Oh my. This is the thing where I remember that I have far too many WIPs. How do people stick to just one and get it done? I wish I could do that.
Okay, let’s go. I’m only putting my fic projects in here, because my two originals are not developed enough at this point. In order of last poster chapter.
our hands clasped so tight (RNM): Ten years after both of them were badly injured by Jesse Manes when he found them together, Alex and Michael reunite and learn to get to know each other again, including the secrets that they are both keeping from the world.
still, there were mornings (RNM): (some spoilers ahead) While navigating the aftermath of Noah and Max’s deaths and Rosa’s resurrection, Alex and Liz start to realize that the mysterious illness they’ve both had since they were teenagers is linked to the aliens in town, and may be the key to bringing Max back.
setting fire to our insides (for fun) (RNM): After mentally and physically hitting rock bottom while trying to support everyone else, Alex asks Isobel for help getting past his mental blocks and setting himself on the path to recovery.
Complicated Truths (RNM): Starting his new job at the CIA, Michael Guerin finds out that his handler is no one else than Alex Manes, who left him on a beach three years ago after a whirlwind romance, but this newly disabled Alex has secrets and a family history that will put them both at risk as they try to unmask a double agent.
Power Through (RNM): (slight spoilers) On the run after escaping a detention center, mutant Air Force veteran Alex Manes is taken in by the Mutant Underground, and quickly falls in love with one of their leaders, Michael Guerin, but his escape triggers a chain of events that will lead them to face off the dangerous Sentinel Services and attempt to take down the experimental lab that ties their pasts together.
The Underground (The Gifted, technically on hiatus): Clarice, an anxious young mutant dealing with racism, finds a job at a mutant-run café called the Underground, and quickly bounds with the owners’ best friend, John, a disabled Marine veteran recently back from Afghanistan.
All We Stand To Lose (The Gifted, technically abandoned): Three weeks after Clarice left John to go with the Morlocks, Marcos and a reformed Lorna come to her for help, and unroll the tale of how, burdened with guilt and grief, John let himself be captured and grievously injured by the Inner Circle.
If You're Still Breathing (The Gifted, technically abandoned): After the events of the finale, John tries to recover from his injuries and get used to a world without Clarice in it, while Marcos and Lorna reconnect and everyone grieves for their losses.
For Complicated Truths, Alex and Michael’s first meeting!
For nearly three weeks, Alex doesn't think about Langley, or his father, or his mission. He has things to do here in Sri Lanka, but they can wait. His cover says he's on vacation, and he's determined to enjoy it.
He strolling around the market on his second day when he spots him. The village he chose is a little more isolated than most, and it's not swarming with tourists, so Alex notices this white guy with beautiful curly hair, who looks completely out of place and yet seems to speak the local language nearly fluently. Unlike some of the luxury tourists at the resort two towns over, who drive around in large cars and cart their towels and water toys around the beaches like they own them, this man has all of his belongings in a heavy-looking backpack and tan lines that speak more of hard work than lying on a beach all day. He's hands deeps in the engine of a car when Alex first sees him, and he's never seen anything hotter.
“Backpacking your way around the country?” he asks casually, leaning against the car.
“Try around the world,” the man smiles, looking up from the engine. “You American?”
“Yeah. Alex Manes,” Alex holds out his hand.
“Michael Guerin.” Michael waves his gasoline-stained right hand in apology. “I'm from New Mexico.”
“Oh, that's funny, so am I, originally.”
“Originally?”
“I was born in New Mexico, but I moved around a lot as a kid. Never really had a place to call home.”
Guerin nods. “Yeah, I know the feeling. I grew up in the system.”
Alex gives him an understanding look, but he doesn't offer anything more. He knows about shitty upbringings, and not wanting to hear pity in the voice of strangers. Guerin straightens up more, an almost defiant look on his face.
First, I am ridiculously late in replying to comments, and I’m sorry.
This isn’t going to be a regular report, because I took a (longer than planned) break from writing, so I have essentially nothing to report. I meant to take a week off at the end of June because I wasn’t feeling it anymore and needed a break. It’s been five weeks, and I’ve written a whooping 10k words since, most of which is entirely unusable.
So I’ll try to use this post to remind myself of why (and what) I want to write.
I kinda joined a new fandom. Historically I’ve been pretty much unable to be in multiple fandoms at the same time when they’re hyperfixations (and I don’t write if it’s not a fixation), but I also don’t want to leave my fics unfinished. Right now, I have very little interest left for RNM. This may change, it might just be the first phase of a new SpIn, or it might now, I don’t know. But what I should really say is that I have no interest for RNM canon. I still love my AUs. I’m not reading RNM fics at the moment, but I have about a dozen tabs open on new chapters or fics I want to read eventually, and I’ll get there.
