Tumgik
#with their bills. with adam still having to raise himself. with kate still working the night shift and breaking her back to support them
adammilligan · 2 years
Text
when adam says "no, john winchester was some guy who took me to a baseball game once a year. i don't have a dad" like yes SIR get his ass
#i have so many thoughts about adam and kate and their dynamic with john and it's mainly that#obviously anything about john said by the ghoul has to be taken with a whole handful of salt. obviously#because it was actively trying to manipulate sam and dean#but when the ghoul said that younger adam bugged kate 24/7 to call john i believe it. just because it makes sense#he was young! he wanted to know who his dad was. and that's understandable#and the fact that adam HAD to beg 24/7 for kate to call him....i think kate knew something was off about john#i really do. and the fact that john only showed up on adam's birthdays and only ever took him out to baseball games#which are very crowded very PUBLIC places where anything can be observed by bystanders#i think kate set that up as well. without adam's knowledge#but adam eventually grew disillusioned with john as well because from a kid's perspective#who's had to watch his mother work herself to death to support the both of them#john WAS a douchebag who only ever came around to try and fail to play house#he didn't bother trying to raise adam he didn't pay child support he didn't do ANYTHING#he just showed up pretended to act like a father and then left. and adam and kate were left there still#with their bills. with adam still having to raise himself. with kate still working the night shift and breaking her back to support them#it makes me think about how it affects adam in the future. like his behavior#because adam as we've seen has always tried to look at things from different perspectives and hear people out#in 5x18 he was like okay i'll hear you guys out even though i don't like you. give me one good reason#and in 15x08 he advocates for sam and dean even though he doesn't want to. he talks michael#but it's so interesting to me. because the line that's always gotten me about 15x08 is 'you still care about that? after he left you in the#cage?'#and it's like. adam IS genuinely trying to understand where michael's coming from. he DOES understand michael's love for his father#but when concerning the father it's like#he DOES tend to be black and white about it. john was a shitty person so therefore he's not his dad#god is a shitty person who left michael in the cage therefore michael shouldn't care what he thinks. or about him in general#et cetera et cetera#the issue of the father is the one issue that adam is black and white about. and that is to say fuck them we don't need them#it's SOOOO interesting to me. really#kate rambles#adam milligan
1K notes · View notes
dweetwise · 4 years
Text
day 21: i don’t feel so well
prompt from: whumptober pairing: felix x ace notes: the hanahaki au nobody asked for. i’m still a little confused about the trope but i tried <3 warnings: descriptions of illness, injury and blood, temporary character death word count: 3130
“That was awesome! She didn't stand a chance!” Steve cheers.
“That's what she gets for camping. What a bitch!” Nea laughs
Ace grins despite the pain, steadying himself against Jeff's sturdy form while the four of them are making their way back to the campfire after a successful trial.
His head is swimming and there's blood staining his teeth, his back stinging from numerous bloody gashes from the killer's katana. But he's alive, even if he had to crawl out through the exit, his teammates not letting the Spirit secure the kill on him.
When they get back to camp, Steve and Nea are off to spin the tale of their rescue to the others, and Ace can't help but smile when they generously color the experience; just like he would.
Jeff supports him to sit down against one of the logs, offering a somewhat awkward "There you go, buddy" in encouragement.
Ace sees Quentin hand Claudette one of his med-kits and then the group's resident healer approaches him with determined steps.
“Hey, sweetheart—” Ace starts with a grin.
“Stalling isn't going to work,” Claudette shoots him down quickly, seeing right through his act. So Ace sighs dramatically and shrugs off his jacket, and the girl immediately hikes up his shirt to start cleaning the wounds on his back.
Ace hisses from the sting of some kind of alcohol, turning his attention back to the others to try to distract himself from the pain.
Most of the others are listening to to Steve's and Nea's story while the rest are scattered around camp, doing their own things. Kate is tuning her guitar, Jake is stocking one of his toolboxes, and Cheryl seems to be practicing the card trick Ace taught her a couple of days ago.
And then there's Felix.
Finally giving himself permission to look at the handsome German, Ace's heart immediately starts beating faster. He's not even doing anything, just sitting by the fire engrossed in a conversation with Zarina, but Ace is so infatuated even just Felix breathing is almost enough to make him blush.
He thought he was too old for schoolboy crushes like these, but then again how could he not fancy Felix? The guy has some absolutely god-tier genes, a chiseled face and ice blue eyes and a body to die for. He’s also smart, and sophisticated, and filthy rich.
And god knows none of those qualities had ever been Ace's strong suit.
At first Ace had thought his hyperfixation on the man was jealousy, but then his body showed him that was definitely not the case; he didn't want to be Felix, he wanted to be in Felix. The realization didn't phase him as much as it maybe should have, because even the straight-as-a-board Ash had commented on Felix's good looks. And Ace sure as hell wasn't even straight to begin with.
No, his panic had come from when he'd caught himself looking at couples like Jeff and Adam being mushy together and imagined himself and Felix in their place.
Ace had a healthy amount of confidence, though the others might not describe it that kindly, but he wasn't blind. Felix was younger than him, maybe not by an impossible amount but still enough to be noticeable. He was also model-tier gorgeous with a body to match, and while Ace wasn't bad-looking he also had a crooked nose and a build solely used for drinking and gambling.
All in all, he recognized when someone was out of his league, and even though he couldn't resist a cheeky flirt ever now and then, he knew his feelings would never be returned.
But he still allowed himself to look; sue him.
He's in the middle of an indulgent daydream about laying his head on Felix's lap like Kate is doing to Yui on the other side of camp, all the while effortlessly keeping up small talk with Claudette tending to his wounds.
And then he starts coughing.
It's not a normal dry cough, it wracks his entire body and keeps going, and he curls in on himself because damn it’s making his throat hurts and his lungs ache something fierce.
“Ace, what's wrong?” Claudette's worried voice cuts through the attack. He tries to reply but it just makes him cough more, and it's not stopping—
Something slimy lands in the palm he's using to cover his mouth and then he can breathe again, taking sharp gasps of air while his throat tingles from the abuse.
He looks at whatever piece of his organs he managed to cough up, the Spirit's blade probably having rearranged some of his guts. He opens his hand and sees—
A flower?
It's absolute covered in blood, but there's no mistaking it, a single flower sitting in the palm of his hand with some loose petals surrounding it.
Why did he cough up a flower? Where did he even get it? It looks like some sort of cherry blossom, a far cry from the Entity's pustulas or the forest bouquets they pick and use for offerings.
