fic dump
42 word fics:
Redwall, Asmodeus, darkness
Snakes live in darkness. This is his law, this is his truth: snakes live in darkness, because the lightcreatures fear them. A snake in the light is unheard of, a snake has never dared. A snake in the light is a dead snake.
Animorphs, team, "Heads You Live... Tails You Die."
Every mission is a gamble. To morph, to demorph, to make it out in time. Any misstep means death, or worse. A flip of the coin, a chance event; any moment they could all be doomed, and the planet along with them.
*
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters: Dean, Cas
Rating: PG
Prompt: Supernatural; Dean/Cas, I've taken time to to think and I don't think it's fair for us to turn and say goodbye / I have this feeling where I finally found the words to say / But I can't tell you if you turn around and run away
Dean runs.
And he runs, and he runs. It's all he knows. He doesn't know how to stay in one place, doesn't know anything but the road and the wheel, and the crappy motel along the way.
(Castiel does not know how to run. He has stood in Heaven, and he has fallen, and now he stands on Earth. He has never run.)
*
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire
Characters: Robb, Joffrey
Spoilers: GoT & a little of CoK
Rating: PG
Prompt: Any, any, They met on the battlefield, banner in hand / They looked out across the vacant land / And they counted the missing, one upon one / None upon none / The war it was over before it begun / Two little kings, playing a game / They gave a war and nobody came (The Monkees, Zor and Zam)
They are children.
They are boy kings, with their wooden swords and short-legged ponies, playing at war, playing the game of men.
The soldiers follow the banner, not the king. The king is new, the king is unknown. The banner promises coin.
Because that is what war is, in the end. Coin bought and paid for by bloody slaughter. It is not glory, it is not for the brave. Children know nothing of battle. Boys know nothing of war.
Even boy kings.
*
Fandom: Animorphs
Characters: David/Marco/Rachel
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Animorphs, Marco/David/Rachel, pride and prejudice
They've all still got their pride. Even after Marco stops pretending it's a one-time thing, even after Rachel stops pretending it was only a dare, even after David stops pretending that this - this thing, whatever it is, gives him more power over them than it does them over him, even after they've stopped lying to themselves and each other, they've all still got their pride. Lines they won't cross, things they won't do, places that won't be touched. It's never spoken aloud -- no speech, during; no speech as they dress and leave one-by-one after, as if words will bring the night crashing down around their ears and all their sins exposed in the light of day -- but a touch where it's not wanted brings a firm grip about the wrist, or another part, and careful guidance to somewhere else. The forbidden places are learned, and remembered, and are never spoken of. Their pride remains intact.
(David made a joke, once, in the light of day with all the others, about his pride, and a pride of lions. It was a bad joke. Marco remembers the joke, and Rachel remembers the point.)
The point is this: they are a pride, or a pack, or a team, or whatever you want to call it. The seven of them, all together. No secrets, because secrets will get you killed. And yet: here is this big wordless thing, hanging over the heads of some and not others. And yet still: how could they explain? There would be judgement, there would be confusion, there would be disgust. No, this is not a thing to bring into the light of day.
(The point is, also, that a pride of lions has only one leader, and that leader is rarely the kindest.)
*
Fandom: Marvel (Captain America)
Characters: Steve
Rating: PG
Prompt: Avengers movieverse, Bucky/Steve, you’re the only real thing I ever touched
There's something he's never told anyone about the serum, something he's not sure he'd be able to if he tried. He doesn't know if it's the world that's changed or just the way he sees it, but nothing feels real any more. And it's not just a slow moment that he'll snap out of at a touch to his shoulder, it's everything, all the time, moving slowly around him like it's all underwater, or a long, long dream. Nothing feels important enough to be real, or real enough to be important.
But there is a piece of paper in his hands, and a name on that piece of paper, and the letters that spell out James Barnes, the letters that mean everything is not okay, those are the first things that have felt real in a long, long time.