The new fandom is Shadowhunters, by the way. I fell in love with Alec Lightwood and with Malec years after everybody and joined the fandom late as is my habit. I’m not sure how long it’s going to last, but the fandom is very active and I’ve started writing (those 10k words) so we’ll see. It does have one thing that I was missing in my last two fandoms (and especially RNM) which is a character that I can properly headcanon as autistic so I can write for my own neurotype, which is frankly a breath of fresh air sometimes. For the most part, I don’t even like the other characters or the worldbuilding of that show though, so it may end up being a short SpIn.
That said, I really don’t want to abandon my fics (and I’m aware that I said that before and still ended up abandoning fics, but es is probably the only one who remembers so...well.) I want to remind myself of what I love in the fics I’m writing.
Easiest and shortest first, down to breathing needs two more chapters that are planned out and aren’t going to be very long and I’m pretty sure I’ll get there. I just need to figure out if my brain will do better with trying to finish this so it’s out of the way, or going back to one of the longer (and AU) ones to get immersed again.
still, there were mornings may end up being the hardest one to go back to. It’s not fully planned out, and it kind of requires for me to go back to the season 2 plot to try to untangle what I can keep from that, something I don’t particularly want to do. I did have fun writing the first few chapters though, so maybe I can get back in. I like Rosa in this one, a lot. I planned on getting Greg in there pretty early, that should be nice. Plus plenty of whump and h/c, which is always what’s easiest and nicest for me to write. Yes. I need to remember that. Less plot, more h/c lol.
our hands clasped so tight is still my baby. I love it so much, I love writing it even when it doesn’t come easily. I think a big part of the reason I ended up needing a break was that I was stuck on this one, and had little interest in writing anything else. I have autistic Michael (not as easy to write as I’d hoped because I still struggle with Michael in general, esp since s2, but still nice), I really love Alex in this fic for a number of reasons, there’s a flashback chapter at some point with a LOT of angst... fluff and angst and h/c in the main plot, plus some nice surprises coming up. Plus, it’s a plot with low stakes, so I can play around. It reminds me a lot of the Underground (my long Gifted fic that I did end up abandoning 😭 I still have a fool’s hope of going back to it someday) in that regard, so hopefully it won’t meet the same fate.
The sequel to setting fire to our insides (for fun). Ouch. I really want to write it, but it sometimes hits a little too close to home. It’s the one that is dangerous for me to write when I’m not doing well, but too hard when I’m well, so it’s a difficult balance. So many people were enthusiastic about the sequel in the comments, and I also feel like I can’t do it justice, but I felt like that about the first part for months. So I don’t know. I guess I’ll see if I can get into that particular mood again.
Complicated Truths is the one AU that I honestly feel the least good about. I was excited at first, I still am in theory I guess, but I struggled too much with giving it a coherent plot, and what I do have is way too long for me to keep up interest. Maybe I need to talk it out with someone, come up with something shorter and easier if I want to keep going. I do love writing blind Alex, and I enjoy the Malex dynamic of it. And the spy setting, even though I feel a little out of my depth.
Power Through. I really want to get back to it. I love it so much. It’s all plotted out, even if now I kinda want to include Rosa more and get Gregory in. I don’t know why I haven’t managed to write more, I think I got lost in the one-shots and shorter fics that I enjoy writing less but give me more instant gratification I suppose... Plus season 2 threw me for a loop. But this and our hands are the two fics that I’d really want to write to the end, if I have to choose.
I also still have the Big Bang I signed up to. Eh. I planned on doing one of the AUs I outlined but never wrote, but it would be long, and the truth is that I don’t think I can handle another long AU. So my plan is shifting a bit toward a shorter fic (maybe 15k or so) with a lot less plot and more feels. I’m not allowed to say more :D
The thing I started writing for Shadowhunters is a series of short fics, not a full WIP, I’m not committing to something like that just yet. Not sure whether I’ll post anything at all. We’ll see.
This was ridiculously long as usual, so thank you if you’ve read to the end! It was really more a note for myself than meant for any of you tbh, but if you really want to see one of these fics to completion, feel free to tell me, I need the encouragement 💙
I know your fave is still Complicated Truths, but I’m also working on Hands and the sequel to setting fire, so I’ll give you three :)
He joins Michael back down in the open office space, at Michael's new desk.
