1. Chapter 1

None of these characters are mine, they belong to their respective production companies/authors/etc. No infringement is intended.

I couldn't find it within myself to make 100+ chapters, so I'm posting these in 20-drabble sets.

1-3 are a set, 6-10 are related, and 11-13 go together.

1 (Beginnings) ST09

As Lt Kirk sobbed, Ensign Cho took little James out of her arms for the post-natal tests. He made no noise at the little blood stick, and no one really noticed that Winnie didn't ask for her son back, not until they landed in the _Potemkin_'s bay. She didn't cuddle him to her, but draped him over her shoulder, holding his ankles, the other hand was taken with saluting various people and shaking hands with the welcoming personnel. The sight of such a detached mother turned many stomachs, and luckily for her, no reporters caught her doing so.

2 (Middles) ST09

When Winona sent Jim off to the Institute on Tarsus after the car incident, he went partway by Starfleet vessels heading that direction. Happily for him, one of his 'aunties' was 2IC of the engineering department, and Lt. Cho was head night-shift nurse. They gave him their comm codes, and Kaylee gave him an encryption key that would allow him to use Fed relays to get to them (as if he was an ensign sending reports to his superior). They were bending rules all over the place, but being banished was bad enough, at least he'd have someone to correspond with.

When his letters stopped coming, they passed on their concerns to colleagues in that sector...that was the only reason Jim was still alive when the ships came. When the nets exploded with the reports of a JT who had saved 13 kids from dying with the rest of the kill list, and 4 of whom, along with himself, were among the Tarsus 9, they kept quiet as to his identity, but the _Kelvin_ survivors buzzed at Jim's accomplishment.

3 (Ends) ST09

When the shuttles from the Enterprise landed, the waiting crowd was an interesting mix of family and media. Chekov disappeared under a bevy of older sisters, all twittering away in Russian. Sulu's mother and sister, both almost a foot shorter, had pulled him down into a deep bow to get their arms around his neck. Nyota found Gaila during the trip back, and they were in the center of a large gathering of beautiful African women, likely extended family. Scotty's research group and a woman who had to be a sister all glomped him. Spock and Sarek, with the elders, were met by Sarek's Earth-based staff, to quickly get them to the embassy for proper meditation and care. Bones barely got down the exit stairs before a girl with black braided pigtails ran up, obviously the evil ex had relented (that message he'd sent seemed to help).

Jim had worried that he'd only have a hostile welcoming committee, but instead, there were 20 of the _Kelvin_ survivors, including a Commodore and a Vice Admiral, all smiling through tears (or equivalent expressions). Maybe he did have family, even if they weren't by blood.

4 (Insides) ST09, Scotty's POV

His insides and her insides were linked, if she was low on fuel, he couldn't eat. If she was in danger or sick, he always felt as if he was about to go into cardiac arrest. It was only when she was content that he was happy and relaxed. His friends teased him about it, but he knew they realized how important his Silver Lady was to him.

5 (Outsides) Numb3rs

Going through school so much younger than his peers automatically put him on the outside. He couldn't drink, he couldn't have sex, he still needed more than 6 hours of sleep a night. How many college students had a bedtime, or someone who could enforce it? The answer, of course, was very few. He was young enough that even starting his first doctorate, he was in the young-scholar dorm. Being an outsider continued into adulthood; there aren't many people granted tenure approximately the same time his agemates were finishing their doctorates.

He didn't feel he fit in until he realized he had achieved the American Dream: a house with no mortgage, an attentive partner, and a child who loved to give her daddy heart attacks by trying to swim with the koi every time he looked away for a second.

6 (Hours) ST09

The crowd in the lobby of Cochrane Hall had been growing for hours. First it was the admiralty, then someone in HQ Main Comm leaked the loss of signals from six of the seven ships comprising the secondary fleet, leading the press to show up, including the press officer from practically every embassy or consulate in San Francisco. When the press started to get rowdy, the crew lists were released, with the cavet that there may be survivors from sealed parts of the lost ships. When it became clear that the debris field was basically all of Vulcan airspace, the press officer from the Vulcan embassy was mobbed by her fellows. Thankfully, she was the second Vulcan hybrid, a year and a half younger than her distant cousin, and her only flaw was her telepathy being more like her Betazoid father's than her mother's, allowing her to do her job without being overwhelmed.

7 (Days) ST09

Once Chekov and Sulu had set the course for home at maximum impulse, Spock requested removal from shift rotation for two days. Kirk, realizing that he needed time to grieve, and spend time with his father, complied.

After speaking with his father for 2.34 hours, Spock retired to his quarters to meditate on the last 34 hours. Setting his internal clock to 'awake' him in 36 hours, to allow for a meal and a meeting with T'Pau before he returned to duty, he let himself fall into his mindscape, analyzing his actions, thoughts, and emotions. There was something strange about the emotions he sensed from Kirk while he choked him. Putting that aside, he set about 'cauterizing' the betrothal bond.

When he returned to the physical world, he had regained much of his calm. When he appeared in the mess, Kirk sat across from him long enough to brief him on Scotty and Chekov's calculations regarding air and water maintenance, and their request for his input, and to apologize for the insults.

8 (Weeks) ST09

It took the Enterprise two weeks to get back to Earth, and Bones was about to go spare, since he was on his last hypospray of pain medication and second to last cartridge of wound glue. Pike was stable, but the lack of a fully stocked infirmary had decimated his chances of walking again. Bones was practically a miracle worker, but there was only so much he could do without some of the latest nerve-regenerating drugs and stimulators, things that weren't considered a priority for responding to a distress call.

When the first shuttle landed, they were met by the fifty-odd survivors from the other six ships, who had already been retrieved, treated, and released.

9 (Months) ST09

It took almost two months to fix the Enterprise, especially because over half of the crew had to transfer their attention to passing their final exams before they could take part in fixing their crippled Silver Lady. Since Jim had only two classes, he got to spend his extra time signing off on enough reports that Bones had to give him a half-dose of muscle relaxant in that arm every 48 hours.

Halfway through that time, when Scotty had finally gotten his rank reinstated and his punishment repealed, Keenser and Old-Spock finally made it through isolation. They'd been picked up when the salvage and rescue ships came through, but the extreme cold hadn't benefited either being, and they came down with nasty viruses, then were intensely interviewed: Keenser about Archer's re-upping the duty times without recourse, and Old-Spock, now called Selek, explained the reason behind Nero's rampage, cementing Jim's advancement.

10 (Years) ST09

It had been over 90 years since that little spark in the back of his mind dimmed to an ember, when it suddenly relighted.

/Jim? I was told you died./

::You know full well death isn't always permanent...Spock, I don't know where I am. It's cold, and I seem to be in an ice canyon created by an escape pod.::

/Just a moment, th'y'la, I need to remotely monitor a sensor array to confirm my suspicions./

::You have hunches now? How long have I been gone? I know it has to be at least 78 years.::

/You are aware of your adventure against Soran?/

::Of course. How long has it been?::

/ It has been 94 years, or back 35 years./

::We're in some kind of parallel universe? You don't have a beard, do you?::

/No, th'y'la, but James T. Kirk and Spock cha'Sarek will start their journey together a bit early. This universe's Jim will be granted his Captain's commission in 4.3 days./

::That would make me...25! Really?::

/That is the truth. I will send someone to retrieve you shortly./

11 (Red) Torchwood

Blood was everywhere, and Jack was gasping for air. This would seem to be just another day at the office for Torchwood Cardiff, but this time, it wasn't because of the monster of the day. This time, it was a beating by some drunken fools who objected to Jack and Ianto holding hands as they walked along the waterfront. Ianto, a bloody gash on his forehead, tried to get his eyes to focus, to call PC Andy. He'd been around for one of Jack's revivals, so between the two of them, he could get the idiots taken in for and charged with attempted murder without hospitals getting involved.

12 (Orange) Torchwood

The iodine Jack put on Ianto's face was orange under the blueish lights of the medical bay.

"I'm so sorry, Yan."

"How could you know there was a particularly nasty set of hooligans out and about tonight? Your intentions were good, taking me out on a date after all those evenings in."

"True...Did you at least like the place?"

"Yeah, how'd you hear about it?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I came to Earth as a Time Agent in 2060, and it was **the** restaurant to go to in Cardiff? The sous chef ends up owning it. Now come on, you should be in bed."

13 (Yellow) Torchwood

A week later, most of Ianto's bruises were that gross yellow they turn before disappearing. They didn't hurt, but looked awful, and kept him from going to pick up the coffee beans, as he looked like a victim of severe abuse, and he couldn't have the police realize he was that badly hurt, given what was on record.

Jack was really good about taking him out onto his rooftop vantage point at night, so he hadn't been cooped up too much. They'd also had a bunch of life-affirming sex, as soon as Jack's sensory nerves reconnected, so the week wasn't a total loss, and the Weevils had cooperated, not venturing out for the past few days.

14 (Green) Torchwood The result of watching Star Trek and Torchwood on the same day.

The first time Ianto met an alien in person, it was his third day at Torchwood Three. Thankfully, he was a lost traveler, rather than a danger. He only came to their attention because he got clipped by a motorbike and started bleeding. This would normally not be a problem, but his blood was green, almost the color of cooked brussel sprouts. Once Owen patched him up, and Jack gave him directions, Ianto locked himself in the Archives for a little while and had geek-out. He'd really liked Star Trek as a child, and meeting a humanoid being with green blood and pointy ears was almost too much for his fanboy heart to take.

15 (Blue) Torchwood

Jack's eyes were bluer than a clear January sky, which for some reason, Ianto didn't notice until he'd been working for him for over a month. One would think that he'd have noticed when they were doing all that rolling around while catching Myfanwy, but it wasn't until another kind of rolling around started that he noticed.

