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behindyourbarrette · 3 years

Text

like you a latte - matcha latte

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pairing: spencer reid x fem reader

a/n: SURPRISE i felt like dropping this a DAY early!!lololololol but here it is! i appreciate the love on the last two parts so so soooo much :) can’t beliEVE WE ARE HALFWAY DONE!! reblog if u enjoyed

—

Needless to say, Twilight Time isn’t very crowded on Thursday afternoons.

You rarely pick up closing shifts anymore—for reasons totally unrelated to the doctor who almost exclusively arrives in the morning—but you’re covering for Sally, and it’s a nice day out. The rain has let up in favor of mild weather, the sun just barely peeking through the clouds as people drift past the shop. Despite the fact that there’s more foot traffic on the street, not many people come in to order. You don’t blame them. Why have hot coffee on a day like this?

Your back is turned when you hear a group enter, and your heart soars at the prospect of tips. For whatever reason, most people are more inclined to tip when they know their friends are watching. You call out to let them know you’ll be right with them, and after you’re done fidgeting with the settings of the coffee grinder, you turn.

It’s Spencer. But he’s not alone.

There are a total of four people before you, each intimidating you in slightly different ways. They’re all agents, as evidenced by their not-so-concealed carries. You recognize a few of the characters. Spencer’s told you about JJ, who you assume to be the friendly blonde, and Penelope, who is a vision in fuchsia. That leaves Emily, who’s whispering to JJ, eyes fixed on you. You try to absorb the sight, them together. Spencer looks at ease, a wide smile on his face as he looks between you and the group.

“Hey, Spencer. These your coworkers?” You crack a nervous smile, knitting your fingers together. He nods, introducing them each in turn. JJ grins in your direction, and Penelope waves at you with a fingerlessly-gloved hand. Emily reaches across the bar to shake your hand. You get the sense that there’s something Spencer hasn’t told you.

“What can I get you guys?”

Spencer shrugs, defaulting to JJ and Emily. Penelope pipes up, eyes bright as she peers at the menu above you.

“Do you have matcha, sweetheart? I’ve been meaning to try that. It’s great for your skin.” You nod, pulling a cup out and inscribing Penelope’s name on it. JJ and Emily both order americanos, exchanging a sheepish grin. After setting their cups aside, you turn to Spencer.

“Genius, you should really try the matcha. It’ll give you brain power. Not that you need any more.” Penelope does jazz hands to emphasize her excitement, and Spencer shrugs. You watch them interact for a moment before you realize he’s turned to you for your approval.

“Oh. I really like matcha. It’s green tea, and a matcha latte tastes light and sweet. I think you’d like it.” He nods, and orders it hot. Penelope orders iced; you smile as you consider that they compliment each other, eventually turning away to prepare everyone’s drinks. They’re all relatively simple, and you manage to include latte art in the hot drinks. Spencer’s is last, and you flick your wrist to finish the design. Crossing the bar, you hand each agent their drink in turn.

Penelope sips at her drink first, the bright green matching one of her rings perfectly. Spencer eyes his dubiously, poking at it with a wooden stirring stick.

“It’s very green.” He whispers to Penelope, who cackles in response.

JJ catches your eye as you watch, lingering between the bar and their seats. With a smile, she waves you over.

“You’ve totally ruined other coffee for Spence. We had to come try it for ourselves.” She whispers, leaning down. You aren’t sure how to feel about her tone; there’s a glint of something in her eye, something playfully secretive. You’re not sure what part of this you’re not in on.The idea of Spencer mentioning you at all is foreign—sure, you’ve told your roommates, and your coworkers found out that you do, in fact, have a favorite regular. Still, you never considered the idea that you bleed into other parts of his life. You steal a glance at him while JJ compliments her americano. He’s sipping at his matcha, a green mustache left behind.

“You have a magic touch, Y/N. I don’t think I’ve ever had coffee this good in the states.” Emily flashes you a grin as if she can sense your nervousness. You relax a little, asking her about her work abroad instead of getting lost in your head. She strikes you as a diplomat, and a compliment from her feels like something to be savored. Penelope raves to you about the health benefits of matcha, and you immediately feel welcomed by her. If you were to run a study comparing the approachability between pink polka dots and pantsuits, you're sure that polka dots would win.

“Are you an agent, too?” You ask, stirring your own iced coffee with a straw. Eyeing the clock, you’ve decided that this counts as your break. Tyler be damned. Penelope giggles, shaking her head.

“Oh God no. Well, technically. I’m a technical analyst, so I work on the computer and tech end of things.” She explains, and you nod. It makes a lot of sense. While both JJ and Emily exude the energy of most cops—authoritative, with a critical eye—Garcia does’t fit that mold. It’s this that draws you to her.

You learn that JJ has a son named Henry, a surprisingly Southern boyfriend to match, and that Emily has a cat named Sergio. Despite their highbrow titles, you don’t feel out of place. It’s easy to sip at your coffee, the cup cool against your fingertips, and listen.

“Are you in school? Spence mentioned that you majored in literature.” JJ sets her cup down, flexing her fingers against the air. You feel yourself flush now that the attention is on you. The fact that he chose this detail to divulge sticks between your ribs. You haven't told him much about your work—he insisted on reading your thesis, and even reread the source material to better discuss it with you—but apparently, what you have discussed has made an impression.

“Yeah, actually. I’m in my second year of law school.” You admit. Emily nods in approval, reaching out to high five you.

“Damn. With all the assholes you deal with in customer service, you’ll make a great attorney.” You high five her with a small smile on your face, stealing a glance at Spencer. He seems elated, clearly enjoying the dynamic he’s observing.

“Do you want to go into criminal law?”

JJ asks, eyes wide with curiosity. You shake your head ruefully. They take it well, shrugging their shoulders. To their credit, their branch of law enforcement deals with the process prior to prosecution. You shudder at the idea of what happens after they catch the bad guys.

“No, not really. I’m looking at either the entertainment or environmental sector.”

The group murmurs, and the conversation devolves into small talk about law. You look to Spencer for an escape, and he suggests that they take a walk. Once the girls have trickled out of the room, each hugging you goodbye, you’re left alone with Spencer.

“Hey.”

You laugh at the simplicity of his greeting, turning to toss your empty coffee cup into the trash. Spencer flushes a deep shade of red, raking his hands through his hair.

“Your friends aren’t how I expected. Really cool, though. Especially for like, Quantico professionals.” You wipe the counter down, and the reality that you’re on the clock hits you, a little dizzily. Did his coworkers really just want to meet Spencer’s barista? The realization tastes a little bitter, and you bite back any further questioning in favor of looking up at him.

“Yeah. They’re like family.” He looks out the window, hands deep in his pockets. His whole demeanor is stiff, and you resist the urge to reach out and force his shoulders down from his ears.

“Did you like the matcha? I wasn’t sure you would. I used the oat milk you like.” Slowly, he relaxes. With a small smile, he nods.

“It was good. I like most teas, I’m finding. It wasn’t too sweet.” You add matcha to the mental list you keep, of drinks he likes. It’s become your mission to expand it. In the months since he started branching out, you’ve managed to add a few drinks to his core rotation.

“You know you’re one of my friends too, right?”

This catches you off guard. You pause in the motion of sweeping the floor, carefully raising your eyes to meet his. While nervous, he sounds sincere. When met with your silence, he continues.

“I just wanted you to know.”

You nod carefully. The implications of this are something you’ll consider later, when you’re alone. He’s only confirming something you’ve already known, but something about it stings. The word crosses your mind briefly, but it sticks. It’s bittersweet.

“I know.” Your voice is low, soft against the din of the coffee shop. Spencer doesn’t look satisfied, opening his mouth to say something then closing it again. He glances between you and the window.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

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just-dreaming-marvel · 3 years

Text

Out Of Time ~ 110

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 4,000ish

Summary: Bucky’s back. (That’s legit all I’m saying.)

Y/N threw up almost immediately after stepping through the portal, back into her hotel room.

“You really don’t like that, do you?” She grumbled, kneeling in front of the toilet. She leaned back against the wall, resting for a few moments. Her hand found its way onto her stomach, caressing it. “You’re in there aren’t you? You’re father’s going to be so excited when I tell him…. We had a fight. You probably heard it though. Sorry about that…. We can both be so stubborn sometimes.” She laughed. “Wow. You really have no chance. You’re going to give us a run for our money, kid…. But we’ll love you anyway…. I’ll love you.”

Y/N eventually got up and changed into something more comfortable. Curly-ing up on her bed, he turned on the tv and ordered room service. As she was tipping the staffer that brought her the food, her phone began ringing off the hook.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she said, shutting the hotel door and hurrying to her phone. She was surprised to see Tony’s name on the screen. “Tony?” She quietly answered.

“Please tell me you’re okay!” Tony panicked on the other end. “Are you okay?”

“Tony, breathe. What are you talking about?”

“The UN in Vienna was bombed. Are you not with Natasha?”

“The UN was bombed?!” Y/N rushed over to change the tv station to the news. Tony was right.

“I take it that you’re not with Nat then?”

“No.”

“Thank goodness,” Tony sighed. “When I heard, I thought the worst.”

“I’m okay, Tony. I’m safe in my London hotel room.”

“That’s… that’s… I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Do they know who—“ Loud knocks sounded on her hotel room door. “Someone’s here for me but, Tony, we need to talk.”

“Then come home.”

“I’ll see you soon. Love you.” Y/N hung up the phone rushed to the door. Steve, Sam, and Sharon were on the other side. “I just heard about the UN. Have any of you heard from Nat?”

“Not yet,” Steve replied.

“We’re heading to Vienna with Sharon,” Sam said. “You coming?”

“I don’t know,” Y/N shook her head. “I really—“

“Y/N,” Steve’s tone held one of pain. “They’re blaming Bucky. He’s the suspect.”

~~~

Y/N and Steve watched the first responders from across the street. Trying to disguise themselves with baseball caps and sunglasses. The twins spotted Natasha across the way. Steve pressed some things on his phone before holding it up to their ears.

“Yeah?” Nat answered.

“You alright?” Steve asked.

“Ah, yeah, thanks. I got lucky.” They watched as she looked around and stood up. "I know how much Barnes means to you and Y/N. I really do. Stay home. You'll only make this worse. For all of us. Please.”

“Are you saying you'll arrest me?”

"No. Someone will. If you interfere. That's how it works now.”

“If he's this far gone, Nat, I should be the one to bring him in.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm the one least likely to die trying.”

“Just don’t bring Y/N into this. Keep her safe and out of it.”

“Too late,” Y/N responded before Steve hung up.

The twins slipped into a nearby coffee shop, where Sam was sitting at the counter waiting. He was also wearing a cap and shades.

“She tell you to stay out of it?” Sam asked.

“Yep,” Y/N replied.

“Might have a point.”

“He’d do it for me,” Steve stated.

“1945, maybe. I just want to make sure we considered all our options. The people that shoot at you usually wind up shooting at me.”

"Tips have been pouring in since that footage went public,” Sharon said, coming up beside Steve. “Everybody thinks the Winter soldier goes to their gym. Most of it's noise. Except for this.” She slid Steve a file. “My boss expects a briefing, pretty much now . . . so that's all the head start you're gonna get.”

“Thank you,” Steve said.

"And you're gonna have to hurry. We have orders to shoot on sight.”

~~~

“We can’t let them hurt him, Steve,” Y/N was pacing back and forth in the quinjet as they headed for Bucharest. Sam was currently piloting while Steve got ready. “They’re going to shoot him on sight. I can’t.. woah…” She sudden felt dizzy.

“Y/N?” Steve worried, hurrying over to help her into a seat. “Are you alright?” He felt her head. “You do feel a little warm. Maybe you should stay behind while—“

“No! No. I’ll be fine.” She leaned back against the wall she was sitting against. Steve watched her for a moment as she closed her eyes.

“Y/N… is there something you aren’t telling me?”

“No. Why would you think that?” She quickly straightened up to look at him.

“Because I’ve known you our whole lives.”

“I’m good, Stevie. Just worried about everything that’s all.”

Steve grabbed Y/N’s hand, giving it a light squeeze. “We won’t let anything more happen to Buck. I promise.”

~~~

Suited up, Y/N and Steve entered a small apartment. Looking around, Y/N felt incredibly sadden at the sight. There was a mattress on the floor with disheveled covers and various bit of cheap looking furniture around the room. The kitchen and bedroom were in the same room. The twins walked around. Steve noticed something on top of the fridge. Walking over, he pulled out a notebook. Opening it, Steve sees tabs of varying colors and writings. Memories Bucky seemed to be trying to piece together.

“Heads up, Cap,” Sam called over the comms. "German Special Forces, approaching from the south.”

“Understood,” Steve replied.

Sensing another mind, Y/N slowly turned around. She tried to keep her breath steady as she made eye contact with Bucky. She gently nudged Steve, making him slowly turn around as well.

“Do you know us?” Steve asked.

“You’re Steve,” Bucky answered, staring at Steve before making eye contact with Y/N again. “You’re Y/N. I read about you both in a museum.”

“They’ve set the perimeter,” Sam warned.

“I know you’re nervous,” Y/N said, taking a step towards the scared man. “And you have plenty of reason to be. But you’re lying.”

“I wasn’t in Vienna,” Bucky stated. “I don’t do that anymore.”

“They’re entering the building,” Sam informed.

“Well, the people who think you did are coming here now,” Steve stated. "And they're not planning on taking you alive.”

“That’s smart. Good strategy,” Bucky responded.

“They’re on the roof,” Sam stated. “I’m compromised.”

“Bucky,” Y/N called, stepping even closer. “We have to go. Please, come with us.”

“This doesn’t have to end in a fight, Buck,” Steve said.

“It always ends in a fight,” Bucky replied.

“5 seconds,” Sam warned.

“You pulled us from the river,” Steve stated. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Bucky answered.

“3 seconds!”

“Yes, you do,” Y/N pressed, cupping Bucky’s cheek.

Bucky inhaled sharply. “Brook—“

“Breach! Breach! Breach!”

A grenade crashed through the window. Pulling Y/N behind him, Bucky kicked the grenade to Steve, who smothered it with his shield. The cops outside the apartment door began hitting the door with a battering ram. Bullets began coming from the outside, through the windows. Bucky quickly pulled his mattress over everyone’s heads to shield them. Steve quickly kicked the table into the doorway, trying to stall the incoming men. The windows all soon shattered as the cops entered on cables.

Bucky pushed Y/N towards Steve before he began fighting off the cops. Steve quickly pulled Y/N into the kitchen and pulled her to the floor.

“Get out of here,” Steve ordered.

“Steve—“

“Before it’s too late!”

“Where should I—“

“Anywhere but here! Go!”

Nodding, Y/N glanced back at Bucky one last time. He met her eyes and Y/N slipped into his head.

“She needs to get out of here,” Bucky thought. “Before they hurt her too.”

With a deep breath, Y/N formed a portal and hurried through it. She collapsed onto her hands and knees in the quinjet, throwing up. After cleaning herself up, she set the coordinates for Berlin. She knew that, that’s where they’d be taken if they were caught. Y/N knew she needed to get there before they did, to help. She called Tony, having a feeling that he’d be called in for this.

“Please tell me you’re not with them,” Tony answered the call.

“I’m not,” Y/N replied. “But I’m on my way to Berlin.”

“I’ll met you at the airport. We’ll fix this, Y/N/N. I promise.”

“What exactly are you planning on fixing?”

“Everything.”

“But Tony—“

“No more. Not until I see you. I-I miss you, honey. So much.”

“I miss you too, Tony.”

~~~

Tony was quick to pull Y/N into his arms at the airport, hiding his head in her neck. Without very many words, they were quickly in a car on their way to the Joint Counter Terrorist Center. It seemed that Tony really just wanted to keep Y/N close, and Y/N wasn’t ready to tell him the news yet, not until she knew that her whole family could truly be happy.

Tony led her by the hand into the building, his other hand holding the phone to his ear. He was trying to talk Secretary Ross down. Y/N was on edge. Nervous for everyone. When they reached large command area, Y/N helped Tony take his suit coat off, carrying it in her arms.

“No. Romania was no Accords-sanctioned,” Tony told Ross over the phone as Nat led those from Romania in. “And, Colonel Rhodes is supervising cleanup.”

“Try not to break anything while we fix this,” Natasha told the other men.

“Consequences? You bet there'll be consequences.” Tony looked at Steve and Sam. “Obviously you can quote me on that 'cause I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir.” He hung up, walking towards his teammates.

“Consequences?” Steve related.

“Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted. Had to give him something.” Tony and Nat started walking off.

“I'm not getting that shield back, am I?”

“Technically, it's the government's property,” Nat commented. “Wings, too.”

“That’s cold,” Sam said.

“Warmer than jail!” Tony added.

