a magazine.

T:...and stormed over there.

K: He didn't actually angrily storm over there, he apparently went there, not to tell them to write nice stuff, but to get them to write what his band was really like, and he was fine with it then *1

J: Ahh, to stand out?

K: He was quite agitated. *T laughs*

J: No, but its a bit worrying isn't it? From the listeners point of view, you hear that type of story and interpret it as something amusing, the story gets communicated on in that way.

K: Well, theres no fire without smoke..

J: You mean, theres no smoke without fire.

K: Yeh.. Its because he's just a bit scary *the others laugh*, thats why that type of gossip appears.

J: Of course

K: Right?

T: I see

J: Well, we don't know what he was really like back then...

K: I don't either.

J: But he surely wasn't one of those cuddly, happy people?

K: People in bands were just kinda scary back then, right?

J: They were scary, yeah. But they were also really cool, weren't they?

K: *nods*

J: ..in reality....I think they were.

K: We're (Dir en grey) not scary though, are we?

J, T: Uhh... *K laughs*

J: You are not scary, but...

K: We're not THAT scary right? *laughing*

J: You have an incredible aura..

K: Well, lets leave it..

J: Fow now, lets just say your boss wasn't trying to make excuses..

K: Excuses? *laughs*

J: ..he was just trying to tell us that the stuff we said was not true. Right, well lets introduce today's topic.

' "You watch it, you die", Antrum - The most cursed movie in history.'

'Unbelievablely, its to be released in Japan, this incredible movie is to be screened. Filmed in California, America in 1970, the movie 'Antrum'. Rumored to be excessively scary, and to bring about misfortune to those who watch it, it was said that this movie should not be released, but buried and restricted. However, in 1988, it was screened for the first time in Budapest, Hungary, and during its screening, a fire broke out in the theatre and it burnt to the ground. 56 people died in this incident. Since then, whenever this movie is screened, the people involved have suffered mysterious deaths, one after the other. It became a work of art that no-one wanted to touch. Then, we arrive at the present day. After a long search, documentary movie makers Michael Licini and David Amito discovered the 35mm film reel of 'Antrum'. They have decided to screen it with the warning that viewers must take personal responsibility for anything that happens. The movie will be screened this year in venues across the country from Friday.'

K: Ahh, is it okay?...if this kind of incident occurs?

J: It says, if you watch it you die!

T: Its spooky.

K: Whether it lives up to expectations or not, theres trouble either way.

J,T: Thats right.

J: If people die, they're in trouble, and if people don't die, and they get sued for misrepresentation, they'll be like 'What? Arn't you glad you didn't die?!'

T: I wonder what will happen.

J: They say everyone has to take personal responsibility.

K: Well, I'm slightly interested.

J: Would you go and watch it?

K: Hmm, I want to see it, yeh.

J: You're attracted to it?

K: Um, Horror is...

Kami: Nononono! You must not go to see this, you must not go to see this!

J: Ahh, Kami says you musn't, he's worried suddenly....Its not okay, Kami?

Kami: No no, its not. I was quiet so far because I didn't want to have anything to do with this topic.

J: Oh, with this topic?

Kami: Yeh, its really scary.

J: Is this type of thing not good?

Kami: Its not good. I have to work nights..

J: Ah, night shifts? *the others laugh*

Kami: and I work alone.

J: Yeh.

K: Well, yeh, thats scary.

Kami: They say you'll die, I don't wanna die on my night shift.

J: Yeh, but gods can't die can they?

T: Right.

Kami: Well, outwardly.

J: What does that mean? Outwardly?? *laughing*

Kami: We don't die completely..

J: Oh, but from the human perspective you appear to die?

Kami: Yeah, I appear to die, but then am reborn. *J, T laugh*

K: He doesn't need to be scared.

T: Pretty interesting.

Kami: No no, the bit where I appear to be dead..its kinda troublsome.

J: Its trouble? You're a bit nervous about that?

Kami: Yeh, im nervous. Its not good.

J: Its not good?

Kami: Yeah, going to see this movie is not good.

J: But, there is a certain attraction by people to these kind of supernatural, occult things isn't there?

K, T: Yeah, yeah.

J: You know, things that science can't prove.

Kami: Yeah, I know about all of it though.

J: You do?

Kami: Yes, I do. Because, god created everything on earth.

T: Well, yeah.

J: I see.

T: So, he shouldn't really be scared of this, should he?

K: Really, that makes this situation here part of the occult too, doesn't it?

J: This is the occult. *T laughs* Us talking to a god..*K laughing* Talking to a god about movies even!

Kami: Well, there are many types of god aren't there?

J: Ahh, there are many types, yeh.

Kami: Yeh yeh, there are all knowing-all powerful gods...and gods like this one here. *the others laugh*

J: This god isn't very 'all knowing-all powerful'?

Kami: No, im probably in the lower orders.

J: *laughing* Yeh, we know that!

T: He sounds like a salaryman.

J: A hierarchy of gods..

Kami: Well, the middle-lower orders.

J: The middle-lower oders? *laughing*

T: Thats quite low, right? *J laughing*

J: It might just not be limited to recent times, but isn't there quite an occult boom going on now? How do you see it Kaoru?

Kami: An occult boom?

J: An occult boom.

Kami: Well, maybe its because a lot of things have already been solved. As science progresses, we know more...like the Higgs particle, you know it?

J: I've heard the name, but I don't know the details.

Kami: Its kinda like how the source of gravity was discovered. They spin it round really fast and crash it, right?

J: What a simple explanation!

Kami: Its in Switzerland!

T: In Switzerland...

J: They have the equipment to spin it and crash it powerfully, right?

Kami: Yes, yes. Atoms, they crash atoms into one another..and when they crash, the atoms break apart, and various particles have been discovered....and they saw a black hole forming and such. These kinds of mysterious things are really happening. *2.

T: Ehh, Kami, thats impressive.

Kami: So it could be just because of these solved mysteries, peoples' imaginations are swelling and giving them wild ideas?

J: I see.

K: Well, there must be people who like this stuff.

Kami: Wasn't my explanation easy to understand?

J: Yes, it was very well explained.

Kami: Spinning it around and bashing really hard, and then a kind of mysterious feeling...

*everyone laughs*

J: Thst is super easy to understand. Explained in simple terms.

T: Exactly

J: Only by a god..*3

T: Hey Joe, is that okay? *laughs*

J: Kami's awful aspects have transfered to me. *T laughs* The hopless parts. Those parts are showing in me.

Kami: Don't say hopeless!

K *laughs*

J: Oh did you hear that bit?

Kami: I heard it.

J: Of course, Kami hears everything (direct translation: hell ears)

K: This is awful!

Kami: Not hell, heaven.

T: Isn't this fourth time getting tiring?

*laughing*

J: Of course not

T: Actually, ive been to an event before where a spirit appeared.

J: Ehh?

T: When I say spirit, I mean Lincoln. There was a movie about the American president, Lincoln. So I went as a reporter to a weird movie event about it. And there was a medium there who could channel Lincoln so we could ask anything.

J: Wow...so, Lincoln spoke to you in person?

T: The medium started going 'Mmmghh mmmghh' and then 'Ready', so we all thought Lincoln had come to us, and we were told to ask anything, so someone asked 'Mr Lincoln, Mr Lincoln, what did you think of the movie? ..and after about three seconds the medium suddenly dropped down and said, 'Lincoln has left us'.

J: Ehh?! He didn't say anything?!

T: No, Lincoln didn't say anything.

J: Just 'Mmgh, mmgh'?

T: Yeah, and then he fell straight down..and was finished in three seconds. The whole venue had been waiting so eagarly...

J: What kind of article did Tokyo Sports write?

T: About how the venue was....*4

*laughing*

K: That fits well with this show!

