hyperfixation please stay with me long enough to complete the project. hyperfixation do not fade. hyperfixation finish what you started for the love of god
Ellie asking Joel questions about Tommy in bills car, like she does in the show!
Hi anon! 😊
Hope you like this!!! I suppose chronologically, this scene takes place during Chapter 17 of Be Still My Foolish Heart while they're in the car, following the first dialogue about Tommy. ❤️
I guess you could say this is a missing scene.
...
It comes out of the blue the next morning. Her continued questions about his brother. Joel supposes that he shouldn’t be surprised that she’d be this curious about him.
Of course she’s got questions about the uncle she only just learned she had a few days before.
He’s kept her in the dark long enough. He don’t mind telling her whatever she wants to know. Even the memories that he’d rather not dredge back up again. He’s got nothing to hide, nothing he wouldn’t share with her because she’s a part of this family too.
“You called Tommy a joiner last night…” Ellie begins, hesitant, fingers fiddling with the seatbelt strap. “What – what’s that mean exactly?”
His own fingers tighten and loosen around the steering wheel.
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he considers how to explain this in a way that will make proper sense to her in this day and age.
“Means he was always looking for some cause to be a part of. A purpose, I reckon. Needed to do something that felt bigger than just him. That – that made a difference in the world. He joined the army at eighteen right out of high school, got sent overseas to fight in Desert Storm.” At her furrowed brow and opening mouth, he immediately elaborates. “Not an actual storm. It was the name of a war – anyways – my brother, he’s always been the restless type if he don’t have a job to do, something useful to get done. Tommy don’t like being idle. Never did.”
“That part sounds kind of like you,” she points out, sounding surprised that he and his mysterious brother could possibly have anything in common.
His smile in response is small but accepting. “Yeah, I ‘spose we’re both pretty awful at being helpless. Drives us up the damn wall.”
“Does he look like you?” Ellie wonders, her smile small too, inquisitive gaze coasting over the planes of his face like she can pick apart the traits they might share even though she’s never seen a picture of Tommy to know.
“A little,” he says, watching her chew thoughtfully on her lip.
“What’s he – he like?”
Joel blows out a breath, taps a thumb against the steering column. Not sure what to say when all that comes to mind is he’s my dumbass kid brother and he’ll be crazy about you the second he meets you ‘cause you’re mine and he’ll be the best uncle, you wait and see, baby girl. Tommy is still a bit of a sore subject so it’s not something he wants to push with her right now.
What he settles on seems far more inadequate. “He’s – he fancies himself real funny. I’m sure y’all will get on like a house on fire.” It sounds lame even to his own ears.
Her skepticism at his lack of apt description and mild offense at his implication that she isn't funny fight for dominance on her face. “Seriously, my brother is goofy as hell, and he’ll get a kick out of your puns. You two have the exact same sense of humor, I swear. You both love animals and getting into trouble –”
Ellie scowls. “You’re just telling me what you think we have in common but that doesn’t tell me what he’s like, dude. I wanna know.”
He snags the hand that keeps tinkering with the seatbelt and entangles their fingers, giving a reassuring squeeze when he can tell it’s starting to stress her out. “He’s – he’s got a damn good heart, fierce and loyal as they come.” A lot like you, he doesn’t add. “Steady and solid, no one I trust more than him.” At her arched eyebrow, he amends quickly. “”Sides you, honey.”
“And Tess?” she checks, tone tingeing towards disbelief.
“Well, that goes without saying.”
This gets the frown dropping off her face as fast as it appeared.
“Tess is the fucking best,” Ellie tells him, seriously, almost a challenge, like he needs even the slightest bit of convincing.
“You got that right, kiddo,” he agrees, easily.
What she asks next shouldn't take him off guard but it does.
“Do you think he'll l-like me?” Her eyes are on her lap instead of over at him now, her lips twisted in careful thought. His kid and her big heart, the one he's always loathed to accidentally break, is on full display right now, shining through her question like a beacon.
