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AUcember 2018 Masterpost
AUcember is an annual challenge that I do every year where I try to write a new AU every day in the month of December.
This year’s 31 fics included stories about: The Adventure Zone, ars Paradoxica, Campaign (Skyjacks), Campaign (Star Wars), Critical Role, Greater Boston, NeoScum, Sugar Pine 7, and Wolf 359. You can find individual links to each fic both on Tumblr on Ao3 below, sorted by fandom.
Read the collection on Ao3
Read the collection on Tumblr
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The Adventure Zone
dal capo, professor au, implied kravitz/taako, 1.9k [tumblr] [ao3]
ars Paradoxica
unless we lift it up together, mateo/nikhil as doctors, 2k [tumblr] [ao3]
Campaign (Skyjacks)
i’ve been stood up by my calling, good omens fusion, 2.1k [tumblr] [ao3]
you’ll always chase a pedigree, magical realism, 1.9k [tumblr] [ao3]
the end of all things, inception fusion, 2k [tumblr] [ao3]
Campaign (Star Wars)
versus the world, campaign/evil campaign roleswap, 2.4k [tumblr] [ao3]
sublime, aava/lyn modern magic, 1.8k [tumblr] [ao3]
too large for any moment, pacific rim fusion, 1.9k [tumblr] [ao3]
dream me, o dreamer, blue/zero as monsters, 1.4k [tumblr] [ao3]
window blues, tryst/aava heist, 2.1k [tumblr] [ao3]
chain reaction, aava/leenik trapped in an elevator, 1.8k [tumblr] [ao3]
in the middle, tryst/aava/leenik animal shelter, 1.7k [tumblr] [ao3]
a treatise on making things, blue/zero as artists, 1.8k [tumblr] [ao3]
eyes closed, eyes low, gen road trip au, 1.9k [tumblr] [ao3]
(write to me and) escape, blue/zero roommates/tinder, 1.9k [tumblr] [ao3]
i’m writing your name on every page, restaurant au, implied tryst/leenik, 1.1k [tumblr] [ao3]
some things you just can’t refuse, white collar fusion, 2k [tumblr] [ao3]
i’ll be there next time, leenik/tryst & blue/zero holiday party, 1.7k [tumblr] [ao3]
Critical Role
seeing blind, beau/yasha blind date, 1.4k [tumblr] [ao3]
Greater Boston
by the light of day, louisa/nica wedding planner, 1.9k [tumblr] [ao3]
NeoScum
longer nights (with lesser feelings), tech/lance as superheroes, 2.5k [tumblr] [ao3]
glued together moments, gen college au, 2.1k [tumblr] [ao3]
apple cider, i don’t mind, dak/tech parent/teacher au, 2.9k [tumblr] [ao3]
going going gone, gen stuck at an airport au, 1.8k [tumblr] [ao3]
fast talk, the strange case of starship iris fusion, 2.3k [tumblr] [ao3]
i want so bad to be steady, dak/tech alice isn’t dead fusion, 1.7k [tumblr] [ao3]
helpless, dak/tech as neighbors, 1.4k [tumblr] [ao3]
the neon limelight, gen band au, 3.5k [tumblr] [ao3]
put your colors on, xanadu as soulmates, 1.5k [tumblr] [ao3]
Sugar Pine 7
car wrecks & thunderstorms bright, parker/cib post-breakup, 2.6k [tumblr] [ao3]
Wolf 359
living on your own time, undercover as married, 3.1k [tumblr] [ao3]
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If you enjoyed these fics, make sure you send some good vibes and gratitude towards @travismcelrcy, who was my sounding board, my moral support, my cheerleader, my proofreader, and the greatest person in my life. They are a bright light and a brilliant writer, and I am lucky that I get to have that in my life. Thank you, darling. I could never ask for anything better than you.
If you enjoyed any of these fics, I have a ko-fi that you can use to tip me. This is completely optional, but deeply appreciated. If you are not both willing and able to tip me, the next best thing you can do is reblog this post or tell a friend about the fics. That’s deeply appreciated, too.
I’d like to thank everyone who read, reblogged, liked, quoted, commented, bookmarked, kudosed, told a friend, or generally enjoyed anything on this list. It was such a delight to work on this year, and the fact that other people enjoy these fics is icing on the cake. Happy new year, everyone. <3
hey! did you read my aucember fics? do you want any of them to be longer? do you want to tell me things but can’t figure out how?
TAKE THE AUCEMBER 2018 SURVEY HERE
it’s short it’s simple it’s anonymous it’s not required and it is very much appreciated!
FIC: i’ll be there next time
Leenik smiles. “You wanna do resolutions?” (A story about New Years, surprises, and the importance of being with the right people. Tryst/Leenik and Zero/Blue, 1.7k)
AUcember || read on ao3
#
“Nobody cleans up after their damn selves,” Aava mutters. She already has a towering stack of dishes in her hands, mostly paper plates and plastic cups.
“You could do this somewhere else,” Tryst says. Leenik’s not sure if he’s offering or just being a dick, but he seems pretty sincere as he looks at her. “My place is-”
“Your place is tiny, Trystan.”
“Hey,” Leenik says mildly, not because he cares but because he feels honor-bound to defend his apartment with Tryst. It’s a horrible place, sure, but it’s their horrible place.
“Your place is tiny, Tryst and Leenik,” Aava says, because she’s fair and magnanimous like that, and she wants to give Leenik credit, or something. She’s a real friend.
She’s not wrong, though. Their apartment barely fits the both of them, and that was even after they decided to bite the bullet and go for a one-bedroom. It’s a comfy arrangement, but it’s nothing compared to Aava’s penthouse. It’s huge, from some corporate job that she never shares the specifics of, and she always throws this New Year’s party, every year.
Tryst and Leenik are pretty much the only ones who stay to help her clean up, every year. It’s one of Leenik’s favorite things.
Leenik holds out the garbage bag in his hands for Aava to dump things into. “Are people still coming over for post-party wine?”
“They should be. I thought Zero and Blue were here, but I haven’t seen them in a while.”
“Maybe they left,” Tryst says, absurdly cheerful. Tryst doesn’t like Zero and Blue, because of that thing that happened that time that ended with Zero smashing Leenik’s prosthetic. Which, okay, Leenik had been upset at the time too, but he mostly just wants to get along with Aava’s friends, so he let it go. The past is the past, or whatever.
Aava frowns, the corners of her lipstick-red mouth cutting sharply downwards. “They’d better not have left.”
“Bacta texted me earlier that he and Lyn will be here soon,” Leenik offers, and Tryst brightens. Aava doesn’t, which, fair. Bacta and Lyn don’t get invited to the party itself, but Leenik always invites them for post-party wine and resolution talk. It’s one of the only times he can get Bacta and Aava in a room together, and maybe they don’t like it, but Leenik does and that counts for a lot.
“Synox left early,” Aava mutters. Tryst breathes an audible sigh of relief, and she rolls her eyes. “Just because Synox and Bacta-”
“Bacta has good reason-”
“I hope Synox has a good New Years very far away from us,” Leenik says. He thinks it’s very diplomatic, but judging by the way Aava’s eyes cut over to him, she doesn’t agree. “But what about Zero and Blue?”
She sighs. “They’ve been acting weird lately.”
“Weird how?”
“It’s getting harder to go out with both of them at once.”
Leenik blinks. “Aren’t they inseparable?”
“Not anymore!” Aava throws a fork into the trash bag as spitefully as possible. “Something happened, and now it’s possible to get them into a room together.”
“Maybe they hate each other now,” Tryst says, disturbingly cheerful about the idea. “That’d be fun.”
Leenik glares at him. “You don’t wish that on other people, it’s bad karma.”
“Bad karma for what?”
“For us!”
“Karma’s not real,” Tryst says, but he looks a little worried at the thought. “Nothing bad’s gonna happen to us, Nik.”
“You can’t wish ill on other people’s relationships,” Leenik insists. “You gotta wish for them to get hit by a bus or something, that’s totally acceptable.”
Aava kicks him, lightly, which doesn’t really matter because her boots have studs on the toes and it hurts either way. “It’s not acceptable.”
“It’s totally acceptable.” Leenik looks away. “What do you think happened?”
“What do I think?”
“Yeah, you know them, you have to have a theory or something. Why do you think they’re acting weird.”
Aava bites her lip, and then leans in closer to Leenik. “Can you keep a secret?”
“No,” Leenik says, because he has to be truthful.
