#people keep telling Jessica to get her dog on a leash

[echosofstories]

Everybody talking about Mike being Harvey's puppy, where are my people talking about how Harvey is an attack dog and only Mike truly holds the leash-

#suits tv #suits usa #harvey specter #mike ross #marvey #mike x harvey #echoecho.txt #people keep telling Jessica to get her dog on a leash #but little do they know #it's Mike who holds the leash #when Mike gets in to breakup a fight Harvey backs down #the dynamic is delicious

[wwwafflewrites]

A Rewrite of History

Chapter 9—Hook Man

You woke up on a bed.

You hadn’t slept on a bed in months. And it was like a cloud. It had a soft but firm pillow and a heavy comforter, and if it had been your choice, you would have never left.

But like a sunbathing cat, you were always listening. A familiar flap of wings was brought to your attention and your heart sank. Angels. Of course—it had to be angels.

A deep voice broke your comfortable silence: "We know you're awake. Don't waste our time further."

You lifted your head to meet eyes with the pair gazing back at you. Muriel and Castiel. You sighed, almost wishing it was the Winchesters instead; at least they didn't talk riddles.

You propped yourself up, then realized your arm was back to its full range of motion. No sling. "You healed me." Same deal with your hand burn and some other little scars.

"Yes. You had severe malnutrition to the point of shutting down."

"Oh. I meant the bum arm, but... yeah, thanks for that, too."

"You need to be at your best for your next job," Castiel said.

"Excuse me, my next… job? And what would that be?" you looked between them. Something told you it wouldn’t be good.

Muriel offered the fakest smile you’d ever seen in your life. And that was saying something, considering the last few months. “We want you to kill Miss Lori Sorensen.”

“You… you mean for the hookman case? But… that’s not necessary. All I have to do is melt her necklace down,” you told them.

Their silence suggested they already knew that.

You squinted. “You can’t seriously be…” you tried to catch Castiel’s eyes, since he was more considerate, but he refused to meet your gaze. “That’s murder!”

“She is killing people.”

“No. Wrong. The hookman is killing people. The necklace is… she doesn't even know what she's doing! Cas, don’t tell me you’re actually condoning this?!”

Muriel turned calmly to Castiel, monitoring his reaction.

And there, you got a glimpse of just how long they’d really been brainwashing Castiel. Heaven must really be leashing him. He was as still as a statue; so motionless it gave you chills. Not even his trenchcoat dared to tremble. “It is His command,” was all he said.

Your eyes widened. Castiel still thought his orders were coming from God. As much as you wanted to tell him now, Muriel would certainly keep that from happening. No, you would keep this to yourself until Castiel was alone.

Trying to reflect Castiel's stoicism, you cleared your throat. "Right," you said sourly. "So, why the change? Why is… He… so eager to change the game? What makes this different?"

Muriel's eyes narrowed. "The Winchesters failed to bring the apocalypse the first time. It forced His hand."

You scoffed. "Forced God's hand? Now that is something." So it was true. The angels and demons really were changing the rules—and writing their own. "Or… you're trying to separate me from the Winchesters. That's it, isn't it? You want them to hate me." 

As you unwound the truth, Muriel became more impatient. "I've had enough of your stalling. Do you understand your role or not?"

You held his gaze, reluctant but determined not to look weak. "Sure." Which really meant: we'll see.

"Good. I hope you mean what you say. Otherwise, you'll be forcing my hand," Muriel hummed.

Was that a threat? "On who? On me?"

"On you. On your friend. On your family," he said. His eyes were glowing. "On whomever I need."

You stared at him, processing this. On whomever I need.

Castiel finally spoke, almost like an automated voice, "Consider this room a gift. Checkout is at twelve. Your car is parked outside." And both angels disappeared before your eyes.

You turned to look at the clock, which read '11:58 AM'. You sighed. Of course it was. You couldn't ever enjoy anything.

You dragged yourself out of bed, already missing it's comfort, and grabbed your bag off of the table. "Time to go," you muttered.

To be honest, you were probably lucky Muriel didn't dump you in the middle of a corn field. He'd been giving you the stink eye since he first laid eyes on you.

You wondered briefly if Castiel had proposed the hotel room. Muriel certainly thought nothing of you; you were nothing more than some gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

Even if they had him tethered like a dog, the thought of Castiel trying to help you out in little ways was... comforting.

There was a map in the hotel lobby, which you pondered over. You were in Ankeny, Iowa. And you needed to get to the church.

The car drive there wasn’t anything like the Winchesters. There were no long talks, no discussing cases, no brotherly moments—just a solemn, smooth drive to drown in your thoughts.

The question remained:

Were you a killer?

///

When you got to the church, you had decided.

You were a killer.

After all, who else should shoulder the deaths of Will, Jessica, and Bill? Your inaction made you just as guilty. You knew what would happen, yet you still failed. And here, you would fail Lori too.

You had failed the Winchesters.

You don't know what you had expected of yourself, but you certainly weren't a hero. This was the real world, where the choices weren't always black and white.

You found Lori sitting by her lonesome, probably wondering if she had killed the people around her. 'Avenging' angels, you remembered her saying. She thought the hookman was an avenging angel.

She didn't really know how right she was. Just… not in the way she might have imagined it.

She heard you and turned, looking to see her visitor, but was startled by the gun in your hands. "What—what's going on—"

"You're killing people," you told her.

"Wh-what? I don't—look, I don't know what you're talking about," she blurted, doe eyes on your gun.

This feels so wrong.

"You wanted your boyfriend punished for ignoring your lack of consent. You wanted your roommate punished. And now? You want your father punished," you said. "Do you see where this is going? Do you see how this ends?" you sneered.

"Please," she cried. "Please, I don't know how to stop it!"

You began to have second thoughts.

You mentally kicked yourself. Do the job already. You don't have the luxury of second thoughts.

Yet, your heart still strained at the thought of killing Lori. She didn't deserve that. She was an innocent girl witnessing a horrible event—just like you.

How the hell did the Winchesters make all these hard choices all the time? Why did you have to decide if the life of your friends and family were more important than another innocent girl? That wasn't fair—to you or them.

And who's to say this wouldn't continue? That the body count wouldn't rack up, that they wouldn't just keep asking for more from you, until you realized you were never the good guy at all?

The weight of the gun was suddenly too heavy. You let your arm fall to your side, shaking your head. "Just give me the necklace," you said stonily.

"So this is a robbery now?!" she yelped, though still fumbling for the silver cross.

"No," you said. "No. I'm… I'm saving you."

As she handed you the necklace, you did not expect the hookman to appear before you, swinging his scythe. You barely had enough time to dodge it.

So this was the thanks you got for saving her.

Just as you were about to bolt, Muriel and Castiel appeared. Castiel beside you, and Muriel beside Lori.

"What's going on?" you demanded.

You dropped the necklace when Castiel grabbed your arm with urgency. "Close your eyes," he said, and covered them with his hand anyway.

Light encompassed the room. You could see it by the red tint behind your eyelids. "No," you said with devastation. "No, you can't—"

You couldn't move away. There was a barrier—like a heavy blanket had been draped around your backside.

Like… Cas had thrown his wings around you.

He released you when the light faded out. You blinked, staring at Lori, who had two smoking holes where her eyes should have been.

"No," you said. "This… this wasn’t supposed to happen."

Castiel's jaw ticked. "If she had not died, you would have been punished."

Punished. Specifically the word punished. You sneered, "You know what? You angels are no better than the hookman." You kicked at the pile of dust near your feet, which used to be the silver necklace. It must have been incinerated in the blast. "Except he had no choice."

You let the silent 'you do' hang.

You could tell Castiel was listening—that you were finally getting the gears to turn in that funny celestial mind of his.

But just as you began to make progress, stupid Muriel had to intervene. "Let us go, Castiel. We have more important things to worry about than a mud monkey's defiance." 

Castiel nodded and flew off a second behind Muriel.

It confirmed one thing, though: you needed to get Castiel alone. You had to convince him to help the Winchesters. And you, for that matter. His trust could be gained, but it would require time, patience, and a dead Muriel. And maybe—just maybe—you could then strike an alliance. 

The first thing you would ask of him would be to get some damn angel sigils on your ribs.

On a similar note, you really should start by getting yourself an anti-possession tattoo. With as many demons as you were going to be facing in the future, you were going to need it. You weren't keen on being one of those thing's meatsuits.

Your thoughts were broken by the church doors being thrown open by Sam Winchester himself. Catching you red handed in an act you were only a witness to. Again.

There was no way to make this look good. Lori was dead—eyes burned out of their sockets—and you were alone with her, unscathed. And it wasn't like you could convince Sam that the hookman had done it; this wasn’t exactly his signature.

You ran for the backdoor, your heart panging in sorrow as you flew by Lori's body. There wasn't even time to let yourself grieve.

Sam was at your heels, but you managed to duck from his reach and throw yourself out the backdoor.

When you made it to your car, you pointed your gun at Sam, who skidded to a stop. "Don't move. Don't try to follow me," you told him. "You saw what happened to Lori." It was an empty threat, but it wasn't like Sam knew that.

His narrow eyes were fixated on you. Then, strangely enough, he backed off.

You turned to enter your car when someone slammed the gun out of your hands and grabbed you from behind. You struggled, but the arms were strong, and you were not.

You'd think after a few months of hunting, you'd have built some muscle, but your diet wasn't doing you much good. If anything, you were weaker. 

"You are quite the escape artist, you know that?" It was Dean. And he didn't sound happy. His arms were tight, like a boa constrictor around your neck. You fidgeted, struggling to breath through his tight grip.

Sam straightened himself and glared at you. "She killed Lori."

You bit back your protests. It's not like they would listen. What's worse: you couldn't really deny it anyway. It was your fault she was dead. It was all your fault.

"Well, that settles it, then. You're not leaving our sight," Dean said as he snapped handcuffs around your wrists. He was rough about it, letting the metal dig into your skin. "We're going to figure out whatever the hell you are…" He brought his face real close, growling into your ear: "And then we're going to kill you."

If only they knew.

///

Tags: @rosaren2498 , @pillowjj , @busy-bee-angel-misska , @elle-r , @dagnylokisdottir , @omg-we-really-doo , @millieccino , @regainedworld , @postcardsfromliterallynowhere , @rycbar-221b (it won’t let me tag you)

#supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural series #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #castiel #slow burn? #slow burn #platonic #enemies to friends #enemies to friends to possibly lovers #dean x reader #sam x reader #castiel x reader #sam x y/n #sam x you #dean x you #dean x y/n #sam x platonic reader #dean x platonic reader #<- this won't happen for a WHILE sorry #long series #fanfiction #Supernatural fanfic #fanfic #SPN #spn fanfiction #spn fanfic #spn fanfic series #dean winchester fanfic

[gloriafc]

Telling him you're pregnant *Buck series*

*SWAT crossover*

When you found out the only people you told was, obviously Jessica as she's your boss, Alice, Athena, and Chris. Of course the boys in the HQ were suspicious about all the girls whispering to each other, or constantly texting each other but decided that maybe you girls were just gossiping.

Of course it seemed weird that Jessica was always pulling you to the side during cases and the boys felt like she was keeping you out of the action so you knew you had to plan on telling everyone soon.

You don't know how you managed to keep your excitement in check around Buck because you just wanted to tell him but you knew he'd want his firehouse family involved along with his sister.

Thankfully your birthday was coming up, so you invited everyone over for a small party saying it was to celebrate early so you can visit your family on your actual birthday.

With your plan in motion Alice helped you come up with a way to tell Buck and everyone else. Chris managed to keep the surprise hidden at what was once your house as well, thankful you had moved in with Buck months beforehand.

When the day came you had everything set up for a barbecue, you encouraged everyone to bring their families, setting up games and different activities for everyone. Of course you had to dodge the many "You want me to get you a drink?" that were thrown at you.

Chris managed to help you distract everyone, while Alice took the dog you had to beg Buck to let you get inside. "It's time for our annual pitch." You're quick to explain to the members of the firehouse, "I went to college on a baseball scholarship, not softball, coach saw my curve ball and fast pitch, wanted me on the boys team. Every year they try to top my pitch speed. BUT THEY CANT!"

One by one the guys try and go against your pitch speed, including the guys from the firehouse. When it's your turn Hondo makes Jim play catcher, knowing he doesn't know how fast you actually pitch. "Do your worst Y/N." You smirk as you find your grip on the ball before getting into position and winding your arm back letting the ball soar through Chris's backyard before hearing, "Son of a bitch!" You laugh as you watch Jim shake out his hand, the glove falling off. Jessica laughs from her spot with the speed gun.

"She's still got it." The boys groan as you take a drink from the can of soda.

You watch as Alice opens the sliding door with a smile on her face, your dog following her with his brand new bandana on.

You quickly lace your voice with fake worry as the dog gets closer to you and Buck. "Buck what's on his neck?"

He's quick to turn knowing how much you love your dog, and would kill if anything happened to him. When the dog stops in front of him Athena's quick to grab her phone and starts recording knowing exactly what's about to happen as buck unties the bandana to look at it better.

Buck freezes, rereading the bandana before turning and picking you up spinning you around. "Really?" You nod with a smile on your face, seeing just how happy he actually is about the news.

Everyone looks at the two of you as your feet touch the ground, confused at Bucks sudden outburst. Buck looks at you before looking at his friends and the new people he's grown to think of as friends, "She's pregnant."

You get passed around to all of your friends as they congratulate you and Buck. You finally get to Athena and Bobby, Athena pulling you into a tight hug, Buck figuring out she had something to do with it. "You knew?" "Of course I knew. Nothing happens to this girl that I don't know about."

As the night dies down, everyone packs up left overs before heading out giving you an buck one last congratulations before they leave.

When you get back home you let your dog off his leash, who eagerly runs to play with Bucks cat, as Buck wraps his arms around your waist. "How long did you know?" "Found out a week ago. Told Jess right away to prevent getting put on any calls. I've been getting desk work for the past week while we planned on how to tell everyone. The guys were already asking why I wasn't getting in on the action." Buck can't think of anything to say, the only thought going through his head is how happy he is. Practically reading his mind you say, "I have a doctor's appointment in a couple days. Doc said we'd be able to listen to the heart beat. Didn't want to at the last appointment, was still trying to wrap my head around everything. Already talked to Bobby, he said you can have the time of the appointment off."

When the day of your appointment comes, you drive practically feeling bucks nerves and excitement radiating off of him. The only thing running through his brain is that he doesn't know what to expect.

He holds your hand as you lay on the table staring at the small screen waiting for the image of your baby to show up. You look at his face as he's mesmerized by the tiny bean, only looking at you with unshed tears when the heartbeat echo's through the room.

#911 imagine #evan buckley imagine #evan buckley #swat imagines

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Sick Little Games: Twenty

When you came downstairs in the morning, still wearing your pilfered hoodie, the compound was in full swing. It was getting to be late in the morning, and almost everyone was waiting. Lurking to see if there was a trainwreck on their hands. 

By now, they’d all heard about Clint blowing up at Bucky. And that last piece of the puzzle they hadn’t all been privy to. 

That you and Bucky had had sex. And that had resulted in a baby. It was a bombshell for some of them honestly. And no one wondered about why you had run away anymore. But everyone wondered what Clint had said or done to get you to come back.

But, you don’t look like you and Clint had spent the night fighting. Thor smiles a little and breathes a sigh of relief. It’s not ostentatious, but you look well-loved. Happy. A soft contented glow that tells him that Clint had taken good care of you. And when Clint follows after you a few minutes later, Lucky on a leash and Jinx on his arm in her harness and leash, it doesn’t take any extra abilities to know that he’s still devoted. And that he’s similarly pleased with whatever transpired the night before.

When you take the cat from his arms and steal a kiss, the archer smiles, cupping your jaw in his hand affectionately. “Coffee?” he asks.

“That’d be good,” you answer, kissing his palm. 

“You take the kids,” he said, “I’ll bring cups, and we’ll go on a walk.”

You smile, and he visibly melts a little, “I’d hate to put you out,” you tease.

“Eh,” he says, “I’m okay with you being a brat. Because you’re my brat.”

“You’re stuck with me,” you agree, standing on your toes to kiss his jaw.

“I like the sound of that, baby girl,” he kisses you tenderly and hands you Lucky’s leash. The dog is prancing around your feet and anxious to be off. He lets you go, and Lucky half drags you out the door into the chilly morning, giggling and protesting. He watches for a second as you produce his beloved tennis ball from a jacket pocket and let him off his leash so he could run. Jinx curled on a sunspot, watching with her judgemental golden eyes.

“Well,” Steve said, “It looks like you’re not any worse for wear.”

“Nope,” Clint said, “I thought I was gonna be in trouble.”

“You shoulda been,” Bruce scolded, handing him a couple travel coffee cups for the coffee he’s making.

“Got a pen?” Clint asked, looking around. And picking up a coffee collar out of the basket.

“Did you hear me?” Bruce asked, handing him a pen.

“Yes, mom. I did. But we talked about it. I apologized for being a fucking idiot, and-” he trailed off started frantically writing on the coffee collar.

“And?” Bruce prompted.

“And I wrote her a poem,” he said, grinning.

Tony stood on his toes and looked over his shoulder, “Roses are red, the grass is green when I think about you, I touch my peen?” He rolled his eyes and sighed, “Classy, Barton. And this really works for you?”

“It makes her laugh,” he said, shrugging, putting coffee in your mug and handing Bruce his pen back.

“I can’t believe you wasted ink on that,” Bruce sighed, putting his pen back in his pocket. 

“Hey,” he said unrepentantly, “She’s out of my fucking league, but I’ll happily be the Roger Rabbit to her Jessica.” He looked out the door to where you’re on your knees in the grass, trying to teach Lucky to shake and smiled softly. “She’s the only one that can make Lucky behave.”

He gives them all a half-assed salute and smiles, heading towards the door to bring you a cup of coffee and keep you company. 

Steve watches him go and shakes his head, “Why?”

Thor just smiles a little, “He makes her happy. There is no complication. He is who he is, and there is no ulterior motive. Or if there is, it’s so transparent it’s endearing instead of disgusting.”

____________

When Bucky walks into the kitchen from the training room with Sam and Nat, his expression darkens considerably. “Bucky,” Steve says quietly.

“What?” he snaps.

“Whatever you’re thinking, it isn’t fair,” he said, “Just let her be.” 

Sam and Natasha trade looks and leave the kitchen, leaving Steve to deal with Bucky. 

“So she gets to murder my kid, and that's fine. Everyone’s just okay with it?” he growls.

“Were you gonna magically quit hating her and help her raise it?” Steve countered. “She made a decision. And she didn’t consult you for a reason... All you did was knock her up. You don’t love her. And you don’t really care about her. You’re just mad that someone else is playing with your toy.”

Bucky frowns, “You don’t know as much as you think you do,” he fired back.

“Maybe not. But I know her,” he said, “She didn’t make this choice lightly, and she deserves to have it respected.”

“Respect,” he spat.

“Yes,” he said firmly, “leave them alone. You blew it, Buck. You were so busy acting like an asshole and plotting that you missed the boat. And Clint was smart enough to realize that he loved her and act on it.”

“I don’t love her!”

“Then why do you care who she’s with?” Steve shot back, frustrated. “Buck, you’re my best friend, but if you think for one second I’m gonna let you torment that girl-”

Bucky half screamed in exasperation, “Why do you like her this fucking much?”

“Because, Bucky,” Steve said slowly, “She reminds me of who you used to be.”

“Bull shit-”

“It’s true,” Steve said, cutting him off, “She tries. She puts a bright face on everything, even if it’s tearing her up inside. Charges headfirst into shit that’ll probably get her killed, and you know what else, she’s fucking loyal. Do you think for one second she’d ever do this kind of shit to someone?”

Bucky doesn’t say anything. He looks away and looks out the doors where you and Clint are coming back from your walk. You’re up on the low wall, using it like a Balance beam, and Clint had a hold of the hand that isn’t holding Jinx’s leash. He’s looking up at you like you hung the moon. Like he can’t believe you’re actually holding his hand.

“Leave her alone, Bucky,” Steve said quietly, “Or the next time she gets ahold of you, I’ll let her have you. You’d fucking deserve it after all this.”

___________

“Clint?” you ask, hopping off the wall, and perching next to him.

“Yeah?” he answered, idly picking a dandelion that had escaped the wrath of the lawn care crew. 

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why’d you pick me?” you clarify, snuggling into his side.

“I have a thing for women who could crush me with their thighs.”

“Clinton,” you scold.

He laughed and gave you a crooked smile that made your heart skip a beat and put an arm around you, “Because,” he said after a moment, “You remind me... you make me feel like there’s still shit worth fighting for. You handed me a plate of pizza and shot Tony with a nerf gun, and that was it, babe... I’m just sorry I didn’t figure it out faster.”

“Me too,” you pout.

“But,” he said, kissing your nose, “I’m glad I have you now.” He tucked the dandelion behind your ear and melted as he watched your eyes light up. 

“I love you,” you tell him, turning your head to kiss his palm.

“That so, babygirl?”