It's a simple question though. And there's a simple answer to it too. It ain't nothing but the truth.
“I think he's gonna love you, Ellie Miller,” he tells her firmly, leaning over as much as his seatbelt will allow to kiss the side of her head.
At her incredulous glance up, he peeks at her from his peripheral vision. “‘Cause if for some idiotic reason he don't – well –” He clicks his tongue.
“You'll beat some sense into him?” Ellie says, with a little too much glee.
“For you, baby girl? Gladly.”
His tone isn't entirely joking. There's a kernel of very real promise that he hopes she understands. Because above all else, even his relationship with his estranged brother, his kid needs to know that he'll always be on her side, in her corner. She's the priority for him here.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999– ) & Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021– )
↳ 9x09 Paternity, 12x17 Pursuit, 22x09 Return Of The Prodigal Son, 3x22 With Many Names & 27x01 In The Wind
Joel's done the single father thing before as a broke, teenage drop out. Sarah's doing well at that fancy university over seas and he's not going to pull her away from her studies. He ain't hiring a nanny for his second kid. Anna wouldn't want that. She didn't survive that horrific car accident just for Joel to hire a nanny. He'll raise his second daughter with all the love in the world. Plus this time around, his bank account's got seven figures before the decimal point. Ellie's his kid. He's her dad and they're going to make it.
Hi! 🥹😂 Thanks for the prompt!! I hope this at least partially answers it lmao and that you like this. ❤️
summary: Joel contemplates being a father again at 42. Feat. infant Ellie, references to Anna/Joel (age gap romance), adult alive! Sarah and Uncle Tommy mentions, modern no outbreak! au
rating: T
wc: 1k+
...
Joel never thought he’d be a father again. Not at forty-two. Certainly not with Sarah grown and off at college. Been an empty nester for going on three years now. Took nearly that long to feel okay with dipping his toes back into the dating pool – mostly at his idiot brother’s insistence.
Of course nothing ever goes according to plan.
He’d known better than to fall into bed with a client. Beautiful and doe eyed and younger than he typically goes for.
A woman just outside of Austin with no living family, struggling to take care of an inherited house in need of a lot of fixing up. She was barely keeping herself afloat between her former responsibilities, the bills and the property tax. It’d taken him far too long to realize she hadn’t been the only one in over her head. She’d hired him to help get the place in order and up to code so it could be sold. So she could cut ties and go back to Boston, to her job at the paper.
It hadn’t been her fault that he was a sucker when it came to people needing him.
Joel was always going to be a protector.
He can remember all too well how it had felt to cradle her within the shelter of his arms, her tears staining his shirt, her fingers pressing into his back. Her quivering lips at his jaw.
The instinct so clear and sharp – to take care of her. To have a purpose. A job. Something beyond the adult daughter that didn't seem to need him nearly as much anymore, half a world away. A brother that’d moved to Wyoming who had his own wife, kid, a life that didn't include him.
There had never been any wedding rings or promises of forever. Quite the opposite in fact. No mention of white picket fences or backyard swingsets. Nothing remotely permanent. Only tangled bed sheets and moonlight on bare freckled legs. Teeth and tongues. Sloppy kisses and stifled moans. Whispered words against heated skin in the dark. They’d never spoken of the future beyond the whimsical fantasies she’d seen fit to share with him once the alcohol had gone to her head, tucked into his ribcage, and the stars in the sky had filled her eyes like constellations, always the first to look up.
She'd had all kinds of plans back then. He'd had none.
His life was full of double shifts and late night takeout, waiting around for Sarah to call, to need him and leaving his nosy brother's texts on read.
He'd had little to offer Anna. She'd been obsessed with his hands. With touching his laugh lines and pressing her lips to his wrinkles. With sliding her ice block feet up under his calves. With carding her fingers through his hair and giving him Eskimo kisses just to make him smile. With stealing his shirts and his heart and his need to do this on his own. With demanding hugs and being present. With needing him to be here with her.
