Quarterly Commentfic Challenge, Tuesday Roundup

[wellownedbkup]

even after years have passed, he still wakes some nights screaming, tearing at his skin. he can feel the unnatural parts working inside him, just like he can hear the mechanical whirrs and thunks of his robotic heart.

he wonders if that was why it was so easy for them to change jean-luc into locutus. he wonders, too, why he ever thought that assimilation was anything less than painful.

the nanites felt like electricity in his bloodstream, like red ants crawling beneath his skin and eating away his humanity. they didn't tear away his eyes, for which he is by turns grateful and furious. at least he didn't see how they refitted his arm with weaponry. he just hears the screams of each human outfitted with new tech, sealing them inside alien cage.

he wakes screaming, some nights, and feels a ghost of his former life where the voice inside his head was millions strong and where his body was stronger than it had ever been.



dean launches into the passenger side of the impala like an extra from the Dukes of Hazzard, yelling for sam to gun it even as he shuffles the way he's sitting. sam revs the engine and drives off onto the nearest road and takes it as quickly as he can out of the state.

sam drives like a bat out of hell for two hours before dean tells him to pull over. sam's still looking over his shoulder and jumping at the slightest noises. dean is still curved around his stomach, cradling something. sam follows him toward a picnic table in the gathering dusk, waiting for an explanation.

he's disgusted when dean presents a pie and two forks. "dig in, sammy boy."

sam snorts and slumps into a seat across from dean. "really? pie? was it worth all that?"

dean grins, waving his fork at sam. "apple pie is always worth it, sammy."



it's a quiet night, for once, and they've met their quota for near-apocalyptic events for the week. for that, everyone's grateful. gwen makes it home to rhys in time enough to catch the tail end of a footy match and the others disappear to bars and one night stands that can't last into relationships. jack feels a hint of grief at the thought, wondering how these poor children can manage without someone to call their own.

they're sitting just beside the plass where the perception filter is still hiding them from sight, watching the stars. jack smiles when ianto murmurs something about maybe seeing a curve of the rift in green and gold in the sky, like the borealis lights. he knows it's not truly possible, but he'd like his boy to have that sort of imagination.

the crinkle of a candy wrapper draws his attention away from his search for a little blue box and to the peeling open of a cadbury bar.

ianto offers him a piece, generously, and jack accepts with a kiss to his cheek, just to see him blush. jack hasn't had chocolate for ages, and cadbury has always been a favorite. he's had plenty of opportunity to try it, at any rate.

"i haven't had anything this good since Satellite 5," jack muses thoughtfully.

"tell me." ianto blushes and stares at his hands a moment when jack raises an eyebrow at the request. "you never tell anyone about your Doctor. i'd like to know."



the director this week has it out for them, jared's sure of it. during filming, he's been thrown, strangled, smacked and punched repeatedly... and he can't even begin to describe what jensen or misha have been going through. somehow, the big apocalyptic showdown? has less to do with talking and more to do with being attached to cables and yanked from one end of the shooting lot to the other.

they end up back at jared's by the end of shooting, the dogs given free reign of the yard and endless kibble in return for the quiet of a living room and a six pack of Molson's. jensen's moaning with every twitch of his muscles, and misha's sporting a fine black eye that wouldn't have been out of place back when they spent more of their off time in bars and that one brawl that set Sam Winchester in a cast for a few episodes.

even jared has to admit that the writers and director had been overzealous with the violence. "you think they'll give the show a parental warning now?" jared asks the room at large.

jensen gives a hoarse laugh that merges into a moan, not really an answer, but as close as he's getting to one.

"for you two dicks, they should've had one for homoerotic subtext a long time ago." misha grins, making his eye look even more ghastly than before. jensen flips him off, as eloquent as ever.

jared laughs and makes a weak muscle builder pose. "you're just jealous that you can't have in on the homoerotic subtext."



hugh wastes no time at all when they all get together for the read-through. boy's been talking a mile a minute about everything under the sun and it's taking a lot out of hugh to even lead him by a firm touch on his shoulder and not just grabbing him by his too-long hair and going to town.

liev's been laughing all day. hugh saw it in his face. so far, all the folks around have been passing that off as liev channeling sabretooth's smugness, and that hugh's discomfort is just getting into character. hugh scoffs internally, wondering if wolverine really had that much of a hard on at inappropriate times.

they end up in some conference room two hallways over from where they've been reading and taylor's still talking and talking and hugh can't stop himself. he jerks him up close and kisses him quiet, licking away the taste of mint gum and the burnt coffee they've been drinking all morning.

somehow, natural progression puts taylor on his knees in front of hugh, swallowing his dick down and hugh coming in record time. he's still shaking and trying to get himself together when the boy tucks him back into his jeans, stands and grins.

"real nice meeting you, mr. jackman. i think we're gonna be just fine together."

it takes hugh another 5 minutes to gather himself enough to follow taylor out of the room.



of all the domestic things to do, from brushing your teeth side by side in the mirror to snuggling, wilson's a bit at a loss to explain how they're lying side by side on a lazy sunday morning, sharing the newspaper. he's sure that, at some point, there's a line drawn that says "friend | beyond friend" and that waking up next to house takes them way, way beyond friend.

especially if the inexplicable lack of actual pants is anything to go on.

but domestic and normal have never been two things associated with house. so, instead of reading the latest happenings in Darfur and Russia, wilson's been reading the same two lines of newsprint, letting his coffee grow cold on the nightstand, and trying very, very hard not to explore the warmth in his chest when he feels house scoot just a little closer and the heat pour off his body as their hips barely touch.



mario buckles his seatbelt tighter and looks to his right and left at his competitors. toad and peach look cute, but are little threat to his winning the race. the same could be said for luigi as well, his bike ill-suited for the terrain.

he worries more about bowser and king boo. both of them know the track well, and have allies among the boos that fly in and out of the dark track. mario could use some star power now, he's sure. those two... they're known for bumping riders off the course and while mario trusts that his little kart can handle almost anything...

he tightens his seatbelt one more time and grips the wheel tight. it's getting dark, but he has this race in the bag.



the spray hits carter as they walk out of henry's workshop, and he smiles. "i love a good rainstorm, don't you?" he asks, opening his mouth to catch some of the drops on his tongue.

henry yelps. "no, carter! that's not rain, it's..." carter shakes his head, frowning at the taste. henry sighs. "it's an aphrodisiac we've been working on for pollination.

"excuse me?"

henry points to the lilacs beneath the spray of water. "we've been having trouble getting our bees to pollinate and mate, so we've been working on a chemical that will... speed up their libido."

carter turns to henry, shaking his head. "i need to be quarantined, don't i?"

"and fast." henry watches as carter starts to quickly turn horny and prays that the chemicals wear off as quickly as they go into effect. he needs his clean room for experiments later in the week.