You hum in agreement and nestle closer. For a moment, it was all perfect. Everything was fine. 

Until the dulcet tones of Amazing Grace being sung in several different keys oozed over the grass in a slimy cloud of condescension. Clint could hear it, and so he knew it was louder for you. He was willing to bet you could pick out individual voices and tell him who they belonged to. But what broke his heart was your face. 

The mix of emotions. 

Those were people you knew. People who raised you. And right now, they were calling you a monster. They’d built a mock pyre and were shouting about being saved or burning. 

Clint couldn’t even start to identify the look on your face. But he saw the tears welling up, and something snapped. This had to stop. It all had to stop. Because if you deserved nothing else, you deserved peace. Even if he had to go to jail for a minute. 

Tags:  @lancsnerd, @thorfanficwriter @blameitonthecauseway @etherealwaifgoddess, @stevieang, @beautybyfire, @sunmoonandbucky @mrsfox79, @bbmommy0902, @mendes-fan, @iheartsebastianstan, @wtfcas @pinknerdpanda, @process-pending, @ladifreakingda, @leasly, @coldbookworm, @hv-chw3, @past-perfect-future-tense, @starkrobb @beardburnsupersoldiers, @petlaufeyson, @queenoftheunderdark, @potatoheadthewise, @thehyperactiveteen, @thefridgeismybestie, @boyett514, @an-awkward-human-1, @sunshine-and-riverwater

#clint barton #Bucky Barnes #sam wilson #Steve Rogers #Thor Odinson #bruce banner #natasha romanoff #fluff #angst #implied smut #Clint x reader #Bucky x reader #Tony stark #banter

[winchesterbrotherstan]

SPN- The Usual Suspects (2.07)

Pairing: Olive Winchester (OC)

Summary: A case goes side-ways, Dean is left cornered, and it’s up to Sam and Olive to get him out of the mess. Olive falls fatally ill, and Sam must team up with a law enforcement officer.

Warnings: lots of coughing, blood, mentions of drug use, gun threats, uh ghosts and like... the usual??

Word Count: 8547

Baltimore, Maryland

Outside a motel room, a SWAT team gears up. It’s dark, and the few people outside have scattered. Someone stays closeby, but only their face is hidden. They’ve got their hood pulled up, one hand is in their pocket, and their other arm is in a makeshift sling. They’ve got a dog on a leash, and they do their best to stay in the shadows.

In a police station across the city, a sheriff enters an interrogation room and sits down.

“Well, first I thought you were just stepping up your game. Credit card fraud, breaking and entering, and this one…” he looks over the file with a sigh, “puzzled me. Grave desecration. But still, these are a long way from murder. Then we get a fax from St. Louis. Where you’re suspected of torturing and murdering a young woman. However, no one could prove anything, of course, because you died there. But I gotta tell you something. You look pretty healthy to me.”

The detective moves, sits on the table. “Now we know. Karen Giles isn’t the first person you’ve killed. But I guarantee you she’s the last.”

At the motel, the SWAT team stands outside a second floor room, ready. They knock the door down with a battering ram, and the person inside immediately puts their hands up. One of the detectives steps forward, keeping her gun on the person.

“Going somewhere, Sam?” She asks.

There’s a rifle ready to shoot the middle Winchester through the heart, and he swallows hard, eyes set in disgust as he looks at the woman.

In the police station, the detective shoots the prisoner a dirty look before getting up and walking out. The prisoner is Dean.

The person standing in the motel parking lot pulls their hood back, watching as Sam is dragged from the room. It’s Olive. She pulls the hood back up, turns on her heel, and walks off.

                                                               ***

The detective that cornered Sam enters his interrogation room. She places a coffee cup on the table, and Sam glances over, but continues to pace by the window.

“Thought you might be thirsty.”

“Okay, so you’re the good cop.” Sam assesses. “Where’s the bad cop?”

“Oh, he’s with your brother.”

“Okay. And you’re holding us why?”

“Well he’s being held on suspicion of murder.” The woman adjusts her sleeves and a look of shock washes over Sam’s face. “And you? Well, we’ll see.”

“Murder?” Sam repeats, leaning onto the table.

“You sound genuinely surprised. Or are you that good of an actor?” The woman smiles.

“Who is he supposed to have murdered?” Sam squints.

“We’ll get around to that.”

“Well, you can’t just hold us here without formal charges!” Sam is growing more and more upset.

“Well, actually, we can. For forty eight hours, but you, being a pre-law student, would know that. You see, I know all about you, Sam.” She picks up a file folder and opens it. “You’re twenty three years old. No job, no home address. Your mother died when you were a baby, your father’s whereabouts are unknown. And then there’s the case of your brother, Dean. Whose demise was, well, just a bit exaggerated. Feel free to jump in whenever you like.”

Sam leans against the wall and folds his arms over his chest.

“Shy?” She teases. “No problem. I’ll keep going. Your family moved around a lot when you were a kid. Despite that, you were a straight-A student. Got into Stanford with a full ride.”

Sam says nothing. They haven’t mentioned Olive, and he’s not sure whether he should be relieved or worried. His mind spins. There’s got to be a record of her somewhere out there. Sure, she wasn’t born in a hospital, and she almost never went to the doctor, and she went to school under fake names, but there’s gotta be something.

The woman closes the file. “Then about a year ago, there was a fire in your apartment. One fatality. Jessica Moore, your girlfriend. After she died, you fell off the grid. Left behind everything.”

Sam says nothing, but he looks up through his eyelashes. “I needed some time off. To deal. So I’m taking a road trip with my brother.”

“And your little sister.”

Sam’s blood runs cold.

“Don’t think we forgot about little old Olive.” She smiles. “Such a strange name.”

His nose twitches in anger. He picked that name. She smiles again, wider this time.

“Where is she? We didn’t find her in the motel room. The bathroom window was open, but she couldn’t have jumped. Two stories is too high, don’t you agree?”

Sam says nothing.

“Where is she, Sam?”

He leans further into the wall.

“How’s that road trip going for you guys?”

“Great.” Sam shrugs softly, then takes the chance to derail her. “I mean…” A smile grows on his face. “We saw the second largest ball of twine in the continental US. It was awesome.” He pulls up a chair and straddles it.

“We ran Dean’s fingerprints through AFIS.” The detective comes to the end of the table.

“Okay.”

“Got over a dozen possible hits.”

“Possible hits.” Sam repeats. “Which makes them worthless.”

“But it makes you wonder. What are we gonna find when we run your prints?”

“Well.” Sam smiles and pounds his fist on the table, every movement dripping with sarcasm. “You be sure to let me know.” He points at the cup. “May I?”

She nods. “Please.”

“Great.” He takes the cup, smells it, and then takes a sip.

She leans over him, eyes intent.

“Sam. You seem like a good kid. It’s not your fault Dean’s your brother. We can’t pick our family. Right now, detectives in St. Louis are exhuming a corpse. They’re trying to figure out how your brother faked his own death.”

There’s a scream from outside, and against all common sense, on instinct, Sam’s head snaps up. It’s Olive’s scream.

“Get off of me!” She screams, squirming.

She’s dropped Jinx off at a safe place. The Richmonds will pick her up and take care of her until this is over. Olive is being dragged through the police station, kicking and screaming. She’s managed to nail two men in the crotch, and has sent a mug full of pens to the floor.

Back in the interrogation room, Sam’s face is pale. The detective turns back to him with a smile.

“Is that baby sister Olive?”

He glares.

“She’s sixteen, isn’t she? Has been for a little less than a month now. She can be tried as an adult. Look, Dean’s a bad guy. His life is over. Yours doesn’t have to be, and neither does Olive’s.”

Sam turns with a glare. “You want us to turn against our own brother?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “We’ve already caught him cold. Red-handed at the Karen Giles murder scene. We just need you to fill in some missing pieces.”

“Why would I do that?” Olive spits from her seat in a third interrogation room.

They’ve cuffed her down, and she knows she could break them, but that would lead to another issue they couldn’t solve without making an even bigger mess.

“Because we can talk to the DA for you, kid.” The detective who had talked to Dean sits across from her. “Dean’s gone. You don’t have to be.”

She grits her teeth, composes herself, and then spits in his face.

“Go to hell.”

The man wipes the spit from his face angrily and stands.

“Fine. Just remember, I tried to help you.”

Sam begins to talk, voice quiet. “My dad and Tony Giles were old friends. They were in the service together. We’ve known him since we were kids, you know? So we came as soon as we heard about his death.”

Cafe, Before

“Here.” Sam placed three coffee cups down and slid into his chair.

Dean handed him the newspaper he had been reading. “Anthony Giles.”

“Who’s Anthony Giles?” Sam squinted.

“Baltimore lawyer. Working late in his office, check it out.” Olive pointed at the article she and Dean found.

Sam scanned over it, mumbling out loud. “Throat slit, room was clean. Huh. No DNA, no prints.”

“Keep reading.” Olive grinned. “It gets better.”

“Security cameras failed to capture footage of the assailant.” He scoffed.

“So we’re thinking either somebody messed with the tapes-”

“Or we’ve got an invisible killer on our hands.”

“My favorite kind.” Dean smiles. “What do you think, Scully? You wanna check it out?”

Sam scoffed, and Olive snorted.

“I’m not Scully, you’re Scully.”

“No, I’m Mulder.” Dean fought back. “You’re a red-headed woman.”

“Hey!” Olive whined. “Can I be Scully? I’m a girl.”

Dean and Sam shared a look, and each broke out into a smile. Dean patted her head and Sam gave her hand a squeeze.

“You’re too little to be either, bug.”

She rolled her eyes with a huff. “Fine, fine. Let’s go check this out.”

Second Interrogation Room, Present Day

“Would’ve been kind of hard for Dean to kill Tony, considering we weren’t in town at the time.” Sam is still straddling the chair, hands in his lap.

“So tell me what happened next.”

“Okay, uh, that when we went to see Karen.” Sam sighs. “She was barely holding it together. We just wanted to be there for her. You know?”

Giles House, Before

Karen sat on the couch, on the verge of tears. She flipped through the forms the siblings had handed her and sighed shakily.

“Insurance. I totally forgot about the insurance.”

“We’ve very sorry to bother you right now, but the company is required to conduct its own investigation. You understand.” Sam smiled sympathetically.

“Sure.” Karen nodded, pushing her glasses back up.

“Okay. Um, if you could just tell us anything you remember about the night your husband died.”

“Um… Tony and I were just supposed to have dinner. He called and said he was having computer troubles, and that… that he had to work late.” She sniffled again. “That was it.”

“Do you have any idea who could’ve done this to him?” Olive’s voice was sympathetic.

“No.” Karen shook her head. “No, it’s like I told the police, I… I have no idea.”

“Did Tony mention anything, you know, unusual to you? In the days before his death?” Dean asked.

“Unusual…” Karen trailed off.

“Yeah, like strange.”

“Strange?” She repeated.

“You know, weird. Weird noises, uh, visions, anything like that?”

Sam cleared his throat and glared at Dean, and Olive sent him a similar look.

Could you be any less subtle?

Karen turned to glance at Sam and Olive, who immediately switched back to the looks of concern and pity. She looked down again, and the two younger siblings shot him a look again.

“He had a nightmare the day before he died.” Karen shrugged.

“What kind of nightmare?”

“Uh, he said that he woke up in the middle of the night and there was a woman standing at the foot of the bed. He blinked and she was gone, I mean… it was just a nightmare.”

“Did he say what she looked like?”

“What the hell difference does it make what she looked like?” Karen spat.

Dean squirmed, and Olive leaned forward, voice gentle.

“Our company is just very thorough. I understand this is an upsetting process, but we just need to ask a few more questions, and we’ll be on our way.”

Karen nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry. He said she was pale, and that she… she had dark red eyes.”

The siblings nodded as they each made a note.

Second Interrogation Room, Present Day

“So I gave Karen a hug, told her to call me if she needed anything, and that was it… end of story.” Sam shrugs.

“Sam, I am trying to help you here.” The detective hisses. “But you have got to be honest with me. Now, we have an eyewitness. Someone who saw two men and a young woman fitting you and your siblings’s descriptions breaking into Gile’s office.”

“Okay.” Sam sighs. “Look, Karen called us later, said that there was some stuff that she wanted from Tony’s office. But the police weren’t letting her in. Like, a picture of the two of them in Paris, and some other stuff. Look, it was wrong to enter a crime scene, but she gave us the key!” Sam puts his hands up in protest.

Giles’ Office, Before

Dean picked the lock, and he ducked in first. Olive followed, and Sam went last, shutting the door behind themselves. Each ducked under the police tape with ease. Sam shone his flashlight on a pool of blood on the floor.

“Hey. Giles’ body was found right about here.”

He rummaged through his jacket pockets and pulled out the newspaper from earlier. “Throat slit so deep part of his spinal cord was visible.”

Dean let out a low whistle. “What do you guys think? Vengeful spirit? Underlining vengeful?” He emphasized.

“Yeah, maybe. I mean, he did see that woman at the foot of his bed.”

Dean picked a paper off the desk. “Look at this.”

Olive took the paper and held it where Sam could see it too. danashulps was written all over it, in small print.

“Dana Shulps. Name?” Sam suggested.

Dean picked another paper off the desk. “I dunno, but it’s all over the place.” A grin broke out on his face. “Well, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

Sam shone his flashlight over the glass table and paused. Olive looked up at him.

“What is it, Sams?”

“Do me a favor, breathe onto the table.”

She eyed him, but did as he asked, pulling away when she realized that danashulps was written all over it.

“What the fuck?”

“Well, I’d say we’ve officially crossed over into weird.

“Maybe Giles knew her.” Dean suggested.

“Or!” Olive perked up. “Maybe it’s the name of our pale, red-eyed mystery girl.”

“Alright, let’s just see what we can find.”

                                                              ***

Dean let out a loud groan, and Olive sighed from her spot on the couch. Sam was at the desktop computer, typing away.

“There’s not a single mention of a Dana Shulps anywhere. There’s not a D. Shulps. Or any other kind of fucking Shulps.” Dean complained.

“Great.” Olive huffed. “I can’t find anything either. Sams, what about you?”

“Nothing. No Dana Shulps has ever lived or died in Baltimore in the last fifty years at least.”

“So what now?”

“Well, I think I’m pretty close to cracking Giles’ password. Maybe there’s something in his personal files, you know?”

“By close, you mean?”

Sam shrugged. “Thirty minutes, maybe?”

Dean glanced down at his watch and sighed. “Awesome, so I guess I just get to uh… hang out.” He sighed, then grumbled something under his breath.

Olive got up from the couch and sat in the other red chair, watching as Sam worked. Dean began to click his tongue, and both younger siblings turned with similar looks of annoyance.

He paused, and once they both looked away, he started to make fart noises with his mouth. Olive stifled a giggle, and Sam sighed.

“Dude, seriously!”

“Alright, I’m gonna go talk to Karen again, see if she knows anything about this Dana Shulps, huh?”

“Great.” Sam huffed.

“Be careful.” Olive smiled at Dean as he stood.

He leaned down and kissed the top of her forehead, then shone his flashlight at Sam. “Keep going, Sparky.”

Third Interrogation Room, Present Day

“Then Dean went back to Karen’s place to check up on her. I mean, you know, she had obviously been upset earlier.” Olive huffs.

“So why didn’t you and Sam go with him?” The one from before, who Olive’s figured out is named Sheridan, asks.

Olive half shrugs. “I had to take care of some lady things. Sam came with me to the motel.” She pauses. “How did you know he was there, by the way?”

“We found the motel matchbook on Dean when he arrested him. Now-”

“How’d you know where to find me?” She questions.

“Let’s quit dicking around. Now you two were with Dean the whole time you were in Baltimore. Why separate now? Because your brother left you. To go kill Karen.”

“He didn’t kill anyone!” Olive shouts.

The anxiety is ramping, and it’s making her fractured arm hurt.

“I heard the 911 call!” Sheridan slams his fist on the table. “Karen was terrified! She said someone was in the house!”

Giles House, Before

Karen was on the couch in her pajamas, crying. The TV was on, but low. She wasn’t watching. She blew her nose, and heard something as she did. She took her glasses off to rub her eyes before quickly putting them back on. She noticed a figure in the mirror across the room.

She let out a frightened yelp and stood, turning the lights on. There was nobody there, but she turned into the bedroom and shut the door. She dialed 911 and put the phone to her ear.

“Hello, emergency services.”

“Hello? I think I saw someone in my house.”

“What’s your address?”

“It’s 421 Clinton Avenue. Please, can you-”

A click, and the call was disconnected.

“Hello?”

The printer on her desk flicked on and began to rapid-print sheets with the same thing from Tony’s office.

danashulpsdanashulpsdanashulpsdanashulps

Karen fumbled around for a flashlight, and finally turned. She turned to be face-to-face with the ghost. She screamed.

                                                              ***

Giles House, Before

Dean knocked on the door. “Karen, you in there?”

He got no answer. He looked around before bending to pick the lock. He opened the door and tried the light in the entryway. It didn’t work. He shut the door behind himself and ventured further into the house. He went up the stairs and turned into the bedroom. He pushed the door open to see Karen lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He turned and noticed the printer pages.

“Seriously, what the hell?” He grumbled.

He knelt by Karen’s body, noticing bruises on her wrists. He slowly picked up one of her hands.

“Freeze.”

Dean cursed to himself. Behind him, two cops had their guns trained on his head.

“Stay on your knees. Hands where I can see them. Now!”

He complied.

First Interrogation Room, Present Day

Sheridan sits in an observation room, where he can see Dean, who is handcuffed to a table. The detective that had been with Sam, Ballard, enters.

“You getting anywhere with him?”

“No. Just a lot of wise-ass remarks.” He grumbles.

“What about the girl?”

Sheridan rolls his eyes. “Nothing. Her story matches his down to the last detail. You?”

“Same with Sam’s.”

“Hmm. Yeah, well, these guys are good. I’ll give them that.” Sheridan crosses his arms over his chest.

Ballard sighs. “If we don’t get Sam or Olive to flip, we have nothing but a lot of circumstantial evidence.”

“Hey. We’ve got Dean at the crime scene with blood on his hands. And we caught Olive trying to steal a car. Juries have convicted for less.”

“Yeah, but…” Ballard sighs. “I mean, where’s the murder weapon? What’s the motive? You talk about reasonable doubt.”

“Diana.” Sheridan leans in and touches her face. “Do you have reasonable doubt? We keep leaning on these three, one of them will tumble. And don’t forget about St. Louis. I’m telling you. This Dean guy is our guy.”

Ballard sighs. “I know Tony Giles was a friend of yours.”

“Yeah.” Sheridan nods. “He was, he was a good friend.”

“Look, and I know you just want to clean this mess up quick, but some on. Tony knew a lot of criminal types, I mean… maybe we’re just-”

“Criminal types?” Sheridan cuts her off with a snarl. “He was a defense lawyer, for fuck’s sake. Of course he knew criminal types.”

“Alright.” Ballard sighs. “Let’s get back at them.”

“No, you know what? Let em stew in their juices for a bit.” Sheridan glances around to make sure nobody is nearby. “Come here.”

He pulls her into a kiss.

In the interrogation room, Dean huffs.

“Dana Shulps, Dana Shulps, Dana Shulps. Dana- Dana Shulps.” He mumbles to himself, eyes closed.

He’s stiff cuffed to the table, and he’s got his hands laced together as he thinks.

Sam, hands free, pulls a pad of paper and a pen to himself. He writes Dana Shulps in print, frowning as he thinks.

Olive is still cuffed to the table in her interrogation room. Her wrists are beginning to hurt, and her leg is bouncing up and down, shaking the entire table. She mutters curses as she looks around, in thought.

“It’s not a name, it’s not a name, it’s not a name.” She squeezes her eyes shut.

Sam huffed as he got to work. “Anagram, maybe?”

Dean continues to mumble to himself, looking up when there’s a knock on the door.

“Mr. Winchester?” A middle aged man pokes his head in.

“Yeah.” Dean grumbles.

“Hi, I’m Jeffrey Kraus.” The man walks in. “I’m with the public defender’s office. I’m your lawyer.”

Dean deadpans. “Oh. Thank god. I’m saved.”

Kraus sits, and Dean leans forward. “Hey, could I uh, steal a pen from you? Maybe some paper?”

“Sure.” Kraus hands the items over to Dean, who goes to town. “Uh, well, the police haven’t found a weapon yet. So that’s good. But uh, they got your prints. And well,” the man chuckles, “literally blood on your hands. And with your police record, uh…” he trails off when he notices that Dean isn’t paying attention.

“Mr. Winchester?”

Nothing.

“What are you doing?”

“I think it’s an anagram.” Dean grunts.

“A what?”

“Same letters, different words.” Dean explains as he continues to scribble.

The paper now reads:

dna shulps

dan shulpas

land pushas

supash land

push landas

plush danas

He pushes it over to Kraus. “Uh, do me a favor? See if you recognize any of these words. You know, local names, places, anything like that?”

“Do you understand how serious these charges are?”

“I’m handcuffed to a table.” Dean scoffs. “Yeah, I get it. Humor me. Take a quick look.”

