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tillxthexearthxstartsxtoxcrumble · 1 year

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Little details in The Phantom Of The Opera movie that I love so much cause I just watched it for the first time in years again and I will be mentioning my point of view now vs when I was a kid. Also this is in honor of it closing on Broadway today, it's truly an amazing musical

My mom had watched this musical since she was a kid and it's a favorite of hers so this is also one I watched with her and we shared things we liked throughout it :)

Just so everyone knows, as a kid I didn't understand anything bad about what the phantom was doing but I knew he was treated horribly and I sympathized with him a lot.

Warning: this is a very long post. I just started liveblogging at one point and never went back.

This was emobviously entirely intentional but the color coming back as it lights up in fire is truly one of the best things that could have ever been done with a movie and I will NEVER get over it. Best part of those flash forwards

Lot 666. The freaking chandelier falling. I'm just. Yeah. That's cool.

My mom saw a performance of this off Broadway but still in a big theater and they did light a fire and raise a chandelier for it and she mentions that anytime we talk about this musical. It was truly an amazing experience for her

THE TRUMPETSSSSSSS. I'm such a band nerd but I am gonna try and convince my band director to let us perform this cause we have a copy in the music library (also happy birthday to my band director cause it probably won't still be his birthday when this is posted but it is as I'm writing this)

She says she thinks of her as a daughter and yet she's aware of everything and lets it happen...

My mom said she didn't like Raoul until the movie and as a kid I didn't care for him (as I said, I cared for the phantom) but rewatching it now they're kinda cute with how excited they are when they recognize each other. More comments on them later, probably.

CHRISTINE IS GLOWING LITERALLY DURING THE PERFORMANCE. LITERALLY.

Because it's my current binging show and I'm emotionally attached, I have to mention- the actress playing Christine is truly incredible because I'm watching her in Shameless rn and it's truly amazing seeing her in both of these

CHRISTINE AND RAOUL SINGING TOGETHER AT ALL IS JUST THE BEST THING FOR THE EARS

SHE WATCHES HIM LOCK CHRISTINE IN WHY FORS SHE JUST STAND BY?! MA'AM I UNDERSTAND SYMPATHY, I HAD IT FOR HIM AS A KID TOO, BUT YOU'RE A GROWN ASS ADULT WITH A KID AND A SURROGATE CHILD. COME ON.

I mentioned this with my mom but I am really into color theory and white usually represents purity and innocence, which is why I find it interesting how his MASK is literally the color meaning innocene and then later on in the film he has a black mask when even Christine knows he is not the wonderful angel she though he was, and he doesn't get back his mask of innocence And the mask is even taken off. Which also, there is a beauty when reading into color symbolism how black represents evil and death and he has a black mask when going after so many people to kill and then she removes his mask and she has sympathy for him. Because while he is truly terrible for all he's done, he is a damaged creature that has never been shown love and she pities him. Doesn't change or make anything he has done okay but if there was much thought behind that, I love it.

Watched a Cinema Therapy episode on this (HIGHLY suggest checking them out, they're amazing!!! You can find them on YouTube!) But they mention how his lyrics are all very possessive and her love song with Raoul is all about sharing. I love it.

Time to acknowledge the elephant in the room cause the casting of Gerard Butler is very controversial apparently but my mom told me she read an article saying that they chose him because he was an untrained singer, as the phantom was meant to be. I understand both sides of the arguments on his casting, because while yes the authenticity of the character making it more realistic with singing ability, he was meant to be this amazing singer who literally sang like an angel so getting a trained actor may have been better but idk. I still love it

Sir get your hands off her you literally watched her grow up while you were an adult already.

The difference in perspective between Christine and what the reality was being shown is something that makes me appreciate it being a movie. There being rats and it being dark and damp as the reality vs Christine seeing it all lit up and beautiful and mysterious.

Nah man cause Christine is my favorite voice in this but I AM OBSESSED WITH RAOUL'S VOICE HOLY HELL

Nah man if I had literally seconds notice to play an unplanned song in band I'd lose my shit

The cinematography in this is just so beautiful oh my gosh

Okay more on the color theory a little bit with the masks. The masquerade scene- my mom told me the live performance was quite colorful during this but it was more black and white in this and it's interesting to me that they choose now to have the both black and white here. Because Christine sees through The Phantom mostly, but still believes him to be some angel in some form, and until she goes to the cemetery he will stay that way. The mask he enters with here, while still white was shaped much like a skull. Still the purity, but the death behind it that she now knows. It's also covering his whole face now.

He falls down into a firey pit. They're really not hiding the symbolism I just love pointing out the details

I hate people. I completely understand why he killed the guy and why she got him away. (I just don't like that she continues with it)

The song at the Graveyard is just. Yeah.

The red lighting is yet again making me think of color theory however I just can't get over their singing together in this song holy shit.

HE HAS THE WHITE MASK BACK WHEN HE WAS TRYING TO GET HER BACK AND SHE WAS GOING, IT WASN'T UNTIL HE FOUGHT RAOUL AND HURT HIM THAT IT CHANGED

Raoul I care for you a lot buddy but why share your plan when you know the man lives there and hears everything

They're covering their ears for his opera.

Yet again gonna mention the literal fire they have on the stage. Hell, but also passion and the danger.

Her straps of her dress are up before he shows up. One strap has fallen to her shoulder when he shows up and as she realizes it's him, both fall down. His play is titled "Don Juan" after the famous man who dedicated his life to seducing all women he could. Also this is Gerard Butler's best song vocal wise in my opinion

SHE LIFTS HER SLEEVES BACK UP THEN HE SINGS THE LINE "beyond the point of no return" AND THEN SHE LOOKS AT RAOUL AND HE REALIZES. Is this anything? Possibly not but it's 1 am at this moment

Her sleeves go back down when she turns back to him and sings the same lines as him.

Holy fuck their voices in this song too.

Raoul I'm so sorry my guy I saw those tears in your eyes.

She was acting along with everything he wanted but as he sang the song she thought was secret with her lover, she moved and started to tear up. Then she takes off his mask.

They fall down through the flames. I've already mentioned it but just... I love it

Okay idk if people will agree and I know there wasn't this much information on her in the Broadway performance but she stopped her daughter from going with them and brought Raoul down there. She has been shown to know his traps and the way out of them, where he hides and where he stays. She wouldn't let her daughter go, and stops, then sends him to go on alone and he ends up falling into a trap. She's shown that she is loyal to the phantom so far, who's to say she wouldn't try to sabotage Raoul?

I love how she isn't sympathetic at first, she was ANGRY and rightfully so. She sees a way out later and shows him compassion and love that he has never known

THE WAY HE SINGS "I fought so hard to free you" SO SOFTLY AS HE LOOKS AT HER BREAKS MY HEART MAN.

The fact that she mouths "I love you" to Raoul before she acts that way with the phantom.

He's shown love for the first time and it breaks him.

Okay further providing evidence of my theory that the surrogate mother (I forget her name ngl) wasn't so good- she was shown earlier to know the way that Christine was always taken there and that's the way the other people come in (as far as I could tell she wasn't with them) but she led Raoul the way that there was a trap door...

Going back to the white mask being the mask of the purity and innocence... the monkey was shown with him when he was a child. Not that exact one, I don't think, but a monkey was there and the white mask of purity (the way he was as a child) being left with it and him looking at it earlier on with no mask at all, after she shows him love and says that his face is not the monstrous side of him. Idk, I just loved that.

#the phantom of the opera #phantom of the opera #the phantom of the opera movie #phantom of the opera movie #musicals #long post #text under cut #cinema therapy

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andrewmoocow · 2 years

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The Black Pearl Brigade chapter 15: Shining Diamond, part 1 (originally posted on July 18, 2022)

AN: At long last, the two-part series finale to The Black Pearl Brigade is here! Almost everything that I've been building up to over the past fourteen chapters will all come to this, so strap in everyone, this is going to be one crazy rollercoaster! Or at least, the best rollercoaster that I can make.

Synopsis: While the Diamonds are away, Cinnabar uses this as a chance to conquer Homeworld, and the Pearls must stop her.

Cast:

Deedee Magno-Hall as The Black Pearl Brigade, Black Pearl Guards

Avi Roque as Cinnabar

Awkwafina as Kyanite

Allison Janney as Pyrite

Kimberly Brooks as Dalmatian Jasper

Zehra Fazal as Zoisite

Lena Hall as Bloodstone

Jodie Whittaker as Xenotime

Dee Bradley Baker as Concretes, George, Elaine, Cosma

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue Agate, Fire Agate

Hayley Kiyoko as Morganite, Violet Morganite

Casey Lee Williams as Cat's Eye

Charlyne Yi as Navy

Matthew Moy as Lars

Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite

Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite

Ashly Burch as Rutile Twins

Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha Sapphire, Orange Sapphire

Christine Baranski as Hessonite

Olivia Olson as Citrine

Nicole Sullivan as Sylvia Spectre

Kathleen Barr as Púrén

Alex Newell as Mozanite

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth Guards

Miriam Hyman as Bismuth Guards

Shelby Rabara as Peridots

"Darkness, all I know is darkness." Xenotime morosely monologued to herself in a prison cell. "I have no one to trust anymore. They have all abandoned me due to my arrogance. And now, there is no one left to stand up for me anymore. All that is left is the soul-crushing reality of loneliness." However, her despair was cut off by her jailmate pounding on the wall between their cells.

"WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN?!" Cat's Eye yelled. "Your whining is so annoying!"

"Like you're one to talk, Little Miss 'I Was Once One Of Homeworld's Biggest High-Rollers Only To Lose Everything Because I Was Outsmarted By a Pearl'!" Xenotime argued with Cat's Eye.

"Hey, keep it down in there, you two!" the Bismuth standing guard ordered the bickering prisoners.

In the time that passed since the Rutile Rebels' base on Revanche 666 was destroyed, the facility was quickly rebuilt to serve as a prison for any supporters that the Black Pearl Brigade had arrested on their missions. Xenotime happened to be one of its many prisoners, and her jail mates included a Violet Morganite, an Orange Sapphire, and a Fire Agate. But some of its most notable inmates were Holly Blue Agate, Morganite, Cat's Eye, and the Ruby commonly known as Navy. Serving as its faculty were numerous Black Pearls that were rehabilitated by the Diamonds, along with many Bismuths and Peridots that formerly belonged to Demantoid.

"You cannot keep us in here for long!" Holly Blue yelled from her confinement. "Black Rutile will attain victory over the Crystal Gems, and she will free us from the prison you put us in!"

"Yeah, right." A Peridot replied with a sneer. "So you can go back to being an irritating bootlicker."

"She's right, you know." Fire Agate waspishly agreed. "There's a reason why so many Gems hate you. You're not only just so abusive, even by our standards, but also completely incompetent at your job as well. I mean, the Crystal Gems could only get away with ruining your life because you didn't notice that the Pearl didn't bother covering her star!"

The other Gems began erupting in laughter at Holly's expense, at least until one of the Black Pearls calmed them down. "Quiet, all of you!" the Pearl commanded her prisoners.

"Yes, ma'am." The imprisoned Gems obediently replied just as alarms began going off, catching the Pearls' attention as they raced to investigate what was happening.

"What's going on?" Morganite asked.

"It's a riddle!" Navy exclaimed cheerfully.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up." Orange Sapphire declared. "It would take a miracle for something to go our way."

Contrary to Orange Sapphire's defeatist attitude, a miracle was indeed coming to rescue them. Fresh off abandoning Torius Vosania and pitting the crime lord against the Pearls so she could cover her tracks, Cinnabar had piloted a Vosania Syndicate ship to fly to Revanche 666. She was plotting a massive breakout to bolster her ranks and conquer Homeworld in the name of her superior and old teacher Black Rutile.

"Look at this. Our old base now a symbol of oppression." Dalmatian Jasper sighed disdainfully. "How did it come to this?"

"Well, you won't have to worry any longer, my friends!" Pyrite declared as she handed each of Cinnabar's colleagues a laser gun to use. "With some help from Bloodstone and Cinnabar, I give you all what I call Rejuvenation Blasters. They're essentially an upgraded form of Black Rutile's override command, which means one zap of these can reduce a Gem to what they originally were made to do with no trace of who they became."

"Whoa, cool!" Kyanite exclaimed and began pointing her Rejuvenation Blaster around before Cinnabar put a stop to her reverie.

"Don't point that thing and accidentally hit one of us!" Cinnabar yelled angrily. "Pyrite just said these blasters will reset a Gem to their original settings!"

"I'm sorry Cinnabar!" Kyanite shrank down in fear of criticism from her boss. "Please don't hurt me!"

"No, no, I won't." Cinnabar said nonchalantly. "With these blasters, we can strengthen our army once again and release all of our allies from this prison. Since the Pearls are probably too occupied with stopping Torius Vosania right now, that will give us the chance to take everyone by surprise. Zoisite!"

"Landing as we speak, my Cinnabar." Zoisite announced as she sat at the pilot's seat and began bringing the Vosania ship closer to the prison. "This should be fun."