*
Fandom: White Collar
Characters: Sarah
Rating: PG
Prompt: White Collar, Neal+/any, We stood at the altar, the gypsy swore our future was right / But come the wee wee hours maybe baby the gypsy lied / So when you look at me you better look hard and look twice / Is that me baby or just a brilliant disguise?
Neal is someone she grows to like. He's witty and charming and has a nice smile, and he's not bad in bed, either. He's the same person he was all those years ago when she was after the Raphael, but -- he's different, too. She can't quite put her finger on it.
And maybe that's the problem. Neal is someone who changes at the drop of a hat (or the donning of one), he's someone who is always shifting and faking and turning into someone else. He's a master of disguise. So she always wonders, is that really him smiling at her, kissing her, making her breakfast in bed? Is that really Neal Caffrey? Is Neal Caffrey really Neal Caffrey? She'll never know for sure, and she'll never not wonder.
So yes, Neal is someone she's grown to like. But he's never going to be someone she can love.
*
Fandom: Animorphs
Characters: Cassie, Jake
Spoilers: #54
Rating: PG
Prompt: Animorphs, Jake, Pour Le Monde ( prompt)
Jake is probably the best man you will ever know, you think one day, out of the blue. You watch him hang his head, heavy with guilt, sure that he's the lowest of the low, and you want to reach out to him and tell him that. He won't believe you, though, no matter how many times you say it to him. You know that he will never believe that he is better than he thinks he is, and so you don't bother trying.
There are nights, rare nights, when the moon is new and dark or when the sky is blanketed in clouds, when you wake to a falcon at your window. You curl up together, beneath the covers, (but never more, because there is so much innocence already lost), and pretend that there is nothing left but a little boy and a little girl, and a hand in a hand, and the darkness hiding them from everything that is no longer there.
The difference, you think as you watch him fly away and swallowed by darkness, the difference between the woman who tries to be good and always fails, and the man who thinks he's failed but is so so good, the difference is that he dedicated himself heart and soul to winning the war, and now it's over, but you set out to save the world, and that's still here.
*
Fandom: Animorphs/Supernatural
Characters: Sam, Loren, Skrit Na, Elfangor
Rating: PG
Prompt: Supernatural/Animorphs, Winchesters, one of the brothers is kidnapped by the Skrit Na just as they're close to being defeated.
Notes: Timeline shifts! Yay! Loren's canon age for TAC and Sam is canon age for the show.
The first thing Sam noticed as he drifted back towards consciousness was that his head ached. The second thing he noticed was that he couldn't move.
His eyes snapped open. He was bound hand and foot, thick ropes pinning his arms to his sides and around his ankles. A blonde girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen, lay on her side nearby, also tied up.
"Hey kid," he said, keeping his voice low. "You okay?"
"Better than you are, mister." She looked pointedly at his forehead, where they must have hit him to knock him out -- whoever they were.
He made a mental weapons inventory. His gun was gone, Dean still had the demon knife. They must have emptied out his pockets, too. "I've got a knife strapped to my ankle," he told her. "See if you can get it."
"What's your name?" he asked as she sawed at his ropes.
"Loren."
"Okay, Loren, I'm Sam. I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" He wore the same soothing tone he used on all in-trouble civvies, though it usually worked better when he wasn't trapped too. The ropes fell away and he quickly sawed through the cords on his ankles before setting to work on her bonds. The knots, he noticed, were like nothing he'd ever seen.
When she'd been freed, Sam stood and took stock of their surroundings. It looked like a storage room of some kind, stacked floor-to-ceiling with crates. He checked the contents of a few.
"It's all just junk," Loren said. "Where the hell are we?"
"I have no idea." One of the crates held all the stuff that had been in his pockets. His cell was smashed, but his gun looked okay.
"Is that yours?" She looked more curious than frightened.
"Yeah." He checked the clip, which had been emptied. "Useless, though." He tucked it away.
As they shifted the crates along the walls, trying to find the door, Sam tried to remember how he had gotten here. The last thing he remembered was heading to the Biggerson's down the street to get take-out. They hadn't even been on a hunt, just on their way to a haunting in Minnesota. Dean would be looking for him by now, he was sure.