Kraus sighs and pulls the pad of paper over to him. “Well, I don’t know about s-u-p, but Ashland is a street name. Not far from here.”

“A street.” Dean repeats.

He takes the pad back, tears the paper off, and begins to scribble again.

“Let’s start with where you were the night Anthony Giles died.”

“Can you get in to see my brother and sister?” Dean looks up quickly.

“Mr. Winchester, you could be facing the death penalty here.”

“Hey, thanks for the law review, Matlock. But, if you wanna help me.” Dean holds up the two scraps of paper he’s written on. “I need you to see my brother and sister.”

Third Interrogation Room, Present Day

Olive unfurls the note and snorts.

Lil,

Ashland Street

Call richies if you’re alone

-Phil

“I hope that means something. He was adamant I get that to you.” Kraus sits across from her.

Olive rolls her neck. “Yeah, thanks. How far exactly is Ashland Street from here?” She crumbles up the note and looks up, expectantly.

“Uh, maybe a ten minute drive. Miss Winchester, if you don’t mind, I’d really like to-”

“No.” Olive shakes her head. “I don’t need a lawyer to talk me through this. They think Dean’s a killer, they found me stealing a car, and they’re gonna pin Sam and I as accessories. They’re gonna bring up everything we’ve ever done, gonna bring up the fact that our dad is gone, gonna say Dean had blood on his hands, and that’s gonna be the end of it.”

Kraus sighs. “You’re sixteen-”

“They’re gonna try me as an adult, I know.” She nods again. “Look, Matlock, why don’t you go talk to Sam? He’s prelaw, full ride to Stanford. I’m sure he can help you work out a strategy for us.” She smiles a sickly sweet smile, but it’s full of anger and poison.

Krau sighs a third time before getting up and exiting the room.

Second Interrogation Room, Present Day

Sam reads over the note Dean sent.

Hilts-

It’s a street

Ashland

-McQueen

Kraus sighs. “I hope that’s meaningful. But I’d like to discuss your case now.”

Sam gestures to the chair in front of him. “Sure thing, Matlock.”

Kraus sighs again. “You three really are siblings, aren’t you?” He sits. “Now, as you know, the DA might be interested in-”

A knock on the door, and then Ballard barges in.

“We need you.” She looks at Kraus. “With the other one.”

Sam stares at the door after they close it. He huffs. Several people have crowded outside Dean’s interrogation room, watching as the digital camera is set up across from him.

“Counselor?” Sheridan grins. “Your boy decided to confess.”

“Mr. Winchester?” Kraus warns. “I’d strongly advise against that.”

“Talk directly into the camera, first stating your name for the record.”

Dean clears his throat and sits up. He leans forward and looks into the camera. “My name is Dean Michael Winchester. I’m an Aquarius.” A smile begins to creep onto his face. He knows that if Sam and Olive were to see this, they would roll their eyes and break into a cackle, respectively. “I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women. And I did not kill anyone.” His smile drops. “But I know who did. Or rather, what, did. Of course, it can’t be for sure because our investigation was interrupted. But our working theory was that we’re looking for some kind of vengeful spirit.”

“Excuse me?” Ballard spits.

“You know,” Dean shrugs. “Casper the bloodthirsty ghost?”

People in the observation room begin to laugh.

“Tony Giles saw it. I’ll bet you cash money Karen did too. But see, the interesting thing is the word it leaves behind. For some reason, it’s trying to tell us something. But communicating across the veil, it ain’t easy.” Dean shakes his head. “You know, sometimes the spirits, they, they get things jumbled. You remember redrum. Same concept. You know, it’s uh, word fragments, sometimes it’s anagrams. See, at first we thought it was a name. Dana Shulps. But now we think it’s a street. Ashland. Whatever’s going on, I’ll bet you it started there.”

Dean spreads his hands and smiles. His part is done.

“You arrogant bastard!” Sheridan shouts. “Tony and Karen were good people, and you’re making jokes!”

“I’m not joking, Ponch.” Dean’s lip curls up.

“You murdered them in cold blood! Just like that girl in St. Louis!”

“Oh, yeah…” Dean sucks in air through his teeth. “That wasn’t me either. That was a shape-shifter creature that only looked like me.”

He smiles at the camera again, and Sheridan snaps. He picks Dean up by the collar, which is no easy task, as he’s 6’ 2” and about 170 pounds. He slams him against the wall, and although Dean is uncomfortable, he doesn’t flinch. He keeps his cold front.

“Pete, that is enough!” Ballard pulls him off.

“You asked for the truth.” Dean speaks calmly.

“Lock his ass up.” Sheridan spits, dropping Dean to his feet.

Another cop takes over and shoves Dean face-first against the wall, cuffing him. Dean grunts, but a sense of calm washes over him. He did what needed to be done. Sam and Olive would fix it from here.

Sheridan storms into Olive’s interrogation room, only to find her gone. He lets out a frustrated scream and throws a chair across the room. A breeze blows through the window, and he sticks his head out. It’s a five story drop, and the fire escape is at least six feet away. There’s no way she could’ve reached it.

“Where is she!” He shouts.

Ballard comes running. “Sam’s gone!”

She blinks, noticing that Sheridan is the only one in the room. “What?”

“What did they do? The fire escapes way over there! For both of them!”

“These fuckers.” Ballard hisses, showing Sheridan the note left on Sam’s table.

“Hilts and McQueen? Lil and Phil?” Sheridan spits.

“Hilts is Steve McQueen’s character in the Great Escape.” Ballard sighs. “And Lil and Phil are from the Rugrats.”

Sheridan lets out another scream.

                                                              ***

Dean is cuffed once more, in a smaller room. Ballard enters, looking around, nervous. Dean huffs.

“Can we make this quick? I’m a little tired, it’s been a long day, you know, with your partner assaulting me and all.”

“I want to know more about that stuff you were talking about earlier.”

Dean hums. “Time Life. Mysteries of the Unknown. Look it up.”

She circles around to stand in front of him. “Let’s pretend, for the moment, you’re not entirely insane.”

Dean hums again. “What would one of these things be doing here?”

“A vengeful spirit?”

Ballard nods, and Dean pouts as he thinks.

“Well, they’re created by violet deaths. And then they come back for a reason, usually a nasty one. Like revenge on the people that hurt em.”

“And, uh, these things… they’re capable of killing people?” She asks, rubbing her neck.

Dean smiles, lining up his next smart-ass response, when he notices deep, dark bruises on her wrists, the same he had seen on Karen’s.

“Where’d you get those?”

Ballard sighs and pulls up her sleeves, seeing the bruises for the first time.

“I don’t know. It… it wasn’t there before.”

“You’ve seen it before, haven’t you? The spirit?”

“How’d you know?”

“Cause Karen had the same bruises on her wrists. And I’m willing to bet that if you look at Giles’ autopsy photos, he’s got em too. It’s got something to do with this spirit, I… I just don’t know what.”

Ballard turns away, looking into the mirror.

“I know. You think you’re going crazy. But let’s skip that part, shall we? Because the last two people who saw this thing? Died, pretty soon after. You hear me?”

She turns back to him, face drained of color. “You think I’m going to die.”

Dean sighs. “You need to go to Sam and Olive. They’ll help.”

Ballard’s shoulders fall. “You’re giving them up.”

Dean sighs again, looking away. “Go to the first motel listed in the yellow pages. Look for Jim Rockford and Angel Martin. It’s how we find each other when we’re all separated. Now, you can arrest them if you want.” He looks up at her. “Or you can let them save your life.”

Motel Room, Present Day

Sam sits at a desk, rifling through files. Somebody knows on the door, and his head perks up. The person knocks again, and this time Sam gets up. He tucks a handgun into the back of his jeans and looks through the peephole.

He throws the door open with a sigh of relief. Olive tumbles into his arms, shaking. He holds her, then realizes that her legs have given out, and she’s relying entirely on him. He picks her up by the waist and puts her down on the bed, kicking the door shut.

“Bug, what happened?”

She coughs, and a few specks of blood fly out. “I had to jump. I wasn’t gonna make it to the fire escape, so I just went straight down.” She groans. “I landed in a dumpster, my leg broke, and my lungs hurt. I’m mostly healed now, but… it still hurts.” She leans back onto the wall with a heavy sigh.

“Fuck.” Sam mumbles under his breath.

He sees the fear in Olive’s eyes and sits next to her, pulling her to rest in his lap. “Okay. Once we get all of this fixed, I promise we’ll go straight to Bobby. Okay?” He runs a hand through her hair.

She coughs again. “We’ve gotta get Dean.”

The door opens, and Sam whips the gun out, his other hand holding Olive protectively. It’s Ballard. She eyes the gun, and Sam hesitates. She gives a soft smile, and Sam puts the gun down. Olive doesn’t move. She’s scared she’ll cough up a lung, and she’s barely breathing as is. Sam notices Ballard’s eyes on her.

“You’ll have to sit here.” He gestures to the bed.

She does so. “I saw it.”

“What?” Olive speaks, then coughs again, ending with a groan.

Ballard eyes Olive again, then shows Sam her wrists. He takes her hands in his and winces as he looks over the pink skin.

“These showed up after you saw it?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Ballard sighs.

“Alright. You’re gonna have to tell me exactly what you saw.”

Ballard hesitates. “You know, I must be losing my mind. You’re both fugitives. I should be arresting you.”

“You can arrest us later.” Olive rasps. “After we get through this.”

“She’s right.” Sam sighs. “Right now you’ve gotta talk to me.”

Ballard nods.

“Okay. The spirit, what did it look like?”

“She was… um, really pale. Her throat was cut, and her eyes… they were like, this deep dark red. It appeared like she was trying to talk to me, but she couldn’t. It was just… a lot of blood.”

“Okay. There.” Sam points to the desk, and she rises, going to it. “I’ve been researching every girl that’s ever died or gone missing from Ashland street.”

“How’d you get these?” Ballard flips through the photos. “These are from crime scenes, and booking photos.”

“You have your job, we have ours. Look through them, tell me if you recognize anyone.”

She sits down and begins to look through papers. Sam turns back to Olive and presses a soft kiss to her forehead.

“I’m gonna get you some water. Okay, bug?”

Olive mumbles an agreement and lets Sam move her out of his lap. He goes to the bathroom, wets a towel, and brings it back, placing it on her forehead. He’s seen her sick like this before, but it’s never been this bad. Panic begins to grow in his chest as he fills a glass with water. He doesn’t know what to do. He needs Dean.

“This is her. I’m sure of it.”

Sam places the cup of water down on the nightstand and goes to stand at the desk with Ballard.

“Claire Becker. Twenty eight years old, disappeared about nine months ago.”

“But I don’t even know her. I mean, why would she come after me?” Ballard’s growing exasperated.

“Well, before her death, she was arrested twice. For dealing heroin. You ever work narcotics?” Sam suggests.

“Yeah, Pete and I did. Before homicide.”

“You ever bust her?”

Ballard shakes her head. “Not that I remember.”

“It says that she was last seen entering 2911 Ashland Street. Police searched the place, didn’t find anything. Guess we gotta check it out ourselves. See if we can find her body.”

“What?” Ballard squints.

“Salt and burn em. It’s the only way to put her spirit to rest.” Olive speaks, eyes closed and voice thin and scratchy.

The panic flares in Sam’s chest once more. He needs Dean. She needs Dean.

Ballard sighs. “Of course it is.”

“Sammy, I wanna come with you. I wanna help.” She starts to sit up.

“No, no, no, Ollie. I can’t let you.” Sam rushes to her side, pushing her back down. “No, baby girl. You’re too weak, you’ve gotta stay here.”

“But I wanna help save Dean.” She whines.

“I know, babes, I know. But I need you safe, and that means you have to stay here.”

“She should be in a hospital right now.” Ballard states.

“No!” Olive jumps, then proceeds to cough, spitting blood into the crook of her elbow.

Sam rubs her back and shakes his head. “No hospitals. She can’t do hospitals.”

“Why not?”

He sighs. “Family issue.”

Olive groans, then rolls onto her side, looking up at Sam with puppy eyes. He sighs again, pushing her hair behind her ear.

“I don’t wanna be alone.” She whispers.

Healing large injuries drains her more than turning itself does. A broken leg is no small feat, and she’s definitely injured her lungs. But she had to get out of there, so she forced herself to begin to heal. Once she’s started, she can’t turn the healing process back off. It’s killing her.

She doesn’t want to be alone when she dies.

They both know it.

He helps her sit up, and they both ignore the grunt of pain that escapes her lips. He holds her tightly, but gently.

“Okay.”

2911 Ashland Street, Present Day

Sam leads them down into a creepy warehouse. Olive has her finger hooked in his belt loop, and her feet are dragging. She’s getting worse by the minute, but she refuses to let her mind slip away, not until she sees Dean.

“So what exactly are we looking for?”

“I’ll let you know when we find it.” Sam whispers.

They split up. Sam and Olive start up a flight of stairs as Ballard continues on the lower level. She turns around a corner, and sees Claire, standing by a window. She gasps, and Claire moves towards her, trying to speak.

“Sam? Sam!”

Sam and Olive share a look. Olive lets go of his belt loop and nods, and he runs back down the stairs, toward Ballard. Claire disappears.

“Hey! Hey, I’m here. What is it, what happened?” Sam looks her up and down, noticing that she’s unscatched.

“Claire…”

“Where?” Olive croaks, making her way down the stairs.

“Here. She was here.”

“Did she attack you?” Sam asks.

Ballard shakes her head. “No,” she hesitates, “No, she was just like… reaching out to me. She was over there by the window.” She points.

Sam and Olive share a look before Sam moves the shelves away from the window. Olive squints as the words printed on the glass become clear.

Ashland Supplies

She snorts. “That’s the word.”

“Well, yeah, now the extra letters make sense.” Sam fishes an EMF reader from his pocket and slowly makes his way to the wall, where the words are perfectly shadowed.

“What is that?”

Olive stumbles to follow her brother as she clears her throat. “Spirits and certain remains give off electromagnetic frequencies.”

“So, if Clarie’s body were here, it would tell you?”

“Yeah, that’s the theory.” Sam mumbles.

The EMF meter begins to purr, and Sam turns back around to a brick wall. He sighs and looks around. Olive spots a rusted crowbar and drags it behind her as she follows Sam. He plucks it from her hand and begins to break through the wall. Olive coughs as dust and debris fly through the air. She slumps down against the staircase, coughing every so often. Her head falls back when she’s not struggling to breathe, and her eyes are beginning to roll into the back of her head.

“There’s definitely something in there.” Sam grunts as he continues to break through the wall. “You know? This is bothering me.”

“Well, you are digging up a corpse.” Ballard shrugs.

“No, no, uh…” Sam chuckles. “That’s pretty par for the course, actually.”

“Then what?”

“I mean, it’s just… no vengeful spirit we’ve ever dealt with wanted to be wasted… so why the hell would Claire lead us to her own remains?”

Olive lets out another cough, this one sounding loud and wet. Sam pauses and stares at her. Her head is back against the wall, her mouth is open and bloody, and her eyes are closed. She’s pale, sweaty, and barely breathing.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Ballard shakes her head, snapping Sam back into reality.

He shakes his head, again glancing over his shoulder at the teenager sprawled on the ground.

“Here, gimme a hand.”

Together, they pull out a body that is wrapped in shrouds of cloth, and place it on the ground. Sam fishes out a pocket knife and cuts the ropes off, revealing the body. He sighs, looking back at Olive. Her eyes are shut, and her head is falling off to the side. Her chest heaves with each breath, and Sam can hear her wheezing. Ballard puts her wrists out, above Claire’s.

“Her wrists, yeah.” Sam turns back. “They’d be bruised just like yours.”

Ballard reaches out with a shaky hand, cautiously touching a necklace on the body. Sam perks up.

“That necklace mean anything to you?”

“I’ve seen it before. It’s rare. It was custom made over on Carson street.” Ballard’s hand goes back to her own neck. “I have one just like it.” She looks up at Sam. “Pete gave it to me.”

He huffs. “Now this makes sense.”

“I’m sorry?”

“She’s a death omen, not a vengeful spirit.”

“Excuse me?”

“Claire’s not killing people.” Sam sighs. “She’s trying to warn them. You see, sometimes, spirits, they don't want revenge. They want justice.” He nods to himself. “Which is why she led us here in the first place. She wants us to know who her killer is.” He pauses, and it clicks in his head. “Detective, how much do you know about your partner?”

“Oh my god.” Ballards face falls.

“About a year ago, some heroin went missing from lockup. Obviously, it was a cop. We never found out who did it, but whoever it was would need someone to fence their product.”

Sam snorts. “Someone like a heroin dealer. Somebody like Claire.”

Olive stumbles to her feet. Her lips are dry and her skin is devoid of color. Her fangs are peeking out of her mouth, and her eyes are watery.

“Dean’s in danger.”

Armored Van on a Highway, Present Day

“So I’m being extradited to St. Louis, huh?”

Dean gets no answer, so he tries again.

“And you just decided to transfer me yourself, eight hundred miles at two in the morning?”

Again, nothing. The hairs on the back of Dean’s neck begin to rise.

“This can’t be good.”

Baltimore, Present Day

“Okay. Thanks.” Ballard snaps her phone shut.

“What is it?” Sam asks, leaning forward.

He’s in the backseat with Olive. She’s in and out of it, and she looks worse every time they pass under a street light.

“Pete just left the precinct. With Dean.”

“What?” Olive forces her eyes open as she sits up, grunting.

“He said the prisoner had to be transfered, and he just took him. Dispatch has been calling but he won’t answer the radio.”

“Radio?” Sam repeats. “He took a county vehicle?”

“Yeah.”

“Well then they should have a lo-jack. We’ve just gotta get it turned on.”

Empty stretch of road, Present Day

The van pulls off onto the side of the road. Dean pushes the rising anxiety and leans forward.

“Pee break? So soon?” He taunts. “Might wanna get your prostate checked.”

Sheridan says nothing before he gets out. Dean listens as the footsteps circle around to the back of the van.

“Son of a bitch.” He groans to himself.

Sheridan yanks the backdoors open, and Dean inches away.

“Hey, man. I’m cool in the van. You go do what you gotta do.”

Sheridan grabs him by the jacket and hauls him out of the van, throwing him onto the wet ground. Dean lands with a grunt, squirming to sit up.

“You’re a cocky son of a bitch.” Sheridan spits. “You think those people in St. Louis are gonna buy that shit you’re peddling?”

Dean makes it to his knees and pants, staring at Sheridan.

“Here’s the thing. You’re not gonna make it to St. Louis. You’re gonna die trying to escape.”

Dean blinks, and Sheridan’s gun is out, pointed between his eyes.

“Wait!” Dean pleads. “Wait, let’s talk about this. I mean, you don’t wanna do something that you’re gonna regret later.”

Sheridan only cocks the gun.

“Or maybe you do.”

Olive growls from low in her throat, holding back a cough and the load of blood in her mouth. Sheridan turns at the noise, and Ballard puts her gun up. Sam tucks Olive into his side, shielding her from the gun. She’s shaking, and Dean’s eyes are glued to her.

His stomach drops. She’s dying. He knows it.

“Pete! Put the gun down.”

“Diana? How’d you find me?” The gun goes back to Dean’s head, and Olive feels bile rise in her throat.

Sam hugs her tighter.

“I know about Claire.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sheridan shakes his head, gun still up.

“Put the gun down!” She shouts.

Sheridan drops the act, and a smirk grows on his face. “Oh, I don’t think so. You’re fast. I’m pretty sure I’m faster.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I didn’t do anything, Diana.” Sheridan shakes his head.

“It’s a little late for that.”

“It wasn’t my fault.” Sheridan scoots closer to Dean, and another growl rips through Olive’s throat.

She swallows what she can and spits blood onto the grass.

“Claire was trying to turn me in! I had no choice.”

“And Tony? Karen?”

Sheridan shakes his head again. “Same thing! Tony scrubbed the money, he got skittish, and then he wanted to come clean. I’m sure he told Karen everything.”

Dean’s eyes go back to his younger siblings. Sam’s holding the entirety of Olive’s weight, and he’s looking at Dean with big eyes. Dean shakes his head, and Sam looks about ready to cry. Olive lets out a weak cough.

“It was a mess. I had to clean it up. I just panicked.” Sheridan shook his head.

“How many more people are gonna die over this, Pete?”

“There’s a way out.” Sheridan looks back at Dean. “This Dean kid’s a freaking gift. We could pin the whole thing on him. Right? No trial, nothing. Just… just one more dead scumbag.”

“Hey.” Dean fronts.

Sheridan puts the gun closer, and Dean backs off, shoulders falling.

“No one will question it. Diana, please.” Sheridan begs. “I still love you.”

Ballard puts the gun down with a sigh. Dean’s eyes fill with tears as Sheridan’s gun connects with his head. A loud growl tears through the trees, and Sheridan is tackled to the ground. Dean rolls out of the way, and Sam pulls him up. Ballard tries to get a shot, but she can’t.

