comment_fic 376-380: Athanor novels, Chuck/WC, Leverage, Leverage/AtS, Percy Jackson
Title: brother of the sea
Fandom: Athanor novels (Changer/Legends Walking)
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: spoilers for the books
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 260
Point of view: third
Prompt: Any/+Any, standing in the ocean looking up at the stars
"Brother," calls the sea king. "Welcome home."
Changer nods, becoming his first shape; his brother follows swiftly, and they float together, the oldest of all living things, wearing bodies that no one has seen in more millennia than humans can begin to comprehend.
"How is the child?" the sea king asks.
Changer smiles, answering, "She is stronger by the day. If she learns patience, she might one day rival us in age."
Laughing, the sea king dives. "No one shall ever rival us, brother!" he calls. Changer rushes in his wake and they race from one ocean to another, all of the king's subjects hurrying from their path.
Finally, they rest, tangled together and staring at the sky.
"Do you think someday we'll walk amongst the stars?" Changer asks. "Like the gods humanity once believed us to be?"
"You might," his brother replies quietly. "You left the water for the land. I suppose you might yet leave the land for the stars. But I will not, brother." Closing his eyes, the sea king listens to his realm, to the depths and the shallows, to the roar that echoes in his soul and responds to his wishes. "I am the ocean. Here I was born and here I shall die, if that day ever dawns."
Changer does not reply except to twine closer, listening to the call of the ocean his brother has never ignored.
He will return to land soon enough, to his daughter and the Accord. But for now he is simply brother and he is home.
Title: a mask worn too long
Fandom: Chuck/White Collar
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: AU for Chuck
Pairings: none stated
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 295
Point of view: third
Prompt: Chuck/White Collar, Chuck/Sarah/(Neal), Peter doesn't trust 'Mr and Mrs Charles', no matter how much they seem to care for Neal.
They say their names are Chester 'Chuck' and Sarafina Charles. They're good, but Peter's run enough ops to know undercover when he sees it.
And Neal, after his immediate reaction of joy quickly stifles it for the professional courtesy of an art consultant meeting the victims of art theft.
But the damage is done, because that first reaction sticks in his mind.
Chuck is like a puppy, bounding after Neal everywhere he goes in the gallery. Sara stays with Peter, telling him the details, but her eyes follow Neal with well-hidden longing.
Peter gets them out of there as quickly as possible. He wants to demand answers, to command that Neal tell him everything because there is some backstory he's not privy to and it's annoying the shit out of him. But he keeps quiet because there's a look on Neal's face he's never seen before, not for Kate or Alex or any other piece of his past that Peter's learned about. This is something new.
It's only after Neal's out of the car and headed up to his loft at June's that Peter realizes the look on Neal's face was very similar to the one he wore when he went undercover as a hitman. He says he hates guns, that he's always hated guns, but the way he used them… his hands didn't even seem to need his mind. And the way he acted when he went after Fowler-that wasn't the Neal Caffrey Peter chased for three years, or the Neal Caffrey he's worked with for the past two.
He wonders which Neal Caffrey just went upstairs to his loft, and which one he'll drive to work tomorrow.
And Peter hopes, fervently, that they won't have to deal with Chuck and Sara Charles again.
Title: yea, though I walk
Fandom: Leverage
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: somewhat sad
Pairings: none stated
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 295
Point of view: third
Prompt: Eliot/Alec, "Don't even think about." "Never do." (Fantastic Four)
Their way out is actually a dead end, of course. Of fucking course. Alec's been shot, a graze on his thigh and a bullet in his shoulder. Eliot... well, somehow Eliot's still standing and cussing, glaring back the way they came. Alec's not sure how, but it does lend more credence to his theory that Eliot's a terminator.
This won't end well for either of them. Alec knows that, just like he knows Spock is the coolest mother at Starfleet and that Batman is the scariest dude in the world.
Eliot looks at him, then at the window that's a good six feet out of Alec's reach. "Hardison," he says, voice rough. "C'mere."
Alec is a goddamned genius, so he says, "Hell no. I ain't leavin' you behind, Eliot. No fuckin' way."
There's shouting from down the hall. The goon-squad'll find them soon, real soon.
"Hardison," Eliot says again. "This is not a debate."
Finally, the coms connect again and Nate's yelling in their ears while Sophie demands to know what they're still doing in the building and Parker asks where they are.
Eliot mutters, "Nate, tell Hardison to do what I say."
The other three stay quiet. "What did you tell him to do?" Nate asks after a moment.
The shouting is closer now. Alec looks Eliot in the eye and says as sure and strong as he can, "I am not leavin' you behind."
"Goddamnit, Hardison," Eliot bites out, and goons turn the corner.
Eliot quickly pulls his com out of his ear and drops it; Alec does the same.
He is sorry that he didn't say goodbye to Parker. Sophie and Nate, too, but mostly Parker.
At least, though, he thinks, he's dying with Eliot. There's nowhere else he'd rather go.