“Are you okay?" Claudette asks, moving to kneel beside him in worry. When she sees the flower, she gasps in surprise.
“What happened?” Meg is quick to join her friend, coming up behind Ace to peer over his shoulder. “Uh… did that flower come out of you?”
“I… guess so?” Ace says, his voice raspy and throat protesting being used.
“So you just, like… ate it? Before?” Steve cocks his head in confusion.
“Come on now, I'm not that stupid,” Ace snorts, some of his worry giving way to amusement over the incredulous situation.
“Then what the hell was that?” Meg asks, scrunching her face up in thought while poking at the gross flower.
“I’m pretty sure I know what’s wrong,” Adam raises his voice from across camp, straightening his back when all eyes turn to him. “It’s an illness, I recognize the symptoms."
“Can't say I've ever heard of a disease that makes you barf petals,” Ash offers, clearly skeptical, and Ace shares the sentiment.
“Shh, hear him out!” Laurie scolds.
"It's a Japanese folk story,” Adam explains. “Flowers start growing in a person's lungs, causing coughing and bleeding and..." he hesitates.
“Well?” Meg demands.
"And ultimately resulting in death, unless the condition is cured," Adam says grimly.
“Are you talking about hanahaki?” Yui pipes up before anyone can question the weird statement. “You know that's just a shojo manga trope, right?”
“It's also mentioned in historical literature,” Adam argues, though from the way he refuses to meet Yui's gaze, he seems to be embarrassed over the subject.
“Dude, nobody cares if you read girl comics, just tell us what the cure is,” Feng snorts, and that's probably the most concern Ace has ever seen her display over his well-being.
“It's—” Adam starts, before faltering, awkwardly scratching at his neck while looking at the ground. “Supposedly caused by unrequited love.”
There's dead silence in the camp.
And then Nea bursts out laughing.
“Jesus, what a story!” the tagger snickers. “Can you imagine Ace as a fairytale princess?”
“Honey, I think you might have gotten some myths mixed up,” Jeff says diplomatically, patting Adam's knee affectionately.
“Yeah, you probably just inhaled a flower in your sleep or something,” Steve encourages Ace.
“I'm pretty sure this is just a practical joke from our dear spidery overlord,” Ace chuckles and pointedly doesn't look Felix's way. Come next trial, his injuries will have healed anyway, including the weird burn in his lungs.
But they don’t.
Trial after trial, the Entity resurrects him and heals all of his wounds but the coughing persists, more and more flowers following.
Even the others are getting worried.
“That's it, bud,” Ash offers, patting his back while Ace is wheezing for breath after coughing up some more petals. “It's just a weird flu, you'll be good as new soon.”
“At least the flowers go with my shirt,” Ace jokes, voice reduced to a rasp, clearing his throat. “Pink was always my color.”
He's trying to keep his and the others' spirits high, since there doesn't seem to be anything they can do to fix the situation.
“We need to do something,” Ace hears Laurie hiss to Dwight, apparently disagreeing with his sentiment.
“B-but how can we even help him?” their leader, bless his heart, looks genuinely upset over Ace's condition.
“Maybe we should try Adam's suggestion," Laurie says.
“Yeah, except you know he wouldn’t tell us even if he did like someone,” Yui huffs from beside them. “Good luck getting an answer out of a compulsive liar.”
Ouch, but also fair. Ace sure as hell isn't going to reveal his dumb little crush, especially since Felix has avoided him since this entire goddamn flower thing started. He knows there's only a slim chance that Felix realizes what's really going on, but it still feels like rejection nonetheless.
He can deal with this. Even if it kills him, the Entity will just bring him back anyway. It's not even that bad.
But then it gets so much worse.
After a week, Ace is laying on his side while black spots dance around in his vision and he struggles to draw enough wheezy breaths into his lungs. His chest hurts, and his throat is so sore even just the air passing through burns like fire. He hasn't been able to speak in days, and that's almost worse than the pain, not being able to use his only coping mechanism of running his mouth until something sticks to lighten the mood.
His head is cushioned on Kate's thigh and he gets a tiny bit of satisfaction from the knowledge that at least he managed to lay in one pretty blonde's lap before dying, even if it’s the wrong one. The touch is comforting nonetheless, though the fact that it’s accompanied by Kate's girlfriend practically screaming in his ear kind of puts a damper on the whole thing.
“I swear to god, I will make every single person in this camp kiss you, do not test me,” Yui threatens, one of the few who haven't given up on curing him. “Is it Jane? Bill?”
If Ace had the energy, he'd probably laugh about her choices, curious as to why those two were the ones she picked. As it stands, he merely stares at her, wondering if his eyes look as dull and lifeless as he feels.
“He's going to die,” Jake says from somewhere to his side, but Ace doesn't even bother turning his head or denying the statement. Hurried voices shush the saboteur while Kate starts humming a melody to distract him, Yui glaring absolute daggers in Jake’s general direction.
His next trial, Jake's prediction comes true.
Ace collapses to the ground in the midst of a coughing fit. The flowers are growing even bigger now, he can feel them tearing at his throat and vocal cords, retching when they trigger his gag reflex on their way out. His vision blurs and then goes black, body finally giving up as the illness consumes him.
He's not even injured from the killer, but the pool of blood he falls into is big enough to cover the entire side of his face. He lays there, not sure if he's even breathing, just thankful that the awful coughing has stopped for at least a moment.
When he comes to, he expects the small comfort of the campfire before he has to go through the same thing again. Instead, he doesn't have enough energy to even open his eyes, slowly realizing he's still in the trial.
It takes him even longer to realize he's being held partly off of the ground, his body hanging limply in someone’s grasp. He idly wonders if a killer is going to mercy hook him, but then he hears something.
Crying.
Focusing on the sound, Ace realizes he's not just being lifted, he's being held in someone's arms. Someone is holding his near-dead body and crying.
With both his mind and body broken from suffering for so long, he allows himself to imagine it's Felix, even though he knows it's not true. Felix has shown he doesn't care, not talking to him and being so grossed out by his symptoms he’s barely even looked at him—
“Das tut mir leid,” is whispered against his hair, and Ace wonders if he's hallucinating or if his brain has given up on speech comprehension, because that sounded an awful lot like German.
Suddenly, he gains some of his strength back, his chest not feeling nearly as tight as it has for the past few days.
“Felix?” Ace asks, and even though it comes out as a raspy whisper, it's impossible to miss in the stillness of the quiet moment. The surprised hitch of breath he gets in response sounds impossibly loud, and he manages to blink awake just enough to see the tear-streaked, wide-eyed face of the person he never thought he could have.