There’s another loud growl, and the tangle of limbs stops moving. Sheridan is down, and Olive falls to her knees, coughing loudly and violently. Blood sprays everywhere, and the second she stops coughing she begins to throw up. Sam rushes over, holding her hair back. Diana unlocks Dean’s handcuffs, and he joins his brother, watching as Olive fights to breathe.

Blood continues to drip from her mouth as she wheezes, chest heaving. Dean pulls her into his chest, and she begins to shake.

“So now what, officer?” Dean asks, cradling Olive like a baby.

“Pete did confess to me. He screwed up all your cases. Royally. I’d say there’s a good chance that we could get them dismissed.”

“You’d take care of that for us?” Sam looks up.

“Yeah. But the St. Louis murder charges? That’s another story. I can’t help you. Unless…” Ballard sighs. “I just happened to turn my back, and you walked away. I could just tell them that the suspects escaped.”

“Wait, are you sure?” Sam’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, she’s sure, Sam.” Dean hissed.

“No, it’s just… I mean, you could lose your job over something like that.”

She shakes her head. “Look, I just want you guys out there doing what you do best. Trust me, I’ll sleep better at night.”

Olive lets out another strangled cough, and Dean pushes her hair from her face.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Ballard asks.

“I don’t know.” Sam whispers, in shock.

“Where’s my car?” Dean calls.

“It’s at the impound yard down on Robertson.”

Dean groans, shooting Sam a look. “We need Dad’s journal, it could have answers.”

Ballard shakes her head. “Don’t even think about taking the car. You guys have to get out of here. I have to radio this in.”

The boys nod and Dean hoists Olive up. Coughs continue to rack her body, and she’s spitting blood everywhere. Sam takes her from him and they start down the muddy road.

“Dean, what do we do?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen her like this before.” Dean hisses back.

“We’re miles away from Dad’s journal. We’ll never make it in time.”

Olive wheezes, then coughs again, choking on her blood and spit. Dean stops, panting. He shakes his head at Sam, who is staring back with wide eyes.

“Sam, we can’t do anything.”

Olive’s stomach heaves again, and blood is the only thing to come out. Sam sighs as he stops. The brothers kneel down, and Sam places Olive between them.

She stares between the two with tears in her eyes.

I’m sorry.

Dean pushes her hair out of her face with a soft smile. “We love you.”

Sam is trembling, enraged. He picks her back up and shakes his head. Dean follows, shouting Sam’s name.

“We have to be able to do something, Dean. I’m not gonna watch her die.”

“We don’t have Dad’s journal!”

“Then we call Bobby!”

“Sam, we don’t even know if Bobby knows.”

“We have to try!”

Dean swallows the bad taste in his mouth as he yanks out his phone and dial’s Bobby’s number. Olive coughs.

He puts it on speaker. “Hello.”

“Bobby!” Sam shouts.

“What’s wrong, kids?”

“Olive’s dying, we don’t know what to do!”

“What?”

“Bobby, we’ve gotta tell you something important.”

“You sister’s part Okami. I know. What happened?”

The boys blink at each other, but a groan from Olive snaps them back into reality.

“The healing process is killing her. What do we do?”

There’s a long sigh, and Dean watches the little color left in Olive’s face drain. Her chest heaves once more, and then she stops breathing. He drops the phone, snatching Olive from Sam’s hold.

“Olive!”

“Bobby!” Sam grabs the phone, in tears.

“Blood.”

“What?”

“She needs blood. Once a day, every day. It’ll make her stronger, she won’t get sick again.”

“Bobby, we’re not-”

“Gimme your knife.” Dean interrupts.

“What?” Sam’s eyes go wide.

“Give me your fucking knife!”

Sam doesn’t move, and Dean forces Olive’s mouth open. He slices his palm against her fang and groans as blood trickles out.

It falls in droplets, staining her teeth and her tongue. The phone call is long forgotten, and Sam is on his knees by their side. Olive’s eyes begin to twitch behind her eyelids, and Dean gasps. He squeezes his hand, bleeding harder.

A second passes, and Sam stares at Dean. Dean doesn’t look up from Olive.

Her fangs begin to recede, and Dean watches, shaking. A small cough moves her body, and then she begins to wheeze. Sam drops his head to her chest. He hears her heart and he lets out a loud sigh, resting his head against her.

“Boys?”

Her voice is soft and unharmed. She sounds like she just woke up from a nap. Dean pulls her up and hugs her. She sniffs, reaching up to rub her eyes.

“How?”

Sam lets out a weak laugh and brushes her hair back. “Dean saved you.”

She leans into her oldest brother and looks up with a soft smile.

“Thanks, De.”

He laughs and kisses the top of her head before pulling her back into a second hug. “Anything for you, baby girl. Anything for you.”

Previous Ep: No Exit (2.06)

Next Ep: Crossroad Blues (2.08)

taglist:

@i67​

#supernatural season two #supernatural oc #supernatural sister #supernatural fic #winchester!oc #winchester!reader #bobby singer #supernatural cast #the usual suspects #supernatural #olive winchester #my posts #dean and sam #sam and dean #sam winchester x sister!reader #dean winchester x sister!reader #dean x sister!reader #sam x sister!reader #sam x sister!oc #sam winchester x sister!oc #dean x sister!oc #dean winchester x sister!oc #john winchester #john winchester x daughter!reader #john winchester x daughter!oc #jensen ackles #jared padalecki #jeffery dean morgan #winchester sister #micwrites

[buckyscrystalqueen]

The Unexpected Protector: Part 3

Pairings: Negan x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, Abuse, Domestic Violence, Fluff.

Word Count: 5,003

A/N: HEED THE WARNINGS!!!!!! DON’T COME CRYING IF YOU DON’T!

Part 1 / Part 2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How the fuck are you so damn cute?” Negan, who had changed out of his usual suit and tie into jeans and a Patriots jersey, asked as you headed across the private tarmac toward Robert’s personal jet. You shrugged and looked down at your off the shoulder Tom Brady t-shirt, ripped jean shorts, and black, ankle high, high heeled boots.

“I’m not, but OK.” You said with a shake of your head. Negan’s jaw tensed for a half second and he let out an annoyed breath through his nose as he took your duffle of clothes from you He reached into your dog carrier and scratched Chewie’s head.

“I’ll get you to see that beauty, baby girl. That’s a promise. You ready to go?” You nodded your head and gestured to the jet with a smile. Negan offered you his arm with a smile and gestured to your now ever present body guard to follow.

“Is he always so quiet?” You asked with a glance over your shoulder at Tank. “I don’t think he’s said three words to me in the past two weeks.”

“When he’s working, yes.” Negan said as he followed you up the stairs. “He’s ex military. Stays quiet to stay fucking vigilant. Ain’t that right, Tank?”

“Yea, boss.” The six foot seven man who was built like a linebacker said with a nod as he took a seat in the row behind you and Negan. You smirked back at him and buckled your seatbelt as Jessica, the flight attendant, closed the jet door.

“We’re at five words, now.” You teased as you took your pup out of the bag and set him on your lap. “Alright, so are you ready for the owner’s experience?”

“You’ll only fucking hear me admit this once but I’m like a fucking kid in a Goddamn candy store. But you fucking tell anyone and you’ll be sleeping with the fishes.” You laughed at his horrible Italian accent and got comfortable in your chair.

“You’re secret’s safe with me but you better make sure Mr. Blabbermouth back there doesn’t talk either.”

“He fucking knows better than to share secrets.” Negan said as the plane taxied down the runway and took off toward Massachusetts. You nodded your head as he glanced over at you and reached for your hand.

“Snitches get stitches.” You said as you laced your fingers with his.

“Exactly.”

——

“Well I’ll be damned.” Your Uncle Bobby said with a smile as you headed into the owners box a couple hours before kick off after dropping your bags and Chewie off at your hotel room.

“Hey, Uncle B.” You said with a smile as he pulled you into a strong hug. Tears welled in your eyes for a moment as the man that was the closest thing to a father to you held you tight and rubbed your back since he hadn’t seen you in nearly five years.

“Damn, I missed you, little girl.” He breathed as he leaned back and held onto your shoulders to get a good look at you. “You look so good, sweetheart. So much better than the last time I saw you.”

“Thanks, Bobby.” He pat your cheek once before taking a step back to be introduced to your guests. “This is Negan and that back there is my body guard, Tank.”

“You have a body guard?” Bobby asked with his eyebrow raised.

“I’m divorcing Christian.” You said as you glanced over at him. “Need to prepare myself for the worst.”

“Good point.” He said with a nod as he looked back at Negan. “Nice to meet you, son.”

“Pleasure’s all mine, sir.” Negan said as they shook each other’s hands. “You raised a wonderful girl.”

“She’s a pistol.” Bobby chuckled with a nod as he gestured over to the bar. “Give her time, you’ll see it. She was always a damn handful…”

“Thanks, Uncle Bobby.” You laughed as a blush rose in your cheeks. “I wasn’t that bad.”

“Says the girl who trashed my Lamborghini into a fire hydrant at three in the morning.”

“That was an accident!” You claimed over Negan’s laugh as you grabbed a glass of wine and a bottle of water as well.

“Yea, an accident that cost me 50 grand to fix.” Bobby laughed as you grabbed a spot at one of the high top tables in the back of the spacious box. “Don’t ever let this woman behind a wheel.” You groaned and covered your face with your hands as the waitress came over with menus.

“Well I will absolutely keep that in mind.” Negan laughed. “What else can you tell me about this troublemaker?”

“Negan!” You whined as you playfully hit his arm.

“Oh son, I could write a book!” Bobby laughed. “Like this one time…”

“This was the worst idea ever.” You groaned as you grabbed your menu to hide behind.

——

“See, this is how you watch a fucking football game.” Negan said quietly so only you would hear his swearing. You smiled and glanced over at him as you set your beer on the bar in front of your seat.

“You having fun?” You asked as you leaned into his side with a smile. He nodded as he continued to brush his thumb across your right knee like he had done the whole game.

“So fucking much. Thank you for this.”

“Of course, sweetheart.” He squeezed your knee and rested his cheek on the top of your head for a second before bolting forward in his chair as the Patriots intercepted the ball. You couldn’t help but giggle to yourself when his foot started to bounce with nervous energy as Jason McCourty ran the ball back to the end zone. You stood up and a proud smile spread across your face as the entire stadium erupted into a roar for the fourth touchdown of the game.

“Good to be home, right?” Bobby asked as he clapped you on the back. You nodded at him and clapped your hands as Negan put his arm over your shoulder. Instinctively, your arm went around his waist and you leaned into his side to watch Stephen Gostkowski make the conversion kick. Your phone started ringing in your back pocket and you glanced at your smart watch to see who it was. Your eyes went wide as Christian’s number stared back at you.

“What?” You asked of no one as you moved out of Negan’s arm to grab your phone from your pocket.

“No!” Negan said a little harshly as he grabbed your wrist. “Let it go to voicemail. He’s violating the fucking restraining order and that gives you more leverage when you go to court for your divorce.” You nodded your head, set your phone on the bar, and sat down in your chair. Negan turned back toward Tank and you over heard him saying to get someone on the phone before turning back to you. “I’ll be right back, baby girl.” You nodded your head and tried to focus on the game as Negan took Tank’s phone and headed back into the box for some privacy. 

“Everything OK?” Bobby asked, pulling your attention away from your phone screen and the voicemail notification that had popped up. You sighed and shook your head.

“Christian’s not gunna make leaving him easy. I kicked him out a couple weeks ago and filed a restraining order for the abuse. I had to change the locks on my house, installed cameras in every room and covering every inch around my house, updated my security system, and I have someone watching my house 24/7. Negan’s… well, Negan’s in a position to help me out and he’s doing everything he can to get the divorce finalized as quickly as possible. But Christian, of course, is fighting it as hard as he possibly can.”

“Jesus, sweetheart.” Bobby said with a shake of his head.

“It’s OK.” You said as you reached over and pat his hand. “I’ve got help. I’ll get out of this.”

“Maybe you should move back to Boston…”

“Ha!” You barked, humorlessly with a smile. “Because Boston totally wants me back. Look, I can promise you without a shadow of a doubt in my mind that Negan can help me. I know I’m in a rough spot right now but I’ll be OK. I have people in my corner now that will make sure of it. Am I scared of what Christian is capable of? Absolutely. But everyone keeps telling me that I’m gunna be OK so I have to believe them, right?” He nodded his head in agreement as he reached over and took your hand in both his.

“If you need anything, anything at all, you call me. I still have a lot of connections in Manhattan and I won’t hesitate to fly down there.” You smiled at him and pat his hands.

“You hate flying, Uncle Bobby.” He chuckled and nodded his head.

“Alright, you caught me. I’d drive really, really fast.” You giggled and pulled your hands back to give your attention back to the game.

“I’ll call you, Uncle B. I promise.” He nodded his head and went back to the game as Negan sat back down next to you.

“Don’t answer his damn calls, OK baby? For me?” He said with a glance over at you as he reached out for your hand and laced his fingers with yours. You nodded your head and squeezed his hand.

“I won’t.” He nodded and gently kissed your forehead before turning back to watch the rest of the game.

“I’ll put an end to all this shit soon. I promise you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What a day.” Negan said as the two of you headed into your hotel suite later that night. “What a fucking day.”

“Welcome to my life.” You said with a small giggle as you bent down to pick up Chewie and the pee pad you had in the kitchenette. “I used to come up at least once a month. Just wait until Super Bowl.”

“Fuck… the Super Bowl.” Negan groaned as he leaned his whole body and stomped his foot. “Baby girl, what the fuck am I supposed to do with you?”

“Walk the dog and come to bed with me?” You turned to look at him with pleading eyes as he searched your eyes. “Please?” You asked before he could say anything. “I don’t… I can’t sleep alone anymore.”

“Fuck, baby girl.” He groaned as he scrubbed his hand over his mouth and gestured to you. “Not the eyes.” You smiled as he nodded his head and rolled his eyes. “Fine. But I have some shit to take care of first.” You nodded your head as you grabbed your leash from the counter and clipped it on to Chewie’s collar. One long stroll around the large hotel, and one tuckered out pup later, the pair of you headed up to your suite to call it a night.

While Negan made his phone calls, you jumped in the shower. You were grateful that, with a hair dryer, your hair dried in a matter of minutes. You threw on a pair of cotton sleep shorts and the darkest, most non-transparent tank top you owned. Once you took off your make up, tossed your earrings and bracelets in your make up bag and put your phone and smart watch on their chargers, you turned off all the lights, and headed out of the room for bed.

“And if he still doesn’t have my fucking money, then fucking end him.” You gasped and tripped on nothing as you looked up at Negan’s darkened eyes. He completely ignored whoever he was on the phone with and forced his face to soften no matter how frustrated he was with post game gambling gains and losses. “Sweetheart, you’re OK. You’re safe, alright?” You nodded your head subtly as he hung up the phone and set it on the dresser. “I would never hurt you.”

“OK.” You whispered as he walked toward you. With quick yet slow movements, he reached out to cup your jaw in his hand.

“Baby girl, it’s just business…”

“I know.” You breathed as you leaned subtly into his palm.

“You gotta understand something. Being with me, you’re gunna overhear some shit. Lots of shit that ain’t gunna be fucking pretty. I’m literally as fucking polar opposite of your ex-husband as I can possibly fucking get. But I swear to you, on my life, that you will never have to worry about a single fucking thing with me. No matter what happens, you will never have to be fucking scared again, whether we’re together or not. Now, I’m not done working yet so I’ll take that shit out…”

“No.” You gasped as you reached out and grabbed his white undershirt in your fingers. “Don’t leave.” He searched your eyes for a moment before slowly nodding with a sigh.

“Alright, but just… don’t fucking listen to me, OK? You shouldn’t be fucking hearing any of this shit, ever.” He said with a small smile. You returned the smile and nodded as you jokingly covered your ears with your hands. “Smart ass.” He chuckled as he moved his hand to your shoulder blades and directed you over to the bed. You shoved the decorative pillows to the floor and pulled back the blankets as Negan grabbed his phone and laptop, and set them on the bed. You habitually snuggled in to the side of the bed farthest from the door and pulled the blankets up to your chin.

“Night, sweetheart.” Negan said softly as he took off his shoes and jeans, shut off the room lights, and got into bed in front of you.

“Night baby.” You responded as you closed your eyes. He smiled subtly as he leaned back against the headboard with a small shake of his head.

‘You’re trouble, baby girl.’ He thought as he shook his head and called his lead enforcer back. ‘You’re gunna be so much fucking trouble.’

“Yea.” He said as he laid his hand down softly on your head and began to run his fingers through your hair. “Alright, what’s next on the fucking list?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘She’s Negan’s girl.’ It became your monicker quickly after that weekend. You went from being known as just another socialite in the throngs of people to being the girl of the most notorious, untouchable man in the five boroughs. It was a simple monicker that boosted the self-esteem Christian had spent the past five years of your life tearing down.

You walked into the club with a whole new pep in your step in a new skin tight, low cut, white, collared, halter dress and the most cherry red heels and lips as you could. You nodded at ‘Jerry two-toes’ (a nickname you never, ever wanted to know the origin of) and Mikey, who were standing guard at the bottom of the stairs and headed up to the cat walk with Jade right behind you. The sound of your heels clicking on the metal platform was lost in the loud bass of the music down below and you smiled as you walked past Big Sam.

“Well holy fucking fuck.” Negan said as he looked over from the man he was talking to about who knows what. “Look at you.”

“You like?” You asked as you turned in a tight circle to show off your most recent purchase.

“Fucking love it, baby girl. Jade.” Your friend, who was conflicted about your blossoming relationship with the gangster, waved from her spot by the office door. “You just getting here?” You nodded as you walked over to lean on his desk.

“Spa day ran a little later than I expected. How’s work?” He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on his stomach with a shake of his head. 

“Fucking obnoxious.” He groaned as he pointed to the man sitting across the desk from him. “Dealing with idiots like this fuck who…” You quickly leaned forward and put your hand over his mouth with a small shake of your head.

“Mixed company.” You whispered so that only he would hear as you gestured to Jade with your eyes only. “Not now.” He nodded his head and reached up to lace his fingers with yours.

“Good girl.” He said as he kissed your fingertips. “You go have fun. I’ll be up here for a while.”

“Alright, baby.” You said as you leaned forward to leave a faint, red kiss on his cheek. “Have fun with the idiots.” He chuckled and gave you a light swat on the ass. You flipped your hair over your shoulder and looked back at him with a wink on your way out the door.

“I don’t like it.” Jade said with a shake of her head. You looked over at her as the pair of you walked side by side to the stairs.

“Weren’t you the one that told me that I was lucky that Negan liked me? Weren’t you the one that said I should sleep with him?” She came to a stop at the top of the stairs and sighed as she put her fingertips on her forehead with a shake of her head.

“I did.” She replied as she met your green eyes. “It’s just… look, I love you. I want you to be happy but I’m scared of what dating him could lead to for you. Especially with everything going on with Christian.” You glanced around to make sure no one was close to you, and pulled her a step closer.

“Nothing can ever happen to me.” You said directly in her ear so that no one could over hear you. “Trust me, Negan promised and I looked into it. I can’t be arrested because I don’t know anything. Christian can come at me all he wants but there’s not a damn thing he could make stick. I don’t call shots. Women bosses in the Mafia were phased out fifteen years ago to prevent wives from suffering the fate men can. I’m literally just arm candy along with the rest of the wives. I know it seems unbelievable but I’m safe. I’m untouchable.” You pulled away to look at her with a small nod. 

“After everything I went through with Christian, Negan swore he would guarantee that no matter what, I’d be safe. He swore that no matter what, I would never know anything that could land me in jail or in a grave. Trust me, you aren’t the only one scared here with me dating a boss… but I trust him. I trust that he will protect me. I have to.”

“OK.” She agreed with a nod. “Alright, I trust you so if you trust him, so do I. But I know nothing. And I want him to keep Mark out of it as well.”

“You have my word.” You agreed as you laced your arm with hers and headed down the stairs. “Come on, let’s dance.”

——

You knew it was only a matter of time before Christian retaliated but you were absolutely not expecting the retaliation he delivered. You were working out in the gym when your door buzzer buzzed loudly through the entire house. You groaned at having to stop just shy of your two mile run and headed over to let whoever was there you’d be down in a moment. The welcoming smile you stepped out of the elevator with dropped instantly at the sight of two blue police officers uniforms standing on the other side of your red, frosted glass door.

“Boys.” You said a breathily over Chewie’s barking with a nod of your head as you looked back and forth between Jade’s husband, Mark and his captain, Ben.

“(Y/N). Sorry to bother you but… well, we have a warrant.” You cocked your eyebrow at them and stuck your hand out for the warrant as you took a step back into your house.

“What are you looking for? I can save your boys the trouble of tearing apart my house.” Your eyes danced across the page as Mark cleared his throat.

“Two watches. Chief claims you stole them from him. And roughly two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” You swore under your breath and rolled your eyes as you folded the paper back up.

“Didn’t steal them.” You said as you closed your front door, picked up your dog, and gestured them toward the elevator. “I purchased them with my money and kept them…”

“OK, (Y/N). Stop talking.” Ben interrupted as you hit the third floor button and closed the gate to the elevator. “Not another word until you’re with your lawyer.” You nodded your head in understanding as the elevator came to a stop on the master suite floor.