“Where’s Bucky?” Y/N asked Steve. “Did they—“

“They have him locked up,” Steve replied. “Does Tony know…”

“That I was there? No.” Y/N shook her head. “I need to convince Tony to let me see him.”

~~~

Steve was in the large glass conference room in the command center, watching the live security footage of Bucky’s cell. It was breaking Y/N’s heart to see him locked up like that, so she was in the bathroom. She also couldn’t controlled her stomach, currently.

“Hey,” Tony called, coming into the conference room from the side. “You wanna see something cool?” Steve looked his way. Tony had a small box in hand with his coat draped over his arm. “I pulled something from Dad’s archives. Felt timely.” Steve took a seat. Tony opened the box, revealing to pens, and set it on the table. "FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941. Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most.”

“Some would say it brought our country closer to war,” Steve stated.

“See? If not for these, you wouldn't be here. Neither you or Y/N. I’m trying to . . . what do you call it? That's an olive branch.” He sat down. “Is that what you call it?”

“Where is Y/N? It’s been a few minutes since I’ve seen her.”

“We’re kind… well, not kinda.”

“Pregnant?”

“No. Definitely not. At least… I don’t think so. No, we had a fight. About all this. Still haven’t really talked about it.”

“I’m sorry, Tony. I didn’t know.”

“A few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to mop up HYDRA . . . and then Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then, I never stopped. But neither did she. Because the truth is we don't wanna stop. I don't wanna lose her though. Lose what we have. I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference.” Tony stood up and paced. “In her defense, I'm a handful. Yet, Dad was a pain in the ass, but he and Mom always made it work.”

“You know, I'm glad Howard got married. I only knew him when he was young and single.”

“Oh, really? You two knew each other? He never mentioned that. Maybe only a thousand times. God, I hated you…. He never really mentioned Y/N though.” Tony slipped his coat back on.

“I don't mean to make things difficult.”

“I know, because you're a very polite person.”

“If I see a situation pointed south . . . I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could.”

“No, you don’t.”

��No, I don’t.” Steve smiled thinly. “Sometimes . . .”

“Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth. But I don't wanna see you gone. We need you, Cap. So far, nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign. We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych-center . . . instead of a Wakandan prison.”

Steve picked up a pen and stood up. “I'm not saying it's impossible, but there would have to be safeguards,” Steve stated.

“Sure. Once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended. I'd file a motion to have you and Wanda reinstated—“ Tony sat down in the seat Steve was previously in.

“Wanda? What about Wanda?”

“She's fine. She's confined to the compound, currently. Vision's keeping her company.”

“Oh God, Tony! Every time. Every time I think you see things the right way—“

“What? It's a 100 acres with a lap pool. It's got a screening room. There's worse ways to protect people.”

“Protection? Is that how you see this? This is protection? It's internment, Tony.”

“She's not a US citizen.”

“Oh, come on, Tony.”

“And they don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction.”

“She’s a kid!”

“GIVE ME A BREAK! I'm doing what has to be done . . . to stave off something worse.”

“What about Y/N? She has powers. You gonna keep her locked up forever too?”

“I’m doing this for her.”

Steve nodded faintly. “You keep telling yourself that.” He put the pen down. “Hate to break up the set.”

~~~

When Y/N finally left the bathroom, Tony was leaning up against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway.

“Hey, you feeling okay?” Tony asked, coming up to her. “You were in there a long time.”

“All of this is really getting to me,” Y/N answered. “It’s all stressing me out… The Accords, our fight, Steve, Bucky… all of it.”

“Well, maybe you should go home. I can finish things up here and we can talk when I get back.”

“No. I need to be here for Bucky.”

“Y/N. You can’t see him.”

“I can still be here for him. He’s—“

“Your Bucky. Your first love. Yeah, I know—”

“He’s my friend, Tony! He was there for me and Steve when we had nobody. Can’t you understand that?”

“You’re friend bombed the UN.”

“No he didn’t.”

“Did Steve tell you that, or did— no. Where did you come here from?”

“Tony…”

“Where?!”

“Bucharest. I was with them in Bucharest.”

“Y/N—“

“I saw his mind, Tony, read his thoughts. This wasn’t him!”

“You need to go before I have to arrest you for the use of your powers alone.”

“What? No. I’m not leaving.” Tony was mad. “You know that if you send me away, I’ll just find my way back.”