"Attention intruders, come out with your hands up!" a Black Pearl commanded the ship's occupants as she and five other Pearls surrounded the vessel in the prison's docking bay. "If you do not comply, we will have to resort to drastic measures!"

"You see, that's the thing." Dalmatian Jasper stated as she disembarked from the ship with Rejuvenation Blaster in hand. "I only have one hand." Using that very hand, DJ then fired at the leading Black Pearl, sending a shock to her system as she writhed in pain before collapsing to the floor. Seconds later, the other Black Pearls were greeted with the revolting sight of their leader rising up with no sense of emotion or identity, and she had only one thing to say.

"All hail Black Rutile." The Pearl droned ominously. Fearing what Cinnabar could do to the rest of them, the remaining guards decided to flee to try and keep the intruders at bay.

"Code red, everyone, it's Cinnabar!" another Black Pearl exclaimed before she was zapped with a Rejuvenation Blaster, reducing her to yet another thrall of Black Rutile's will. "All hail Black Rutile."

The other four Pearls immediately made a break for it, not caring that Cinnabar and her colleagues were in hot pursuit and following them to the main prison area. But by the time they finally reached their destination, the real carnage began. Pearls were being shot down left and right while Gems were released from their cells, starting a massive prison riot. Despite their efforts, the Bismuths and Peridots were overpowered by Cinnabar's superior numbers as she did a few quick errands during the chaos.

"Cinnabar, is that you?!" Xenotime gasped as Cinnabar hacked into the timekeeper's cell to free her from her imprisonment. "What is the meaning of this?! What's all the rioting for?!"

"I was simply buying myself time while breaking all of you out." Cinnabar explained herself. "And yes, that means you too, Xenotime. I have plans for you now involving a certain little planet."

"You mean I'm going back to Homeworld?" Xenotime asked her commander. "I can assure you; I have long since abandoned any thirst for power; you can count on me!"

"Oh no, you're not the only one." Cinnabar corrected Xenotime as she handed her a Rejuvenation Blaster before releasing Holly Blue, Fire Agate, Morganite, Violet Morganite, Cat's Eye, Orange Sapphire, and Navy from their cells as well. She then quickly handed them their own Rejuvenation Blasters to use against the prison staff. "Use these to reprogram whatever Gems employed at this dirt pile you can find. Once you are done, meet me back at the docking bay."

"I am most grateful for your timely arrival, Cinnabar." Morganite bowed to her fellow Gem rebel with her hands clasped. "I am forever in your debt."

"Please, you're making me blush." Cinnabar giggled jokingly before turning serious again. "Now then, get to work!"

At that command, the freed rebels began descending the prison into chaos. Almost an hour passed before every Pearl was subjected to the override command and forced to serve the Rutile Rebels once more. As for the Bismuths and Peridots, they were forced on their knees as Cinnabar looked down upon them with a wicked smirk, ready to execute whichever one of them spoke out against her.

"Why?!" a Peridot gasped in disbelief that Cinnabar was still active. "Why?!" Cinnabar did not answer, instead summoning her sword from her gem and using it to stab the Peridot in hers, shattering her.

"How utterly pathetic that we were able to overwhelm you all this easily." Cinnabar declared, her voice echoing throughout the prison. "Now then, we are standing here right now with 20,000 hardcore rebels wrongfully imprisoned here throughout the Brigade's existence. There may be thousands more of these Gems back on Homeworld, but I believe we are better equipped for a fight than they'll ever be."

"How so, my Cinnabar?" Holly Blue asked.

"We have recently pitted the crime lord Torius Vosania against our traitorous Pearl friends," Bloodstone revealed, eliciting gasps from the freed Gems at the thought of their acting leader siding with someone like Torius. "And once he is defeated, we can swoop in and quickly take control of his forces that he brought to Homeworld, thus giving us the military might to take Homeworld by force."

"Very astute observation, Bloodstone." Cinnabar nodded. "And that reminds me, I have Gems still on the inside who should be informing me of what's going on right about now." After pulling out a black, octahedral communicator and giving it a few turns, the communicator levitated in the air before displaying the fall of Torius Vosania, live from Homeworld for all the Gems to see. "Just as I predicted."

"Yeah, Homeworld, here we come!" Kyanite cheered and convinced the others to start rejoicing as well, for their home planet would soon be theirs to conquer. As the former prisoners celebrated, Holly Blue looked at Cinnabar and smiled. Not an evil smile, but a genuine one.

"Why Cinnabar," Holly Blue declared proudly. "I think Black Rutile would be so proud of you."

"Her applause is all I need." Cinnabar responded. "Now come, to our brightest day!"

With 20,000 formerly imprisoned Gems on her side, plus dozens of reprogrammed Black Pearls and her five lieutenants, Cinnabar took swift control of the Vosania Syndicate as soon as she returned to Homeworld and began reigning terror over her former home planet. Everything she had been planning for had all come to this. And all it took was taking by surprise the Pearls that had been a thorn in her side for too long.

As the restored Rutile Rebels, now aided by the forces of the Vosania Syndicate, began laying waste to a Homeworld fresh off the fall of Torius Vosania and without the Diamonds to protect them, Holly Blue took a moment to gaze upon the carnage below her as she watched the invasion from the Vosania Syndicate's mothership. "Ah, giving inferior lifeforms their just desserts is so sweet, isn't that right Cinnabar?"

"Yes, Era 3 left them completely powerless to fight back against us." Cinnabar responded with a smirk. "Their armies are no more, and now the Diamonds have abandoned them in favor of Earth. Once we enslave this planet, we can contact Black Rutile and have her take her rightful place as the ruler of all Gems."

"But Cinnabar, what of the Black Pearl Brigade?" Navy asked, bringing up a screen of the Pearls trying their best to stop the chaos.

"I believe it's about time we bring them over to our side." Cinnabar proudly stated before preparing a Rejuvenation Blaster and turning to Xenotime. "Xenotime, I have a job for you."

"Let me guess, eliminate the Pearls and bring them to you?" Xenotime asked, turning to Cinnabar in a disturbingly inhuman fashion with a smile to match. "I will do as I'm told."

"You sure you're not just lying through your teeth and plotting revenge for having your takeover plot on Blacropolis foiled?" Cat's Eye wondered with a purr.

"Why yes, I am still irate about that," Xenotime declared. "but I'm a changed Gem now. No more megalomaniacal schemes, I am all over that."

"You keep telling yourself that." Morganite frowned sardonically while Xenotime left to get revenge on the Pearls for exposing her back at the party.

Down on Homeworld's surface, the Pearls, Hessonite, Citrine, the Light Prisms, Sylvia Spectre, and Mozanite worked side by side to contain the Cinnabar threat, fighting forcibly reprogrammed Black Pearls, ex-con Gems, and Tenno soldiers reactivated by Bloodstone while trying to think of a plan to stop Cinnabar.

"So, we're just eight Gems, three Light Prisms, and a space heroine against the apprentice of a terrorist and her new army she stole from another terrorist." Tails said while shooting down Tenno. "Anyone got any bright ideas?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Citrine responded. "I mean, here we are with nothing but our wit and our will to save all of Gemkind! Do you think that will be enough?!"

"Maybe it can, but we could use a little more!" Hessonite replied courageously. "Someone buy me time, I have a call to make!"

"On it!" Sylvia exclaimed as she phased out of view and began taking out Tenno and Gems while leading Hessonite somewhere safe for her to call up help. "Over here!"

"Your help is greatly appreciated." Hessonite thanked Sylvia as she went into hiding and opened her communicator. "Hello, Lars? I think now I need your help. Cinnabar's back."

Just then, Mozanite noticed a shadow with an alarm clock-like head hiding in the shadows as she crawled towards the group. "Uh, Prisms, you're seeing this too, right?"

George, Elaine and Cosma tried yelling for Hessonite to turn around, but unfortunately, it was too late as Xenotime suddenly froze time.

"Captain's log, date May 4, 2018." Lars narrated to himself as the Sun Incinerator cruised through the final frontier where no man had gone before. "It's been a routine few weeks ever since our last encounter with any Rutile Rebels. With how quiet everything has been lately, sometimes I wonder if maybe it's time I head back to Earth for a visit at some point."

"Lars is going to monologue to himself again about current events." Padparadscha Sapphire observed while at her station.

"You've been doing that quite a lot lately, captain." Fluorite added while emerging from below deck. "You said it keeps you busy while reminding you of those Earth shows, right?"

"You bet it does." Lars responded. "Still would be nice to get a little action again. Maybe we just need something to get us on the right path." Suddenly, the Incinerator's computer systems began beeping as a message from far off popped up, urging the recipients to open it. "Oh, speak of the devil! Does anyone want to open it?"

"I'll do it!" Rhodonite exclaimed and began playing the message. From what the Off-Colors and their human captain could gather, Hessonite was shown in the middle of a great battle on a familiar planet. "Look, it's Hessonite!"

"Hello, Lars? I think now I need your help. Cinnabar's back." Hessonite stated. "Cinnabar has taken over the Vosania Syndicate and launched a full-scale attack on Homeworld while the Diamonds are away! She also seems to have released all the Rutile Rebels captured by the Brigade from prison! Please, the Pearls and I need your help!" Just then, Xenotime popped out of nowhere, freezing time around Hessonite and knocking her out cold while causing the message to cut off.

"Vosania Syndicate, as in Torius Vosania?!" Lars shouted as the message ended. "Aw, man, I would've loved to go up against him!"

"Regardless, they still need our help!" the left Rutile said before turning to her twin.

"Right, all engines, full power!" the right Rutile added and began setting the ship up to blast off.

"We are heading to Homeworld to help Hessonite and the Pearls!" Padparadscha cheered before the Sun Incinerator began flying towards Homeworld.

The Sun Incinerator finally reached Homeworld in record time, allowing Lars and the Off-Colors to get up close and personal with the destruction Cinnabar brought to the planet and the Gems. Ships and troopers belonging to the Vosania Syndicate began getting things under control when they arrived, forcing Gems into organized lines as they were ordered to give up the freedom Era 3 had given them all. None of them were thrilled to be forced to obey Cinnabar's commands, and neither were the Off-Colors as they watched with shock and confusion over what had happened.

"Wow, did we miss a lot." Lars declared in horror as he saw the Rutile Rebels' sigil planted everywhere they looked. "Come on guys, let's find somewhere safe to land so we can group up with the others."

"I don't think that'll be possible." Rhodonite answered shakily, pressing a button that showed her captain that every likely place for the Sun Incinerator to land had currently been occupied. "From what I can see here, any Gem that tries to land anywhere on Homeworld will be dealt with, if you get what I mean."

"Rhodonite is going to suggest an alternative to landing." Padparadscha declared.

"Exactly my point!" Rhodonite exclaimed. "I think we should try shooting down any ships that try to cross our path."

"Good idea Rhodonite." Fluorite agreed with her fellow fusion's plan. "You've certainly come a long way, dear."

"Thank you." Rhodonite blushed shyly before turning to Lars. "Okay, Lars, you ready?"

"Always ready." Lars replied as he turned on the ship's loudspeakers to make his declaration. "Hey, Rutile Rebels!" he called out to the insurgent Gems. "Guess who's back on Homeworld with a vengeance! That's right; it's the man, the myth, the legend, Lars of the Stars!" He took a moment to pause before revealing the Sun Incinerator's weapons. "NOW EAT THIS, SUCKERS!"

The Sun Incinerator then opened fire on every enemy ship trying to attack them. Many ships fell to the Off-Colors' ferocious onslaught as Lars let out a maniacal laugh in triumph. "Video games have taught me so well!"

"Lars is going for an all-out attack!" Padparadscha exclaimed.

"This oughta show 'em!" the Rutiles added as they kept firing the ship's armaments. Suddenly, however, time began to freeze around the Off-Colors as Xenotime entered the spaceship, having snuck in without anyone noticing.

"Oh, Lars, didn't expect to see you here." Xenotime cackled as the timekeeper stroked Lars's frozen face. "Cinnabar would definitely want to see you and your off-color friends as well, especially after what I did to the Pearls." She then smugly tossed Lars off his captain's chair and took her seat in it before returning time to its normal flow, allowing the undead human to discover her presence.

"Xenotime?!" Lars screamed as he got up from where Xenotime threw him. "How did you get here?!"

"Stopping time. What else?" Xenotime snidely responded. "Ooh, this is a very nice chair you got here. You stole it from Emerald, right?"

"Captain Lars, we've been boarded!" Padparadscha yelped. "By Xeno-"Xenotime then shut the Sapphire up by zooming towards her and stabbing Paddy with her gear-shaped wrist blades, poofing her.

"She was only ever good for stating the obvious and thinking people will laugh." Xenotime rolled her eyes under her helmet before turning to the other Off-Colors, who were now enraged by how she took out their friend. "Anyone else care to join her?"