“Can I at least jump in the shower first before you haul my ass in? I’ll make it quick.” You grabbed the two watches in question from their boxes in the top drawer of the dresser in Christian’s old closet and handed them to Ben, who nodded slowly.

“You gotta be quick, OK? And I’m gonna stand out here in the sitting room.” You nodded and looked at Mark with the hint of tears in your eyes as you passed him your fur child.

“Can you go down and feed Chewie? His food is in the pantry and the scoop is in the bag. One even scoop.” Your friend nodded and turned back toward the elevator. You growled to yourself and headed into the bathroom with a shake of your head. “Stupid son of a bitch is never gunna give up.”

——

You could feel your husband watching you from the other side of the two way mirror as you waited patiently and silently for your lawyer to get there with the documents you had told him to get from your house. Your still damp hair was making you shiver in the freezing cold room and you cursed yourself for not thinking to grab a sweater to throw on over your plain black t-shirt and jeans. You cursed Christian as well for being so damn ridiculous and petty since the division of property was clearly spelled out in the prenup you were so grateful you had made him sign before you got married.

“So how have you been, (Y/N)?” Ben asked from across the table just to fill the silence with something. You huffed a laugh and nodded your head minutely.

“I’m doing really well, Benny. Probably ten times better than the last time you saw me. How’s Susan doing?”

“She’s doing real well, thanks for asking.” He replied before someone rapped impatiently on the glass behind him.

“Uh oh! Better not talk to the enemy.” You joked with zero humor in your tone as you looked up at the mirror again. You huffed and shook your head as your lawyer, Nathan, finally came into the room with a giant pile of documents in his hands. 

“OK.” Nathan said as he dropped the stack of papers on the table and pulled out the metal chair beside you. “So, let’s hear the charges against my client.” You crossed your legs and leaned back in your chair.

“Grand theft…” Ben tried before you simply interrupted him.

“You gunna come in here and get schooled or you wanna hide behind the glass?” You called out. Nathan hissed your name seconds before the door to the interrogation room flung open.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Christian demanded as Ben lurched to his feet. “You fucking thief!” You smiled contently as you reached out and grabbed the stack of papers from in front of Nathan.

“Thief, am I?” You asked as you flipped through them to find the prenup first. “We’ll start with this.” You held up the thick stack of papers and rested your elbow on the table for a moment. When his eyes narrowed, you pursed your bottom lip and nodded as you flipped through to find the page you needed. “Pre-nuptial agreement signed by both of us, right? The one you signed agreeing that we… oh, here we go.” You flipped the page over and slammed the packet down on the table where Christian and Ben could see it.

“We each had a fucking personal bank account where our incomes were coming in with a joint account in the middle we would both move money in to for bills. Your signature is right fucking here, Christian, agreeing that if we got a divorce, we’d split the joint account fifty-fifty. Right?” You cocked your eyebrow at him as you pushed the paper closer before flipping through the rest of the stack to look for the statement for the joint account.

“Well, that’s what I did.” You said as you pulled out the last two bank statements and the amount you pulled out the day you closed your personal account to switch banks. “I split it directly down the middle to the fucking penny. Two hundred, fifty-one thousand, four hundred and sixteen dollars and twenty-three cents. Exactly half of what was in the account despite the fact that I was the only one putting money in for bills in the last four months. So technically, I should have taken more but I didn’t because I’m not a shitty person.” Christian stepped forward and snagged the bank statements off the table as you continued on your rant.

“Now the watches? Those were paid for with my money, out of my fucking account. Not yours. They were anniversary gifts. Was I petty by keeping them? Sure, but I did anyways because fuck you.”

“Fuck me?” Christian snapped back as his eyes darted up with yours.

“Yea, fuck you!” You snapped back as you leapt up from the chair. “Fuck you for beating me and thinking it was acceptable! Fuck you for making me think I was less than what I was worth! Fuck you for everything you put me through! You want the fucking watches so bad you need to have me fucking arrested for it, then fucking take them! I don’t give a shit. But next time you pull a fucking stunt like this, keep in mind. I have been one fucking step ahead of you for seven years. I have kept receipts for every single fucking thing I have bought you since we started dating. Every dinner, every gift, every article of clothing, magazine subscription, and bottle of wine. Everything is documented. Every receipt is filed in the basement like it always has been. Just like the receipts for the two watches I supposedly stole from you.” You snagged the receipts out of the pile and slammed them down on the table and grabbed the prenup again.

“Sign the fucking divorce papers, asshole, because I will fucking take you to court and I will make it very public and messy as fuck. You signed off on this divorce before you even said I do. Sign- the fucking- papers! Can I go now?” You looked over at Ben with your eyebrow raised as you reached out as far as you could and snatched the bank statements from Christian.

“Yea.” He said with a nod as he fought hard to keep the smile off his face. “You can go.”

“The charges against my client are obviously going to be dropped, correct?” Nathan asked as you collected all the papers he had brought you.

“Absolutely.” Ben said with a nod.

“Sign the Goddamn papers.” You said again as you walked around the table and headed out the door. You paused in the archway and looked back over your shoulder at your hopefully soon to be ex-husband. “And if you fucking dare to have me arrested again on some trumped up, bullshit charges, I will sue you and the NYPD for harassment. Try me.”

“You fucking bitch.” Christian shouted as he lunged for you. Ben caught him around the middle and held him back as you simply flicked him off over your shoulder.

“Bye Ben! Send Susan my love!”

“Can you not taunt the chief of police?” Nathan asked as he walked with you through the police station. “At least, not in front of me.”

“He deserves it.” You said with a shake of your head as you stepped outside. Your smile grew as Negan, looking as dapper as ever, looked up from his phone and pushed off his town car.

“Hey trouble.” He chuckled. “Didn’t think I’d be the one picking your ass up from the police station.”

“Stop.” You giggled as he took your paperwork from you. “Misunderstanding. This is my lawyer, Nathan Riggs. Nathan, this is Negan.” The two men shook hands before Nathan gestured over his shoulder with his thumb.

“Sorry to cut this short, but I got court in twenty minutes. Judge Harris will kick my ass if I’m late again.”

“Oh! Tell Ian I say hi.” He nodded and waved bye before grabbing a cab.

“Let’s get you home, my little trouble maker.” You smiled as Negan opened the back door and gestured you in.

“I was completely innocent, here.” You said as you got in and scooted across the backseat to give him room. “And damn, you should have seen that jerk’s face. So priceless.”

“So, what the fuck did you get arrested for, anyways?” You sighed and leaned into his side as his driver pulled away from the curb and headed up town to the Upper East Side.

“Grand theft over three hundred thousand.” You breathed as he put his arm around your shoulders.

“Well fuck me running. Way to go, baby.” You looked up at him with a fake scowl and rolled your eyes.

“Shut up.” He chuckled lowly and kissed the top of your head.

“Anything you say, fellow felon.” You groaned and buried your face in his black suit jacket.

“Oh, my God.”

Part 4

#Negan x Reader #The Unexpected Protector #Negan thirst squad #Negan's thirst squad

[emilywatchescursedshow]

Spn Season 1 Review

Hoboy

First, the live blogs of the last 4 episodes were done in a haze of jetlag depression so were less specific to what was actually happening in the episodes than normal and contained no extraneous information. HOWMEVER. I will get into those episodes more in this recap because:

1. I do not feel like the season really Led Up to this finale. Part of that could be because I took a bit of a break halfway through, but I think also the groundwork for the Sam/John parallel they tell us about was not really set up in previous episodes. 2. I think that the characterization of the brothers and their relationship to John is really Interesting in these episodes and the drama of that is a big part of the show as a whole, so the last several episodes are pretty relevant here.

THEMING The theme of season 1 is more or less: family. How do you handle family trauma and loss? How do you as a parent protect your children vs let them have independent lives (or just suck major ass)? To what extent is your family holding you back? Etc. The two sort of relationship dynamics this plays in is the Sam/Dean dynamic and the John/sons dynamic.

DEAN Dean’s characterization through this theme remains pretty consistent: he wants to be with his family. He showed up to get Sam at the beginning of the season, and he wants to keep them all alive at the end of the season instead of sacrificing John to kill the demon. The irony is that the season ends with them all “dying” (I know they’re not dead, but right now that’s what the show wants us to believe) and Dean’s insistence on family unity is what ends up getting them all killed.

Dean’s story line throughout has been one of responsibility assumed too early. After their mom died, his dad basically made him co-parent. Dean had to give up his ambitions to bend to his dad’s wishes while also trying to protect Sam from John and various monsters. It makes sense for him, given that backstory, that keeping the family together is his highest priority: he has been forced to give up all sense of self to keep his family safe, so if they die then he literally has nothing. I think it’s interesting that Dean is the only one of him or Sam who actually knew their mother, and yet Sam is the one who gets a mother-relevant character arc.

That might be because of the next aspect of Dean’s character we see: he likes to have sex with women. I tend to be pretty sensitive to misogyny/mistreatment of women on screen, so either I’ve lost my mind or I’m already watching this show through a very queer lens because Dean’s treatment of women throughout the season Did Not Bother Me. The only thing that really rang sour was at the beginning of Provenance when Dean is lying to women about his job to get into bed with them, but even then, like, eh? The whole scene (and all the other such scenes) are depicted with a lightheartedness that is hard to read malice into, and Jackles plays that part with such a wide-eyed “Wow! I get to have sex now!” that it’s hard not to feel anything but happy for the guy. I do suspect that Dean is supposed to be characterized as “treating women like whores/expendable” and so does not have an attachment to his mother in this season because he’s not allowed to have a complex relationship with a woman.

SAM Uh boy. So Sam’s arc begins with his girlfriend getting immolated - we learn later that Sam wanted to propose to her and so she was getting in the way of the demon’s plans for “kids like him.” Whatever that means - the show does not communicate its stakes to us AT ALL, more on that later. Sam gets some episodes of characterization throughout. The only two I can remember are the one with the abused psychic and the one where a woman decides she’s in love with him within seconds of meeting him. In neither episode to I really feel like I understand Sam as a character. We are told at various points that he really loved Jessica and her death has affected him greatly. At the beginning of the season, he dreams about it often, but these dreams end up being psychic in nature (I think?) and fall off by mid season. He doesn’t have a keepsake of hers to gaze at longingly or any other way of showing he’s having trouble letting go. Dean basically lets him off the leash to go kiss Sarah in Provenance, which he seems pretty happy to do and has no real guilt over after. Sam’s characterization is carried out very directly - we are told what he is feeling or had felt, instead of some combination of saying it via dialogue and reading it from his actions. I’ve mentioned that I don’t think Jarp is especially strong as an actor, but I have to chalk this up to both weaknesses in writing and acting because scenes that communicate Sam’s internal world are largely nonexistent IMO.

We are told that the connection between their mother’s death and Jess’s death has had a great impact on Sam. He believes that he is cursed so that the “people he loves” (read, women) will die. While in a broad sense this might be true as the demon does admit to have targeted Sam, the supposed “curse” is not really dealt with by Sam except as a barrier in his journey to move on from lost love. Jess’s death served as Sam’s call to adventure at the beginning of the season and should give some emotional connection to Sam’s continued commitment to hunting, but until the final episodes Sam’s involvement in the monster world is continually explained as “wants to find dad” and not “wants to break curse.” In these episodes, Sam’s Jess backstory comes back and we are told that his desire to kill the demon makes him “like John.” Which. Is. Stupid. Let me explain.

In terms of the theming, Sam’s wanting to kill the demon even though it might cost the lives of any number of the Winchesters makes sense because of his established relationship with his family. He wanted to have a normal life which alienated him from Dean and John. Sam has very negative memories of John, and has little brother blindness to the stuff Dean did for him growing up and is largely unhappy with Dean as well. Thus it is not surprising that to Sam, a Winchester dying is not as large a price to pay if it means that Sam gets to have a normal life.

HOWEVER. I am giving the show a LOT of credit here because they DO NOT make that connection, instead going for the stupid “Sam is like John” parallel which is treated almost like a surprise reveal. John’s reasons for killing the demon are NOT Sam’s reasons for killing the demon. John is motivated by revenge to an insane degree: it has consumed his life and the lives of both of his sons. Sam is not revenge motivated. He moves on from Jess’s death in literally THE EPISODE before the finale run starts. Sam is motivated by what he has always been motivated by: his desire for a normal life, including a wife who wont burst into flames. So on a thematic level, short-handing these character conflicts as “Sam is like John” (which is explicitly stated multiple times throughout these episodes) does not work because these characters are approaching family from a very different place even if they end up with the same goal.

I do want to mention that I think Sam’s backstory of wanting a normal life could have been set up better; the show does a good job with Dean’s “too much responsibility too young” child stand-in, but Sam does not get a “I just wanted to go to prom” child stand-in. Which I miss because that would be HILARIOUS. I think the issue the show has here with Sam is, in short, that Sam wanting to be normal is Very Boring, whereas the world of monsters and how Tortured and Jaded everyone is is much Sexier.

JOHN The text of the show is pretty unabashed about telling us things that John did that a reasonable audience member could interpret as being Very Bad. In the brief moments he has on the show, the dynamic between him and his sons is mixed. There are plenty of heartfelt family moments, and there are plenty of fights. I think the show is definitely weakest when it is following John by himself. I do not care about John except as he relates to Sam and Dean, and really if he is in any sort of danger I just want him to die based on how awful he is as a person, so the suspense does not swing the way the writers maybe wanted it to. 

I think the twist at the end, where Dean realizes the demon has possessed their dad because he’s acting nicer, just b a r e l y works based on what they’ve set up. Honestly, I think the real problem is that John Winchester’s actor does not, to me, read as having any onscreen charisma. In the altercations that he has with Sam, I don’t really feel a threat from him. There isn’t any explosive or destructive energy, just sort of “your mom is mad you ate the last of her ice cream” energy. I’ve literally BEEN a more intimidating fake drill sergeant than John Winchester and I’m 5 feet tall and 110 lbs. John has big sad wet dog energy. He can get mad, but not in a way that’s actually intimidating. Thus, him telling Dean that he’s proud is sort of like “yeah, I bet this milksop is proud or whatever” and not “wow I would have expected that character to be a lot more upset right now.” I get that family dynamics can be complicated and a parent can cause you Bone Pain with just a look that to anyone else would seem harmless, but this is a television show where things have to read on screen. One Look Bone Pain is a lot more nuanced to construct. I think John being Big Mean Drill Sergeant is what they’re trying for, but in my opinion he's mostly just annoying.

Anyway John sucks.

WHAT’S NOT THERE The above talks a lot about what *is* in the show vis. the family theme. But Emily, this is a monster show. What about the monsters? Well. What about them indeed.

This first season of Supernatural is very clearly referencing the tradition of The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A lot of former X-Files people are credited on the season and they mention BTVS by name in an episode that is clearly themed around season 6 Buffy villains. Howmever. Both TXF and BTVS have a very important thing that Supernatural does not. STAKES. And not just ones meant for vamps that then get ignored by SPNs stupid vamp lore voice over.

Both BTVS and TXF handle their monsters very differently. BTVS is a universe where the main character has been fully initiated into the world of monsters so that, throughout the course of the episode, it is reasonable for her to detail pretty specifically what the monster is and what it is capable of. On the other hand, the characters in TXF must always be kept on the edge of the monster world, getting faint glimpses here and there. Usually, Mulder has an expository scene giving information on “what is known” at the beginning of the episode and then further monstrosity is communicated to the audience via interstitial scenes that tell the audience what the monster is and where it’s going, introducing dramatic tension: AA NO SCULLY DON’T TOUCH THAT IT’S SUPER GROSS. Both avenues successfully communicate to the audience what the monsters are (approximately), what they can do, and what their motivations are. This means that in the climactic scene, the audience knows what the STAKES are. They know what might be lost of the main characters fail, they know what the characters need to overcome to succeed, and they know what the monster is trying to accomplish.

Now. Some of the MOTW episodes in Supernatural do communicate what the monster is and what it wants. Scarecrow and Bugs are two that come to mind that both do this. Tellingly, both of these episodes also seem very modeled on TXF (compare/contrast Bugs with the trash golem episode of TXF where Mulder hip thrusts after sticking a flamingo in the yard, essay for another time).

Home is the first Supernatural episode that I identified as being extremely plot-oriented after the pilot. It’s also the first episode after the pilot to give sole writing credit to Kripke. There are interstitial scenes wherein the audience sees spooky stuff happening. However, these scenes do not further the audience’s understanding of the monster - we already know the house is evil and trying to kill people, and that’s pretty much all those scenes show. Moreover, Sam and Dean do not learn more about the monster in the house during this episode; their arc is basically just “Wow, isn’t it strange that the house is spooky now? Our mom died here!” The resolution at the end is borderline incomprehensible and their mother just sort of. Appears. Out of nowhere and then vanishes again with very little emotional weight given to this occurrence later in the episode or in the next episode. My summary of Home was pretty much “I did not like this and don’t want to be mean.” I talked about how I like monsters in monster shows, whereas Supernatural is more of a soap opera.

And yeah, the finale of Supernatural (written by Kripke) basically follows that track as well. I don’t know what these demons are or what they want. I don’t know what they can do besides possess people. When Meg confronts people and talks all big it’s hard for me to take seriously because I don’t know what she wants or what she is capable of, except in that one scene where she wanted to fuck Sam which. gross!

This is what I mean by saying that Supernatural does not have stakes. When the choice between losing a family member verses not defeating the monster is posited, the only reason I as an audience member feel engaged is the family conflict that has been established. There is no tension about the monster because I just have to assume that it will do whatever the writers decide it should do. I’m not weighing the odds of the Winchesters winning, I’m just watching them point guns at each other and hoping for the best.

CONCLUSION Jensen Ackles does a good job of playing Dean and he should get an award especially for his performances in the last two episodes of the show. IMO, he basically carried the emotional weight of the conflict and really made us root for Sam to not shoot his dad which is HARD because of how badly John sucks. I’m going to keep watching this show because of Jensen Ackles playing Dean Winchester. Fight me about it.

I think season 1 of Supernatural felt like watching two different shows with the same main characters. On the one hand, you have the MOTW episodes which invariably begin with “Here’s why we’re not tracking down our dad, even though that’s our stated motivation” and then tell a nice monster mystery with some good character beats. On the other hand, you have the series arc episodes, which are soap operas with demonic elements. I’m fine with it - because of Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester. I’m interested to see what season 2 is like.

#supernatural #season 1 review #spn

[livinginlandmarketing]

Forty-one people died from police pursuits in California during 2020 – making it the deadliest year for chases involving law enforcement since 2006 when a state law meant to improve safety took effect.

In those 15 years through 2020, a Southern California News Group analysis of data from the California Highway Patrol shows, 476 people were killed:

281 drivers fleeing police

94 passengers in suspect vehicles

91 bystanders

10 police officers

Meanwhile, collisions occurred in about a quarter of the 109,941 pursuits, with more than 15,000 people suffering injuries.

And the number of deaths and injuries could be higher. The CHP’s data depends on police agencies submitting reports on their pursuits as required by state law, but the analysis shows that an undetermined number either weren’t properly sent in or compiled.

In 2002, Candy Priano’s 15-year-old daughter, Kristie, was killed when Chico police went after a teenager who stole her mom’s RAV-4, in part inspiring the safety law. Priano’s husband was driving Kristie to her high school basketball game when the fleeing teen struck their minivan.

Five years later Candy Priano founded Pursuit Safety, a nonprofit that aims to reduce the number of deaths and injuries in law-enforcement chases.

“One is too many,” Candy Priano said. “Especially when you’re talking about nonviolent suspects, and when you’re chasing someone for only a property crime.

“When they see a car on the street,” she said of officers, “like a blue pickup, they shouldn’t see a blue pickup. They should see a father going to work. When they see a white minivan, they shouldn’t see a white minivan – they should see a mother taking her daughter to school.”

Priano said police aren’t at fault for pulling someone over, but the decision to chase after someone who drives off is what needs to be looked at: “And they tell you they watch for traffic and weather, but [deaths] still keep happening, so that strategy isn’t working.”

Under department policies and statewide guidelines, officers are to be trained to know when to hit the sirens and lights and chase after drivers — and when to just let them go.

“There’s an interest from the public to catch and capture an individual that has committed a serious crime and that we do so responsibly,” said Long Beach Sgt. Paul Gallo, who is in the department’s training division. “Society will have an expectation that we don’t look the other way.”

Sometimes, the police are going after someone unlawfully carrying a weapon or a suspect in a homicide. More often officers are pursuing a motorist for a traffic violation such as speeding, an expired vehicle registration, or running a traffic light or a stop sign. Many suspects were driving a stolen vehicle.

“A lot of people say, ‘It’s a minor violation, why pursue them?’ ” said Amber Wright, a CHP officer and spokeswoman. “Sometimes it’s more than just no registration. We don’t know what this person is running from.”