In the post-coital haze, he spent almost an hour staring into Jack's eyes, and, out of the blue, so to speak, he said, "Your eyes are so blue...are they part of the whole from-the-future package, the pheromones, the eye color, the immortality?"

"The first two, yes, cross-breeding and evolution collide, but I...I wasn't born immortal. That...that came later, and I hope you never have to find out why."

16 (Purple) Naruto

Her hair shone purple in the light filtering form the hallway as he stroked her bare back. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to be where he was right now. He and Bee were the only demon vessels left, he'd sealed Madera and turned the scroll over to the fire priests to be burned, and he'd been Hokage for three weeks now. The best part, though, was that this was his wedding night, Hinata had abdicated her Headship to marry him. He would have been fine with being lovers, partners, but unmarried, but she insisted. Her last act as Head was to strip the Branch House of the Caged Bird, and reinstate Neji into the Main house. Neji and Hanabi would run the clan together, and soon Tenten would be able to start training Hyuugas in weapons.

17 (Brown) ST09

Brown to most people would be mud, or dirt, or _maybe_ chocolate. To Jim Kirk, it was love, or more specifically, his husband's eyes. This was no normal brown, compared to whiskey of some sort, or hinted with green, it was truly the almost-black color of deep loam, like the tomato patch on his grandparents' farm, or that really good chocolate that was 80% cocoa, just enough oils to stick it together, and some sugar. That was also associated with his love, as it was the reason they were together.

Some genius had given Spock some of said chocolate, which, as a good little (sort of underage) Vulcan, he didn't recognize, not having tried it before. He became immensely tipsy, and Jim had to escort him to his quarters. Halfway back, Spock slammed him against a wall, mumbled something about them being epic, and kissed him passionately on the lips, twining their fingers together scandalously. After a few kisses, Spock collapsed against him, and Jim half-dragged him to the XO quarters, leaving him with a kiss on the forehead and a smile.

The next morning, Spock looked the tiniest bit bleary, but quietly asked Jim if he could speak with him. After a few awkward false starts, he got the point across that he enjoyed the interlude and he had wanted to do that for months. Jim didn't waste time quibbling, he grabbed Spock's hand and laid a kiss on the pad of his thumb, then hurried off to shift.

18 (Black) Star Trek Spock!Prime being sentimental.

The darkness of space could, by turns, be desolate or magnificent, depending on on one's mood. Tonight, looking out the observation deck windows, he was in awe of its expanse. It amazed him that he had been to so many worlds, around so many of the stars he could see. The only damper on the moment was that he did not have his friends at his side. He was growing old, and he was growing romantic, so in his memories he saw one whose hair, and temper, shared a hue with the surrounding darkness. The other, the one he was ashamed of missing more, was a being of sunshine, though his hair had darkened to a muddy brown in his later years...before his untimely death. Without his conscious knowledge, his mood had become as dark as his clothing, it was far past time to meditate.

19 (White) Sherlock Whether this is after TGG, or something else, not sure

The snow was never white in London, it turned a dingy grey within minutes of falling past the level of the taller buildings. In many ways, this made it better, as pure snow was painful to look at, as he'd relearned quickly when he got to the Afghanistan mountains. He'd learnt snow was painfully white (and bright) when he was very small, as by the first time he actually remembered visiting his grandmother outside of Stirling, he knew to pull his hat down and his muffler up so he peered through a small slit. Now, he had found a new definition of white, his flatmate, unconscious, in the hospital. The lights in a hospital make everyone look washed out, even when flushed, but Sherlock, who could almost be mistaken for albino, if not for his hair, looked almost blue, like skimmed milk, he was so white.

20 (Colorless) Harry Potter

The water in the bath should have been clear, colorless but for reflections from the tiles on the bottom. Instead, it was tinted red. He'd been found by a Prefect who decided he needed a bath in the middle of the night. The Final Battle had been a week ago, all of the victory parties had finished, and most of the funerals too. Now there would be one more, a hero's funeral, for one who could not go on now that his work was done. At least that was the general thought, until a sniffling brunette going through her best friend's things, found a worn envelope under the pillow of the abandoned bed; it contained a clipping of the Four Champions, a letter dated 24 June 1995, and a cord with a claddagh on it.

_**My dearest,**_

_** After its all over, meet me at our place.**_

_** If you aren't there by midnight, I'll assume you decline.**_

_**CD**_

_**My love, my answer would have been yes.**_


	2. Chapter 2

None of these characters are mine, they belong to their respective production companies/authors/etc.

A note: 21 and 22, then 31 and 32 go together.

21 (Friends) Harry Potter

Ron and Hermione had been his friends for over six years. In that time, they had tagged along with him on his adventures, but always left him, or were left behind when the main conflict arose.

Ron and Hermione went with him past Fluffy, but he faced Quirrelmort at the mirror alone.

Hermione provided the clue, and Ron went with him into the tunnels, but Harry faced Riddle's memory alone.

Yes, Hermione was there with her time-turner to save Sirius and Buckbeak, but she cowered in the background while he cast his first corpereal Patronus under duress.

Ron abandoned him for a month, and Hermione helped him look for spells, but he braved the maze, and the cemetery alone. They weren't there to talk to him after his nightmares.

They came with him to the Department of Mysteries, but were out of the game long before he faced off with Voldemort and his dismissal to school like a baby. They were no help when he realized he truly was marked for death.

Neither of them believed him, that Draco was up to something. He was alone with the, frankly, quite senile Headmaster during the incursion.

They were there for the horocrux search, but Ron left them. He walked to his death alone. True, he didn't really want an honor guard, that would defeat the purpose, but them leaving off the snogging to give him a hug when it was all over would have been nice.

22 (Enemies) Harry Potter

Dudley was his oppressor, but he never really hated him. Dudley didn't even hate him, really, despite what Vernon wrought. They will never be close, but when Dudley's daughter Rosemary started levitating things, he wrote him for advice.

Draco was a child forced into adult things, he could not hate him for that. He was his mirror reflection. They still snarked at each other daily, but it was all in good fun.

Snape was the boogieman of his younger days, mostly because of Dumbledore's meddling. First impressions and initial perspective is everything, at least until you see he loved your mother with all he was, and never truly got over her death. He came to respect the older man so much he named his 'mini-me' after him. Asp was his legacy, and ended up in the house of his name.

Voldemort was the dark cloud over his life. He was the root of all his problems, yet, all he could think of was how much the 10-year-old Tom he'd seen in Albus's memory reminded him of himself the days before his own letter came. Voldemort was the enemy, but Tom was practically his twin (evil twin, but twin nonetheless).

Dumbledore didn't intend to be his enemy, but he was too much of a chessmaster to let Harry in on all his secrets, causing a number of incidents where people died 'for the greater good', or just stupidly. There could have been _**training**_. He'd found out, after the fact, that Tonks, Kingsley, and Remus had all offered to each visit one evening a week starting the middle of fifth year, to basically put him through Hit-Wizard boot camp, but Dumbledore had declined.

23 (Lovers) Harry Potter

His first kiss was Charlie Watson, when he was eight, and Dudley and Piers saw them. Charlie found a teacher, but Harry ended up cornered next to the rubbish bins, causing his first large bout of accidental magic since he left Godric's Hollow (not that he knew that until much later). His first kiss with a girl was two weeks later, when Chastity Pitts was dared to. She smeared chap-stick all over his cheek.

The night before the third task, Cedric kissed him for the first time, and their next kiss was during Harry's little meltdown upon Portkeying back.

The kiss with Cho _was_ wet, as he'd told Ron, but...he'd been crying almost as much as she had, and most of the flush everyone assumed was a blush was a slap-print. He'd made the mistake of telling her he'd gotten Cedric's last kiss.

The kiss with Ginny was about as un-mutual is you could get. He just stood there in shock. He'd never had a carnal thought about her, so he didn't know why she thought he wanted that, mistletoe or not.

Tonks snogged him as a joke, and he knew it, especially as she had her hand twined with Remus' the whole time. Remus mock-growled at him, but Harry's eyes were so wide that they both ended up chuckling.

After the war, he fell into a relationship with Ginny, from a lack of direction, mostly. They were engaged, and never went past a bit of groping, as Harry wanted to save that for their wedding night, but then...

At the ball for the second anniversary of the end of the War, Harry got a bit drunk, and ended up with Draco Malfoy in a storage closet, and literally came out of the closet when Ron and Hermione wanted to use said closet. Luckily, Luna was the only one with a camera, but his debauched face was the cover of every periodical for weeks. By the fourth-anniversary ball, Harry was glowing with pregnancy.

24 (Family) Torchwood

Jack hadn't had a family in over a hundred years, since the day he finally gave up on his mother forgiving him for losing Gray. He almost had, back during that time-loop with John, when he'd gotten pregnant. When they'd escaped, the doctor at the Agency's hospital had aborted the child while he was asleep, letting him wake up to the horrible cramps that were his body ejecting the whole 'mess' as they termed it. He had almost felt part of a family when he was with the Doctor and Rose. If it weren't for his little 'issue' with the Doctor being unable to look at him, he would have been content forever.

Now, his family was a young Welshman. The first time he'd kissed him, the golden mist, what he theorized was a tiny sliver of the Time Vortex, reached for this wonderful boy. He kept kissing him, as much as possible, so he wouldn't lose him.

25 (Strangers) Criminal Minds Jack Hotchner's POV

Daddy always told him to never talk to strangers, but there were all kinds of egg-ceptions, strangers he was allowed to ask questions, like policemen, and teachers, and store-clerks (if he got lost). What Daddy never told him was that his superhero league was actually policemen, sorta. That meant that when Daddy invited them over for a cook-out, he didn't know he could talk to them, so he saw the tall man with the girl hair get sadder and sadder when he didn't laugh at the 'physics magic'.