And that's when the Entity decides he's bled on the ground long enough and he blacks out from blood loss.
When Ace comes to, he's no longer in pain. He can breathe. And he wants nothing more than to get back to camp and be reassured that he wasn't imagining Felix being there for him in his final moments.
He runs to the campfire, panting from exertion once he's illuminated by the familiar glow and shocked faces turn to look at him.
“What the—did you run here!?” Meg exclaims incredulously.
“Yeah,” Ace says, eyes scanning the small crowd of familiar faces, so focused on finding a particular one he doesn't even realize the implications of managing to speak without issue.
“Your voice!” Kate exclaims happily, and Ace pauses to collect some of his thoughts.
“Shit, you're right,” he says, a smile tugging on his lips for the first time in what feels like weeks.
“Welcome back, you bastard!” Nea cheers and flings herself at him in a sideways hug, and Ace stumbles to catch himself from falling, chuckling at her antics.
Claudette is sobbing, looking impossibly relieved, and the others are cheering among themselves, though Ace can't make out the contents because he sees a familiar figure making its way to camp and his entire world zones in on that person.
Felix looks up at the sound of the commotion, and Ace's heart breaks a little over how puffy his eyes still look, but then their eyes meet and Felix looks so hopeful—
“Hey,” Ace says, and it probably gets drowned out by the others, but Felix's eyes widen in recognition and he starts walking faster.
“Are you…?” Felix asks, close enough for Ace to hear him over the others shouting.
“He's fixed!” Nea answers for him, finally letting go of the almost painful hug in favor of smacking Ace on the back encouragingly.
Felix glances at Nea but quickly looks back at Ace, waiting for confirmation.
“Yeah, I… guess I'm cured,” Ace says, and it almost feels weird to hear his own voice again. “Or... You know, I hope so.”
Because he's still not sure about Felix's feelings, and he has no idea where they're going to go from here.
But he doesn't need to worry, because Felix's face lights up in a way he's never seen before, letting out a disbelieving, genuine laugh. And then he's stepping forward and cupping his cheek and Ace only has time to blink in confusion before his head is tilted up into a kiss.
“Woah,” Ace hears Nea exclaim, her hand leaving his back like burned. “This, uh… this is new.”
Ace smiles into the kiss and tunes out the rest of her and the others’ surprised babbling, grabbing Felix by the collar of his dress shirt and pulling him deeper into the kiss.
When neither of them are making a move to pull away, their friends seem to be getting fidgety from the show.
“Why don’t we go for a stroll in the woods?” Kate suggests, and the chorus of “Sure!” “Great idea!” and “Oh fuck yes get me out of here” that follow are enough for a laugh to bubble up in Ace’s throat and get swallowed by Felix’s mouth.
When the last pair of footsteps have hurried away, Felix deems it appropriate to finally break away from the kiss. Though he doesn’t go far, burying his head into the crook of Ace’s neck and shoulder and wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug.
“Welcome back,” Felix murmurs against his skin, and the warm affection spreading through Ace’s chest is a welcome change from the constant pain he’s been in for way too long.
“Didn’t expect such a thorough welcome,” Ace can’t resist flirting, hands sneaking up to rest on Felix’s incredibly firm back. The chuckle he gets in return reverberates through both of their bodies due to how close they are, and Ace wonders if Felix can hear his heart frantically beating in excitement.
“I’m… shit,” Felix eventually sighs, lifting his head to meet Ace’s eyes. “I don’t know how to make up for being an idiot. I just watched you suffer and didn’t know what to do.”
“It’s okay,” Ace says, but now he’s curious. “Why did you avoid me?”
“Because I was afraid that I'd get the illness too,” Felix says, looking at the ground in shame. “I thought any one of us could get it, and because of how I feel about you… I was scared I was next.”
The confirmation that Felix had feelings for him even before this whole clusterfuck started is enough to make more butterflies dance in Ace’s gut, a flush creeping up his neck over how the other is openly spilling his heart.
“If I’d have known I was the one causing it, I would have done something sooner. I’m so sorry," Felix murmurs, looking at him with sad puppy eyes.
“Hey, it's not like I was being very cooperative,” Ace points out, giving his most encouraging smile. “It's not your fault, it's the dumb flower sickness.”
“I'm sorry you had to go through that, regardless,” Felix frowns. “But… I'm glad it lead us here,” he adds with a bashful smile that makes Ace’s heart do a couple leaps.
“Figures the best and worst things of my life would happen simultaneously,” Ace flirts, and apparently Felix enjoys being called the best thing in his life, because his sappy smile widens even further.
Ace can’t resist diving in for another taste, capturing smiling lips in a kiss that lasts even longer than the first one and makes their friends groan and complain about “Geez, you’re still going?” when they rejoin them at the campfire.