You have the most pretty eyes, J, she'd said. I could fall into them forever. All sass and sincerity. Somehow both fire and water. A firecracker in the sky. The deepest of wells. He'd drown in her if he wasn't careful. An old soul and a spunky spirit. All heart on her sleeve. Brighter than the sun.
She'd been a light through his tunnel.
Fourteen years was quite the age gap. Two people from different worlds. A journalist with ambition and eyes on the horizon and a lonely aging contractor. It was never going to work. Perhaps the end was inevitable. She was always going to leave.
Anna was never truly his to keep at all.
The baby they’d accidentally made – a perfect little girl with his dark eyes and her pale complexion – was his to look after though. Is his to look after and always will be.
Even if once again he’s doing it on his own. Seemingly forever destined to walk the path of parent alone. A single dad. Never quite enough for the ones he loves the most. The horrific memory of that night still sits fresh in his mind, waking him at odd hours just so he can keep his eyes and his hand on his baby’s tiny moving chest.
Having been born a month early and spending a week in the NICU until her lungs strengthened and she’d weighed enough for him to take her home, it hasn’t gotten easier – the constant need to hold her and never put her down again. His little fighter. Certainly already stronger than him. God, Anna would be so proud if she could see their girl now, gripping his finger something fierce and scrunching that button nose of hers.
She should be here to see the perfect, beautiful life they created.
Anna would've loved to know that their daughter ended up with his eyes. She would've teased him for it. Cried about it. Been tickled pink too.
Watching those doe eyes now in the low light of the bedroom, an eerie reflection of his own, blink owlishly up at him around a huge yawn, he feels the tears prick once more. His palm stays on her warm body just to feel her breathe. Tiny hands clench and unclench. Impossibly small feet wiggle. He can't help but bend down and put his nose to her downy soft head, needing to take her in.
His smile is wobbly at best. “Hey there, pretty eyes,” he murmurs, overcome when she reacts to his voice, twisting towards him. “Hi, baby girl. Hi.”
One single huff from her, the smallest hitch in her inhale, a furrow in that thin eyebrow, and he's reaching down to scoop her up.
Barely a few weeks with her, and he already knows just how much his world is about to change. Again.
He wants to do it differently this time. He has to do things differently this time. Be present for Ellie in ways he never got the chance to be for Sarah. For Anna. No more pulling all-nighters and doubles and missing dinners and weekends, losing time he won't ever be able to get back. He knows his eldest doesn't resent him for any of it – that despite everything she turned out alright. She's happy and well-adjusted. Thriving even. He also knows that she'd want this for her baby sister. She loves her too.
There won't be any sitters or nannies raising his kid. No sticking her with the neighbors. They won't need to step in because he's going to be right here for every milestone, every memory, every moment, he's not missing anything.
He's going to do better. Be better. For both of his girls.
“I gotcha, honey. Dad's gotcha,” he whispers against her head. It feels like a promise of forever. The one he never got to give to Anna.
[SUMMARY: Loving Javier Peña means living with fear. His job terrifies you, and though he swears he’ll stay behind the scenes, you know better than to trust promises made in the shadows. What you don’t know is that he’s neck-deep in the hunt for Escobar, a case that pulls him further away from you—and drags you straight into the danger he swore you’d never face.]
Angst, drama, no sexual assault happens just a man implying it.
The apartment was quiet, the late Bogotá sun leaking through the blinds in fractured streaks. You’d been making dinner, hummming softly to yourself, comforted by the thought that Javier was staying behind the desk for a while. For once, you could breathe. For once, the ache of worry in your chest didn’t sit so heavy.
He had promised you. Sworn to you, in that low, gravelly voice of his, that he’d stay away from the dangerous cases. That he’d keep to paperwork, interviews, the safer side of DEA work. You believed himbecause you needed to.
But Javier Peña had a dangerous habit of lying to himself just as much as to the people he loved.
And Escobar didn’t care that you had nothing to do with it.