J: This kind of chaos. So you were there, Tasai san?

T: Yes, I was reporting on it.

J: Oh really?

T: Yeh, that type of thing happened.

J: I wonder how the medium was after that, after Lincoln left.

T: She's getting paid for nothing.

K: Well, maybe some more accidents happened...

J: Oh yeah, she felt the danger. She didn't research enough before calling him.

T: She should have studied.

J: Maybe she didn't expect that many reporters?

K: Oh, maybe, she thought 'oh no..'

J: Maybe she was shocked to see so many people when she turned up. But the movie company paid her to promote the movie like this right?

T: Yes

J: Ahh, but people will probably go to see this movie right, Kami?

Kami: As for Lincoln coming down, he probably didn't say anything because he planned to speak in English.

J, T: Oh yeah.

K: Maybe

Kami: They forgot how to speak English?

J: I see..he hasn't been called in a long time, so even he forgot how to speak English?

Kami: No no, the medium.

J: Ah, the medium? Ah, I see.

Kami: Even I forget what to say sometimes, as soon as I think about it, and when im listening, you're like 'oh he's gone'

J: Isn't that dementia? Kami, can you speak to dead people like a medium can, can gods do it?

Kami: Gods? There are gods who can do that.

K: But you can't.

J: But you can't?

Kami: No, I can't do anything *J laughs*

J: We can only pray to you?

Kami: Yes, only pray.

J: I reckon I could be a god then too.

K: Yeh, yeh.

J: Its pretty interesting, no matter what your capacity, you could be a god, right? *laughing*

Kami: No, being a god is not about your capacity...

J: Oh, its not, im wrong?

Kami: Are you making fun of me?

J: No, im not! Im just too naive.

Kami: Being a god is something you're born with.

T: Ahh, its deep.

Kami: Being a god is something you are born with.

K: He just said that.

J: Im kinda imagining him with a smug face right now. *K laughs*

J: I havn't met him so I don't know though.

Kami: Even though I can't do anything, Im different from you guys.

J: Ah, you are born different?

Kami: Yes, yes, yes.

J: You exist differently from regular humans?

Kami: Yes, yes, yes.

J: I see.

K: We're right back to the occult now, aren't we?

J: Yeh, this is almost like a Tokyo Sports kind of issue.

Kami: No, you mustn't doubt the existence of god!

J: Oh, you musn't?

Kami: You mustn't! If you do, and you watch this movie, you will die.

J: We'll die?

T: Scary!

K: I wonder if we'll really die?

Kami: So believe in god!

K: Oh, if you believe in god, you won't die if you watch this movie?

Kami: Yeh, you can increase your shrine donation or something..

J: It ends up with money again *K laughs* He always ends up talking about money.

T: Whats up with him? *K laughing*

J: He doesn't have anything nice to say. Its always down to money in the end. With Ghosn he was the same.

T: He was, yeh *laughing*

Kami: Thats right

J: This has nothing to do with the movie 'Antrum'...

K: So there is a subscribe option on youtube right?

J: Yes, if you subscribe for us...

K: I think I should say 'please subscribe', I havn't said it yet * T laughs*

J: Please subscribe, everyone.

T: Please.

K: If we get more subscribers, we can do more things.

J: Right

Kami: Yes, please subscribe.

J: Subscribers will probably...

*sound cuts out*

On screen message :The sound cut out for some reason. We'll let you know what they said. For now, this episode has ended .

*1 - Not 100% sure I understood this story right.

*2 Translating quantum physics isn't my strong point.

*3 Im fairly sure i've missed some nuance here.

*4 Couldn't catch this.

#dir en grey #the freedom of expression #薫 #kaoru #TFOE

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halorocks1214 · 3 years

Text

the law of compensation

Word Count: 10960

Summary: The Law of Compensation is the Law of Cause and Effect applied to blessings and abundance that are provided for us. The visible effects our deeds are given to us in gifts, money, inheritances, friendships, and blessings

*heelies into view* sup, im not dead.

i wrote myself into a corner with this one with the ages and stuff, and right before i could figure it out to fix it, covid hit hard and writer's block even harder. however, recently, my brain went 'hey you know how you can fix your story' and welp now im here. i hope you like it! idk how i feel about it since my general emotions right now are pfsdppomdfgpomsd so feel free to fill in the blanks for me~

Penelope’s life has been upside down since day one.

Her parents were rich and influential in many circles, which meant they ran into more problems than most other families probably did. Penelope learned every trick in the book when it came to noticing spies, always making sure someone tasted her food for her if there was even the slightest amount of suspicion behind it, never unattended in unfamiliar places.

So when she walked into her bedroom on her 12th birthday alone and was met by the strange elderly man nearly crushed under her dresser, she had to admit she was quite perplexed by the sight, but not frightened.

Tilting her head as she walked over to be about three feet away, she squatted down to be on his level. Well, as much as she could, because he was pinned to be laying on his back, and she wasn’t going to place her cheek against the cold floor just to look him directly in the eyes, “Hi there, who are you?”

Despite being 12, she was keenly aware of how abrupt that sounded, but after a moment of struggling, he finally decided to give her the time of day, especially considering it looked like he wasn’t going anywhere for a while, “Someone who was just stopping by to-” he grunted as he tried wiggling out once more, “H-enjoy the view.”

Well, for the most part, that made sense, but, “Well you’re definitely in the wrong place for that. My room is rather cruddy compared to other views in my home.”

The trapped man blinked before realizing that he was in the presence of a literal child, “Oh? Well, where would the best view be h-in this place?”

Her brain said she was going against all her training, yet her heart refused to set off any alarm bells just yet, “Here, I can take you. Let’s get you free.”

Through lots of effort, the dresser was pushed off the man, and then the two of them were going somewhere, Penelope eagerly grabbing his hand and dragging him as much as she could as a small preteen. The man just stuck along for the confusing ride.

He was there to steal, of course, but the absolute willingness of this child to be his temporary best friend befuddled him, “Why h-are you doing this?”

She paused momentarily before looking up at him, “I don’t really know,” she shrugged her shoulders, “I guess I was lonely, and I could tell you were too.”

Stuck between being disheartened and offended, Parker prompted her to go on, “Oh?”

Penelope nodded her head, “Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents and family, and they love me, but I’m sure you know all the cliches about being a rich child from an even richer family. Especially a rich daughter of all things.”

Thinning his lips, the man looked back up to watch where they were going, “I suppose I he-ave.”

The two of them made their way over to Penelope’s favorite balcony. Quietly pushing open the door, the man widened his eyes at the sight. No wonder the girl liked this place more, it was breathtaking. The stars in the night sky shone beautifully over their garden-filled back yard, making the flowers and fountain sparkle like they were infused with magic.

Penelope proceeded to tug on his hand again to bring him out to the railing of the balcony. After standing there for a few minutes, she started to speak softly, almost startling the strange man, “See what I meant?”

It was so cold his puffs of air were condensing in front of him, “Yes, I do believe I see hu-what you are getting h-at.”

He almost got lost in the sight forever before noticing movement out of the corner of his eye. Behind them on the balcony very suddenly was a criminal clad in all black holding a knife. He appeared to be trying to sneak into the mansion but caught sight of what must have been his target. Before the man could tell Penelope to run, the criminal made his attack.

Penelope shrieked as her new friend lunged at the criminal before he could do any harm. As they both attempted to subdue the other, her friend knocked the knife out of his hand and pushed him over, but not before the criminal was able to trip him up.

Penelope watched pushed up against the railing as the two men struggled to stand amidst their fight. Before she could blink, the criminal found his weapon and glared at her while her friend was just about done catching his breathing

“Dammit!” The assailant swore before gripping the knife tighter, “I didn’t work this hard for some fuddy-duddy grandpa to steal my thunder!”