“He can’t. Tryst Valentine, on the other hand-” Tryst steps in until he’s close behind Leenik, breath warm on Leenik’s face. “I mean, I also can’t, but I want to know.”
“Good,” Aava says. “I think they’re pining.”
Leenik makes a face. “Pining is a gross word, call it unrequited love.”
“Those two have been in love as long as I’ve known them,” Tryst says. Which is true, because Zero and Blue are disgusting and obvious and transparent, and Leenik hates them both. “Why does it matter now?”
Aava shrugs. “I think they finally figured it out.”
“Figured it out?” Tryst repeats. “You think they didn’t know before?”
“Have you met them?” She snorts. “They couldn’t figure out a damn thing if it didn’t hit them in the face. They definitely didn’t know, and I’m pretty sure they do now.”
“What do you think is going to happen?” Leenik asks, fascinated despite himself. He doesn’t care if Zero and Blue date, but he wants to know every part of this story. He’s lucky that Tryst was sort of romantic, and paid a little bit more attention than Leenik did, because he figured out not long after they moved in that they were in love and being a little stupid about it. But Zero and Blue don’t seem like either of them would ever notice without someone to rub their noses in it.
“I don’t know.” Aava steps back, looking distinctly unhappy. “But I think it’s going to be a problem.”
“Hey, look on the bright side,” Tryst says.
Leenik steps on his foot, because he loves Tryst, but Tryst’s bright side is definitely not going to be Aava’s bright side.
“Nik,” Tryst whines. “I was just going to-”
“No, I’m on Leenik’s side,” Aava says. “He’s trying to make sure your foot stays out of your mouth, Trystan.”
Tryst opens his mouth, but Leenik steps on his foot again and looks at Aava. “We can’t say that around him, remember? He makes bad jokes.”
“Right.”
“Good jokes,” Tryst says indignantly. He kisses Leenik’s temple before he moves away to help gather trash, and Leenik smiles to himself. “My jokes are great, you’re just the wrong audience.”
“The right audience doesn’t want you either,” Aava says flatly, and Tryst laughs, and they keep going.
#
Aava ends up pouring the wine when Bacta and Lyn get there, because there’s still no sign of Zero or Blue. She doesn’t look happy about it, so by collective silent agreement Leenik sits next to her where she’s curled up on the couch. She doesn’t say anything, but she adjusts herself so her feet are tucked in Leenik’s lap. Tryst settles on the couch next to him and puts an arm around his shoulders.
Leenik smiles. “You wanna do resolutions?”
“Sure,” Aava sighs. “I resolve to kick Zero and Blue’s ass next time I see them.”
“That’s fair,” Leenik says, and he means it. Aava throws the party, but he knows this is the part that matters to her. It sucks that they’re missing it because of their… whatever. “Anything long-term?”
“I’m going to learn to scrapbook.”
“Scrapbooks are nice.”
“The first thing in it can be you kicking their asses,” Tryst suggests. Bacta and Lyn mutter their agreement, because they’re also still not over the thing with the prosthetic.
“The perfect scrapbook entry,” Aava murmurs. She scans the group before her eyes settle on Lyn. “Luroon?”
“Read over a hundred books,” Lyn says promptly. “Not audiobooks, not graphic novels, but print-on-paper books. Tryst?”
“Mine’s a secret,” Tryst says.
Leenik turns to look at him. “Do I get to hear?”
“Nope.”
“I know it,” Lyn says, which makes Leenik frown. Lyn is the person Tryst tells when he has things he doesn’t want to tell Leenik. Like the fact that he’s in love with Leenik, or his anniversary present for Leenik. And judging by the way Lyn smiles at Leenik for a second, this one has to do with him too. “It’s good. Do you have a public one, Trystan?”
Tryst shrugs. “I’m going to try and enjoy the simple pleasures in life more often. Nik, what’s yours?”
“I want to learn to cook well enough that I don’t always need recipes.”
“Big goal,” Bacta mutters. But Bacta can’t cook, so he can shut up, as far as Leenik’s concerned.
Leenik just shrugs. “Bacta?”
Bacta opens his mouth to answer, but then he frowns. “Did you hear that?”
Everyone goes quiet. Lyn swirls the wine in her glass, narrowing her eyes. And after a few seconds, there’s a thumping sound, coming from further in the apartment.
“I thought you said everyone left,” Tryst says suspiciously.
“Everyone did.” Aava shifts her feet out of Leenik’s lap and stands up slowly. “Unless I didn’t-”
The door to the guest bedroom, the one that doesn’t have a bed but does have blankets and most of Aava’s shoes, bursts open. And Zero and Blue - there’s no other word for it, really - tumble out, looking disheveled.
Aava’s jaw drops. Tryst looks gleeful. Blue has three hickeys on his neck that Leenik can see, and he’s really trying not to look.
“Why,” Aava says, after a deafening silence.
Zero coughs. “We, uh- we were-”
“We’ve been dating for a month,” Blue says, voice higher than normal. “And we lost track of time.”
“In my guest room?” Aava’s jaw works for a second. “Without telling me?”
Zero winces. “We wanted to, but-”
“But what?”
“Looks like Aava gets her resolution early,” Tryst murmurs, underneath the rising voices behind them. Bacta snickers, and Lyn takes a long, smug drink of her wine.
Leenik smiles and moves his face so it’s closer to Tryst. “You’re keeping secrets?”
“Only good ones, I promise.” Tryst leans forward and presses his mouth to Leenik’s, a slow, chaste kiss. “Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year,” Leenik echoes. “What are you gonna do now?”
“I said I’m going to appreciate the simple pleasures.” Tryst turns around to watch Aava, who is now standing directly in front of Zero and Blue. “And this seems like a good place to start.”
Leenik turns around, letting Tryst put his other arm around his waist. “You know what?”
“What?”
“I think you’re right.”
“I always am,” Tryst says, and Leenik lets himself lean into Tryst’s arms.
FIC: versus the world
So the three of them are rebel agents, and not even important rebel agents. And they’re on a forest planet, where nobody will come looking for them. Blue’s not feeling great about their odds of getting help. (A Mynock/Bluebird roleswap, 2.4k)
AUcember || read on Ao3
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They don’t crash-land on Myrkr, per se. Zero doesn’t like it when they call it a crash-landing, especially because the ship can still fly afterwards. But It’s the kind of landing that includes words like “brace yourself” and “it’s gonna be bumpy” and all those other things that give Blue a headache to think about for too long.
“I thought we had fuel,” Synox snaps, once the ship isn’t smoking anymore and they’ve determined that all the pieces of fuselage are still attached. “Didn’t you say we had fuel?”
“I said we had some fuel,” Zero says coolly. His feet are kicked up on the kitchen table, and his mask is blank, but Blue can hear the irritation in his voice. “There’s a chance that there’s a mechanical issue we overlooked, or a nav-computer glitch-”
“There’s not a nav-computer glitch,” Blue says, before he can stop himself. Synox, predictably, rolls his eyes, and Blue would guess that Zero is doing the same. “There’s not. I wouldn’t let there be.”
“The point remains that we’re stranded.” Zero stretches his arms along the booth-style seat. “And we need to figure out what to do now.”
The kitchen is… well, kitschy. It’s set up like a vintage diner, with booths instead of chairs and actual tile floors. Blue got it secondhand, swindled some poor bastard into thinking it was outdated and traded his ship for it and some creds. He’d been off-planet by the time the guy had realized that Blue had sold him a hunk of junk. It’s what he does: charms people into giving him better equipment. Most of that equipment goes straight to the rebellion, because they need what they can get, but this one had been Blue’s. Getting paid commission, he’d called it. Zero had rolled his eyes until he flew it for the first time. He’d stopped complaining after that.
“There are probably other ships on-planet,” Blue suggests. “We could try and find old ones and drain their fuel cells.”
Synox sighs and leans over, burying his head in his arms on the kitchen table. One of Zero’s feet swipes towards Synox’s head, but he doesn’t react at all. “This cannot be happening.”
“Okay, so Sy still can’t cope with things not going to plan,” Blue says. He means it as a thinking-out-loud thing, but Synox kicks his shin without looking. Hard. Blue has to bite his lip so he doesn’t yelp in pain. Synox doesn’t see it, but Zero definitely does, and Blue… is going to have to live with that. “Zero, what are our options?”
“Option one.” A number one pops up on Zero’s visor. “We call the rebellion, send out an SOS, see what they advise. Wait for orders.”
“I like option one,” Synox says, muffled by his arms.
Blue grimaces. “Option two?”