Hemet police investigate a crash that happened at the end of a pursuit on Nov. 28, 2020. One person was killed and two others — including the 15-year-old driver — were injured when the car rolled over on Devonshire Avenue near Lyon Street, police said. (Timothy Franzese, Public Safety Incidents)

Under California law, when considering a pursuit, an officer is to weigh the danger a suspect may pose to the public if allowed to get away versus the danger the pursuit presents. Factors can include the time of day, whether in a residential neighborhood or if a school is nearby, the number of pedestrians about, an officer’s familiarity with the area, and weather and road conditions.

That balance test is taken in seconds.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on while the situation is unfolding,” said Cpl. Danny Garcia of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which runs a regional pursuit-training center. “That’s why pursuits are high-stress situations.”

When officers do pursue, the lights oftentimes flash and the sirens whine – they have entered “Code 3.”

“Accidents still happen, but we tell our officers Code 3 driving is our safest driving,” Anaheim Sgt. Shane Carringer said. “You really need to be in the game.”

Agencies’ policies guiding officers’ decisions on when to give chase vary.

Many police departments, including Anaheim’s and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, allow officers to use their discretion.

Long Beach police tell their officers to initiate pursuits when there is suspicion that the individual has committed a felony or is about to or is impaired. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department holds a similar standard.

The Los Angeles Police Department tells its officers to not pursue a driver for only a minor driving offense or if the motorist just didn’t pull over.

Elsewhere in the U.S., some cities hold even stricter standards. The Milwaukee and Dallas police departments instruct their officers to chase only when an individual has committed a violent felony or may be in the act of doing so.

The Atlanta Police Department famously suspended all vehicle pursuits at the start of 2020 after two tragedies, including one in which teens chased by officers for driving a stolen SUV struck and killed a man on his way to pick up medications at a pharmacy for his disabled son. By year’s end, though, Atlanta police resumed chases but only when someone is suspected of certain felonies, such as for murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping or manslaughter.

One May night in 2020 after 11 p.m., Jose Hernandez, 32, was out walking his dog in Long Beach. Police were after a Mercedes-Benz mini SUV with a suspect accused of stealing pot plants from a licensed dispensary.

Hernandez and his dog stepped into a crosswalk on Sixth Street at Magnolia Avenue and that SUV ran a red light and plowed into them at 90 mph, killing both, authorities said.

Police had already arrested three other suspects and, Long Beach police wrote in the traffic collision report, the intersection is known to have “high pedestrian activity.”

Andrew and Lisa Greene leave a leash for the loss of their dog Indy and their good friend Jessica Bingaman during a vigil to honor her and the five dogs who died in a crash at the end of a police pursuit in Long Beach as people gather at the crash site on Wednesday, May 08, 2019. (Photo by Ana P. Garcia, Contributing Photographer)

Jessica Bingaman, 41, was killed in a pursuit-ending crash in Long Beach that also killed five dogs. Bingaman was shuttling the dogs as part of a dog daycare service, police say. (Courtesy of Bingaman Family)

From left, Hayley Kaiser, 10 and Kim Kaiser attend a vigil to honor Jessica Bingaman who died in a crash at the end of a police pursuit in Long Beach as people gather at the crash site on Wednesday, May 08, 2019. (Photo by Ana P. Garcia, Contributing Photographer)

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A year earlier, just several miles away, Jessica Bingaman, 41, died after a man driving a suspected stolen van, chased by Long Beach police, ran a stop sign and rammed into her car at 11:30 a.m., authorities said. The mother of an 11-year-old, she was a dog sitter, and five of the six dogs with her were also killed.

Bingaman’s mother, DonAnn Lawson, said police should not have been pursuing a suspect at high speeds in a residential area, and not for just a stolen vehicle. Lawson said an officer told her the suspect was speeding when he crashed into her daughter’s vehicle.

“Why did they have to pursue?” she said. “What did he do that was earth-shattering that they had to do this in a residential section?

“Did he kill somebody? No. Did he rape somebody? No. Did he kidnap a kid? That would be the one thing I feel they would have to chase someone,” she said. “But somebody was picked up on a theft charge. That’s my question: ‘Why?’”

In a claim filed against the city, Lawson’s attorney said Long Beach police knew who they were chasing and could have found him later. Lawson said an officer told her police knew the suspect’s identity.

In October 2019, Edward and Gracie Contreras picked up their 13-year-old son who had spent a night with friends at Knott’s Berry Farm. A Jeep driven by a man suspected of carjacking pursued by West Covina officers ran a red light and slammed into the family’s car at an intersection, police said. The parents were killed; the boy continues to recover from leg and arm injuries.

Gracie and Edward Contreras of Covina were killed when a carjacking suspect fleeing West Covina police crashed into their vehicle early Saturday morning, Oct. 12, 2019, on Cameron and Glendora avenues. Gracie Contreras’ 13-year-old son was seriously injured in the collision. There is a memorial near the intersection. (Photo by Ruby Gonzales, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

“Even now, we haven’t gotten over it, and we think about him all the time,” Anna Martinez said of the step-father, her brother. “It’s just a car. Why kill people? They are not the first ones to die, either. All these deaths, it could’ve been avoided.”

The accused carjacker, police said, had taken the Jeep at knifepoint in Baldwin Park.

Attorneys for the Contreras’ family, in a wrongful-death lawsuit, said the Jeep could have been found later: The owner had left her cell phone inside, which is how police tracked down the Jeep in the first place. Further, the suit says, police did not have their lights and sirens on.

In November, police spotted a car in Hemet suspected stolen out of Desert Hot Springs and attempted to pull it over. The driver sped away. During the chase lasting three-fourths of a mile, the suspect ran a red light and swerved to avoid another vehicle, sending the car toward a sidewalk where it rolled over, police said. The passenger was ejected and died. Two others, including the 15-year-old driver, suffered severe injuries.

Police departments involved in the deadly collisions declined to provide further details, some citing pending litigation.

Officers have died in pursuits, too. In 2017, CHP Officer Lucas Chellew was chasing a man suspected of riding a stolen motorcycle. He tried to avoid a vehicle that pulled out in front of him at a busy intersection but lost control, crashed and died.

  The casket of California Highway Patrol Officer Lucas Chellew is carried into Adventure Christian Church in Roseville, Calif., before his funeral service on Saturday, March 4, 2017. Chellew was thrown from his motorcycle and killed while in pursuit of a vehicle in Sacramento. (Autumn Payne /The Sacramento Bee via AP)

Before becoming a spokesman for Anaheim police in 2019, Carringer worked as a patrol officer for 14 years and has been in at least 50 vehicle pursuits: “Anytime, if I’m speaking personally, I get into a pursuit, I’m very much aware of what’s happening is dangerous.”

There is always a risk for an officer to enter tunnel vision, Carringer said, when pressure catches up and the officer is unable to make sound decisions. “I don’t want an officer who is amped up on the pursuit,” he said.

In general, the supervisor overseeing the pursuit, whether from a police station while listening to the radio and watching the moving location via GPS, or from a patrol car following behind, can decide to replace the officer with another or to just end the chase.

The data shows most chases ended without a collision.

About 60% of the time, police took the suspect into custody. In the other pursuits, law enforcement called off the pursuit because there was another way to make the arrest, such as tracking down the suspect later, or police saw the risk as too great to continue, or the suspect slipped away or died in a collision or was injured and required hospitalization.

In October, following a short pursuit that ended with a crash, Long Beach police arrested a man suspected of a fatal shooting from several months before.

The same month LAPD officers chased down a man who had carjacked a car with an eight-month-old child and his grandmother in the vehicle. Police arrested the man after officers used a spike strip that brought the car to a halt during the slow-speed pursuit through downtown Los Angeles.

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And earlier this month police in Pomona arrested a man who was a “subject of interest” in a Kern County homicide, and suspected of a carjacking and previously evading police, after he led officers on a chase from Murrieta, through the Jurupa Valley, into San Bernardino County, and finally ending with a collision with a parked big rig parked at a gas station. The suspect suffered a leg injury.

The pursuit-safety law, which took effect in 2006, made it more difficult for police departments to gain immunity in courtrooms to avoid big civil payouts. Instead of just requiring departments to only have pursuit policies to gain immunity, officers now must read and understand them, and departments must offer annual pursuit training.

Police pursuits, and the deaths from them, did decrease after passage of the law, but after several years started increasing again.

Why is unclear.

State Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, voted in favor of the pursuit-safety law while in the Assembly. He plans to bring up those increases in the Senate.

“Is it a function of increased population?” Umberg said. “Is it a function of different police tactics? Is it a function of folks deciding that they think they can be more successful in evading the law?”

In 2020, according to the CHP data, there were 9,861 pursuits across the state – an average of 27 a day.

-on April 25, 2021 at 11:16PM by Jonah Valdez

#riversidenews

[pixiedurango]

Like real people do - pt 5 (A Lucas North love story)

OK, I’ve gone entirely overboard with a cute little request from @deepestfirefun: He’s supposed to meet and fall in love with a woman who works in an animal shelter and has nothing to do with the world he lives and works in.  Setting: We decided to completely ignore the main plot of spooks’ season 9 but stick to several events in the timeline as this whole thing is set after Sarah’s death and I let Beth and Dimitri work at section D and Lucas is chief in command after Ros died. Our sandbox, our rules! words: 896

part 1  |  part 2  | part 3 | part 4

In case you wonder, here is the song that inspired the title: Hozier - Like real people do Enjoy! Reblogs and comments are love @whohobbs @xxbyimm @fizzy-custard @patanghill17 @tinkertailor1212@wardenparker @sherala007 @fullvoidmoon@hannibatchsmuse @lady-jessica-9 @thorincuddlez@hariclea @fandomgalcentral @inkededucatednnerdy@mynameisnoneya1991 @maybetomorrowgirl @vaneaustation @tendersquishyjamie

pt. 5

“Thirty seconds left.” Lucas pants as he falls back onto the lawn when all the tension leaves him the second the wires are cut.

They are both covered in sweat and he feels beyond exhaustion. Slowly realizing that the threat is over and no one has been hurt. A good end so to say.

The formerly aggressive and dangerous black AmStaff lies in her lap, waggling tail and obviously happily whimpering, licking her hand. It's amazing how much of a change this is. He turns his head away so she can't see him smile. Only thing that's for him to hold is the harness with the disarmed bomb in it. It had been tricky to operate on a nervous animal and to trust a stranger to keep it calm so he could do his work. The bomb itself had been pretty standard and once realizing that, it had been all routine and quick work. But still. Disarming bombs is a thing he will never ever get used to no matter how often he'll be training for it and no matter how often he had been able to do it in real life threats before.

“We're safe.” Lucas finally sits up again and takes a few deep breaths. “Thank you for your help.”

The way she glances at him makes him swallow hard. Now that the danger is over she seems to realize what just has happened here and she obviously does not particularly like it. “If I was less polite, Lucas, I'd say fuck you and be gone.” Coldly meeting his eyes while she pets the dog and her new friend happily accepts the attention. It's still incredibly unbelievable to him how she had been able to win the creature's trust this fast. Deciding she must be some kind of a dog whisperer. But her words hurt him. He had been thinking they had found a connection and were a good team. Actually he does not see any problem and why she's going so harsh on him all in a sudden.  

“You are free to say what ever you want.” Lucas eventually replies and his voice shows how tired he is, reveals way more than he is comfortable with showing about himself. Beside that, he feels slightly annoyed by her reaction. The still running adrenaline makes his reply a bit more aggressive than he intends it to be. “It's a free country.” Her smile is not a happy one and her voice is dripping from sarcasm when she replies. “Oh, is it, really? Being kidnapped from your work place? Having no choice to reject? To do some crazy shit a few government clerks demand you to? Really have I been free today? Think again!” She snaps at him, finally beginning to get up, collecting her stuff and he hurries to follow her. Not capable of giving her any reply he feels hurt in a way Lucas does not understand. “What's with the dog?” He asks instead as he walks after her, watching how the black animal peacefully walks beside her on the leash she had put around its neck. He feels slightly uncomfortable thinking of having the dog in his neck while driving back to headquarter. “I'll keep her. No need to bother, I'll go home by tube.” She replies with a frozen voice, making pretty clear that she's done with him. “No... no!” With a few quick steps he's next to her. Realizing the dog's instantly tensing but doing nothing but keep on walking close at her side. “You don't have to go back to the office with me, but I'll give you a lift.” Watching how she keeps on walking with a stubborn face and without even looking at him. “Come on! I won't be begging you but there's no need for you to make this complicated.” Actually she has no desire to spend still more time with this man. He is disturbingly good looking but at the same time so cold and distant it gives her uncomfortable tingles up and down the spine. This man means trouble and the past hours were all the proof she should need so all her senses tell her to back off. She does not want to have anything to do with this sort of things. MI5, government stuff, bombs and terrorists. She's only an animal rescue worker and she has no intention of knowing more of the fucked up environment Lucas is working in. But he is right with one thing, at least, she has to admit: With all the stuff she's carrying and the dog next to her, trying to get home on her own is ridiculous when his car is just waiting. “Very well. Fine!” She finally gives in while she nods at the dog. “Drive me to the shelter. She needs a vet check.” It concerns him that he's so relieved she accepts his simple offer and that he's so eager to be allowed to take her home. Lucas has no idea what to make out of this and he actually has no guts to get into further think about it. She's a random woman who he had to work together with today and once she hops off from his car he would not spend another thought about her ever. But he already feels that this will not be that easy.

#Lucas North #Richard Armitage #spooks

[bbusallday]

BB19 Nighttime Updates - 7/27 - Day 37 (Complete)

Updater: Hannah & Madison

Recent evictee: Ramses HOH: Paul Nominees:  POV players:  POV holder:  Have nots: Josh, Kevin & Mark

7:01 PM – cam 1

Feeds return.

Paul, Cody and Jess in the lounge.

Paul is explaining why the vote flipped to them. He says it was a last minute decision and he doesn't want them to be upset with him because there were 7 votes to evict Ramses.

Cody says Paul and everyone has been so wishy-washy with him. Jess says everyone was whispering behind her back all week and she feels like a target now.

Paul keeps explaining why they got rid of Ramses; he had the $25K, he was smart, etc.

Cody says he doesn't want to be an outsider.

Jess says 7 people lied to her face and some of them gave her their word.

Mark comes in and asks if he is in trouble.

Paul says no and they only left them in the dark because of the Josh situation with them and he didn't want the opportunity for them to try to get Josh out.

Cody says they just wanted confirmation that there was some trust in the house.

Paul keeps saying they can talk to all 7 of the voters and see that it wasn't anything against anyone, Ramses just had to go because he was sneaky and a dangerous player.

Mark asks if Paul sees how Josh treats them. Paul says he does but they just need to block it out because this is Big Brother.

Jessica tells Paul to keep his dog (Josh) on a leash.

Paul says Josh isn't his dog, he has no control over him but he sucks at this game. Paul compares Josh to Big Meech.

Cody says he wants to see actions moving forward to show they aren't outsiders.

Paul says they secluded themselves this week upstairs.

Jess and Cody say they didn't. Cody says rooms cleared every time he joined, no one would talk to him.

Paul is going on and on trying to reason with them why he got rid of Ramses. Cody, Jess and Mark are mostly quiet and if they talk Paul interrupts them.

Cody: How am I still looked at as a wildcard and not an asset?

Paul says he doesn't know, he doesn't control the house and he can't control their actions.

Jessica says she has walked in on convos all week so she knows this decision to get Ramses out wasn't a last minute decision and she expected the courtesy of being told what was happening.

Paul says it was a last minute decision.

Mark and Cody leave.

Jess: What's done is done and I'm over it.

Paul says it was unnecessary for Jess to say she has the temptation because she is assuming Paul would target her.

Jess said she made her agenda clear last week and had 2 weeks to build trust with the house and that was now broken.

Paul just keeps trying to explain himself, Jess isn't buying it.

7:01 Cam 3

Josh, Alex, and Christmas in the kitchen

Josh says there is no way Jessica got the temptation… he thinks Christmas or Kevin would have gotten it before Jessica.

 7:03 Cam 3

Matt and Christmas in the kitchen

They’re wondering if Jessica does have safety.

Matt says if Jessica does have safety telling everyone about it was a stupid move.

 7:06 Cam 3

Alex, Jason, Kevin, and Josh in the HN room

Alex says Jessica has to have the temptation because no one else has admitted to having it.

Josh still isn’t convinced that Jessica has it.

They’re wondering why America didn’t give them the temptation.

 7:16 Cam 3

Mark and Cody in the bathroom

Mark says Elena is mad at him and the whole house left him in the dark this week.

Mark says Elena won’t even look at him.

Cody says he doesn’t want Elena and Mark split up this week.

Mark says he feels pretty safe with Paul.

Mark: I’ve become an outsider.

Elena comes in… Mark asks if she is going to stay away from him. Elena says she is actively choosing not to speak to anyone right now. She leaves.

Mark says he has Jessica and Cody’s back.

Matt comes in. Mark asks if they’re good.

Matt says Ramses was shady and he was scared Ramses would win HOH. He says evicting Ramses wasn’t a personal attack on Cody.

Matt says the decision was last second and not premeditated.

 7:22 Cam 3

Josh and Jessica in the front bedroom

Jessica tells him congratulations.

Josh says he only has a problem with Mark.

7:22 PM – cam 1

Paul, Kevin and Jason in the have not room.

He tells them about his convo with Jess/Cody, he did damage control for them.

Paul says he has to figure out if Jess really has the temptation though. They don't think Jess/Cody will both be safe.

Jason says Paul needs to just put both Jess/Cody up to get rid of the temptation.

Paul says he is going to.

7:23 Cam 3

Elena and Paul in the love room

Paul is explaining why they sent Ramses home (he won the 25K, he was gonna win HOH, etc.)

Elena says she is only mad that people she trusted lied to her face.

Paul says if he told her he thought it would get back to Jessica.

Mark comes in.

Elena says again that her only issue is that she was left out of game talk.

Mark says he understands why Paul didn’t tell him.

Paul is saying that he didn’t tell Josh to attack Mark.

Mark asks if anything is changed with them. Paul says no, he or Elena have nothing to worry about.

Paul says Josh didn’t know he was staying, either.

Elena says she knew Ramses was leaving before the eviction and she is upset she had to figure it out by walking in on conversations and people quit talking. Paul says maybe she is just paranoid.

Paul leaves. (7:33)

Elena says she warned Mark that this was going to happen. She says she is fine to an extent because she wouldn’t have liked to have been a part of sending Ramses home, but she is concerned that people she trusted talked game without her and lied to her.

Mark says he noticed that Paul attached Elena to him, and he knows Elena didn’t want that to happen.

Mark says he isn’t worried about Paul this week.

Elena says she knew definitely that Ramses was leaving by her conversation with Matt and Raven earlier.

Matt and Raven come in… Raven kisses her on the check.

They leave. Elena is even madder now.

Jessica comes in. (7:40)

Jessica: Every single person lied to our face.

Jess talks about how much she regrets not using the veto.

Jessica says the one person that straight up lied to her face was Raven. She says she can’t believe it. She can’t believe Raven is capable of that.

Elena talks about how mad she is that Raven kissed her on the cheek.

Jessica doesn’t like that Matt and Raven are with Jason and Alex now.

7:26 PM – cam 1

Mark and Josh in the main bedroom.

Mark asks what he has ever done to Josh.

Josh says he threw a drink in his face and disrespected him.

Josh says Mark can be going through a tough time, but he went through one too and no one spoke to him or reached out to him.

Mark: That's fair.

Josh says he won't touch Mark's bed or him, but he's not going to be nice to him because he doesn't owe that to him after the hot sauce.

Mark: Cool.

7:30 PM  cam 1

Matt, Raven and Christmas in the bathroom.

Matt says when Paul won the HOH Mark celebrated, so now he sees how Mark feels about Matt/Raven and he knows he didn't want them to win.

7:31 PM – cam 1

Jason, Alex and Cody in the kitchen.

Cody says he trusted them.

They are explaining why they wanted Ramses out and that he had to go.

Jason says this all goes back to Mark flipping the vote week 1, if that hadn't happened then they would be in a good spot.

7:34 PM – cam 1

Christmas and Jessica in the bathroom.

Christmas says they are all still on board with Jess/Cody going to jury with them and staying in the house for a long time.

Jess thanks her.

Christmas says she really enjoyed this week with Jess/Cody and them opening up with her more. She says they were showing who they actually are.

Jess says she gets the reasoning why they voted out Ramses and it is nice to have all the information now.

Christmas says no one ever mentioned Jess/Cody in their reasoning, the vote flip was just an opportunity to get a really good player out.

Christmas says she already told Josh to stop with the antics and that he said he is keeping it cool now.

Jess says that is good, but she still wants to be the one to take Josh out.

Paul, Matt and Raven come in the room. Jess leaves to go eat.

Christmas says it is good that Jess and Cody can be cool.

Paul tells them what he told Jess/Cody and that he didn't throw anyone under the bus, it was just a collective decision. He says they just keep going and don't throw anyone under the bus.

They agree.

Paul says he has a plan and he will tell them later, but step 1 is figuring out what the temptation is exactly.

Paul leaves.

Christmas says Elena is throwing a temper tantrum because she didn't get her way.