The man Daddy called Reid was almost out the gate when Daddy touched his arm, and he heard Daddy ask why he was leaving before the food was ready. Daddy made a funny face, then gently pulled Reid back into the yard.

"Jack, this is my friend, Spencer. He isn't a stranger. Besides, all my friends from work are like policemen."

"But I thought they were your helpers, like Robin is for Batman?"

"Then you should definitely talk to them, right?"

26 (Teammates) Criminal Minds

My co-workers became my family over the past years. My mother is always on my mind, but they are the ones who are there for me, day-to-day.

Elle was...brittle, in ways I didn't really realize until she broke. She was what I always imagined an older sister would be.

Gideon was a father-figure, but I never let him in, William damaged that part of me too much. I was devastated when Jason left, but I also was just numb. I'm used to being left behind.

I used to think of Morgan as the embodiment of everything that hurt me in high school, until I found out his high school years were even worse than mine, in many ways. I still don't like it when he calls me 'Pretty Boy', though. I'm never sure whether to take it as teasing or a compliment.

Garcia, not many people know this, but we knew each other back at Cal Tech, I was a TA for one of her math classes, as weird as that sounds. It wasn't until recently that I found out why she left. We still laugh about how she appointed herself to 'Spencer nourishment patrol' after finding out I'd forgotten to eat for two days while writing a term paper.

Emily was the newbie, and was shoved on us by Strauss, something we all resented. She also started at the worst time, as she'd only been with us for a few weeks before Georgia. I regret snapping at her so much back then.

JJ...I'm honored by her naming me Henry's godfather. I'm not sure why Gideon misinterpreted my relationship with her so badly, but the forced interaction made us better friends.

Hotch is a great leader, and I wish he had more latitude, sometimes. In many ways, I wish he felt he could take Strauss's job, as it would give us a better oversight person, and he wouldn't have to leave Jack as much.

Rossi is difficult. He is both someone to idolize, and someone I wanted to punch in the face his first few weeks back. I guess I consider him the crotchety uncle who seems to know everything, but no one wants to listen to until the world's about to end.

27 (Parents) Harry Potter

Three days after the Final Battle, on the day of the Lupin funerals, Andromeda handed him Teddy and some official-looking papers.

"They wanted you to raise him if they couldn't, you're his godfather."

He objected, but she made suggestions on how he could complete his schooling: he could stay with them and she'd tutor him, or, since there was some talk of extending the school year by 6 weeks, staying at the school in the interim.

When Ginny heard about Teddy, she was quick to make her thoughts clear. She wasn't going to put up with a child not her own in their house. Harry blew up at her, making it clear that Teddy was his first priority. Besides, was she really suggesting they start popping out the kids that soon? They hadn't even done more than kiss a few times! She stormed off, and Harry felt he was well shot of her.

"Hey, Teddy. Your Daddy is gone, but I'll be your Papa. The question is, will you have a Tad or a Mummy?"

28 (Children) Harry Potter

Children should be free to be children until they are not. That is the general thought by society, and one I didn't have the freedom to enjoy. I lost my parents while still a baby, and started working as my family's servant, taking a mother's responsibilities. My uncle and aunt were, in many ways, like children, while I was not: they relied on someone for food and shelter. I got the groceries, cooked, cleaned up after meals, and even planned the meals to begin with. The house was given to Petunia by my mother as a wedding present, and I keep it clean and in good repair. Dudley, despite being almost six weeks older, is still a child at 20, while I'm on my own and engaged to be married. Now, with a baby boom in force, I get a chance to play with the children who seem to be everywhere, and be what I never was, a child.

29 (Birth) Covert Affairs

Waking up at Rammstein was like being a newborn again. Physically, his eyelids were glued together, he could barely lift his arms, he was slimed up with lotion to keep the scars from being too bad and also not crack from the hosipital air, and, horror of horrors, he had a catheter and a liquid diet. Mentally, it was like being a little baby again. He had to rediscover how to do things without sight, explore the world anew. He must have driven the orienteering and occupational therapy people mad, with how hard he pushed himself, he knew Joan thought _he_ was nuts. Then he became a person again, and though his duties were different, and he'd had to redesign his apartment, he was Auggie Anderson again.

30 (Death) Twilight Rose's POV

Dying is strange. Usually, one thinks of dying as a gradual process, each day bringing you closer to that state, but what can prepare you for sudden death? Yes, being in a war zone, neglecting one's health, or driving irresponsibly, predisposes one to that possibility, but what of virulent sickness, where a week stands between normal life and a coffin, or helping at a soup kitchen and getting shot as you walk through the surrounding neighborhood (this probably counts as a war zone, but still...)?

None of these were my experience. I was preparing for my wedding, and my fiance decided his last night of freedom should include joining his friends in anticipating the vows, and forcing me. I died in pain, and then, as I was dying, I just _stopped_. I took my revenge, but all this talk of anticipating one's sudden death, if I could actually be nauseated, I would be perpetually walking around with a hand over my mouth. I want to go up to her and smack her for _wanting_ this, _wishing_ for this frozen state. It is not death, it is not even deathlessness, it is...freezing, as frozen as our flesh.

30a Torchwood

He'd been a waiter at this restaurant throughout most of his time at uni. He'd impressed his boss with his ability to remember a whole table's orders with specifics, and many people's 'usuals'. This talent seemed to have caught someone else's attention also. A large group of office people, probably from Canary Wharf Tower, had been coming in everyday for a week. His last day working there, a week after he finished up his degree, the head lady, a Ms. Hartman, gave him her card, 'in case he wanted a job'.

He accepted not long afterwards, and was hired as an archivist. He didn't realize until he'd worked there for six months that there was something strange about the objects he cataloged. He went looking, and found the holding cells. This was the death of his innocence.

31 (Sunrise) Harry Potter

I've seen many sunrises, sitting in my window. I've always been an early riser, even when there is no light level to indicate what time it is. I think I'm one of the few people who wakes up at 6:15 no matter the time of year or the weather, unless I'm really ill, and then I'll wake at 6:15 and gauge the situation (Dursley's, get up; Hogwart's weekend, wallow). Today, though, I wasn't sure the sun would rise. I couldn't believe the sun was out, that the sky wasn't crying with me, like it did sometimes back on Privet Drive. Sirius is gone, and I'm alone.

32 (Sunset) Harry Potter July 1, 1996 full moon rises at 8:30, sunset in London is 9:21.

The moon is about to rise, and sunset is soon thereafter. It's been less than two weeks since Sirius...'died' I supposed is the best word, as no one knows how to get him back, and Gringott's has declared him dead. I'm waiting in the basement of Headquarters, doped up on Wolfsbane. I would have refused, but I'm not that suicidal, to desire shifting un-medicated while Moony is mourning. When I last saw Harry, when we warned the blob off bothering Harry, I was ready to go over and pull him in for a hug, maybe ask if he'd give me one of his old Weasley sweaters, to have his scent near me this first shift alone in almost two years, proof that Cub is still alive. I didn't get a chance to ask, Moody doesn't stand for dilly-dallying.

I feel the moon, the sky is growing dark...

33 (Too Much) Numb3rs

Sometimes the numbers overwhelm me, until I feel like I'm about to drown. Usually, I can 'swim' out, keep my head above water until the swell subsides. It truly feels like a surfing wipe out, I'm going along, I'm fine, then a tiny change happens, and I'm falling, stuck under something for a moment, then slogging to a safe spot.

Don worries about me when this happens, but often, he is the cause. I see the risks he operates under, and my brain gets caught up in calculating how likely it is that I'll be sitting shiva starting the next morning. Then, _**he**_ throws me a life-ring, a kiss hoisting me up against the boards, and I'm drowning a different way.

34 (Not Enough) Criminal Minds

I can't get enough. I am never sated, I am endlessly craving, I yearn.

There are so many people who think they know what it is to be addicted. Caffeine may seem like a necessity, but how many people have muscle spasms or nausea if they don't have a cup in the morning? Not many. I drink a lot of coffee, but its more as a vehicle for sugar.

My first addiction was words. I got hooked at age two, when I sat in on Mom's poetry seminar. Words are miraculous, and I will never give them up.

My second addiction was the one people know about, Diludid. I have beaten that one, I've been clean for almost three years.

My third addiction is very recently acquired. I got my first taste two weeks ago, and a day without is enough to start withdrawal. What is this exceedingly potent drug, you ask? Aaron Hotchner.

35 (Sixth Sense) Criminal Minds

No one ever asked why I'm afraid of the dark, and I don't think they'd believe me if I did tell them. That answer I gave Morgan and JJ was completely fake, but I'm not about to tell them about what I see in the dark places of the world. They'd probably laugh at me and put me in Bennington, in the room next door to my mother, if I told them that when we go to crime scenes, often the victim is standing over themselves, crying, or run to me and throw their spiritual arms around me and start babbling about the killer.

My first experience with the visible dead was when I was eight, and a familiar cat slept in my bed for three weeks after Maddie, the girl next door, buried her beloved pet. It wasn't that traumatic, but then, when Alexa and her lot tied me up to the goalposts, I spent half the night getting pinched and poked by the spirits from the adjacent graveyard. I wanted to scream at my mother for not even noticing how scared I was when I got home.

Morgan made me watch a number of Bruce Willis movies with him over the years, and I had to hold in hysterics when Morgan kept replaying the part where the little boy tells him about his 'disorder'. I _do_ see dead people.

36 (Smell) Covert Affairs

Since the accident, perfumes which used to be pleasant are nauseating. The clouds around some people extend far enough that I sometimes can smell someone before I hear them. This, of course, freaks people out, but is very useful when I'm in the middle of something (therefore wearing my earphones), and can smell Annie or Joan next to me. It also allows me to steer clear of Jai, another bonus.