16 notes · View notes
tabloidtoc · 3 years
Text
OK, March 8
You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks
Cover: Bruce Springsteen
Tumblr media
Page 1: Big Pic -- as part of Coach's latest campaign Jennifer Lopez posed with a supersized pink version of their new Pillow Tabby purse
Page 2: Contents
Tumblr media
Page 3: Contents
Tumblr media
Page 4: Chris Harrison gone for good? The Bachelor host's future with the show remains uncertain after his controversial interview with Rachel Lindsay
Page 6: Since the start of his career Justin Timberlake has endured his fair share of scandals but after welcoming his second son with wife Jessica Biel over the summer and celebrating his 40th birthday, he is confessing that he feels immense guilt about the past and he won't be making the same mistakes in the future -- Justin's done some soul-searching and accepts that he's wronged a lot of people over the years with his own terrible mistakes and he says he's still a work in progress, but step one has been to stand up and admit he's hurt too many women -- in addition to a boozy night out with his Palmer costar Alisha Wainwright in 2019 and his part in the now-infamous Nipplegate incident with Janet Jackson at the 2004 Super Bowl, Justin recently came under fire again due to the documentary Framing Britney Spears which showed him exploiting his breakup from Britney Spears to help his solo career -- Justin's learned from his mistakes and has a lot more sensitivity about the impact of his actions on other people and that's the big difference between the Justin of today and his old, immature self and that self-awareness was evident in an emotional statement that he posted apologizing to both Britney and Janet for the errors in his ways -- his words drew praise from his wife Jessica who says he's come a long way as a husband, a father and more importantly, a human being
Page 7: Wendy Williams is on the prowl for a new man and he's got to be husband material and she is ready for a serious commitment -- Wendy's been staying up until all hours of the night checking out guys online and on exclusive dating apps and she wants someone age-appropriate, fun, kind, independent and of course has no history of cheating -- she's feeling very optimistic and even buying new perfume and clothes and jewelry for all the dates she hopes to have once lockdown lifts
* Texas native Matthew McConaughey is seriously considering throwing his hat in the ring to become the state's next governor -- he's been putting out feelers to see if he's got sufficient support and if enough donors are willing to write checks, he'd mount an aggressive run in 2022 -- he's already gotten the thumbs-up from his wife Camila Alves and their three kids -- at this point, he needs to see an actual path to winning because he's not interested in just making a protest statement; don't be fooled by his aw-shucks attitude, Matthew means business
* Now that Keeping Up With the Kardashians is coming to an end, the hunt is on for a new family to replace the clan and one reality pro is poised to nab the prize: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna -- there's already been talk about Lisa picking up the torch and her family is camera ready, consisting of husband Harry Hamlin, and their daughters Delilah Hamlin who's dating Love Island's Eyal Booker and Amelia Hamlin who's dating Scott Disick
Page 8: Things keep going from bad to worse for Armie Hammer -- he was forced to drop out of his upcoming movie Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez after direct messages he allegedly sent to women in which he described himself as a cannibal and detailed disturbing sexual fantasies were leaked online -- Armie was also fired by his talent agency WME and now the disgraced star may get cut from his new film Next Goal Wins which has already been shot -- he's radioactive and everybody knows it and his completed but unreleased work is getting a second look as studios want to do damage control, and that includes another of his finished projects Death on the Nile where his part could end up on the cutting room floor -- he's a pariah now and it's hard to see how he's ever going to come back from this
* Jennifer Aniston has always had a spiritual side but these days she is taking things to a whole new plane -- Jen has surrounded herself with psychics and has been doing Goddess Circles with the same group of close friends for 30 years, but now she's taking courses to learn to heal herself and be her own guru -- BFF Courteney Cox has been a big influence and Jen's learned a lot from Courteney, who's had a long-term interest in mediums, astrologists and horoscopes, and she's trying to fuse it all together into her own brand of spirituality -- Jen's had a lot of time alone, which has only deepened her questions about the universe and how she can make the most of her life and she's determined to find the answers
* Princess Eugenie is over the moon after welcoming her first child, a baby boy with businessman husband Jack Brooksbank but now the new mom is torn about taking time out from her royal responsibilities -- Eugenie would love to take a long break from everything and focus solely on raising her son however she knows deep down how much she's needed, especially since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are showing no signs of coming back -- as she weighs her options, Eugenie is looking to her multi-tasking cousin-in-law Duchess Kate for some inspiration because she's impressed by how Kate is able to juggle her official duties while raising three young kids
Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- stars captivate in enchanting puff-sleeve numbers -- Bel Powley, Aubrey Plaza, Lupita Nyong'o
Page 11: Kaitlyn Dever, Lucy Boynton, Margaret Qualley
Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Hilary Swank vs. Madeline Brewer, Bella Hadid vs. Devon Windsor, Alison Brie vs. Dua Lipa
Page 14: News in Photos -- Tayshia Adams and her fiance Zac Clark felt on top of the world when the visited the Empire State Building together
Page 15: Chrissy Teigen and John Legend were inseparable while out and about in Beverly Hills, Bill Murray and NFL player Larry Fitzgerald Jr. were among the many stars to shoot their shot during a charity golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Rita Ora performing on an episode of the U.K. show Dancing on Ice in Hertfordshire
Page 16: At the Australian Open Serena Williams came out on top during the fourth round, Bachelorette alum Jordan Kimball and fiancee Christina Creedon couldn't wait until they got home to enjoy Candy Pop popcorn's new Peanut M&M's flavor from Sam's Club in Houston, Heidi Montag spent the day hitting the slopes at Lake Tahoe
Page 17: Hailey Bieber starring in Beyonce's new Ivy Park x Adidas collection
Page 18: Brody Jenner had a blast snow tubing while shooting the second season of The Hills: New Beginnings in Lake Tahoe, Avril Lavigne stepped out with her new boyfriend Mod Sun for a romantic dinner in West Hollywood
Page 20: Justin Bieber looked like he'd just hopped out of bed in a sweater and checkered fleece pants in L.A., Robin Thicke in front of a piano in L.A.
Page 21: Steve Martin doubled up on face coverings on the set of his new project Only Murders in the Building in NYC, Michelle Obama on her new show Waffles + Michi, Cardi B spoiled herself with high-end goods during a day of shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills
Page 22: Brooke Burke romancing with boyfriend Scott Rigsby on Valentine's Day, Lucy Hale accessorized her look with her newest rescue pup Ethel in L.A., Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon masked up for a snowy outing in NYC
Page 24: For Galentine's Day Vanessa Lachey snacked on macarons and sipped on wine in L.A.