The one on Zero’s visor scrolls up, replaced by a two. “We try to find ships and drain their fuel cells. Dangerous, because we don’t know what’s on the planet. There could be an Imperial presence.”
Synox slides into the booth opposite Zero and props his chin up on the table. “You think we could beat Imperials in a fight?”
“On a good day, yes.”
“Is today a good day?”
“I don’t know, Sy, are you having a good day?”
Synox looks thunderous for a second, so Blue clears his throat. “I think we should look for fuel cells.”
“And we have to listen to you?” Synox snaps.
“My ship,” Blue says, which is kind of the ultimate trump card here, and they all know it. Blue wouldn’t call himself the captain or anything - he can’t even fly the ship, not manually - but he owns it, he keeps the navigational systems in pristine shape, and he’s the one who hired Zero to fly it. The Mynock, which he really needs to find a better name for, is all his, and that means this is his decision to make. “The rebellion is stretched thin as is. If we have the resources to solve this problem on our own, we’re going to solve it on our own.”
The rest goes unspoken: as competent as all of them are, they’re not a top priority. Blue is a conman, and he’s a damn good one, but he’s… unreliable, is the official term. The one they use in meetings to mean that he looks out for himself too much to be in any key role. And Synox is a trained Imperial strategist, but he refuses to do anything more than grunt work for the rebellion. Blue has his theories about why, but he mostly thinks that Synox just doesn’t want to fight any more wars. And who can blame the guy for that?
Zero, though, that’s a mystery. He’s a pilot, one of the best in the galaxy, and he’s a kriffing good bounty hunter, too. He could be in the center of the rebellion if he wanted to, but he’s always declined to move further up in the ladder. On his more sentimental days, Blue likes to think that’s because Zero doesn’t want to leave him. He’s never asked, though. He’s not sure he wants the answer.
So the three of them are rebel agents, and not even important rebel agents. And they’re on a forest planet, where nobody will come looking for them. Blue’s not feeling great about their odds of getting help. It’s easier to take matters into their own hands.
Synox and Zero exchange a long look before they turn to Blue. Zero projects a raised eyebrow. “Alright, boss,” he says, “what’s the plan?”
#
There is one other ship that is definitely not Imperial and is definitely still functional. It’s hidden, and it’s hidden well at that, with all sorts of cloaking and signal masking and slicing. Whoever hid the ship is good. Blue is better.
It’s about two klicks away, close enough that they can walk without having to strain the Mynock’s fuel cells any further. Synox stays behind to guard the ship, leaving Zero and Blue to make their way through the forests of Myrkr. Zero insists on walking in front of Blue the whole time, which would be a nice gesture if he didn’t include the words “so you don’t get lost.”
“I don’t get lost,” Blue- listen, he’s not going to say he’s whining, but he’s definitely closer to whining than he gets most days. “I know where we’re going.”
“Me too,” Zero says, and waves a hand in front of his helmet. Which is a valid point. Blue has done a lot of the programming on Zero’s helmet. The navigations, the communications, the data interface, they’re all top notch. Zero can get them where they’re going. That’s why Blue hired him to begin with.
The walk is mostly silent, which means that Blue spends it cataloguing details about the planet around them. When they get to the coordinates that Blue had narrowed down, it’s an empty clearing, but it takes Blue thirty seconds to slice into the ship and disable its cloaking. It’s a small cruiser, not the kind of thing that you’d want to live on forever, but it looks like it’s been there for some time.
Zero puts a hand on the hilt of his vibrosword. “How long is this going to take?”
“Depends if there’s anyone on the ship.” Blue adjusts the mini-datapad on his wrist. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Blue opens the ship’s hatch. It’s barely halfway open when he hears a sound that he can’t quite place, a pseudo-electronic whoosh. He’s barely registered the noise and the glow of something red before Zero grabs his shoulder and wrenches back, hard. Blue stumbles back, and looks up.
There’s a woman, standing in the open hatch of the ship. She’s short and pale - Dathomirian, he thinks, although he can’t be sure - and she has a lightsaber pointed at Zero. Zero, who is standing in front of Blue, vibrosword at the ready.
“So here’s how this is going to work,” the woman says, casual as can be. “You’re going to leave me on my ship and go on your merry way, and I’m not going to skewer you.” She tilts her head to meet Blue’s eyes, and Zero shifts uneasily. “Either of you. Does that sound fair?”
“Hey now,” Blue says, even over his heart pounding in his ears, because there is a lightsaber involved and he’s never even seen one of those in person. “We’re not looking for trouble-”
“Blue,” Zero growls, “not the time.”
“You should listen to your friend,” the woman says. “I’m not feeling particularly patient today, not that I’m ever patient with people who try to invade my home.”
Blue lifts his hands slowly. “No home invasion, ma’am, we’re just a couple of lost guys looking for fuel.”
“On Myrkr?”
He flashes the sharpest smile he can. “We’re very lost.”
“I’m getting that impression.”
“So if you could direct us to a refuel station, or someone else we can steal fuel from-”
“You were planning on stealing from us?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say this went as planned.”
“Adnau,” Zero says, sounding pained, and that’s enough to give Blue legitimate pause. True first names are a codeword between them, a sign that something is really, truly wrong. Zero must think that this is serious danger, if he’s pulling that out of his arsenal.
The woman opens her mouth, but before she can say anything, a new voice from inside the ship says, “Aunt Aava?”
Blue frowns. That sounds like a kid.
The woman’s face contorts into something between frustration and fear. “Not now, Tamlin.”
“What’s happening?”
“Go to your room, Tama,” Aava says through gritted teeth. “It’s not-”
“Are they looking for us?”
“Should we be looking for you?” Blue asks without thinking. It’s a stupid question, he knows it as soon as he’s out of his mouth, and the woman’s eyes drift towards him. Along with the blade of her lightsaber. “I mean that in the least malevolent way possible. We’re not with the Empire or anything.”
From the edge of the hatch, a tiny head peeks out. It is a kid, and a pretty young one at that. His skin is blanched white, except for black tattoos covering half his face, and he has little nubby horns. Aava makes a pained face, but the kid ignores it, searching around until his eyes land on Blue. “Do you think the Empire’s bad?”
“I’m not their biggest fan,” Blue answers cautiously. “In fact, you could say I’m going up against them.” Zero coughs, and Blue rolls his eyes. “I mean, we are.”
“We don’t like the Empire either.” Tamlin looks up at Aava. “Right?”
Aava sighs. “No, Tama, we don’t like the Empire. We also don’t like people who come knocking on our door to steal fuel.”
“We’re not going to steal it now that we know you’re here,” Blue points out. “Right, Zero?”
“I hate you,” Zero says with feeling. “I hate everything about this situation, and I just want you to know that.”
Aava’s eyes flick to Zero. “You’re his babysitter?”
“Yes,” Zero says, like Blue knew he would, even though he’s not. “And you have a nephew?”
“Who I’m trying to keep safe from the Empire.”
“What a coincidence.” Zero sounds like he’s smiling. Maybe he’s even projecting it on his helmet, judging by the way Tamlin’s eyes widen. “I’m trying to keep mine safe too.”
“I’m doing alright,” Blue protests. “Besides, we all have common ground here, we’re trying to stay away from the Empire! If anything we should team up.”
“Team up?” Zero repeats incredulously. “What, we should just take them on our ship, right back to the rebellion?”
“The rebellion?” Aava repeats sharply. Zero winces. “You two are with the rebellion?”
Zero doesn’t say anything. Tamlin is staring at them wide-eyed, and Aava is looking at them like she can’t believe what she’s hearing. Blue glances between them all, furiously running the calculations. She must either love the rebellion or hate them, for a reaction that strong. And judging by the desperate edge to her voice, the way she’s blocking off most of the hatch so that Tamlin stays mostly hidden, she needs help. The rebellion helps people.
Blue makes a snap call and steps forward. Zero throws out an arm to keep him back, and Blue lets him, but he still stands by Zero’s side, looking up at Aava. “We can give you safe passage on our ship. We just need your fuel so that we can get off planet, and we can take you anywhere you want to go.”
Aava narrows her eyes, looking between the two of them. And then she looks at Tamlin, and all of the tension radiating off of her melts away as she meets his eyes. “What do you say, buddy?”
Tamlin chews on his lip for a second. “Will I have time to pack?”
“Yes, you will.”
“And you’re gonna be with me?”
“Every step of the way.”
He nods. “Then I wanna be a rebel!”
Aava deactivates her lightsaber, and Zero lets out a breath. She looks amused. “You wait out here for fifteen minutes. If we get out here and you’re gone, we can find you, and we can make you regret leaving.”