Complicated Truths
“You alright?” he asks, when Michael doesn't even turn toward him.
“I saw a man get killed today,” Michael drawls out. “I lied to a federal agent. I was shot at. I found out you−” he trails off with a vague gesture.
“Or as we call it, Thursday at the Agency,” Alex shrugs with a smile. He won't belittle what Michael has been through today, because it is a lot. But what Michael needs right now isn't self-pity, or even a listening ear. He needs to get his mind of the work until his brain has had time to process things.
Sequel to setting fire to our insides (for fun):
“Manes,” Alex murmurs into the phone. He hates how weak his voice sounds. He tries to sit up, to free his airway at little more, but it only succeeds in making him breathless.
“Alex! Where are you? Rosa keeps asking about you. She's worried.”
Alex frowns. Rosa has been texting him, and he's probably taking far too long to answer for her tastes. He hasn't found the energy to really look at his phone in days, and he can't remember the last time he talked to her. Or to Liz, for that matter.
“I'm...busy,” he lies.
Only...only he can't lie about this, can he? Not forever. If Rosa is in fact worried, it's only a matter of time before either of the Ortecho sisters insist on seeing him. They'll turn up at the house soon enough whatever he does. And besides, does he really want to lie?
Liz, Maria and Rosa were once his best friends. Where has that gone?
our hands clasped so tight
Michael slips out of the reunion after less than an hour. He slipped out after helping Isobel to get something to eat and made it back late, so he only got to glimpse Alex on the other side of the room, while Isobel drags him around to talk to people he barely remembers and pretend to be interested in their life.
The music is too loud, and he didn't remember the lighting being this bad. His skin is crawling when he makes it to the corridor outside the gym, where at last things quiet down. He taps his fists together repeatedly, trying to get rid of the ickiness. His head hurts.
He sees the projector before he sees Alex. He's the one who set it up earlier, but he didn't know what Isobel wanted it for. It's projecting photos of them as teenagers, apparently. Michael doesn't know where Isobel got all those pictures, but he recognizes Alex, his hair going down to his chin, pre-emo, laughing on his skateboard.
And underneath, the real, physical Alex, his right pant leg rolled up to reveal his prosthesis, giving the photo an undecipherable look.
“Nostalgia's a bitch, uh?” Michael leans on the doorframe.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/?
Fandom: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes, Background eventual Echo, Background Isobel/Noah - Relationship
Characters: Alex Manes, Michael Guerin, Liz Ortecho, Kyle Valenti, Maria DeLuca, Isobel Evans, Max Evans
Additional Tags: spy AU, Covert Affairs Fusion, No knowledge of Covert Affairs needed, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Alternate Universe - No Powers, CIA operatives, Canon Disabled Character, With added disabilities, Hurt/Comfort, Some Whump, Government Conspiracy, Very vague Leverage crossover, Jesse Manes is a War Crime, Running From The Government, Blind Character, Canon Queer Relationship
Summary:
When rookie operative Michael Guerin is pulled out of training as bait to find a leak in the CIA, veteran spy Alex Manes, who has been out of the field since he was badly injured in Iraq, is assigned as his handler. Things get complicated when Guerin turns out to be the Michael Alex had a fling with on a beach in Sri Lanka three years ago, and even more when the leak case leads them to a conspiracy larger than they imagined, that seems to involve Alex's own father...
A/N: My brain has apparently decided I'm not writing enough fics, so here's the beginning of a new AU!
Huge thank you to @insidious-intent for helping me get my ideas in order and being an amazing beta and making this presentable. The title is also her suggestion. Thank you also to the Anon who got me excited for this AU!It's a spy AU, heavily enough inspired by Covert Affairs to qualify as a fusion, though it will diverge widely in terms of plot. Knowledge of Covert Affairs is not required at all to read.
This first chapter is a prologue of sort, so I'll be posting the real start of the story tomorrow or the day after.
[interrogation and alluded torture, allusion to war injuries and to abuse]
-
August 10, 2017
“Polygraph for CIA admission. August 10, 2017, Camp Peary, Virginia. A few questions for control. Your name is Michael Guerin?”
Michael wiggles uncomfortably, the blood pressure cuff chafing at his arm, before he remembers himself. This isn't exactly a job interview, but it's important for his career. He can't fuck this up.
“Yes,” he says, as convincingly as he can.
“You're twenty seven years old?”
“Yes.”
He glances at the camera sitting in front of him, breathing through his nerves. He can do this.
“You reside in Washington D.C.?”
“Georgetown, yes.”
“You speak four languages?”
“I like to travel,” Michael says with a smile.