The first sign was the soft click of your lock turning, a sound so foreign it froze you in place, wooden spoon slipping from your hand into the pot of simmering sauce. You turned just as the door swung open, and a man you’d never seen stepped inside like he owned the place. His smile was wrong. Too confident.
“Señorita,” he said, looking you up and down. His accent was thick, his presence heavy. “You must be Javier’s little girlfriend.”
Your blood ran cold.
Befo re you could reach for the phone, another man appeared, shutting the door behind him. One of them stepped closer, brushing his hand over the back of your chair, his eyes never leaving you.
“You know, Peña has been… very busy. Busy where he doesn’t belong.” His gaze swept over you like a threat. “Men like him, they should understand—there are consequences.”
Your hands trembled, but you stood your ground. “He’s not here. You need to leave.”
They laughed. A cruel, sharp sound. One of them leaned in close, close enough you could smell smoke and cheap cologne. His fingers grazed a strand of your hair, tucking it behind your ear like he had any right. L
“You’re pretty,” he murmured. “Too pretty for a man like Peña. Maybe he doesn’t deserve you.”
Your phone rang then, hung up against the wall beside you. The man smirked, snatched it up, and answered without hesitation.
“Javier Peña,” he greeted, mocking. Then, looking straight at you, he held the phone out so Javier’s voice carried through the line.
“Who the fuck is this? ” Javier’s tone was sharp, suspicious.
The man grinned wider. “Relax, amigo. I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m standing in your apartment… with your girl.”
Your breath hitched, and you knew Javier heard it.
The man trailed his fingers along your jaw, deliberately slow. “She’s even prettier in person than the files say.” He tilted the phone toward your face. “Say hello to Javier.”
You swallowed hard, fighting the tears burning at the corners of your eyes. “Javi…”
“What do you want?” His voice was cold.
The men laughed again, their shadows stretching long in the fading light.
“I think you’ll know exactly what we want. Maybe the name itself might help .” The man then narrowed his eyes on you.
“Are you familiar with Escobar..?” Your heart sunk. By the fear that grew in your eyes the man knew just how familiar you were with his name and smiled.
In that moment, you realized the promise Javier had made wasn’t just broken. It was shattered—and now, it wasn’t just his life on the line.
Javier’s grip on the phone was so tight the plastic creaked. His other hand was braced on the desk, knuckles white, his pulse hammering so hard it made his vision blur. He could hear you breathing, quick and uneven, the muffled sounds of movement on the other end.
And then the bastard spoke.
“She has such soft skin, Peña,” the man drawled, his voice lazy, taunting. There was a rustle, a shift, and Javier’s blood ran molten. “Especially here—” He chuckled darkly. “Her neck. So delicate. I can feel her pulse racing under my thumb.”
“Javi…” Your voice cracked as the man’s thumb dragged along your cheekbone, mocking Javier with every deliberate touch.
On the other end of the line, you heard the scrape of Javier’s chair, the sharp clatter of his phone being adjusted in his hand. His voice came through ragged, furious.
“If you do anything to her, Escobar is gonna be the least of your worries” Javier responded while motioning for Stephen to give him a pen. Quickly he wrote on a paper and handed it back to him. It read “they’re in my apartment”. Stephen immediately requested back up.
The man ignored him, clearly enjoying every second. “You know what’s interesting? She shivers when I run my hand down her arm. She’s trembling right now. She doesn’t like me touching her, but God, does she react.” His words dripped with venom, every syllable designed to cut.
Javier’s chest heaved. His vision tunneled, all he could picture was you, pressed back against the counter with some piece of shit’s hands on you. His gut twisted with fury and helplessness—he was miles away, chained to this fucking phone when he should have been there tearing them apart.
“Get your fucking hands off her!” Javier roared, the sound feral enough to turn heads in the office around him. He didn’t care. His jaw clenched so hard it ached, veins straining in his temple.
The man just laughed softly, smug. “You must love her, Peña. The way you’re losing your mind… makes me want to tell you more.”