“Then you’re staying in my sights at all times.”

~~~

Y/N was standing in between Tony and Nat, watching the monitors of Bucky’s cell. Tony was serious about her staying in his sights. An evaluator had been sent into the cell, sitting at a desk facing the pod Bucky was restrained in.

“Hello, Mr. Barnes,” the evaluator greeted. “I’ve been sent by the United Nations to evaluate you. Do you mind if I sit?” He sat down. “Your first name is James?” Bucky didn’t respond. “I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James? I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James.”

“My name is Bucky,” he responded. Tears formed in Y/N’s eyes as they never left the screen.

Y/N watched with bated breath the interview. Hand resting over her pounding heart, she watched the evaluator ask questions and write things down. But something wasn’t right. She glanced back, catching Steve’s eye. He motioned to his head.

“This is a set up,” Steve stated in his thoughts. “Something’s not right.”

Y/N turned back to the screen.

“Tell me, Bucky,” the evaluator continued. “You've seen a great deal, haven't you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Bucky replied.

“You fear that… if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop. Don't worry. We only have to talk about one.”

Suddenly, all the lights in the building went out.

“Great,” Agent Everett Ross muttered, putting his walkie talkie up to his mouth. “Come on, guys, get me eyes on Barnes. Go.”

“FRIDAY,” Tony called, “get me the source of that outage.” He turned to Y/N. “Did you do this?”

“No!” She answered. “You really think I would do this?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore.”

He turned away, focusing on finding the problem with FRIDAY. Y/N soon noticed that Sam and Steve were missing. Before she knew it, her, Natasha, and Tony were rushing towards the issue.

“Please tell me you brought a suit,” Natasha muttered.

“Sure did. It's a lovely Tom Ford, three-piece, two-button,”Tony replied. “I’m an active-duty non-combatant.”

Sharon ran up to this. “Follow me,” she ordered, running past.

They did as they were told, rushing through the building to try and help. They get took a different side.

“We’re in position,” Nat said, over the comms that had slipped in.

Tony tapped on his watch, quickly turning it into an Iron Man gauntlet. Coming out from behind the pillar he was hiding behind, he zapped Bucky with a stun-burst before Bucky could shoot a guard. Tony rushed at him, firing again. Bucky ducked the blast before trading blows with Tony, firing a gun. Fortunately, Tony had the gauntlet over the barrel, blocking the bullet. He pulled the gun loose before Bucky smacked him backwards. Y/N watched, trying to calm herself so that she could join.

Sharon was the next to rush Bucky, along with Natasha. They both land kicks and punches, before Bucky flipped Sharon head over heels. She smashed into a table as Nat leaped onto Bucky, legs around his neck. He slammed her onto another table and grabbed her throat.

“You could at least recognize me,” Natasha strained.

Coming out of nowhere, T’Challa kicked Bucky off of Natasha. He immediately began to fight Bucky, landing fast kicks and some punches. Bucky punched T’Challa, causing him to fall but quickly recovered. Bucky hurried up some stairs. T’Challa leaped the levels and vaults a railing, landing in front of Bucky. T’Challa spin-kicked and grabbed Bucky’s metal arm, trying to twist it. He threw Bucky back, keeping his hold as they both tumble down the stairs.

“Stop!” Y/N shouted, coming out of her hiding place. She approached the men, slowly, hands up. “T’Challa, back away.” To his surprise, T’Challa did as he was told.

“Y/N,” Tony croaked, finally gaining consciousness. “Don’t.”

“Bucky…” Y/N called, coming closer. “I’m not going to harm you. I just want to help.” She could feel in his mind that he was the Soldier again. She knew he didn’t like his mind being played with, so she slowing let her grip on him loose. “I need you to trust me.” She met his eyes. “Remember me.”

His metal hand was too swift for her. He grabbed her by the neck and held her up.

“B-bucky…” she strained. “It’s o-okay… I-I’m from Br-Brook-lyn…”

Recognition flashed in his eyes. But before Y/N could do anything with it, she was throw by Bucky. She landed hard on the ground, being forced into unconsciousness.

next chapter >

NOTES: from now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

#tony stark x reader #bucky barnes x reader #steve rogers x reader #the avengers x reader #avengers x reader #marvel imagine #tony stark imagine #bucky barnes imagine #avengers imagine #captain america civil war #civil war #Bucky Barnes #tony stark #the winter soldier

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anxiousstark · 4 years

Text

S2 06 | Frenemy

BIG MASTERLIST | TW REWRITE

Stiles Stilinski x Reader! Half-sibling!Mccall

Word count: 2260

Warnings: Mentions of injuries, murder, swearing (always).

A/N: This is more likely a filler chapter. I swear as chapters go on they get better! I’m so excited for those ones to come out!

↪ PLEASE RESPECT MY WORK. DON’T COPY, TRANSLATE OR CLAIM THEM AS YOURS. NOT ON THIS WEBSITE OR ANOTHER. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED.

"Couldn't get anything out of Danny." Scott got inside the Jeep after talking to the said boy, who was in the back of an ambulance. After I told them that Jackson was the kanima, they both ended up following him into a gay bar. Of course, not being a boy meant that I had to stay in the Jeep.

I was trying not to sit on Jackson as he was laying down on the back seats while I sat down on a little space in the middle, clutching into the front seats. Not safe.

"Okay, can we just get the hell outta here now, before one of my dad's deputies sees me?" Jackson had done some shit, and almost everyone inside ended up paralyzed or not being able to breathe properly. That's why now the outside of the club was full of ambulances and cops. Before Stiles could start his car, the Sheriff pulled over in front of us. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Could this get any worse?" As soon as he said that, Jackson started groaning, moving his head. Stiles turned around, yelling. "That was rhetorical!"

We started getting nervous. "Get rid of him." Scott bit his lower lip.

"Get rid of him? We're at a crime scene, and he's the sheriff."

"Do something." Stiles got frustrated by his friend's words, moving his arms aggressively on the air, and going out of the Jeep.

"What are they saying?" I asked the other McCall. Sometimes I was able to listen to conversations that were off my hearing range, but I couldn't control it, and I didn't know how to 'activate' it.

Jackson started groaning again, asking where he was. Scott asked him to be quiet, but he continued moaning, trying to sit up. "Not sorry about this." I punched him on the face. He fell unconscious. "That's for trying to drown me two times!" I grinned. To be honest, that felt great.

He sighed. "He told his father that he is gay."

I chuckled. "Not dressed like that." I could feel my half-brother's eyes on me, grinning. "What?"

"That's exactly what Mr. Stilisnki said."

After telling his father that they were there to accompany their friend Danny, we were free to go. Mr. Stilisnki saw me in the back of the car, sending me a smile while Stiles adjusted his body on his seat. I greeted him back, waving my hand.

"Uh, what about your house?"

"Not with my mom there. We need to take him somewhere where we can hold him long enough to figure out what to do with him. Or long enough to convince him he's dangerous."

"I still say we just kill him." Stiles looked through the rearview mirror, glancing at me, avoiding his best friend's gaze.

"Honestly," I interfered. "He tried to kill Stiles, and he tried to kill me two times so, payback is a bitch." The Hazel-eyed boy snickered at me, and I winked which made him blush a little, which in return made me blush.

"We're not killing him!"

"God, f - Okay, okay. I got an idea."

"Does it involve breaking the law?"

"By now, don't you think that's a given?" I sighed.

"I was just trying to be optimistic."

"Don't bother."

Stiles's idea was probably the worst. But at the same time, quite a good idea, and the only one we had. He stole the vehicle that was used to transport criminals to prison.

The three of us were in the woods, Jackson still unconscious while we tried to talk about what we had to do next.

"I'm going to go buy something for him to eat." He claimed that he would be fast due to his werewolf's abilities. "Keep an eye on him." We both nodded.

"So, you were trying to tell us that Jackson was the Kanima?" Stiles asked while resting his back against the trunk of a tree. I nodded, laughing a little. "I'm sorry. We were so busy freaking out that we didn't listen to you."

"It's okay, Stiles." I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to keep my body warm. "I wasn't sure if he was the Kanima." He glanced at me confused. "I mean," I swallowed. "I was almost entirely sure that it was him, but I had another person in mind."

"Who?"

"Me." I gulped again, a lump forming on my throat. It could still be me.

"You aren't the Ka-"

"We don't know that." I interrupted him. "Okay, last night, it was Jackson. We all saw him, but what about the other things that happened?" My hands went to my head, grasping my hair between my fingers. I stared at the ground, trying to ignore Stiles's gaze on me. "The times I drowned or that I was there with you guys, it's obvious that it was Jackson. But what about other times? At night nobody would see me. Jackson wasn't conscious of what he was doing. It could be the same with me." I finally looked him in the eyes. "There could be two Kanimas, Stiles. We were scratched by the same beast. We both are abnormalities and-"

"I'm stopping you right there." His hands grabbed mine, trying to take them off my hair so I wouldn't hurt myself. "You aren't THAT thing. Derek told you, he told you that you didn't smell like him. He would have told us the other night that you were one. You aren't a Kanima. I'm so sure. I'm sure you aren't." His eyes studied mine. "You aren't like that, okay? You have fought with us, not against us." I nodded my head. His thumbs were caressing my wrists. His voice was now a mere whisper. "We will find which amazing creature you are." He sweetly smiled at me, and I couldn't help but beam back.

"Thank you," I murmured.

His right hand stopped holding my left wrist, going to my cheek, caressing it. I had a tiny scar from fighting with the kanima. His eyes went from my eyes to my mouth. My heart started beating like crazy, and I was sure I could hear his own heartbeat. Both of them seemed to go at the same quick pace.

Whatever was going to happen was interrupted by Scott coming back with sandwiches, and Jackson shouting. I bit my lower lip, and Stiles groaned in frustration. "Let's go." Scott went back to school, trying to discover why Jackson would try to kill Danny.

"Scales? Like a fish." Jackson stared at us.

"No, more like a reptile. Um, and, uh, your claws have this liquid that paralyzes people, and you have a tail."

"I have a tail?" He calmly asked.

"Yeah, you have a tail."

"Mm. Does it do anything?"

"No, not that I know of."

Jackson moved forward, thankfully he was strained by cuffs, but I still got defensive thinking that he could hurt the boy sitting next to me. "Can I use it to strangle you?"

"Yeeeeeah, you still don't believe me. All right. The night of the semi-final game, what did you do right after?"

"I went home."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked while crossing my arms over my chest, resting even closer to Stiles. Our thighs touching.

"Yes, you idiot." He snapped at me, spitting. I glanced disgustingly at him, wiping my cheek. "What the hell else would I do?"

"You tried to drown her in the ice rink." Stiles pointed at me. "You attacked me and Derek at the school, and you trapped us in the pool," He again pointed at me. "Tried again to drown her. You also killed a mechanic, right in front of me, by the way. That was lovely. And one of Argent's hunters. Oh, and last night, you tried to kill Danny."

"Why would I want to kill my best friend?

I answered before Stiles could. "Well, that's what Scott's out trying to figure out right now."

"Mm. Well, maybe, he should be trying to figure out is how he's going to pay for a lawyer when I prosecute your asses all the way to jail!"

"All right, well, tell me this. On the night of the first full moon, what happened?"

"Nothing." He gazed at the floor. Bad move, Jackson. I know you are lying. "Nothing happened."

Allison had come to the forest, searching for us. They knew. Jackson's parents knew that he was missing. It seemed like Stiles texting him with Whittemore's phone hadn't worked out. This meant that we were completely fucked up.

"If Jackson doesn't remember being the kanima, he's definitely not gonna remember stealing Danny's tablet."

"Why would he steal the thing if he doesn't even know what's on it?"

"What if someone else took it?"

"Then somebody else knows what he is."

"Uh, which could mean someone's protecting him."

"Like the bestiary says, 'the kanima seeks a friend', right?" I wanted Allison to shut up. My mind was going crazy. Someone was trying to protect Jackson's identity.

It felt like my mind went back to the store; the first time I stepped in Beacon Hills. We both got attacked by the same creature, but what we were was modified by our minds. As Jackson had said before; everything had to with our mental health. I could tell you mine was fucked up. So could I be the one doing whatever it took to protect Jackson's Whittemore identity?

If he didn't have any memory of being the Kanima, why would I have any memory of helping him out? It could be me.

"Okay, hold on. So, somebody watches Jackson make a video of himself turning into the kanima, and then just erases part of it so he wouldn't know? I mean, who would do that?"

"Somebody who wanted to protect him?" My hands started trembling, my legs shaking. Stiles seemed to know what was going on as he clutched my hand discreetly, using his strength to keep me standing.

"There's something else. You said the only thing you found online about the Kanima it's that it goes after murderers. What if that's actually true?"

"No, it can't be. Tried to kill all of us, remember? I don't know about you two, but I haven't murdered anybody lately." I chuckled. He squeezed my hand, fingers now interlocked.

"But I - I don't think that it was actually trying to kill us. Remember when we were at Isaac's the first time, it just went right by us, didn't it?"

"You're right, it just ran off."

"And it didn't kill you in the mechanic's garage."

"Well, yeah, but it tried to kill me and Derek in the pool." He made a gesture with his head. "And it tried to kill her."

"Did it?"

"It would've. It was waiting for us to come out."

"What if it was trying to keep you in?"

"Why do I feel so violated all of a sudden?" Stiles' body shuddered.

"Wait," They all gazed at me. "Maybe it didn't try to kill you, but it tried to kill me. Two times if I'm correct."

"Three if we count when it threw you off the roof and you landed on me," Stiles added. I playfully glared at him, he apologized while stuttering.

"Did it tho?" Scott asked. His eyes went to our interlocked hands, a little grin forming on his head, but quickly disappearing. "Let's forget about the roof, okay. The water, both times in the water." He continued when he saw that the three of us were completely confused. "You said when it forced you inside the water, it demanded you to breathe, and you were able to do so."

"Gosh," Allison nodded. "It was trying to help you." I was dumbfounded. "I mean, okay. Maybe not the best way to help you out, but he was trying to show you what you are or what you can do."

I peered at Stiles who was now looking at me. "Now, I'm the one feeling violated." He nodded, grinning, moving a strand of hair out of my face. The simple touch made my heart speed.

Stiles suggested that we should kill Jackson, again. But Scott said something that made us think. He had risked his life to save us from Peter Hale, and we had to try and help him. The McCall boy mentioned Lydia, my fingers started trying to get away from Stiles's hand, but he grasped it firmly. Uh?

Scott and Allison went back to the car, wanting to have some time for themselves. I felt bad for them. Knowing they were meant to be together, but also being ripped apart by the Argents. I had heard Scott sob some nights in his room, while softly whispering how he wanted to be able to live harmoniously.

"Maybe we should tell our parents." Stiles snapped me back to reality. "Before anyone else gets hurt. I don't know." His dad was the only person he had, I meant blood-related.

I sighed. I couldn't completely understand. But know, I had Stiles, Scott, Allison, and even Lydia. I would do anything that I could to protect them. My heart ached thinking about something terrible happening to them.

I stepped closer to Stiles, my arms going around his waist, embracing him. My head resting on his chest, closing my eyes while I felt the vibrations of his chest as he hummed, pleased, hugging me back.

But our moment was interrupted. Jackson had escaped. A thought came into my mind. What if the Kanima was not being protected but controlled?

TAGLIST: @og-baby-ob14 - @savemypostcards - @cas-loves-pizza - @used-avocado - @mvrylee - @bilesxbilinskixlahey - @honeydoll-stark - @arieltheworldisamess - @softpeteparker - @kit-kat-katie99 - @thatsuperherosidekick - @bexbetterxthanxwords - @big-galaxy-chaos - @littlemiss-forgotten - @enchantedcruelsummer - @coldfreakeggsexpert - @merla123 - @sammypotato67 - @weirdowithnobeardo - @maggiesblogsblog - @itskindyl - @bobo-bush - @moongoddesskiana - @multifandxm353 - @irwxnhugsx - @xoprincessmel - @iclosetgeek - @andreagf956 - @niawoods - @anerroroccurrrrred - @perrytheplatypus11 - @trustfundparker - @nmriia - @steve-harringtonnn - @trustfundparker -

People in bold means it doesn’t let me tag them.

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castalisms · 4 years

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𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

season one , episode four ‘spy games’ . written by jonas pate , directed by cherie nowlan . tw ; guns , violence , brief nsfw .

look, i feel real - real prosecuted right now by you and...

what are you lookin' at, bro? what're you gonna do? you gonna tase me?

are you really gonna let that happen?

did you just yeet over that chain?

oh, my god. holy shit, your shirt.

take me to the hospital.

why are the cops after you? what, did you rob a bank?

it's probably better if you don't know.

i did not do this! are you kidding me?

i mean, i do- i literally do everything she wants, and I'm sick of it.

listen, man, i am not the enemy here.

never heard anyone whine like that before.

i mean, i can get you in if you want.

i’ve just waited my entire life for someone to say that to me.

the less you know, the better. okay? you've just- you've gotta trust me.

will you calm down and get a grip, man? they don't know shit.

they hit us, we hit them. it's the law of the jungle.

you know? aren't you glad i made you come?

my couch was pretty comfy, i'll be honest.

if they corner me, i'm coming out swinging, okay? slice and dicin'. i'm on edge right now.

please tell me that you did not bring a gun here.

wow, thank you. that's really convincing. i love that.

it might go down tonight.

do you... i don't know, do you wanna play a game?

it's called truth or dare, except there's no dare.

that was a really lame thing to say.

my take is that whoever did this was trying to destroy evidence.

i promise you, they will not let us in looking like we crawled out of a swamp.

you are the single most dramatic person I've ever met.

yeah, don't worry. i'll sugar mama you.

aww! you look like you're ready for the middle school dance.

i look like i got kicked out of the barbershop quartet.

not like i've never seen a boy in underwear before.

it's like a soccer mom's first outing.

how do i put this on?

this dress comes with built-in nunchucks.

and I already know what the rest of my life is gonna look like. it's gonna be... stupid yacht clubs filled with hollow people making useless small talk, and i feel like if i don't get out of the bubble wrap now, i never will.

and then, by the time i'm 30, i'm going to be an alcoholic, and i won’t even notice it.

i can't hold it. i drank too much soda.

this feels better than a blowjob.

this feels better than what i imagine a blowjob would feel like.

isn't it past your bedtime?

take one more step, i'll rip that prepubescent face off.

you're a freakin' idiot.

wait a minute. did he kidnap you? or drug you?

can we talk about this privately, please?

my dad is going to kill me for being out all night, but at least we completed the mission.

you're not as bad as I thought you'd be.

i can't let you take the blame for somethin' i did.

for once in my goddamn life, i'm gonna tell the truth.

you're just gonna walk away like this never happened?

i don't care if my friends find out or your boyfriend with his frosted tips.

#this was the juiciest episode OBVIOUSLY #ask meme #sentence starters #obx meme

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somethingusefulfromflorida · 3 years

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So, Trump is going to pardon himself for all federal crimes, there’s no getting around that; he’ll either invoke the 25th Amendment and have Acting President Pence pardon him before immediately resuming power, or he’ll roll the dice and hope the 6-3 Supreme Court decides that a self pardon is constitutional (though it’s unlikely they would, given that a Democrat would be in power at the time; they don’t want the Left to have the same power as the Right).

But the state crimes are another matter entirely. The president can;t pardon state level offenses, and with all the enemies he’s made in New York, Trump is looking at major jail time. Now, Trump might sign an Executive Order saying that federal pardons take precedent over state crimes, or that his state level offenses are protected by double jeopardy, but then Biden could just reverse the order and it would once again go to the Supreme Court to decide if prosecution could go forward.

In the end, I think what’s most likely going to happen is Trump is gonna pressure New York governor Andrew Cuomo into pardoning him, “or else.” Like, he’ll whip up the MAGA crowd, have them threaten his life the way they threatened Governor Whitmer of Michigan. I don’t think Cuomo would bend to threats, but I do think there’s a chance that he’ll reach a corrupt bargain with Trump, behind closed doors, “I’ll pardon you if you denounce yourself and promise not to run in 2024.” At that point, Trump would take the bait, doing whatever he needed to do to save his own ass; he’d admit guilt for the pardon, then immediately walk it back, say he was innocent all along and that the pardon proves it, then run again in 2024 anyway because Democrats are idiots for taking him at his word. And even if Cuomo got him to sign some legally binding agreement, the Right would call for his resignation or impeachment for quid pro quo, and Trump would sue to have it invalidated for violating the constitution (Article II explicitly lists the eligibility requirements for the presidency, so no legal contract can supersede it).