The operator frowns. “'Yes' or 'no' will be fine.”
Michael stops smiling, chastised. “Yes,” he says a bit sullenly.
“Okay, Michael. I'm going to ask you some personal questions now.”
Here’s a snippet of the chapter of Complicated Truths I’ll post tonight.
“Alex Manes, tech ops,” Alex introduces himself, switching his cane to his left hand to shake his hand.
“Alex?”
Alex frowns. The voice sounds vaguely familiar, in the way the voices of people he knew before his accident usually sound, but he can't place it. Until...
There's the scent he can never forget, the man crowding his space, too close, too tall against him and...
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 3/?
Fandom: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes, Background eventual Echo, Background Isobel/Noah - Relationship
Characters: Alex Manes, Michael Guerin, Liz Ortecho, Kyle Valenti, Maria DeLuca, Isobel Evans, Max Evans
Additional Tags: spy AU, Covert Affairs Fusion, No knowledge of Covert Affairs needed, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Alternate Universe - No Powers, CIA operatives, Canon Disabled Character, With added disabilities, Hurt/Comfort, Some Whump, Government Conspiracy, Very vague Leverage crossover, Jesse Manes is a War Crime, Running From The Government, Blind Character, Canon Queer Relationship
Summary:
When rookie operative Michael Guerin is pulled out of training as bait to find a leak in the CIA, veteran spy Alex Manes, who has been out of the field since he was badly injured in Iraq, is assigned as his handler. Things get complicated when Guerin turns out to be the Michael Alex had a fling with on a beach in Sri Lanka three years ago, and even more when the leak case leads them to a conspiracy larger than they imagined, that seems to involve Alex's own father...
A/N: Some action for this chapter!
“Alright, Guerin, do you copy?”
“Loud and clear,” the voice comes into Alex's headphones.
“Can you repeat the instructions, please?”
“I go inside, wait for the text that will give me the room number, head up there and knock. When I get in, I get the asset to sync his phone with mine. Once done, I give him the account number. I stay inside the room for exactly half-an-hour and come out. Is that right, James Bond?”
Alex huffs. “You couldn't come up with something better than James Bond?”
“Hey, I'm about to go on my first mission, I'm a little nervous, okay?”
“Alright, alright,” Alex relents with a laugh. “You're gonna be okay?”
“I hope so,” Michael answers. Alex can hear the tenseness in his voice, and he distinctly remembers his own first time out in the field. It's been surpassed by other firsts since then, most notably his first skirmish in a war zone and his first day back here, but he was nervous then, too. Eager to prove himself.
“You'll do fine. Just remember the goal.”
“And what's that again?”
“Get the intel. Don't get yourself into a situation you can't get out of.”
“Got it,” Michael breathes. “See you on the other side.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes, Background eventual Echo, Background Isobel/Noah - Relationship
Characters: Alex Manes, Michael Guerin, Liz Ortecho, Kyle Valenti, Maria DeLuca, Isobel Evans, Max Evans
Additional Tags: spy AU, Covert Affairs Fusion, No knowledge of Covert Affairs needed, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Alternate Universe - No Powers, CIA operatives, Canon Disabled Character, With added disabilities, Hurt/Comfort, Some Whump, Government Conspiracy, Very vague Leverage crossover, Jesse Manes is a War Crime, Running From The Government, Blind Character, Canon Queer Relationship
Summary:
When rookie operative Michael Guerin is pulled out of training as bait to find a leak in the CIA, veteran spy Alex Manes, who has been out of the field since he was badly injured in Iraq, is assigned as his handler. Things get complicated when Guerin turns out to be the Michael Alex had a fling with on a beach in Sri Lanka three years ago, and even more when the leak case leads them to a conspiracy larger than they imagined, that seems to involve Alex's own father...
Chapter 2:
June 2, 2019. Langley, Virginia.
“Hey, Alex?”
Alex stops typing and removes his headset from his ears. The other two tech ops are both in a meeting, so he's alone in the office, but the glass doors leading to the main cubicle area are open as usual. “Um?”
“It's Kyle.”
“Hey, man,” Alex extends his hand to his best friend, who shakes it. “What's up?”
“This.”
Alex rolls his eyes when he hears something−a file?−hit his desk. He makes a grab for it, finding it more pliable than he expected. A newspaper, then.
“What is this?” he asks.
“My mom is making an announcement right now. It's only for the department heads, but you know how fast news travel in here.”
“Kyle, I can't read it. What is it?”
“Classified information was leaked to the press. To a reporter named Max Evans. Which means−”