What I told Annie her first day is true, grapefruit is preferable to other scents. I was shocked to find, upon meeting Natasha again, that she doesn't shower as often as I'm used to. I had to steel myself on the train not to react to the heavy perfume odor covering her musk...a truly nasty combination.

37 (Sound) Covert Affairs

The occupational therapists told me countless times that my other senses would make up for the loss. I didn't believe them until I learned that even without the laser cane, I could echo-locate pretty well as long as I was walking with a woman in heels. That tap-tap-tap is better than those stupid clicker things they wanted me to try. Yet another reason to enjoy flirting, if it lets me 'see' again.

38 (Touch) Star Trek

My world is dark, guaranteed by the blindfold he placed over my eyes, trusting me to stay still enough to keep it there. His long fingers, the pads leaving a tingle behind, my human nervous system's interpretation of touch-telepathy projections, brush lightly across my chest. He sends a little shock of sensation through my nipple, almost like the feeling of the piercing I had there, once upon a time. I try not to writhe, but...I need him to spread those tingles to other places. A small smack on my hip, and I quit my movements. He's obviously staring at me, as I can feel his body in a long line against my side, but nowhere else. His fingers trace my lips, and I poke my tongue out to lick at them. He gasps, and leans in...I'm such a manipulative bastard, I made him follow _my_ lead now.

39 (Taste) Numb3rs

For a very long time, I truly didn't know what it meant to be a Federal Agent, Don had kept me far away from the grim realities of that life. Battlefields were always an abstraction, the data I received was sanitized, so many dead in such and such a place. Now, I've gotten the tiniest look at that life through the clearest of eyes, my lover, who has experienced both. Afghanistan is a scary place, but also beautiful. He has nightmares, but he also can expound for hours on the scenery he spent three years among. One of the best things is that when the Afghani wife of one of his men opened a restaurant with her friends, he took me with him, and _damn_, was the food good.

40 (Sight) Numb3rs

My training instilled a need for a line-of-sight to everywhere in a room, which makes pushing my lover against a wall a battle in instincts. Dominance in love, versus safety precautions. We were enjoying a tender goodbye (didn't ever think I'd use that phrase) in the CalSci parking lot with me watching the mirrors, when a car backfired (I didn't think there were cars around anymore with that ability, other than my father's old farm truck). I grabbed him and pulled us both down in the seats, leaving me to peek out the bottoms of the windows. Crisis absent, I let him get out before he was late for his own lecture.


	3. Chapter 3

The various characters belong to their creators, no infringement is intended.

45 and 46 go together, 44 and 48 go together, though technically 48 is first, 56-58 are a set.

41 (Shapes) Sherlock

There was a murder (rather disgusting disembowelment involved), no evidence to speak of, until Greg called in Freak-and-friend (don't make me laugh, Sherlock Holmes doesn't have friends, flatmate, maybe, but not friend). Freak somehow picked up that the intestines were laid out in figures. A triangle, and square, and another triangle. He somehow got that the murderer was a Freemason (I didn't know we had those here, I thought they were an American thing). There's a butcher, the guy's girlfriend's ex-husband, who lives at 4 Packer Row, and that's that, pretty solid suspect. Freak, despite my whining about his horning in, really is kinda amazing.

42 (Triangle) Torchwood

Given my normal behavior, I was sent behind enemy lines as a plant, so I could get access to a suspected alien artifact being used to torture accused homosexuals at one of the camps. We staged an airplane crash, as it was easy enough to make papers for me based on my old forged documents, which despite being dated three months ago, look 100 years old.

I digress. Three boys in SS uniforms, barely looked like they shaved, were perfect targets. I flirted, I got sent off to the camp I needed to investigate, with the addition of a bright pink triangle, it looked like they washed some new red long-johns with white wool. It turns out the device was a sexual aid, but the race that created it had much thicker skin, less conductive nerves, and what would probably, for them, be like cuddle-drugs, make humans writhe in agony from the cold table, the rough cloth, the sunlight, etc. Now if only the pink hadn't leeched out of the fabric and stained me, giving me a strawberry birthmark for a week, not exactly a turn-on.

43 (Square) Numb3rs

Its funny how 'boring' people were once called squares. I suppose its a traditional shape for a table, especially one where you want the children to be far enough apart to not be able to kick each other, but how is that indicative of familial happiness? It's a good shape for a picture-frame, a family portrait showing how happy everyone is in their uncomfortable dress clothes. Yeah, right. A double bed is close to a square, and that has to be one of the more stereotypical indications of a happy home, though who's to say someone isn't sleeping in it alone, or sharing it with a lover outside the strictures of matrimony, or even just two siblings sharing as children.

My father was among the throng that accused people of being squares, and he ended up as one of them, in many ways. He was still all for social change and progress, but he had a wife, two sons, and a woodie station wagon parked in front of a suburban house. I now live in that house with my male lover, soon to be husband, and our three adopted children. Funny, isn't it, the categories people create.

44 (Circle) HP/LOTR xover

Circles are an integral part of my lives (yes, that was plural). I am on my second life, yet I am no cat. Almost 23 years into my first life, I was killed doing my duty. The Valar, since I had done such good, called me to their realm, where I started over in a new world.

As for the circles, of course, there were the vicious cycles: In Favor, Tarnished, Hated, Regained Trust. All this through no real actions on my part. But it has truly been the rings which have figured strongly. First, the Resurrection Stone, one of the reasons I am here now. Then there was the engagement ring I offered, which someone objected to, and manufactured an ambush to gain me for themselves, the raid during which I died. I cannot die, though, so instead, I was remade in Aman, at the Beginning. There I lived happily as the second to Lady Vaire, who in my old world would be called Fate, and her husband, Lord Namo. I didn't have much to do for over an Age, then came Alquelonde, when I started to meet many interesting people, in my capacity as keeper of the Halls when Namo could not. Then came the Rings. Namo suggested I be sent as one of the Five, but Manwe said no. Instead, I became Olorin's shadow, called at need when trouble came. He had need of me to watch over little Frodo, and as a messenger, but mostly, I got to visit Glorfindel and bother Ateriel.

The War was hard on all my friends, for me, it was a horrible reminder of another dark lord with a fea-container. Now, at least the Three are all here in Aman again, and the debate is on whether to unmake them.

45 (Moon) Harry Potter

My names are all reminders.

Remus: one of the two brothers suckled by a she-wolf, the younger brother to Romulus, the founder of Rome.

Lupin: lupine, like a wolf.

Did my parents realize what they were naming me? Or did Greyback choose me for that reason, other than Father annoying him? I wasn't quite his usual type, I wasn't a 'pretty boy', like most of the Black boys, but he probably avoided them out of professional courtesy. Fenrir doesn't strike me as one for irony, but hey.

Even my nickname is telling...Moony: self-explanatory, a reference to my 'furry little problem'.

There is only one name I answer to that doesn't refer to that part of me. _Couer_. Both of my partners couldn't speak French to save their lives, but they learned how to not butcher that one word, for me.

46 (Star) Harry Potter

Names in my family have been about Astronomy for ages, probably because some forefather thought they were the next best thing in grandeur to unpronounceable Celtic names, or a dearth of Latin names. Uncle Al told me that it was because a powerful Druidess ran off with a Roman, and they needed a common theme that wouldn't get her killed. Astronomy seemed safe.

Anyway, I've hated my name, and as soon as I could, I wanted to change it, preferably to Potter. Henry and Edith, James' parents, offered, but Mother headed off all paperwork before any officials saw it. Sirius, I would have kept, if for no other reason than that it references Padfoot. Orion would have been out with the dishwater, I never wanted my father's name. Black, only if it was Dro or Uncle Al.

47 (Heart) Star Trek

We have weathered another Pon Farr with little injury beyond two nasty love-bites (please remind me to clean them out, k'diwa), and a number of excessive-use muscle strains (on both of our parts). Now, we rest after using the tricorder the Bones gave us to gauge whether we must stir ourselves from our nest here in our quarters. For some reason, he had a need to redecorate a week ago, pulling both of the mattresses and all the pillows, even the cushions and the bolster from the reading chairs, into a corner. For now, we are resting, dozing, readying ourselves to enter the wider world again. His head is on my chest, listening. My hand is on his side, I can feel the flutter that I so missed, during those horrible few months I thought I was a widower, when I wasn't sure he'd ever remember me, even if he was alive. But now, we drift, relishing each other's heartbeats, and celebrate winning those vital organs from the other.

48 (Diamond) Harry Potter the raid from 44

All this fuss over a small stone. I've seen other stones which elicited this level of uproar, but they were the Ring of the Hallows, or the opal believed to be from Merlin's staff, or even the ward-stone for Tintagel. The world seems to be going crazy that I've bought a ring for Draco.

Its been three days since I asked him for his hand, and he gave tonight as his self-imposted deadline, but I was called out for a public disturbance while I was cooking dinner. I called Kreacher to watch the roast and reported in.

It was a trap! Ginerva and Percival Weasley orchestrated a plot to get her married to Potter. They intended to kidnap him, but something went very wrong, he fought back more than they thought, and she stabbed him. Harry Potter is dead. Draconis Malfoy, as the listed next-of-kin other than another Weasley (Ronald), has been told.

49 (Club) Harry Potter

The Slug Club Christmas party is tonight, and I need to be there, though 'crashing' a party goes against all my mother taught me about manners, it is necessary to keep her safe. A matter that troubles me is that I _wasn't_ invited. According to rumor, milord was a member in his school days, Uncle Sev and Father too, not to mention Lily Evans Potter. Now Potter, Weaselette, and Beaver-girl are invited, and Blaise...I could strangle him for his haughtiness on the train.