Why would Cuomo do something that is so obviously going to fail? Because he’s an establishment politician and he won’t want the country to be split in two over the prosecution of Donald Trump. It’s the same reason Ford pardoned Nixon, not because he thought he was innocent, but because a trial would have been the biggest political spectacle in history and would have brought the country to the brink of civil war; can you imagine the fallout if Trump seriously faced prison? MAGAts would go insane, they’d take to the streets, they’d start assassinating politicians and judges, they’d storm the jail Trump was being held at (or more likely they’d surround Mar-a-Lago because Trump would almost certainly be released on bail) and form a human shield around him so he can go wherever he wants whenever he wants. Cops would take his side, they’d let him violate his bail, they’d help him get to an airport so he can escape to another country (because he wouldn’t be labeled a flight risk even though he totally is). Trump would be seen as a martyr, the white MLK or Nelson Mandela, wrongfully imprisoned for fighting for justice.

If Cuomo doesn’t pardon him, the country will tear itself apart; if Cuomo does pardon him, the country will tear itself apart on Trump’s terms. It’s a lose-lose situation. Catch-22

An unpardoned Trump becomes a shadow president, maybe running a government in exile, selling secrets to foreign leaders. A pardoned Trump becomes a right-wing hero who runs again and wins a second term, at which point he goes full dictator. He’s had four years of free reign, imagine what he could do now that he knows how everything works and what the president can get away with. Forgive the invocation of Godwin’s Law, but it would be like when Hitler was released from jail; he’d be deified by his party and ride a red wave back into power.

Hindenburg gave Hitler a blank check because of pressure from the right, and I fear Cuomo or Biden or Harris might do the same thing to Trump. Placate the right, bow down, give in, step aside. The end of the American Experiment.

My mind is on total Worst Case Scenario mode right now.

I don’t think this will REALLY happen. I think Trump will have his cases thrown out or he’ll be found not guilty, or he’ll get such a light sentence that he can shrug it off in a few months of house arrest at Mar-a-Lago, all the while preparing for a 2024 campaign. I absolutely believe he will invoke Dr. King and Nelson Mandela when his sentence ends, playing up his own personal victomhood for sympathy. If he goes to jail, it will be white collar minimum security, he’ll be allowed to make phone calls and take visitors, set up meetings, do business, make plans.

No matter what happens, he’ll run in 2024 the same way he ran in 2016, as a publicity stunt, not really intending to win. He just wants to stay in the limelight for a year or two and sell copies of his post-presidency memoirs. He’ll sell his own personal Mein Kampf, written while he was in jail, just like Hitler; I wouldn’t doubt it if he included the word “Struggle” in the title just to stoke controversy online even more. He’ll deny the Nazi comparison, have his 15 minutes trending on Twitter, then move onto the next controversy to remain relevant. Whether he wins or not is incidental, he just needs the media’s attention. He can’t not, he’s obsessed, it’s pathological.

#rant #politics #political #fuck trump #2021 #2024 #andrew cuomo #cuomo #pardon #trump pardon #self pardon #pardon me #enabling act #hitler #hindenburg #paul von hindenburg #1933 #mlk

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serenityinsabr · 4 years

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How do you work in Criminal law?

Like how do you get into it or how do I deal with it?

I’m assuming it’s the 2nd, but if I’m wrong (which do be happening), let me know!

Sooo I didn’t think I’d work in Criminal Defense Law. I for sure knew I would never be a Prosecutor, because unless I can pull a Chesa Boudin (Career Public Defender who because SF DA- look him up) it just wasn’t gonna happen. Given all the Prosecutorial misconduct, their work with Police, Wrongful Convictions, I just couldn’t. Wrong b*tch 😂 Anyways, I wanted to work for the Public Defender’s office in my County because they’re amazing and they’re extremely politically active with legislation that helps address the many issues of the Criminal Justice system. Buuut I also was initially like how do you defend someone who is guilty?! Cause I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. So naturally I got a job as a Law Clerk to f*ck around and find out 🤷🏻‍♀️ My observations are below:

1) The system is hella broken and there are way more instances of wrongful convictions, then of defending someone who is guilty and ended up going free

2) As a Public Defender you’re literally offering the best defense to your client to make sure their Constitutional rights are being upheld and that proper procedure was followed- you’re not out here lying despite what Law & Order says (I know I was also slightly shook)

3) In the very rare instance that guilty people do go free it is usually because the Prosecutors didn’t do their jobs or didn’t really want to Prosecute, or the cops investigating didn’t do their jobs - and trust me if they wanted to, they would’ve made some shit up like they do just to get the Conviction

4) I have literally seen soooo many instances where Prosecutors go on whole vengeance missions, cops make stuff up, and then I’m out here processing evidence where they get caught up, YET THEY STILL GET A CONVICTION.

5) I’ve only been in this job for a year, and I don’t know that I’m going to do this when I graduate. I have applied for Post-BARs for different areas of law that I’m interested in from Immigration Defense, Criminal Defense, Civil Rights, and International Human/Humanitarian Law. Buuut also even if I don’t become a Public Defender, the Attorneys/Clients/People I have met while doing this work are going to be lifetime homies. Building a coalition and community in this work is so important and all the areas of law I’m interested in, intersect.

6) At the end of the the day, even if I end up as a Public Defender, I know that I’m doing work to help those in the community who are disenfranchised. Those who have mental illness, are unhoused, are racial minorities, undocumented, and who need actual treatment and help with the root causes of what caused them to do what they did. I know for those who are actually guilty, I can suggest mental health diversion, therapy, etc. And I also know I’ll be working with an office that stands with our community through trainings, protests, legislation, and so much more. Annnd that is how I do it.

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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 4 years

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The Interrogation

[Unnamed City. Police Station. Visitation Room]

Ah, well look who it is...Everyone’s favorite detective princess...

Beautiful night we’re having tonight, wouldn’t you say?

...

I see...Not in the mood for light banter are you? Well, what else is new...?

But...hey, you’re the kid that I spoke to earlier today, am I right?

Yes sir. Sorry we had to meet again under these circumstances...

I suppose I should introduce myself fully. I’m Ultimate Detective, Shuichi Saihara. Due to certain circumstances the Future Foundation took me in and I’m working as a member of Branch 1, as well as Detective Kirigiri’s apprentice...The two of us have decided to meet your request and take on your case...

Well, good to meet’cha Shuichi. I hope we get along...And I’m super lucky that you did...

Let’s get straight to the facts. It’s our job to do the legwork. If there’s any information that could potentially help you in the courtroom, then I advise you tell your lawyer before us. It’s our job to gather information that could help you out elsewhere.

But...I’ll do whatever I can...

Wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks a lot Kyoko...

So...um...uh well...the thing is...I er...

You’re not really too good at this, are you buddy?

N-No...sorry...

It’s cool, take your time...

So er, they um...they arrested you under suspicion of murder...Could you er...shed more details on that?

Attaboy...What do you wanna know?

Simply put, I’d just like to know if you killed the victim or not. How do you plead more specifically?

Not guilty, obviously. But hey, that remains to be seen...What about you Kyoko? Any questions?

The victim was a member of the Crazy Diamond biker gang. Kawaguchi Isao, aged 23. Early morning a few days ago, they discovered his corpse buried among the rubbish in the back alley of a well known club. His head had been almost completely carved off. We heard that you and this...Isao, had some kind of argument before he died?

Well, I guess I can explain. You see, the Crazy Diamonds don’t like me very much. Me and their new leader gambled once and I won and...he took it very badly...

He’s kinda just a petty human being, you know?

Well, unfortunately, other than what Officer Shinogi has told us, the only leads we have on this case is your testimony Koichi...If there’s anything you can tell us, then I implore you to do so...

Sure...Ask away.

For starters, your scuffle with Isao. Where did that happen?

Like you said, it happened in some club. I think the name of the place was...Mighty Anchor or something...But we were out the front.

I was out in the town and...had a little bit of a run in with the gang. Their leader and couple others, one of which was this dead guy. They started badgering me and I got a little...pissed off...

So, they started it?

‘Course they did...I’m not the type of person who’d go around picking fights with people, not when it’d cause me problems...But I did fight back and defend myself if just a little, and I think I did quite a number on a few of them...Also...

I may or may not have been drinking a little...

*Sigh...* Useless alcoholic...

Ouch...that stings Kyoko...

Old habits die hard I suppose...

What time did this all happen?

Like I said, my memory’s foggy...but I think it was about...10pm...

So what, you guys had your scuffle and then you split up? That sounds a bit too convenient if you ask me...

It’s not exactly like that. After realizing I was being overpowered, I tried to make a break for it...but then their boss had me dragged into the Anchor.

Th-They abducted you!? On a crowded street!?

Seems you don’t know an awful lot about the area that the bar is in, do you Shuichi?

That entire area is basically the Crazy Diamonds territory. They stroll around and come roaring down the streets, waking everyone up from their hangovers like the whole damn place is theirs. Watching someone get pulled out of sight and being beaten to shit isn’t rare...

They sound...scary...

So...they dragged you into the bar and beat you up inside?

As soon as the gang entered the bar, everyone, save the barista, left...and they started kicking the crap out of me...

Weird thing is, after a while, this one fellow told all the others to leave the bar. Said he wanted a moment with me...Now that I think about it...that guy was probably...

Kawaguchi Isao?

Yep, it had to be him. But I didn’t kill him. In fact, when the others left, I actually got to my feet when I got the chance, and the two of us had what I’d like to call a gentleman's fight...

But...that gentleman's fight quickly turned into a one sided beat-down...and since I don’t remember losing...I’m guessing I won...Way to go me...

Wait...you mean you knocked Isao out?

Yeah, I think so. I don’t really remember, but I tried to leave the bar and then I blacked out and don’t remember anything that happened after that. But when I woke up, my head felt like it was gonna split in two. Thankfully, the guy who ran the bar gave me some coffee and painkillers, and he’d let me sleep on one of the cubicle sofa’s during the night.

Nice guy, pretty polite too...though he also had quite the potty mouth...

What time did you come to your senses?

About...4 in the morning...

So you were out cold for about 5 to 6 hours?

Yeah, that sounds about right...As soon as I woke up and as soon as Dash gave me my coffee, I left there. Didn’t see those mad assholes again.

Dash?

Oh, he’s the barista who runs the place.

Hm...I see. So you were dragged into the bar by this Isao person, got into a fight and then a few hours later, his head was carved through...I’m beginning to see why the police thought you were the one who did it.

Yeah, if I were I cop, I’d arrest me too...

But you’re saying that when Isao told everyone to leave the bar, they just...did it?

Isao wasn’t some run-of-the-mill grunt that was part of the Diamonds. In fact, he one of the leader’s right hand men.

And for some reason, you were roaming the streets by yourself in their territory, knowing they had a grudge against you?

I like to live life on the edge...

Oh sure, because that’s helped you out greatly, hasn’t it?

Yeesh! What’s with the sass?

So...it was you by yourself against...?

It was Isao, their boss, and 4 other people. But I don’t think their boss actually came into the bar with us.

Why not?

Beats me. Guess he’d rather not get his hands dirty.

If what you’ve told us is true, then you were unconscious during the time frame in which Isao was murdered. Do you have any semblance of an alibi during the time Isao died?

What time do they think Isao died?

I asked Officer Shinogi this in the car on the way here. He said they predict it was between 1am to 3am. Mr Kizakura, where were you during that time. Can you remember?

I don’t really remember, but if what Dash told me is true, he picked me up at the Batting Cages.

Batting Cages?

Yeah, you know, those places where you can go in and take a couple of swings? Turns out I kinda barged in their without paying and then I passed out. The lady who was in charge was horrified and I think she passed out from the shock.

As soon as I get outta here, I’m gonna have to go apologize to her...

That might be for the best.

But there isn’t any solid proof that you were actually there, correct? That’s why the police suspect you.

Yep, you got that right. Is that everything?

I think I’ve heard enough for now.

Cool, cool. Hey Kyoko?

Hm?

Promise me you’ll get me out of here. And then you I can go drinking for old times sake.

You never learn, do you? But sure, it’s a promise. I’ll try and prove your innocence in whatever way I can.

And what about you Shuichi? You on board? I mean with the whole getting me out thing, I wouldn’t take a minor to a bar...

...

Shuichi?

I believe in you, Mr Kizakura...And you might think that I’d help you out no matter what.

But at the end of the day, I’m here to search for the truth. I think you’re innocent, but if it turns out that you really did kill that man...

Then I’d do everything within my power to make sure the prosecution wins...

...

*Shuichi gets up and leaves the room. Kyoko looks back at Koichi almost apologetically and follows after him.

#danganronpa survivor #danganronpa #danganronpa 1 #danganronpa 3 #danganronpa v3 #dr1 #dr3 #drv3 #kyoko kirigiri #shuichi saihara #koichi kizakura #the trial of koichi kizakura arc

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prorevenge · 5 years

Text

Stalk me into the bathroom on three occasions? Say hello to the police.

Hi everyone, I'm gonna get straight into it. As the title suggests, it's pretty straightforward. This guy does something I suspect to be bad and I take the risk to confirm this, and then get the police involved. Hope the post is relevant and "Pro Revenge worthy" for the subreddit (I put this on RegularRevenge too), if not remove or I'll happily delete.

Recently for work, I've been travelling between towns quite a lot. Sometimes on the way home, I'll stop in to use a public bathroom on the way home. This was all well and good until over a month ago, when I needed to use the bathroom again. The urinal wasn't for a single person, but one of those long "basin" sort of urinals that many use at once. I approached the urinal and soon after I get to business, this old man enters and stands in the urinal too, and begins doing what I couldn't possibly think he could be doing.

The first time round I chalked it up to perhaps an easy misunderstanding, but as with how you process things in a situation you've never encountered before, you're more likely to think "Surely not!". I quickly wash my hands and leave. Only a minute or so after returning to my car, I see him leave the bathroom, enter his car, and then leave (thank god he didn't see me and my car).

The bathroom is basically like this this (Equals for walking area, W walls, S for bathroom stalls, the U's are one single long urinal, B for basin, E for exit):

SUUUUUUUUUUWE ==========BW= ============= WWWS==WWWWWW

This man would stand at the far end of the urinal, so that when you're washing your hands you HAD to be right behind him as he did the nasty. The second time I visited this place (a few weeks later), I went and used the stall for good measure (but surely he wouldn't be here again, on a random different day right?). Well sure enough, I leave the stall, only to find him there, right beside the basin, facing the urinal doing his thing! This time I swiftly wash my hands and get the hell out of there. Both of these times I remained completely calm and didn't change my attitude or demeanour; other than wanting to get the heck out of there both times.

Making matters worse, these toilets are right beside a playground and there are heaps of children (it's actually a lake park), and I realised that seeing this guy on two very random occasions could suggest he does this very often, and that I'm not the only person to have had to deal with this. It's always the third time, right? Three strikes and your out? Well, it was a risky thing to do perhaps, and also maybe not the smartest but I am still glad I did this. It got results:

Another couple weeks later, I pulled over to make a phone call. I remembered his car, and I saw it there. This time, I didn't need to use the bathroom but I decided to spring a trap. I really wanted to report this guy, but part of me didn't want to be wrong, and I initially had my reservations. Given this happened two times, on two random days quite far apart, I mustn't have been the only person to have to deal with this unfortunately. I left my car and approached the bathroom, and I saw him sort of pacing around in the parking lot. He turned his head to look at me and did nothing, but unbeknownst to him since I didn't move my head in his direction and I was wearing shades, I noticed this. If he acts, now I know he has done it with intent.

I walk into a stall, counted to about 7, and then flushed. I was nervous, because despite being relatively fit, sizing him up and figuring I could take him on if things got ugly, when I shut that door I wouldn't know where he'd be in the bathroom or what his intention may be. I wanted to get it over with fast, but still give him time to enter. As I came out from the stall, sure enough he was doing his thing. I washed my hands, just like every other time, and left. While washing my hands, he cocked his head back a little and was watching me the whole time. Creepy fucker. As I walked into the parking lot, I looked back and checked he was still in the bathroom, and snapped some pictures of his car.

Once I got back to my car, I made another phone call: the police, to report his actions. About 2 minutes into the call while I'm on hold, I see him enter the car and drive off just like last time. Perfect, that is his car I took a photo of, and I've got a lead for the cops to follow up on! They sent a call out to dispatch, and within minutes I already saw a cop car driving past (could be coincidence, I like to think not). Much later that night a cop phoned me, telling me they had paid him a visit, and they confirmed he was certainly a suspicious character. The cops told him if they received any further reports, he would be (can't remember how she phrased it) "standing/eligible for prosecution" or something along those lines.

I contacted a well-known community page for the area who made a post calling for people to speak up if they've noticed anything suspicious in the area (no names, keeping it vague). Soon after, people were talking all about similar encounters and situations like mine. From what I understand, more people are stepping forward to make reports now. The visit from the cops I hope has deterred him from doing this again, and if not, at least it will provide more leverage moving forward!

(source) story by (/u/ZedXYZ)

#prorevenge #by /u/ZedXYZ #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #last10

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idairsauthor · 4 years

Text

This Fcking Trial, Episode 2: Being Alive

CONN: Senator Collins just announced that she was going to vote to call witnesses.

PLAIDDER: That’s still only 48 people IF Manchin doesn’t do his fucking Manchin thing. Go away.

ETHIR: Don’t talk to him that way.

PLAIDDER: It gets worse!

ETHIR: I have a question and I really need to know the answer right now.

PLAIDDER: I guess in cyberspace it’s always time for freagair.

ETHIR: Who in the green earth or under it is Alan Dershowitz?

PLAIDDER: Ethir. This is unworthy of you. The night before all hope is lost, you come into my house and you ask me to dredge up from the cesspool into which they have subsided my totally 80s memories of celebrity lawyer, self-appointed gadfly, and massive narcissist Alan Dershowitz?!

ETHIR: I do.

PLAIDDER: Ethir, last night I saw Just Mercy, a film based on a real-life case in which a young lawyer named Bryan Stevenson devoted years of his life to obtaining a new trial for an innocent man who was framed by corrupt racist cops for a crime he didn’t commit, prosecuted for that crime by a corrupt racist DA, and given a bonus death sentence by a corrupt racist judge. Unlike most real-life stories in which underfunded young lawyers take on entire power structures, this one actually has a happy ending, and an innocent man who’s spent six years on death row for no good reason is eventually returned to his family. I think you should get a bucket of popcorn and some caffeine-free soda and go watch this movie. You will enjoy it.

ETHIR: But--