Page 25: Bella Hadid alongside models Mayowa Nicholas and Heejung Park in Michael Kors' new campaign for the Spring 2021 collection, Hugh Grant stepped out for some fresh hair in London, Sofia Vergara kept it casual during a visit to a pal's house in Beverly Hills
Page 26: Inside My Home -- Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley's Rocky Mountain retreat
Page 28: Marriage isn't easy especially during a global health crisis but for Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard divorce is not an option -- Kristen said she and Dax at the start of the pandemic were at a point in their marriage where they definitely needed a little therapy brush-up and every couple of years they're being very antagonistic towards each other and they don't want that so they go back to therapy and figure out how they can serve their team goal better and it's been incredibly helpful and even in the toughest times they always have each other's back and they're committed to being each other's biggest support systems -- while their relationship may never be perfect, they're happy and love each other and that's what matters most
Page 29: Now that Tom Brady has won his seventh Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has set his sights on the next prize: baby No. 3 with wife Gisele Bundchen -- they've been telling friends they hope to make an announcement by summer at the latest and Tom and Gisele have been super loved-up since leaving Boston and moving to Florida after the QB signed on with the Bucs and the change of scenery has worked wonders on their love life and put them in baby-making mode -- the duo, who recently bought a $17 million spread on Miami's exclusive Indian Creek Island, plan to build a luxury mansion there complete with a nursery and they hope to be all settled in when the new arrival comes -- they've never felt healthier or been happier
* Aaron Rodgers looked positively giddy when he revealed he had a fiancee, Shailene Woodley at the NFL Honors, but the QB is dreading the next step: bringing her home to meet his parents because it's no secret that Aaron's been estranged from them for years and the last thing he wants is for Shailene to get caught up in the drama -- Shailene wants Aaron to clear the air with his folks, but he's not ready to do that and he doesn't want to bring Shailene into a toxic environment
* It's only been two years since Miranda Lambert married Brendan McLoughlin but she's already itching for some alone time -- she's headed to Texas in April for her first concert in over a year and she's told Brendan he shouldn't come because it will be all work and no play but she really wants to get away from him for a while and after the pair's recent road trip together, Miranda is desperate for some space -- sometimes Miranda feels like she's living with a baby because Brendan whines and complains about life on her farm
Page 30: Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's romance is heating up fast, so much so that she's practically handed over the keys to her Calabasas estate and she loves having Travis sleep over and sometimes he'll stay the whole weekend -- he gets along famously with her children and Travis has been a friend of the family for years, so the kids have pretty much known him their whole lives and they'll do fun stuff together like hiking or playing video games and Travis loves making breakfast and showing off his pancake-flipping skills --Travis is spending so much time at Kourt's place that he's moved a bunch of his stuff in to make it easier for his kids Landon and Alabama with ex Shanna Moakler to visit him there -- everyone's convinced they'll be living together full-time before you know it
* Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were met with a flurry of well-wishes after they revealed they're expecting baby No. 2 -- the couple decided to wait until Meghan was safely into her second trimester to share the news and they only told a handful of family members before the public and they wanted to cherish this secret for as long as they could -- Harry and Meghan have been nesting at their Montecito mansion and have been busy prepping the nursery and making sure it's eco-friendly with energy-efficient lighting and they're keeping it as plastic-free as possible
* Love Bites -- Clare Crawley and Dale Moss reunited, Kit Harington and Rose Leslie welcomed a baby boy, Paris Hilton and Carter Reum engaged
Page 32: Cover Story -- Bruce Springsteen's private world -- he's an open book in his songs, but here's Bruce's untold story of his struggles with depression and regret -- he still has dark thoughts from time to time but therapy and medication have helped a great deal
Page 36: Stars' Cheating Confessions -- sometimes all you can do is beg for forgiveness; these celebs have all had to plead their case -- Donny and Debbie Osmond, Jude Law and Sienna Miller, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith
Page 37: David Letterman and Regina Lasko, Dean McDermott and Tori Spelling, Kevin Hart and Eniko Parrish
Page 40: Interview -- Elizabeth Olsen -- the Avengers star dishes about getting witchy again for Marvel's mind-bending WandaVision
Page 42: Golden Girls -- how these Golden Globes nominees get their award-worthy figures -- Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Lily Collins
Page 43: Kaley Cuoco, Michelle Pfeiffer, Amanda Seyfried
Page 44: Aadila Dosani's vegan recipe for Chickpea and Potato Soup
Page 46: Style Week -- Ashley Graham is the new global brand ambassador for self-tanning label St. Tropez
Page 48: What's Hot Right Now -- create a naturally gorgeous, flushed look with fashion designer Jason Wu's namesake makeup collection
Page 49: Haute hippie retro jeans -- take a trip back to the '70s with Revice Denim's ultra-cool capsule, Los Angeles Lovers -- Delilah Belle Hamlin
Page 50: Flower Power -- floral prints are spring's hottest trend -- rock the pretty blooms for a fresh, boho-chic look -- Kaia Gerber
Page 52: DIY Blowout -- these foolproof finds deliver impeccable hair right at home -- Drew Barrymore
Page 54: Entertainment
Page 55: Q&A with Mary Fitzgerald of Selling Sunset
Page 58: Buzz -- after months of playing it coy, these celebs confirmed their relationships on Valentine's Day -- Scott Disick and Amelia Hamlin
Page 59: Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker, Sharna Burgess and Brian Austin Green, Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker, Kendall Jenner and Devin Booker
Page 60: Sound Bites -- Halsey on not conforming to conventional beauty standards, Anderson Cooper on coparenting with his ex, Ashley Graham on the importance of self-care, Kate Winslet on feeling like a fish out of water in Hollywood
Page 61: Tom Holland on the plot of the next Spider-Man flick, Mila Kunis joking about keeping her family entertained during quarantine, Drew Barrymore when asked if she's ever been skinny-dipping, Madelaine Petsch on playing a teen in Clare at 16
Page 62: Horoscope -- Pisces Lupita Nyong'o turned 38 on March 1
Page 64: By the Numbers -- Riz Ahmed
4 notes · View notes
Legal Eagles
When UNISON won its employment tribunal fees case in the Supreme Court last year, the landmark victory thrust the union’s in-house legal team into the limelight. U met two of them, head of legal services Adam Creme and his colleague Shantha David, the legal officer who ran the five-year case against the government.
Shantha David
It was two days after the biggest legal case in her life, the judicial review in which UNISON defeated the government in one of the most important decisions in the history of employment law. After a string of media interviews talking about the victory, Shantha David was finally sitting alone, at home. And she burst into tears.
“I was so overcome,” she recalls. “It was all the feeling of four and a half years of work – the grafting, the slog, the legal arguments, witness statements, the last-minute dashes to court. As solicitor teams go, ours was small – it was just me and my secretary Kate Osborne. And the bundles [legal papers] we prepared ran to thousands of pages for each hearing.
“You’re so consumed by all of it. And you’re so tired. Winning or losing, it’s always a strange anti-climax. You’ve spent all this energy fighting for something, and then it’s over.” She laughs. “It’s like the end of a season of Game of Thrones.”
She admits that on that August morning the “magnitude” of the result still hadn’t sank in. Though, yes, there was satisfaction amid the tears. “There was definitely a sense of relief that we’d won, and elation.”
Shantha is one of UNISON’s small, in-house legal team, which comprises four employment lawyers and one personal injury lawyer in London, an employment lawyer in Scotland, two paralegals (unqualified lawyers) and two non-legal staff, all led by head of legal Adam Creme.
While the outside solicitor firm Thompsons handles most of the personal injury and employment claims for individual members (winning millions of pounds in compensation each year), the in-house team handles all appeals in the higher courts, as well as strategic employment law cases, often far-reaching actions that involve issues such as TUPE, equal pay and the national minimum wage.
They’ve had some significant victories, but perhaps none more so than The Queen (on the application of UNISON) v the Lord Chancellor, the formal title of the legal challenge to the employment tribunal fees introduced in 2013 by former Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling.