"I think I found the door," Loren said, pushing a crate to one side. "It's weird, though." It was weird, a short archway with no handle or knob. There was a panel to one side, like a keypad, only the buttons were labelled with symbols that definitely weren't Arabic numerals.
Before Sam could do anything, Loren seized what seemed to be a soccer trophy from a nearby crate and smashed the base into the keypad. Sparks flew. She did it again and the door slid open.
Sam was impressed. "Nice."
The archway was so short that even Loren had to stoop a little to get through. The hallway was a little taller but still short-ceilinged, and Sam had to duck his head to avoid hitting it.
"What is that?" Loren pointed at a man-sized cocoon, glued to the ceiling just a little ways ahead.
Sam took the soccer trophy and poked at the cocoon cautiously with the end. It didn't stir. "I don't know, but we should probably go around it."
Further down the hall was another low archway, this one open. Through it they could see three insect-like creatures, maybe four feet tall, scuttling about on two legs and chittering madly at each other.
As they drew closer Sam noticed the window behind the creatures. For a moment he'd thought it had just been blacked out, with little pinpricks of light shining through, but no -- those were real stars.
Suddenly the creatures -- aliens -- noticed their approach. The largest drew what looked to be a gun of some kind and pointed it at Loren's head. Sam didn't have to understand his language to know what he was saying: do nothing or she dies. Sam dropped the soccer trophy and slowly raised his hands, palms out. The knife they'd used to cut their ropes was hidden up his sleeve, but none of the aliens were close enough to dare risk using it. The leader pointed at the floor, chittering angrily.
"I think he wants us to sit," Sam whispered. They sank to the floor, making no sudden movements.
Without warning, there was a flash of light and the floor rocked beneath them. Smoke began billowing from one of the walls. Before Sam could react, Loren sprang to her feet and snatched the weapon away from the alien leader, pointing it firmly at his head.
A door slid open nearby and Sam pulled his gun to train it on whoever or whatever came through. He was out of ammo, but they didn't have to know that.
It wasn't the same as the insect creatures, but obviously still alien. It had blue fur and stalk eyes. It was a bit like a centaur, with no mouth and too many eyes and fingers, and a tail that curved over its head with a lethal-looking blade. It looked startled to see them. The insect-alien leader chittered at it, and it seemed to understand what the thing was saying.
"Freeze, horse boy," Loren said boldly. "One move and I pull the trigger. I don't know what this thing does, but I'm willing to bet your friend here won't like it."
*
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters: Dean, Jo, Ellen, Bill
Rating: PG
Prompt: Supernatural, Harvelles, Bill Harvelle came back alive from the hunt with John Winchester
"Hey there, Jojo." Twisting the end of her hair around his finger, Dean gave it a sharp tug. Jo yelped in surprise and swatted him off.
"Dean!"
"You still tugging at my daughter's pigtails, boy?" Bill said gruffly, pulling a beer out from beneath the bar. "Not sure I should be giving you one of these, seein' as you're still in grade school."
Dean rolled his eyes and reached over to snag the bottle. He popped the cap deftly and took a swig. "Yeah, and what about Jo here? You should know better than to serve beer to a minor, Bill. You could lose your liquor license."
"What do you want, Dean?" Ellen asked, cuffing his ear good-naturedly as she passed. "I know you; you ain't here just for the good company."
"Maybe I've just come for the free beer," he said cheerfully, raising his drink.
Jo looked at him levelly and held up his wallet. "What free beer?"
Dean grinned. "Okay, yeah. You guys heard from my dad lately?"
"Not since that job in Hastings last August." Bill's heavy brows drew together in a frown. "Why, something wrong?"
"Nah." He drained the last of his beer and set it down on the counter. "Say, Jojo, how'd you like to come along on a hunt with me?"
"If you stop calling me Jojo I'll consider it," she said, folding her arms. "Where's the job?"
"Jericho, California. Something's been snagging guys off a highway; thought I'd look into it."
Jo shrugged on her jacket. "I'll get my gun."