“No leaving,” Zero says. “Fifteen minutes.”
Aava nods and disappears into the ship, and Zero finally drops his vibrosword and turns to Blue. He’s not projecting anything on his visor, which is somehow even scarier than any anger he could be projecting. “What were you thinking? She could’ve killed us in a heartbeat, they don’t give lightsabers to just anyone!”
“I was thinking that these people needed help,” Blue says, surprising even himself. And he was thinking about children, trying to get away from the Empire. About the way Aava looked at Tamlin. “And besides, you don’t think it would be cool to have a Force user on our ship? That’s a good thing to have on our side.”
Zero’s shoulders slump, but Blue can’t tell whether it’s in disappointment or in relief. “You’re unbelievable,” he mutters, and Blue… doesn’t know what to make of that, either. “And you have to be the one to tell Sy we adopted a kid.”
“That’s fair,” Blue mutters, and Zero flashes a smirk up on his helmet. “But we’re the rebellion. We help people.”
Zero looks at Blue for a long moment before shaking his head, slowly. “I guess we do,” he says softly. “And we’re going to help them.”
FIC: chain reaction
“Mhm,” Aava says. “And I’m in here with you. And I don’t know you that well, but you did just insinuate that the worst part of being trapped in an elevator with no food or water is the fact that I’m in here with you, so that’s pretty hurtful.” (Campaign modern AU, 1.8k)
AUcember || read on ao3
#
“Well,” Aava says. “This isn’t ideal.”
“Not Ideal?” Leenik repeats, and, okay, it’s a little shrill. He can admit to himself that it’s a little shrill. “We’re going to be trapped in here for the rest of our lives-”
“They said two hours, tops.”
“With no food, no water-”
Aava pulls a water bottle out of her terrifyingly large purse. “Do you want to keep going?”
“And I’m in here with you, ” Leenik says, which isn’t a very nice trump card, but he’s pretty sure it is a trump card.
“Mhm,” Aava says. “And I’m in here with you. And I don’t know you that well, but you did just insinuate that the worst part of being trapped in an elevator with no food or water is the fact that I’m in here with you, so that’s pretty hurtful.”
Leenik deflates a little with that. It’s not like he knows Aava especially well, so maybe that was unwarranted on his end. A lot of what he knows about her is limited to what Tryst sort-of-sarcastically calls The Bad Month. Grizelle had died, Aava had nearly gotten custody of Tamlin because she’s the most terrifyingly competent lawyer in the world, Tryst’s dad had died, Leenik lost his hand, and Bacta’s whole thing with Sian and the private detectives and all that had started up. It’s been a while since The Bad Month, but every time Leenik looks at Aava he feels a little nauseous anyways. Negative associations, or something.
Aava must know that he doesn’t have a great answer for that - at least, one that isn’t an apology, which he’s not willing to do just yet - because she sighs and takes out her phone. “This is going to ruin my whole fucking day,” she mutters. “Court cases don’t wait for broken elevators.”
“We could climb out,” Leenik offers. “I could give you a boost.”
She snorts. “That sounds almost stupider than the fact that we’re trapped in a courthouse elevator. What are you doing here anyways?”
Leenik has a really great answer for that. His really great answer, which he told Tryst and Bacta and Lyn, is that he’s here to contest a parking ticket. None of them had even questioned it, which is especially great, because Leenik doesn’t own a car. He kind of wonders if that means they weren’t paying attention, but he guesses he should be grateful to get away with it this time.
So Leenik says “I’m here to,” and then stops. Because the words are stuck in his throat, wedged sideways.
Aava’s eyes flick up to him from her phone, looking irritated. “You’re here to-”
“Because the guy who got my brother killed has a parole hearing and I’m maybe going to go testify against a mob boss,” Leenik says, all in a rush, before clapping his hand over his mouth. “Oh my god. Oh my god, why did I tell you that? Please tell me you’re not here to defend him or-”
“I’m a corporate attorney,” Aava says patiently. Leenik probably knew that at some point. The Bad Month involved a lot of intense opposition research, which was how Tryst met Lyn, or something. That whole bit is still fuzzy to Leenik. The Bad Month was bad for everyone. Including Aava. Aava, the corporate lawyer, who is impeccably dressed and looking very patiently at Leenik. “So you’re here for the hearing?”
“I don’t know.” Leenik grabs the handrail, suddenly feeling a little lightheaded. He goes to brace it with his other hand, except it turns out, what do you know, he’s still missing a hand, and his prosthetic is broken. He feels off balance, in more ways than one. “It- I’m going to miss it, aren’t I? If I’m in here?”
“Hey,” Aava says. She’s a lot closer than she was a second ago, hands hovering just by Leenik’s shoulders. “Do you need to sit down?”
Leenik gulps in a breath of air and nods. Sitting sounds good. Or, well, fainting while sitting sounds better than fainting while standing.
“Okay. I’m going to touch you now.” Aava’s hands lands on Leenik’s shoulders, feather light. “C’mon, buddy, let’s get you on the floor.”
He lets her maneuver them until they’re sitting, with Leenik’s head buried between his knees. He lets out a slow, deep breath. “I hate today,” he says, and it bounces around the elevator, which kind of sucks. It’s like being surrounded by himself, which is bad enough, but it’s him and Aava and his bad mood, and that’s kind of worse, actually.
“I’m also not a fan,” Aava says, with a little sardonic lilt to her voice. Leenik snorts out a laugh. He always kind of thought Aava was funny, which is the kind of thing you’re not supposed to think about the woman who’s trying to take your nephew away. He’s pretty sure he’s supposed to hate her, but she is making it really, really hard. “Breathe, Leenik.”
“Okay,” Leenik says, and then waits for his body to breathe. It’s not doing it that great.
Aava sighs. “With me,” she says, and takes a deep, dramatic breath. Leenik instinctively takes a deep breath, and then lets it out as Aava does. “Again,” she says, and he follows her for a few more breaths.
His phone buzzes, and he glances at it and groans. “I think my cover story is blown.”
“Cover story?” Aava repeats. “You mean the thing about your brother wasn’t real?”
“No, that’s the real story. But I told Bacta I was here to contest a parking ticket.”
“I didn’t know you have a car.” She frowns. “Why did I figure that out before he did?”
“Because he’s taking care of Tamlin and his own stuff,” Leenik mutters. He’s not about to tell Aava that it turns out that the love of Bacta’s life might not be dead, or that Bacta is going out of his mind trying to track her down. “Is it weird if I talk about Tamlin?”
“It’s only weird if you don’t take care of him. Or if you’re a dick about it.” She arches an eyebrow at him. “You planning on being a dick about it?”
“Not really.” He sighs. “I’m sorry I said that thing about it being bad I’m stuck in an elevator with you. It’s probably better having you here than being alone.”
“I’m glad I’m probably better than nothing,” Aava says lightly. Leenik laughs, and one of her hands makes its way to his knee. “You doing okay, bright eyes?”
It’s so… un-Aava, so strange and genuine, that Leenik finds himself saying, “I mean, my brother’s dead.”
“You mentioned.” She leans her head against the elevator wall. “My half-sister’s dead. You knew that part, though.”
“Yeah, I did.” He frowns. “I mean, I guess. I think I forgot to think of you as a person.”
Aava makes a strange noise. “Excuse me?”
“Not in a bad way.” Leenik pauses and replays what he just said. “I mean, okay, maybe a little bit in a bad way. All we knew was you were challenging us for custody of a kid you hadn’t seen in years, so it was really easy to think of you as some wicked witch or something. Tryst had to keep reminding me and Bacta that you and Grizelle were sisters.”
“Tryst and I are still in touch,” Aava says. She’s watching him. “We hook up sometimes.”
“I know about a lot of the people Tryst hooks up with,” Leenik admits. “He’s not great at… not sharing that.”
“That’s not surprising.”
“No, not at all. But I knew you guys are friends or whatever.”
“Friends or whatever,” Aava repeats softly. “Well, I’m glad that he… you know.”
“Thinks of you as a person?” Leenik doesn’t smile, he doesn’t think he could, but he kind of wants to. That’s the Tryst Valentine effect. “Yeah, he’s good at that.”
“How did your brother die?”
“It’s a long story.”
“We have a couple hours.”
“I don’t know you that well,” Leenik says, because he might as well make sure all of his cards are on the table before he launches into the story the way he wants to. “And I feel a little weird about doing this a few months after everything went down, and you can’t tell Bacta or Tryst because they don’t know.”