"You monster!" Fluorite roared as she dropped her grandmotherly persona in favor of charging at Xenotime like a raging beast. Xenotime thought quickly and froze once again with a snap of her fingers before lunging at Fluorite with her arm-blades at the ready, poofing the six-Gem fusion without a second thought and letting out a mighty "WRRRRYYYY!" Xenotime then took out Rhodonite and the Rutile twins, poofing them with just as little effort because she had that little faith in their possible fighting abilities.

When Xenotime snapped her fingers once again to restore the flow of time, Lars was left as the sole survivor of her massacre of his crew, the one thing that kept him sane while he was first marooned on Homeworld and began making his mark as Lars of the Stars. Now they're all gone, and it was all thanks to this sociopathic megalomaniac standing with her arms akimbo and a cocky grin on her face.

Lars couldn't take it anymore, so he let out the only insult for Xenotime he could come up with as he let his young adult anger overtake him. "YOU BITCH!" Charging straight at the timekeeper without a thought on his mind, Lars used his musti-yuddha skills to gain the upper hand against Xenotime. Still, her thousands of years of experience, combined with her unnatural body movements, allowed the controller of time to be an even match for the pink boy.

"Let's see you get off on taking away my friends after I do this!" Lars screamed like an animal as he punched Xenotime straight in her visor, smacking her so hard that her hair started ringing like alarm clock bells. Xenotime had no time to deal with Lars any longer, so she knocked him out in one fell swoop.

"We had some intruders that I felt like dealing with." Xenotime declared while speaking to Holly Blue through the Sun Incinerator's communications system. "I shall bring them in posthaste."

"Exemplary work, Xenotime." Holly complimented her fellow insurgent. "You know, maybe you have changed after all."

"I'm only doing as I feel like doing." Xenotime replied before ending the call and beginning to pilot the Sun Incinerator towards the Syndicate mothership.

As Homeworld continued descending into organized chaos, Cinnabar gazed upon her masterwork with a pleased grin on her face. She could imagine only how elated Black Rutile would be of her old student as the Rutile took her rightful place as supreme ruler of all Gemkind after destroying the Crystal Gems once and for all.

As Cinnabar began picturing the praises that would no doubt be showered upon her, she felt like giving one last grandiloquent speech for the road. "My friends, it has often been said that I like war." She declared to the troops standing with her on the mothership. "Friends, I like war. NO! Friends. I. LOVE. WAR. I love genocide; I love destruction, I love causing confusion and delay, I love chaos, I just love every act of war that can occur on this or any other planet."

Cinnabar continued her speech, thriving in how much she worshipped the subject matter Black Rutile had carefully taught her for thousands of years. "My heart leaps with joy whenever there are enemies that try their best to resist, only to have their hopes completely dashed by our superior numbers and firepower. And the sight of traitors being strung up like the cowardly wretches they are is just as much an irresistible pleasure." Then her sadistic smile faded, as if mourning the loss of someone she cared for so deeply. "But unfortunately, it seems now that I am forbidden from doing what I love doing, what I was meant to do. But thanks to all of you, my love for war has been reignited."

The Gems began chanting while pulling their weapons from their gems, bellowing in reverence of Cinnabar, Black Rutile, and the Rutile Rebels' just cause. "My friends, all I ask for is war." Cinnabar continued. "A war so grand that it shall make the cosmos quiver! We may be but a large battalion, but we will remind all Gems what they were meant to be! We will remind them what it means to be warriors, to take what's ours with no remorse for who we take it from! My friends, all I ask is to bring them all hell."

Just then, Fire Agate arrived from Cinnabar's left and began delivering her some good news. "My Cinnabar, we have just received word that Xenotime has successfully captured the Black Pearl Brigade." She revealed to Cinnabar's delight. "We've also just learned that the Off-Colors have arrived on Homeworld as well, only for all of them to be poofed while Lars was knocked unconscious, and their ship claimed by Xenotime."

"Ah, that is music to my ears." Cinnabar declared happily before she began to walk away from her troops. "The rest of you, keep spreading Black Rutile's good word. I shall attend to some old friends of mine."

The past few minutes were all a blur for the Pearls. One moment, they were busy fighting rebel Gems and Tenno alongside Hessonite's team, Sylvia and the Prisms; the next, they found themselves taken prisoner by their old foe Xenotime. They barely even realized that the timekeeper had returned to get her revenge on them because she took them all by surprise after freezing time to capture all five of them plus their allies. With no knowledge of what could be in store for them, the Pearls were shoved inside the same interrogation room where their adventures first began.

"Did anyone know what just happened?" Cap gasped in shock.

"I haven't the foggiest what had occurred either." Braids replied, just as alarmed at their current circumstances. "Did anyone catch Xenotime either?"

"I barely got a glimpse of her." Tails answered. "It's almost as if Cinnabar released every Gem we've ever defeated."

"Then how come we're only seeing one of them?" IQ asked. "Seems like kind of a waste of time if you're only going to put one Gem to use."

"Still, I can't believe we lost that easily." Pony declared. "And who knows? Maybe it'll be the last time we'll lose altogether, depending on what Cinnabar does to us."

"We did indeed have some good times together." Braids remarked nostalgically. "Remember when we visited Sergione-29? That was a fun planet to hang out on, prejudice aside."

"Yeah, that gave me some really good character growth there." Pony responded. "Or what about getting invited to a Brain Brawl? I had a lot of fun there too!"

"Yeah, why can't we go back to the old days of having adventures and fighting evil together?" IQ replied, now shedding tears of nostalgia. "Because right now, I'd give anything to get those times back."

"Me too." Tails sighed in defeat as she started crying as well. "Guess this really is it. No matter what happens, I hope we can still be a family regardless."

"Ditto." Cap concurred with her sniper. "Makes me wonder how Púrén and Sculder are doing." As the Pearls began sharing a tearful goodbye, the door to the interrogation room opened, and in stepped Cinnabar with a pair of Concretes by her side, cutting their touching scene short as Cap glowered at her Rutile Rebel counterpart. "You!"

"I have to admit, Pearls, your sense of family is one of the things I find most admirable about you five." Cinnabar stated snidely. "Well, that and your refusal to know when you should give up. However, neither will be useful against me anymore, for I hold all the cards now."

"It does not matter how many cards you hold; good will triumph in the end!" Braids yelled at Cinnabar before she tried to punch one of her accompanying Concretes, only to be met with a bruised hand. "Ouch! Curse you!"

"Where is everyone else?" IQ asked Cinnabar.

"As you may know, I sent down Xenotime to deal with any remaining threats to my power," Cinnabar proclaimed. "which means that not only are your Off-Color friends my prisoners, but also Hessonite & Citrine, that Coalition brat, the Light Prisms and that Mozanite you dragged along as well. We have also sought to claim your ship and your android companion for ourselves."

"Whatever you monsters do with Púrén and Sculder, I swear I'll make you pay!" IQ screamed angrily.

"What do you plan for us now?" Cap asked, just as furious at their archnemesis.

"You know, over these past few months, I think I've had an epiphany." Cinnabar declared. "With all that's been happening lately, you've all certainly grown in both skill and personality, which is why I wish to make you an offer." Before the Pearls could answer, she immediately cut them all off. "I think we should let bygones be bygones and maybe start working together, I could even make you commanders of my new army!" She then extended her hand. "What do you say, Pearls?"

Unfortunately, none of the Pearls took the offer. Instead, Braids took Cinnabar's hand, curled it into a fist, and used it to punch her in the face repeatedly. "Oh my, why are you hitting yourself?! Do you have that little faith in your own abilities?!"

"Oh ha ha, the old why are you hitting yourself ploy, very funny." Cinnabar sneered, stopping herself mid-punch before flipping Braids to the floor. "I only want us to be friends here. Is it really that hard?"

"Of course it's that hard when you're plotting to conquer us all!" Pony stated. "Admit it, you're just a diet Black Rutile. Fitting as you were her apprentice."

"I am far beyond what my master is!" Cinnabar yelled back. "I am my own Gem these days, and none of you can ever change that!"

"Touched a nerve there, haven't we?" IQ snickered evilly while pretending to adjust a pair of imaginary glasses. "It seems you're rather touchy about living up to Black Rutile's expectations, aren't you?"

"You're lying!" Cinnabar snapped in embarrassment. "And I'm going to make sure you never lie again, friends." She then turned to her Concrete companions. "Bring the Brigade to the stand. It's high time I finally execute them for their crimes."

"Oh, my head." Lars moaned as he slowly regained consciousness. Though his vision was blurry, he could barely make out the shapes of Hessonite and Citrine, along with Sylvia Spectre cradling his throbbing head in her hands. "Did I die and go to beautiful alien woman heaven? Oh wait, I can't die."

"No, we're prisoners now." Sylvia declared as Lars finally came to, and he realized what had just happened.

"Oh no, where am I?!" Lars yelled worriedly. "Where are the Off-Colors, the Prisms! Mozanite!"

"Hey, calm down human. They're all fine." Kyanite declared as she stepped into the interrogation room to confront her four guests. "We're just going to shatter the Gems and reset the Prisms back to their original setting later, that's all."

"You monsters!" Citrine yelled as she pinned Kyanite against the wall. "If you want to hurt any of our friends, you're gonna have to get through me first!" Unfortunately for Citrine, her threats proved utterly empty as Kyanite freed herself from the vigilante quartz's trap and thoroughly trounced her in the most one-sided fight she had ever fought.

"Let's make one thing clear, Citrine." Kyanite growled with a foot pinning Citrine to the ground as a way of threatening her other prisoners, the opposite of the pleasant sycophant she always presented herself as. "I'm not in here with you, you're in here with me! Let me clue you all in, you are all in danger, and that danger is me! A Gem opens the door and gets poofed, you think that of me? No, I am the one who knocks!"

"Oh my, so forceful." Hessonite began trembling in fear of Kyanite's more brutal demeanor. "This is a side of you I never saw before."

"Yeah, why are you only now breaking this out?" Lars asked. "This seems completely out of nowhere!"

"You may think I just pulled it out of my butt, and you're kinda right." Kyanite replied nonchalantly. "I just never had the right opportunity to act this way."

"So, what will happen to us?" Sylvia asked Cinnabar's bodyguard.

"Once we're done with the Pearls, we have plans for the rest of you." Kyanite explained. "You shall be imprisoned in the tower, where you shall await your punishments. Hessonite, Citrine, and Mozanite will be shattered along with the Off-Colors for their treasonous crimes against Black Rutile's new Homeworld order. The Prisms shall be reverted to their original functions as tools of war." While Hessonite gritted her teeth in anger and Citrine looked down ashamedly, Kyanite then looked at Lars and Sylvia. "And as for you two, we shall send Sylvia back to the Coalition as a declaration of war. But for Lars, well, Bloodstone would love to learn the secrets of your immortality."

"Oh no, I'm gonna get dissected." Lars predicted shakily. "Please, I don't care what you do to me, just leave all my friends on Earth out of this!"

"Sorry, pinkie boy, but I'm afraid Earth will be our next stop once Homeworld is ours to control." Kyanite laughed smugly just as a Concrete stepped through the door, catching her attention. "Hold on, gotta take this." She then turned around to walk over to the Concrete, who began speaking in groans that she could somehow understand. "Yeah? I see. Uh-huh. Okay? Got it." Her conversation ended, and the bodyguard returned to her captives as the Concrete walked away. "Good news you guys, you're getting front row seats to the Brigade's execution!"

"No!" Lars, Hessonite, and Citrine cried out in horror at the news.

"You won't get away with this!" Sylvia added furiously.

"You know, they always say we won't get away with this, even though we've already done it." Kyanite pondered. "Why do people keep saying that?"

A few hours later, Cinnabar and her cohorts had the Pearls lined up for all their fellow Gems to see. Lars, Team Hessonite, and Sylvia were also there, now forced to watch from the sidelines as their friends were set to be wiped off all discernible personality traits. "Gems of the Rutile Rebels, lend me your ears!" Cinnabar announced loudly. "At long last, our finest hour has finally come! With the Diamonds away from Homeworld and Torius Vosania imprisoned for his crimes, we now have all we need to restore the Gem race to our former glory!" The assembled insurgents began cheering in response. "Now we have no one left to oppose us! And to anyone that still won't obey, I suggest you pack your things and leave, or fight us all and die!"

"You know, being a rebel isn't bad after all." Cat's Eye meowed. "I didn't care for Black Rutile's goals at first, but after the Crystal Gems ruined my life and I was turned from high-roller to criminal, I think maybe she does have the right idea."

"Glad you could finally join us, Cat." Holly Blue grinned at the aristocrat turned failed lawyer.

"I bet the boss will be pleased as punch with what we've done with the place." Morganite commented while standing next to Navy. "Now I can finally regain all the attention the Crystal Gems have stolen from me and put my talents to good use again."

"I agree!" Navy cheered. "Eyeball will be so happy with how I helped."