Redwall, Asmodeus, darkness
Snakes live in darkness. This is his law, this is his truth: snakes live in darkness, because the lightcreatures fear them. A snake in the light is unheard of, a snake has never dared. A snake in the light is a dead snake.
Animorphs, team, "Heads You Live... Tails You Die."
Every mission is a gamble. To morph, to demorph, to make it out in time. Any misstep means death, or worse. A flip of the coin, a chance event; any moment they could all be doomed, and the planet along with them.
*
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters: Dean, Cas
Rating: PG
Prompt: Supernatural; Dean/Cas, I've taken time to to think and I don't think it's fair for us to turn and say goodbye / I have this feeling where I finally found the words to say / But I can't tell you if you turn around and run away
Dean runs.
And he runs, and he runs. It's all he knows. He doesn't know how to stay in one place, doesn't know anything but the road and the wheel, and the crappy motel along the way.
(Castiel does not know how to run. He has stood in Heaven, and he has fallen, and now he stands on Earth. He has never run.)
*
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire
Characters: Robb, Joffrey
Spoilers: GoT & a little of CoK
Rating: PG
Prompt: Any, any, They met on the battlefield, banner in hand / They looked out across the vacant land / And they counted the missing, one upon one / None upon none / The war it was over before it begun / Two little kings, playing a game / They gave a war and nobody came (The Monkees, Zor and Zam)
They are children.
They are boy kings, with their wooden swords and short-legged ponies, playing at war, playing the game of men.
The soldiers follow the banner, not the king. The king is new, the king is unknown. The banner promises coin.
Because that is what war is, in the end. Coin bought and paid for by bloody slaughter. It is not glory, it is not for the brave. Children know nothing of battle. Boys know nothing of war.
Even boy kings.
*
Fandom: Animorphs
Characters: David/Marco/Rachel
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Animorphs, Marco/David/Rachel, pride and prejudice
They've all still got their pride. Even after Marco stops pretending it's a one-time thing, even after Rachel stops pretending it was only a dare, even after David stops pretending that this - this thing, whatever it is, gives him more power over them than it does them over him, even after they've stopped lying to themselves and each other, they've all still got their pride. Lines they won't cross, things they won't do, places that won't be touched. It's never spoken aloud -- no speech, during; no speech as they dress and leave one-by-one after, as if words will bring the night crashing down around their ears and all their sins exposed in the light of day -- but a touch where it's not wanted brings a firm grip about the wrist, or another part, and careful guidance to somewhere else. The forbidden places are learned, and remembered, and are never spoken of. Their pride remains intact.
(David made a joke, once, in the light of day with all the others, about his pride, and a pride of lions. It was a bad joke. Marco remembers the joke, and Rachel remembers the point.)
The point is this: they are a pride, or a pack, or a team, or whatever you want to call it. The seven of them, all together. No secrets, because secrets will get you killed. And yet: here is this big wordless thing, hanging over the heads of some and not others. And yet still: how could they explain? There would be judgement, there would be confusion, there would be disgust. No, this is not a thing to bring into the light of day.
(The point is, also, that a pride of lions has only one leader, and that leader is rarely the kindest.)
*
Fandom: Marvel (Captain America)
Characters: Steve
Rating: PG
Prompt: Avengers movieverse, Bucky/Steve, you’re the only real thing I ever touched
There's something he's never told anyone about the serum, something he's not sure he'd be able to if he tried. He doesn't know if it's the world that's changed or just the way he sees it, but nothing feels real any more. And it's not just a slow moment that he'll snap out of at a touch to his shoulder, it's everything, all the time, moving slowly around him like it's all underwater, or a long, long dream. Nothing feels important enough to be real, or real enough to be important.
But there is a piece of paper in his hands, and a name on that piece of paper, and the letters that spell out James Barnes, the letters that mean everything is not okay, those are the first things that have felt real in a long, long time.
