5 Things Meme—of the Ficlet Variety

[scribblemyname]

This entry is part 44 of 51 in the series 365 Challenge

Gacked from penknife:

You post a topic, list, category, whatever, in comments. (examples: "Five SG-1 Mission Reports That Were Less Than Entirely Truthful", or "Five Times Bruce Banner Lost His Toothbrush," or "Five Ways Nikola Tesla Failed to Take Over the World"). I'll answer with a list of five things.

Ideally fandoms that I know something about, unless you want me to guess, which could be entertaining but probably not the way you want. Or (and preferably) original fiction. All storyworlds on the table, i.e. Seven Days, Kingdoms and Thorn, the Alliance, Vardin, etc.

---

Completed Ficlets & Scenes

Kingdoms and Thorn:

• Rachelle + Justus – Without a Reason
• Shift + Justus + Red Wolf – It's Own Absolution
• Rachelle + Justus – It Came Up
• Rachelle/Justus – Simply Because
• Rachelle + Justus – Defining Love
• Rachelle + Shift + Meld – Playing with Knives
• Killinger + Special Unit ensemble – Technicalities
• Killinger + Special Unit ensemble – Call Me If You Need Me
• Killinger + Special Unit ensemble – Element of Uncertainty
• Marc + Cate – A Simple Question
• Marc + Cate – The Nameless Below
• Killinger + Special Unit ensemble – Tracing Trouble

Download article as PDF

Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

Comments

Kingdoms & Thorn Commentfic: It Came Up

[scribblemyname]

A/N: Truly fanfic-like. There's no attempt to make this stand alone.

---

It wasn’t something team members did often, stop and evaluate how close they were, but in the constant line of fire, it came up so to speak, and it came up again when the Database was watching through the hacked security cameras as Defender and Sear mowed down a stream of hostiles giving chase to the impossible target of Shift heading for where Kismet would step any moment. It came up when she saw a stray bullet tear into his side, saw him go down—bloodily, felt the cool impassivity of too much experience with this sort of thing and kept doing her job because it was the only way to maybe get him out alive.

Sear’s mouth was moving, and so was her arm as she shoved it under Defender’s, but she couldn’t shoot a semi-automatic with one hand.

Kismet rocked forward slightly, barely more than an intense breath, but waited, waited, watching the computer screen with her.

The Database imagined she could feel the lick of intensifying heat as Sear’s eyes burned darker and redder and hostiles started going down smoldering instead of shot. Shift hit the rendezvous and dove under Sear’s cover.

Kismet’s hands parted, lightning-like streams flickering between her hands, then stepped and a portal opened between the two locations. Shift slid inside and Sear shoved behind her, taking Defender with her. Kismet slammed the portal shut, halving the gun of a hostile that close on their tails.

And suddenly, the Database could move again, could be human, could reach out and check Justus over herself. He was Justus again, not Defender, and breathing ragged blood out of his mouth. She didn’t have time to wait for Meld, so she grabbed the entire lot of healing gifts she had running, chugging through her system, and used them one after another after another. She poured her life into his, she prodded his own body’s regeneration, she knit together the broken blood vessels, the damaged organs—she healed him in a way any one healer never could. Only five seconds after five seconds after five seconds of so many stolen powers lined up in a row, and then he pulled away from her, studying her to make sure she hadn’t compromised her own health.

Shift shoved herself to her feet, satisfied her team member was alive and would be, and ordered the Database, “Work clean-up.”

The Database obeyed. Justus turned away, stood, and did his own clean up.

If the Database was the kind of woman to love a man, she would love him for that, the ability to do what he needed to do. She was the kind of woman to love and sacrifice for her own, but as she glanced over to see Shift handling him, handling her team, she mused to herself briefly that Justus wasn’t hers. He was Shift’s. She couldn’t really say she minded.

#

Re: Kingdoms & Thorn Commentfic: It Came Up

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

I think the way she healed him shows a lot. Even if she would have done it for anyone else on the team...

Well... I guess it just seems like more than that with the two of them.

A part of me wants to say, "but he's not Shift's and you should mind," but... that's just me.

Re: Kingdoms & Thorn Commentfic: It Came Up

[scribblemyname]

She wouldn't have done it for just anyone else on the team. :grins: You read that right. She cares about him, it's just not love yet.

Note: this is waaaaaaay early on in their relationship. At this point in time, Shift owns him. She trained him and she can and does play him as she needs to. Note: their relationship is messed up, but not romantic. Shift is only in love with one man (who she hates just as much), and it isn't Justus.

Rachelle chose to intervene in that relationship for a good reason, but I haven't figured out how to fully address the way that dynamic works yet in fiction. At least fiction you'll like. Still working on it. I got this far, then realized the bit worked on its own for the prompt, so posted it.

Re: Kingdoms & Thorn Commentfic: It Came Up

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

:)

I have to admit, I'm a bit intrigued but also scared by the idea of Shift loving someone, especially when you say it like that. Though... I admit, I'm relieved it's not Justus because... I could see her needing someone like him and he did remind her that she had a heart, so I'd almost want him to pick her because she seems more damaged by what happened and what she did and would need him more if that makes sense.

It is interesting that she chose to intervene.

Re: Kingdoms & Thorn Commentfic: It Came Up

[scribblemyname]

I waffled for a long time which one to pair him with canonically. In my head I ship both. On paper, I had to pick one and when I played them both out I figured out that Rachelle/Justus was by far the healthier relationship. This did not come as a great shock considering how broken Shift is.

But there's a whole lot of authorial backstory there that would be too complicated for me to go through here and probably would bore you until I have some written story to back me up. :shakes head at self:

But let's just say the second time Rachelle showed up outside Justus' room, she told him, "I'm here to keep you from getting too attached." Falling in love with Shift is a beyond bad, bad idea and so he named her Guardian.

Re: Kingdoms & Thorn Commentfic: It Came Up

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I could see him with Shift, too, though his relationship with Rachelle is healthier.

She was probably right to intervene, and it was better for him that she did in the long run, but in some respects, I feel sorry for Shift that she didn't get him.

Re: Kingdoms & Thorn Commentfic: It Came Up

[scribblemyname]

Not to get too deep into all the intense meta going on behind the scenes, but I would have had to wrench the premise a bit for her to get him. I went with certain storyworld decisions in this one that I knew meant she wouldn't want him. She made him an operative. She doesn't want an operative to be her daughter's father.

Oh, she tries to make it work with the actual father (the aforementioned love/hate), but that story's not done yet, so I'll let you find out then how that goes.

Re: Kingdoms & Thorn Commentfic: It Came Up

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I could see her being pretty firm about that.

Hmm. Intriguing. Sounds like a story with the potential for a lot of heartbreak, though.