"Enough talk, all of you!" Cinnabar ordered while arming herself with a Rejuvenation Blaster that she presented to the audience. "I present to you all the latest in disciplinary technology, the Rejuvenation Blaster, developed as a collaborative effort between myself and two of my servants, Pyrite and Bloodstone." Pyrite began blushing, and Bloodstone beamed with pride as their efforts were applauded. "Using an override command that our lord Black Rutile bestowed upon me as the base, this weapon can zap any Gem it targets and reduce them to their most basic functions." Cinnabar continued. "The real kicker, there's no way to reverse the changes this time. Observe."

Cinnabar knew exactly which Pearl to shoot first, that one being Cap. With a single pull of the Rejuvenation Blaster's trigger, the leader of the Brigade became the first to lose all trace of her original identity and be reduced to nothing but a mindless soldier. "All hail Black Rutile."

The rest quickly followed. Pony, Braids, IQ, and Tails were then zapped next and met the same fate, droning the exact words as they got up. "All hail Black Rutile."

"ALL HAIL BLACK RUTILE!" the Rutile Rebels began chanting as their conquest of Homeworld seemed absolute. "ALL HAIL BLACK RUTILE! ALL HAIL BLACK RUTILE!"

"Victory tastes so savory." Cinnabar said as she reveled in the adulation. "Who could possibly stop me now?!"

"Hello, Pearls? Can you hear me?" Púrén begged as the Servant was now Rutile Rebels property, alongside Sculder and the Sun Incinerator. "Pearls? Pearls?! PEARLS!"

Well, that was certainly a harrowing note to leave off on! Who could possibly save the Pearls now? Is there really no way of returning them to who they once were? Is there really no stopping Cinnabar? All these questions and more will be answered when The Black Pearl Brigade returns for the ultimate final chapter!

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queen-of-the-avengers · 4 months

Text

Iron Man: Part Two

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader (implicitly)

Word Count: ~2.1k

Warnings: canon violence and angst

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

"Rise and shine, Y/N," Jarvis' voice comes over the loudspeaker. You groan and roll over, shoving your face into your pillow. "It's 7 AM. The weather in Malibus is seventy-two degrees with scattered clouds. The surf conditions are fair with waist-to-shoulder high lines. High tide will be at 10:52 AM."

"Do you have to do this every time?" you huff.

"I'm afraid Mr. Stark insists."

"Yeah, well, Mr. Stark can kiss my ass. Where is he?"

"In the lab. He's requested your presence."

You get out of bed and quickly get dressed. There was something you needed to do today... something you needed to do with Tony. What was it...? A light bulb goes off in your head and you curse out loud.

"Shit. Jarvis, will you call Rhodey and tell him we're on our way? Shit, I forgot."

"Yes, ma'am."

You walk through the house, not stopping in Tony's room to see if Christine is awake. Jarvis won't let her anywhere that she isn't supposed to be which is why you're not worried about leaving her alone. You trek through the main room when you hear the clack of sleek heels on the tile.

"Good morning, Y/N." Pepper enters the room with a tight smile on her face. You have to give it to her. She's been with the company for ten years now, and she doesn't have an easy job to do. "I have your clothes here. They have been pressed and dry cleaned."

"Hi, Pepper. Those aren't mine. I wasn't here last night. They're for the woman in his bedroom."

"I see."

"Listen, I want to tell you how much I appreciate you and what you do for Tony. You do more than what's needed of you."

"Thank you," she smiles.

Tony's lab is located downstairs in the basement that is blocked off by a door that needs a code. Only you, Happy, Tony, and Pepper have a code to get through. This is where Tony works on his creations and does most of his thinking. Tony is playing hard rock music that you can hear even with the door closed. After punching in your code, you enter the lab space.

"Do you really have to wake me up at seven in the morning?"

"Don't look at me. That was Jarvis."

"Who created Jarvis?" you joke. "He said you needed me down here. What's going on?"

"Would you believe me if I said I got lonely?"

"Tony, I'd have believed you if you said you wanted me to get you a coffee from the cart across the room."

"Would you?"

"What are you working on?" you chuckle. One of his dad's old but pristine cars is in front of him with the motor out. Based on what you see on the screen, you believe he's building a new motor for it. "A new motor?"

"The old one crapped out."

Pepper walks down the stairs and enters the code to the same door you entered through. She is on the phone with someone and as soon as she enters, the music turns down.

"Please don't turn down my music."

"I'll keep you posted." She hangs up. "You two are supposed to be halfway around the world right now."

"Yes, that's why I came down here. You told Rhodey you'd be there hours ago."

"Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?"

"Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago."

"That's funny, I thought with it being my plane and all that it would just wait for me to get there."

"Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple of things before I get you out of the door," she sighs and looks at the paperwork in her hands.

"Doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"

"Larry called. He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings. Do you want it? Yes or no."

"Is it a good representation of his spring period?"

"No. The Springs was actually the neighborhood in East Hampton where he lived and worked, not 'spring' like the season. I think it's a fair example. I think it's incredibly overpriced."

"I need it. Buy it. Store it," he declares.

Both you and Pepper can't help but smile at his attitude. Tony is not like anyone you've ever met.

"I need you to sign this before you get on the plane," she says and opens the file in her hands.

"What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"I don't like it when you have plans," he flirts.

Tony is a natural-born flirt and Pepper is the perfect person to direct that energy to. She's been with him long enough o know the kind of person he is and she hasn't left him... yet.

"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday."

"It's your birthday?" you ask with a quiet gasp.

"Yes."

"I knew that. Already?" Tony asks.

"Yeah. Isn't that strange? It's the same day as last year," she flirts back.

She looks over at you, clears her throat, and becomes stoic again. It's as if she knows you're watching her and doesn't want to get in trouble. Why? Tony is free for the taking.

"Get yourself something nice for me."

"I already did," she smirks.

"And?"

"Oh, it was very nice. Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"You're welcome, Miss. Potts."

"Okay, if you're done flirting with each other, we got a plane to catch," you interrupt.

"Yeah. Let's go."

Whenever Tony drives one of his own cars, it's never for the scenic route. Tony loves speed and often proves to you and Happy just how fast he can go without killing anyone. Happy is being you trying to catch up with the speed Tony is going at and even lost him a couple of times. Rhodey is definitely going to give you shit when you arrive which you are prepared for. Toyn races into the airport and screeches to a halt with Happy right behind him.

"You're good. I thought I lost you back there," Tony laughs as he gets out.

"You did, sir. I had to cut across Mulholland," Happy replies and gets the bags from the trunk.

Rhodey is standing right outside the open door of the plan with a deep frown on his face. Shit, you're really in for it now.

"What's wrong with you?" Rhodey snaps.

"What?"

"Three hours."

"I got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair," Tony lies.

"For three hours? For three hours, you got me standing here," he glares.

"I'm waiting on you now. Let's go. Come on."

Tony smiles and walks onto the plane, Happy is right behind him with the bags, and you turn to Rhodey with an apologetic look on your face.

"I'm so sorry, Rhodey. I woke up late and--"

"Don't worry about it. We're late."

You and Rhodey walk into the plane as the pilot prepares for take-off. It's only until you are at cruising altitude that you're able to move around and relax a bit more without seatbelts. The flight attendant on board gets drinks and food ready for you three, and Rhodey takes out a newspaper to read.

"What are you reading, platypus?" Tony asks but Rhodey deflects his question. "Come on, sour patch. Don't be mad."

"I told you, I'm not mad. I'm indifferent, okay?"

"I said we were sorry," you pout.

Being with Tony for twenty years has changed you as a person. You're not like who you were in the 40s. Bucky and Steve kept you honest, loyal, and sane. While some of that is still true today, you're more lenient with things and more spontaneous because of Tony. He taught you that you can allow yourself to let go and enjoy the moment instead of worrying about the future like Steve often did.

"You don't need to apologize to me. I'm just indifferent right now. You don't respect yourself so I know you don't respect me."

The flight attendant comes by with three hot towels which everyone accepts. She grabs three plates of sashimi and puts them in front of you, Tony, and Rhodey.

"I respect you."

"I'm just your babysitter. So, when you need your diaper changed let me know and I'll get you a bottle, okay?"

"Hey! Heat up the sake, will you?" Tony asks the only flight attendant on board. "Thanks for reminding me."

"We're not drinking. We're working right now," Rhodes frowns.

"You can't have sashimi without sake."

"You are constitutionally incapable of being responsible."

"It would be irresponsible not to drink. I'm just talking about a nightcap," Tony shrugs.

"Come on, Rhodey. Just one drink. You need to unwind and let your feathers ruffle," you grin.

You and Tony accept the alcoholic drink from the flight attendant, and Rhodey hesitantly accepts his. However, after the first sip, he starts to calm down. Before you know it, he's as loose as a goose. They both moved the party to the couch, Tony turns on some music and allowed the lights to change different colors as if you were at the club.

"When I get up in the morning and I'm putting on my uniform, do you know what I recognize? I see in that mirror that every person that's got this uniform on got my back!" Rhodey grins.

"Hey, you know what? I'm not like you. I'm not cut out--"

"No, no. You don't have to be like me! You're more than what you are!" Rhodey cuts him off.

A metal pole rises from the middle of the room and the flight attendant comes out to dance. Well if you can't beat them, join them. You down the rest of your drink and get up to dance with the lady. Tony watches with a grin but tries to pay attention to what Rhodey is saying.

"Can you excuse me if I'm a bit distracted here?"

"No! You can't be distracted right now! Listen to me!"

The rest of the flight is spent dancing, singing along to the music, drinking, and having a good time. Though, Rhodey calmed down right before he got off the plane at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The General and a handful of soldiers are waiting for you at the end of the line.

"General," Tony says and shakes his hand.

"Welcome Mr. Stark and Ms. Y/L/N. We look forward to your weapons presentation."

"Thank you," you smile and shake his hand.

To test something as big as the missile Tony and his team created, it needs to be tested in the appropriate field that the Army uses for things like this. It's quite a far distance from the base but you don't mind the extra drive. Everyone who wasn't busy attended this weapons demonstration because they were curious as to what Tony is capable of. Once you arrive, Tony stands in front of everyone with his back turned to the mountain behind him.

"Is it better to be feared or respected? Is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries' Freedom Line. It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it, and that's how America does it." He gestures to the person in charge to launch the weapons. The rocket launches into the air and breaks apart to allow tons of tiny bombs to fly from the middle of it to maximize damage. "If you find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves. For your consideration, the Jericho."

Just as he finishes speaking, the bombs hit the mountains and explode rock and debris to the fullest. A gust of wind shoots toward the group from the explosion, and you subtly use your aerokinesis to advert the wind to stay away from you. Everyone is impressed with the weapon for sale, and they break into small groups to talk about it. Obadiah must be watching the time because he calls Tony to ask how it went. You're about to go after him when Rhodey gently grabs your arm.

"Hey, what's up?" you ask.

"I don't mean disrespect at all, but why are you here? Like, here? I know you've been a big part of Tony's life but you didn't help design these."

"Actually, I was. I just don't like the attention. I'll save that one for Tony. Plus, I couldn't let him come alone, and the General was more than okay with me coming. I don't see a problem here."

Like hell, you're gonna tell him you're an alien with powers. He'd have the entire Army on your ass in seconds. You leave his side and join Tony inside one of the military vehicles that will take you back to base.

"Wait, Tony!"

"Sorry, Rhodey, this is the fun car. The boring one is right behind us."

Rhodey resists an eye roll because he's actually kind of proud of Tony.

"Nice job back there."

"See you back on base."

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

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aviophobic · 2 years

Note

🤝 + Random Number! (Christine)

Fifty Reasons to Touch Someone || Accepting!

16. ...to distract.

Leonard knows he's staring. What was originally only a vaguely familiar face soon reaches right into his mind and plucks free the memory of an evening gone so terribly bad he'd all but blanked on it completely. She's lovely as ever even from across the room, particularly now that she is wearing an easy smile rather than a disapproving frown.

He remembers, now. Assistant to some diplomat or other, a guest on Starfleet campus the weekend he'd spotted her and decided to ask her to have a drink. Leonard winces, and the firm yet gentle touch to his shoulder comes not a moment too soon, accompanied by the type of throat-clearing that tells him he'd do well to tear his eyes away and focus on his actual job.

Leonard tips his head just far enough to catch a glimpse of Christine with her lips pressed together and an eyebrow raised at him, wordlessly expressing her displeasure. It's a fate from which there is no escape, and one for which he is eternally grateful.

#christine: stop staring at that woman and focus if you please #leonard: yes ma'am #hopesustained #queued post

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hailbop1701 · 3 years

Text

Phone blurb/drabble:

It's Just Allergies!

McCoy X Reader

Hey here's an impromptu drabble! Why? Cause I love you guys, that's why. Done on my phones so possible extra typos and mistakes!

-H❤🖖

The sneeze you produced was loud as it echoed throughout engineering. You froze and peered up from the console that you had been repairing. There standing wide-eyed was Ensign Chekov, who had been shadowing Scotty for the last month learning the ins and outs of Engineering.

"Not a word Pavel," you growled out in warning. If his eyes could get any wider they would have. He nodded vigorously, his curls bouncing.