Title: the only dependable people
Fandom: Angel the Series/Leverage
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: spoilers for Angel series finale; unsure timeline
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 585
Point of view: third
Prompt: Leverage/Angel: the series, Eliot and Lindsey(brothers), Since when was Lindsey the overprotective one? ; The team won't know what hit them if they hurt his brother.
Lindsey knows that working with a team only ends in pain, blood, and betrayal. A shitload of betrayal. The only dependable people are family, and Eliot used to know that, too. He's forgotten it, though, because of Nate Ford and his merry band of thieves.
Well, enough's enough. Lindsey survived Angel's plan and Lorne's heel-face turn, and he won't let Eliot feel a knife in the back (bullets to the chest) because Lindsey's the big brother and it's about damn time he stepped up and took care of his twin.
Running off to be a lawyer and selling his soul was one thing. Eliot was safe then-or, well, as safe as someone can get being a bounty hunter. But he was good at what he did, and Lindsey watched out for him, in a distant and mystical way. But as a bounty hunter, everyone knew it was just a job and anything he retrieved could be retrieved back. A few times, he was even hired to steal something he'd already stolen.
But this, what Ford's doing? He's making enemies. Powerful, vindictive enemies. And Lindsey doesn't have Wolfram and Hart on his side anymore.
He'll have to step in. Actually, physically step in to keep his baby brother safe.
And it's only when he's standing just inside the door and watching El laugh with the hacker and thief that the ache sharpens in his chest. He's missed his brother. All these years, he's missed his brother so much.
And these people will not betray Eliot. Lindsey's here now with the only family he'll claim, and he'll kill them all before his little brother hurts like he did.
o0o
Eliot's brother is even scarier than him, which Alec hadn't thought possible. Lindsey is cold and calculating in a way Eliot isn't. They're both smart, but Eliot hides his intelligence behind belligerence. Lindsey doesn't bother with the mask. And where Eliot's eyes are warm, Lindsey's are Arctic.
Lindsey doesn't like any of them, and he lets them know it. He dismisses Nate with a glance, and is icily polite to Sophie. He's barely even looked at Alec since Eliot introduced them. And Parker… well. For her, he turns on the same good-ole-boy charm Eliot pulls out around most women or when he's on a con. Alec's not sure why he does it, but he knows he doesn't like it. Not one bit.
Alec wants the brother to leave. Lindsey is frightening, and taking all of Eliot's attention, and looks at all of them but Parker like they're already dead and he's planning where to hide the bodies.
But Eliot is smiling. In a way Alec's never seen before, Eliot is goddamned smiling. Like it's his birthday and Christmas and Santa not only brought everything on his list, but all the stuff he wanted and didn't ask for, too.
Alec did in-depth background checks on the team before that first job, and then even deeper background checks after. Eliot Spencer is a ghost. Before the mid-nineties, he didn't exist. Alec couldn't find a hint of him. He has no idea what Eliot's real name is.
When he looks up Lindsey McDonald, he gets nowhere. The next morning, when Lindsey walks into the kitchen at Eliot's back, he smirks at Alec, like he knows Alec tried and found absolutely nothing.
Damn, but does Alec hate that man.
Not that it matters. Eliot didn't like any of them either, at the beginning. They won him over eventually. They'll get his brother, too.
(Alec hopes. Because Lindsey is scarier than Eliot, and if he's already decided where to hide the bodies, there really is nothing they can do.)
Title: by the edge of the sea
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: future!fic
Pairings: Luke/Percy
Rating: PG13
Wordcount: 265
Point of view: third
Prompt: Percy Jackson & the Olympians (movieverse), Luke/Percy, Luke is the only one who calls him Perseus
Sometimes, after lights out, Luke will sneak into his cabin. He says it's because he likes the sound of the water. Percy thinks he just likes to cuddle and is ashamed to admit it.
But, whatever. Percy likes to cuddle, too.
So they'll lay together on the docks, listening to the water murmur. Percy imagines his father's voice, that deep rumble. He'd always made up stories about his dad, but none of those childhood dreams can even begin to equal the truth. And in hindsight, a lot of things make sense.
Luke doesn't usually talk when they're on the docks and his arms are around Percy. That's usually because they're kissing, Luke's mouth gentle and biting in turns, and Percy can only gasp out his name.
Sometimes, though, Luke asks his forgiveness. Percy's told him more than once that he forgave Luke a long time ago. It's not like he wasn't also angry at his father. Their fathers. The high and mighty gods. If he'd thought of it first, if he'd known the truth sooner, he might have very well been at Luke's side when he stole the lightning.
And sometimes, Luke whispers old legends into Percy's skin. The history of the gods and heroes, their heritage as sons of Olympus. Those nights, like all the others, are Percy's favorites. He always shivers when Luke calls him Perseus, when Luke kisses him and murmurs that the world will be theirs, the newest and greatest of heroes, and one day, legends will be whispered of them, by lovers on the edge of the sea.