In any case, I need a chance to talk to Slughorn in a relatively informal setting. Uncle Sev is being very cagey lately, and I need to speak to someone.

50 (Spade) Criminal Minds

It was incongruous, the shovel standing upright in the dirt at the base of the slide. This was no child's sand-castle-making shovel, but a ditch-digging adult-size one. The crime-scene techs were already encasing the handle in paper bags and carefully dislodging it from the soil, ready to place the head in a plastic evidence bag. Three hours ago, there were children using that slide during an after-school care program, which gave them a strict timeline, the unsub likely didn't do anything until after 4:30, when the children went inside to be picked up at the front of the building.

This wasn't the first time a place which should be a haven was desecrated. Reid always brought up the incipient shoot-out at a backyard birthday party, where one of the mothers took a picture of Hotch, gun out, silhouetted against balloons. This juxtaposition was especially strange, as the case's first victim, never found in three years, had been a teacher's aide here.

51 (Water) Twilight

No matter where they went, it seemed they always ended up near a body of water.

They couldn't go swimming, as the dreary places also tended to be cool most of the year (it would be pretty suspicious if they habitually went swimming when the water temperature was below 60), and besides, they were too dense to swim correctly. Emmett had tried, and ended up walking back to shore after doing a running jump into Lake Champlain. Luckily, it was a half-hour before sunrise, so they had time to get home before any humans were awake to see his man-bits sparkling (he'd decided to return to his roots and go skinny-dipping).

52 (Fire) Naruto

The will of fire is part of all of Hi no Kuni's citizens, but especially for its shinobi, the shadows of the leaf. The chief shadow, he whose title is fire shadow, must possess the will of fire in excess, for his flames lights others. Yet Konoha's primary fire-wielding clan is basically gone; the two remaining individuals want to raze the place to bare stone, the third, recently dead, left the village at 13, on a mission which left him in disgrace. The Fire lives on, though, especially brightly in a boy of the wind. He also is fire, but for that he was hated, until he used said fire to save those who did so.

52a Harry Potter

I've been watching over my little love ever since I fell. I wish my death wasn't what put the fire out in his eyes. He used to glow so with happiness, now there are only embers. My death broke him, smothered his fire, and there isn't anyone to stoke it anew. I'm not even sure he would allow it. Sometimes, I can see flickers, as if his spirit is trying to relight, but it is only in the heat of battle, when he needs to protect people, that he comes close to being alive, anymore.

_Love, let me go. I wanted to be your first and only, but that will never be. Let another's flame relight yours, let someone else touch your heart, do not let it grow cold. You thrive on love, do not let the cold shrivel your soul._

53 (Earth) Harry Potter

My great-uncle once told me I'd never be more than a farmer, barely talented enough to run the estate. His treatment of me was, in hindsight, quite appalling. My various older relatives never seemed to realize that when I did the weeding, the weeds stayed gone, and when I took care of Gran's roses, even when she decided to prune them while she had a cold and cut one poorly, they thrived. I truly have a green thumb. I bred the plants which protected the manor, I created the herb cross-breed that was instrumental in curing those driven mad by Cruciatus. Unfortunately, most of them died before they realized I'd been using the wrong wand, before I was the one granted Gryffindor's sword to ensure that evil snake died, to permit one of my only friends to vanquish the man who had ruled both of our lives. The earth may be humble, but it is also is rock, and tree, and all that endures for centuries.

54 (Air) Harry Potter

There are very few people who have experienced how hard air can be at high speeds, and even then, they wear some form of protective coverings. I, on the other hand, fell for over twelve seconds, during a thunderstorm, dressed in what amounted to street clothes and swim goggles. I didn't really notice the sensation at the time, given the fear and cold from the Dementors, but after I was all warmed up, I remembered how like a feather or leaf I felt, buffeted around, actually going upward at times. I've since felt the sensation of flying without a broom (Snape's and Tom's flying spell—basically self-levitation), but nothing can compare to feeling at the mercy of nature to that extent.

55 (Spirit) Sherlock

For someone who prides themselves on, and is notorious for their level of observational detail, I am quite disappointed in myself for not noticing. In my defense, I had no observational evidence suggesting the existence of a soul, disregarding that rumor that the body loses 21 grams at the moment of death. That's more likely to be something having to do with loss of body tone.

I got off-topic. I gained evidence of the existence of the spirit, whether it is as a product of synaptic patterns, or a little ghost inside each of us that gives us life (though the latter is quite silly), when I saw John in the hospital after The Pool Incident. There is something about his manner when he is in full health that makes him seem bigger and less dull than he is now. Now, connected to all manner of machines to keep him alive, he is small and ordinary, nowhere close to my running-into-danger partner. Perhaps I need to re-diagnose myself, for a sociopath could not feel this way about another person.

56 (Breakfast) Criminal Minds 3/3

I woke up this morning to sunlight and the smell of pancakes. This is not exactly normal, nor is the sensation of being nude anywhere besides the bathroom, and that decontamination zone, not that I want to think about that. Though, given what Derek and I did last night, I suspect he wanted to answer differently that day. Once I smell coffee, I'll get up, but for now, I'll luxuriate in knowing that Derek wants me, and perhaps I'll even meander out to the kitchen in his discarded shirt, as I can see from here that mine is missing buttons.

I can hear Spencer rustling around in bed, and once these pancakes are off the heat, I'll head in there with coffee, once I find that vat-cup I planned to give him for his birthday. Our first, of hopefully many, mornings together deserves that small celebration.

57 (Lunch) Criminal Minds 1/3

Reid and I eat lunch together pretty often, but that's because we're co-workers with similar eating schedules. Well, rather, Reid's ready to eat again after a bagel, four cups of coffee, and two Powerbars dispersed across four hours. I'm just ready for lunch. There's no subtext to it, despite what Garcia says.

Morgan seems to tailor his day to me, which is, frankly, mildly creepy. He's also started looking at my mouth when I'm eating, which is the reason I've started keeping extra shirts in my desk, I get so nervous I spill coffee or soup, or something, on myself

58 (Dinner) Criminal Minds 2/3

Morgan dragged me out for dinner when we returned from an away case. It's ten-thirty at night, so I'm not sure how many places are open, but I am hungry. He says he knows a place...It turns out to be a neighborhood hole-in-the-wall, where he's a common fixture. The proprietors' house is one of Morgan's remodels. It is _really_ good Piedmont food, we should drag Rossi here sometime, he'd have fun.

Pretty Boy's obviously uncomfortable, but he seems to adore Catalina as much as I do, and she's about ready to adopt him, if only to stuff him full of honey pastries. He doesn't realize how animated he looks when he gets on a topic he likes, which, come to think of it, is practically everything. I can't help but be riveted.

59 (Food) Star Trek

My relationship with food has been rocky for almost half my life, and I am now among the least affected. This may surprise people, but I was on the kill-list, mostly for my allergies, which used to be even worse. The immune system damage actually was good for something, it got rid of 40% of my sensitivities. Yeah, I get one more cold a year, but being able to actually eat cookies (wheat, eggs, chocolate), or kiss someone without asking what they had for lunch (shellfish, wheat, soy, peanuts), is a relief. I still need to set an alarm on my chrono so I don't go more than 12 hours without eating. Just ask anyone from high school what happened when I got thrown into the pool without allowing me to remove my watch: I didn't eat for three days, until the lunch ladies reported me.

60 (Drink) Criminal Minds

My father drank, and when he drank, it was always to excess. When he drank to excess, he lost all control on his temper. Sometimes, he'd smack my mother, but usually, he'd smack me. The one time Mom tried to leave him, he dug out her riding crop, from when she rode dressage before they were married, and used it on my back hard enough that he told the ER doctor I fell on barbed wire.

I rarely drink more than one serving in a night, sometimes two if the case was bad. When I do, I make sure its while I'm shut in my office, or out with the team. I will _never_ make my wife and child see me that way.


	4. Chapter 4

I own none of the included characters, they belong to the various creators/production companies, etc.

68-72, and then 77+79 go together

Keep in mind that I wrote most of these a year ago, so Sherlock and Glee stuff is now very out of date.

61 (Winter) Star Trek

I face the winter of my life alone. I knew this would happen as soon as I realized a large fraction of my friends were human. With even the longevity engendered by modern medicine, the good doctor and Mr Scott lived into their 130s, whereas I still had at least another 70 years. Now, I am surrounded by the very young counterparts to all of them, with this Jim cementing that I feel so old, gaining the captaincy at 25 years of age, my counterpart granted the rank of full Commander at 28. Even those I considered old at the time, such as Komack and, I'm shocked to find that Archer is still around, with a puppy trailing after him. He's only 30 years younger than T'Pau and T'Pol, who are considered elders, though not the eldest in age, and I am older than all of them by a good margin. I digress; this new world is...cold for me.

62 (Spring) Twilight

March was both the best and worst time to hunt, as all the animals were out of hibernation, but they could not, in good conscience, eat a female still nursing, which meant the big bears and deer were off-limits. This put Emmett in a bad mood, as he truly did live to wrestle bears...well, that and keep Rosie happy.

April was a nasty month for them, as it tended to have the most days where the rain stopped mid-day, and didn't return, which made for awkward excuses, and they had to take turns faking illness to get a cause to leave, to escort their sibling home, and take just enough time to not make it feasible to return that day.

May was actually nice, as it was the time of flowers, which made Esme, Alice, and Edward happy, and the weaning of most of that year's animal babies, so Emmett was happy. It was almost the end of the year, and therefore Edward, if they were new to a place, got lots of girls mobbing him to take them to the prom, and Rosie got hit on endlessly unless Emmett was there.

