Friday: Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

[marlex.livejournal.com]

Hello, everyone. I’m marlex and today's theme is Meanwhile Back at the Ranch. Sure it's great to follow our heroes as they once again save the day, but what about all of the minors characters? So today's prompts can be anything about the minor characters and what they're up to while the heroes are off solving the crime or battling monsters, terrorists or space invaders. Perhaps what they're doing is even more important. Or maybe they're just playing cards and drinking coffee. Up to you.


The rules still haven't changed:
No more than five prompts in a row.
No more than three prompts in the same fandom.
No spoilers in prompts.
If your fill contains spoilers, warn and leave plenty of space.

Prompts should be formatted as follows:
Fandom, Character+/Character, Prompt

Some examples to get the ball rolling...
Harry Potter, any, Hogwarts during the year the trio are off hunting Horcruxes
Wreck-It Ralph, any, what are the Sugar Rush racers not on the day's Random Roster up to?
Star Trek: TNG, any, families during a battle



Not feeling any of today’s prompts? Visit the lonely prompt archive and brighten someone’s day. For more recent prompts to write, you can also use LJ’s advanced search options to limit keyword results to only comments in this community.

Comments

[marlex.livejournal.com]

Harry Potter, any, Hogwarts during the year the trio are off hunting Horcruxes

[marlex.livejournal.com]

Wreck-It Ralph, any, what are the Sugar Rush racers not on the day's Random Roster up to?

[marlex.livejournal.com]

Star Trek: TNG, any, families during a battle

[marlex.livejournal.com]

Young Wizards, Nita's parents, During the Song of the Twelve in “Deep Wizardry,” they have a feeling there's more than what Nita told them.

[marlex.livejournal.com]

any, any, watching the action play out live on the news

1/2: Highlander/Marvel movies/Leverage

[tigriswolf]

(follows this, where Methos has adopted the ex-Winter Soldier and also absconded with Captain America.)

(Eliot/Parker/Alec)

...


“Oh, shit,” Eliot says. Alec looks over from his tablet and Parker from her lock collection, but Eliot is watching the alert scroll across the bottom of the screen. “Fuck, I can’t believe she finally went through with it.”

“Um, Eliot?” Alec asks. “What’s up?”

“Just…” Eliot laughs, shaking his head. “An old friend. Enemy. Fuck if I know.” He laughs again and Alec shares a glance with Parker. “Anyway, I need to call Sophie.”

Parker tosses over the phone they keep just for calls to Sophie and Nate, and Alec sets his tablet aside. Something’s not right with Eliot, he’s known it for awhile now, talked it over with Parker. Maybe Eliot will finally tell them.

As the call connects, Eliot meets Alec’s eyes, then Parker’s. Something settles inside; Alec sees him physically relax. “Hey, Sofia,” he says. “Have you talked to Cassandra lately?”

.

Eliot allows them to hear the whole conversation but it doesn’t make much sense. Eliot and Sophie talk for less than five minutes, about Cassandra’s grudge towards someone named Adam and apparently a very large favor was cashed in, and Eliot isn’t sure which side he’s on. When he hangs up, he sighs heavily.

Alec throws the news story Eliot was watching onto the big screen and asks, “Can you tell us what we’re lookin’ at?”

Parker walks over and drapes herself across Alec’s shoulders. Alec knows she must be giving Eliot her best puppy eyes. “Matthew Ash,” she says. “Anti-army terrorist action, blah blah blah. Wanted dead or alive, more blah. You know him?”

Eliot grins. “We’ve met,” he murmurs, standing and stretching. “I’m goin’ shower,” he says. “And then… well, there’s some stuff you should know.”

Alec and Parker watch him go. “I’ll join him,” she says, rubbing her cheek against Alec’s. “You get your list ready.”

“On it,” Alec says, heading for his super-secret laptop that no one else can access.

.

Since about week two of their second job, Alec’s been keeping a list of stuff about Eliot Spencer that does not make sense. How quick he could move, how many different styles of fighting he knows, what he’s survived in the years Alec’s known him. How quickly he heals. How he hasn’t aged in the near-decade Alec’s known him, and he hasn’t slowed down at all. He fights now just as well as he did when they met.

The list clocks in at 208 items, things he’s wanted to ask Eliot and never quite worked up the nerve. He showed it to Parker when they first got together and she actually had a couple to add.

Alec’s created and discarded a dozen theories and what Eliot tells him was actually his third: Eliot’s an immortal. 800 years old, give or take a decade.