Matt agrees and says he loves Elena but she has been so shady this week.

Christmas seems to want to target Elena now.

7:43 PM – cam 1

Jason and Paul in the storage room.

Paul is telling him about the convo with Jess/Cody and to not throw anyone under the bus.

Jason agrees. Jason says he only threw Mark's name out to Cody.

Paul: You can plant the seed about Mark.

Paul says Jason needs to be careful around Cody/Jess though.

Jason says he knows and it is perfect that Paul won HOH this week.

Paul says one of them better win HOH next week and keep him safe.

Jason: We will have to.

Paul says he is about to make a big move and he needs them to back him up.

8:05 PM – cam 1

Kevin and Jason in the lounge.

Kevin says everything went fine for them today, they got exactly what they wanted. Kevin says they don't want to win HOH now and have to do all of that.

Jason agrees, but says he does want to win a HOH.

Kevin leaves and Jason starts cam-talking to his family.

8:07 PM – cam 1

Mark and Raven in the bathroom.

Raven is saying their move to get Ramses out wasn't personal against him or Elena.

Mark says it is just scary to be in the dark on a decision, he says he understands though and he loves her.

They hug and high five.

8:08 Cam 3

Jason and Mark in the parlor room

Mark asks if they’re still good. Jason says a bunch of people were gunning for Mark when Alex was HOH but they didn’t do it.

Jason says they are still good and no one is bringing Mark’s name up.

Mark is worried people are going to come after him. Jason says it might happen.

8:20 PM – cam 1

Cody and Jess in the love bedroom.

They are talking about how everyone is kissing their butt. Cody says he was just  being nice to everyone and saying BS things.

Jess says she is so happy Julie asked her a question on the live show and she was able to tell about her temptation like that.

Elena comes in.

Jess says she bets Jason/Alex are scared because now they can't point fingers to try to get Jess/Cody nominated.

Elena leaves and Mark is there now.

Mark says he can see where the house was coming from keeping this from him because he has an anger issue. Mark says he punched the bathroom couch.

Cody says he feels everything Mark is feeling.

Mark says he is happy Paul won HOH and not Matt/Raven and he isn't worried until he has a reason to be. He says he is happy Jess/Cody are safe too.

They discuss Josh. Jess wonders if Paul will take Josh out this week so he won't go to jury.

Mark: I'm nervous because I'm so naive in this game.

Cody says they feel the same way. Cody doesn't want Mark/Elena to get separated before jury.

Elena comes in, she is really annoyed by everyone and ranting about people lying to her. She has caught on to people lying to her when they were studying for the HOH comp because they didn't want her to win.

Cody says the 4 of them have really solidified trust with each other because they were the outsiders.

Elena: I'm going to go sit in the kitchen and make people feel awkward.

8:28 Cam 3

Alex, Jason, and Paul in the parlor room

Paul says he thinks Jessica is bluffing about her power so he is going to nominate her and Cody.

8:48 PM – cam 2

Cody and Mark in the love bedroom.

They are talking about Matt/Raven and that they do nothing but clean and cook and sit around.

Mark says he needs Cody/Jess and Elena to stay safe in this game.

Jess comes in.

Mark says this will be a good week, he is being optimistic. He says he feels good after hitting the couch.

Mark says if he ends up on the block he is terrorizing the whole house, he will be worse than Josh.

8:51 PM – cam 2

Paul and Kevin in the lounge.

Paul says everything Jess said is BS because she was on the block last week after she got the temptation so it doesn't make sense.

Kevin says Jess does have the temptation.

Paul says he is putting Jess/Cody up to see if they are bluffing and if they aren't he will put up Mark/Elena.

Mark comes in. Paul asks if Jess/Cody told him anything about the temptation.

Mark says he asked and Jess wouldn't tell him anything more.

Mark asks if they are looking at him differently because of how much time he spends with Jess/Cody.

Paul says Jess/Cody seclude themselves and the more Mark is up there with them it seems like he is secluding himself also.

Mark says he's not and he has been very open and honest with Paul.

They talk about how they don't understand why Jess would tell about her temptation on the live show and assume that Paul was nominating her and Cody.

Paul goes back to explaining why they evicted Ramses.

8:53 PM – cam 3

Jess and Cody in the love room.

Jess doesn't think they will end up nominated this week. She says she doesn't want them to win HOH next week so they can compete the following week.

They think Paul will put up Jason/Alex or Josh and a pawn.

Jess says she isn't telling Paul anything more about the temptation. She says Paul won't want to waste his HOH and have no one go home though.

Cody says Paul is a liar. Jessica says Paul keeps saying he is an open book which is a lie.

Elena comes in. She thinks she is going up… Jessica says Paul wouldn’t do that.

 9:03 Cam 1

Paul, Mark, and Kevin in the parlor room

Paul is defending evicting Ramses again.

Elena comes in.

They’re discussing Jessica’s power again. Paul thinks Jessica said she is safe for 4 weeks… everyone else tells him she didn’t say that. Paul says BB would never give someone protection until jury.

They’re all saying how Jessica’s temptation makes no sense.

Paul wonders why Jessica announced her temptation in front of everybody and assumed he would nominate her when that wasn’t his plan.

Elena is discussing how angry she is about being left out. Paul says it’s not worth being upset over.

Josh talk. Mark says Josh is a coward.

Kevin leaves (9:35)

Paul says he still feels like he could be nominated. He says they didn’t create an alliance last week, they just all decided to evict Ramses.

Mark tells Paul that he has his vote. Elena says he has her vote too.

Mark wonders if Jessica’s power is a reset week… Paul doesn’t think so. Paul says there is no way Jessica would be allowed to protect two people.

Paul leaves.

Mark is trying to cheer Elena up (9:49)

 9:21 Cam 3

Alex, Jason, Christmas, and Josh in the front bedroom

Josh says Elena looked shocked whenever Julie read the vote.

Josh feels bad for Ramses. They’re all telling him not to feel bad because Ramses played them all.

Christmas says whoever out of Jody and Marlena that doesn’t go home will be gunning for them next week.

Christmas says when Jessica and Cody get HOH next week they will nominate 2 major players.

Josh says he doesn’t think Jessica has the temptation. He says Kevin would get it over Jessica.

Christmas says BB wouldn’t give safety twice, and Paul already got that temptation.

They all aren’t buying Jessica has a temptation that will keep her safe.

 9:55 Cam 1

Mark and Josh in the parlor room

Mark asks if they can be civil. Josh says no. Josh says they can have fun and he wants to torture Mark.

Mark asks if they can have fun like old times. Josh says no.

Josh says he won’t touch Mark’s bed anymore, though.

 10:00 – Most of the houseguest are gathering in the parlor room to play a game

 11:10 – HOH room reveal

 11:35 Cam 3

Cody and Paul in the HOH

Cody is telling Paul that Mark was never against him (Paul). He says Mark always wanted to protect Paul.

 11:41 Cam 1

Mark and Elena in the love room

Elena says she misses Ramses. Mark asks if Ramses leaving was hard on her… she says yes.

Elena discussing again how Matt lied to her earlier. She says she has caught Raven in a few lies before today but it didn’t affect her then.

 11:43 Cam 3

Cody and Jessica in the parlor room

Cody is retelling his Paul convo. He says Paul told him he’s going to make some moves but there is a method to his madness. They don’t know what that means.

 11:49 Cam 3

Paul, Matt, and Raven in the HOH

They’re discussing whether or not Jessica has the temptation she says she does. They think she’s lying about it.

Paul wants to expose the temptation by nominating them.

Paul says if he can’t nominated Jody he will nominate Mark and Elena.

Raven says Elena is really mad and won’t even look at her.

Paul tells them Elena is mad at Matt and Raven for kissing her.

Paul says if they got rid of Mark Elena might bounce back to them (Paul, Raven, etc.) Raven doesn’t think so because Elena is so mad right now.

Paul wants to tell Elena he might use her as a pawn and then get Mark out.

Raven keeps saying that Elena won’t separate herself from Cody and Jessica.

Christmas comes up.

Paul is telling Christmas about maybe nominating Elena/Mark and getting rid of Mark. Christmas thinks that Elena will always play both sides.

More temptation talk.

Alex joins (12:22) and Christmas, Raven, and Matt leave.

Paul says they can trust Christmas, Matt, and Raven 100%. Alex says Jason is also 100%.

Paul says no one has any idea how close he and Alex are.

Alex is worried about keeping Elena in the game because she’s such a good competitor.

Paul tells Alex his “genius” plan of nominating Elena/Mark. He says he will do that if Cody and Jessica can’t be nominated.

Paul doesn’t think anyone got a better temptation than he did.

Paul says Elena will only go home if Mark is vetoed.

 12:41 Cam 3

Paul and Mark in the HOH

Mark asks if he is going to be a pawn. Paul says possibly but probably not.

Paul says he is going to call Jessica’s bluff because her temptation isn’t real. Mark says if it is real then he will go up… Paul says that isn’t likely.

Paul: I know what I’m doing. I’m a million percent sure [that they’re bluffing].

Elena comes up, Mark goes.

Paul says Elena might be a pawn this week.

 12:50 Cam 1

Jason and Alex in the front bedroom

Alex thinks Mark will start divulging all of his secrets to Jason soon.

Alex tells Jason Paul’s plan. She says he can’t mention the plan to anyone because everyone is going to be tested on who knows what/who is giving up info.

 12:59 Cam 1

Jessica and Cody in the love room

Jessica says they need to figure out who Paul’s real target is because she doesn’t think that it is her or Cody.

Jessica thinks Paul is going to nominate Cody so he can win veto and Paul can backdoor his target.

Jessica says if Cody is on the block at eviction she will use the hex on him.

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[help-yourself-blog1]

let us begin.

Hello, my name is Jessica Kasch and in 2014 I was diagnosed with brain cancer. To be more specific glioblastoma multiforme stage IV. I want to share my story with the world and let people know that there is always hope. I want to inspire people to want to fight the good fight even when the odds are against them. I also want to inform people of the importance of a healthy and well maintained diet and what I believe has helped keep my MRI's clear and my spirits high.

It all started when I was having the WORST migraines with the worst pressure in my head and was in almost constant throbbing pain every day. I couldn’t even bend over to grab my dogs leash without my head feeling like it was going to explode. Most times I stood up I would black out and have to wait a few seconds for my sight to come back. Sometimes even just moving my head to the side could cause a black out. I was miserable. I started to see dots in my vision and could hear whirlwind sounds in my head. A little bit later I started to be able to see my heart beat in my eyes and towards the end I could see a black dot in my vision that was actually my pupil from my eye balls. For a few days I would wake up with terrible migraines that were so bad that they would make me throw up in the mornings. And throwing up in the morning made me think I was pregnant.

My mom started to get a little worried and made me set up an appointment to see her eye doctor because we thought most of what was happening was because of bad vision. I almost cancelled my appointment the night before because we were having a bbq with friends the next day and I thought I could put it off. The next morning when I woke up I didn’t see the black dot anymore it was RED! And I could also see the little veins.

That was it. I HAD to go see someone. I went to Dr. Antoine of Antoine Eye Care after the routine testing was done Dr. Antoine looked at the pictures of my eyes and decided to dilate them. I left the room to look at glasses while I was waiting for my eyes to fully dilate. When he called me back in he sat me down and asked me to call someone to come pick me up. I asked “Why?” and that’s when he told me I needed to go to the Emergency Room right away. He continued to tell me I needed to get a CT scan because there was a massive amount of swelling in my brain behind my right eye.

I was picked up by my husband (boyfriend at the time), and met my family at Missouri Baptist Hospital where I got my CT scan. The nurse called us into the back where we waited for the results. The woman that came in asked me all kinds of silly questions like, “What year is it?"  and "Who is the president?" along with my name and birthday. She also made me do these little tests with my eyes and then had me push her away and pull her towards me with my arms and legs. I thought she was kidding because of how silly I felt so I was giggling. She then sat down on my bed and with a serious look on her face said “You have a mass on the right side of your brain.” I was still in the mindset that she wasn’t being serious so I chuckled. A few seconds went by giving me time to think about what she had just said, I looked to my husband and he was in shock with tears falling from his eyes. I turned to my mom and she looked terrified. I realized then that the nurse was most definitely not joking. From that moment on everything got real serious. I was rushed to Barnes Jewish Hospital where I had my very first MRI. After the MRI the doctors came in and officially diagnosed me with a “low grade” brain tumor. A week later my surgery was performed by Dr. Zipfel at Barnes to extract the tumor. The surgery was a total success and lasted 12 hours.

The surgery was a total success and lasted 12 hours.

Around 4/5 days after surgery; as I was gathering my thing to leave for home, the pathology on my tumor came back. My tumor was not “low grade”. In fact it was as “high grade” as I think you can get. Right then and there they diagnosed me with glioblastoma multiforme Stage IV. The deadliest form of brain cancer. They were able to get all of my tumor out during surgery but since the cancer is so fast acting they had me scheduled for 6 weeks of radiation on my brain with chemo, and then a year of just chemo.

When I got home from the hospital the recovery was pretty harsh. I wasn’t able to do basic things like walk up and down stairs alone. I couldn’t sit and stand alone. Couldn’t go to the bathroom alone. I couldn’t walk alone. I couldn’t remember how to deal cards or do math. I couldn’t sleep except for on my back. I was on steroids for swelling that made me eat everything in the kitchen and gain like 20 lbs. The steroids made me break out all over my body. Not only did I look like Quasimodo with my boulder-like swollen head but I had acne everywhere that looked like a rash that covered my body all the way up my neck and face. I was miserable. All i could think about to stay positive was that I was alive and had my family with me.

Within a few weeks I was up on my feet, slowly but surly bettering myself. I couldn’t believe how supportive people were. My mother insisted that we stay at her house so there was always someone to watch me. My friends would come over to see me and bring me little gifts. I still remember everyone who came and those that showed their support in other ways and for that I am forever grateful.

A few weeks after my initial surgery my head started to leak fluid at the incision. I didn’t have a fever and I didn’t feel sick but I had to go to the Hospital to be checked out. After a week in the hospital being looked at, I was sent back home. The next week my head started to leak again. I had to go back to the Hospital and was immediately rushed to the O. R. for surgery because there was an infection in my head. The infection was around the bone so my bone flap had to be removed. The doctors put me at ease letting me know that with the infection I would have a higher survival rate.

Because of the infection, I needed to have a PICC line put in my arm direct lining antibiotics straight into my heart. I had 6 weeks of this with Nurse Tyler waking up and giving me my medication every morning at 7 am and every night at 7 pm making it very hard to get a good nights sleep or be able to go out anywhere. Once a week an actual nurse would come to my house to clean the line.

After I finished my 6 weeks of antibiotics, I started my radiation therapy and chemo therapy. The thought of having my brain radiated was pretty scary but thanks to Tyler it was much easier to bare because he made me a mixed cd of favorite songs to listen to everyday.

 After every radiation day he would have a picture drawn for me saying things like “fuck cancer day 1-30″. I actually ended up looking forward to my treatments because it was my time to just relax and focus on the music and not what was happening in real life.

In the beginning I was told I wouldn’t lose my hair from the chemo and radiation which was comforting because I took so much pride in my colorful hair. Well that wasn’t the case and I ended up losing all my hair after all. Bummer. It started to slowly fall out so I just had my surgeon shave it all of before my second surgery because I didn’t want to risk another infection.

Instead of being upset about my missing skull piece and bald head I took pride in wearing colorful scarves and wigs.

After getting diagnosed with cancer the hospital tells you to just go back to your normal diet but my family and I knew better than that. We immediately started to research. A huge help was and still is my moms chiropractor Dr. Laurie Mestdagh of Mestdagh Chiropractic. He told me what to stop eating, what to start eating and what supplements for me to take during the chemo and radiation process. He is truly a wonderful person. Thanks to him, my family and friends, and Tyler I made it through radiation and the first part of chemo with no problems.

After a little bit of time passed I was sent to my now Wellness Doctor, Dr. Eric Nepute of Nepute Wellness. He heard about my story and wanted to take me on as a patient pro bono. He really loved my spirit and the good vibes I was able to put off through such a tough time.

I have MRI’s every 10 weeks for the rest of my life and so far so good on everything! I couldn’t be more proud. I want to say “Thanks!” to my father and Tyler for coming to every boring MRI day and my results days. You guys make everything easier.

After my diagnosis I put myself on a SUPER strict diet and I’ll be posting more about that in other entries.

I thank God every day and night for my doctors, my family, Tyler, my friends and anyone else who has helped me through the hardest time of my life.

#fuckcancer #fuckbraincancer #braincancer #staystrong #bjc #pma #love #family

[elliearchive]

FIX A HEART ➝ GRANBIN.

TAGGING ➝ Grant McCarthy, Robin St. James.

LOCATION ➝ Grant & Robin’s house.

TIME FRAME ➝ 4/7, late afternoon.

WARNINGS ➝ None.

NOTES ➝ They’re pissed at Scott, but they soon get over it.

GRANT MCCARTHY

The flight had been long, but finally they were home. Caroline had already been dropped off at Jessica’s house, and he didn’t stay long to chat with her. A chat with Jessica was the last thing he wanted when he was still reeling from the wonderful trip he’d had. He knew that their bliss wouldn’t last long. He was going to have to explain to Robin about what Scott had done and he knew she wouldn’t like it. She wasn’t going to be happy about it. He wasn’t happy about it, but he couldn’t decide what to do next without talking to her. He placed their bags on the floor by the door, lamenting that he would take them upstairs later. Unpacking was always the worst part about coming back from a wonderful trip. He was still ecstatic that the love of his life had agreed to be his wife that he didn’t even want to think about the news he was about to show her. “Hey, babe,” he mumbled out, pausing to run his fingers through his hair. “I know you’re super tired. I am too, but I have to show you something, okay?” He said, his voice dropping a little. He made his way to their kitchen, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. He swiped through his texts with Paige, deciding to find the story that way, even though he was certain he could have just googled either one of their names and it would have come up. He also ignored a few texts from his parents begging “Junior” to call them as soon as possible. That wasn’t happening. He finally found the story and slid his phone across the counter over to her, frowning as he did it. “I’m sorry. Apparently, Scott sold the story to a tabloid. Everyone ‘s been calling me a homewrecker for the past few days.”

ROBIN ST. JAMES

In Robin’s opinion, their last minute Rome vacation could not have gone any more perfectly. It had been like a dream, right from start to finish, but to say she was exhausted once they’d landed back in Chicago was an understatement. And then they’d had to take Caroline back home and go pick up the dog and cat from her sister’s house, so she couldn’t just crash in bed with her fiancé like she really wanted to. That was the plan once they’d walked through the door, though. Feed the animals, get them settled, then go to bed; Robin didn’t care that it was still early evening. Since Grant had their bags, Robin had the cat carrier in one hand, as well as Clover attached to his leash in the other. She immediately unhooked the dog and let him run freely into the house, then set the carrier down on the kitchen counter, preparing to let her out. “Did you miss us? We missed you guys so much!” She cooed, opening up the carrier door and reaching in to carefully lift Calla out. “Did you have fun with aunt Regan and aunt Addie?” Robin was of course a little preoccupied with their pets, but looked up when Grant begun to talk to her. “Okay, sure. What’s up?” She questioned, looking down at his phone on the counter as he slid it towards her. Her face fell as she read over the first part of the story on his screen, listening to Grant’s explanation. “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she mumbled, letting out a small sigh. She leaned down to set the kitten on the floor, then picked up Grant’s phone, reading over the rest of the story. “He’s been fucking someone else for a year now, but I’m the cheater?” She grumbled, shaking her head. Her tone was defeated as she looked at her fiancé, sliding her phone back over to him. “What the fuck do we do about this?” She was too tired to even sound angry.

GRANT MCCARTHY

Under different circumstances Grant would have just walked right into their house and just collapsed. That was all he really wanted to do anyway, but he couldn’t with this Scott nonsense looming over the two of them. If he thought he was over Robin’s ex-husband before, it was on a different level now. The asshole had really outdone himself this time. Grant didn’t understand it. It didn’t make sense that he was trying to hold onto his marriage to Robin. He hadn’t paid a lot of attention to her when they were married and it was clear that Robin had completely moved on. It didn’t make sense that Scott wanted to keep her locked into something she didn’t want to be in anymore. As much as he wanted to turn his attention to the pets he’d missed so much over the week, he couldn’t bring himself to have any fun just yet. “I’m sorry, Robin,” he apologized again. This wasn’t anything she was used to yet. He had spent enough time in the public eye to not let the actual stories bother him all that much. There had been lies spread about him in the media before. And he’d watched it happen to his sisters as well. It was just business as usual now. “I talked to my publicist and we have a few options,” he sighed out, his voice cracking from exhaustion as he spoke. Not only was Scott a thorn in his side for selling stories to the media, but now his antics were getting in the way of Grant getting the rest he needed after a long trip. “We can offer him money. Pay him to retract his story and divorce you. Or we can release our own statement. Tell the world what a shitty husband Scott is,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’ll do whatever you want to do, babe.” He brought his hands up and covered his face as he exhaled heavily. “I can go over and punch him again. That wasn’t my publicist’s idea. I just want to do that.”