“They don’t know your brother died?”
“They don’t know I had a brother.”
Aava makes a soft noise, which Leenik can’t identify as sympathy or surprise or anything, really, because his heart is racing again and that’s just about all he can focus on. “But you need to talk about it.”
“I kind of think I do.” Leenik fumbles with his phone in one hand. Bacta’s text is still there, and he’s going to have to deal with that. And he’s definitely going to miss the hearing, and Aava’s going to miss- what’s Aava going to miss? “You’re late for work, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am.”
“That sucks.”
“It does. Are you deflecting?”
“No,” Leenik says, and turns to study her face. Her eyes are closed, but she cracks one open to look at him. She looks peaceful, with her knees tucked up to her chest and elbows resting on top of them. She’s wearing a suit, and a nice one at that, but she looks totally unbothered about sitting on the floor of an elevator. And she looks like she’s listening to Leenik. It’s kind of nice, actually. “I’m just trying to make sure I’m thinking of you as a person this time.”
Aava lets out a little hmph of laughter and closes her open eye. “I appreciate that,” she says, and it’s all sardonic and cool, but he can hear something real underneath it. Like she actually appreciates it.
“Are you sure you want to hear this?” Leenik asks, just to be sure.
“What else am I supposed to listen to?”
“We could play music or something.”
“I need my phone to be ready for incoming calls or anything.”
“Because of lawyer emergencies?”
“Because it makes me anxious to be caught off guard in a situation like this. I’d prefer to talk.”
Leenik drums his fingers on the floor beside him. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” Aava says, like it’s nothing. And Leenik loves Tryst and Bacta, he really does, but they’re not… listeners. Not the way that Aava is listening to him right now. It feels kind of nice. He’s going to have to keep this in mind.
Leenik takes a deep breath and nods to himself. They’re going to be in this elevator for a while, but it’s a long story. He needs to get started. “Let me tell you about Venton,” he says, and for the first time in years, it feels a little less like something is squeezing his chest. It feels like he can breathe a little easier.
FIC: dream me, o dreamer
The werewolf transformations… are not easy. This is the kind of thing that goes without saying. (An Evil Campaign monster AU, implied Blue/Zero, 1.4k)
AUcember || title lyric || read on ao3
#
Aava stops by the morning of the full moon with a black lace parasol, which is the most laughably ineffective sunshade that Zero has ever seen in his life. The shadows on the front step are weird, lacy shapes. If he looks close enough it looks like they’re moving, which might be a trick of the mind. It also might be Aava’s magic.
“This should be enough to get you through tonight.” She holds out a thermos. “And I left out the garlic this time.”
“Blue will appreciate that,” Zero mutters. The last time Aava put garlic in his full moon draught, Blue hadn’t been in a room with him for about three days, and he’d been pissed for a week afterwards. He takes the thermos - the glittery neon pink thermos. “Branching out in home decor?”
“It’s a long story,” Aava says. This could mean about half a dozen things, but Zero is distracted from all of them by the fact that the lace shadows on her face are definitely changing. It’s like the lace is… writhing. It’s very unsettling. “Let me know how this batch works, I tried something different.”
Zero pops the lid of the thermos open and sniffs it. It doesn’t smell like garlic, which is promising, but the garlic batch hadn’t smelled like garlic either. “Different how?”
“There are a couple ingredients that are supposed to heighten mental abilities.”
“So I might not just be a wolf?” He tilts the thermos from side to side, watching the sludge roll around inside of it. It’s fucking gross to look at, but he’s going to drink it. He always does. “You’d better not be messing with me.”
“It might not work.” Aava looks uncharacteristically serious. “I need you to understand, this is something new. If there are side effects, I need you to tell me right away.”
“How soon is right away?”
“Depends on how bad the side effects are.”
Zero looks back into the thermos. The sludge is definitely a little browner than normal. “Should I warn Blue?”
“I already did,” Aava says, which is surprising. Even without the garlic incident, Aava and Blue have never got along. Zero didn’t realize they had each other’s phone numbers. Or were capable of talking to each other without him there to intervene.
He sniffs the sludge again. “Is it going to be that bad?”
“Hopefully not.” Aava offers him the sliver of a smile, but he can see something grim in her eyes. “And it’s not too late to get a normal batch, if you’d rather not risk it.”
“Nah, what’s life without a little bit of experimentation?” Zero takes a tentative sip, ignoring the noise of protest Aava makes. The sludge is still earthy, but this time it’s also a little… perfumey. “Are there flowers in this?”
“There are flowers in all of them.”
“It tastes like flowers.”
“All of them taste like flowers,” Aava sighs. The lace has shifted so that the top half of her face is almost completely in shadow, with only the thinnest lines spider-webbing down her cheeks. “I have to go, I have other errands to run. Give Blue my worst.”
“I will when he wakes up.”
Aava grins slyly. “Late night?”
“I took away his caffeine and made him sleep, because full moons are worse when I have to deal with that.”
She laughs out loud. “Can you tell the difference?”
“I can when I’m cognizant.” And it’s true: when he’s not in full-on animal mode, Blue tends to be twitchier when he’s fully caffeinated. Zero can’t detox him, obviously - the only thing other than blood that Blue drinks these days tends to be espresso - but he can at least delay the inevitable caffeine high. It makes a difference, maybe not in Blue’s actual behavior but in how willing Zero is to deal with him.
“Good luck,” Aava says sincerely. And he knows she means it. That’s why she makes him the draught so the transformations don’t hurt so much, so he’s a little less wild, so he feels like he has some control over the whole thing.
“Thank you,” Zero says quietly. It’s not something he says enough, but Aava smiles at him like she understands everything he has to thank her for. She probably does. “Hopefully I won’t see you tonight.”
“Hopefully not,” she agrees, and leaves. The shadows from the parasol remain on the doorstep, wriggling indeterminately before fading away. Zero closes the door. He doesn’t know what the lace thing is all about, but he doesn’t want anything Aava left behind to wriggle into his home.
#
The werewolf transformations… are not easy.
This is the kind of thing that goes without saying. There is a certain type of monsterhood that is inherently difficult. Zero has to keep careful track of the moon, and what that does to him. Blue can’t go outside most hours of the day, and he has all but banned garlic from the house. Aava has all sorts of blood pacts and secret commitments that Zero is, frankly, afraid to ask about in detail. With great power comes great responsibility, sure, and that responsibility comes at the price of power.
And Zero is powerful. Oh, is he ever powerful.
The transformations, though, those have always been hard. They hurt. They hurt more before Aava, who has ways of making them easier. They hurt more before Blue, who waited months and years until Zero’s wolf form recognized him and trusted him. Zero’s pretty sure that he tried to maul Blue more than once, but just because the guy is skinny doesn’t mean he’s not tough. The wolf fought Blue, Blue fought right back, and now Blue and the wolf have an understanding.
Zero doesn’t remember what the wolf does, not really. He knows the wolf remembers things and recognizes people - recognizes Blue, mostly - but he only remembers things in flashes. Images, not thoughts. And the wolf doesn’t know what Zero knows. He has learned this the hard way, not just through mauling Blue but through things like knocking furniture over and chewing up shoes. And killing people, which might or might not be the wolf’s idea of giving Blue a gift. He’s not sure on that.
So he’s not sure what to expect when the transformation starts tonight. The sun is already down when the moon starts coming up, so Blue is outside with him in the forest. He brought a book, because of course he did. Fucking typical, Zero thinks as the hair starts growing. He’ll be there for Zero, sure, but he’ll have something to keep him busy while he does it.
But Blue stops reading as soon as the bones start cracking. He’s watching Zero. He always watches. He’s always there. It’s all Zero can think about, as the strange non-scent of vampire floods his senses. It takes a minute to realize when he has transformed fully, because he’s so busy breathing in the scent of… of Blue.
Holy shit. He can still sort of think clearly.
Zero barks. Blue sighs and snaps his book shut. “What is it, boy? Is Timmy stuck in a well?”
Fuck you, Zero would really like to say. He’s stuck growling at Blue, who seems completely unfazed by it. He drops his book into a coat pocket and wanders over to Zero, looking completely unconcerned about the fact that Zero is a giant wolf. Instead, Zero is stuck standing as Blue gets closer, and his whole world becomes his scent and his presence and his footsteps and-
Jesus. Is this what it’s like having a dog brain?
“Bark once if you understand me,” Blue says, and Zero means to bark. He really does. But something stops him. This is maybe going to be his only chance to know what it’s like being a wolf around Blue, how Blue interacts with this other part of him. He can tell Aava that the draught worked without telling Blue that it did.