“So’s Sophie,” Parker says. “That’s why you called her.”

“Cassandra with her grudge against Adam,” Alec realizes. “He must be Matthew Ash, and they’re both like you.”

[icarus-chained.livejournal.com]

Lord of the Rings (books), Beregond & Bergil, Bergil's views of the Siege of Minas Tirith, his father's actions in rescuing Faramir, Aragorn's exiling of his father to serve Faramir in Ithilien afterwards. Any or all of the above.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Fullmetal Alchemist, Paninya+Garfiel, Waking up after the activation of the country-wide transmutation circle

[ivotedforsaxon.livejournal.com]

X-Men (movieverse), Jamie, being in the Brotherhood.

[icarus-chained.livejournal.com]

Sherlock Holmes (ACD or Granada), Any Scotland Yarder, "We're not jealous of you at Scotland Yard. No, sir, we are very proud of you, and if you come down to-morrow, there's not a man, from the oldest inspector to the youngest constable, who wouldn't be glad to shake you by the hand." (Lestrade, "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons")

Fill: (Drabble) Stanley Hopkins

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Sergeant Stanley Hopkins collected together all the evidence and meticulously recorded all his observations. Inspector Lestrade was currently out with Mr Holmes and they would require all the information as soon as they reached the Yard. Hopkins had been reading Holmes’ cases since he was a lad and had followed avidly the detective’s work once he had joined the Yard; he had been surprised at how many cases Holmes had been involved in which weren’t attributed to him. This would be Hopkins first opportunity to work with Holmes; he was desperate to show how he tried to follow Holmes’ methods.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Narnia, Reepicheep+Any, All that he seeks lies in the utter East

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

The X-Files, Skinner, He really hates having to review the reports Scully and Mulder turn in

NOT A FILL

[falkner]

Just thinking about it made me laugh heartily, thank you.

[falkner]

Marvel comics + MCU, any non MCU hero, what the other heroes were doing during the battle of New York

X-Men Movieverse/MCU Fill: Let It Roll

[scribblemyname]

A/N: So I kinda misread the other Marvel comics bit and went for other Marvel hero not in MCU. Sorry.

"You know, we never get even a tiny bit of gratitude!" Rogue groused, "And we live in New York."

"Technically just outside." Kitty plopped down on the couch beside her in the media room with a weary sigh and a bowl of popcorn. "Comfort food?"

"Chitauri invaders, saved the earth," Rogue went on. "And we just stood by and let the world's greatest telepath nuke all your minds to mush while we were at it, thank you. Not a word do I hear in gratitude!" She glared at the television screen, arms crossed.

Kitty shrugged and munched her popcorn. "Think we can claim the damages to the mansion came from the invasion? I bet the insurance company wouldn't mind."

Rogue shot her a disbelieving glare. "You've got to be kidding me."

"No one cares what the mutants do, Rogue." She grinned. "I kind of like it that way."

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Burn Notice, Barry the money-launderer, It's too quiet in Miami, afterward.

[falkner]

any, any, post-apocalyptic or dystopian scenario... except it seems to always be limited to the USA, the rest of the world follows it on the news with various degrees of interest

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Person of Interest, Bear loves the library

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

The Professionals, Betty's family thinks she has a really boring job

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Sherlock, the secret life of Mrs. Hudson

[tigriswolf]

Harry Potter, Draco, the hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn

[tigriswolf]

The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings, author’s choice, a very long time ago, hobbits were the most feared creatures of Middle Earth; only the ents remember

[tigriswolf]

Once Upon a Time, Jefferson, what happened after Mary Margaret kicked him out the window

[tigriswolf]

Avengers movieverse, Steve/Bucky or gen, after everything, instead of joining the Avengers, Bucky decides to go back to college and figure out what he likes now

fill

[likewinning.livejournal.com]

He tries a lot of things. It turns out he's a shitty artist – even Steve laughs at his paintings, and Steve's the nicest guy he knows – and the creative writing course nearly gets him kicked out when the professor asks him to write what he knows.

Bucky knows some disturbing shit, if you'll pardon his Russian.

He takes a couple of language courses, since he's trained in a couple of them by now, but it stresses him out when he gets into class and the professor starts talking at him in the language of his handlers.

So that's kind of that.

He sets a fire in his cooking course. Steve laughs at him for that one, too, but it's not like Steve hasn't almost exploded a damn microwave before.