The criminal lunged at Penelope one more time, but that was even more fruitless than the last attempt. When he was about three feet away from the girl, her friend grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and pushed him straight into the ground, knocking the wind out of him before going even further and putting his knee on the small of his back.

As the criminal began to struggle, her friend looked up at Penelope with surprising concern, “H-are you h-okay, m’lady?”

Blinking a few times, Penelope stood up and wiped her dress off, “Uh, yes, I am. Thank you…”

Her friend finished her question for her, “Aloysius Parker, pleasure to meet you.”

With that, rapid footsteps came from inside the building before they burst out onto the terrace. A bunch of family-mandated bodyguards were being followed by Penelope’s parents. Once they took in the sight of Parker, Penelope, and the extra third, the action got even crazier.

Three bodyguards went and obtained the criminal from Aloysius’ grasp while two more went and held both his arms. He was slightly annoyed by the gesture, but he couldn’t say it was exactly unfair. Over on Penelope’s side of the ordeal, her parents were hugging and kissing her, reprimanding her for going off alone, especially while a ball was happening, do you know the kinds of people that can sneak in during them-

One of the bodyguards coughed, “Um, what would you like us to do, sir?”

The other bodyguard was way too excited, “Let’s throw them in the dark dark wine cellar.”

Another bodyguard groaned, “I said the newbie would get too big of a head chaperoning this event.”

The one right beside him scoffed, “Oh please, none of this shit would have happened if you just stayed on your post with the kid.”

The third one spoke again, “Oh shut your goddamn piehole you-”

The parents were finally standing up with their daughter behind them. The father proceeded to pinch his nose, “Gentlemen, for the love of God, please-”

Popping out from behind his leg, Penelope shouted to shut everyone up, “You’re not going to do anything because his name is Parker and he saved my life!”

The night air was even quieter than it was when it was just the two of them.

Penelope’s mother slowly looked over at Parker with shock, “You did?”

Parker looked once at Penelope’s rapidly nodding head before reluctantly admitting it, “H-yes, I did.”

Penelope shot out from her father’s side to Parker’s, “He sure did! So you can’t be too mad at him for whatever other reason he appeared tonight, okay?”

Penelope’s father gave Penelope a soft look before turning and giving Parker an inquisitive one, “You do appear to be a man of particular skills… I may have an idea of how to get you out of any jail time or trouble if you want to hear me out.”

‘Hear him out’ was exactly what Parker did, and they eventually agreed on the best outcome: all ill-will would be forgotten if Parker started working for the Creighton-Ward family, specifically as Lady Penelope’s chauffeur, servant, and everything in between. She was shocked Parker agreed to the deal. She thought he would hightail it as soon as he could, but alas, he was ready and willing to stay put. To this day, she still isn’t sure what glued him to her side…?

Regardless, she had a new servant, and not to brag, he was better than any other one she had before.

About a year into their little arrangement, everything was going swell. Parker was very talented at what he did and yet was always ready to listen to Penelope’s beck and call. They were becoming quite the pair, and one day while shopping for other kinds of pairs (a preteen girl needs to have all the best shoes, Parker!), they came across a peculiar situation.

Actually, she’ll be more specific, she’s not that rude: they came across a man seemingly being mugged, and since her parents raised her to be a kind lady, she ordered Parker like she always does, “Parker, do be a dear and help the poor fellow out.”

Parker hadn’t needed to be told twice, “Yes, m’lady.”

With that, the assailant was subdued rather quickly, and Penelope went over to the man, who was bent over and out of breath. He was putting up somewhat of a fight, but it didn’t hurt to give him a little help, “Are you okay, sir?”

The man turned to look at Penelope with a small, fatherly smile, “Why yes, I am. Thanks to you and your bodyguard, that ended up a lot less painful than it could have been. Do you mind me asking your names?”

Why not, Penelope thought, “My name is Penelope Creighton-Ward, and my bodyguard over there is named Parker.”

The man pondered over her answer for a moment, “Penelope, that’s very pretty. Nice to meet you, Penelope, my name’s Mr. Tracy, but you can call me Jeff if you’re comfortable with that.”

Jeff Tracy, that name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Before she could ask what he did for a living, a gasp came front a few feet away, causing the three not-unconscious people to look in its direction.

Starstruck at the mouth of the alleyway was a brunette that looked so much like the man they just saved yet totally different at the same time, “Dad, what the hell-”

Mr. Tracy waved the boy off, “Scott, please, children are present.”

At that, ‘Scott’ grew sheepish, “Oh, sorry,” then he was back to his previous shocked state, “Dad, what the heck happened here?!”

With that, Mr. Tracy- Jeff, why not, stood up straight, “Don’t worry, Scooter, I just-”

Penelope stopped him there, “Parker over there is holding the incapacitated man that tried harming Mr. Tracy. I saw it happening and asked him to help out.”

Mr. Tracy quietly bit out, “Dammit.”

So much for children being present.

Scott wasn’t deterred, “Dad! I told you going out was a bad idea, or at the very least going off by yourself!”

Jeff pinched the bridge of his nose, “Well, forgive me for wanting to get some fresh air. Besides, it’s not your job to worry like this, you know.”

Scott threw his arms out in exasperation, “It is when you do dumb stuff like this!”

Penelope could definitely see how these two were father and son.

Rolling his eyes, Jeff placed his arm around his son and looked back somewhat at Penelope, but mainly at Parker, “If you don’t mind, sir, but I would love getting your contact information.”

Before Parker could even exhale, Penelope spoke for him, “Sorry, but anything you want of Parker is something you want of me.”

Scott started glaring, “Hey, how old are you-”

Jeff quickly placed his hand over Scott’s mouth to shut him up, “Sorry, he’s pretty understandably rattled.” He took his hand away, and while Scott didn’t start talking again, he did cross his arms. Considering it a victory, Jeff put his full attention on Penelope, “That’s quite alright, you clearly seem to be the one in charge. Does that mean I’ll be taking your contact information?”

After giving him the bare minimum of necessary information, she, Parker, and Jeff kept in touch (it was mainly Jeff trying to speak with Parker but her joining them anyway, but she digressed). She went on to remember that Tracy Industries was a thing, and she always thought you could never have enough friends in high places. Plus, Jeff was one of the nicer ones, so to speak. She genuinely enjoyed his thought processes, and Parker was even starting to warm up to him.

Almost a year later after that fateful encounter, Jeff Tracy was announced dead, and Penelope expected that to be the end of things. She was saddened by it, maybe even more than usual, but she was raised to keep living in the present.

Until just a few months after her 20th birthday. She and Parker were relaxing in the main room before they received a random phone call. Normally she would let Parker handle it, but today she was exceptionally bored and wanted to do something. Once she reached the phone, she recognized the number immediately, “Jeff?”

A man cleared his throat, “Um, no, unfortunately, this is his son, Scott. I think you maybe remember me? That day in the alleyway?”

Recalling her thoughts, that’s when it hit her, “Oh, right, you were the one ready to throw hands with a 13-year-old.”

“A 13-year-old with a wardrobe more expensive than most families’ salaries and her own trained bodyguard that she ordered to practically break the arm of the guy that was attacking my father.”

Fair, and if her instincts were correct, that was the exact reason he was calling, “I suppose you are technically correct, but remember you were the one that called me. Tread carefully.”

Penelope heard shuffling on the other side, as if Scott were unable to sit still, “I have a… proposition for you, more specifically, Parker, if you’ll let me talk to him.”

Penelope was too curious to let it go. She glanced at Parker, who was watching out of the corner of his eye but ultimately letting her handle it, before pushing Scott to continue explaining, “What are you getting at?

Scott cleared his throat again, this time more in an attempt to steel himself for what was about to come, “Well, you have every right to turn this offer down, so does he, but my father’s plans involved calling your bodyguard and asking for his assistance for some things. I thought it was completely unnecessary, but after about a year of doing this, I’m starting to realize he may have had a point.”