63 (Summer) CSI:NY

This would, no matter his situation in life, be baseball season. He no longer played, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy watching, or helping a friend coach Little League. He'd even a few years ago, signed on to talk to high school and college athletes about their options when playing was no longer feasible. Mostly he told them to keep their grades up and pick the hardest classes they could take without a breakdown, because if they got hurt, they'd have a fallback plan.

He also did other season-appropriate activities, like swimming, but that usually meant he got stuck watching all of his cousins' kids while the 'adults' go out to dinner or chat. In any other family, that wouldn't be so bad, but his family yielded three or four kids per couple, and he had 15 cousins, most of whom were married with kids.

64 (Fall) Harry Potter

A fall caused my fall, which I credit for Tom's fall.

When I fell from my broom during the Dementor attack my third year, Cedric was among my only visitors, other than the group waiting around when I awoke. We got to talking, and found that we had a lot in common. Despite our different year levels, we had a really interesting talk about defensive charms theory during which I didn't feel horribly lost.

We met up on Saturday mornings after breakfast, when most of our respective groups of friends were still attempting not to drown in their porridge. Sometimes we'd talk, sometimes we'd fly, sometimes we'd go to the library and companionably work on our homework from adjacent desks. Eventually, Hermione asked me if Cedric had kissed me yet. I didn't know how to answer, as I hadn't realized I'd had a boyfriend for three months. We finally did kiss while he was relaxing after his History OWL.

When Cedric died, I was sure I'd die of heartbreak, whether from malnutrition, or recklessness wasn't clear. Then, by force of will, I pulled myself out of it and started studying like crazy. I went to Gringott's and found Mum's trunk in my vault, using her books to learn all the school spells, then when I got to HQ, I started on the Black Library. When I finally met Tom again, everyone seemed surprised that I annihilated him. They shouldn't have, I was a demon in battle; I was told later that wherever my tears fell, on Death Eater or Tom, they had what looked like acid burns. As Tom lay dying, I cried for the little lost boy who let bullying send him down the wrong path.

Now, I sit here, my purpose over, trying to prove to Pomfrey that I could leave, so I could find a quiet place to let my soul join my love's.

65 (Passing) CSI:NY

By definition, a policeman must drive like a maniac when necessary, NYPD even more so, with the quality of drivers and the amount of traffic we deal with daily. On the other hand, it is not necessary to swerve around every car and bike messenger going under 35 miles per hour, especially when we are off-duty, and on his motorcycle. So now I cling like mad to his waist, wishing I had a stunt-man vest to protect my innards if we crash. I am confident he could pull off a spectacular save, but he isn't used to accounting for a passenger, so he'd end up only saving himself.

My grandmother always sang 'may the road rise to meet you' as she washed the dinner dishes. I, for one, don't really want that to happen literally.

66 (Rain) Twilight

We live, in a manner of speaking, for rain. Misting rain allows us to mingle with humans, so as to not suggest our 'father' advocates skipping school, and to stave off all the paperwork necessary if we wanted to use the story that Esme home-schooled us. Light rain bothers us, with how impaired our 'contemporaries' are by the weather, meaning we have to hold to the speed limit.

Heavy rain, especially accompanied by thunder, lets us have fun. Few humans are out and about, so we can run through the woods without worry of encountering hikers. The sound and scent-dampening lets us stalk our prey, and tease it, rather than jump in and bite...boring! Thunder hides the crack of the bat and the noises we make when we tag out or Emmett runs into a tree...it has happened, and it looked like a cartoon, the imprint in the tree, then the tree falling over...We can only be ourselves in the rain.

67 (Snow) Naruto

I am, by most appearances, a yukionna, a snow-woman. In truth, I am a young man, and there is no mythological reason for my ability to make icicles and leave snow in my footsteps. Instead, it was the reason my father killed my mother, and the reason I turned to begging in the streets, until my Master and sensei found me. He saw my cold heart, and I, in the process, melted his, at least partially. It is ironic that my last true opponent (the copy-nin doesn't count) is all sunshine and heat, with a personality to match. I never wanted to kill, but he and his friends threaten my sensei, so they must die. I freeze my heart as cold as my weapons, and dive into battle once more.

68 (Lightening) Naruto

I did not find out my affinity until I was 10 years old, which many people find odd, given I had been an active shinobi of the Leaf for 5 years at that point. When someone questions it, someone who doesn't already know, I tell them it was because Minato-sensei didn't bother until I had team-mates, and I had no need to specialize at that point. What truly happened is that I refused to be tested, Minato-sensei had the paper in his pouch when I came to him to tell him of Father's death. He couldn't get me to partake until I had no excuse.

Despite the delay, almost as soon as I found out, I started working through how to make a lightening blade, or at least extend Father's tanto to sword length, like Asuma did with his wind knives.

69 (Thunder) Naruto

Who came up with such a pretentious name as 'flight of the thunder god'? I sure didn't...It was probably Sensei, he's always been a sensationalist. Truly, I couldn't have done it without my 'Shina's help. She grew up drawing seals before she could read properly.

Even after I got it to work, I planned to reserve it for transporting people to the medics, not as a battle move. Then, the War got bad, and Danzo (I think) got Sarutobi to order me to make 200 seal-kunai, to allow a battalion to throw, and me to kill. I didn't want to do it, but then I realized it kept my comrades safer.

70 (Storm) Naruto

I found, quite quickly, that Father's tanto was not designed to channel elementally-'flavored' chakra, only our kekkei genkai, the White Chakra. I did however, find that if I used kunai with un-wrapped handles, I could charge the weapon, but shuriken were too small to keep the charge until they reached the opponent. For a few months, I used so many lightening jutsus, from the joy of finding something I was better even than usual in, that with Minato-sensei, we were the Storm, as before he was forced to use Hiraishin on a large scale, I'd charge the seal kunai just enough before I threw them, that the target would get a good shock before he died, or got his neighbor off balance enough they couldn't hurt Minato-sensei.

71 (Broken) Naruto

When Obito died, I protected myself from my new-found emotions by burying myself in work, then becoming as much of a goof-off while off-duty as Obito ever was. I worked myself into chakra exhaustion three times in a week before I found out I needed to keep the eye covered, then another three times in a month to master it. I thought I'd gotten myself back on an even keel, then...Minato-sensei—Hokage-sama died, and Rin was declared MIA.

I was more broken than I'd ever let myself think, and I again buried myself in ANBU and regular jonin missions, but had finally learned to be more careful in my chakra usage.

72 (Fixed) Naruto

I thought I would fall apart, crumble into tiny pieces, when Sarutobi recommended I take a break from ANBU. I'd been part of the unit almost constantly for twelve years, almost three times as long as most people last with their minds intact. I realized I was heading for a breakdown much worse than those after my father died and after Minato-sensei died, so I followed his orders, but I didn't know what to do with myself.

I was limping around the market to get some groceries when I collided with a ball of sunshine, or so it seemed. Then I heard someone yell, "Toto, get back here!"

Locating the speaker, I saw a chunin with a scar across his nose, someone I recognized as a clerk in the mission office. I then looked down at the child who had now scooted around behind me, as if to hide from the shouter.

::Sensei? Did your child survive?::

"Looking for this?"

That was how I met the two lamps in my shadowed life, my lover, and my otouto, who Sarutobi told me I'm to teach when he graduates.

73 (Light) Sherlock

I don't think the lights have ever been turned off in our sitting room, except for _maybe_ during some kind of experiment on light-reactive materials that St Bart's wouldn't let him do in his lab, for safety reasons. As for Sherlock's room, given he doesn't seem to sleep for more than thirty minutes at a time (it really is quite unhealthy, I'm ready to sedate him over a bank holiday weekend if he doesn't shape up), it's more of a storage room and a place to hide his more nasty experiments. You thought the head in the cooler was bad, catch a whiff of Sherlock's room, I truly cannot figure out how his suits don't smell like week-old cadavers.

Despite all of this, I don't remember being this happy since I was in my young teens: Before Harry came out, before Dad started having a shot of whiskey for breakfast, before Mum died. I thought I would drown in melancholy after I came back, be in near-poverty, be alone. Instead, I share a very nice flat, have a semi-regular job, and other than the nightmares, Sherlock fixed me more in two days than the therapist did in months. Crazy thing for a self-proclaimed sociopath, don't you think? Instead of assuring me of a light at the end of the tunnel, he gave me a torch.

74 (Dark) Criminal Minds

The dark is the absence of light, it's true, but the larger question is, does a dark heart mean one is absent all light feelings?

Frank, despite all his psychopathy and sociopathy, cared about Jane, at least a little bit. Owen Savage hurt people out of hate, yes, but he cared about Jordan, protecting her. Amanda hurt people to protect her base personality, Adam. She was disturbed yes, but for good reason. Even Tobias, even with Raphael hurting people through a delusion, was kind enough to Reid when it mattered (other than the drugs, but his heart was pure).

Then there are the people who hurt people for the sake of hurting, with no remorse, like Buford, or Billy Flynn. Where do they fit into this paradigm? I may try to answer that my whole life, and I'm not even sure if I want to know the answer.

75 (Shade) Sherlock

I've always been a 'night-owl', I suppose is the commonly used term. Quite vague, and fanciful...I digress. Many people (John in particular, recently) have taken my skin tone to be a result of my poor eating habits. I don't see what's wrong with my eating habits, I attempt to avoid slowing my brain processes in the mode of diverting necessary blood, and therefore nutrients, to my enteric apparati. In truth, my scholarly pallor is due to a combination of factors. My mother is a red-head, with the translucent skin and light freckles that usually entails. I do, indeed spend a large portion of my time inside during daylight, due to the aforementioned preference for night. My hair, being the color it is, reflects back blue tones (making even a slightly ruddy complexion look wan), and the contrast with such a dark color causes an appearance that I am paler than I actually am.