"What makes you happy?" Steve asks him that night. They're on the couch, not watching anything, just talking about their days. Steve managed to only nearly die once today, which Bucky appreciates.

That's the hardest part about telling Steve and the Avengers that he's not up for the superhero thing, really. Knowing there are times when Steve is out there getting his ass kicked while Bucky's inside worrying about taking notes and getting to his classes on time.

You, is what Bucky wants to say. Steve makes him happy. The sound of his voice, his laugh when they swap stories, the way his eyes light up every time he sees Bucky.

But if there was a course on Steve Rogers, Bucky would be a tenured professor, not a damn student.

"I like helping people," Bucky says. He thinks about Steve, before, lifetimes ago. Steve isn't the only kid he ever pulled out of an alley. He's just the one he could never get rid of.

Steve takes a breath. His arm is wrapped around Bucky, and he runs his hand through Bucky's hair.

"I don't mean," Bucky clarifies. "I don't want to come back to that. Not ever."

"I'd never ask you to," Steve says, and Bucky loves him fiercely because he knows that's true. When Bucky said no to the whole gig, months ago, Steve didn't have to ask him if he was sure, just looked him in the eye and said okay.

"I know," Bucky says. He leans back further against Steve, until he can hear the thrum of Steve's heartbeat. "I wanna," Bucky says. "I wanna help kids like us."

"There are no kids like us," Steve says, but he's smiling – Bucky can hear it in his voice.

"Yeah," Bucky says. "Yeah, well, you know – I don't want anyone to turn out like..."

Like me, he means, and he knows Steve knows it, because he feels Steve tense against him.

"Hey," Steve says. He shifts so he can look at Bucky, so he can see into his eyes. He looks fierce and sure when he says, "What happened to you – what you came back from – that makes you stronger than anyone I know."

"I had you," Bucky says. Not for all of it, maybe – it took him a long time to let Steve in, to get them here in this apartment – but Steve is the reason he came back at all.

"And they'll have you," Steve says. "Just like I did." He kisses Bucky quick, soft, and their noses brush against each other. "You're gonna be great," Steve says, and for a second Bucky believes him.

"Now," Steve says. "Don't you have some homework to do?"

Bucky groans. "I mean, I figured I'd just sleep with a couple of my professors..." he says, and Steve laughs loud happy and Bucky thinks yeah, he can do this.

[tigriswolf]

Teen Wolf (TV), Danny or Lydia, season 1 shenanigans from their pov

[scribblemyname]

Leverage, Amy, now that she's spent that time with the boss's girlfriend, she wonders sometimes what the boss is up to when they're gone

[scribblemyname]

any spy organization, any, don't tick off the paperwork minions that can make or break a mission's viability

Agents of SHIELD

[daria234.livejournal.com]

Request #12798: Rejected
Reason for Rejection: This operation is now $30,000 over budget. All you are trying to do is kill a man. You could kill him with a pencil, and pencils cost 7 cents. Stop being so wasteful.
Authorization: Melinda May, Budget and Logistics Officer

Request #12805: Rejected
Reason for Rejection: Your exit strategy is idiotic. You're just going to get your whole team killed. And you think I'm going to pay for that? Please.
Authorization: Melinda May, Budget and Logistics Officer

Request #:12904 Rejected
Reason for Rejection: Although the science division is typically given a fair amount of leeway for risky projects, this request is unsuitable for SHIELD. P.S. You shouldn't assume that all desk jockeys are scientifically illiterate: I know that "attempt to invert the expansive properties of a diverse set of matter particles" actually means that you're going to turn on the alien technology to full blast and see if the universe implodes.
Authorization: Melinda May, Budget and Logistics Officer

Request #12947: Rejected
Reason for Rejection: You do not need a $19,000 bow, Clint. Your aim is just fine as it is.
Authorization: Melinda May, Budget and Logistics Officer

Request #:12993 Rejected
Reason for Rejection: Fury already told you that this project was denied. And somehow you thought the idiots in accounting and budget wouldn't notice. I don't know if that makes you stupid or an asshole. Probably both.
Authorization: Melinda May, Budget and Logistics Officer

--

"I'm glad to see you back in the field," Phil said to Melinda, proud smile on his face.

"Yeah, not as glad as the people who sent me their paperwork," she said.

He just smiled and pretended to have no idea what she was talking about.

[scribblemyname]

Bourne movies, Nicki/Jason, what she did while she waited for him to come back