That was cryptic, “About what?”

She could practically see the look on his face. It screamed ‘well, you see…’ “Certain jobs can’t be handled through normal means if you know what I’m getting at.”

Ah, of course. Considering who she’s friends with, she knows all too well what he’s talking about. ‘Normal’ is a generous descriptor.

Looking back at Parker, she thought long and hard. It’s not like they’ve been doing much. Going to balls, representing the family name, carefully lording the right information in the shadows; outside of that last thing, she’s not exactly spending every night out in the town.

Besides… she's seen Jeff’s legacy in action. It is quite the feat, and it’s taken the world by storm. She was surprised it could keep up even though the man behind it was, well, dead.

With that in mind, she made her decision, “Okay.”

Scott’s blink was so hard she almost heard it, “Okay?”

She nodded despite the fact he couldn’t see him, “We’ll help you out.” Then she paused for dramatic effect, “On one condition: I get to help out too.”

The pin was dropped, and she was sure Scott heard a record scratch in his head, “Uh, I mean-”

“Those are the terms, Scott Tracy,” she interrupted, “And if you don’t want to follow them-”

“No!” He double interrupted, “That’s not what I was saying, hang on.” Penelope heard some shuffling papers before he began again, “I’m totally okay with that. You’re an adult, you are a very powerful adult, you can make your own decisions. I can handle it, I just want to make sure you can.”

Now it was her turn to blink, “Huh?”

Scott cleared his throat, “As long as your willing to put in the work and agree to other terms we may have, I can take on both of you. I just don’t want you to feel coerced into this because my dad offhandedly mentioned that your bodyguard might be a beneficial asset to his goals. You have to be absolutely sure, after all, there’s a lot more here than just a rescue operation.”

Well, Penelope had to admit he had a point there.

… Still, she was tired. Tired of the same repetitive, high-class bullshit she dealt with every day. She donated to charity and advocated for everything she believed in, but after over half a decade, it was getting repetitive. She still wanted to help, yes, but she also wanted to see more, offer more, be more.

She just wanted more, “Yes, Scott Tracy, I truly believe I want to do this.”

He didn’t miss a beat after her final answer, “Alright then, I’ll give you coordinates for the island. Would this weekend work for a meeting?”

Adrenaline raced through her veins, “That sounds perfect.”

The weekend came, and after being able to convince Parker of the idea (deep down he knew he needed to get out and do something just as much as she did), the island they ended up visiting was absolutely stunning. Forget her mansion, she was going to move to the Caribbean or something with weather like this.

“Hey! Get back here you jerk!”

Bringing her out of her thoughts was the sound of laughter between two guys. It got closer and closer until two blonde boys came sprinting out from behind the corner with the slightly taller one chasing the shorter one. A few seconds of being out in the open, the taller one eventually saw Penelope and froze.

Before either of them could say anything, he grew slightly red and ran back behind the wall he came from with the shorter one chasing after him, his voice getting quieter and quieter with distance, “Hey, what are you doing? What’s wrong?”

Well, that was slightly rude. Regardless, another voice grabbed her attention before she could think about it too much.

“Penelope Creighton-Ward!”

Turning to face the voice, she smiled, “Ah, the voice over the phone!”

Scott rolled his eyes, “Haha, glad to see we’re going to have another jokester in our midst.” Before she could ask what that meant, Scott beckoned her and Parker to follow, “Now then, please, follow me to the main attraction. I have a few ladies who are dying to meet you.”

After a few minutes of walking through the weirdest tunnel system she had seen in her entire life, she eventually came out into what was a humongous hanger holding various sized rockets and ships. On the giant green one was a black-haired man somewhere in his mid-twenties talking to an older lady. Penelope assumed they were family, considering the laughter that was scattered about them.

Along with the green ship, a giant red rocket sat still in the corner. Despite no direct light being shined on it at the moment, it glowed like the sun itself, even outshining the way smaller silver rocket placed directly under a spotlight. The lack of shininess could be the fact that a completely different pair was working on the silver one, an older man with a younger woman this time, but one would think the silver one would shine the brightest regardless?

Bringing her back to reality, Scott Tracy walked in between her and the giant vessels. He proceeded to hold out his hand, “Well, welcome to the Thunderbirds. We’re glad to have you.”

With a sly grin, Penelope took it with grace, “Well, I’m glad to be here.”

This was going to be a very interesting business partnership.

---

“I thought you didn’t like to drink”

A scoff, “Contrary to popular belief, I can get quite hammered when I want to. It’s not my fault my brothers have such shit taste in their alcohol consumption.”

Snorting as she kneeled, Penelope gazed at the bottle in Gordon’s hand with a hint of concern, but hopefully, kept it well hidden, “Well, you’re not wrong there. I’ve had to request the weirdest things for John at my balls, you know. It takes a lot of effort to find Amazonian lemons. Can the rest of you even pronounce the brands he likes?”

Gordon shrugged, gripping his bottle a little tighter, “I think Scott was the one that created our betting game off of it. How many syllables we can get right. By the way, nice to see you didn’t immediately jump down my throat at the sight of my drunk ass,” another sip, making her wince, “At least I’m not the only one feeling this way.”

She placed her hands gently around his, bringing the bottle away and getting him to look her squarely in her eyes, “Well, anyone worth their weight in salt would be feeling shitty at the moment, but considering even Scott is relatively sober and not out here with you,” she squeezed his fists at little more, “What’s bothering you, Gordon?”

Another shrug, more broad and wide with the way both his exhaustion liquor were catching up to him. The grin he formed was anything but happy, “You said it yourself, everything?”

Penelope thinned her lips, “Both you and I know that you’re going to have to be more specific than that.”

Seeing as her words were cracking his shell, she quickly but quietly moved her hands away from his, leaving only one on his shoulder. It was the right decision, as following her movements, the first thing Gordon did was shake his hands in frustration and groan, “He’s still gone, Penn, two weeks, scared and alone and we might have well have sat around on our asses drooling at the walls with how far we’ve gotten in terms of finding out where he’s been taken.”

Ah, she figured it had to be that. Penelope had learned the hard way about what had befallen the Tracy family this time in the form of them not calling her when they got home, followed by the majority of them not picking up her calls either. She was about to call it a night and come over to the island herself when Mrs. Tracy was the first one to pick up. Penelope was a little grateful she didn’t video call. It might have been worse if she saw the state the older lady was in.

“Yeah, yeah, Jeffie is back safe and sound, and believe me, I’m eternally grateful, so are the boys, but…”

Penelope waited with bated breath. That breath was soon lost with what she heard next.

“Despite it all, we still don’t have the entire family back home, and-- dammit, Alan-”

Being the lady she was, she firmly yet gently let the grandmother know that it was okay if she didn’t want to say everything over a call. She and Parker would be over to the island first thing in the morning. With a terse goodnight, the ladies cut their lines with newfound senses of dread. Penelope got to the island with her escort just like she said, was given the long and short of it (was shown the damn note), and with aggressive clicking of her heels, she promised hell upon every one that wronged their family.

Which was only one, crazy, insane, bald madman.

It was a mess-and-a-half, and Penelope had been spending at least 80% of her time recently trying to help bring the youngest home. She hated how she hadn’t made it any further than the other Tracys, but it was a good starting argument, “Well, I don’t have much else to go off compared to you. Maybe I should be held just as accountable.”

It took him a second to register her words, but once he did, Gordon blinked and shook his head, “What, no, Penn, God no, you’re doing the best you can. Don’t you dare think you’re failing us, you’re not.”

Penelope sat up straighter, “And yet you are?”