Blue sighs, not looking particularly disappointed. “Oh well,” he says, and- and raises a hand to scratch Zero’s ear. Zero would protest, but he kind of ends up whining anyways, because what the fuck, it turns out that actually feels really, really good. “Maybe next time. Well, let’s go kill a guy, I’m starving.”
Zero howls, just for the fuck of it. Blue gives him a fanged smile, and not a particularly kind one. “That’s the spirit.”
FIC: some things you just can’t refuse
“No, no, Sy, hear me out.” Aava leans in. “Hypothetically, where do I get a copy of the paperwork I would need to take on a CI?” (Campaign White Collar AU, 2k, undertones of Tryst/Aava/Leenik)
AUcember || read on ao3
#
Aava has her gun up as she steps into the warehouse. She knows she doesn’t need to, knows this place like the back of her hand and exactly where she should go, but it’s good to be prepared anything.
“FBI,” she calls, not really trying to project her voice. The echo bounces around the warehouse. “Come out where I can see you. Hands up.”
“I’ll put my hands wherever you want them,” a voice calls back. It’s weak, like he’s making the joke because he thinks she’s expecting it.
Aava holsters her gun. “And if I want them in the air?”
Tryst Valentine, escaped fucking convict, leans out from behind a pillar. “You gonna shoot me, Agent Arek?”
“You gonna give me a reason to?”
“I hope not. C’mere.”
Aava sighs, but she goes over to where he’s sitting against the pillar and sinks down next to him, sitting on her hands. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Tryst gives her a wan smile. “How’ve you been?”
“Oh, you know. Solving crimes, chasing down escaped cons. The usual.” She cuts her eyes over to him, assessing. “How about you?”
“You heard from Leenik lately?”
She frowns. She has never visited Tryst during his sentence - it’s inappropriate for agents to fraternize with the criminals they catch - but she and Leenik get coffee once a week. Except. “Not in a couple weeks.”
Tryst thumps his head against the pillar behind him. “That’s what I thought.”
“Hasn’t he been visiting you?”
“Not in a couple weeks.”
“So you broke out of state prison to try and find him?”
“It’s Leenik,” Tryst says, like that makes absolute sense.
The problem is, it does make absolute sense. Leenik is an art forger, just like Tryst is, but he didn’t get caught in their job that went south. And afterwards, he and Aava had become friends, and Aava was… well, she was sort of taken with him. He’s sweet, and he’s smart, and he’s excitable. Aava understands why Tryst refused to give him up for a shorter sentence. Aava understands a lot about Tryst, because of Leenik.
“They’re going to put you away for a long time for this,” Aava says, as gently as she can. “This isn’t the kind of thing that you come back from. Forgery is a lot less of a problem than a prison break.”
“I couldn’t find him.” Tryst’s head lolls from side to side, and Aava sighs and lowers her shoulder. His head plops onto it. They haven’t had a lot of in person interaction, not outside of the investigation and hearings and the like, but she knows Leenik loves him. That counts for a lot. “I looked everywhere.”
“I’m looking too.”
“You don’t know all the everywheres that I do.”
“And you didn’t have a lot of time to look everywhere.”
“I don’t want to go back,” Tryst says, barely above a whisper. Aava’s heart clenches. “I don’t- Aava, I can’t go back to prison not knowing what happened to him. He’s not going to be able to visit me when I go back, I know the kind of sentence I’m going to get.”
Aava lifts a hand to stroke through his hair. “I can’t help you.”
“Can you find some way-”
“You can’t ask me to let you go.”
“Never,” Tryst says quickly. “I would rather have you in the FBI, because that means one of us can keep looking for him.”
Aava thinks about it, carefully. It’s true that she can’t do much - definitely can’t let Tryst go, definitely can’t keep him a secret. That’ll end badly for the both of them. But there are other things she can do, visitations and work releases and - hm.
“I’ll figure something out,” Aava says, slowly. “But I need to arrest you again.”
“Looking for a reason to hold my hand?”
“Looking for a reason to tie you up,” Aava answers tartly.
Tryst laughs, sounding a little more like himself. “Well, if the lady insists…”
“The law insists.”
“What you say matters more to me than the law,” Tryst says, with finality. The scary thing is, Aava’s pretty sure that he means it.
#
“Hypothetically,” Aava says.
Synox groans. “No, no, wherever this is going-”
“No, no, Sy, hear me out.” Aava leans in. “Hypothetically, where do I get a copy of the paperwork I would need to take on a CI?”
Synox narrows his eyes at her. Aava only gives him the most blank, professional look she can manage, like that’s going to prevent him from realizing that she has a plan of some kind.
“Who,” he says at last, which is promising, if she plays her cards right.
“Professional forger. Served most of his sentence.”
“You trust this forger?”
“I think he’s competent, and I think he’s going to be able to do his job.”
“That wasn’t a yes.”
“You don’t want me to say yes,” Aava says, which is true. It also masks the fact that her answer is a resounding, bone-deep yes.
“Agent Arek, you’re one of the best agents we have.”
She keeps her face impassive. “I’m aware, sir.”
Synox snorts. “No, Aava, I don’t think you are. You’re one of the only people where I don’t care if you say you trust this CI with your bleeding heart. If you say that, I will assume that the guy deserves it and give you the paperwork anyways. You’re asking because it’ll make you better at this job.”
“I’m asking because I want this CI to work with me.”
“Reason enough for me,” Synox says. “Paperwork will be on your desk tomorrow morning, and it’ll be back on mine by the time you leave for the day.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You and Mister Valentine had better solve a lot of cases for me.”
Aava finally lets herself smile. Of course Synox would know that it’s Tryst. The fact that he trusts her means a lot more when she knows the depth of that trust. “We wouldn’t do anything less, Sy.”
“Good,” Synox says. “Because I’m expecting a lot from you.”
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Aava says mildly, and Synox grins at her.
#
Tryst walks out of the prison gates and directly into Aava’s arm, burying his nose in her hair as he does. “Thank you,” he says, quiet against her ear. “Thank you, thank-”
“Uh,” Fentara says, with all of the grace of a highly trained new agent. “Should I do something about this?”
Aava waves her off, with the hand that isn’t currently rubbing between Tryst’s shoulder blades. “We’ll give him a minute.”
“Are you sure?”
“If it were anyone other than him, I’d let you tase him.”
Fentara’s eyes flick up and down Tryst as he steps back. She doesn’t look impressed, which is one of Aava’s favorite things about Fentara. “Whatever you say, boss.”
“Boss?” Tryst repeats. “Agent Arek, you mean to tell me you’re supervising this young lady?”
“Don’t get me wrong, she could knock you on your ass in a heartbeat,” Aava says. This is the wrong thing to say, judging by the weird look on Tryst’s face. “And you are barking up the wrong tree by even looking at her, so-”
“Ah.” Tryst’s face clears. “Not that I was interested to begin with, but-”
“I can tase you even if she doesn’t ask me to,” Fentara says. “It might be impolite, but-”
“But I trust Agent Ren’s judgment.” Aava arches an eyebrow at Tryst, who’s giving her this weird, sort of gross soft smile. “Please remember that I’m supervising you, Mister Valentine. So anything beyond professional courtesy-”
“Oh, professional courtesy,” Tryst says glibly. “Yeah, I know all about that. And you can tell me all about it later, but last week when I broke out was the first time I had food other than prison food in a very long time, so if I could get some more good food-”
“Has your ankle bracelet been outfitted yet?”
Tryst leans down and draws up the left leg of his pants to reveal a standard issue ankle bracelet, with a light blinking green. “Newest accessory, all the models are clamoring over it.”
“They explain to you how that works?”
“I have to be within a two mile radius of the office at all times, unless I’m with you, and that includes where I’ll be living,” Tryst says dutifully. “Now, what does this all mean for me being able to eat?”
Aava smirks. “It means we’re getting dinner together.”
Tryst gasps, putting a dramatic hand to his chest. “But Agent Arek, what about your agent in training?”
“Agent Ren has other plans.”
“Got a date with a girl,” Fentara says. “And I’m not interested in spending any more time with your clown ass outside of work hours.”
“Wow,” Tryst says. “You really are training her, aren’t you? She sounds exactly like her.”
“The way I raised her,” Aava says dryly. “Let’s go.”