PLAIDDER: I want you to go watch that movie, and then I want you to come back here. And then, when I tell you that Alan Dershowitz got famous in the 1980s for finding a way to get the conviction of a European billionaire who most likely murdered his diabetic wife thrown out and get him a new trial at which he was acquitted based on problems with handling of the evidence, and then gave a dinner party to celebrate which Alan Dershowitz attended and wrote about in his book Reversal Of Fortune which by the way was made into a TV movie in 1990 which I actually to my everlasting shame saw--when I tell you all this, and then tell you that Alan Dershowitz thinks that makes him Bryan fucking Stevenson, you will fully understand my rage.

ETHIR: All right.

PLAIDDER: In the meantime, can we not talk about how Alan Dershowitz’s narcissism has set fire to the last shreds of our Constitution?

CONN: But that’s exactly what I’m most hopeful about.

PLAIDDER: That...BLOWHARD forgot that he’s not in a damn trial court where the worst he could do to the world is set one rich and guilty asshole free. To satisfy his insatiable fucking ego, that man just burned down the rule of law.

CONN: No, he didn’t. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. He’s actually made things better.

PLAIDDER: This oughta be good.

CONN: All along we’ve been talking about that moment when everyone stops pretending. The moment when people just drop the mask for good and all and they just stop caring about whether people see their atrocities or not. We talked about that in July when that Congressional delegation went to see the detention camps at the border. You must have a clip of that somewhere.

PLAIDDER: OK, I found it:

CONN: Their lack of fear, that’s the worst sign. The fact that they don’t fear exposure. The fact that they’re not worried about the rest of the world finding out what they’ve done. Because that tells you that they know they’re protected. And that means they have no reason to stop. Not just that. They have no reason not to make it worse. No reason not to invent new indignities. No reason not to entertain themselves with making more misery.

PLAIDDER: That’s something I’ve always been afraid of. The moment when the state decides it doesn’t have to pretend any more. Theamh is afraid of that moment too–you know–on the magical side. That’s why that battle at Slieve was so important. It forced the corrupt government to go on pretending for a while. As long as they were pretending, there were certain limits to what they were able to do. Theamh and everyone else worked so hard to keep those limits in place.

CONN: You’re right to be afraid of that moment.

CONN: And you’re afraid that this moment has now come.

PLAIDDER: It has. This is it. 53 Republican Senators--

CONN: Fifty-two--

PLAIDDER: Conn, you are on my LAST NERVE tonight. Fifty-two Republican Senators are about to vote to endorse the idea that the President can rig an election and nobody can do a thing about it.

CONN: No. They won’t be. Because Dershowitz and friends have already retracted that argument.

PLAIDDER: They can’t retract it now. Fox News has a hold of it. The Republican Senators have a hold of it. It’s out there and it’s going to become the new normal.

CONN: You’re not listening to me. THEY WALKED IT BACK. They realized they HAD to walk it back. Because 53 Republican Senators are not ready for this moment.

PLAIDDER: I bet 51 of them are.

CONN: No. That...circus act...that your President calls a legal team has withdrawn that defense because they now realize that these Republican Senators still want to pretend. And where there’s pretense, there’s hope.

PLAIDDER: Yeah, well I just refreshed the WaPo page and we lost Lamar Alexander, so I’m gonna go scream into the night now.

CONN: There’s still--

PLAIDDER: Don’t you get it? These assholes have got together and worked out exactly how it’s going to go down and what will happen is that they will let Collins, Murkowski and Romney vote for witnesses so there’s a 50-50 tie and then Roberts will refuse to cast the tiebreaking vote and there will be no witnesses and the whole thing will be over tomorrow. These people are not taking a stand, they are saving face in the most weaselly way possible.

CONN: But surely you realize that it doesn’t matter any more whether they call witnesses or not.

PLAIDDER: I DO NOT realize that.

CONN: They don’t have to make Bolton testify. As soon as Alan Dershowitz made that argument, he admitted that your President has done everything he’s been accused of. Everyone saw that, everyone knows that. Anyone who will ever be willing to vote for removal will vote for removal now. And the people who will never be willing to vote for removal will never be convinced no matter how many witnesses you call.

PLAIDDER: So this is it. He gets acquitted. And I SWEAR TO GOD if you say “not yet�� ONE MORE TIME--

CONN: All right, I won’t say it.

PLAIDDER: You won’t?

CONN: No. I won’t. Acquittal is what you always expected. That’s is what you always knew was probably going to happen.

PLAIDDER: BUT YOU TOLD ME NOT YET!!!

CONN: MAKE UP YOUR MIND! Or let me go back into the void! I never asked to be dragged out here to this horrible place.

PLAIDDER: Yeah, I’m not gonna watch any more of my favorite characters go through the door to oblivion tonight, friend.

CONN: 67 votes for removal was always an unrealistic threshold. It’s never been done before, I understand.

PLAIDDER: No.

CONN: Trust me when I say this, friend. They overreached. That always has consequences.

PLAIDDER: How can they overreach when they are about to take a vote that will ensure that their party will always have unlimited power?

CONN: That’s not what that vote is going to ensure.

PLAIDDER: Then what will it ensure?

CONN: That your president never gets a second term. And neither will many of them.

PLAIDDER: Why should I believe you?

CONN: Look at what the Democrats in Congress have been able to do. They dragged that mac na mhada to the brink of removal. Where is your appreciation for Adam Schiff, who got up there day after day and told the actual truth?

PLAIDDER: You mean the “you know you can’t” speech.

CONN: Yes. That and many others. Because the thing is: they DO know they can’t. They definitely know that now.

PLAIDDER: What does it matter? They will never cross him.

ETHIR: Hey, I’m back.

PLAIDDER: So you see what I mean about Alan Dershowitz.

ETHIR: Actually I saw something totally different.

PLAIDDER: What?

ETHIR: You know that scene where Ralph Myers takes the stand at that hearing and he tells everyone that he lied at that first trial?

PLAIDDER: Yes.

ETHIR: And he’s scared to do it. But once he does it, you can see the whole man come back to life. He’s told the truth and now no matter what happens to him, he doesn’t care, because he’s alive now. I mean you wrote our story but you spend all your time on the shriias, you’ve never really thought about how ordinary people experience the truth. I will tell you, I’ve seen a lot of people lie in court and I’ve seen a lot of people tell the truth and there is no comparison. Telling the truth is magic for us too. It’s...it’s being alive.

PLAIDDER: Anthony Scaramucci, of all people, has said as much.

ETHIR: I wish Theamh could have seen Slythe during the trial. She would have been so proud of her. Still an ordinary woman, but once she caught a hold of the truth again she never let it go. She understood it better than I can explain it. You could see it when you looked at her. I think she knew there was a good chance they would kill her. But it was worth it to her, just for that feeling of being alive. Humans are humans. They need joy. They need to feel alive.

PLAIDDER: How are you making me cry when I don’t believe EITHER of you?

CONN: It’s like your Nancy Pelosi always says. Patience and time.

PLAIDDER: That was Kutuzov in War and Peace.

CONN: Well she doesn’t say it. But she knows it. She dragged this process out as long as she could safely drag it and what can be exposed has been exposed. Whatever happens tomorrow, you got more out of this than anyone expected. Be mindful of that. And just...be all right. All right?

PLAIDDER: All right. I guess this will be our last episode.

CONN: Maybe not y--

PLAIDDER: THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT.

#this fcking trial #the current catastrophe #wof

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fanfics4all · 5 years

Text

The Northside Serpent: Part 21

Request: Yes / No

Request are closed <3 Have a nice day/night

Sweet Pea x Fem!Male!Keller!Reader

Word count: 3309

Warnings: Archie getting arrested, Ghoulies, season 3 stuff

Y/N: Your Name

Summary: You’re Kevin Keller’s little sister when you’re mom left to go to war and your dad started cheating (I’m making it so he’s been cheating since season 1) You started rebelling; dying your hair, getting a nose piercing, tattoo, and hanging out on the southside.

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you!

1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

Masterlist

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

“Y/N, come on up.” He said and I looked at him shocked. Sweet Pea pushed me to get up and I looked back at him. Sweet Pea and Fangs nodded at me to go and I smiled. I walked up to him and he helped me same as he did with Cheryl. He smiled at me and everyone cheered once again. I hugged him and then ran back to Sweet Pea. He hugged me and lifted me up, being careful of my stitches. He gave me the biggest kiss and when it was over he pulled back, he had the biggest smile on his face.

“I love you Y/N.” He said and I smiled at him.

“I love you too, Sweet Pea.” I said.

We were in the school gym watching Archie officially become class President. The Vixens had just got done and Weatherbee was about to speak.

“Students, faculty and staff, before we inaugurate Archie Andrews in as our new student council President, please rise for our national anthem.” He said and everyone stood up. We put our hands over our hearts and Josie got up to sing. Archie was smiling at us and we smiled back, he was so happy. Suddenly the door opened and we watched as Sheriff Minetta walked in with some other cops and arrested Archie.

“Sheriff Minetta, what are you doing?” Archie asked.

“Archie Andrews, you’re under arrest for the murder of Shadow Lake resident, Cassidy Bullick.” He said.

“What? I didn’t kill him-”

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. Yout have the right to an attorney…” He continued to list off the rights and we all watched in shock.

“Hey! Let him go!” I shouted and went to go run, but Sweet Pea held me back. We watched as our friend was lead out of the school in handcuffs…

I didn’t think Riverdale could get any worse after the Black Hood, but then Archie was arrested in front of the whole school. It was a nightmare and now that summer was here we all were trying to relax even though we couldn’t. Veronica was cut off from her family’s money and was now working at Pop’s, and downstairs at her secret club. Betty had an internship, she was helping Mrs. McCoy and Mrs. Andrews with Archie’s trial. Jughead was writing his book. Toni was on a roadtrip with Cheryl. Kevin spent a lot of time with Moose and Josie. And Sweet Pea spent his free time with me and the others with the Serpents. I still wasn’t on good terms with my Father, but Sweet Pea was trying to convince me to make up with him. Sure he was cool with me dating Sweet Pea now, but he was still cheating on my mother and I couldn’t accept that. Kevin and I were back to being the best of friends since he didn’t care about me being with Sweet Pea anymore, he was still worried but he always was.

Currently we were all at the courthouse in support for Archie. I can’t believe they thought he murdered someone! He would never kill someone, he was one of the sweetest guys in Riverdale! I remember when we were younger and I was too shy to play with my brother’s friends, Archie came up to me on the playground and I thought he was going to be mean and take my dolls from me; but he didn’t. He sat down next to me and ask if he could play. The others noticed how he went missing from there game and saw him with me. They all came over and we’ve been friends ever since. Sure we’re not the closest of friends, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna support them.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the evidence and testimony that was presented in this court tell a dark story. That Mr. Andrews has a history of violent behavior. That he started not one, but two masked vigilante groups. That he assaulted an innocent boy who was helpless with two broken legs. That he went “wilding” in the Southside of town and threatened to shoot a young man in the face-” I noticed Sweet Pea move uncomfortably at hearing this so I grabbed his hand and gently squeezed.

“-That while partying with his friends in the town of Shadow Lake, Mr. Andrews ran into the woods and shot the victim, Cassidy Bullock, point-blank in the head. Now Mr. Andrews claims this it was his girlfriend’s father’s doorman who shot Mr. Bullock. A shot Mr. Andrews claims to have heard, but not seen. Who knows the truth of what happened that terrible night in the wood near Shadow Lake? I’ll tell you who. That man! Archie Andrews may be a varsity athlete and he may be a sensitive musician. But he is also a cold-blooded killer.” Ms. Wright finished and sat down. Mrs. Andrews got up and faced the jury.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we know, for a fact, that Archie Andrews constantly puts the needs of others ahead of his own. We know that he helped to solve the murder of Jason Blossom. We know that he offered both friends and enemies shelter when they had nowhere else to stay. We know that he punched through a river of ice to save the life of his classmate Cheryl Blossom.” I shifted uncomfortably hearing this, she was my best friend and I remember getting a call from her crying. Sweet Pea squeezed my hand and I looked up at him, he gave me a small smile.

“Well let me remind you that there were no witnesses to the actual killing. There was no murder weapon. There was no motive. At the end of the day, all the prosecution has is cloudy testimony from unreliable people. Now, it is my solemn duty as a mother to protect my son. But as an attorney, it’s my duty to adhere to the facts, to the evidence. There is nothing here that proves that Archie Andrews is anything less than an innocent boy. Thank you.” She finished and sat down next to her son.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, the charge is first-degree murder. You may retire to begin your deliberations.” The judge said.

“All rise.” The bailiff said and everyone stood up. Everyone left the courtroom while Archie’s fate was being decided.

“Okay, can you just level with us mom? What do you think Archie’s chances are?” Josie asked.

“Baby, I’d say… 50-50.” Mrs. McCoy answered.

“But if you had to come down on a side, Mrs. McCoy?” Kevin asked.

“I’m not sure honestly Kevin…” She answered and I sighed.

“I’m going over to Sweet Pea and Fangs…” I said and walked over to the boys.

“Hey, how ya holding up Quinny?” Fangs asked and Sweet Pea put his arm around me.

“Well, McCoy says it’s a 50-50 so I’d say not so great…” I answered and Sweets kissed my head.

“It’s gonna be okay babe.” He said and I sighed. I wasn’t sure it was.

“Hey guys, the judge is calling everyone back in.” My brother said and walked past us and up the stairs.

“Guess it’s time to find out the damage.” I said and the two boys nodded. We all went back inside.

“The jury is still deliberating, but I’ve dismissed them.” The judge said. Everyone was whispering to each other.

“They’re sequestered and I’ve instructed them not to read anything about this case, nor to discuss it with anyone. We’ll reconvene Tuesday morning after Labor Day.” He said and I could feel the hope in the room rise.

“My advice to you, young man, is to spend this weekend with your family and your loved ones. That’s all.” He said and you could tell there was still hope, but not as much as before. Everyone was walking out and talking about what just happened. Sweet Pea, Fangs, and I left as soon as we could. I couldn’t stand being in there any longer than I had to. We went to the Serpents place, Sweetwater River. The three of us were relaxing and trying to keep our minds off what just happened. Luckily the familiar hum of Toni’s bike pulled up and we all smiled. We all missed her.

“T! You’re back! Finally!” I shouted happily and attacked her in a hug.

“Missed me that much huh Quinny?” She said with a giggle.

“Of course! I was stuck with these two all summer, I need my two girls in my life to balance it out.” I answered.

“Hey! You love us!” Fangs said walking over with Sweet Pea.

“I do love you guys, but seriously I need some girl time.” I said and Toni laughed.

“Well Cheryl and I are throwing an awesome End-of-Summer pool party at Thornhill and you’re all invited. I should warn you guys Cheryl is kind of looking for trouble.” She said and I smiled.

“Trouble is my middle name.” I smirked.

“Babe, trouble doesn’t seem like a good idea. You dad won’t be happy if you get hurt again or something.” Sweets said worried.

“You just don’t want me getting in trouble after the riot.” I said and he nodded.

“She’ll be fine Sweets.” Toni said.

“Now, let’s catch up before the party.” She said pulling me away from the boys.

“Fangs! Sweet Pea! I need you two!” Jughead called and they two walked off.

Few hours later and all of us were heading to Thornhill for the party. Well they were, I had to stop at home and change. I put on my black bikini, some light blue shorts, a gray short sleeved shirt. Some gray toms, and my sunglasses.

Sweet Pea was kind enough to wait for me outside and we were off to the party. Everyone was dancing and having a great time. I immediately took off my shirt, shorts, shoes, and sunglasses and jumped in the pool. I heard Sweet Pea laughing as I came up for air.

“Come on in babe! The water’s great!” I said and he shoot his head but sat on the side.

“I’m good baby, you enjoy yourself.” He said with a smile.

After an hour or more of swimming I got out a dried off. Sweets and I sat together on a couch that was outside and he kissed my head. I snuggled into his side with a smile on my face.

“I’m happy you’re alive Y/N.” He said and I looked up at him.

“And I’m happy you didn’t do anything stupid while you thought I was dead.” I said and he gave me a slight smile.

“That’s in the past Sweets, we need to move on from all of that okay?” I said and he nodded and kissed me. The kiss was getting pretty hot when Jughead interrupted it.

“Hey love birds, Serpent meeting. Now.” He said when we pulled apart and walked off. Sweets and I looked at each other confused but got up and followed him.

“Are you absolutely sure that this was Hot Dog?” Jughead asked Fangs.

“Hundred percent, man. They must have snatched him on Riot Night. He looked skinny. I don’t think the Ghoulies are feeding him enough.”He answered.

“We’re lucky those animals aren’t slow-roasting him on a grill.” Sweets said pissed.

“What do we do, Jug?” I asked.

“We’d be going behind enemy lines, outnumbered, open to attack from all directions and risking another gang-war.” He said and everyone sighed.

“No Serpent left behind, right? That includes our spirit animal.” He asked and I smirked.

“Okay, we’re gonna deploy after dark. It’s gonna be a stealth mission. It’s gonna be quick.” He ordered.

“Jug, last time you went into Ghoulie territory, you were beaten to within an inch of your life.” Betty said worried.

“He’ll have backup this time.” Cheryl said and I nodded.

“And we’re gonna be quick, Betty. They won’t even know we were there.” He said.

“Okay, well, then I’m coming with you.” Betty said.

“No.” He said.

“No. Don’t you dare tell me that it’s too dangerous, Jug. The Serpent Queen is a warrior queen. So if you’re on the frontlines, so am I.” She said and Jughead smirked.

“Okay. Let’s bring Hot Dog home, shall we?” He said. Sweet Pea pulled me aside and he wore a worried expression.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“I don’t want you coming with us.” He said and I looked at him confused.

“But I’m a Serpent now, I should go with you guys.” I said and he shook his head.

“You almost died for us.” He said.

“So did Jug.” I said and he sighed.

“I know, but I can’t lose you…” He said and I sighed.

“Sweets, I’ll stick by you the whole time, just let me come please.” I said and he sighed.

“Promise to stay by me the whole time?” He asked and I stuck out my pinky.

“Pinky promise.” I said and he wrapped his around mine with a smile.

“Fine.” He said and kissed my head.

We all went back to enjoy the rest of the party. As soon as night fell we all got our jackets and piled into Sweet’s truck. We drove to the Southside, which none of us have been to since the riot, and parked just outside the fence that they were keeping Hot Dog. Jughead wanted to make sure no one was there so we’ve been waiting an hour and poor Hot Dog has been whining for us.

“It’s been an hour and no sign of anyone.” Toni said.

“Alright, Sweet Pea, you guys keep look out.” Jughead said grabbing some cutters. All of us watched as he walked through the gate and cut him free. Right as we did though lights turned on and out walked Penny and the Ghoulies.

“Hiya, Jonesy.” Penny said walking up to him.

“Welcome back to the Southside.” She said. Betty went to go after him but Cheryl pulled her back.

“Cheryl!” Betty said.

“Not yet, cousin.” Cheryl said and she stopped.

“I thought this mangy mutt might get you to show up. We need to talk.” Penny said.

“No, we don’t, Penny. I’m here for the dog.” Jug said.

“If you didn’t want trouble, why have you been sending spies all summer, trying to get into our business? Back off. Unless you want a replay of Riot Night.” She said and I growled.

“Y/N, no.” Sweet Pea said.

“Yeah, I’ve been sending scouts. I was looking for Hot Dog. Now that I’ve got him, We’re good.” He said trying to leave.

“Not so fast.” Penny said stopping him.

“Your jacket… the Southside isn’t yours anymore. That means you’re no longer the Southside Serpents.” She said and I rolled my eyes. I honestly couldn’t keep my mouth shut anymore.

“You’re really that petty that you care about a damn jacket?” I shouted at her.

“Y/N!” Sweet Pea scolded me.

“Hey, Sweet Pea, you better keep your bitch under control!” Malachai shouted.

“You’re the one being controlled by a bitch!” I shouted back and he glared at me.

“I guess we found our next victim.” Penny said walking closer to Jug.

“Fine. You can have the jacket as long as you and the Ghoulies stay out of the Northside.” He said.

“Oh, you don’t get to make demands.” Malachai said walking closer to him, but before he could make it to him Cheryl shot an arrow into his shoulder.

“Cheryl!” Jughead shouted at her.

“Told you I was in the mood for some hell raising.” She said and I smirked.

“That’s it. Just kill ‘em all.” Penny ordered.

“Cheryl, aim your next arrow right between Penny’s eyes.” Jug ordered and she did.

“If you and your Ghoulies take one more step, she’s gonna release that arrow. Cheryl doesn’t miss.” Jug said.

“Congratulations. You’ve just make the Northside fair game.” Penny said and Jug turned away.