Suddenly, Gordon was aggressive, but not at her, never at her, but always at himself, “Yes! Yes, I’ve already failed so much, goddammit, and the fact that we’re taking forever is the fucking cherry on top!”

Within the blink of an eye, she had her arms around his shoulders and was staring deeply into his amber eyes, a hint of faux-naivety behind hers, “Why’s that?”

This pattern was something they’ve done with each other many times by now. Not so much toying with one another’s emotions, but definitely playing with their heart so the things they couldn’t quite get to fumble out of their mouths gently left it instead after some careful prodding. Every single time they played this trick on one another they would only realize it in the morning. Yet, they wouldn’t even be mildly annoyed by it, they would be secretly grateful. Such is love.

Gazing into the gorgeous blue eyes of Penny, Gordon couldn’t stop the tears that leaked down his face, “John’s been beating himself up over missing the fact Alan was in trouble during our call, but that’s the thing, isn’t it? Our call. I was right fucking there, my chest was burning with that feeling Scott gets on a daily fucking basis and I did jack shit. I didn’t even have the excuse of needing to man my station like John did! I could have left at any time, and I should have, but I didn’t. I’m the only other family member that rivals Scott’s need to follow one’s gut, and I fucking blew it.”

Penelope knew she was expecting a tirade to come out of his mouth, but she would be lying if she said she was prepared for how much near self-hatred would be laden in it, “Gordon, that’s--”

Gordon’s crying started having some laughter behind it and it broke Penelope’s heart, “Alan has always appreciated me for being a different kind of older brother, but all I can think is that if Scott or Virgil were there, they would have gone to him. They would have saved him. I was so caught up in the excitement of seeing Dad again I couldn’t see anything else, but maybe… maybe they would have. They would have followed that feeling in their chest.”

Yes, she was quite aware of the connection the two youngest had. Both were experienced in being babied by the older members, and while they didn’t exactly hate it, they both shared the feeling that it could be taken too far. That’s not to say Gordon has never babied Alan, it’s a Tracy older brother rite of passage to baby anything younger than you-- Kayo notwithstanding because the boys would like to live to see tomorrow-- but he was the only one with enough balls to look Alan in the eyes when he was being stupid to just straight up say, Alan, you’re being stupid. Again, Kayo notwithstanding, but she’s always been an outlier in their habits. It drives Brains insane with how much he has to change his general character study of the family.

Right, the important issue at hand. Gordon was still going, not helping her already bruised heart in the slightest, “Alan’s going to come back and he’s going to realize just how shitty I am as an older broth--”

Gordon always thought of Penny in the same way he thought of the waves that propel him when he swam: always there, gentle as ever, but when he needed a kick, they aren’t afraid to give it to him straight. Penny, however, couldn’t exactly shoot water from her hands, so she settled with a surprise kiss from nowhere. Gordon’s lips were salty with tears, and despite her eyes being closed, she knew his expanded to the size of baseballs.

Leaning back, she sighed at the smeared lipstick on the corner of his lips, “Gordon, I think both you and I know that what you’re saying is absolutely rubbish.”

Gordon’s lips were still a little puckered, “Wha--”

She placed one of her fingers on his lips, shutting him up, “You are the one best older siblings on the planet alongside your brothers, and the fact that you would doubt that means you’re letting that bastard win,” Gordon’s gasp meant she was going in the right direction, “Alan is a very crafty boy when he wants to be, which he definitely got from you, so don’t you dare think him slipping out of your grasp was your fault. As backward as it is, you should be thinking that the reason he was able to so selflessly give himself was because of your undying love for him. He wouldn’t be willing to go through hell and back just for any group of people, no?”

His eyes were practically twinkling with awe. Was it really so hard to believe that these boys had nothing but adoration and respect for one another? At least he took her words into consideration in the form of swallowing down the spit in his mouth like he swallowing a large rock, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Her soft grin fell over her face once more, “Aren’t I usually though?”

A similar one fell over him, “Yeah.” Then, his face became somber once more, “Hey, Penelope, I’m real sorry you had to catch me like this. Despite it, you comforted me through it anyway. God, sometimes I wonder if I even deser--”

Another peck to his lips, “What did we just get finished talking about? Besides, you’ve helped me in similar circumstances, and over arguably less pressing matters too.”

Gordon found himself rolling his eyes for the first time in a while. This woman was truly incredible, “Nah, I wouldn’t say that. You really did have too many clothing options for that ball, you know. Who picks a theme as generic as “Color” and doesn’t expect for it ruin a couple of ladies’ weekends? C’mon.”

The laughter that rang out in the air was magical.

After their joy died down, she shoved herself in his arms like a needy cat and gently scraped her fingernails over his cheeks in that familiar comforting way, “Just you wait, Gordon Tracy. Alan’s going to come back and the first thing he’s going to do is smack all of you, especially you, silly for how dumb you’re all acting.”

With tear tracks still on his cheeks, Gordon let out a few wet chuckles, “Yeah, he would, wouldn’t he?”

Penelope turned around to lay her back on his chest, and with it, his arms snaked around her waist and his chin was placed on her shoulder in their special soft hug they like to do, the bottle of alcohol long forgotten, “He will, Gordon. He’s got an amazing father, a wonderful sister, a lovely grandma, and four absolutely stellar older brothers to make sure of it.”

She felt the rise and fall of Gordon’s chest as he took a shaky deep breath, “... Four handsome older brothers, I assume?”

She rolled her eyes. So they were going to play that game tonight, “Yes, Gordon, though, I would prefer to call one of them absolutely fetching instead.”

“Scott was always a ladies man.”

“I suppose, though his flirting skills leave much to be desired.”

“Those muscles on Virgil make quite the argument by themselves.”

“They do create the most wonderful hugs.”

“But I thought John wasn’t into this kind of stuff?”

“You’re insatiable, Gordon.”

“Kayo prefers to call it high maintenance.”

“Insatiable.”

“Hard to please?”

“A prick.”

“Wow, and Virgil said I was going to be the asshole of this relationship.”

“He was right.”

“Yet you’re not gunning for freedom away from me, so I must be doing something right.”

“Hmm. Yes, you are.”

---

“I didn’t know you could drive.”

She pulled the key out of the ignition of her familiar FAB 1, “As much as I enjoy Parker’s company, I do need some alone time every once in a while. I feel you feel a similar way about your older brothers, or am not I correct, Alan?”

The boy stepped out of the car and stretched his arms above his head, “Yeah yeah, but Parker not being bound to you would be like Captain Nightleaf not having his famous grappling hook in the sequel. You can’t have one without the other. I sometimes wonder if you summoned him or something, or have him bound by a blood contract.”

“He’s 80, not ancient.”

Alan was now on the other side of the car right next to her, grin prevalent as ever, “Could’a fooled me.”

Then, the grin he was sporting fell slightly off his face as he trailed over to look at the GDF compound he asked her to take him to. Currently, it was night, but before, it was a crisp afternoon only a few days ago. Penelope was chilling in a hotel room in Switzerland, waiting for Parker to pack the car down at the entrance and give the okay to leave when Alan called her by himself with a request she wasn’t expecting, least of all from him.

“Alan, I’m not saying no, but… you want to see him so soon after everything?”

The he did was left unspoken.

The boy fervently nodded his head anyway, “I want to get it out of the way and my family won’t let me get within 1000 feet of the guy for the next 150 years. I don’t exactly blame them, but… I dunno, I just want to get the last word in, or maybe some answers. It would give me some sense of relief. Isn’t that how it works in the movies?”

Penelope rolled her eyes, yet a small smile followed soon after, “That is also how it works in real life, you know. Not everything is a Hollywood flick. If you’re sure, let’s figure something out. I’ve got the feeling you don’t want Parker breathing down your neck, and your family will have eyes like hawks. We’ll need to be sneaky about this.”