"I heard nothing," he said holding up his hands and backing away slowly. You watched him suspiciously until he was completely out of sight. Sighing you eased yourself back under the console ready to get back to work.

Your body had other ideas. Another violent sneeze erupted from you causing you to rise up and slam the back of your head into hard metal. Cursing up a storm you held the sore spot.

"That didn't make my headache any better," you moaned crawling back out again. Taking your hand away from the sore spot on the back of your head you were relieved to see no blood. Sighing you swallowed hard hoping congestion has worn off. It hasn't, but it has been joined with a painful ache in your throat. Coughing into your arm you hardly noticed the sound of footsteps. Two booted feet stopped in front of you, looking up you saw Scotty there with his arms crossed over his chest and a sympathetic smile on his face.

"Get to sickbay lass, Keensers got this. I don' want to see you back until you look less like shite," he ordered firmly. Grumbling you hauled yourself to your feet and trudge in the direction of sickbay.

The walk took longer than it should have but you were exhausted and in all honesty, you didn't want to see doctor. You were just fine, thank you very much. It was just allergies!

You came to a slow stop right outside of sickbay, taking a deep breath you moved closer activating the door's sensor. They hissed open revealing a small flurry of activity. Walking in you bobbed and weaved around techs, nurses, and orderlies until you came to a stop at the nurse's desk. Christine Chapel looked up from her PADD and gave you a kind smile. She could tell that you were nervous,

"Can I get your name hun?" She asked you cleared your throat,

"Lieutenant (Y/N) (Y/L/N)," you managed to croak out. Nurse Chapel nodded and began tapping out a few things on her PADD. Brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she got up and gestured for you to follow her through the ward.

She let you walk a step ahead of her while she gently placed a hand on your back guiding you to an empty exam room. After keying in command into a panel the door slowly hissed open. Squaring your shoulders you entered and clambered up onto the biobed. Nurse Chapel grabbed a tricorder as she entered, she swiftly began scanning you from head to toe.

The device beeped and Christine frowned a little. Looking up at you she cocked her head to the side, "Lieutenant have you had your recent vaccines?" She asked perplexed. You nodded,

"Yes Ma'am I got them done at Starbase 9 before coming aboard," you said confusion and a stab of fear hit you. Nurse Chapel gave you a reassuring smile,

"Let me go get the doctor," she said and quickly left the room. You tried to take a deep calming breath but halfway through you choked on a series of painful coughs. Pulling your arm over your mouth you coughed until you couldn't breathe anymore. The biobed trilled and beeped in warning, the screen flashing yellow. Coughing just a bit harder you tumbled off the bed back onto your feet. Grabbing onto the biobed for support you wheezed and upon taking a breath to hopefully fill your lungs you began to cough violently again.

A gentle hand landed on your back and began to rub soothing circles. "Help me get her back on the bed," a gruff voice said from above you. Another set of hands help guide and lift you back onto the biobed. Alarms then started wailing making your head want to split open, if only you could breathe and tell them to turn the damn thing off.

"Oxygen!"

A mask was swiftly placed over your face, whining you batted and tried to rip it off but strong hands caught your wrists. The voice from before hushed and quietly whispered to you,

"It's okay Lieutenant. The mask will help you get the Oxygen you need. Now just relax, I got you"

A large hand brushed smoothed down your hair soothingly. Your eye dart around the room as your panic subsides and everything else becomes more prominent. Your head felt as if it were going to crack open, your body ached just as bad, and you felt as if you were on Delta Vega butt naked. Shivering you looked over to see Docter McCoy hovering over you watching the screen above the biobed. He was talking quietly to Nurse Chapel, she was nodding as if he were giving her orders.

"Get some blankets, and a hypo for the fever," he whispered. She was out of the room just as he was finishing with the order. McCoy looked down at you and saw that you were watching him with tired pained eyes. You moved your hand to take off the mask again but he stopped you, again.

"Keep it on, you need it." He murmured keeping his voice blessedly low. You tried to speak but it came out as a sad pathetic squeak, the doctor shushed you gently,

"The doctor at Starbase 9, didn't give you all of your vaccines. He missed the one for Andorian flu, not fatal if it's looked after. It hits the body pretty fast after the incubation period and I'm not gonna lie, it will be a long uncomfortable road," he explained softly. You whimpered and shivered again. McCoy's gaze softened further, "I know, but you're in luck. The first thing I'm going to do is take care of that fever that you have and then I'm going to go bitch out an incompetent fool who so happens to work at a certain Starbase." He said with a wink.

You snort but smile. Instead of speaking you took McCoy's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze in thanks. The man smiled, "No thanks needed darlin'"

Right then Nurse Chapel rushed in with a hypo and a couple of blankets in her arms. Handing the hypospray to the doctor she promptly covered you with the warmed-up blanket. You sighed in relief sinking down into the warmth you didn't even feel the hypo get injected into your neck.

"The fever reducer has a mild sedative so you should be out for a little while," McCoy whispered to you but you were too far gone. The last thing you heard was,

"Get a bed set up for her, if you need me I'll be in my office making a call,"

Part two anyone?

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@lauraaan182

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#star trek aos #Drabble #reader insert #leonard bones mccoy/reader #leonard mccoy/reader #leonard mccoy x reader #leonard bones mccoy #hailey the queen of typos #❤🖖

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anerdquemoraaolado · 2 years

Text

Beyond a Chance

Chapter 11: Sigyn´s looks

After reading the series' scripts, Yasmim couldn't be more excited. The daily excitement of being in production was constant, sometimes she still had little delusions to wonder if she was really there, but now that she had started, she was more focused this time around, always trying to do her best.

Today she was going through another step of the whole process, she would try on her costume for the first time and, as someone who likes to buy a nice and beautiful piece of clothing every now and then, Yasmim was super excited.

-Hi, Yasmim, good to see you again - the costume designer, Christine, greeted her.

-Yes, I feel the same, I'm really looking forward to seeing how it turned out - replied the actress, really interested in seeing how everything turned out.

-Well, despite your excitement, I ask you for a little patience - Christine warned her - remember the details of the conceptual arts, with all those silver details and everything, we'll have to make adjustments if necessary.

-Oh yes, I imagined that something like that was necessary, don't worry, I'm prepared for any challenge - she was quite willing.

-That's really good - the costume designer smiled in approval - you know there are people who hate it, this part of the process, complain about the clothes and everything.

-Really? -Yasmim thought that was quite common in Hollywood, fussy and pampered artists, but she was genuinely surprised - I'm not like that, I assure you.

-Anyway, if you need any adjustments, if anything bothers you, don't hesitate to let me know, okay? - the costume designer recommended.

-Yes, ma'am - the actress understood everything.

Yasmim then followed Christine to the racks, where her costumes were delicately kept, for now, they were one-offs, until the costume designer replicated them, to have in reserve and for any possible stuntmen.

-My God, it's so beautiful... - praised Yasmim impressed, holding the thin lavender fabric - and this is just one of the ones I'm going to use?

"Yes, you saw that you have a few different scenes with you, so to indicate that they take place on different occasions, we're going to have more than one costume for Sigyn," Christine explained.

-I think this is my favorite - said the actress, admiring the dress once more.

"We can try it out first, if you like," Christine suggested.

"Yes, yes, please," Yasmim said.

In a hurry, but very carefully too, she went to change. She soon found herself in front of the mirror, the lavender dress was all pleated in the skirt, the long sleeves were tight, the wrists covered by bracelets that imitated silver, to match, there was a belt of the same color.

"How fantastic." She described Christine's work as well as her look.

-Oh you haven't seen anything yet, wait just when you take the promotional photos, then you'll look like Sigyn - said the costume designer, happy with the possibilities - and modesty aside, I think of her as a very elegant person.

"I hope I can measure up," Yasmim commented.

Christine just smiled and helped her with the rest of the pieces, there were a few more Asgardian dresses, one cream, one black, one aqua green and one gold with some green accents, a clear reference to Loki.

After work was done there, Yasmim went to the hair and makeup department, testing out the hairstyles, face look, and jewelry. There were beautiful earrings and necklaces there, but what she thought was shocking (in a good way, as people would say in Brazil), was the golden tiara, similar to the one the character wore in the comics.

"I hope it's not as heavy as it looks," she commented as the designer placed the object on her head.

-Oh no, you'll be surprised, it's super light, really - Deena laughed as she finished fixing.

Yasmine then looked at the mirror, noticing the striking side arms, which were like Cs covering her ears, having the thinnest tips, starting at the height higher than the forehead and going all the way to the chin. She turned from side to side, checking to see if she could move without any problem.

"It's kind of weird, but it doesn't weigh a bit," she said, much to Deena's relief.

-That's great, now we're going to do three more the same, just in case - completed the assistent, which made Yasmim laugh.

As for her hair, the head of the hair and makeup department came personally to fix it, thinking about what would look best for the character, using what Yasmim's natural hair could offer, but also trying to respect the concept arts as much as possible.

"You have beautiful natural curls, in the Asgardian fashion, if I may say so," Suzanna said.

-Thanks, but it wasn't always like that, I wore it straight when I was younger, for a long time, but now I think it's more beautiful natural - the actress commented on her own locks.

"I think we can use your hair, but if we need an extension, I'll use it," he warned.

"Okay, I'm up for any suggestion." Yasmim smiled willingly, truly willing.

While fiddling with the cell phone to pass the time, looking around here and there, talking to friends and relatives, not telling where she was and what she was doing, of course, because of the contract, she left her hair under the hairdresser's care, feeling typical tugs of hairdressing at the salon here and there. She was surprised when the hairdresser suddenly stopped, and was absent for a moment. It didn't take long to return, with a real treasure in hand, Sigyn's rimmed tiara.

"It wouldn't be complete without the tiara," the hairdresser explained.

"Right, absolutely," she stated.

The hairdresser finished the hairstyle with the tiara in its proper place. With the job done, Yasmim really turned to her look in the mirror, paying attention to every detail. Indeed, an extension had to be used to make her hair a little longer. There were curls falling from the front of the tiara, a certain volume around it, and a braid at the back through the loose hair that cascaded down her back.

-Guys, I feel like a real princess - she smiled, admired - your work is splendid, Suzanna.

"Thank you so much, and we intend to keep you that way whenever you come to shoot," Suzanna promised.

-Yes, I really hope for that - Yasmim replied, even more excited about the work, still wondering, seeing how her hair had come out perfect.

#my writing #fic #tom hiddleston #beyond a chance #yasmim gomes #tom hiddleston x oc #tom hiddleston x brazilian!oc #tomim #tom x yasmim

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basiccortez · 4 years

Text

Defenseless Ch. 1

Synopsis: CJ Jackson, looks like she has it all. Fancy car, fancy house, name brand clothing. Her parents, top boosters to Beverly, with money to make all sorts of situations go away. As well as the Jackson family looks put together, past secrets haunt them. With the new transfer student catching the eye of CJ Jackson, can old friendships be fixed. Or are somethings just meant to stay broken. "I told you, as long as I live, no one would know."

word count: 3.4k

pairing: Jordan Baker x OC (CJ Jackson)

warnings: cursing, talk of death, talk of drug addiction, talk of a juvenile being in trouble, high school boys being high school boys

It was like a heavy cement blocks were tied to her feet. She moved slowly towards the front doors of the place that reminded her of a prison, but with nicely dressed inmates. People passed by her, and just ignored her presence, something she wasn't used to at all. She was used to people flocking to her sides, begging for a party invite, or to be in her next photo shoot, or to be the next guy on her list, or just one dinner with anyone of her brothers. But now, she was blended into the background, like she never existed.

Somehow, she made her way to the front office, just in time for the first bell to ring. It was her first day back, and already half way through the first semester. She had just been released only a week prior to this bright and early Monday morning. Her brown boxbraids were tied back and out of her face. Her makeup was done to perfection, and her clothes; nicely pressed and matched well. She'd rather be dead than look a mess for her first day back.

"Christine Joy Jackson, I'm here to pick up my schedule." She spoke softly to the secretary. The secretary with bright red cat-eye glasses nodded, and pulled out a file, handing a pink piece of paper to CJ.

"You are to meet with Mrs. Riley first, before heading to your classes." The secretary nodded and CJ rolled her eyes, "Welcome back CJ."

"Thank you," CJ sighed and headed down to the office of her favorite person.

CJ made her way down to the east end of the school, where she was too familiar with being in the In-School suspension office. She knocked on the brown wooden door that was covered in papers for recovery centers, planned parenthood, adoption counselors, and local community colleges.

"Come in!" The voice from the other side called out. CJ took a deep breath before opening the door, and seeing Mrs. Riley behind the door. Her dark brown hair was curled and her skin looked flawless. That woman looked like she didn't age a day, but she also meant business, "My favorite parolee, CJ Jackson."

"Mrs. Riley," The teen girl sassed, setting her bag down in the chair next to her, and plopping her body in a chair, "Instructed to see you first."

"Yeah, just some parole stuff," Mrs. Riley said, grabbing a folder out of her desk, and setting in front of CJ. The folder was dauntingly big and felt like it could start a fire at any moment, "As you know, I am your parole officer, lucky for you or not. But know that I don't play around about any of this."