“Come on.” He said to Hot Dog and brought him back to the truck.

“See you soon, Jonesy!” Penny called and we all drove off. Hot Dog was safe now and hopefully everything would be okay, at least for now. We dropped everyone off and Sweets took me back to his place.

“Sweets?” I asked once we were inside, he hasn’t said a word to me since I yelled at Penny and the Ghoulies.

“What the hell was that!?” He shouted and I looked at him shocked.

“All you had to do was keep your mouth shut! Now they’re gonna go after you!” He shouted and I sighed.

“I know…” I said, I knew it was a stupid thing to do, but I couldn’t help it.

“What if I can’t protect you?” He said sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.

“Hey, everything’s gonna be okay, they’re not gonna do anything.” I said sitting next to him and wrapping my arms around him.

“Yes they will Y/N! And I don’t know if I can protect you!” He said worried.

“Relax babe, I promise, everything’s gonna be okay.” I said and he sighed.

“It won’t be…”

“Yes it will, I have you and the Serpents, my brother, and even though we’re not on great terms right now I still have my dad.” I said which seemed to relax him a bit.

“Come on, let’s get some rest. We got to go to Archie’s trial tomorrow.” I said kicking off my shoes and taking my jacket off. Sweet Pea did the same and we both fell asleep.

The next day we woke up and Sweet Pea took me home so I could change. I put on something appropriate and waited for Sweets to pick me up. My father and brother were already there with Mrs. McCoy and Josie. Sweets picked me up and we got there just in time. We took our seats and anxiously waited to hear Archie’s fate.

“All rise.” The bailiff said and in walked the judge. He sat down and we all took our seats once again.

“Has the jury reached a verdict?” He asked. The man in the front row in the first seat stood up.

“Your Honor, we haven’t. We’re deadlocked. Six-to-six. And it’s not gonna change.” He said and most people started whispering.

“So be it. The jury is dismissed. Thank you for your service.” The judge said and the jury left.

“Your Honor.” Ms. Wright said standing up.

“In lieu of another trial, the State is prepared to offer a deal for a lesser sentence. Instead of prison, time served plus two years in juvenile detention, if Mr. Andrews will plead guilty to the crime of manslaughter.” She said.

“Your Honor-” Mrs. Andrews stood up.

“I’ll take the deal.” Archie said cutting off his mother. Everyone was shocked and we told him not to.

“Your Honor, I accept the deal.” He said and I saw Veronica lean forward, crushed.

“Son, just so I have it straight, though it’s legally within your rights, you’re ignoring the advice of your counsel, your own mother?” The judge asked.

“Yes, Your Honor. I’m guilty.” Archie said and the whispers started up again.

“Mr. Andrews, the court accepts your plea of guilt. You’ll be taken directly from the courthouse to the Leopold and Loeb Juvenile Detention Center, where you will serve out your sentence beginning immediately. This court is adjourned.” The judge said. Everyone watched as Archie was handcuffed and lead out of the courthouse. It hurt to watch him be taken away in handcuffs once again. I could feel tears well in my eyes and a few fell down my cheeks. Sweet Pea wrapped his arms around me and held me close.

Tag list: @54fangirl @southsidehufflepuff @xrosesareredx @cvvlxx @skeletalwolfcat @demigodofthesun @depressed-octopods @nalayrene @yourfavouritefuckup @staygoldsquatchling02 @sataninsatin @im-socialy-awkward-no-joke @dark-night-sky-99 @aframeofbones @fly-slytherin-queen @jojokoko0717 @nixdunbarhale @wanderlust-and-poetry @theyouthfulmoon @seasiren96 @nixdunbarhale2 @misskarynie @emo-godess-loves-you @serpent-stan @a--smallgirlinabigworld @ohlookmybed @everheart12 @sailorsolar12 @screamxqueenx94 @sweetpeas-serpent-princess @peter-parker-fyeah @genius2050 @dylpickles1267 @notreallyamundi @xdsockmonkey

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peaceloveshelley · 4 years

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Ive been Been watching the same arguments time and again. Which most of them shouldn't even be arguments. Took me a long time to gather my thoughts... and here they are its long so beware and not in any particular order with tons of grammar errors but fuck it

- I think the only people who LIKE all the looting/riots are the looters/rioters...

it does nothing for the real cause, which sucks.

- Not all cops are murderers/"bad" & not all protests / protesters are riots/looting/violent. However murder and looting should not even be up for comparison against eachother. Two very different crimes.

- We can all agree murderers of any kind and color need to be prosecuted and charged in a timely manner to the fullest extent of the law

- At the same time peaceful protests that everyone seeks ARE happening which are those that genuinely care about the cause. However them along with medic tents / medic stations on church steps are met with rubber bullets and tear gas. For goodness sake a priest was tear gassed on church steps. While on the other hand others are having beautiful peaceful protests with police (Jersey City's Newark, Camden).

- We should also keep in mind the media is mostly there for the views and their audience . They are going to show what gets them views. They are going to post what they think their followers want to hear its completely biased. I wouldnt trust FB rando websites in the place of valid unbiased information especially about such a big issue. BBC America supposedly has the most unbiased content compared to the other news stations.

- "All"/"white lives matter" is not a movement because Black lives are particularly being disproportionately affected which is THE POINT that is trying to be made with the hashtag/name.

When any other groups are disproportionately affected by something they are also free to call attention to it and protest & start a movement.

- I really hate all the violence. I wish for no-one else to be hurt. Im sure others feels the same. People who truly care about the cause are not out killing. Those are criminals/murderers taking advantage of the situation. They should be and I assume will be prosecuted as such. If you feel like protesting their deaths then get out there its your right instead of making/posting memes about it..go for it.

- Everyone needs to use this moment to self check and assess yourself.

Learn & grow. There surely is a reason this is happening, there is problem that needs attention and the longer we ignore it, and make excuses and play blame games, the longer history will continue to repeat itself. You need to put yourself in the shoes and think about what would you do if it was you, your family, and group that is continously negatively impacted by the system & disproportionately.

how long do you let it happen for?

- Also happy pride month ! Pride was a result of protests/riots against brutality of their group started by a black transwoman named Marsha p Johnson. Look how far they've come but also look how long it took to get here. Should not have even taken that long and there is still work to be done in 2020.

- Comments about Corona Virus yea it's still very much out there. I'm sure we will see a spike in cases (hopefully not). I see alot of protesters wearing masks thankfully, so hopefully it helps. Its definitely not a hoax. And yes the media shifted their focus because once again they need your views and want to entertain you.

- For the life of me I will never understand why people cant just love eachother for who they are regardless of what they look like, where they come from, and who they love...and if you cant love them for that then just let them be. If your being oppressed it's our right to protest. I hope at the end if all this something good comes from all the pain and suffering endured. I dont think anyone can argue that something NEEDS to change and its not gonna comfortable for everyone. If yu can argue that you must not be affected then consider yourself lucky and throw support behind those pushing for a better america.

ONLY WHEN BLACK LIVES MATTER EQUALLY THEN ALL LIVES WILL TRULY MATTER.

Thats the missing peice.

I know this is scary and the media makes it more scary but let's get some real change. In this country and please register to vote.

#blm #black lives matter #protest 2020

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sillyfudgemonkeys · 5 years

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Persona 5 Problems: Makoto/Sae’s father

Everyday I’m more pissed that their father wasn’t some two faced cop who worked with the Mafia (yeah I know we already have two not so good father figures but EFF THAT developing an existing character is more important)......Because it would’ve been SOOOOOOO beneficial to their development.

No you don’t understand a lot of things would make SO much sense! Sae’s attitude towards her father in this case especially. This time it’s not just “oh he off and died on us” (I mean he died from a mafia hit??? in the game it sounds like he was just walking around minding his own business when the hit happened, it wasn’t even in like a mafia shoot out where he tried to be a hero), instead it’s “This person who I looked up to, who I held as a moral beacon, turned out to not be who I thought he was. Everything about him is now tainted, even the profession I chose because I wanted to be like him and catch criminals, it’s now tainted. I hate him, but I still love him. I can’t let Makoto know who he really was, I won’t let her view be tainted either.” It makes more sense why she gets prickly about her father when brought up, it makes sense why she can’t/won’t talk about him in Makoto’s presence. Why Makoto thinks so highly of her father, but Sae does not. Instead “he just left us” becomes a cover up for how she truly feels.

Sae finds out via the higher ups at the police force (either they brought her in or she accidentally overheard and then confronted the people talking), apparently a few other officers were the same, it was the police’s way to make sure order was maintained between them and the mafia. But to the public, they covered that up with a lie, saying how upstanding he was. It saves the force’s face this way, and they talk Sae into the same thing. “It’d do horrible things to your reputation, it’d hurt Makoto, and so on and so on.” That’s why Sae keeps quiet, but it’s eating her up inside.

Makoto, she doesn’t know. Now it can go a few different ways (depending on the rewrite, but in this case let’s pretend it’s as close to the main game as possible). Her arc is more super focused on questioning authority rather than not following orders (I know it kinda has both, but in the game it’s more the latter or it’s framed as more the latter and it doesn’t really work since she still does follow orders, so we’re just gonna triple down on just questioning authority). And it’ll be more fleshed on on the why (which is not what the game did, which is key imo to fleshing out her character), and let’s change the whole “useless thing” to “you’re just a child who doesn’t know anything” and “can’t you just do as you are told?” (more broader and targeted towards her issues atm). Until the Kane arc she’s never needed to question authority, her father instilled that people in higher power usually know what’s best for society (yeah I know kinda insidious).

Now let’s just hop and a skip to when she meets Kane, in this case after finding out his name she’s instead kidnapped instead of her running in like a moron. Because Kane heard her last name was “Niijima,” a familiar name in the underground. Both from her famous sister and infamous father. This is where she finds out about her father’s history, here world is flipped upside down. Instead of a pointless stress out that she caused to Kane, he instead proactively chooses this as a means to make money. Mako’s sister has been throwing her guys in jail left and right, which means less guys to collect money, which means less money for him. He doesn’t like that, and he has blackmail. Before no one in the underground opening revealed the Hero Cop Niijima was actually dirty, the reasoning could be because there was no real need plus info is profitable in it’s own right so don’t just give it out willy nilly. In this case, holding out proved that Kane can turn it liquid and get money outta it. He blackmails Makoto, saying he’ll go public with this info, with undeniable proof (maybe he had it on his phone to begin with), and ruin their lives. Sae would be disgraced, Makoto might even been looked over from getting into a good college or getting a good job.

Now that her world has been rocked, this is probably when Makoto really starts questioning authority. The school staff, Sae, the police, everyone, all her doubts over the course of the arc start to come to a boil. She thinks about the PT. And here might be where I’d tweak how they are involved. See, Makoto got dirt on them, she was going to go to the principal, but the PT stop her. Instead THEY tell her “We’ll prove we’re just, please just wait.” She wonders how, and that’s when the MC reveals that they’ve heard rumors of a mafia boss hurting students in the area on the subway (which is true, in-game you hear this before Makoto mentions anything), you tell her mafia bosses are bad and that if they stop him that’d mean they were good right? Makoto isn’t.....completely convinced, but it won’t hurt her to hold out for a bit, not like she has anything to lose. This takes away the BS blackmail thing, and makes the PT more proactive. Flashforward to after meeting Kane. Makoto walks out of the building, the PT had just caught up to her, Makoto is fine but shaken up. She falls to the ground crying, saying how everything she knew was a lie, saying she can’t trust the adults. She says she doesn’t know if the PT are just or not, but she knows they take down those abusing their authority from how their past targets have been described. The PT tell her yes, she explains the situation. This leads to them realizing that Makoto is a “customer” of Kane and she can let them in (by the PT not being their like in the main game, we can’t say that they are also customers and thus don’t need Makoto btw).

Everything else plays about roughly the same. Makoto awakens more to the fact of her rage at authority figures abusing their power. She doesn’t tell her sister of the knew knowledge she obtained, but she does see her sister in a different light (one that’s capable of lying, but also someone who was trying her best to protect her, is a mixed feeling). She feels more closer to Futaba too, knowing what it’s like to be lied to in a sense. Her CoOp also focuses more on her dream to become a Police commissioner, something she never forgot about and was actively striving towards, but now is questioning and seeing how she could handle it in a new light.

Back to Sae, her sister’s dungeon has an additional somber taste to it. We see a woman who fought so hard to not be corrupt like her father, that she ended up going down a similar corrupt route. Her pure goal to not be like her father, almost turned her into him in a sense. Makoto is also fearful of this (possibly stemming from/explored in the CoOp).

Lastly, the dream world would make a lot more sense. Not only that he’s alive, but achieving such a high status/reward (I forget which). He’s not corrupt like he actually is! See he’s good? Everything is ideal! If we do have to wake our teammates up in P5R, it’s a lot more meaningful/understandable to have her go through the realization of what her father actually is, rather than just be like “yo he ded.”

Last thing, I like this idea not cause it ties her into Kane being like “oh I killed your father” no in this case, Sae already prosecuted the guy who killed their father. There’s no revenge to be had here. Her father was just well known by the underground, possibly never even met Kane. But it does provide a way to connect her to Kane, using her as a pawn more naturally too.

I dunno, I just feel like it makes more sense and it cleans up the story?????

#persona 5 problems #persona 5 #p5 #persona problems #PERSONA 5 ROYAL #persona 5 the royal #p5r #p5tr #i've been holding onto this for awhile alfkejsdjfsa #i still hate makoto tho 8U #i mean this is such wasted potential #but if it had played out like this I probably wouldn't have hated her

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lovemesomerafael · 5 years

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No One Else Chapter 3: Turning Up The Heat

Source: @sherrykinss

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Read It On AO3

It takes three days, but the guy on trial is convicted. He gets two consecutive life sentences. It’s a stunning victory for the prosecution and it makes great headlines, which means that the DA, One PP, and a whole lot of people with “Chief” in their titles are happy. The big shots get to take a victory lap in front of the national press and the FBI, and they’re making the most of it. They find as many cameras as possible in time to make the evening news, and by five p.m. there are a lot of satisfied people around Foley Square. They take over Maxwell’s. Because it also happens to be a Friday, things get a little out of hand. Even Vanessa Hadid overindulges a little bit (to be fair, she hasn’t been sleeping or eating much, as usual for her during a trial) and Sonny finds himself standing in front of DA Jack McCoy’s table with Ms. Hadid’s arm around his neck. It’s uncomfortable in a number of ways, not least of which is that he’s a lot taller than she is, so his choices are to bend over or be strangled.

“This guy,” she enthuses to McCoy, planting a sloppy kiss on Sonny’s cheek. “He’s gonna be a star.”

McCoy is only marginally less uncomfortable than Sonny, but Sonny sees the comment register with him. “Well done, Mr. Carisi,” McCoy says.

Holy shit, the DA knows who I am! I can’t wait to tell Kate about this. He wonders again where Kate is, and hopes she’ll make the party. They’d decided to wait until the verdict came in for her promised post-trial visit, and she’s due any time. She didn’t know when she’d be able to leave the station, so the plan is for her to toss some clothes at Sonny’s apartment and meet him here.

Sonny sees Olivia Benson and Dean Porter through a break in the crowd. He wonders again whether there’s anything between them and has a split second to register their very friendly body language before the crowd blocks his view and Ms. Hadid drops an F-bomb. She’s not drunk enough to miss the looks on some faces at the DA’s table, so she mercifully lets go of Sonny to excuse herself to talk to someone across the room. Sonny excuses himself awkwardly and leaves the table, too.

He thinks he’ll say hello to Benson and Porter, so he’s making his way toward them when he spots Kate, just inside the door, looking helplessly around for a familiar face. Her hair is in a knot at the back of her neck and he really likes the way loose tendrils have escaped around her face. She looks so pretty standing there, he’s sure he would have noticed her even if she were a stranger. She’s wearing a casual dress made of some soft material in a muted green pattern he really likes, and he especially likes that the dress shows off her long legs and has an open neckline that is just slightly on the right side of appropriate. She sees him when he gets to within about ten feet of her, and slips around a group of people to meet him with a hug and a kiss. He wants to kiss her more, and he plans to, but first he wants to show her off.

Sonny leads Kate across the bar, which takes some time due to the raucous crowd, toward a table where some of his colleagues and a number of the support staff from his office are laughing and carrying on. Most of them are younger than Sonny and Kate are, but it’s clear they really like Sonny. He introduces Kate to everyone, a proprietary arm around her waist. When he gets to Mary Duderon, Kate tries to be as friendly as possible, making sure she knows that Kate recognizes her from their previous meeting. It doesn’t work. Mary minimally acknowledges her and doesn’t make eye contact. Kate sees a couple of guys standing close by exchange an amused look.

Sonny introduces Kate to them last, because they’re standing next to him, at the end of the circle of people he’s just introduced to Kate. She despairs of remembering any of their names, but these two guys she’s heard of, because they’re the guys with whom Sonny shares Mary as an assistant. The three of them have also bonded over the long hours and pressures of being fairly new ADAs.

Maurice Mikhail is the shorter of the two. He’s dark-skinned, but his ethnicity isn’t readily apparent from his looks or his name. His wide, open smile makes him look like a guy who is always looking for a laugh, and Kate thinks he looks just like Sonny’s description of him. Scott Lam looks a few years older than Maurice, and seems a bit more serious. His features have a definite Asian look, although he looks like he’s multiracial. He shakes Kate’s hand and looks into her eyes as he greets her. Somebody taught this guy nice manners, Kate thinks.

Sonny leaves Kate with Maurice and Scott and goes to get her a glass of wine. Maurice starts right in. He looks over his shoulder to see that everyone around the big table has resumed conversations among themselves. None of the individual conversations is discernable from the others in the din of the packed bar.

“So how do you know the Dude Ranch?” He asks, amusement all over his face as he tosses his head to indicate the table.

Kate knows he’s talking about Mary. Sonny has told her that, around the office, Mary’s surname has been turned into a nickname of sorts behind her back. Many of the more junior ADAs call her Sister Mary Dude Ranch, because she really does bear many of the stereotypical characteristics of the type of woman who used to be called a spinster, including the fact that she has several cats. But Kate is offended on Mary’s behalf and doesn’t appreciate the casual cruelty, especially toward a skilled woman whose job makes theirs possible.

“I beg your pardon?” She asks, her tone intentionally icy.

Scott breaks in. “Don’t listen to him. He’s an imbecile. He’s part of the DA’s program for special needs lawyers. What he means is, it seems like you know our assistant, Mary.”

Kate smiles at Scott, hoping that in some way, she’s sent a bit of a signal. “Oh, Mary. We met a couple of weeks ago. Sonny says she’s pretty good.”

Maurice elbows Scott in the side, and Kate revises her estimate of his age down a bit.

“She is. We appreciate her,” Scott says, ignoring Maurice.

They begin to ask Kate about her job, and their questions make it clear Sonny’s been talking about her. It’s also clear they have a lot of mistaken ideas learned from cop shows. They’re especially interested in Kate’s version of the story of how she and Sonny met. Sonny appears with drinks for himself and Kate just as Maurice is exclaiming, “I wouldn’t have thought Carisi had that kinda badassery in him.”