UNISON immediately saw that the fees would destroy members’ right to seek justice in the employment courts. The union’s single-handed battle to reverse that decision spanned six unsuccessful hearings – three in the High Court and three in the Court of Appeal – before the seven judges of the Supreme Court unanimously found in the union’s favour.
Our case was about access to justice. It’s really odd, but you can’t use words like that in the lower courts, you can’t talk about Magna Carta or they’ll kick you out
When Shantha recounts the torturous mechanics of the case, it’s evident that the shenanigans of legal TV shows like Ally McBeal and The Good Wife are not so far from the truth – whether, for her, it was endless government gamesmanship or one, early and unsympathetic judge who told a government barrister in a public hearing: “I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I’m on your side”.
At the same time, when she explains why UNISON was counting on the highest court in the land to do the right thing, it’s an evocative reminder of why the law, at its most idealistic, can be so captivating.
“Our case was about access to justice. It’s really odd, but you can’t use words like that in the lower courts, you can’t talk about Magna Carta or they’ll kick you out. But the Supreme Court is the law-making forum and the judges can do what they like, frankly. They can talk about Magna Carta, they are willing to discuss basic principles, the things you learn about in law school, justice, that you get all ‘ooh, ahh’ about.
“Their judgment is not just important for workers in Britain, but also for access to justice in other parts of the law, where the government is trying to raise costs for ordinary people – in civil courts, where legal aid has pretty much gone, in immigration tribunals. People are now looking at ways of targeting those areas using the UNISON judgement. That’s our legacy, which is brilliant.”
Her parents are Sri Lankan, her father a former diplomat and Sri Lankan ambassador, which meant that childhood was on the road – including Malaysia, where she was born, Paris, Egypt, India and London, where she took her A-Levels and then remained, studying history at university, then a conversion course to law.
She was drawn to the law partly by the “higher thinking behind it, the philosophy, the jurisprudence. I was interested in why people do what they do. How do you deviate from the path, how do you become a criminal?”
But she was also considering a career in international relations. Around that time she spent a memorable three months as an intern at the United Nations in New York, just as Tony Blair gave his first speech to the General Assembly, followed by Nelson Mandela (“I was, ‘Oh my god, this is awesome’”) and Princess Diana’s landmines bill was being passed. She also worked on the establishment of the International Criminal Court.
These are all people who need support: who don’t know what’s around the corner for them, who live in a heightened state of anxiety
The fact that she qualified as a solicitor while temping for UNISON (having earlier qualified as a barrister) may seem like fate. “I was working on some amazing cases for the union, and it all seemed to make sense – employment law made sense, the union made sense. It was the right fit.”
That was 15 years ago. Looking back, she thinks that her childhood, during which she experienced conflict situations first-hand, may have sewn some of the seeds of her future career.
She was just 10 at the outset of the Sri Lankan civil war in 1983, when hundreds of Tamils were being killed and her family, Tamils themselves, briefly had to go into hiding. “There were cars and houses burning everywhere. It was quite a scary experience.” Just a year later they were in New Delhi when Indira Gandhi was assassinated, after which thousands of Sikhs were killed in retaliatory violence.
There is a strong emotional connection, for Shantha, between those people she encountered as a child, caught in civil wars and other violent conflicts, and UNISON members struggling in their jobs, whether it’s because of pressures of funding and under-funding, low pay or zero-hours contracts.
“These are all people who need support: who don’t know what’s around the corner for them, who live in a heightened state of anxiety, which is the same whether you’re facing violence, or uncertainty at work. And it’s very unhealthy.”
Shantha has to contend with a different problem – trying to balance a secure, but highly demanding job with family life and two children, nine-year-old Ella and seven-year-old James.
Somehow she finds the time – for work, family, to be a school governor and a Law Society committee member, and to indulge her life-long love of singing: a serious soloist as a child, she still performs at weddings and the like (as it happens, she was listening to the soundtrack of the musical Moulin Rouge during that tearful moment in August).
“Family life can be tough. My husband – without whose support I couldn’t have run this case – and I both work full-time. I work flexibly, which means I get to pick up the kids, but also have to work when they go to sleep. But I’d rather that, than not get involved in the work we’ve been doing at UNISON.”
And despite making a little piece of history, that work continues. She’s currently fighting a case in the South West, involving three local authorities who have banded together in a company and are trying to cut the terms and conditions of their care workers.
“The legal process is very slow. This case has been going for over a year, but things are hotting up now. So yeah, onto the next one. Reality bites.
Adam Creme
In June 1993 Adam Creme was a young lawyer, establishing himself in what was then a comparatively new strand of his profession – employment law – when he saw an advertisement in the London Evening Standard.
“The ad said, ‘UNISON has just been born and we need a locum solicitor for six weeks’. It was about a month into the formation of the union. I thought it would be an interesting and fun thing to do for a few weeks, so I came for an interview.” He smiles. “And that was more than 24 years ago.”
At first the legal departments of the three founder unions were joined together, then a few years later that department was split in two. All the while, Adam’s contract “was extended, then extended, then extended” and by the time the two parts became one again, he was put in charge.
“It’s fate, isn’t it? I never intended to work for a trade union. But where better to do employment law and labour law and industrial relations – all thrown together – than a trade union?”
Tools of the trade for a trade unionist – talking. Tools of the trade for a lawyer – talking. Put the two together….
UNISON’s head of legal was born into a family of Russian and Polish immigrants in Manchester. His father, like his father before him, sold shirts. “He was a brilliant salesman,” Adam recalls proudly. Yet he remembers that, even as a youngster,  “I always had an inkling that I wanted to be a lawyer.
“I think I had quite strong feelings about social justice from a really early age,” he adds. “I was born in 1960, so grew up through some interesting times – a Labour government for a long time, and then in the Seventies lots of industrial action and other problems.  And I was always aware of it. I think I was always vaguely political. I don’t know where that came from, my parents are not like that.” He laughs. “I think I’m probably a bit arsy.”
As for many left-leaning young people, the Eighties proved formative. “It was the time of Thatcher, it was a time of strife. And it was an interesting time to be a student. I studied history at Manchester, which was a hotbed of politics. I was heavily involved in student politics, and my feelings about social justice bloomed even more as a result of that.”
He recalls a lot of CND activity, and also the infamous visit of Home Secretary Leon Brittan to the university during the miners’ strike, when some of his friends were among those beaten by police and arrested.
He followed history with a post-graduate course in industrial relations – again at an opportune moment, as it coincided with the Tory government’s attempts to restrict trade union activity, including what became known as Tebbit’s Law.