She supposed it was immature, but she couldn’t help the laughter that escaped her at Alan’s, “Aha! Viva la revolution!”

With careful espionage, Alan was able to trick every single one of his family members that he was asleep (even John, who must have been exceptionally tired) for the night. After they all left to their respective rooms to pass out like the youngest, said youngest popped up and snuck out to the hangar where Lady Penelope was waiting with her ride.

After a few hours of mindlessly talking with the boy (who had some interesting conversation starters), they finally arrived at their destination, and Penelope wondered if Alan was starting to grasp what exactly he was in for. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, “It’s quite alright if you want to turn back now. You’re not wrong if you want to leave just as much as you’re not wrong if you want to continue with this. It’s all about your comfort.”

Because it was true. Penelope has been through these types of situations numerous times. Even if Alan wasn’t going to see his personal hell personified, the environment of these places was undeniably spooky, even scary in some cases. She might have become somewhat numb to it, but little Alan, while had one of the worst forays into this kind of culture in the form of being literally tortured, was still adjusting to just how dark the world could be. She was sure the Tracys already understood a little bit of it with how casualty-heavy their jobs could get, but there were things even the older boys were sheltered about out of necessity.

She would absolutely be willing to turn back now if he wanted to leave it behind and shroud himself in the warmth and light of his family. Not many have the ability to do so in the first place.

Alan thinned his lips before his blue eyes became fire-filled with determination, “No, Penny, I want to do this. We’ve come this far, and I promised I would pay for gas money. I don’t want it to go to waste.”

Snorting, she gently squeezed on his shoulder before taking her hand away, “Just give the word, darling.”

Checking in and learning all the appropriate rules and whatnot, they gandered at the steel walls as they made their way to one of the deepest parts of the compound. Before they knew it, they were outside one cell in particular. Penelope gazed over at Alan, who was sweating ever so slightly more than before. She was about to make the offer to go home again, but Alan abruptly spoke, “Uh, are you going to unlock it?”

Oh, right, she had the key. Maybe she wasn’t the one ready for this.

Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the cell and the door swished open. Both blondes were hit with a rush of cold air, making them shiver. Penelope wasn’t entirely sure if she was seeing her breath due to the chilliness or if her mind was making her see things due to how unsettling it was. Regardless, the two IR operatives stepped into the dark room and gulped at the sight before them.

Shackled to a chair and behind a table was none other than The Hood, glaring at them like they murdered orphaned puppies.

Ha, like he would care if they did that. She knew exactly why he was angry, and it was sickening all the same. Even after all the atrocities he has committed, he felt he was right in feeling slighted at being put into custody. She had taken down many horrible people, and yet she would never understand how they could have such twisted egos, or as Gordon would put it, have their heads shoved so far up their asses they no longer could see the light of day.

And that was sugarcoating how Gordon said it.

At the sight of Alan, The Hood lost all of his fury. In fact, in the blink of an eye, his glare turned into a slimy smile. One straight from a creepy uncle, which described him better than any of them liked, “Alan, why, I didn’t expect to see you so soon! How has it been?”

The Tracy in question gulped at being addressed directly, “P-Pretty good. Just wanted to make sure you were enjoying your time in jail. You really earned it.”

Penelope grinned ever so slightly at Alan’s attempt as sass. It was subtle, but enough for The Hood to pick up on the hidden message. The guy’s eyebrow twitched, and before either blonde could continue their merciless roasting, “Well, I suppose I do. After all, I’ve clearly done everything I could ever dream of. Now I’m in one of the safest locations on the planet away from harm. Yes, I do deserve this.”

Alan’s grin became awkward, and he took a glance and Penelope before he could help himself, “Aha, what?”

Penelope secretly winced at the fact that Alan asked a question instead of doing anything else, because The Hood, seeing the hole in Alan’s bravado, sat up straighter and his grin got even more ear-to-ear (Gordon’s comparison to the Grinch hurt suddenly. At least the Grinch became nice), “You don’t think I’m not aware of all the damage that has come upon your family? The things that make them squirm? How they would feel if those same things befell the one object they desperately wanted to protect? Why did you come with the Missus over here instead of one of your amazing brothers? Could they not handle it? Or were you too scared to be alone with them? Either way, it’s still exactly what I wanted.”

Alan’s lips thinned, “H-Hey, you don’t know what you’re--”

Penelope was caught off guard by a large bang resonating throughout the tiny room. The Hood was standing, his hands slammed down on the tabletop and breathing heavily. His eyes had a dangerous gleam to them, one that spoke, I might be chained down, but clearly I’m still in control.

Throughout that series of events and before he could help it, Alan jumped back and gripped Penelope’s arm, eyes wide and filled with fear, just like The Hood probably wanted.

The Hood, watching Alan’s clear display submission, grinned evilly, “Don’t you understand, Alan? It’s just like I told your family, I win. No matter how much they want to do to me, they can’t when I’m sitting behind bars, and you on the verge of a panic attack like right now just makes them hurt even worse. I. Win.”

Seething with anger, Penelope was about to give that awful man a piece of her mind when she suddenly felt Alan let go and step forward with taut shoulders. She looked at him and saw a glare that could have even rivaled his eldest brother’s, “Yeah, you know what? You did win, I am scared of you, the world is a little darker. It’s taking all of my willpower right now not to pass out on the spot, but you also know what?” At The Hood’s shock and raised eyebrows (he must not have expected such a bite to the youngest’s words), Alan grinned and continued onward, “I’m not scared of my family like you desperately wanted me to become. Yeah, I’m not. Maybe sometimes I’ll forget it, and yes, you certainly didn’t help, but who needs to know when I’ll always feel their love and care for me till the end of their days? So, sure, you did win in some regards. My family now has even more shit to struggle through until we get back to some semblance of normal, but I still have them, unlike your sorry ass.”

Alan took a step back as to signify these are the last words we’re having, asshole, rot in hell, “All of your henchmen have been promised safety away from you, you growl and hiss at every scrap of help people somehow manage to want to throw your way despite everything you’ve done to them and you still think you’re the right one in this situation. The one on top of it all. Well, guess what? You’re not, and my family and I, together, are one day going to toast to this momentous occasion. You finally being left in a cell to rot. Alone. Have a good rest of your life, Hood, I hope it’s as dark as you wanted it to be.”

With that, the boy turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving Penelope to give one last glance to a flabbergasted Hood with a cheeky grin. Soon after, she left herself and locked the door just like she knew how to and followed Alan out. The boy had quite the lead on her, not that she was going to try and close any time soon. She was going to let him have some space after all of that.

She was pretty good at judging distances, and it was about two hundred and twenty-three feet away from The Hood’s cell door when Alan suddenly leaned against the wall and slid down it to bring his head between his knees. Not skipping a beat or becoming even slightly caught off guard, Penelope kneeled next to him and placed a gentle hand on his back, “You were very brave, Alan, and extremely right. I’ve known utter wackjobs who only have fantasies of being able to say or do something like that.”

Minutely trembling, Alan brought his head up to look at her. Unshed tears were in his eyes, yet he still grinned and laughed all the same, “You mean like Parker right?”

Blinking, Penelope had to grin too, “Well, I wasn’t going to be the one to say any names, but if we want to go there...”

Just like that, they were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps heading their way.

Both blondes looked up to see a GDF member walking in their direction who jumped at the sight of them, “Woah, hey… Uh, are you two alright? Do you need me to fetch someone?”

Shaking her head at the generous offer, Penelope declined, “No, but thank you. We had to make a necessary stop for the future that was draining, but it’s over now, and we just need to catch our breath. Isn’t that right, Alan?”

Penelope felt Alan’s breathing was a little more hectic than before, but his terse nods made her focus back on the man in front of them.