*
Fandom: White Collar
Characters: Sarah
Rating: PG
Prompt: White Collar, Neal+/any, We stood at the altar, the gypsy swore our future was right / But come the wee wee hours maybe baby the gypsy lied / So when you look at me you better look hard and look twice / Is that me baby or just a brilliant disguise?
Neal is someone she grows to like. He's witty and charming and has a nice smile, and he's not bad in bed, either. He's the same person he was all those years ago when she was after the Raphael, but -- he's different, too. She can't quite put her finger on it.
And maybe that's the problem. Neal is someone who changes at the drop of a hat (or the donning of one), he's someone who is always shifting and faking and turning into someone else. He's a master of disguise. So she always wonders, is that really him smiling at her, kissing her, making her breakfast in bed? Is that really Neal Caffrey? Is Neal Caffrey really Neal Caffrey? She'll never know for sure, and she'll never not wonder.
So yes, Neal is someone she's grown to like. But he's never going to be someone she can love.
*
Fandom: Animorphs
Characters: Cassie, Jake
Spoilers: #54
Rating: PG
Prompt: Animorphs, Jake, Pour Le Monde ( prompt)
Jake is probably the best man you will ever know, you think one day, out of the blue. You watch him hang his head, heavy with guilt, sure that he's the lowest of the low, and you want to reach out to him and tell him that. He won't believe you, though, no matter how many times you say it to him. You know that he will never believe that he is better than he thinks he is, and so you don't bother trying.
There are nights, rare nights, when the moon is new and dark or when the sky is blanketed in clouds, when you wake to a falcon at your window. You curl up together, beneath the covers, (but never more, because there is so much innocence already lost), and pretend that there is nothing left but a little boy and a little girl, and a hand in a hand, and the darkness hiding them from everything that is no longer there.
The difference, you think as you watch him fly away and swallowed by darkness, the difference between the woman who tries to be good and always fails, and the man who thinks he's failed but is so so good, the difference is that he dedicated himself heart and soul to winning the war, and now it's over, but you set out to save the world, and that's still here.
*
Fandom: Animorphs/Supernatural
Characters: Sam, Loren, Skrit Na, Elfangor
Rating: PG
Prompt: Supernatural/Animorphs, Winchesters, one of the brothers is kidnapped by the Skrit Na just as they're close to being defeated.
Notes: Timeline shifts! Yay! Loren's canon age for TAC and Sam is canon age for the show.
The first thing Sam noticed as he drifted back towards consciousness was that his head ached. The second thing he noticed was that he couldn't move.
His eyes snapped open. He was bound hand and foot, thick ropes pinning his arms to his sides and around his ankles. A blonde girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen, lay on her side nearby, also tied up.
"Hey kid," he said, keeping his voice low. "You okay?"
"Better than you are, mister." She looked pointedly at his forehead, where they must have hit him to knock him out -- whoever they were.
He made a mental weapons inventory. His gun was gone, Dean still had the demon knife. They must have emptied out his pockets, too. "I've got a knife strapped to my ankle," he told her. "See if you can get it."
"What's your name?" he asked as she sawed at his ropes.
"Loren."
"Okay, Loren, I'm Sam. I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" He wore the same soothing tone he used on all in-trouble civvies, though it usually worked better when he wasn't trapped too. The ropes fell away and he quickly sawed through the cords on his ankles before setting to work on her bonds. The knots, he noticed, were like nothing he'd ever seen.
When she'd been freed, Sam stood and took stock of their surroundings. It looked like a storage room of some kind, stacked floor-to-ceiling with crates. He checked the contents of a few.
"It's all just junk," Loren said. "Where the hell are we?"
"I have no idea." One of the crates held all the stuff that had been in his pockets. His cell was smashed, but his gun looked okay.
"Is that yours?" She looked more curious than frightened.
"Yeah." He checked the clip, which had been emptied. "Useless, though." He tucked it away.
As they shifted the crates along the walls, trying to find the door, Sam tried to remember how he had gotten here. The last thing he remembered was heading to the Biggerson's down the street to get take-out. They hadn't even been on a hunt, just on their way to a haunting in Minnesota. Dean would be looking for him by now, he was sure.