"This ain't my first go around with you."

"Ain't is not a word, now speak like your momma raised you." Mrs. Riley said and CJ rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair, "You are on parole for approximately 90 days, as a term of early release from your juvenile detention program. Terms of your parole include, attendance of school is mandatory, unless an absence notice from a doctor. You must check in with your parole officer everyday at 8 AM sharp, and do not be late. You will pass all administered drug tests, and random drug tests can be done as well. Another term of parole is being involved in not only in community service, but as well as a school activity. Your parents have suggested the dance team."

"Over my dead body." CJ laughed loudly.

"Christine Joy, these are the terms unless you would like to serve out the rest of the 90 days in a juvenile detention center." Mrs. Riley said, giving CJ one of her famous glares. A glare that felt like getting the fear of God put in you.

"No ma'am." CJ answered quickly.

"Good, you have till the end of this week to find a school activity. The community service project will be decided for you. Now you'll sign some stuff and be on your way." Mrs. Riley said smiling and handing CJ some papers for her to sign.

CJ's shoes clicked down the corridor as she made her way to her first class, anatomy. The teacher had already started teaching when, CJ opened the door. Eyes fell to her, and immediately the whispers started. The girl swallowed thickly and handed her note to her teacher. She quickly scanned the classroom for an open seat, and found one next to an unknown face.

"All right, listen up, I want you all to do a search on chromosomal DNA and make a slide on how it connects with last week's work on protein." The teacher said. Everyone automatically opened up their laptops sitting in front of them. CJ grabbed her's out her bag and set it in front of her too. The new kid looked around, uneasy about what he was supposed to do. He didn't have a laptop of his own to use, he usually shared one with his mother and younger brother.

"Spencer, right?" The teacher asked, coming over to him. He lifted his head and looked at the teacher, nodding.

"Yes ma'am."

"It's okay if you don't have a computer. Just pair up with a classmate for now."

"Okay, thank you." Spencer said and CJ looked up at him. Spencer tried looking at the boy next to him, who just moved his computer closer to himself.

"Hey, Todd. Keep watching that Logan Paul feed." CJ said to him.

"Whatever, CJ." Todd said and Spencer looked up at the light-skinned girl.

"Uh. . . you can share with me." CJ said lightly, and Spencer nodded. He moved his stuff over to where she was sitting.

"Thank you," Spencer said.

"I'll warn you, my chromosomal DNA knowledge is non-existent at best. And it's also my first day in this class."

"I might be able to help with that." Spencer laughed lightly and CJ moved her laptop in between the two of them. The two of them worked on their assignment, occasionally having to ask the teacher about what some of it meant, since it was both of their first days in the new class. CJ felt like eyes were watching her, and she turned around and noticed an old friend in class. CJ turned back to her assignment and kept her head down, not wanting to draw anymore attention.

When the bell rang, CJ offered to show Spencer to where the cafeteria is. Spencer was thankful that someone besides his new football coach wanted to show him around. CJ was just thankful to have found someone new at the school who hadn't known of her reputation.

"Salad bar, coffee cart." CJ said pointing at various locations in their center quad, "They used to serve sushi on Fridays, not sure if they still do."

"Sushi on Friday? At Crenshaw, we get sushi on Monday, that's all." Spencer joked and CJ laughed.

"Smart, and funny. I'm impressed." CJ said turning to him. But Spencer paused, and his eyes went to a beautiful tall, light skinned girl. CJ shifted uncomfortably as the girl made her way into the quad. Of course Spencer noticed her, she was beautiful and by far the most popular girl in Beverly. A spot that CJ once claimed.

"Layla Keating, Beverly Hills resident sweetheart." CJ said to Spencer, "Dad's some big-time record producer. And I heard they spend every Thanksgiving with the Obamas. And rumor has it, she even smoked pot with Malia last year."

"You must be Spencer," a familiar voice said from behind them. CJ turned and saw the star football player, Jordan Baker walk over to the pair, "Jordan Baker, QB, team captian."

"Baker?" Spencer asked, "Oh so you must be-"

"Yeah, coach is my dad. I'll take it from here, CJ." Jordan said and CJ nodded walking away from the two football players, "Come on, let me introduce you to the team."

"Hey, thanks for the tour." Spencer said before CJ could get too far away from him. She smiled at the Crenshaw boy, and looked down at her shoes.

"Yeah," She said quietly.

"Sushi on Friday?" Spencer asked, and CJ nodded.

"It's a date!" CJ agreed. Spencer looked the Jackson girl up and down before heading off behind Jordan. CJ cringed at the words that she said, before going off to find a table to herself, away from the stares and rumors about herself. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No, I saw her. Like with my eyes. CJ Jackson is back at Beverly." Asher Adams said to the group of friends as they ate lunch.

"I thought she had like a whole year left?" Hadley said, as she picked at her salad in her lap.

"Daddy's money can get you out of anything." Lucy said giggling, "Bold of her to come back after the shit show she created with everything."

"She's lucky she didn't get more time. Heard Mrs. Baker showed up at the trial and basically bailed her ass out. She was gonna get at least 15 to life," Asher said, embellishing the story a little bit.

"Now that's excessive." JJ said and Asher rolled his eyes.

"She's basically a murderer!" Asher exclaimed.

"No one even knows what she did exactly, maybe she was supposed to get out this early any way." Layla said, trying to defend her close friend.

"So. . . did she have an ankle bracelet? A tear drop tattoo?" JJ joked causing Asher, Lucy and Hadley to laugh. Layla rolled her eyes and picked at her food, as Jordan walked up to the group with handsome young man she had seen earlier.

"Meet the crew," Jordan said as he pointed out different members of the friend group, "This is Hadley, Layla, and up top, Lucy, JJ and Asher." Each of them shook Spencer's hand and Jordan took a seat next to his girlfriend Hadley. He greeted her with a kiss, and took his backpack off.

"I think you and Asher play the same position." JJ said as Spencer took a seat next to Layla.

"What's up, man?" Asher said trying to seem welcoming.

"Oh, receiver, huh?" Spencer asked him.

"Yeah, broke the school record for receptions last year." He said boasting about the accomplishment.

"Me, too." Spencer said and Asher just nodded his head, not saying a word.

"So, how are you liking Beverly so far?" Layla asked Spencer.

"It's okay, I guess." Spencer said smiling up at the girl. Asher looked between the new receiver and his girl questioningly, not liking how nice she was being to him.

"I know it probably feels like lost footage or rich kids from Instagram, but it's not so bad once you give it a chance." Layla said honestly, her browns eyes drifting across the quad to where CJ sat, alone and with a book in her hand.

"I'm sure it'll grow on me." Spencer responded.

"So lay it on me," Asher said breaking up the conversation between them, "Crips or Bloods?"

"Excuse me?" Spencer asked him. Hadley looked questioningly at Jordan and then at Asher, who continued talking, digging himself an even bigger grave.

"I'm dying to check out a Crip walk for real." Asher said putting his arm around Layla, "I've only seen one on YouTube."

"Yo, yo, he's just joking man. Ignore him," Jordan said trying to fix Asher's mistake.

"Asher, you wouldn't know a Crip walk if it bit you in the damn white ass." JJ joked, causing everyone to laugh but Spencer, who was feeling offended by his new teammate.

"Nah, that didn't sound like a joke to me, bro." Spencer said looking at Jordan. The group grew quiet and looked at each other as Asher tried to defend himself.

"Don't be so sensitive."

"Sensitive?" Spencer asked, standing up angrily. All the groups eyes were on Spencer as he grabbed his backpack and pulled it over his shoulder, "Hey, yo, thanks for the welcome." He said as he walked away from the group. His brown eyes scanned the quad, and found a familiar face sitting alone, reading a book. Spencer sat down across from CJ, startling her out of the reading trance that she was in.

"Sorry for scaring you." He said genuinely.

"No, thanks for scaring me. Too entranced into the world of The Field Party series to even notice anything." CJ said, setting her book down. Spencer reached across the table and picked up the book, reading the back of it.

"A small southern town filled with cute boys, pickup trucks, Friday Night football games, and crazy parties to stir up some major drama," Spencer said reading the back of the book out loud, "Can't get enough drama at high school, you need to read about it?"

"It's different to read about it than to live it. Besides, if my parents didn't land here after my dad's retirement, I could've grown up, going to these crazy field parties in so called, Lawton Alabama."

"It makes sense now, Chris Jackson the 3rd, your dad. . ."

"Receiver for the Chiefs, before retiring in 2015, that's the one." CJ said, "And now coach for the LA chargers."

"Wow, that's crazy. I wanted to play under him if he was at Bama, but-"

"Hey!" Layla said, sitting down next to Spencer, "Christine,"

"Layla. I'll see you around, Spencer." CJ said, gathering her stuff and moving tables. Part of her agreement to herself to get better, was not hanging around her old group. CJ still had an hour left for lunch, and went to the only place where she felt welcome in this school.

CJ knocked on the door and waited for the welcome in. The door opened and CJ held up her brown paper lunch sack and had a shy smile on her face, "Can i eat here?" She asked.

"You're always welcome in here, CJ." Mrs. Riley said, and shut the door behind her. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a long pep talk to get CJ to even walk into the girls locker room, and to the dance coach's office. It was an even longer one to get her to open the door and talk to the coach. The coaches and teachers had known about the terms of CJ's parole, and knew that they had to give her a fair chance at trying out for the team.

"Alright, let's see what you can do. You'll learn the dance, and then me, and the other coach, and the captain will give you a mock tryout, and see how you do," The coach, Mrs. Williams said to CJ, "Go get changed, Hadley will give you a uniform."

Hadley stood outside the door, and walked CJ to an open locker. She handed CJ a new uniform and waited for her to change.

"Hey listen,. . ." Hadley started but CJ slammed her locker shut and looked at Hadley, "How are you?"

"How am I?"CJ said looking at the girl who was once her friend, "That's all you have to say to me, after what I went through?"

"CJ, listen, I'm so sorry for what. . ."

"It wasn't your fault, now let me go to practice, since I have to prove to everyone I still deserve to be on a team that I helped build up from literally nothing." CJ said and pushed passed Hadley to the gym. The girl sighed, and could at least tell her friend group that she tried to talk to her.

CJ tied her box braids back, and stretched on the floor with the rest of the team. The girls would stare at her and whisper occasionally, but CJ tried her best to ignore it. Hadley sat down across form where CJ was stretching and faced her. She began stretching too, and CJ just looked at her.

"What are you doing?" CJ asked her.

"Stretching with my captain." She answered and touched her toes with her arms out straight.

"I'm not the captain anymore." CJ shrugged and pulled her legs into the butterfly stretch.

"Well, you and I both know you can out dance Emily Pierce any day."

"She's the captain, oh my god who let that happen?" CJ said and wrinkled her face in disgust.

"Well after your mom stepped down as the head coach, Mrs. Williams took over. Hence why EP is the captain."

"Alright ladies!" Emily Pierce's voice rang out over the gym. CJ groaned and stood up, fixing the black spandex on her body, "We are going to run through Countdown and then learn the new dance. So places!" Everyone moved to their places except CJ, who stood in the back, "Oh CJ, you can um. . . stand next to Hadley."

CJ nodded and stood next to Hadley in the front. When the music started, CJ remembered the dance from the year before. She started moving in the familiar moves that she knew, and obviously caught the eye of the captain who stopped the music almost immediately.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked her.

"My dance, this is my dance."

"Not anymore, this is my dance. I changed things after you up and got yourself arrested. Now stand in the back and follow the group." Emily said and CJ nodded her head and moved to the back.

For the rest of the rehearsal, CJ was quiet and stood in the back, following the moves the Emily was teaching the group, even though she hated every second of it. When practice was dismissed, she was the first in the locker room, taking her uniform off and shoving it into her dance bag. She slammed her locker shut and stormed out of the locker room, running straight into a hard, muscular body.

"Hey, watch-" "I'm so sorry." They both said at the same time. CJ looked up at Jordan Baker, the one person she didn't want to see.

"CJ, you good?" Jordan asked. He could see the red lining of her eyes and nose, as she was about ready to cry.

"Ignore me like you have been the whole day, Baker. I'm fine." CJ said and pushed away from Jordan. She was thankful that her father was waiting at the front of the school. CJ ran down the steps and into her brother who was waiting for her. He engulfed her in a tight hug, and ran his through her hair as she cried. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night, at the Baker household, Jordan walked up to his mom, who was unloading groceries into the fridge. He hadn't ever asked his mother about why she took CJ's case, even after everything she had done to his family. But now, that CJ was back at Beverly and constantly running into things in his life. Hadley had said that she seemed civil at dance practice, but Jordan didn't trust whatever CJ was trying to do.

"Hey, Mom." Jordan said.

"Yes, hun?" Laura said and closed the fridge.

"Why did you take CJ Jackson's case?" He asked.