I tend to burn, due to Mummy's genes, which is why Mycroft always has that infernal umbrella, he is similarly afflicted, but he is more prone to freckles, which detract from his omniscient facade...just a tad. If it wouldn't look completely silly for me, with all the running, I'd carry portable shade with me also, but umbrellas turn inside out, and hoods and hats tend to fall off as I sprint all over London.

76 (Who?) Sherlock

Who was he? Who was she? Who likely saw them last? Those are always the questions I get, especially when the body has been around a while. I actually enjoy those cases more, as the evidence is, in some ways less sullied, yet also more challenging. The bodies are stripped, metaphorically and physically, to barrenness, other than clues provided by their muscle or bone structure, and any surviving clothing. I've been reading up on forensic anthropology, but now that I have my blogger along, John helps immensely.

I never realized how useful a medical background could be, John has more experience with the correlation between lifestyle and ossification and musculature, I tend to rely on clothing wear and skin discolorations.

77 (What?) Glee (2/2)

"Where'd Wevid drag you off to during your tutoring session?"

"There were testing out their new countertenor, to see what my range really is, and David even found me a few classical pieces in storage. Mostly they scolded me for never warming up fully. It turns out I can go quite a bit higher than that vaunted high F, I didn't realize how high I went singing the end of 'Le Jazz Hot', and can stay melodic down into high baritone ranges. I'm off to my room to google Alfred Deller, Andreas Scholl, and the Dowland Society once I grab my books, see you at breakfast."

"What did you do to Kurt?"

"He asked why he didn't have to audition to join, so I told him about seeing those videos. He didn't even know the real name for his voice-type, he'd been lumped with the girls or forced into silence besides that funk intro."

Wes picked up the narrative from there, "We also needed to know his limits, as it turns out he almost never does a full warm-up, mostly to avoid inconveniencing people, as it took us almost a half-hour to run the interval drills over his whole range. We've arranged that he'll join us five minutes late so he can do his upper-half warm-up during the prior-business portion of the meeting and do the lower half with the rest of us. We still need to talk to Thad, but the two of us thought that for the Winter Festival we might do an actual choral work, something meant to have a counter-tenor lead."

78 (Where?) Sherlock

"Mycroft, I think something's wrong. I feel...strange."

"I know where you are. I can see you on the traffic camera. I'll send a car to take you to the hospital. You _**are**_ going into treatment whether you like it or not."

"I need it! I...it keeps me from stagnating. My mind does not do well as a gungy drainage pond. It's just this batch that was tainted!"

The line was silent for a few moments, then Sherlock mumbled, "I saw the robber leave, and I can give someone his life story from my glimpse, but...I don't look like a reliable witness. Maybe arrange for someone to see me in a few days, when I'm almost detoxed? Just keep Mummy away until I'm better."

"Agreed."

79 (When?) Glee (1/2)

When Kurt arrived at Dalton, he was at a loss as to why everyone in the Warblers, particularly the council, was so excited, and how he was permitted to join without an audition, as none of the Warblers, not even Blaine, had heard him sing, unless Rachel bugged the auditorium or chorus room. He doubted that had happened, since he hadn't gotten any extra grief for "Rose's Turn". Finally, he asked David while getting help with Chemistry.

"Kurt, what you need to realize is that your range is a godsend for a small all-male ensemble. If we weren't so top-40 the last few years, with the switch to show choir competition, rather than as a traditional men's choir, _you'd_ be the soloist. There are probably community opera companies, never mind professional ones, who would literally kill for you after a bit of polishing. Your friend Berry may be considered a one-in-a-few-million, but you are closer to a one-in-a-billion. The open house I came to before my freshman year here, they had a poor approximation with a 13-year-old sophomore singing the countertenor part, then his voice settled as a bass, of all things.

Anyway, as for your audition, Thad found that Jacob guy's blog, and Ryan hacked it, finding that funk number and you practicing Defying Gravity. Those were your singing sample. Also, if you ever want to press assault charges, I'll give you my uncle's card."

"Thanks for the offer...it's really that special? I...my voice was one of the reasons I was bullied before sexuality was even an issue. No one really told me that my voice-type is that rare. Are there any arrangements in storage from the last time a...countertenor...was here? That's really what it's called? Usually I was just a back-up soprano."

"And that's a crime to artistry," David huffed as he closed the textbook. "What exactly is your range?"

"No clue, I've rarely done a full-range warm-up, just whichever octave or so I was going to use, but I did the full slide at the end of 'Le Jazz Hot' back in September, and that didn't go close to my lowest point. I guess, a little lower than I was in 'Give up the Funk', to...I guess I'll have to sing 'Jazz' again to check."

"Right, let's grab Wes and his perfect pitch and adjourn to the instrument room, it's soundproofed more than here. Leave your stuff here, we'll only be gone a half-hour or so."

**Check Youtube sometime for the Deller Consort. Alfred Deller was a countertenor and was mistaken for a castrati at a time when the last ones were dying. Supposedly some grand-dame called him a eunuch, and he responded, that she must have meant "unique".**

80 (Why?) Glee

Finn was trying to find Kurt's iPod so they could pick a song for the funeral, as his mom had asked him to, mostly to make sure he wasn't at the hospital when they turned off the machines. He scrolled through the menu, and was surprised that there was a file that wasn't a song on there, and even more so when it was titled "If I Die", the create date from three days ago.

_Hey everybody, if you're reading this, Karofsky finally went too far._

_ Dad, please don't cry too much. I thought I could handle it alone, I guess I was wrong._

_ Carol, thank you for being there, please make sure Dad doesn't do anything stupid._

_ Gleeks, thank you for the offer of protection, but you couldn't follow me everywhere. If you guys could play "Sparrow", by Simon and Garfunkel at the service, it should be in my top 25 on here._

_ Blaine, don't feel guilty. He was more scared than either of us realized, it seems._

Sobbing, Finn printed the text file out, then had to run to the phone. Caller ID showed the number was in Columbus, and the machine picked it up before he got there.

"Kurt, I didn't intend to call you at home, but your cell didn't pick up. Are you alright?"


	5. Chapter 5

84+87+89, 96+97

81 (How?) HP response to "To Shape and Change" ch 13

Dear Dr. _,

I am a student entering my second year of medical training, and have encountered a husband (F) and wife (A) team of former law enforcement who were tortured into almost total catatonia over a decade ago, leaving a young son. F's mother has refused treatment beyond upkeep, leaving their recovery to the the patients' willpower, to 'snap out of it'. The son, now in secondary, has expressed an interest in any alternatives.

A shows some recognition of the son, who has visited quite often, and is mobile, though her gait is jerky. F exhibits some symptoms of early stage MS, with no indicators in the family of a propensity. There are no records of CAT scans or conductance tests in their files. If I could arrange patient transport to your hospital, would you be willing to give me your opinion on their options?

Sincerely,

H. Potter

One of the physicians, based in London, thankfully, wrote back less than two weeks after Harry sent the letter, saying that if he would bring the patients and files to his clinic hours on the 13th of July, he'd take a look, expressing his surprise and disgust at Augusta's actions. Harry and Neville conferred, deciding that they'd load Frank and Alice in wheelchairs and hire a handicapped van to meet them a block away from St. Mungo's. Neville and his parents would go to the appointment with Harry's "Muggle-fied" copies of the files.

"Just don't mention the 'medical student' is your friend from school!"

82 (If) Sherlock Holmes (ACD)

What if they find out? I'll be laughed out by my superiors and most likely barred from practicing, given the level of fraud necessary. Not to mention the embarrassment for the remaining members of my family. There aren't many of us left, but there is some cousin who, last I heard, was running for office. Imagine the reflected shame on him if it were found that he had a female cousin who actually made it through medical school (blue-stocking!), then took the masquerade further and actually joined the army as a surgeon! Not that I truly care too much, he's a prat anyway; he is younger by a number of years, yet was always bigger and meaner.

83 (And) HP

I was the odd child out, despite being the eldest of my sisters. Cissa was the beauty, the only blonde in three generations, and therefore considered worthy of a marriage arrangement with the Malfoys. Bellatrix was always considered the clever one, the one who, it was obvious from a young age, was 'crazy like a fox,' though that changed with exposure to Cruciatus and Dementors. I was not that pretty, and my intellect was in 'unacceptable' studies, such as healing, not potions or dueling. When the three of us were spoken of as a unit, I was often forgotten, to the point that I took as my nickname 'And', rather than Andi, or some other, more logical shortening of my first name, so at least I felt included when Mother spoke of 'Cissa **and** Bella'. I did not become a person until I ran off with Ted; by then, it didn't matter.

84 (He) House/HP xover (3/3)

Harry came back to get his leg cast off two months later, and Dr. Chase was on clinic duty.

"Hello, Dr. Chase," Harry blushed.

Smiling, Robbie escorted him to the room where the cast saws were kept.

"I'll take this off, then take a quick feel for any abnormalities in bone repair, then you're off."

"Alright."

The removal process was easy enough, and everything was fine, but when Harry went to leave, Robbie grasped his hand.

"Now...Now that you aren't a patient, would you join me for dinner?"

"A date? I guess. Where?"

"Can I have your number, I'll call when I have a better idea of when I have time off?"

Nodding, Harry wrote his number on Robbie's forearm.

85 (She) Sherlock

The Woman was wrong, Mycroft was wrong, James f**king Moriarty was wrong! How did three people who pride themselves on observation and ferreting out the truth miss the boat so badly on this one thing. For all of their insight, they missed one thing. Sherlock is no virgin. I was not the first, not even the first man. Though I am glad that Jim did not realize, or the mindgames would have taken a much more dangerous turn. Irene was wrong, though she did have some insight, we finally gave into our feelings shortly after her 'death'. Did they really think I didn't realize the trick they played?