ROBIN ST. JAMES

This was the last thing they needed after the perfect week away together. Ignoring the fact that they were both exhausted and likely jet lagged, it was honestly just really, really annoying, and such a sour end to what had otherwise been amazing. Even telling Grant about what’d happened between she and her sister had turned out to be a positive thing; he knew everything about her now. But now Scott had had to go ahead and ruin it, and along with her exhaustion, that just made Robin angry. And sad. And every other negative emotion. She and Grant hadn’t done anything wrong. They’d fallen in love, just like Scott had with Charlie, yet he was punishing them. “Don’t apologize, babe,” she sighed, shaking her head. This wasn’t Grant’s fault. Robin knew that being with someone in the spotlight was going to bring its public drama, she just hadn’t figured it would be her ex husband causing it. Grant was worth it, of course. He was worth anything. But it still sucked. Robin’s brows knitted together as she listened to their options. “You think we’re going to offer him money?” She shook her head. “No. It isn’t about that. He has money, he doesn’t need it. Plus the thing’s already out there now. This is a magazine,” she motioned to the phone, referring to the website, “I figure that means it’s literally printed by now. There’s no point in having him take it back.” Robin thought for a moment. “We’ll do our own statement, but we’re not gonna rise to his bullshit. We can mention Scott and Charlie, but our statement is gonna be about us, how we didn’t do anything wrong, how Scott and I were over already, and how in love we are.” She paused, glancing down at her stomach. “And you know what? ‘This comes only weeks after the pair were spotted celebrating outside of a maternity unit’,” she quoted the story, “Fuck it, they’re talking about our baby already, we’ll confirm that. We’re not a joke, we’re the real deal, and he is not going to make us out to be anything but.”She paused again, her tone clearly irritated, and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Call him and put him on speaker,” she instructed, listing off Scott’s number so Grant could do as instructed from his phone. “Or we can just go over there and you can beat the shit out of him, I really don’t care at this point.”

GRANT MCCARTHY

There was never really a time when Grant wanted to talk about Scott, or even think about Scott. It was becoming more and more rare that the guy ever crossed his mind. He was in love with Robin and the guy was a thing of her past. A man she used to be married to that she was no longer in love with. Grant had come to terms with it. He just wished that Scott would. Grant knew that this was not his fault, but he couldn’t help but feel bad. It was sort of his fault. If Robin was marrying into a different family, or even if she was marrying a different man then Scott wouldn’t have had a story to sell. His life in the public eye made all of this possible. He didn’t have time to discuss with her the technicalities of someone retracting a public statement because he didn’t really care what they chose to do. It was all one hundred percent her decision. He was just going to fall along with whatever her plan was. He listened as she read more of the story, his eyes rolling as he clenched his fist. The last thing he wanted was Robin’s pregnancy being public knowledge. And it explained the dodged calls he had from his parents. He looked up at Robin with a slightly surprised look on his face. He tried not to let his amusement show because it really wasn’t a laughing matter, but it was kind of cute to see her so worked up and protective over their family. He was usually the one with the clenched fist ready to go murder someone, so it was slightly funny to see the shoe on the other foot. Grant reached over and picked his phone up off the counter, following her as quickly as his fingers could with typing in Scott’s number. ‘If I hit him then he’ll just sell that story too,” Grant replied with a shrug as he pressed the call button. He leaned back against the counter as it rang, knowing he was going to let Robin do most of the talking.

ROBIN ST. JAMES

Robin’s head was in the clouds most of the time, she definitely came across as one of those people that just let everything pass over her and didn’t rise to anything, but that wasn’t the truth. She did have a pretty bad temper when something really pissed her off, and this had. Even if she hadn’t been exhausted, she would’ve still been annoyed, though she was sure her sleep deprivation was adding to it. It didn’t really surprise her that Grant had no comments to make, considering he generally just let her do whatever she wanted to do, so she was sure that if they said they were doing all of that, then they’d be doing it without Grant protesting. Whether he was just an easy going guy in general or didn’t know how to say no to her, she didn’t know. Dropping her hand from her face, Robin caught Grant’s expression, and at first found herself entirely confused. There was nothing amusing about any of this, but the look on his face would say otherwise. She realized quickly that it was her he was amused by, not the situation, and found herself rolling her eyes. “Stop it, this isn’t funny,” she whined, though she moved closer to him, resting her forehead against his arm. “You can think I’m adorable later. Right now I’m pissed.” He was right, no good could come of him hitting Scott, and Robin really wouldn’t have let it happen anyway, she was just angry. This way was better, so Robin slipped between Grant and the counter, her back to his front and rested against him as she listened to the phone ringing through the speaker. Scott sounded confused as he answered. “What the fuck are you doing?” Robin immediately said, glaring down at the phone. “Robin? Did you get a new number?” She rolled her eyes. “You know that we’re over, Scott. You didn’t give a shit about me before, why are you trying to make this into a big thing now?” There was silence at the other end of the phone, so Robin looked back at her fiancé to back her up.

GRANT MCCARTHY

Grant was used to being the more temperamental person in the relationship. He had unbuttoned the sleeves on his shirt the second he thought Charlie and Scott were being rude to her the first time he had ever gone to her former house. And he was always going to be that guy for her. The guy that would roll up his sleeves and knock someone out for her if that’s what needed to be done. So, it was funny to see Robin being the one who was clearly pissed and ready to fight. He didn’t mean to make it so obvious that he thought it was funny, but clearly by the way Robin whined at him, she had caught the look of amusement on his face. “Sorry,” he mumbled out, not really feeling all that sorry about it. She was cute. He didn’t know how to not notice that. He was always going to think she was cute, even when it wasn’t entirely appropriate. As much as he enjoyed her standing close to him and resting against him, he just wished they weren’t calling her ex-husband at the moment. And hearing Scott’s voice caused him to immediately roll his eyes. As easy as it was for him to say he wasn’t jealous of the guy anymore, he could still openly admit that he didn’t want to ever really talk to him again. He listened at Robin started talking, and started down at her with a roll of his eyes when she looked up at him. Of course, Scott didn’t have anything to say now that Robin was confronting him. Grant didn’t really want to talk to him, but he knew that he had to. “Scott,” he groaned out, gritting his teeth. “I think you’re scum. You had a beautiful wife and you ignored her, and treated her like garbage. And now you’re trying to destroy any ounce of happiness this woman has because it didn’t come from you. You’re worthless. You never deserved her. And I hope you die a little inside every time you realize what you’ve lost. You’re being pathetic. Your marriage is over.” Grant shrugged his shoulders as he finished, completely over dealing with Scott.

ROBIN ST. JAMES

As annoyed as Robin was, fortunately that didn’t bleed over onto Grant. This wasn’t his fault, and she wasn’t about to start fighting with him after the perfect vacation they’d just spent together. Besides, he would’ve completely redeemed himself when he began to talk to Scott. She hadn’t really known what she wanted him to say, nor had she had any specific expectations, but as usual, Grant said all of the right things. Robin reached behind herself to take ahold of her fiancé’s hands, pulling them around her middle and lacing their fingers as she stared down at the phone. It didn’t matter how tired she was or how annoyed she was, she was obviously going to be all over Grant, that was just how they worked. “Ask them what’s in it for us if we sign the papers,” Robin heard Charlie’s voice from the background, the sound of it only making her more annoyed. “Are you fucking with me right now? There’s nothing in it for anybody, and you’re not signing them as a team. It was our marriage, Scott. I know your boyfriend thought he was apart of it, but he wasn’t. Just sign the papers. Please.” She sighed, her thumbs brushing over Grant’s knuckles. “I know you don’t like it, but we didn’t work, we’re never going to work. And maybe now that’s in part because you’re in love with Charlie, and I’m in love with Grant. You two should just be happy together, and let me be happy with my fiancé.” More silence followed, before Scott spoke through what sounded like gritted teeth. “Fine. I’ll sign. I’m not taking the story back, though.” Robin’s eyes rolled again. “We’re not asking you to. I just don’t want to be married to you anymore.” Scott grumbled a defeated ‘okay’, before Robin hit end on the phone call, letting out a sigh as she turned around in Grant’s arms, her hands resting against his chest. They slid up and over his shoulders until she could wrap her arms around his neck. “I guess that’s that. What do we do now?”

GRANT MCCARTHY

There wasn’t anyone Grant had lower respect for than he did for Scott. The way he had treated Robin during their marriage was nothing less than despicable. If it were up to him, Robin would never have to speak to the guy again. She shouldn’t have to. Not after he had treated her with so much disrespect. He could feel his temper start to calm down a little as she reached for his hand, settling it near one of his current spots to rest his hands, her stomach. It was nice to think about how far they’d come in the last two months. Robin was working on divorcing the man they were currently pissed at and talking to over the phone, and they were expecting a baby together. And they were getting married. As tired as Grant was, he really couldn’t help but smile to himself about their relationship. Then he heard Charlie’s voice in the background and he rolled his eyes once again. Another person Grant wanted to punch in the face. He sighed in relief once Scott agreed to sign the papers. Grant was a little surprised about it, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it for too long. He was just happy that it all seemed like it was finally over. “We can actually start planning our wedding,” Grant replied with a small smile. He dropped his hands to her thighs and lifted her up, setting her down on the counter in front of them. He leaned forward and placed a small kiss against her lips before pulling away slightly. He knew how he felt about it. Her marriage was over. There was nothing he wanted more than that, but he knew that calling Scott had to be emotionally draining for her and finally ending her marriage probably took a lot out of her. “How do you feel?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

ROBIN ST. JAMES

Evidently, both Robin and Grant each came along with their own baggage. And it wasn’t baggage that mixed well together. If Grant wasn’t in the spotlight, and if Robin didn’t have an apparently jealous ex, they wouldn’t be in this mess. But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered, nor would it have changed the way Robin felt about her fiancé. She’d never felt more safe or comfortable as she did right here, his arms around her, his hands in her own. She liked to think she was helping him to feel better, too. In spite of the draining conversation they’d just ended, Robin felt herself smiling as Grant spoke. “We can,” she agreed, arms tightening around him as he picked her up to set her on the counter. Scott and his drama was so insignificant in comparison to everything they had to be excited about. She leaned forward to meet Grant’s lips with her own, eyes locking with his as she pulled back. “I feel fine,” she promised. “In fact, no, I feel happy. Lighter even.” Robin laughed softly to herself, shaking her head. “Actually, what I feel most prominently right now is tired. I want you to pick me up and carry me to bed… And I think this might be the first time ever that I’ve said that to you and it’s not meant in a sexual way.” She grinned, tugging him closer to her and wrapping her legs around his waist. “I think the plan right now is we go lay in our bed, make out a little bit, fall asleep together, wake up and have sex,” she winked, “Then sleep the rest of the night. How’s that sound to you?” Robin nudged her nose gently against Grant’s. “Pick me up?”

GRANT MCCARTHY

Grant knew there were a lot of things that could pull the two of them apart. She was still married. He had a life in the public eye. None of it really mattered to him though. He just wanted to be with her. It didn’t matter how many obstacles would stand in their way. And thankfully, it seemed like the Scott part of it all was all said and done with. Scott had finally agreed to let her go, even though Robin had let go of him months ago. It felt good. To finally be free of him, but Grant knew it might only feel good for him. That’s why he had to ask Robin how she felt. Officially ending her marriage had to give her some sort of feelings. He was relieved to hear that she felt fine. Hearing that she felt anything close to sad would only make him feel terrible. He could understand her feelings of being tired because they’d been looming over him since they arrived back in Chicago. A small chuckle escaped from his lips at her joke as he shook his head. “That sounds absolutely amazing, babe,” he smirked, lifting her up off the counter. He took in a deep breath, smirking as he led the two of them upstairs. It was a little strange to carry her upstairs to their bed and not immediately start thinking about making love to her, but they were both so exhausted. That would have to wait until the morning. He smiled as they made it up to their bedroom, placing her down gently on their bed and climbing in next to her. He sat up and reached his hand behind himself to pull his shirt off, immediately getting himself comfortable for bed. “I love you, Robin,” Grant mumbled out, leaning forward to press another kiss to her lips.

ROBIN ST. JAMES

Everything about trying to end her marriage had been emotionally draining, but only because Scott was just making it so unfairly difficult. He hadn’t treated her right when they were together, it was ridiculous that he was trying to act like he wanted her now. Not that it could change anything; Robin wanted Grant and only Grant, that was never going to change. She didn’t even want to think about her ex anymore, she just had to trust that he was going to sign the papers, and look forward to the future with the love of her life. Near future included, like the two of them laying in their bed together. Robin really couldn’t think of anything she wanted more, and held on to him as Grant picked her up. As he walked, she pressed her lips gently to his shoulder, repeatedly placing small kisses there. She wasn’t ready to stop when he’d set her down. Following Grant’s lead, Robin pulled off her dress, dropping it onto the floor. Her bra followed, then Grant’s lips were against her own, with Robin kissing him back. “I love you too, baby,” she mumbled into the kiss, pulling back to look at him. “I had the most amazing week with you. I really don’t know how I got so lucky.” She still wasn’t done kissing him, so once Grant had laid down, Robin turned onto her side, placing her hand on his cheek and guiding his face toward her so she could reconnect their lips.

GRANT MCCARTHY

Holding Robin in his arms was Grant’s favorite thing. It didn’t make a difference whether he was carrying her upstairs or lying next to her in bed. He loved holding her. And he always wanted to be doing it. They were so attached to each other. Grant never thought he would be that boyfriend. The boyfriend who never wanted to let go of his girlfriend’s hand, but he was. And eventually, he was going to be the husband that didn’t want to let go of his wife’s hand. He didn’t think marriage was going to change anything. If anything, it was just going to make the two of them more sickening to the outside world. He hummed against her lips as she kissed him back, sighing as she pulled back to look into his eyes. “It wasn’t luck. It was destiny,” he smirked with a wink. Definitely not something he would usually say. Usually he would say that he was the lucky one and they could go back and forth with that all day. He just knew that they had both ended up where they were supposed to be. With each other. He smirked as she pressed her lips back onto his. His arm dropped to wrap around her, pulling her closer to him. He pulled away and sighed before leaning forward to press another small peck to her lips. He moved his head down and rested it on top of her stomach, laying down so his ear was pressed up against it. “Hi, cupcake,” he mumbled out. He turned his head slightly to press a small kiss against her stomach before he continued speaking. “This is your dad. Grant McCarthy. In case you don’t know my name yet. I cannot wait to meet you. I already love you so much. Goodnight, kid.”

ROBIN ST. JAMES

It was easy to forget all about the story Grant had shown her, and the phone call they’d just gotten done with, when the two of them were wrapped up in each other the way they were now. Grant had a way of doing that, of stealing all of Robin’s focus, and she had absolutely no problem with that. She’d much rather be grinning at how adorable her fiancé was than glaring at her phone. “Destiny,” she agreed, nodding her head. “You’re right, I think it was, too.” He always said such adorable things, things she would’ve never expected of him after their first initial meeting, and he never, ever failed to make her smile. Robin did so into the kiss as he pulled her closer, her lips curved upward as they pressed gently against his. She didn’t want to stop, and pouted a little as he pulled away from her, but soon Grant was moving down toward her stomach, and suddenly Robin had no complaints, not when he started talking to their barely-there baby. “Grant McCarthy,” Robin giggled, her fingers brushing through her fiancé’s hair as she looked down at him. Her heart was about ready to burst. “You’re so official. Cupcake loves you too, I can tell. We’re both so lucky to have you. All of us are.” Robin laid back against the pillows, eyes closing as she let out a content sigh. Her fingers were still brushing softly through Grant’s hair. “You can stay down there with Cupcake if you want,” she mumbled, voice already laced with tiredness. “Just make sure you come back up here to me later.” Eyes still closed, Robin lifted her hand to press a kiss to her fingertips, then tapped them gently on Grant’s temple. “Goodnight, my two babies,” she whispered, “I love you both more than you know.”

#robin st. james. #robin x grant. #granbin x twenty three. #mutyler

[pixiedurango]

Like real people do - a Lucas North love story - part 1

OK, I’ve gone entirely overboard with a cute little request from @deepestfirefun: He’s supposed to meet and fall in love with a woman who works in an animal shelter and has nothing to do with the world he lives and works in. Setting: We decided to completely ignore the main plot of spooks’ season 9 but stick to several events in the timeline as this whole thing is set after Sarah’s death and I let Beth and Dimitri work at section D and Lucas is chief in command after Ros died. Our sandbox, our rules! words: 840 Note: Please bear with me! I have no knowledge of how British MI5 works other than what I know from spooks and of course I know nothing of bombs and how terrorist organisations work. Also I know almost nothing about dogs and how dog shelters/dog rescuers work other than what I watched on TV and youtube. Means: I made a shitton of stuff up to get the story running. I tried to make at least a little sense  In case you wonder, here is the song that inspired the title: Hozier - Like real people do Enjoy! @whohobbs @xxbyimm @fizzy-custard @patanghill17@tinkertailor1212 @wardenparker @sherala007 @fullvoidmoon@hannibatchsmuse @lady-jessica-9 @thorincuddlez @hariclea@fandomgalcentral @inkededucatednnerdy @mynameisnoneya1991 @maybetomorrowgirl @vaneaustation @tendersquishyjamie

part 1

“This is ridiculous.” Beth states with her 'don't feed me bullshit' face. “We'll just take them out and no one will ever know. I'm positive we have more urgent matters to deal with.” Lucas tends to agree but they would not sit here together with the police and this bloke from  Russian Intelligence if the information would not seem to be legit enough to cause this kind of agitation. The notes they got beforehand are concerning to say the least. Lucas feels incredibly uncomfortable in the Russian's presence but he's not able to put a finger on the reason why. He has to actively push this itch from his consciousness but there are no intentions of digging deeper, afraid what he'd find if he would. His head aches but it aches constantly so he can neither think nor care for it. Instead Lucas North impatiently waves a hand at the Russian once more and the man eventually looks around with a smug smile before he hits the button on the remote control to start the briefing with no further delay. “Chechen terrorists, claiming to be a legit arm of Al-Qaida but never got any confirmation. Still claiming 'Jihad' but in fact just blackmailing governments. They tried with Russia, now they're here.” “What did the Russians do? Pay?” Lucas asks and is not surprised when the man just shakes his head with a little smile. “Njet” “Then what?” Lucas already knows but he needs to hear. “Collateral damage.” The Russian shrugs. “A few explosions. Proved helpful to keep the Russian people loyal to our claim that our fight against the Chechen terrorism is legit.” “This is not going to happen here.” Lucas claims and he leaves no doubt that there is no other option to be considered in this office. “We'll take the bombs out. Give us the details.”

After a collection of explosion venues in all it's gory reality and a few pictures of the bomb kits presumably being used for causing this kind of horror, pictures of different breeds of dogs appear on screen. Finally an odd kind of harness, complete with a bunch of wires. “This is the suicide bombers.” The Russian smiles dryly. “Using miss-trained and therefor aggressive dogs as carrier. They stir them up with torture or drugs and then set them lose.” He slid  to the next picture, showing an electronic device in a close up. “Now I come to the reason you just can't take them out with a sniper. There's a sensor on the harness, they attach the bombs to the heartbeat of the animals. The moment the dog dies, or you take the harness away, the bomb goes off.” Beth rolls her eyes. “We take them to a non critical area then, where the detonation will not harm anyone.” The Russian shrugs again, he does not care at all. “Once the animals are on the loose you'll have less than 2 hours to find and disarm. The bombs have timers of course. Good look, finding them and driving them into safe space in time.” “There is no way anyone driving around the city with an armed bomb while I'm chief in command of this station.” Lucas' sharp voice leaves no space for arguing and when he looks up he realizes none of the people, neither in this room or at the office has been there the last time it happened. No one but him and Harry. “So what do we do?” The policeman asks. “Killing the dogs is no option. Neither is just walking over and put them on a leash and walk them off. How do we find the dogs and is there a way to know when and where this will happen?” “Consider yourself a lucky city that nothing has happened yet. They usually let explode a smaller bomb with minor damage and then seek contact to tell their... terms.” The Russian only seems to have two facial expressions: Sarcastic grinning asshole and motionless indifferent asshole. Lucas wants to punch both of them. Instead he takes a deep breath and looks down on his notes with a steady face. “I want the media to spread asap that people shall stay away from stray dogs under all circumstances. PR shall come up with something reasonable that fears them off enough but will not cause a mass panic. No word of bombs. Obviously.” He shoves a sheet of paper over to Beth. “You're in charge of this. Tell Tariq to check the cams for stray dogs with harnesses. Any finding immediately to my attention. Dimitri calls here...” Another sheet of paper. “We'll need someone who can handle dangerous dogs and also is able to shoot a tranquilizer gun if necessary. A vet probably. Make sure they know it's a matter of national security. Bring them here. Also asap.” Beth already stands while the others get up, too. “Understood. What about the bomb?” “I'll disarm it.” He simply replies before he leaves the room heading directly to his desk.

#Lucas North #Richard Armitage #spooks