Laura paused a minute and sighed, "I can't discus that with you. Why? What's going on? She try and contact you or Olivia again?"

"No, even worse, She's back at Beverly. Rumors are going around that she got released early."

"And they let her back at Beverly, after all the things she had done?" Laura asked surprised, "Guess money really does get you things."

"Mom," Jordan said somewhat defending his ex-friend, "You know that's not true. Hadley said that she's trying to get her spot back on the dance team, and that she seemed to change."

"Listen to me Jordan, girls like that, who strive off of their parents success and money, don't change. I. . . I defended CJ Jackson because her parents asked me too." Laura said honestly, "CJ didn't want a lawyer or attorney. She plead guilty and was ready for her charge. If you ask me, she should've gotten those 15 years. She is and was guilty for that boy's death, there' no doubt in my mind."

Jordan looked down at his shoes and didn't say anymore. He turned on his heel and walked back up to his room. He hated the feeling that was settled in his chest. He so much wanted to fight against what his mother was saying about CJ. Jordan was one of the only friends in his group to believe CJ. He was also the only Baker who believed her too.

#all american #all american cw #all american imagine #jordan baker #jordan baker imagine #spencer james #asher adams #olivia baker #jordan baker x reader

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p1tstop · 3 years

Note

XE I : Catie, Molly & GZ

XE II : Jenson, Kevin & Timmy

omg HELLO ANON !!! thank you for your originality !

XE I

submit: molLY !! hello ma'am yes pls take care of me i am urs switch: christine, omg she really is both an angel and devil the dream dominate: catie, i just want to please this lil babygirl so bad

XE II

submit: jeNSON! there was never any doubt im forever on my knees switch: timmy!! he truly has impeccable vibes he'd give great feedbak dominate: kevin, lil babyboy <333

#anon #my kinks are so fucKing easy to figure out #its laugheable #thanK U FOR THESE HONESTLY !!!#ask game

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missbrunettebarbie-writer · 4 years

Text

Pandora's Key

I present to you, the first time we see Meissa Fabbri (through Christine's eyes)

"The sound of heels on the marble floor echoed into the classroom, making even the teacher quiet. Christine turned her head to see what the commotion was about. She was met by an unexpected sight of black and red. To be more precise, a girl her age dressed in black leather and red silk. She walked gracefully, despite the height of her heeled-booths, towards one of the seats in front of the class.

The teacher frowned at her, but the girl spoke first:

"Yes, ma'am, I am aware I am late. I would say I am sorry, but I doubt that will mean much for anyone."

And without sparing anyone else a second glance, she pulled out a notebook and started doodling.

Christine felt a sudden anger rise in the pit of her stomach. Who did she think she was? Coming in late and being disrespectful was one thing, but not even paying attention to what was thaught was simply...unforgivable. There were plenty of witches who would kill to be at this school and this girl was here and had opportunities beyond imagination, yet she behaved like a spoiled brat.

Probably feeling the burnt of Christine's stare, the brunette rose her gaze from her notebook and looked her in the eyes. Despite being caught staring, Christine refused to look away, she was no coward. For a brief moment, both girls were engaged in a battle of dominance, before the brunette (who also had a red streak in her hair to match her clothes, noted the artist in Christine) resumed her doodling with a smile on her lips."

#pandora's key #meissa fabbri #i need a last name for christine to properly tag her #writing snippet

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maryam0revna · 4 years

Text

test

junior witch 1

It was a Wednesday afternoon when Kit's phone went off in the middle of lunch, playing a ringtone she had never heard before. The tune was too smooth to be one of the two-bit preloaded system tones, but she wasn't much one for adding special ones either. More importantly, Kit was pretty sure her phone had been on silent since she had started undergrad five years ago. So when it crooned at her with a soulful hum that rose and fell in familiar patterns, she excused herself, left her friends, and stepped outside the taco shop to take the call.

Wriggling her arms so her sweater cuffs would fall and protect her hands from the late April breeze, Kit swiped to answer the call. "Hello?"

"Kit, baby," the voice on the other end was rich and carried a smile, "it's your Auntie Louise. How you doin', sweetheart?"

"I'm good, Weezie," she said, hooking a loose strand of pale hair out of her mouth, where it had flown into her wide grin. Weezie had never called her before. "How are you?"

"Oh, you know me. I'm blessed and highly favored, though my ol' sciatic do like to act up in foul weather." Her laugh crackled through the phone. Cell service was fine-- that was just her laugh. Scratchy as a rash and just as catching.

"You better be using that heating pad I got you," Kit warned. Weezie, like her gran, was of an age where she wouldn't be told what to do but did like to be fussed over a little. "How are Terrence and Jasmine?"

"They're just fine, baby, they're just fine. I'm calling to ask after that old gran of yours."

Kit could hear the smile in the old woman's voice slip into something more serious. Like any card-carrying southerner, Weezie could talk about her family, and ask after Kit's, for an hour, and she was never one to hold back when talking about her granddaughter. Kit's Yankee classmates might be happy to cut to the chase, but bypassing such niceties struck an anxious nerve in her Mississippi-bred heart. "What about her?"

"Have you heard from her lately?" If it had been anyone else, the question might have passed for casual, but she knew Weezie's voice too well.

"Well sure," Kit did a quick count. "Must've been about three, four days ago? You know we normally FaceTime sometime over the weekend, and she texted me to say she couldn't make it this week. The equinox is coming, and she's got all her...stuff to prepare."

"Uh huh." Weezie didn't sound convinced. "And before that?"

"Before that, I guess it would've been the weekend before last. We caught up like usual, and at the end, I think she said she was headed off to your place. She did go, didn't she?"

Weezie hummed. "She did, but that's the last I've seen of her. I'm starting to get a little worried now. I called by the house today, and wasn't anybody there." In the background, Kit could hear the rhythmic tapping of Weezie jiggling her cane. "The house was all lit up too, and you know how she feels about leaving lights on in the place."

She knew alright, from years of scolding. "Has nobody seen her around town? Bobby Jay's or the senior center?"

"Not a soul. And people do tend to remember her."

Kit almost swore aloud; only the memory of getting her mouth washed out by both Weezie and Gran held her tongue. Instead, she let out a long breath. "Okay. Well, I'll call her now, and I'll keep on calling her. Can you ask around with her other friends?"

"Like who," Weezie scoffed, "those women in her social club?"

"If you wouldn't mind," Kit confirmed, apologetic. "Gran keeps names and phone numbers in her little address book on the roll-top in the den. You know where the key is. If you'd rather not, you can send me their numbers, and--"

Weezie shushed her. "I can call 'em. I'll let you know if I hear anything, though I think it'll be a cold day you-know-where before those old grackles say a word to me."

"Thank you, Weez. If they give you any trouble, you let me know, and I'll raise some hell."

The old woman harrumphed something about fighting her own battles, thank you very much. Then, just as Kit was sure she was about to make her goodbyes, she added, "You are coming home soon, aren't you?"

"Yes ma'am." She hadn't been planning on it, but she had a queasy feeling that said plans were about to change. "Soon as finals are over."

"Hmmm. Well, I don't know what's gonna turn up between now and then, but if I was you, Kitty B... I'd get on home as soon as I could."

After exchanging love-you's and goodbyes with Weezie, Kit called her gran. Then again. After the third, she gave in and left a voicemail, even though she knew Gran rarely listened to them.

"Hey, Gran," she began on a sigh, "it's Christine. I just talked to Weezie, and she said she hasn't seen you in over a week. I told her we texted a couple days ago, but now she's got me all worried too, especially since you aren't answering the phone. I know you've got equinox prep stuff going on, but could you give me a call back when you get a minute? I know I said I didn't think I'd be coming home this summer, but now I'm thinking I will. Anyway, just...call me back, please. Love you. Bye."

Stuffing her phone back into her cardigan pocket, Kit wove her way back into the narrow shop that was half market and half taqueria. Her friends were just where she'd left them, in one of the three booths along the far left wall.

"Who was that?" Olivia asked through a mouthful of lamb's tongue torta as Kit slid back in next to her.

Before she could answer, Jonathan snorted, "Wow, nosy."

Kit cut off the retort she could see forming in Olivia's mind. "It's fine. It was my gran’s best friend, Aunt Louise, calling to ask me something."

"Should've guessed it was someone from home," Jonathan gestured at her with his water glass. "Your accent is thick as hell right now."

"It is not," she enunciated.

"Oh, it is," Olivia confirmed. "'Gran' had multiple syllables."

Kit raised her hands in surrender. "Fine, you win. Apparently the return of the accent is none too soon, because it looks like I'm going back to Mississippi after finals."

Gasping, Olivia jabbed an elbow into her side. "Christine. Barton. You said you were coming home with me so I wouldn't have to go to my cousin's quinces alone!"

"Can we get some perspective, please?" Jonathan demanded. "Kit is going to Mississippi, for Christ's sake. Have a little sympathy."

As her friends snarked over which was the worse fate, the Deep South or a Jimenez family gathering, Kit drained the dregs of her Coke with a frown. Going back to her grandmother's house after finals wasn't exactly her idea of a good time, and she had successfully managed to avoid spending an entire summer there since her junior year of undergrad. Last year, she'd had the excuse of fulfilling her field school requirement, spending the summer studying Pictish stones and freezing her ass off in Northern Scotland. Which was still, for the record, preferable to the alternative. And sure, there was chance that whatever was going on could be cleared up in no time. But her gut was saying very insistently otherwise, and if there was one thing she had learned the hard way, it was to trust her gut.

Another thing Kit had learned, though, was that in the face of an unpleasant inevitability, it never hurt to get a little creative.

"Hey," she cut in, plonking her glass bottle onto the tabletop. "Do y'all want to come with me?"

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somedayonbroadway · 5 years

Text

The Call

Chapter 1

Summary: David Jacobs is out of the game. There was a reason he was a veteran operator for the emergency call-center. That is, until one call changes just about everything. It's a race against time to save this young teens life. And it all falls on David's shoulders.

"911, where is your emergency?"

"I need a police officer, 119 East Central Street, 3rd floor. I got a woman here, she's stabbing herself and a child!"

"Operator 602, state your emergency, please."

"Hi, there's an accident on Highway 28, and I... I... Like, I think somebody's dead!"

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I'm at the Beverly Resort. My girlfriend, she's..."

"What's going on there?"

"She jumped from the 12th floor balcony."

"She jumped off the 12th floor balcony?"

"911, what is your emergency?"

"Oh, God, I hit someone with my car. I hit him! I think I've killed him!"

"All right, listen carefully. Pump the chest hard 30 times. You need to count out loud, go ahead."

"911, what's your emergency?"

"911, where is your emergency?"

"Please, I need assistance right away!"

"911, where's your emergency?"

"There's a lot of blood, I know, but you need to keep pressure on the wound."

"I shot my wife."

"You shot your wife?"

"Yup. She's lying on the floor..."

"911, where's your emergency?"

If there was one thing that David knew, it was that his job was anything but easy. It was a stressful, mentally challenging, insane job that David was so grateful to have.

But it was days like these that made him wish he could be anywhere else.

"Christine... put the gun down," he ordered gently. He'd been on the line for several minutes now. He hadn't made any real progress. This kid was scared. She didn't know what to do. She was out of control and she couldn't stop it.

"I didn't mean ta do it!" she insisted, her Jersey accent strong and harsh. "I didn't mean it!"

With a shake of his head, David tried to figure out what to say next. "Christine, put the gun down! It isn't worth it!" he tried. He didn't want to lose this girl. She could still have a future.

Through the headset, David could hear the black and whites, screaming at this disturbed young woman, ordering her to drop the gun without an ounce of gentleness. David understood that. Their job was to protect the rest of the civilians. His job was to help the person on the other end of the line. "Put the gun down! Put it down!"

"Christine! Listen ta me-"

It wasn't the first time it had happened. But that didn't mean it made it easier.

And that was it. The line went dead.

For a second, the young man contemplated getting up, leaving his station for just a moment. He had every right to. It was a way to protect themselves from all the stress put on them everyday. So many lives put in their hands. But right now, David just prayed the next call he got was from a group of kids making a prank call.

He didn't need to get up. The Quiet Room would still be there later if he needed it to calm his nerves. So, he took a deep breath and let his computer know he was ready for another call.

"911, what's your emergency?"

The operator couldn't help but let himself slump over just a bit in relief when an angry, but familiar voice met his ears. "Goddamn it! Why am I in here?!"

Letting himself laugh, David just shook his head. "Hey there Mr. Kloppman, how ya doin'?" he asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"Not good, kiddo... I'm in jail," Mr. Kloppman began to explain. David let himself smile. This man wasn't a bad guy, just got himself into trouble a bit too much. The first time he'd called, David had been on the line with him for close to an hour as the old man gave him his life story. Not that David minded. He was an odd guy, but that didn't mean he wasn't entertaining as hell. "Ain't no one's tellin' me nothin'!"

Knowingly, David could only sigh and ask the question he asked every time this man was on the line. "You been drinking again, Mr. Kloppman?"