Also nodding, the man continued on his journey to wherever he was going, “If you’re sure then…”

As his footsteps became muffled due to distance, Penelope finally registered that it was panic that was swiftly overtaking Alan, and before she could ask what was wrong or comfort him, Alan roughly gripped the front of her shirt, “Penny, do you know if there are any other criminals being held down here?”

Uh, that was weird, “Not yet, or at least, none that I know of.”

If Alan wasn’t careful his breathing would become hyperventilation, “And who did you say was allowed access to The Hood’s cell?”

She didn’t like where this was going, “Well, there’s myself, I believe your father and Scott, Colonel Casey, and about one other well-trusted higher-up in the GDF. Why?”

Alan looked at her with the widest eyes imaginable, essentially saying she held the world in her palms at that very moment, “Then why did that random employee, who definitely was not a high rank in the slightest, have a keycard like ours?”

Oh, damn, why the hell didn’t she notice immediately that a random member being down here at this time of night was suspicious? Regardless, Alan picked up the slack for her- must have seen the key in his pocket somehow- and before he could utter another word out, she reluctantly left him behind to go chase after the man.

She wasn’t sure how the man got the keycard, but those details were to be left for the GDF to find out. It was their spy problem, after all.

Coming around the corner, her eyes laid upon the man about two inches away from unlocking the door. Before she even thought, she tackled him in a very unladylike manner, which led to a rather brutal scuffle on the ground. She was still winning it, however, like she always does. At some point, she managed to grab his key from him and escape the weird tango they were doing on the floor, and right as she stood up, a young voice called out to her, “Penny!”

Looking up, it seemed Alan had finally found his feet. She saw the man had also found his as well and was coming at her once more, “Alan! Take these and run!”

Chucking two identical keycards over the man who returned her tackle from earlier, Penelope was barely able to watch as Alan caught them and did as he was told. Boy, didn’t Gordon once mention he was in track at some point? It clearly showed. She blinked, the man stood up and Alan was gone. Too bad the man was very insistent that he freed The Hood tonight, as he started booking it as soon as Penelope stood up as well.

God, how did this night go to shit so quickly. She wasn’t even wearing the right heels to run in!

She eventually caught up to the two men as they made their way into the lobby. The person who was seated at the desk and who Penelope got her key from was swiftly knocked out, most likely due to their little intruder. So that at least explained why the intruder was able to get the key. Well, Penelope would need to wake them up somehow. She couldn’t run out and get help herself because she didn’t want to leave Alan alone with that man; if they both left he would just go and break The Hood out; and something about radio communication was jammed down here for safety reasons. The only thing that could call the rest of the GDF was that desk.

As she was thinking of a way to get that person to wake up, she watched out of the corner of her eye as Alan dodged a tackle thrown his way. Penelope thought she could sigh in relief, but then the man, while still on his stomach, shot his arm out and grabbed Alan by the ankle and yanked him down. Alan had no other choice but to fall right directly on his tailbone, which fell directly on the cold, hard, metallic floor, causing him to yelp out a high pitched “OW!” in the process.

Oh, so that must be how Scott felt during these moments. Interesting.

Getting over to the commotion, Penny jabbed the sharp part of her heel right into the spy’s side, making him wheeze and release Alan’s ankle, allowing the boy to scoot away. The man growled, and Penelope kneeled to try and pin him. She might not have been physically strong enough to completely hold him, but it was enough to significantly slow him down. Meanwhile, Alan scooted so far back his actual back knocked against the desk. Taking a deep breath to calm his erratic chest, he reached behind and above himself to place the cards on the desk and rejoined the fray.

Right before the man could break out of Penelope’s grip, Alan was there pinning him down from the other side. It stopped him for just a bit, but the momentum he had from before was enough to throw them off. They both landed on their butts, and Penelope watched as the man focused his anger on Alan once more. Leaping off her bottom, her arms wrapped around his chest right as Alan jerked one of his legs out in front of him to nail the man right in the stomach, making him huff due to the sudden loss of air in his diaphragm.

This brawl was going in circles. Penelope had to wake that person up, but how? Looking around the room, quickly losing her grip on the spy once more, she saw she had a clear shot of the knocked out receptionist. Closing her eyes in pain (these shoes were limited quantity) for what she was about to do, she moved her arms to have one still wrapped around the man’s neck and used the other to reach down and grab one of her heels.

Hopefully, with more grace than she thought she had, she closed one of her eyes to aim and chucked the heel right at the head of the sleeping GDF member. It hit the target right on, and before she could feel elated at her momentary victory, the man gripped her arm and chucked her right at Alan. They collided at let out two groans right at the moment of impact.

She usually was more refined in the way she kicked ass. Tonight, she hoped it would be okay to make an exception.

Her Deus-Ex-Heel must have worked because outside of her peripheral vision, she heard the noises of someone groaning after being knocked out, followed by a, “What the- HOLY-”

That was good enough for her, and now her focus was 100% back on the man in front of her, as well as Alan beneath her. Both she and the youngest Tracy looked up to see the man standing threateningly over them like a dark shadow, most likely casting one over them in the process as well. She wasn’t sure if it was her or him that growled, but only feeling partially sorry as she sprang off of Alan like he was a trampoline, she tangled with the spy once more. At some point, Alan joined the dance as well, and it was a blur of limbs. The receptionist was fearfully crouching behind the desk, mainly because you had to be insane to join in on that twister of a fight.

After a little bit more scuffling, Penelope was only reminded of the fact that she was wearing one heel when she tripped like an absolute buffoon over her own two feet. Regardless, the spy wasn’t expecting it either, and with a yell of shock, the two of them tumbled down, taking Alan with them, onto the ground for the last time, and in the process, the man smacked his head directly on the steel floor. While he wasn’t completely knocked out, the guttural noise he made after the fact signified he was down for the count.

Suddenly, they were in the weirdest triangle formation ever conceived, with Penny laying atop his chest with her nose against the ground and Alan laying over the man’s legs as his knees jutted uncomfortably into the boy’s gut, Alan’s face only a few inches away from hers. The man was finally done fighting and he was staying that way, however, which was more than enough. She only wished she had more grace during it all, especially at this moment. It was embarrassing as hell how they ended up, and she couldn’t even begin to make herself more presentable because the help she desperately wanted showed up at the exact wrong time.

“This is the GDF! Put your hands- Alan?!”

With the grace of a newborn angel, Alan popped his head up above the chaotic knot to see what the new commotion was about. It was kind of hard to be mad at the scene when his hair was so unkempt in that way baby animals get after lick-baths from their mothers, as well as the dopey smile he was sporting with such an adrenaline rush, “Oh! Hi Aunt Casey! Glad to see you again!”

Penelope groaned into the ground, Well, poop. This was not how she wanted this to go.

After being held in a cell for about an hour or so (it was regulation, they knew that, didn’t make it suck any less), the Colonel herself came and brought them out. It was very obvious they didn’t do anything wrong, honestly, they did more than right, but the GDF had rules. Causing such a commotion, especially in such a facility, had to be looked into, and what she found was exactly what she expected. Nothing less of a Tracy, or Miss Creighton-Ward.

Didn’t stop her from gripping the boy’s arm like a tired mother, however, “Now then, another part of our regulations is to call the family of anyone we incarcerate, so the past half hour of my job has been more hectic than I can bear. Please, Alan, don’t make this worse for anyone, or yourself.”

As soon as the word ‘family’ left Casey’s mouth, both Penelope and Alan winced. They both subconsciously figured that the rest of the Tracys would find out about their little mission, they just hoped it would be in the morning a few hours after everything was said and done. Not right in the middle of it, and especially not right after they essentially took down an enemy cell.

