Also, since I'm thinking about it, the AU where Mallory is a widow? Please and thank you!
firstly, GIANT shoutout to @yes-i-am-that-bb for being the original architect of this idea and for yapping about it with me!! this all started as a conversation about potential reasons for Mallory's last name not being McGarry, and then we went "well what if she had a husband" and "what if he was dead" in very quick succession. angst ahead! CW for loss of a spouse, grief, and some discussion of Leo's alcoholism
1. Mallory knows from the start that O'Brien (I don't have a first name for him yet, okay) will be in the military, will be a pilot. He's in the Air Force ROTC when they meet in college. Everyone makes the Top Gun jokes, he takes her flying for a date, it's all very romantic. But on another level, Mal likes that he knows what he wants, what he's going to do after this. She feels the same way about being a teacher, like she can see a clear path into the future. The more serious they get, the more comforting the idea is, like they can plan it all out together.
2. O'Brien asks Leo for Mallory's hand at her college graduation party, and Leo is drunk enough to ask him if he got his daughter pregnant. This poor kid turns bright red and quickly assures him that is Not the case but he's been in love with Mallory almost since he laid eyes on her and he wants to make her an honest woman. Leo and Jenny give their blessing, of course; Leo double checks with Jenny later in case Mal told her something and this kid is trying to pull the wool over his eyes. But there's none of that happening, they're just young and in love and SO confident in their futures together
3. Mallory loves married life because of the stability. Her parents' house is getting harder and harder to be in. But she loves teaching, loves getting to support and guide these kids, and she feels so lucky that her husband gets stationed in Norfolk, not too far outside her neck of the woods. Her dad is working too hard and drinking too much and her mom is so angry but pretending she isn't and Mallory feels so selfish but simultaneously relieved that she can turn a blind eye to all of that. She's building a life that's all hers, and she has someone who loves her without any complications. It's all she ever wanted
4. O'Brien flies in the Gulf War. When his plane goes down, there's enough intel around to confirm the crash, to confirm no chute deployment. He's confirmed dead, or as confirmed as it's ever going to get. Mallory gets the news on a Sunday, before she goes to church. She goes to her parents' house instead, and stays there for a while. The lease ends on the cozy apartment in Norfolk, and she sobs packing up his things. They had a plan, they had a life together, and now she doesn't have any idea what's next.
5. By the time we reach canon, Mallory has thrown herself into teaching, focusing on what she's good at and what she's always known she wants to do. She's done grief groups, both military-affiliated and otherwise. At first, she moved forward only because she knew he wouldn't want her to give up, but after enough years forcing herself to keep living, she's found other things, even other people, she enjoys again. She wears her rings on a chain around her neck. Sometimes she keeps them under her shirt, but sometimes she doesn't-- sometimes she wants people to ask.
it's tricky, really. both buck and eddie thought really, super hard about possible solutions, but it's clear they must share the bed — since eddie can't possibly sleep on the couch and buck is so woefully injured (sprained shoulder) he can't possibly stay at his apartment alone.
i've definitely posted snippets before, but here is my favorite line thus far:
He’s not...quite sure that Eddie feels the same way, but he’s got an inkling. Dr. Copeland tells him to distance himself from the proximity of it all — “What would you say if Athena made Bobby the legal guardian of her children before they even started dating?” To which Buck had answered, “I’d say: poor Michael.” — and it paints a picture of a story that Buck doesn’t remember reading but is undeniably theirs.