It was almost comical the way the man quieted down immediately. Everyone around the hive knew this man. They only got a call from him every few weeks, when he'd fallen off the wagon again. He'd had a rough life. Plenty of reason to start drinking. But he was trying to get better. "I s'pose..." he replied sheepishly.

Nodding, David just shrugged. "So you know what you have ta do. You gotta ask your DO for another call, okay?"

"... okay... thanks, kiddo..."

"No problem. Stay outta trouble, alright sir?" David asked, a small smile still on his face. It really was a nice break from all the stress.

"Alright, kiddo. Bye bye." And then that was it. David let himself sit for a moment, letting himself just breathe. For a moment, everything was okay.

"Does he still call you, 'kiddo'?" At the young, feminine voice, David spun around in his chair.

"Of course he does, Smalls" he responded to the small woman behind him. "It's a hell of a lot better than 'sweetheart'." She playfully rolled her eyes at him.

"That's fair," she replied, turning away from her own station for a moment. "So how's Les? Still a little rascal?"

With a sigh, David shrugged. "You know it. My mom just got him braces. The kid is not happy about it and I never get to hear the end of it," he explained. His little brother was certainly a handful. There was no questioning that.

Snorting, Smalls replied, "At least he'll have straight teeth when he grows up! My parents couldn't afford that kind a' sh-"

"Ah, Smallsie, always such a charmer ta walk in on," a voice interrupted. A grin spread across both of their faces as they looked up to see a young police officer walking through their building, right towards them, along with a woman of the same uniform.

Smalls, ever sarcastic and good for a laugh, looked around. "Did anyone call for a stripper?" she called jokingly. David just rolled his eyes as the young female cop burst out laughing.

"Hey, Jack. What're ya guys doin' here?" he asked, standing to his feet so that he could shake his friend's hand before he was pulled into an embrace.

Jack always was one for hugs. "Nothin' much, man. Just thought we'd stop by b'fore I have two little monsters ta deal with when I get home," he shrugged, letting him pull back and then slinging an arm around the woman's shoulders.

With a grin, Small's kicked her feet up onto her desk, twirling a pencil around in her hands. "Katherine, I understand that you helped deliver a baby yesterday," she commented, sounding almost impressed.

The female cop nodded, a grin growing on her face. "Yes ma'am. Seven pound, eight ounce little princess," he stated, smirking over at Jack who placed his free hand over his heart in offense.

"Excuse me, I was there too!" he insisted.

But the woman only laughed. "He was holding her hand and covering his eyes. He's the true hero here," Katherine corrected sarcastically. It seemed to be good enough for Jack who nodded his head and smiled.

"Thank you."

David laughed. He had the best friends. He'd gone to high school with these people. And college with Jack. They hadn't always been close, but he still absolutely adored them. In fact, they were now his closest friends.

"Really though, she saved the mama's life," Jack stated. The pride in his eyes wasn't something that could be looked over. It was so clear how madly in love he was.

A hum brought the officer out of the trance. Small's was staring at the with a sort of false admiration. "You guys are disgusting," she breathed before turning back to her desk and getting back to work.

Jack chuckled a bit, turning to kiss his girlfriend and partner on the side of her head before he stepped away from her and towards David. "Hey, can I talk ta you f'r a minute?" he asked quietly.

With a slight nod, David pushed himself up from his chair. "Darcy! I'm goin' on break!" he called as his boss walked by. Then he lead Jack out to the small patio they had outside. David's favorite place in the whole building.

The fresh air was always so nice.

He leaned up against the railing of the small outdoor space. Jack stood across from him, leaning back on a chair pushed up against one of the tables. "What's up?"

"Just about everythin'," Jack laugher, scratching at the back of his neck nervously. "I was wonderin' if ya finally wanted ta meet my boys," he stated.

Ah yes. Jack's boys. His little brothers. His half brothers. The adoption hadn't been easy. Not with the many potential guardians that were apart of all of their lives. Though, they were unwanted and never seemed to be good for anyone. Jack's family was anything but conventional. Their mother was anything but loyal or faithful.

"Yeah, I'd love to!" David grinned. The adoption had been closed a year ago. They kids were officially Jack's. And while David was one of Jack's closest friends, he still had never met the boys. "When should I be over?"

"I was thinkin' tomorrow night?" It was like Jack was scared to have him over it wouldn't surprise the young operator. Those kids had been through enough in their short lives. New people weren't exactly their favorite things. But Davey was beyond touched that his friend was allowing him to meet them. It was a big step for him. It was important.

"I'd love to, Jackie," he smiled.

Jack grinned. "Cool..."

Meeting Jack's brothers was the ultimate kind of trust. David knew that all too well. The stories had been everywhere. They'd been hurt as children. All of them. But Jack trusted him. And David couldn't help but be so incredibly happy.

But he wasn't done at work yet.

"... Then I want you to take the child in your arms and exit the building quickly," he heard Specs instruct as he made his way back to his desk. Jack walked past him and took Katherine's hand as they made their way out.

"See ya, Mouth!" Jack called as he pulled Katherine away from Smalls.

David just nodded and waved at his friend with just two fingers. "Later, Kelly!"

As soon as their friends left the building, Smalls was turning to David with a questions. "Hey, what's the code for multiple stabbings?" she asked in a rush, muting her call for just a moment as the young man tried to recall.

"Uh... Two forty-five," he responded in a rush.

The small girl nodded. "Thank you!" She turned back to her own call immediately, leaving David to take a breath and try to get back into the game.

For a moment he stared at his screen. He listened to the people around him. His coworkers. Some of he bravest people he'd ever met. This job was so important. He had to know that. They all did. It was crucial. They were protecting people.

He clicked on his space bar, indicating he was ready for another call. Instantly, he had one. "911, what's your emergency?"

"Help me! Please... someone's trying ta break into my house!"

The voice was panicked. Nothing David hadn't handled before. But it definitely brought him out of his daze. He sat up straighter. "Okay, okay, breathe for me, pal."

"I'm all alone! My parents went to see a movie! They won't answer their phones!"

"I understand that, buddy. What's your name?" David asked calmly as the trace on his computer began to run.

The boy was breathing hard on the other end of the line. David could hear him. "B-Benjamin... Neilson..." Immediately the man typed the name into his systems.

A picture came up easily. David allowed himself to vaguely study the face of the kid. Blond hair, grey-blue eyes. Lanky and tall. He was sixteen. "Alright, pal. I've got all your information here," he stated, taking a breath. "Can you get out of the house, Benjamin?" He was typing frantically. Just like he always did. The more information, the better.

"No! No! He's out there!"

"Okay, take a deep breath for me, kid," the operator instructed before switching his headpiece over to the radio. "Any units clear to handle hot prowl in progress? 23 Kinnard Street. PR is alone and hiding."

"Seven-Adam-Thirteen, responding!"

The man switched back as quickly as he could, feeling his chest tighten as those panicked gasps met his ears again. "Police are on their way, buddy!"

Benjamin Neilson was hiding behind a wall. He didn't want to move. Whoever was there might see him. All of the lights were off. The only noise that could be heard was a juggling lock and the voice of a stranger on the telephone.

The boy was about to say something else, beg this man to make the police get there faster. But the shattering of glass made him jump a foot in the air. He could hear someone reaching through it to get to the lock on the door. "Oh my God, he just broke the window! He's coming through the back!"

David's whole body went from somewhat to tense in an instant. He had to breathe. He had to be the strong one. "Benjamin, go find a room and lock yourself in. Right now!" he instructed, trying to think. That was right. Those were the right instructions. "Do not disconnect with me, okay? Stay on the line!"

The boy didn't respond. He just darted towards the stairs in front of him. He sprinted in through an open door and closed it as quietly as he could. "Okay! I'm in my room!" he stated, standing against the door. "But the door doesn't lock n' I don't know where ta hide!" he cried out in a whisper.

"It's okay, Benjamin! I need you ta stay calm," David tried.

But the boy was anything but calm. "He's gonna find me!" he whispered urgently. He looked around his room.

"Okay, is there a window in that room, Ben?" David asked quickly.

"Yeah..."

"Here's what I need you to do..."

The only place he thought to go was beneath his bed. It was obvious. But it was all he had.

Footsteps were coming closer. The board outside his room creaked. The kid whimpered. He wished beyond anything that he had a bat or a weapon of any kind. But he'd seen the outline of the man. He was huge. He'd be no match for him.

"Buddy, stay quiet for me, okay?" David demanded, seeming to sense the situation, even from miles away. "Don't say a word."

The boy didn't. He held his breath as he ears his door creaking open. The intruder seemed to think someone in this room wouldn't have already heard the glass shatter.

The man's shoes were covered in dirt and mud. They were old and worn brown work boots. That was all the kid could see of the guy.

David muted his end of the call again. "Seven Adam Thirteen! What's your ETA?"

"Eight to ten!"

That was too long. Looking around, David caught a glimpse of his supervisor, doing his own job. He zeroed in on David just as the young man threw his arms up helplessly. There was no way anyone was going to get there in time.

Benjamin was beginning to get dizzy. He didn't want to risk making a sound. The man was still in his room. He was looking in the closet. Behind the curtains. But Benjamin didn't move. Eventually he saw the man lean out the open window. He must've seen the one shoe he'd dropped down there. It looked like he'd jumped and ran.

The man didn't check beneath the bed.

Footsteps began to leave the room in a haste. The kid breathed a sigh of relief. "I... I think it worked. I think he's leaving..."

"That's good, kid. Just-"

The line went dead. David felt himself panic for a moment. The boy surely hadn't meant to hang up the phone. The man had to still be inside the house. He'd told him to stay on the line.

In a moment of pure panic, of idiocy, David called back.

That meant the phone rang.

Benjamin answered the call immediately. "I don't know where he is!" he hissed, terrified.

"Benjamin-"

"Oh my God, I think he's coming back!"

All David felt was nauseous. "Kid-"

"I think he heard the phone ring!" He cried, trying to push himself from his hiding place. He had to get up. He could hear the man coming back. He could fight. He could-

David heard the boy scream in pure terror. "Benjamin?!"

Benjamin struggled beneath a huge man who'd just ripped him from his safe haven. "Let go! Let go!" he demanded, trying so hard not to sound completely horrified.

"Kid-" David's heart sped up. He tried desperately to figure out what to do next. The boy more than likely didn't have the phone by his ear anymore. He was stuck, listening to a child beg somebody to just let him go.

"Shut up!" another voice screamed.

"Get offa-" Benjamin let out a muffled sob when a strong hand rushed to cover his mouth.

Then the man reached for the phone.

And David could hear his quick, irregular breaths. Something told him that this was more than some burglary. He'd gone after the kid specifically. There was more to this. And that scared him.

He'd given the kid away.

"Wh-whoever this is... the police are on their way to that house right now," he stated carefully, trying not to let his voice shake too much. He felt his hands begin to tremble as his face went pale. "The only thing for you to do is let that boy go..."

This is what a panic attack felt like.

This was his fault. He'd given the kid away. He'd made a mistake.

"I suggest you leave that house before you do something you regret... you do not have to do this..."

The breathing was quick. But the man wasn't scared. He was angry. Driven by grief and adrenaline. He looked the boy up and down as he struggled below him. He pinned the boy's arms beneath his knees as he reached to run a demeaning hand through his hair. And, without truly even thinking about it, he let out a small, but horrifying reply.

"It's already done."

Benjamin screamed.

And then the line went dead.

David couldn't breathe. The trace disappeared. The picture faded. He knew he wasn't supposed to panic. He knew he wasn't supposed to not know what to do. He knew he was supposed to have the answers and the fix.

He knew he wasn't supposed to call back when there was an intruder. What did I just do?

Ripping off his headset, David ran. He ran to the Quiet Room as those three words echoed in his brain.

It's already done.

That boy was targeted. He didn't know why, but he was.

The door slammed shut behind him. He was the only one in the room. He stepped away, pacing as he tried to get his limbs to stop shaking. "Oh, God..." he breathed, reaching up a trembling hand to run through his hair.

The door was opened behind him. The man flinched as he whirled around, his vision blurred as tears filled up in his eyes.

"It's already done." It was all he could hear. Over and over again. Even as he barely made out the form of his boss standing before him.

"What the hell was that?" Oh great. Darcy has been listening to his call. Of all things. "That ring gave him away." The older man was scolding him like David didn't already know. Like David wasn't tearing himself up right now. It must've taken the man a moment to see the tears in David's eyes. Because he expression softened. "Just... help me out here. What were you thinking?"

Immediately, David shrugged, completely at a loss for words. He could still hear Benjamin screaming. "I... I wasn't... I..." He could hardly speak anymore. Nothing was coming out right. "I don't know... I didn't..." He still couldn't breathe. "I'm just normally... I wasn't focused like I usually am and I... I don't know..."

He could've vomited right then and there. A child had just been kidnapped.

And it was his fault.

#fanfiction #Newsies #David Jacobs #The Call #Jack Kelly #Katherine Plumber #Smalls #911 call #alternate universe #angst #drama #suspense

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