#
“This isn’t a restaurant,” Tryst says as they pull up to the high-rise. “Not that I’m complaining about whatever’s going on here, but seriously, I wasn’t-”
“Trystan,” Aava sighs. They let Fentara out a few minutes ago, and Aava said something about needing to make one more stop. “You know where we are.”
Tryst looks out the window, eyes moving up and down. She can tell the exact moment he realizes where they are, because his mouth forms a perfect O. “This- have you-”
“I started stopping by every day two weeks ago, just to see.” Aava puts the car in park and leans forward, resting her chin on the steering wheel. “And then twice a day. Nothing ever changes or moves. He hasn’t been here in a while.”
“Does it look like there was a struggle?”
“Not at all.”
“He wouldn’t leave,” Tryst says, hovering somewhere between desperation and certainty. “Not without telling someone. You, or me, or- or the other contacts he has, or-”
“I know.” She lifts a hand without looking to stroke it down his shoulder, and he goes quiet. “I know he wouldn’t.”
“Is Tony still there?”
“The pit bull? He hasn’t been in the apartment, and I haven’t found him boarded anywhere.”
“God, Leenik,” Tryst murmurs. He reaches up and takes Aava’s hand absently, tangling their fingers together, and she lets him. “Why did you bring me here? To look for evidence?”
“Actually,” Aava says, “it’s because I checked with the landlord and rent is paid up for a couple months. And we are a cool 1.85 miles southeast of the FBI office, and this is a lot nicer than the place they were looking at putting you up.”
Tryst squeezes her hand. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, help me find him.”
“I will. I have resources you don’t have.”
Tryst and Leenik were part of a group. Aava knows this. Aava knows that he has people on his side that she doesn’t know about, that she’ll never really get to meet. She didn’t know how to get in touch with them. And sure, having Tryst out of prison will mean that she has someone else to help her at work, but more than that it means that she has more lines connecting her to Leenik. More ways to get him back.
“Okay,” Aava says softly. “We’re gonna figure this out. But now, let’s get you some real dinner. Anything you want.”
“The FBI will pay for anything I want?”
“No, but depending on what you want, I might.” She finally looks over at him, and he grins at her, all soft and mushy. “Oh, shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Tryst says, looking as shit-eating and stupidly fond as he always does. “Take me wherever, I’m not picky.”
“Oh, you’re not picky,” Aava mutters, and starts the car. “Whatever you say, Valentine.”
FIC: apple cider, i don’t mind
Dak turns around, and Max jumps onto his back in a well-practiced motion. “Who’s ready for an open house?” (Dak/Tech parent/teacher AU, 2.9k)
AUcember || title lyric || read on ao3
#
Dak cups his hands around his mouth. “Max!” he shouts up the stairs. “Come on, buddy, we gotta get going!”
“I can’t find my backpack!” Max yells back.
“You left it in the kitchen! And you don’t need the backpack, this is just an open house!”
“I can’t go to school without a backpack, you made me promise!”
“This isn’t a normal school day, and we’re running late!”
Max gasps from upstairs, surprisingly loud with his little seven-year-old lungs. That’s one of the crazy things about kids: they’re fucking loud. They talk loud. They scream loud. Even their dramatic gasps are loud enough to hear downstairs. “Mister Z doesn’t like it when people are late!”
“Then we’d better get going,” Dak says, or starts to say when Max comes barrelling down the stairs and more or less leaps into Dak’s chest, full-force.
Dak catches him, because what kind of an uncle would he be if he dropped him, and drops him on the stairs. Max lands with a quiet oof and a giggle and looks up at Dak. “I think you’re gonna like Mister Z.”
Max loves Mister Z. He has made absolutely no secret of it. Dak doesn’t know anything about the guy, other than he teaches second grade and he is Max’s all-time favorite person right now. Also, he’s apparently into all the weird science projects that kids love, with the slime and the volcanoes and maybe a class pet or something, Dak can’t really keep track. But he does want to meet the guy for himself.
“I think I am too.” Dak ruffles Max’s hair and then looks down. Max is wearing a bow tie with his Spiderman T-shirt. “Whoa there, kiddo, what’s with the fancy outfit?”
Max’s cheeks flush pink. “It’s a special day,” he says defensively.
Dak knows exactly why Max is dressed up, probably. Max told Pox that he has a crush on Mister Z, and because Pox is the coolest goddamn babysitter in the world, she immediately told Dak about it. Pox is fucking great, because sometimes she lets Dak just pay her with food, and because Max loves her, and because she tells Dak the important secrets that his nephew is keeping.
“Okay,” Dak says placatingly. “Stand up, c’mere, let me fix it.”
Max’s eyes narrow, but he stands up, and Dak bends down to adjust the bow tie. “Normally we put these with the shirts with the collars, you know that?”
“You call those monkey suit shirts.”
“Yeah, and I have a job where I never have to wear them, but it’s nice to have ‘em if you ever wanna wear a tie around your neck.”
“Where else would you wear it?”
“Around your head, like a bandana.”
Max giggles. “That’s silly!”
“Of course it is!” Dak turns around, and Max jumps onto his back in a well-practiced motion. “Who’s ready for an open house?”
“Me!” Max shouts.
“Who’s ready to meet Mister Z?”
“You!”
“And who’s ready to get McDonald’s afterwards?”
“Both of us!”
“Hell yeah, both of us!” Dak lifts one hand behind his head, and Max smacks it in the tiniest, greatest seven-year-old high five known to man. “Let’s get going!”
#
The facts are these:
First, Dak didn’t ever really intend to have kids. He and Shirley talked about it back in the day, and after they broke up he never really saw much of a point in being a dad. He likes kids, sure, but he also likes driving trucks and being on the open road and all that shit. He likes that he can leave home for a few weeks and not worry about coming back. He likes listening to audiobooks and being by himself.
Second, he didn’t know his sister that well before she died. Carrie was a good twelve years younger than him, and they were never all that close. He knew that she had kids, had even met them once or twice. And he knew that her husband was a real shitbag, but he had never stopped to think about… well, about custody or any of that. He figured that she had her own life, and she would work all that out, and it would be fine.
Third, there was a car accident that took Carrie, and her baby, and Max’s leg from the knee down. And fourth, completely without Dak’s knowledge, he was listed as Max’s legal guardian if anything happened to Carrie. And that was how Dak ended up with a four-year-old and no fucking clue what to do with him.
It’s the kind of thing where there’s no learning curve, and he figured that out real fucking quick. Kids don’t care that you’ve never had a kid before, they care about getting a grilled cheese and cool pajamas. It’d totally rearranged Dak’s life, and as much as he loves Max now, it was fucking hard. It was really fucking hard.
It was worth it, though. Dak knows it was worth it every time he high-fives Max, and every time he stays up late helping Max through his English homework, and every single morning he wakes up and this kid is still here. It’s worth it.
#
Mister Z is a little younger than Dak expected. He’s sitting on his desk in the front of the room, talking to a woman who has three tiny kids running around her, but he still catches Dak’s eye and nods when Dak walks in. Dak nods back, as though he has any idea what’s happening, and lets Max start dragging him around the room.
He’s been to a couple open houses at this point, and he’s still not really sure what the point is. Especially considering that he has to deal with how weird people get every time he introduces himself as Max’s uncle - no, not his dad, yes, his guardian, and why the fuck are you asking what happened to his parents, that’s fucking insane. People have no sense of privacy.
“This is my desk,” Max announces, tugging on Dak’s hand as they reach a desk in the corner of the room. “This is where I sit and take notes and read books under the desk sometimes, but the books are always about science so it’s okay.”
“Where do you get science books?” Dak says, which he knows is probably not the right parental response, but fucking whatever, uncle privileges. “Should I be buying you science books?”
“We have a library,” Max says, in the most /duh tone of voice that Dak has ever heard from him. He is, despite literally all logic, very proud. “The new librarian Mister The Tech Wizard helps me find good science books, and sometimes he gets me the third and fourth grade ones even though I’m only in second grade, because he says I’m good at reading them.”
“Whoa, slow your roll there.” Dak rests a hand on Max’s desk, running one finger across Max’s nametag taped to the top. “You got a new librarian and his name is-”
“Mister The Tech Wizard,” Max repeats dutifully. “He says we don’t have to call him Mister or anything, and that The Tech Wizard is an old nickname that just kind of stuck, and a lot of the kids just call him Tech Wizard, but I wanna be respectful, because he’s helping me. So I call him Mister The Tech Wizard.”
“Max is very into respect,” a new voice says. Dak is completely unsurprised to look over and see Mister Z, who has a very cool side-cut and very un-teacher-like knee-high studded boots.