Javi slammed his fist against the desk, the sharp crack echoing. Papers scattered, a pen rolled off the edge, but he didn’t even notice. His throat burned with the sheer force of the rage tearing out of him.
Javier’s pulse was a drum in his ears, drowning out everything except your shaky breaths and the bastard’s voice.
The man pressed the phone against his chest, muffling Javi’s words. His partner chuckled from the doorway, keeping watch like this was nothing more than a game.
“Do you feel that?” the man asked, leaning closer until his breath hit your ear. “That fear in your chest? That’s because of him. Because that man of yours doesn’t know when to quit.”
Your stomach twisted, panic threatening to take over. But even through your fear, you shot him a glare. “You think he won’t find you?”
That earned another laugh. “Oh, he’ll try. But by then…” He let the implication hang, fingers trailing down your arm, making your skin crawl when he suddenly grabbed a chunk of your hair and yanked it making you squeal.
And then Javier’s voice cut back through, sharp and unrelenting: “I’m coming. You hear me?” He spoke in between breaths, ignoring the request of the team to stay behind. Who the hell were they kidding?
“Don’t you let them break you. I’m on my way.” The sound of your scream making him blindly take off.
The men exchanged a look, smug and taunting, before one whispered something in Spanish you barely caught—about teaching Peña a lesson.
Minutes felt like hours, your heart thundering in your ears. The man with the phone kept circling you, every brush of his hand deliberate, meant to get under Javi’s skin as much as yours.
Then everything changed at once.
The door crashed open, wood splintering, Javier storming in with his gun drawn, he immediately spotted you before you ducked behind the counter. His jaw was tight, his eyes wild—raw fury and terror wrapped into one. Two shots cracked through the air, controlled but merciless, sending both men scrambling before one went down. The other barely made it out, disappearing into the night.
When silence finally fell, you were frozen on the ground covering your ears, your breath shuddering. Javier lowered the gun, rushing to you, hands grabbing at your arms, standing you up, touching your face, checking you like he didn’t believe you were really there.
“Baby, look at me. Are you hurt? Did they—”
You shoved him back. Hard.
His brows knitted in confusion, voice breaking. “Hey, it’s me. You’re safe now—”
“Safe?” The word came out sharp, bitter. “You promised me, Javi. You promised you wouldn’t do this anymore.”
He flinched, guilt written all over his face. “I had to take it, I didn’t have a choice—”
“Yes, you did!” Tears blurred your vision as you pulled away from him, heading for the bedroom. “And you dragged me into this. You made me a target!” Stephen and a few others walked in.
“Give us a damn minute” he snapped without looking their way.
He followed you, helpless, as you yanked open drawers, shoving clothes into a bag with trembling hands.
“Stop—what are you doing?”
“What does it look like?!” You snapped back without looking at him.
“You can’t leave, it isn’t safe-“
“I don’t care!” you screamed , panic flooding every word. “I can’t keep living like this, Javi. Waiting for the next time someone breaks through the door. Waiting to see your name in the paper because you couldn’t keep your promise.”
His voice cracked, raw. “Please—don’t do this. Don’t walk away, not like this. You’re all I’ve got.”
“No-“ your voice cracked rushing past him but he surged forward, catching your wrists mid-motion. “You can’t just take off on your own, it’s not safe!”
The contact made you flinch, your panic boiling over. You ripped your hands free with a sharp jerk, glaring at him through a blur of tears. “Don’t! Don’t touch me, Javi. Don’t tell me what’s safe—you don’t get to decide that for me anymore.”
The words landed like blows. He stood there, chest heaving, watching you cram another handful of clothes into the bag while your whole body shook. His throat worked, but no words came out—just the crushing weight of guilt settling deeper with every second.
Because this—your fear, your trembling hands, the anger in your eyes—this was all on him.
You tried to turn, to get away, but he stepped in front of you, desperate, crowding your space. His hands caught yours, not rough this time, but trembling, pleading.