Kate is glad to see Sonny. She’s also glad to see a glass of alcohol with her name on it. Running into a gunfight to save Sonny made her less nervous than having to hold her own in a room full of strangers she wants to impress for his sake. Taking a healthy drink, she happens to glance over at the table of Sonny’s coworkers, and notices Mary glaring at her with an expression that reminds Kate of something. It takes her a second to realize that it’s the look on the face of a perp with a low opinion of women when she slaps the cuffs on. Kate shivers and turns away.

Sonny feels ten feet tall. He has just won his first big case – OK, he was only second chair, but still – and his bosses are pleased with him. His SVU squad is proud of him, too. He feels like he’s on his way, like he may have successfully made the transition to the DA’s office and, until this moment, he hadn’t realized how frightening that leap really had been. And then there’s Kate. He still can’t believe she’s here, back in his life, back in his plans, back in his arms. He hasn’t taken his arm from around her all night. Yes, he wants everyone to see his beautiful girlfriend. But it’s much more than that. It’s just so right that she should be here to celebrate this first big win with him. Having her by his side feels like… He can’t even explain it to himself. It’s like his life was VHS before, and now it’s Blu-ray. Or whatever comes after that. And he’s insanely proud when people recognize her name and comment on her reputation in the NYPD. It’s a very good night for Sonny Carisi.

They stay at Maxwell’s until after midnight, when the party has pretty much wound down.

Sonny and Kate flop down on his couch immediately upon finally making it to his apartment and pull off their shoes. They’ve been standing for hours, talking and celebrating and networking. They’re exhausted and, although they aren’t drunk, they have been steadily sipping drinks all night. For a few minutes, they just slouch, side by side, heads back on the cushions.

“That was… somethin’,” Sonny says. “I never saw so many mucky-mucks in my life.”

“No kiddin’. And they were all there to celebrate your win.”

Sonny chuckles skeptically. “A small cog in a big machine.”

“Bullshit. You were sitting right there at the prosecution table. You questioned - how many witness was it again? You’re a regular big deal, Baby. Get used to it.”

Sonny puts a hand on Kate’s thigh. “I loved havin’ you there tonight.”

Kate puts her hand over his and turns her head where it rests on the cushion to look at him. “I loved being introduced as your girlfriend.”

“Was that OK? I didn’t mean to get ahead of things…”

“I mean it, Sonny, I loved it. I wanna be your girlfriend. And I want you to be my boyfriend.”

“I already am, Katie. I’m yours.”

Sonny reaches for her and they don’t come up for air until quite some time later, when Kate has Sonny’s shirt open and untucked, and Sonny has Kate’s dress on the floor.

“Do you think you can stand any more good news today?” She asks, running her fingers through his hair in a vain attempt to get it back under some control. He is lying on top of her, looking down at her and playing with her hair, too.

“I dunno. It’s been –“ Sonny is on the point of making a joke when he has a thought. “Holy shit, Kate. Your transfer came through?”

“You’re making out with the newest Detective in Manhattan South Narcotics.”

For the next five minutes, Sonny stumbles through excited half-sentences, alternating with kisses and hugs, punctuated by excited shouts. He feels drunk in several ways, and finally has to sit up and hold his head in his hands, trying to assimilate all that has happened today. “This is too much. I feel like I’m havin’ a dream and I’m gonna wake up in the crib in the SVU squad room with midterms in a week.” He looks over at her. “And you in Brooklyn.”

“Nope. It’s all real. You’re a big shot and I’m a traitor to Brooklyn North. The guys stole everything that was in my locker and then filled it with paper from the shredder soaked in beer.”

Sonny laughed. “That’s cop love.”

“I know. I’m gonna miss them. But you’re worth it.”

“I’m gonna remind you of that when you’re in the middle of moving and I break something.”

The rest of the night is a happy blur. When they get to bed, Kate tells Sonny to lay back and spends what feels like hours touching, stroking, kissing, and licking him everywhere, all the while murmuring compliments and love. She gives him a spectacular climax, curling a finger inside him; Kate is the only woman he’s ever trusted enough to let her do that. Sonny has to smile at the memories evoked when he pulls her in to spoon with him and, together, they finger her to orgasm. It’s a compromise they made back in their Brooklyn days. She doesn’t always have to come; she likes the idea that sometimes she wears him out. It’s kind of a compliment, actually, if he can’t keep from falling asleep. But he has a thing about making sure she’s satisfied, too, and this way is quick and efficient, and they’re both happy. It takes him less than two minutes to fall asleep afterward.

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

Sonny doesn’t find the picture of himself and Kate at Forlini’s. After a while, he forgets about it because Kate gives him a framed picture of them at Maxwell’s on the night of the verdict celebration. It’s a great picture, and it’s a reminder of one of the best nights of Sonny’s life. Unfortunately, it gets knocked off his desk and the glass gets broken. He assumes it was the cleaning people who broke it, and means to replace the glass, but just hasn’t gotten around to it yet. He has other pictures of them, too, as the desktop background and screen saver on his computer, so it’s not that big a deal.

Besides which, he has the real Kate, who will be moving to Manhattan this weekend. They’ve decided that “no pressure” includes not moving in together, at least not now. Neither of them really thinks they won’t be successful in picking up their relationship again, but it kinda makes sense. Besides, Kate was able to sublet a tiny studio apartment from a cop Sonny knows at SVU who’s just moved in with her girlfriend and has most of a year left on her lease. It’s more expensive than her one-bedroom in Brooklyn, but it’s not too bad, and she’s not expecting to be there much, if things go well with Sonny.

Sonny’s never been one to hide anything, and his friends at work don’t mind hearing about Kate’s impending arrival. Scott is married and his wife is expecting their first baby, so he’s kind of blasé about the whole thing, but Maurice thinks Sonny is the luckiest SOB on the planet. He sees Kate as somewhere between Wonder Woman and Beyoncé and, since hearing the story of how they met, has a little bit of hero worship going for Sonny, as well. The problem is Mary. Any time she hears Sonny talking about Kate, Sonny has to endure stony silence for the rest of the day. It’s annoying, but she does a good job, and Sonny doesn’t want to get her into trouble by complaining.

He did once try to talk to her about it. He asked her to have a seat in one of the chairs before his desk, closed the door, and sat on the edge of his desk, looking down at her. His intention was to be kind of fatherly, although she was at least his age. The look on her face as she gazed up at him was almost beatific, which made him even more uncomfortable that he had been to begin with. But when he began to explain that he’d noticed she sometimes became silent and standoffish with him – he’d decided not to mention Kate – she started to cry. He tried to console her while standing his ground. She looked at him with puppy eyes awash in tears and a trembling lip. He tried again, soft-pedaling as best he could. She wailed. He said maybe it was his imagination. She began to hyperventilate. He panicked, shoved a handful of tissues in her hand and began to apologize profusely and, in the end, promised that he, Sonny, would try to behave better in the future.

Sonny knows women. Sonny grew up with three sisters, and they’re all close. But for the life of him, he can’t figure out how to deal with Mary. So he doesn’t. Instead, he avoids talking about Kate when she’s likely to be around and tries to keep as much distance as he can. Which isn’t easy when Mary is in his office a hundred times a day, on one excuse or another, and brings him coffee and treats no matter how much he tries to discourage her. He tried telling her he was trying to cut down on caffeine. She brought him decaf. He told her he was trying to cut out sugar and carbs. She brought him horrible sugar- and carb-free treats he wasn’t even sure were actual food. But he had to eat them, because she checked. He saw her look in the trash to make sure he hadn’t just tossed anything. She is relentless. When he actually finds himself sprinkling crumbs on the napkin on his desk and going to another floor to throw a particularly horrible fruit bar in the trash, he gives in and casually mentions he’s back on caffeine, sugar, and carbs. It’s easier to just let her bring real coffee and real treats and just eat the damn things.

***********

Anything that can go wrong with Kate’s move does. For some reason, the moving truck company thinks she cancelled her reservation and doesn’t have another truck, which means she spends valuable time chasing down another available truck on no notice. The keys aren’t where the previous tenant left them, so she has to get a locksmith to make new keys. When she does finally get in, she’s hit with a terrible smell that comes from a dead rat under one of the windows. That is somewhat of a mystery, because the rat is well decomposed, but Sonny’s friend only vacated the apartment a few days before. Being so far behind schedule, however, Kate doesn’t have the luxury of time to worry about it. Especially since she has to get moved in before the sun goes down, because there is no electricity, and won’t be until at least the next day. Somehow, Con Ed is also under the impression that she cancelled her appointment.

A couple of Kate’s cop friends and their spouses help her and Sonny with the move, and they take it all in stride, which helps Kate stay calm. Besides, she and Sonny are pretty much delirious to finally be at this point. Neither of them has forgotten what it was like to be apart, aching for each other, trying without success to get over one another. There’s not much that can dim the joy of this day.

Kate finds herself staring at Sonny sometimes. He’s only gotten better looking over time. She decides she really likes the silver in his hair, and she’s captivated anew by his mouth – she’s always had a thing about his smile. He has the best smile she’s ever seen, and he’s smiling more than usual today. Sometimes he catches her looking at him with a sort of deer in the headlights expression, and it gets to him. She looks at him the way he feels about her.

They get Kate’s things moved and she takes them all out for pizza and beer. It’s been a good day, regardless of the problems. They laugh and drink to the future and it feels like Christmas morning. Sonny has a plan; he tells Kate he wants them to stay in her new place tonight. She looks at him like he’s lost his mind, but she can’t say no to him, especially today, and they go back to the little studio with no electricity, nothing unpacked, and the bed not even put together yet.

Earlier, Sonny put the box holding Kate’s bedding in one corner so he could find it again. He also took some candles out of a box marked “candles” and lined them up on the windowsill. Now, by candlelight, he pulls the mattress and box spring down from where they’re leaning against a wall and makes a nest of blankets and pillows. There, he makes love to Kate slowly and thoroughly by the light of one candle sitting nearby on the floor and it’s like electricity would only have gotten in the way of this perfect moment.

**********

It’s taken a while for Kate to get used to Manhattan South. They have a different way of doing some things, and she’s careful not to make any “that’s not the way we did it in Brooklyn” comments that will get her ostracized. Her partner is a good guy who seems to be happy enough to be partnered with her. He smooths some of the rough edges and teaches her what she needs to know without treating her like a moron. She thinks they’ll do well together.

She’s long since moved into her studio, small as it is, and for the most part she likes it. There are two things she’s not crazy about. First, she comes home sometimes to find dead things in there. Rats, mice, a snake once. And they’re always decomposed enough to smell. Which leads to the second thing. Someone comes into her studio when she’s not there. She’s almost sure of it. She doesn’t think there is any other way for the dead things to get in there; the apartment’s so small, she thinks she would have known they were there if they crawled in themselves. And things are just slightly off sometimes. A drawer messed up. Things moved on a shelf. A favorite picture of her and Sonny at Coney Island taken years before fallen to the floor and the glass broken. She spends more time at Sonny’s, however, than she does here, so she can’t be absolutely sure. So she doesn’t ask the Super to change the locks, or say anything to Sonny.

There’s not much that could make her regret the move, though. After three months in Manhattan, God knows she’s happy, and she thinks Sonny is, too.

She’s right about that. Sonny’s starting to wonder how long he should wait before he asks her to move in with him, or whether he should ask her to marry him first, or how this should go. He remembers their “no pressure” agreement, and he doesn’t feel pressured by Kate at all. But the agreement goes both ways, and he doesn’t want to pressure her, either. His sister Gina counsels patience. She says to wait until it’s been at least six months. She also gives him shit about being like a puppy when it comes to Kate, but it’s all just sibling teasing. All of the Carisis are glad to have Kate back.

Sonny feels like, even as hard as he’s working, his life couldn’t be better. Ms. Hadid is letting him handle arraignments and even motions now. From the beginning, she’s deferred to him when it comes to questioning defendants. She knows talent and experience when she sees it. He’s looking forward to sitting first chair at his first trial, which will necessarily have to be something small, but it’ll be huge to him.

The one dark spot continues to be Mary. She’s become overtly flirtatious now, in a way. She never calls him “Sonny” anymore. Now he’s “Sweetie” or “Honey” or “My Dear.” It’s totally inappropriate, but in every other way, she does a great job. It’s time to have another talk with her. It’s past time, actually, but he dreads it. He’s sure it will end up like the last time, but it has to be done. Between the treats and the nicknames and the fawning, if he doesn’t address it, he’s complicit or, worse, leading her on.

He chooses a Friday afternoon, because that way if she gets upset, she can go straight home and have time to recover. He says a prayer to St. Michael the Archangel as he’s waiting for her. A conversation with his assistant shouldn’t require him to ask a sword-wielding seraph to defend him in battle, but it does.

Mary walks into his office. Her pink dress is a bit oversize, like all her clothes, and does her figure no favors. She’s smiling the smile Sonny’s come to think of as creepy and she stands leaning against the front of his desk expectantly.

“Go ahead and have a seat, Mary,” Sonny says, getting up and closing the door. She watches his every move, her hopeful simper maybe burning just a bit brighter at the idea of being alone with him behind closed doors.

“You said you wanted to talk to me. What is it, sweetie?”

Sonny goes to sit back behind his desk. “Well, um… that’s just it. You and I are colleagues in a professional environment, and it’s important to behave that way. So I wanted to ask you to call me Sonny, not anything else, like sweetie, or honey.”

Tears well in her eyes and she goes first pale, then bright red and blotchy. “Don’t you like me?”

That question is wrong in so many ways, Sonny shouldn’t be prepared for it. But he is. He has actually role-played this conversation with Kate. They covered this precise question.

“Mary, I think you are very good at your job, and I appreciate working with you. I have no complaints at all, except that I would like you to stick to calling me Sonny.”

“But we’re friends, right?”

Another question he’s practiced. “We’re friends and professional coworkers. That’s how we should treat each other.”

“It’s that Kate, isn’t it? She’s jealous of us.” This one they didn’t practice. Sonny would not have foreseen the sudden venom in Mary’s expression and her voice. Her brown eyes were swimming in tears a moment ago, but now they’re narrowed and her lip is actually curled. Out of reflex, Sonny moves his hand to his holster which, of course, isn’t there anymore.

Right away, he recognizes that as the overreaction it was, and tries to take a deep breath and return to the script. “We’re talking about you and me here, Mary. The way you and I treat each other here in the office. All I’m asking is that you don’t call me anything except my name. OK? That’s it.”

The venom is gone as fast as it came, and now it’s time for tears. Tissues have been prepositioned on the edge of Sonny’s desk for just this purpose, and Sonny and Kate have decided that not reacting to the tears is the way to go.

“Sonny, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you feel bad. I’d never do that. I just really like you, and I like working for you, and I thought you liked me back.”

“I like you just fine, Mary. I’m just asking for this one thing. One professional to another.”

“Is that all we are to each other? After everything I’ve done for you?”

Sonny thinks about that robot in that old show that used to flail its arms and yell, “Danger, Will Robinson!” He had actually done that, sitting on his bed in his boxers, role-playing this conversation with Kate, who was wearing the shirt he’d taken off to go to bed. Kate had actually predicted this, word for word.

“We’re coworkers. I think we have a good working relationship. All I’m asking for is to be called by my name.”

She’s in full weeping mode now, having helped herself to the tissues placed before her. Sonny braces for hyperventilation, like last time. But instead, Mary does something that really creeps him out. She pulls herself together. After about three minutes of eye wiping and nose blowing, she looks at him with eyes that are red-rimmed, but calm. Still, there’s something there… The detective in Sonny wouldn’t trust a perp who looked at him like this. She’s angry. He’s sure of it.

“I understand. Maybe I shouldn’t call you by your first name at all. I know some of the assistants use ‘Mister’ or ‘Ms.’ I could do that for you.”

“Sonny is fine. I’m not a ‘mister’ kind of guy.”

“All right. Is there anything else?”

“No, that was it. I’m sorry you’re upset. I just want us to be appropriate and professional. That’s all.”

Mary gets up and leaves, that unnatural calm still pulled over her like a camouflage tarp. Sonny shivers.

***********

When Kate finishes her shift on Sunday night, her partner drops her off at Sonny’s office. Tom Hensler is a dedicated cop who enjoys ribbing Kate about dating an ADA, given the continual strain between the NYPD and the DA’s office over cases and evidence. In truth, however, he and Sonny actually get along well. Tom and his wife, Kelly, have been out together with Sonny and Kate a few times in the months that Kate and Tom have been partners, and they all have quite a bit in common. Kelly is a police dispatcher and mother of their three-year-old twins - little boys who, since meeting Sonny, constantly ask their parents when Sonny can come back to play with them.

Sonny is waiting just inside the building, having finished the work he’s come in to do and ready to go home. He gives Kate a smile that lights up her world and they begin to walk together to Kate’s apartment, enjoying the nice evening and just being together. Upon reaching Kate’s building, they can immediately smell something when they come in the front door. There’s no smoke, but it’s definitely a burning smell.

“Should we call the Fire Department?” Kate asks, concerned.

“There’s no smoke,” Sonny answers. “Let’s go talk to the Super.”

They knock on the door of one of the apartments on the ground floor, which is almost immediately opened by a thin, white-haired man in his sixties, looking as though he’s had a long day. “Oh, there you are. Let’s go take a look,” he says.

“Did something happen?” Kate asks, trading surprised looks with Sonny.

“You could say that. C’mon, let’s go.” The Building Superintendent steps out, yells back into his apartment, apparently to his wife, that he’s going upstairs, and closes the door. He leads the way down the hall to the stairs.

Sonny and Kate exchange another look. “Where are we going?” Kate queries, a bad feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

“Your place.”

“Shit.”

The door of Kate’s third-floor apartment is open and fans are blowing out the window, although it’s a cool night.

“We hadda get rid a’ all the smoke, so I hadda put fans in here, I hope ya’ don’t mind,” the Super explains, leading the way into Kate’s small studio, where a charred, series of bent springs and other unidentifiable debris fills a hole that comprises about half the mattress.

“What happened?” Kate shrieks. Sonny immediately begins looking around the room as though at a crime scene.

“I dunno. Weirdest thing. The fire alarm never went off. Abe Taylor across the hall smelled smoke, and he came out and saw it was comin’ from under your door. So he ran down to get me, and I ran up here with a fire extinguisher. But here’s the really strange part. The fire was already out before I got in. It looked like somebody put it out, everything’s all soaked.

“What’d the fire department say?” Sonny asks, in full cop mode now.

“Nothin’. We didn’t call ‘em. It was out. I tried to call you, Kate, but you didn’t answer.”

“That’s right! I’m sorry, I got your call, but I was in a briefing, and I actually forgot about it until right now. This is no accident. I’m calling the Fire Department.”

Sonny nods and starts asking questions of the Super as though he’s just naturally fallen back into detective mode. The Super has asked the other people on the third floor, but no one has seen or heard anything, and no one has seen a stranger in the building.

“They’re on their way. They’re bringing the whole show, I’m afraid. I couldn’t talk them out of it,” Kate says.

Half an hour later, the street is full of fire equipment and flashing lights, surrounded by onlookers who don’t stay long when they see there was no flame. Not even any smoke. Just a burned smell and a lot of people standing around.

Kate is rattled. She’s unflappable at work, but this is her home, and it feels like an attack. Sonny stays at her side, always touching her in some way – holding her hand or with an arm around her, sometimes just putting a hand on her back. She answers all the questions she can, but she really doesn’t know anything because she wasn’t there. There is one question, however, that both she and Sonny can answer. Neither wants to, but the answer is fairly obvious.