Casey let the boy go with a fond smile. Penelope watched as the boy gave one back, albeit a little bit more awkwardly. It said please don’t feed me to the starving lions. Casey only eye-rolled. You were the one that thought it was okay to steal their food. Alan eye-rolled right back. Yeah, fine, fair enough. The two women stood and watched as Alan took a deep breath and descended the stairs to his frantic family.

Penelope took a moment to look at said family. Jeff and John were off to the side talking to two officers while Gordon and Virgil were steaming and sitting with their arms on a seemingly even more steaming Scott, all three glaring at the spy currently in handcuffs. Oof, they probably got a brief rundown about what happened, and that most likely didn’t put them in a good mood. Which was to be expected. How else should one feel when you’re abruptly woken up to a call from the GDF saying your younger brother is in our captivity. Please come pick him up before he makes even more of a mess. It didn’t help that they had to wait to see the younger brother when they knew Alan was right inside and could have been let go at any time.

Penelope was brought out of her thoughts at the sound of Alan speaking rather loudly. The rest of the Tracy family jumped at the voice too. Everyone looked at the middle of the stairs to see the freckled boy slowly bound down them, careful as to not set off any more metaphorical explosions, “Heeeeeeey guys. So, uh, funny story, would you believe me if I said getting into a brawl with an enemy spy was not on my agenda? Like, we were supposed to be in and out in less than an hour, I swear, but--”

His foot barely tapped the ground at the bottom of the stairs when Scott, in a typhoon of brotherly fury and care, was suddenly upon him and picking him up into the biggest, most smothery hug he had gotten in a while. And he had been getting a lot of those lately. Barely being able to breathe, both due to the tightness of the hold and the fact that Scott was subconsciously suffocating him in his shoulder, Alan could only bring his head up, gently set his chin down on said shoulder and wrap his arms around his older brother, “Yeah, okay.”

Penelope continued to watch as Gordon followed suit and proceeded to hug Alan from behind, making Scott move his arms to hold both tinies. Virgil and John sauntered up to the group hug but instead of joining, they simply waited for the storm to calm so they could get their versions in. Virgil even slung an arm around John’s shoulder, which the astronaut surprisingly leaned into.

Huh, maybe tonight went a little off schedule, but maybe it was also for the best.

Casey, who had been watching everything the whole time as well, grabbed her hands around the middle of her back as she tended to do, “Well, as unorthodox as it was, thank you for your help tonight. After The Hood’s big scheme came to fruition, our little spy went under the radar. After The Hood was taken in, he dug himself even further. We were worried we were going to have to shut down operations in that sector for a little bit to catch him.”

Penelope relaxed at the small conversation. Tonight seemed to take a little bit more out of her than she realized, “Glad to be of service. Just count this as another thing checked off on our long-ass checklists.”

Casey chuckled, “It is indeed. Now then,” Casey suddenly looked up, and before Penelope could follow her line of sight, “Jeff Tracy, you have just as much right to be in that hug as the rest of your sons.”

Oh. Finally looking up herself, Penelope was met with the sight of the ex-astronaut coming up the stairs to the two ladies to join their conversation. His hands were in his pockets, and while his eyes looked tired, his smile said he was quite at ease, “Cool your jets, Colonel. I’ll get my due when there aren’t 50 of your men and women watching my every move. Besides, I need to speak with my old friend for a moment. My other one, obviously.”

Casey scoffed and threw her hands into the air, though Penelope could tell it came from a place of fondness. From years of working together that couldn’t be taken away no matter the circumstances, “You always say that, but you still owe me that 50 bucks from 25 years ago.”

Jeff waved her off, “Please, can you even remember what it was over?”

“Maybe I won’t, but that Singing Tiger Ale House sure will,” she stated with a grin. Penelope had to giggle at the way Jeff started meekly blushing, “Speaking of getting things done in a timely manner, unlike certain oafs I know, I suddenly have some new reports I need to file tonight,” even though that statement had the potential for it, there was no malice laced in it whatsoever, “I bid you goodnight, friends, you’ve earned it.”

As the Colonel walked away, Penelope gave a small wave as Jeff made a small salute with two of his fingers. Then, the two adults were alone in comfortable silence. Now, Penelope was never a patient person, “You said you wished to speak to me?”

Jeff blinked before registering her words, “Ah, yes, I did. I was just wondering what inclined you to kidnap my son and take him for a joy ride. Did he bribe you with something? I have to know, I’ve never figured out what I could get you to maybe make you more malleable to certain decisions, and I’ve had a near-decade to ruminate over it.”

Penelope rolled her eyes, “First of all, never in a million years would I tell you what you can get under my skin with, you would have to physically interrogate me for such valuable secrets, and second of all, Alan came to me with an offer I had no argument against. I had to concede and help him out.”

Jeff raised an eyebrow, “Do you mind explaining that a little more or?...”

Penelope sighed, “He wanted to talk to The Hood in captivity. For closure.”

Jeff flinched, “Jesus, Penny, that’s-”

The London Agent in question wagged her finger in his direction, “Ah ah ah, Mr. Tracy, do not finish that sentence. You are not a bad person, nor is your family a bad family for not wanting Alan near that man. It was the logical feeling you should feel after everything. However, Alan’s needs are similar yet different, which he knew, which is why he came to me for this. He was ready for something you weren’t, nor were your sons, and he wanted to respect that. I was worried if I told him no he would never get the courage to ask again.”

As Jeff listened to Penny’s semi-tirade, he continued to watch his sons mindlessly chatter with one another. Penelope’s words washed over him like a cool shower, relaxing his mind and his body. He was suddenly aware that Alan’s face was even more relaxed than before, his smile more natural. Whatever happened between him and The Hood during that awful month of hell would be a dark spot on the rest of their family for years to come, but every day it grew smaller and smaller.

Jeff really was becoming a sentimental old fart, “He’s grown up to be a fine young man, hasn’t he.”

Penelope heard Jeff phrase that as a matter of fact, and she was glad he did. He was right, “He sure has.” And it’s thanks to you. You were always there in spirit for those boys, and they relished every minute of it.

Jeff rolled his shoulders and started stepping down the steps to go see his family. Right before Penny could walk away, Jeff stopped about three steps down, brought one of his hands out of his pockets, and pointed to the sky in that familiar way that said, wait, I forgot this one thing, “Parker called me right before the GDF hit Scott up. I’m just warning you ahead of time. He seemed pretty worried he was suddenly out of a job, or that he was somehow the only person left on the planet Earth. Maybe you should address those fears of his?”

Penelope grimaced, “Thank you for the warning, Jeff.” That was going to be a fun conversation. Even so, she knew it was technically her fault. There was a note she forgot to write and leave for him in there somewhere.

Giving her a thumbs up with the same hand he made the previous movement with, he continued to not look at her as he put the hand back in his pocket and started walking towards his family once more. Penelope waited only for a moment, wanting to make sure Jeff didn’t evaporate the moment he got near his family. As she watched him wrap Alan in yet another hug, she finally let go and figured everything was going to be alright.

An hour or so later, FAB 1 was pulled into her garage and she was drinking tea alongside Parker in her living room. After explaining what went down and why she went alone, Parker simply grumbled, “First that family warps your romantic standards, and now they’re h-affecting your common sense! Next, they’ll make you think you’re H-Australian or something! What h-am I supposed to do then, m’lady?”

Grinning with the teacup still touching her lips, she brought it down, set it on the tiny plate in her lap, and relished in her long time friend’s antics, “Well, we’ll learn to adapt just like we always have, Parker. Just like we always have.”

Her world has been upside down since day one.

But maybe those crazy boys and their endless love are the things she needs to keep it right side up.

#thunderbirds #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds tag #thunderbirds fanfic #lady penelope #penelope creighton-ward #aloysius parker #alan tracy #gordon tracy #jeff tracy #scott tracy #penelope x gordon #gordon x penelope #my post #my fic #series: rules of alchemy

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