"I think I found the door," Loren said, pushing a crate to one side. "It's weird, though." It was weird, a short archway with no handle or knob. There was a panel to one side, like a keypad, only the buttons were labelled with symbols that definitely weren't Arabic numerals.
Before Sam could do anything, Loren seized what seemed to be a soccer trophy from a nearby crate and smashed the base into the keypad. Sparks flew. She did it again and the door slid open.
Sam was impressed. "Nice."
The archway was so short that even Loren had to stoop a little to get through. The hallway was a little taller but still short-ceilinged, and Sam had to duck his head to avoid hitting it.
"What is that?" Loren pointed at a man-sized cocoon, glued to the ceiling just a little ways ahead.
Sam took the soccer trophy and poked at the cocoon cautiously with the end. It didn't stir. "I don't know, but we should probably go around it."
Further down the hall was another low archway, this one open. Through it they could see three insect-like creatures, maybe four feet tall, scuttling about on two legs and chittering madly at each other.
As they drew closer Sam noticed the window behind the creatures. For a moment he'd thought it had just been blacked out, with little pinpricks of light shining through, but no -- those were real stars.
Suddenly the creatures -- aliens -- noticed their approach. The largest drew what looked to be a gun of some kind and pointed it at Loren's head. Sam didn't have to understand his language to know what he was saying: do nothing or she dies. Sam dropped the soccer trophy and slowly raised his hands, palms out. The knife they'd used to cut their ropes was hidden up his sleeve, but none of the aliens were close enough to dare risk using it. The leader pointed at the floor, chittering angrily.
"I think he wants us to sit," Sam whispered. They sank to the floor, making no sudden movements.
Without warning, there was a flash of light and the floor rocked beneath them. Smoke began billowing from one of the walls. Before Sam could react, Loren sprang to her feet and snatched the weapon away from the alien leader, pointing it firmly at his head.
A door slid open nearby and Sam pulled his gun to train it on whoever or whatever came through. He was out of ammo, but they didn't have to know that.
It wasn't the same as the insect creatures, but obviously still alien. It had blue fur and stalk eyes. It was a bit like a centaur, with no mouth and too many eyes and fingers, and a tail that curved over its head with a lethal-looking blade. It looked startled to see them. The insect-alien leader chittered at it, and it seemed to understand what the thing was saying.
"Freeze, horse boy," Loren said boldly. "One move and I pull the trigger. I don't know what this thing does, but I'm willing to bet your friend here won't like it."
*
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters: Dean, Jo, Ellen, Bill
Rating: PG
Prompt: Supernatural, Harvelles, Bill Harvelle came back alive from the hunt with John Winchester
"Hey there, Jojo." Twisting the end of her hair around his finger, Dean gave it a sharp tug. Jo yelped in surprise and swatted him off.
"Dean!"
"You still tugging at my daughter's pigtails, boy?" Bill said gruffly, pulling a beer out from beneath the bar. "Not sure I should be giving you one of these, seein' as you're still in grade school."
Dean rolled his eyes and reached over to snag the bottle. He popped the cap deftly and took a swig. "Yeah, and what about Jo here? You should know better than to serve beer to a minor, Bill. You could lose your liquor license."
"What do you want, Dean?" Ellen asked, cuffing his ear good-naturedly as she passed. "I know you; you ain't here just for the good company."
"Maybe I've just come for the free beer," he said cheerfully, raising his drink.
Jo looked at him levelly and held up his wallet. "What free beer?"
Dean grinned. "Okay, yeah. You guys heard from my dad lately?"
"Not since that job in Hastings last August." Bill's heavy brows drew together in a frown. "Why, something wrong?"
"Nah." He drained the last of his beer and set it down on the counter. "Say, Jojo, how'd you like to come along on a hunt with me?"
"If you stop calling me Jojo I'll consider it," she said, folding her arms. "Where's the job?"
"Jericho, California. Something's been snagging guys off a highway; thought I'd look into it."
Jo shrugged on her jacket. "I'll get my gun."