“Do you know of anyone who would want to do something like this to you?” The arson investigator asks, taking notes in a little notebook that Kate notices is covered with smudges that she assumes are ash.

Kate looks at Sonny, who looks back with an equally troubled expression.

“I think we do,” Sonny says to Kate.

“We don’t have any proof. We don’t know it’s her,” Kate replies.

“Tell me,” the investigator says. So they do.

Somewhere during their explanation of what’s been happening with Mary Duderon, one of the inspector’s technicians comes down the front stairs of Kate’s building, a bag filled with what looks like charred sticks in her hand. She holds the bag out to the inspector, who squints at it.

“Picture frame,” he says.

When he says that, Kate sees unburnt edges of the sticks, suddenly recognizing the sticks as being from the frame around the picture of her and Sonny at Coney Island. She feels sick.

“It’s taking some time to separate out, but it looks like there are two or three more. Looks like there were pictures in frames on the bed while it was burning,” the technician says.

Kate looks at Sonny. They both know there are, or were, a few framed photos of them scattered around Kate’s apartment, including a copy of the picture of them at Maxwell’s hung on a wall.

“Can I go look? I think they could all be pictures of the two of us,” Kate says, her voice weak. She doesn’t realize how tightly she’s holding Sonny’s hand, and he doesn’t mention it.

“Why don’t you let me do it?” He asks, wanting to spare her if he can. “I’ve probably been here almost as much as you have. I know what was there.”

“You can both go up,” the arson inspector says. “I want to know exactly what’s missing.”

Two framed pictures, one of Kate with her family and one of Kate and Ahmad Washington and the rest of her Narcotics squad in Brooklyn, still sit on a windowsill, untouched.

What’s missing is every picture of Sonny and Kate that was displayed in the apartment. All of them have been piled on the bed and set on fire.

#law & order svu #law & order: special victims unit #sonny carisi #peter scanavino #ADA Dominick Carisi Jr #ADA Carisi

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olboypacman · 5 years

Text

2. What is Justice? (Finale, A Cry For Justice)

A Few Months Later, The Day of The People of New Jersey v. Frank Castle

****

“Funny seeing you and the rest of the gang here, Chuckles.”

“Jason. You’re looking well.”

A tense silence manifests itself between the factions of the leather clad couple of Jason Todd and Komand’r and the Titans dressed in their civilian attire.

“Sister.”

“Kori. I see Victor’s holorings still have their uses. But, tan’s a bad tone on you, sister dear.”

“Why you-“ Kori lunges at her sister but is held back by Victor.

“OK,” Said Cyborg, “this is more awkward than I thought it would be. I’m taking Kori into the court room, gonna find us some seats. Who’d a thought this trial would’ve attracted so much attention?”

He heaves the Tamaranean over his shoulder as he walks through the door. She’s spouting off her objections to her treatment in Tamaranean, as she pounds her fists Victor’s back.

“I’m gonna join Cy- I mean Vic. You guys look like you got some stuff to catch up on.” Said a fair skinned, blonde-haired, green-eyed Changeling. “See you guy in court!” He said as waived off the others, following Cyborg.

Raven shrugs her shoulders at the people remaining. “Wait for me Gar.” She intones, coming up the rear.

“Komi,” says Nightwing, “was that really necessary?”

Blackfire gives him a look of mock innocence, “What? I’m telling the truth.”

“Blackfire,” said Jason, “let me talk with Dick alone. Find us a spot will you, cutie?”

“Fine, Jay. I’ve got you.” She pecks him on the cheek, as she makes her way into the court room to find her and Jason some seats.

“You and Blackfire. A part of me may have saw that coming-“

“Grayson,” interrupts Jason. “Is Bruce here?”

“Yeah. Alfred’s here. Babs is here. Tim’s here. Even poor Harley is here. Everyone is here. Are you planning on saying hi to anyone?”

“I’ve said all needed to him or anyone a long time ago.”

At the implication of Jason’s words, Dick sighs and says, “He never would’ve done it. None of us would’ve. For what it’s worth, he’s sorry and he misses you. And despite our recent history, I miss you too. Your family-“

“Stow it, Dick. The fact that it took some cop to do what needs to be done tells me what kind of family I’ve got. Give my love to Babs. Enjoy the trial.” Said Jason, as started to make his way into the court room.

“Wait. Why did you bail out Frank Castle?” Asked Dick.

“Honestly? I wanted to meet the man ballsy enough to properly avenge his family.”

****

“All rise!” Commanded the bailiff as the judge made his way to the bench.

The older, bald, caucasian judge, clad in the dark robes sits and bangs his gavel getting the attention of the full court as everyone present takes their seat.

He creases his brow, as if he’s making eye contact with everyone in the court.

“I know we have a lot of people here today, but I’d like to remind everyone here today we are in a court of law this day. A man is being tried for his alleged crimes and recommend all out bursts be keep to a minimum. With that being said, let’s get started with our opening statements.” The judge motions to his left, “Prosecutor.”

The prosecutor stands upon being beckoned by the judge. He’s small slip of man dressed in a cheap beige suit with an even cheaper haircut. He smiles condescendingly at Frank, practically assured of a conviction as he begins his opening statement.

“What is justice? We in the DA’s office like to define it as set system of right and wrong. Of showing those who break laws there are set consequences for what you do. Today we are here to prosecute Frank Castle for the crime of murder of the Joker in the first degree. We will prove that he did so maliciously and with no regard for our system of justice. And I would like to remind the court that the people of New Jersey are seeking the maximum conviction of life without the possibility of parole.”

A hush goes over the court as the mousy prosecutor finished his opening statement.

The hush turns into murmur as they seemingly wait for something to happen.

The judge bangs his gavel once more to bring the hush back to the court room.

“Mr. Castle, I understand you’ve waived your right to attorney. As a result of that it’s up to you to state the basis of your defense or to counter point anything said by the prosecution in your opening statement.”

Being addressed, Castle rises from his seat and says gruffly, “I decline to make an opening statement, your honor.”

A murmur goes over those present in the court and the judge bangs his gavel again to gain control of the court.

The prosecutor’s sneer returns to his face.

The judge takes a moment to take in his appearance.

Castle’s dressed in a black suit coat with matching pants and tie, with a white shirt underneath the coat. The whole ensemble looks like it’s seen better days, as littered with wrinkles and is poorly creased. There’s a look in defeat his eyes and looks like her hasn’t shaved in a while.

He’s a man whose already been beaten, dressed for a funeral for the fight of his life, thinks the judge.

“Both of you, please approach.” Commands the judge, addressing Castle and the prosecutor.

“Mr. Castle,” said the judge in a low voice, “how prepared are you for your defense?”

“I just thought to show up, your honor. Everything else is formality at this point.” Responded Frank.

“Mr. Castle, I’m telling you this for your own good, but do you recognize without a proper defense you maybe damning yourself to a guilty verdict and consequently to whatever fresh hell I’d imagine a waits a police officer in Blackgate. Yes, Mr. Castle, recognize that my power as a judge won’t save a violent offender from a super max prison, first offense or not.”

“Whatever happens, I’m consigned to the worst of what may come to be.” Said Frank.

“Then why show up at all? Your absence today would’ve defaulted a guilty verdict.”

Frank shrugs his shoulders, “Then that would’ve cost the guy that bailed me out a half a million dollars. I couldn’t in good conscience let him lose that kind of money on my say so.”

The prosecutor attempts to contain his laughs, as the judge shoots him a look of annoyance at his outburst. “You will respect this courtroom, prosecutor.”

“I’m sorry, Your Honor,” he said as he tried to stow his laughs. “This going to be my easiest conviction yet.”

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, counselor.” Said Castle.

The prosecutor sneers and says, “Unless you know something I don’t, I expect a guilty verdict in less than a few hours, Castle.”

“Enough,” interjects the judge, “let’s get this case underway.” He said, dismissing them.

The judge bangs the gavel again to bring the noise of court down that came up as he was addressing the prosecution and the defense.

“Prosecution, your first witness.”

****

The prosecution had gone through about half a dozen or so witnesses of the police and EMTs that were on the scene of murder. Most testimonies were very brief and consistent outlining what happened that night a few months ago.

To no surprise to the judge and the prosecutor, Castle, acting as his own defense, had opted not to question one witness.

The prosecution had just dismissed the most recent witness, the officer who had been headbutted by The Joker.

No one even bothered to check if Castle had any questions for him, taking ques from earlier.

“The State of New Jersey would like to call Commissioner Gordon to the stand.” Said the prosecutor.

Gordon stands from his seat among the spectators. He makes his way to the stand, dressed in his signature tan overcoat, off white dress shirt with a black tie, light brown pants and black shoes.

He takes a seat on the stand and is sworn in as the prosecutor waits, sneer still on his face.

“May the witness state his name for the record,” said the prosecutor.

“James Gordon,” was the response.

“And what is your profession, Mr. Gordon?”

“I’m the commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department.”

“Do you recognize that man over there?” Said the prosecutor, pointing at Frank Castle.

“Yes, that’s officer-“ Gordon stops himself, running his hand through his white hair in frustration. “Frank Castle.”

“Do you know what Mr. Castle’s vocation was until recently?”

Gordon hesitates for a moment, glaring at the prosecutor, his mouth forming a grim line. “He was an officer under my command in the city’s police department.”

“Do you know what Mr. Castle is accused of?”

“Yes.”

“And can you state what Mr. Castle is he accused of, Commissioner?”

“Murder in the first degree. He’s accused of killing The Joker.”

“And you were there on the night in question, correct?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Well, from what you saw can you tell me what happened?”

“It happened pretty fast. I was speaking with Batman, then I heard one shot and a few officers fingered Castle as the shooter pretty quickly. Joker was already down with one in his chest before I could get eyes on the situation. Castle then fired 3 more shots into The Joker, another to his chest, one to his throat, and the last one to the head, before any officers could get to him. About 4 or 5 officers’ dog-piled him before he can shoot another round off, and that scuffle didn’t last long. He gave as soon as he was tackled.”

“So, you saw him kill the victim?” Asked the prosecutor.

“Yes.”

“Was Frank Castle within his right to execute the victim the way he did? Within his duty as sworn officer of the law?”

"I speak from someone whose family was a victim of the Joker, hell I was a victim of him my damn self. What Officer Castle did, who’s to say it was wrong? Really? I mean after what he did to my girl Barbara, I can't say I didn't think about pulling the trigger myself."

“That’s interesting Commissioner, I had no idea that the police department condones the cold-blooded execution of detained criminals.“

“I didn’t say that!” Interrupts Gordon.

“Well it’s no surprise. You condoned the actions of the Bat-family in our city for years, and they done nothing to stave off the rising crime and supervillains that plague our fair city.” Said the prosecutor, as he raised his voice. “Why not execute them all? It’s only the natural progression of things under your command, right commissioner?”

“No that’s not what I’m saying!”

“Then answer my question Commissioner Gordon; was Frank Castle within his right or his civic duty as an officer of the law to execute the victim?”

“No.” Said Gordon, defeatedly.

“Nothing further.” Said the prosecutor, as he makes his way back to his seat.

“Does Mr. Castle have anything for the commissioner?” Asked the judge.

Frank stood from his seat, scratching his unshaven scruff. “How’s Babs?” Asked the former police officer.

The court erupted into a roar at the question.

“ORDER! ORDER!” Yelled the judge as he banged his gavel. “Mr. Castle, the court room isn’t the social hour. Do you have questions to defend yourself, to rebuttal anything the prosecution established to the court?”

“No, your honor.” Said Castle simply.

“Thank you for your testimony here today, commissioner,” Said the judge.

“The prosecution would like to call one last witness to the stand, Frank Castle.” Said the prosecution.

The court erupted once more.

The judge banged his gavel again to quiet down the court.

Castle makes his way to the stand.

He’s then sworn in.

“Can you state your name for the record.” Said the prosecutor, as he approached the stand.

“Frank Castle.”

“What is your vocation?”

“Former officer of Gotham’s police force.”

“Former,” repeats the prosecutor. “And can you tell the court today what caused you to lose that position, which coincides with what your accused of today.” Said the prosecutor, emphasizing the word, ‘accused.’

“You read the reports and statements, councilor. You tell me.”

“Answer the question, Mr. Castle,” commands the judge.

“Shooting and killing the Joker.”

The prosecutor clicks his teeth, as if processing what was just stated.

He walks back to his table, producing a picture.

The councilor walks back to stand showing a picture to Castle.

“Do you recognize this man, Mr. Castle?”

“I do.” Said Castle simply, as the prosecutor showed the picture to the court.

“That is James Irons, an alleged associate of the Falcone crime family.”

“And what is your history with, Mr. Irons?” Asked the lawyer.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh?” Said the prosecutor, facetiously. He goes back to the table grabbing several pieces of paper stapled together. “In my hand I have a formal complaint filed with the Gotham City police department against Mr. Castle on behalf of Mr. Irons. The complaint being brutality.” He hands it off to the jury, for them to verify it for themselves.

“And what is the point of this?” Asks Castle.

“I believe the phrase your looking for is, ‘objection, on the grounds of relevance.’” Said the prosecutor, arrogantly.

“Watch your tone counselor, but Mr. Castle does have a point. To what relevance is this to the court?” Said the judge.

“I’m only trying to establish to the court a history of Mr. Castle being less than kind to detained suspects. A history that started only after his family was allegedly killed by The Joker.” Said the prosecutor.

“You son of bitch-“ Frank growls as he lunges at the prosecutor and another ruckus stir occurs as he does.

The judge bangs his gavel, to regain control of the court. And the bailiffs are able to restrain Frank before he can get to the prosecution.

“Order! Mr. Castle, you are to control yourself, councilor, please do your best not to badger the witness, or I will hold you both in contempt.”

The prosecutor obviously frazzled by having Castle jump at him, straightens himself out. “As I was saying I’m simply trying to establish to the court a history of misconduct towards already arrested suspects, a history that started,” the prosecutor hesitates as Castle scowls at him, “after the untimely death of his family. As a matter of fact, I have 5 or 6 similar complaints against Mr. Castle over the last few years. So, what were those brutality cases, Mr. Castle? Working up your nerve to kill? Some measure of revenge until you found your desired prey?”

Frank sighs, then goes to answer. “If you saw what Irons did to his wife, you would’ve done the same thing. As far as the others,” Frank paused, a far away look in his eyes, “I don’t know. Things have been difficult since my family was killed.”

“That does not excuse an officer assaulting a person that’s already been arrested. It certainly doesn’t excuse you killing a detained suspect in cold blood.” Responded the prosecutor, he starts to walk back to his table, apparently finished questioning.

“Cold blood,” laughs Frank. “That was the hardest decision I’ve made since they died.”

“What?” Said the prosecutor.

“You’ve been needling witnesses all day to paint as some kind of monster. And all day I’ve listened to you corner my former colleagues and commanding officers to confirm it so. Who am I to deny what you want?” Said Frank sarcastically. “Killing the Joker wasn’t something that came to me easy. I thought about it for a long while. When I finally decided to go through with it, I waited years for my opportunity. Waited for something, anything where I can come across that piece of shit. A transport detail, a detail guarding a door as he’s being interrogated. Literally anything. My opportunity came that night a few months ago. The city’s resident so-called hero had just subdued The Joker and all nearby cars were ordered to report to scene. I happened to be assigned to guard him with another officer while we waited for a high-security bus to come cart him off. I lucked that officer I was pared with was very antagonistic and he managed to get himself hurt leaving me all alone with the Joker. I was unsure now that the time had come to actually go through with it. When I questioned him why he attacked the civic center, his answer steeled my resolve. My only regret is that I didn’t get to empty my entire clip into the son of a bitch. Is that what you wanted counselor?”

“That’s it,” replied the prosecutor simply. “Nothing further.”

“I, um,” said the judge. “The jury maybe excused so they may deliberate.”

****

The court reconvened after only 30 minutes of deliberation.

The judge once again bangs his gavel to quiet the court once more.

“Has the jury reached a verdict?” The judge addressed the foreman.

“We have reached a unanimous verdict, your honor.” Said the foreman.

He unfolds the piece of, containing said decision.

“We, the jury, find Frank Castle on the charge of first-degree murder, not guilty.”

At the rendered verdict, the court erupts more riotous than before.

The prosecutor is beside himself at the decision.

He’s yelling and ranted animated in his position at the court, mutterings of ‘mistrial’ and damnings of fifth amendment rights.

The judge is just as animated, banging his gavel attempting to regain control of the court room once more.

“Order! Goddamnit! I will clear this courtroom! Order! Order!” Yells the judge.

The court begins to simmer down at his threat. He chuckles and goes on to say, “Not guilty. Huh. Oh, well. The State of New Jersey would like to thank the jury for their service today.” He then turns his attention to Castle. “So much could be said to you, Mr. Castle. You avoided the obvious despite the overwhelming evidence against the contrary.”

“I’m just as surprised as you, your honor.” Replied Frank.

“Indeed. Mr. Castle, I wish I can say justice, as I understand it as an officer of court, was dispensed. Had it been so, you probably never would’ve been in front of me in this capacity. Commissioner Gordon’s baby girl wouldn’t be in a wheelchair. You would still come home to your family every night. Hell, that can be said of countless families across this city of ours, cause The Joker would’ve been locked away for a long, long time. But it hasn’t. Furthermore, I wish I could pat you on the back for a job well done. I wish I can tell you that-a-boy. I wish I could tell you your wife and children could rest easy now that that piece of shit is off the streets. But again, because of my station I can’t officially. Mr. Castle, the jury has given you your life back. Congratulations. Case dismissed,” he said, banging his gavel.

****

It had been a fight out the court room, as more than a few reporters had managed to find a seat during his case. He had to fight even harder on the courtroom steps, as there were reporters from every newspaper and news station trying to get a quote for this story.

Showing he still had allies in the police station, Commissioner Gordon and few other officers had formed a makeshift human barrier around Castle as they pushed their way though the throngs of journalists.

As they make their way to the parking deck, a well-built clean-shaven, red-haired man in a navy-blue suit is waiting for them. He’s standing by the rear door of limousine. Upon closer inspection, it can be seen that the gentleman actually is dressed in a military officer’s uniform.

The man then makes his own way toward Frank Castle and his escorts.

“I can take him from here, boys.” Said the man.

“Mind telling us who you are.” Said Gordon.

“Captain Rick Flag, United States military. No need to be so defensive,” said Frank, defusing the tension between the police officer’s and the man. “I served with him in the marines. He stayed with military, I decided to go into law enforcement.”

“If you say so Frank. Listen, if you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call me.” Said Gordon, extending his hand to Frank.

“Thanks, Commissioner,” replied Castle shaking hands with Gordon.

The officers and Gordon leave Flag and Castle alone to catch up. “By the way, its Colonel these days, Frank,” said Colonel Rick Flag, extending a hand to greet his old comrade.

Castle scoffs at the Colonel, “Look at you. So, what do want, Rick?”

“I’ve got someone who wants to talk to you. I know with, recent developments you’ve found yourself with a lot of time on your hands, old friend. She’s in the limo, follow me.”

Flag leads Frank to the limo. Upon reaching it, he opens the door, beckoning him to enter.

Frank passes the threshold, fixing himself into a plush leather seat as Flag closes the door.

Sitting across from him is a heavy seat African American woman.

She’s sloshing ice around in quarter filled glass, with an amber liquid inside, alcohol presumably. She’s dressed in a blue suit jacket and pencil skirt. Her hair is incredibly short, styled in a mini afro. Her dark-brown eyes bare a seriousness mirrored in the expression on her face.

“Mr. Castle,” she said, “what do you know about Task Force X?”

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