“They started the ball rolling and we’re still living with the effects of it,” he observes. By the time he’d finished the course, he knew what he wanted to do, namely employment law. And because at that time there were very few firms that had the specialism, and they were all in London, the Mancunian moved South.
He’d qualified, and worked in private practice for a few years – which meant representing mostly employers – when UNISON entered his life. “I do this because I believe in it,” he says. “I believe that we’re doing something really useful here, on behalf of other people. And that’s why I’ve stayed so long.”
We had a lot of people contacting us, including employment law judges and people from big practices, who wanted to say that what we were doing was great and that strongly supported us
Adam is virtually never to be seen in a suit and tie, his casual image light years away from the power-suited portrayal of lawyers on television – wealthy, coiffed men and women who appear more concerned with their position in the firm than their clients.
But Adam says that image doesn’t tell the whole story. “I was in private practice for nearly six years before I started at UNISON, so I know what it’s like. What you see on TV is an exaggeration. It definitely exists – if you went into a large or even medium size legal firm you’d find [office] politics going on and people battling to become partner, and then senior partner, and to make more and more money. What they don’t show is the grind.
“At UNISON we grind too, we work long hours. But for those people in private practice it’s a regular thing. And you can’t continue to look 20 and glossy in Armani suits when you’re doing 15-hour days, seven days a week.
“My partner is a lawyer and was a partner in private practice, so she experienced that,” he adds. “And she doesn’t any more. She wanted to have a life.” The couple have twin daughters, 13 years old. “I have a good perspective about work generally because of my other half’s experience. And I have a good perspective on life generally because of my children.”
Given his experience on both sides of the divide, he has a particularly relevant take on his area of the profession. “Most employment lawyers are lefties, even if they work for massive commercial firms who act for employers almost exclusively. They are not usually Tories, they have liberal or left wing values. And an awful lot of them believe in access to justice.
“That’s been one of the very interesting things about UNISON’s employment tribunal fees case. We had a lot of people contacting us, including employment law judges and people from big practices, who wanted to say that what we were doing was great and that they strongly supported us.”
He describes the judge’s verdict in the Supreme Court as, “like that moment in The Italian Job, where Michael Caine says ‘You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off.’ When we started doing this case I just wanted to get rid of ET fees. I could not have predicted it would become this enormous constitutional thing, which will touch many, many areas of UK law.”
That wide-ranging significance is no doubt why his team have already scooped three awards for their work on the case. First they were voted The Lawyer Magazine’s ‘best employment team’ in 2014, merely on the back of bringing the claim against the government; then in 2016 another employment team gong, from The Solicitor’s Journal – despite at that time getting “slaughtered” in the courts; and finally after the victory, when Adam was named lawyer of the year by Liberty, which he also sees as an award for the team.
His daughters were at that last ceremony. “For five minutes they thought dad was way cool, then five minutes later they weren’t bothered,” he smiles. He says that they were taken aback at how he turned four bullet points into a 10-minute speech. “Tools of the trade for a trade unionist – talking. Tools of the trade for a lawyer – talking. Put the two together….”
Both Adam and Shantha have high praise for Dave Prentis and the UNISON leadership who, with Adam, decided at the outset to contest the tribunal fees and supported the team throughout, not least when the case was at its rockiest.
And of the woman he charged to do the “heavy lifting”, Adam says: “I decided that Shantha would be a good fit. And what a good choice that proved to be. She’s a terrier, she gets her teeth into something and doesn’t let go. She has a very strong attention to detail, and an extremely strong work ethic.
“But I’m lucky. I’ve got a bunch of people in my team, all younger than me, who really know what they are doing and are committed. I would say this, but we are by some distance the best trade union legal team that’s ever been.”
Images: Ralph Hodgson
          The article Legal Eagles first appeared on the UNISON National site.
from UNISON National https://www.unison.org.uk/news/magazine/2018/03/legal-eagles/ via IFTTT
0 notes
dweetwise · 4 years
Text
day 11: crying
prompt from: whumptober pairing: felix x ace notes: all this angst is getting to me, i’m so glad tomorrow is a fluff day ;w; warnings: amnesia, implied suicide word count: 1960
If there was anything Ace had always been good at, it was dealing with all the various shit life threw his way. He'd smile and roll with the punches, not wasting time on pointless concepts like regret and what if:s.
The Entity's world had been no exception. Sure, it was objectively worse than just another poker losing streak or scam gone wrong, but since there wasn't anything he could do to change it, he just tried to make the most of it. And no, he didn’t particularly like getting chased or stabbed or brutally murdered, but in the end he was still alive and free to hang out with his newfound friends and make shitty jokes. It was the new normal, and like always, Ace adapted with surprising ease.
Until he didn't.
It had been like any typical not-day at the campfire, where a trial was taking place but Ace wasn't chosen for it. The only thing different from usual was that Ace was a little on edge, though from worry or anticipation, he wasn't sure.
Felix was the newest addition to their group, and despite only being there for what couldn't be more than a couple of months, he'd made a huge impact on Ace's life. Ace had never been any kind of clingy in his old life, but even he had to admit that he'd much rather have Felix by his side at the campfire than in a trial at the mercy of the Entity's Monster of the Day.
And maybe his heart broke a little when Adam, Cheryl and Quentin returned from the trial and Adam met his eyes and offered a pained “I'm sorry, we tried”. Ace gave a half-assed reassurance in return, and despite knowing that they always came back after a sacrifice and weren't any worse for wear, it wasn't a pleasant thing to go through.
But if he'd thought that information broke his heart, the next one shattered it into pieces.
Felix finally returned to the campfire, his look just as impeccable as ever, like he'd been preparing for an important business meeting instead of taking a chainsaw through the gut. Ace felt his fake smile give way to a genuine one, unexplainable relief flooding through him upon the confirmation that yes, even after a hundred sacrifices Felix was still alive. For some reason, Felix was frowning, so Ace made his way over to cheer him up, a witty comment already on the tip of his tongue—
“Wo zum Teufel bin ich?" Felix said, looking at him with a very confused expression that made him stop dead in his tracks.
It wasn't uncommon for Felix to revert back to his native tongue in certain situations, but it was usually only a word or two. And it wasn't like him to keep his distance from the others like this, not since befriending the group and especially not after they’d started dating.
“Come again?" Nea snorted from somewhere behind Ace, probably thinking it some kind of joke.