“Javi…” Your voice cracked, equal parts anger and heartbreak. “They were here. They touched me. Because of you. I’ll never feel safe again.”
His face twisted, eyes shutting tight for a moment like the words gutted him. When they opened again, they burned with desperation. He pressed your knuckles to his lips, voice hoarse.
“Cariño. I’m so fucking sorry. I’ll spend the rest of my life making this right if you let me. Just—don’t leave me.”
You tried to pull back, but he held tighter, the words tumbling out now like he couldn’t stop them.
“…please.” His voice broke on that last word, raw and guttural. “Yell at me, hate me, whatever you need to do. But don’t walk out that door. You are everything to me. Todo.”
Your body shook, your breaths coming too fast, panic spilling out of you in harsh sobs. You shook your head in tears.
“This isn’t fair” you cried.
“I know-“
“No, you don’t get it-“ you panted.
“This isn’t what I wanted, this wasn’t how it was suppose to be, this wasn’t how I wanted to tell you-“ his expression changing curiously as you looked away, his eyes studying every detail.
“Tell me what” he spoke delicately.
“It’s not just about us anymore, Javi” you whispered looking down.
“What are you saying?”
“Javi, dammit….I’m pregnant” you blurt out. Had you been looking up at him, you would’ve seen the color drain from his face. He was silent, in shock, still trying to wrap his mind around what you just said.
“I was gonna tell you tonight but when you called and said you’d be late I just. I was very upset, you’ve been coming home late a lot lately with this stupid case I’m guessing”
Guilt flickered in his eyes, sharp and heavy, before his expression hardened.
“We’re leaving tomorrow.”
Your head snapped up, brows knitting in confusion.
“I can’t keep you here,” he muttered, almost tripping over the words. “You’re pregnant—” His breath hitched, and he repeated it softer, like he couldn’t quite believe it himself. “Jesús… you’re pregnant.”
He stepped back, hands braced on his hips as his gaze darted around the room, searching for a plan that wasn’t there. Panic edged his voice when he finally looked at you again.
“I have to get you out of here. That’s all that matters now.”
Escobar, the case, the endless chase—it all fell away. None of it mattered anymore.
“Perdóname,” Javier said again, voice low and rough with desperation. “Just… forgive me. I swear to you, nothing like this will ever happen again. Your safety—our safety—it’ll never be threatened, not while I’m breathing.”
He meant every word he said.
“Nunca más, you hear me? I’ll never let this happen again.”
You wanted to believe him, but hesitation sat heavy in your chest. You loved him—God, you loved him—but fear was there too, curling in the pit of your stomach. He saw it in your eyes, and the realization cut him deeper than anything ever could. The fact that he was the reason you knew this kind of fear—it was something he couldn’t forgive himself for.
Without warning, his hand moved, resting carefully, almost reverently, against your stomach. The touch made your heart stutter. His gaze locked onto yours, steady, unflinching now.
“Te lo juro,” he whispered. “From this moment on… everything changes.
Hi how is IMHDB coming along? I love that fic so much and can’t wait to read the final chapter!!
Hi anon! 😚
So, the good news is I am currently working on this chapter and I'm about a quarter (?) of the way through it being finished. Not so good news is that my recent life schedule has not allowed me a lot of time to work on this wip or any others as much as I would like to. I am chipping away at it though. I may be slower than molasses in winter time but it is going to happen one way or another.
Thank you for sticking with the story and for asking after it! It means a lot to me to know that people still want the conclusion to this fic. ❤️
Captain just so you know I'm not the anon asking for more biodad Joel fics. Of course I want more biodad Joel fic! I went OOHH when I read you're thinking about continuing. Anyway, yes to more biodad Joel fics!
🤣🤣🤣 Hi bestie!
So glad to hear you're on board too for more of bio dad Joel fic!!! It's you, me, and the anons baby 🙂↕️🙏🏼 We're gonna try and make this happen ok 😘
pixelskylines
prguitarman
2087
annaxmalina
areudirty
baratheonpilled