Dak looks down at Max. “Who’s teaching you about respect? Because it’s definitely not me.”
“You’re respectful,” Max protests. “And Mister Z talks a lot about respect, so it’s important!”
“But he takes it more seriously than most of the kids,” Mister Z says dryly, and offers his hand. “Hey, I’m Mister Z. I teach your kid how to read and stuff.”
Dak takes it and shakes it, with the best and firmest Dak Rambo handshake that he can manage. “I’m his Uncle Dak.”
“Yeah, he talks about you a lot. You drive trucks?”
“Only when there’s someone to watch him.” Which there normally is, because Pox is great like that. Dak doesn’t know what she does when she’s not babysitting, but she always seems to be around when he needs her. “And you teach a whole bunch of seven-year-olds. How’s that going for you?”
For just a second, Mister Z’s face drops out of professional-cool-teacher mode to a very human, super relatable wince. “I love them, and I love what I do,” he says sincerely, “but, you know.”
Dak does know. “I do know,” he says. “Well, Max thinks you’re great, he only says good things about you, although apparently he reads science books under his desk during class.”
“Dak,” Max whines, looking mortified.
Dak ruffles Max’s hair cheerfully. “Sorry, kiddo, but you gotta pay attention in school! Otherwise you end up like your uncle Dak, driving trucks on the open road, forgetting how to add three plus two.”
“You know what three plus two is!”
“I know it’s different than two plus two.”
“Between you and me-” Mister Z glances conspicuously at Max before leaning in and lowering his voice. “I know he reads the books, but your kid is way fucking smarter than the rest of the class. As long as he keeps turning stuff in on time, I don’t care what he does in class.”
Dak opens his mouth to say that Max isn’t exactly his kid, but before he can ask, Max tugs on his sleeve. “Are you telling secrets about me?” he asks, looking genuinely worried.
“No secrets, buddy, just Mister Z giving me the grown-up 411.” Dak grins and claps Mister Z on the shoulder. He twitches a little bit, but doesn’t shrug Dak off, which is a good sign. Maybe. “I’m glad you’re Max’s teacher, Z, you seem like a cool dude. Can you give us directions to the library? I wanna meet this Mister The Tech Wizard and thank him for giving Max the hook-up.”
“I know where the library is,” Max says indignantly. “And I gotta finish showing you around, and you didn’t really talk to Mister Z.”
“I don’t have a lot to say,” Mister Z admits. “I’ve got a sheet of paper with a little bit about my teaching philosophy, which the district made me write up, but mostly this is for you to show Dak around, Max. Can you do that?”
Max nods determinedly and tugs at his little elastic-neck bowtie. Mister Z looks down, sees the bowtie, and grins. “Hey, nice bowtie.”
“Thank you,” Max says, very politely, and then beams. Dak has to hand it to the kid: he doesn’t even start blushing until Mister Z has moved on to talking to the next parent.
Dak bumps his hand against Max’s shoulder. “You need a minute, or are you ready for the grand tour?”
“I don’t need a minute,” Max says, even though his cheeks are bright, bright pink. It is the cutest fucking thing Dak has ever seen. “I gotta show you all my friends’ desks, and the fishtank.”
“But I can already see the fishtank from here.”
“Daaaaaaaaaaak,” Max says exaggeratedly, so drawn out that Dak is completely sure that Max thinks it’s funny.
“Just a little bit of uncle humor for you,” he says cheerfully. “Come on, show me around the classroom.”
#
The library ends up being their last stop, not for lack of trying, but because every single teacher they see seems to know and love Max. They find his first grade teacher, who never liked Dak but who is still nice to Max, so she’s on thin fucking ice. They find the teacher who does the computer class, and the art teacher, and Max’s gym teacher, who apparently didn’t expect Max’s guardian to be a tough guy. Unluckily for them, Dak is the toughest guy.
“This is the library,” Max announces loudly as he pushes the door open. “There’s computers in here, and a bunch of books.”
Dak whistles as he takes a look around. There are no other parents or kids in sight, only shelves and shelves of books. “Wow. You ever seen this many books in one place at once?”
“Bookstore,” Max points out, which is probably true, but it does kind of ruin Dak’s whole embarrassing uncle humor vibe. “They have the picture books for the littler kids, and the chapter books for the bigger kids, and-”
“And science books for the science kids,” a voice says warmly.
It takes Dak a second to find the source of the voice: behind the counter, off to the side. The man in question, who absolutely has to be Mister The Tech Wizard, is… well, honestly, he’s a little hot, in a very specific way. He’s chubby, a little bit scruffy, and he’s wearing an orange fanny pack and little earrings shaped like stars. And he’s smiling at Max, a nice non-condescending smile, which automatically puts him at the top of Dak’s list of favorite people.
“Hi Mister The Tech Wizard!” Max waves at him. “This is my Uncle Dak, he’s here for the open house and he said something about saying thank you for hooking up.”
“You said those words in the wrong order, bud,” Dak says cheerfully, as Tech Wizard blushes so hard he practically turns purple. “I said I wanted to say thank you for giving Max the hook-up with science books, and Max apparently remembered the two weirdest words out of that sentence.”
Max frowns. “What’s wrong with hooking up?”
“Nothing,” Dak says, “and anyone who ever tells you otherwise is wrong. But that’s one of those things where if you say it a certain way, it means something different to grown-ups.”
“Oh.” Max thinks about this for a few seconds. “Like that time the neighbor knocked over a bucket, and I said he kicked the bucket, but that means something else?”
“Exactly.”
Max nods and looks back at Tech Wizard. “What did I say by accident?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Tech Wizard says, still looking a little mortified. His eyes flick up and down Dak’s body, which is… well, that’s what Dak calls a pleasant surprise. But then he clears his throat and seems to come back to himself, and he looks down at Max. “Okay, let’s try it one more time, what did you want to say?”
“Uncle Dak wanted to thank you for giving me science books.”
“Oh!” Tech Wizard turns back to Dak, any remaining embarrassment melting off of him. “Dude, your nephew is smart, did you know that?”
“Did I know that?” Dak scoffs loudly. “Of course I did! Except for the part where he reads about science.”
“I read all about the table of elements,” Max says proudly.
“He’s reading the kind of books that kids a couple years older than him are supposed to be reading, but blow off,” Tech Wizard explains. “And he understands it all pretty well. Zenith and I talk about it, and we’re pretty impressed.”
“You talk about me?” Max repeats, eyes round. “Really?”
“We talk about a lot of the kids.”
“And my sister’s kid is worth talking about,” Dak says proudly, wrapping a hand around Max’s shoulder and tugging him close. “I don’t have much to say, but I did want to stop by and say thank you for helping him out.”
“It’s my job,” Tech Wizard says, but he smiles, looking pleased. “And you’re welcome. You’ve got a great kid here, you know that? Or a great sister’s kid.”
“Oh, I know.” Dak squeezes Max’s shoulder and looks down. “Do you need any science books right now, do you wanna show me around?”
Max blinks a couple times and opens his mouth, with the face that means he’s embarrassed to say something.
Dak cottons on immediately. “Or do you wanna go to McDonald’s?”
“I wanna go to McDonald’s,” Max says, cheeks coloring ever so slightly, but he looks resolute.
“That’s what I thought.” Dak glances back at the counter. “Looks like we gotta blast, but it was nice meeting you, Mister The Tech Wizard.”
Mister The Tech Wizard waves him off, looking embarrassed. “Just Tech is fine.”
“Just Tech,” Dak repeats. “Got it. And I’m just Dak.”
“Not even I call him Uncle Dak,” Max adds. “Not always, anyways.”
Tech nods. “Dak,” he says, and for a single heart-crunching second Dak is certain that he never wants to hear anyone else say his name again. Not if they’re not gonna say it like that. “It was good to meet you too, Dak.”
“Yeah,” Dak says, and there are already a couple of really, really good excuses to come back and visit the library swirling around in the back of his head. For Max and science books, obviously. And for the way Tech is looking at him, the shy little smile on his face. “Seriously, thank you for keeping an eye out for him.”
“Of course,” Tech says, and waves at Max. “Have a good night.”
“Good night, Mister The Tech Wizard,” Max chirps, and starts dragging Dak towards the door. Dak barely has time to wave before Max is pretty much towing him back down the hall, chattering about books or some shit. And in a minute Dak will feel bad about not really listening, but right now he glances over his shoulder and sees Tech watching them walk away, with a tiny, pleased smile. And, well, he needs a minute to be excited about that.