When Felix looked at her with clear wariness, Ace already knew what he was going to say, having seen that same exact look only months before.
“Where am I?” Felix asked, and then further twisted the knife in Ace's heart by looking back at him and adding “Who are you?”.
Ace didn't pay much attention after that. He sat by the fire while the others hovered around Felix in worry, staring at the ground and asking himself why.
Claudette came by to offer him some empty words of comfort and a gentle hand on his shoulder. He heard Bill raising his voice in the group and urging them to “calm the fuck down and let the guy breathe”. And eventually, Yui was there, kneeling before him and commanding Ace to look at her.
“He got hit with Leatherface's mallet really hard during the mori,” the biker told him, her stern expression being enough to convince Ace. “Adam and Claud said it's post-traumatic amnesia from the concussion. It's temporary.”
“Yeah. Okay,” Ace said, realizing how shaky his voice sounded, dragging a hand through his hair to try to quell his doubts.
Hours passed and Felix didn't get any better. Meg and Steve were by his side the entire time, reminiscing stories from the campfire and some of his best moments of outsmarting the killers to try to jog his memory, but nothing seemed to work.
Claudette suggested maybe Ace should talk to him, as he'd been the closest to him since he got here. So he swallowed his own grief and put on a shitty smile and shooed Meg and Steve away to sit down with Felix alone.
But when Felix started talking about how he had to get back because of his girlfriend and the baby he was so excited for, Ace had to nope the fuck out before he started bawling or cussing him out.
He avoided Felix for the entire day, playing some dumb card game with Ash he was pretty sure the other just made up, and despite his mind not being anywhere near the cards the bastard let him win. Nea was being even more obnoxious than usual, shit-talking the killers and trying to get Ace to join in, and it was really obvious that they were trying to keep him distracted, but he appreciated it nonetheless.
Then the next trial came and Dwight, Tapp, Kate and Zarina were off, and Ace was left to stare at the futile sight of Jane asking Felix about trials he had no recollection of.
“What if he never remembers?” Ace heard Cheryl whisper.
“It's temporary,” Yui immediately snapped.
“Maybe it takes another resurrection to fix,” Adam said, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
Ace felt empty. The worry and fear and absolute loneliness had created a hole in his chest he didn't know how to fix, and wouldn't until Felix was back to his old self, because he would be, because that's how it always worked—
And then Dwight stumbled into camp and looked around with pure terror in his eyes and asked if they knew a way back into the city and Ace's world stopped turning.
The hole in his chest was instantly filled with grief and anguish and he was helpless to stop the sob from wracking his entire body, burying his face into his shaking hands and mourning what he now knew he'd never get back.
There was a commotion again, and he wasn't the only one who was crying, the entire group shaken to the core at their leader losing his memory and now realizing it wasn't an accident.
There were arms around Ace’s shoulders and who he thought was Laurie whispering that she's “so, so sorry, but we’ll get through this”, and if he could do something other than cry he'd have told her that no, he doesn't think they will.
The Entity had a lot of creative ways to torture them, but none of them had been enough to break him until now.
It was hours or maybe even days before Ace came to and could try to think somewhat clearly. Nancy and Adam were standing in the middle of camp, evenly explaining that they needed to start documenting everything, that the Entity had changed its rules and a death now meant forgetting everything after coming to the realm.
Some of the others were sobbing and the rest looked grimly serious, the usual laughter and outrageous stories around the fire long forgotten. Yui was hugging Kate in a death grip and Nea and Meg held each other and carried a hurried conversation with worried expressions, the couples no doubt terrified of forgetting each other.
He looked over to Dwight, and saw Jake being much more calm and collected than Ace could ever be, patiently explaining everything to his boyfriend and gently holding his hand. Dwight already looked almost as smitten as before he lost his memory, and Ace couldn't help the sharp pang of jealousy at how easy it was for them.
“So you, uh… said you left your family? Can I ask why?” Dwight asked, just as eager as ever to get to know Jake, and blushing when Jake gave a lovestruck smile and shared his life story without complaint.
How Jake wasn't a broken shell of a man like him, he'd never know.
Ace considered telling Felix everything, but what would be the point? Even if he did somehow manage to worm his way into Felix's heart again, the memories were lost forever, not to mention he’d be back to square one after Felix got sacrificed the next time.
There was a map and a piece of charcoal shoved into his hands, and Ace looked up at Zarina's usually carefully schooled features twisted into uncertainty.
“We're writing letters to yourselves,” Zarina explained. “For when—if we die, we have some guidance and know about the important stuff.”
She left him to it and he idly wondered if it would have even made a difference for Felix.
Suddenly, a new determination hit him and he started jotting down what he knew he needed to hear. His codeword for safety, so he’d know it was real. How he got to the realm and how long he'd been there. The names of his friends and the insistence that he trusted them all with his life. The few killers who were somewhat reasonable. The names of the couples and some random gossip he could use to lighten the mood.
‘Felix’ he started a sentence automatically, but then paused. A dark thought was creeping up in the back of his mind, and he knew exactly what needed to happen next. He finished the sentence with ‘has a girlfriend and kid in the real world’, before folding the piece of paper and placing it in his jacket pocket and waiting for a trial to start.
It was two days before Ace got called into a trial, and while the others were panicking and hugging each other and trying not to cry, he felt calmer than he had since this whole thing started.
“Keep an eye on Ace, okay?” he even heard Kate murmur to Bill, and it was almost enough to make him change his mind.
But then the trial started and Ace ran right into the center of the map to get chased first by the Wraith.
He was on his second hook, struggling against the Entity’s claws, with only one generator left and only one other person having been hooked. His chances were looking good, a weak killer on a strong map, his teammates pumping out generator after generator. With a much worse threat than sacrifice and resurrection looming in the distance, their determination had improved tenfold.
The Wraith was nowhere to be seen when Bill made his way over to the hook.
“Hold on, bud,” Bill grunted, slowly vaulting the window in front of him as not to alert the killer of the rescue in advance.
The last generator popped and Ace smiled for the first time in days, a toothy grin that probably came off as maniacal, realizing he could finally fulfill his plan while knowing the others would make it out.
“Ace, what are you—” there was alarm on Bill's features and he picked up his pace to a sprint, but it was too late.
“Sorry, old friend,” Ace offered before he let go.
“ACE!”
Bill's panicked scream was the last thing he heard before the claw pierced straight through his gut, and he had a few seconds of time to feel a bad for putting Bill through that, before his consciousness faded to black.
At least he wouldn’t remember any of it.
16 notes · View notes