86 (Choices) ST09

_"__The purpose is to experience fear, fear in the face of certain death, to accept that fear, and maintain control of oneself and one's crew. This is the quality expected in every Starfleet captain."_

Gritting his teeth, Jim recited, "_The revolution is successful. But survival depends on drastic measures. Your continued existence represents a threat to the well-being of society. Your lives mean slow death to the more valued members of the colony. Therefore, I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered, signed Kodos, Governor of Tarsus IV._ I was there, I was on the goddamn kill list, pardon my language, admirals...Do you really think I don't know how to carry on in the face of suicidal odds, after watching Sato-sensei, my aunt, my first girlfriend die? Yet I pulled 12 children, four older than I was, through one of the worst genocides in history. I spent six weeks with a Betazoid councilor and three months with a Gol master before I started talking again."

Shocked, Spock lowered his eyes, "I stand corrected. I wish to drop the charges, pending a conference with the entire programming committee and Cadet Kirk."

"So noted, Commander...A distress signal from Vulcan has just been picked up, dismissed to Hanger One for assignments."

87 (Life) House/HP xover Chase attended seminary in England, his crisis of faith likely occurred in 1995 (1/3)

Robbie Chase had been assigned to work at St. Luke's, a medium-sized church in Surrey, as a practicum for his seminary work. The priest there was getting old, and some of the leadership wanted a younger person there, given the number of teens in the area the church served.

Robbie thought the idea was strange, as most of the people he was meant to help were off at school, so he had little to do outside of school holidays. Therefore, he was surprised to find someone sitting in the back of the church when he came in at 7:30 to do some cleaning.

"Hello. Can I help you?"

The bundle of rags unfolded, showing it to be a teenage boy. The boy blinked owlishly behind thick glasses, then he replied, "Its just peaceful here. I had a bad end of term, and my family isn't sympathetic."

Sitting down next to the boy, he asked, "What happened?"

"I was kidnapped with another boy by the man who killed my parents, the other boy died...I...he was going to be my boyfriend, he promised that we'd go on our first date on my birthday, to celebrate my ascendancy to my dad's lordship."

Robbie was speechless. First, that someone who couldn't be more than 15 had witnessed a murder, and also, he'd never really thought about the church's stance on homosexuality. He'd been quite small when Vatican II occurred, but most of his childhood priests were a product of the old dictates. Such a frank discussion of losing a lover, even one so innocent as this, brought to light how much he chafed at this aspect of the dogma. How could such an innocent love be wrong?

88 (School) Criminal Minds

After another successful (in that the final kidnapped child didn't die) case, Dave found Hotch staring into space.

"What ya thinking about?"

"How amazing Reid's mind is. I don't know how we'd have solved this one with Stacy still alive otherwise. That riddle was...obscure."

"I'd hate to meet any of his peers from college, he's a tough act to follow."

"You actually do know one. Penelope was in a few classes with him right before she left Caltech."

"Really? I can kind of see that. She probably was his honorary nutritionist even back then."

That comment actually got a chuckle out of the stoic Unit Chief, something Dave counted as a win, in some ways more so than the favorable end to their case.

89 (Work) House/HP 2/3

Harry had done what the world asked of him, and after a year or so as an Auror, decided he didn't like the job as much as he'd thought he would. He was 19 when he resigned, so he took six months to cram for qualifying tests, then applied to muggle colleges, including some in America.

When he was accepted to Princeton, he actually did a little dance. The college was in a small enough city that he wouldn't feel crowded, and the system was close enough to what he knew of the British academic systems that he wouldn't be completely lost. He had an offer for St. Andrew's, but he wanted out of the UK. Besides, there was talk of William attending, and that would just be weird, given they'd been introduced when Harry was invited to tea, but weren't really allowed to say they were friends.

All this had little to do with what had happened today, though. He was almost done with his degree, having one term left, when he had an encounter with a a car while out on his motorbike. When he woke up some from the pain meds, he squinted up at the man standing over him.

"Father Robbie?"

With a fast double-take, the man stared at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You look like the seminary student from the neighborhood church when I was 14."

The woman with him, likely also a doctor, laughed, "Chase, a priest? Right..."

"I worked at St. Luke's in Surrey for about a year. I left the seminary right afterwards. There...there was a boy who confessed something that shook my belief in the church."

The woman looked shocked, "The Catholic problems started that early?"

"It wasn't about a pedophile..."

Harry interrupted, "It was first love, but the other boy died. It is you! Small world, don't you think?"

90 (Home) ST09

Home was middle-of-nowhere Iowa for years, though it became less of the sticks once Winona sold half their land to Starfleet when the Rodgers died and their son sold their farm. That took some getting used to, and lots of sprints to deal with Blossom when she ran away from the noise of low-flying shuttles.

For a few years, home was wherever his bike was, but that life, while it was exciting and got him lots of tail, quickly grew tiresome after the second short stint in lock-up for coming off OK in a barfight. Then can the lynchpin of his destiny, the fight once he'd returned to Riverside.

His home was a little box of a dorm-room that he shared with a succession of idiots, until finally he talked some clerks into letting him share with Bones. That was nice, as Bones needed someone to monitor his alcoholism and help him get his shoes off after a long day on rounds, and Jim got a doctor fully conversant in the intricacies of his crazy allergies. It was almost like sharing a room with Sam again, with the good-natured bickering and helping each other get through life.

Then came the Nero catastrophe, and he wasn't sure he'd have a home. Luckily, he got a home for the next five years out of it, and soon after, a _**person**_ to call home.

91 (Birthday) ST09

His birthday was never really a celebration. When he was really little, he thought the annual memorial was part of his party, as it was the only time he got to see his honorary aunties and uncles. Then Sammy snapped at him when he found out he'd crashed Sam's bicycle into a fence, telling him that Dad died on his birthday, so he was the reason Mom hated them. When he'd calmed down, Sam explained that Dad was a hero, and honoring his sacrifice was important, but from now on, they'd at least have a cupcake or ice-cream together to celebrate, and Sam would tell him stories about Dad.

That tradition only lasted four birthdays, as Sammy ran off after Frank was especially horrible to him. The next birthday was spent running from Kodo's army, and the one after that in the rehab hospital. He didn't even acknowledge the day for a long time.

Then came his first winter at the Academy, and he was asked to preside over the Kelvin remembrance ceremony. After the ceremony, three of the honorary family took him out to dinner. More would have come, but a couple were Academy instructors in some sense, and couldn't risk giving the wrong impression.

Toward the end of his first year as captain, he partook in his birthday/thanks-Dad toast alone, but with some truly excellently horrible homebrew of Scotty's he'd gotten as a present. Thankfully, that was the only present he got other than a vid-comm from Sam with a few pictures of his first nephew. Petie was cute, though the ginger hair was a bit odd. Overall, this was a pretty good birthday.

92 (Christmas) H50

Steve was out on the lanai with a beer, moping. In prior years, he'd had the camaraderie of his unit, as long as they weren't on a mission, when there was no time to begrudge the lack of family festivities. He had a new ohana now, but they had real families to spend the two days off with. Kono had invited him to the big family party, since it was her mom who was hosting this time, but he couldn't stand being in the midst of such a happy family right now. Danny actually got time with Grace, since there was some big to-do at the country club that meant he couldn't have the afternoon of Christmas Day like planned, so she was with Danny tonight. He'd already talked with Mary, she was probably out at that party she'd been gushing about. He getting up to get another beer, and maybe watch some horribly sappy seasonal movie, when his phone beeped.

Come open the door, Monkey's heavy.

On the other side of the front door, Danno stood with Grace flopped in his arms, half-asleep with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Uncle Steve, we didn't want you to be alone on Christmas," she mumbled.

93 (Thanksgiving) Glee

On Black Friday, since no one really wanted to spend that much time with their visiting relatives, or in Finn and Kurt's case, around the lovebirds (their respective parents were getting sickening, even Kurt, in all his planning frenzy for the move, wanted to vomit at the cutesy behavior), the Glee club all piled into Kurt's SUV and Rachel borrowed her Father's station wagon, and they went to Portage Lakes. Despite it being barely mid-morning, they built a fire and had a sing-along and ate sandwiches Quinn (turkey, of course) and Britney (cheese, PB&J) made. Puck brought a couple airplane bottles of whiskey to mix into the mulled cider Kurt and Mercedes each brought, enlivening the party. When it started getting dark, and the park was going to close, they headed back.

94 (Independence) CSI:NY

Most people can't wait to leave home, whether for college, moving away for work, or even just moving down the street when they get married to someone from the neighborhood. Not many people can match me for being quick out of the blocks for leaving home. I had a really good reason...if I'd stayed, I'd be dead. This wasn't because of parental abuse, but my brother's friends. They were, and those still living are, dangerous. Sonny Sassone threatened to kill me on my 17th birthday, and with Dad dead, and Louie standing right behind Sonny, I didn't have much choice. I applied to the police academy, moved to a piece-of-crap apartment in Queens, and got a job as a waiter.

I became a beat cop, moved into a slightly better apartment, and started taking classes in the evening and on my days off, to get a degree in criminology and a certificate in forensics. This meant that after 7 years, I moved off the beat and became a detective, then a detective based in the crime lab. I'd made it that far without running into any Tanglewood Boys, then one of my half-smoked cigarettes showed up in an old grave. Sonny and Louie came back in my life...and it was messy for a while.

Independence is hard-won, sometimes, but it is so satisfying to know that there are no connections to that time anymore.

95 (New Year) Glee

The high holidays were kind of a big deal at the Berry house. They only went to the first evening service for Rosh Hashana, and the evening and morning services for Yom Kippur, but every day after school during those 10 days, and all afternoon on weekends, the three of them were at the soup kitchen. This seemed especially charitable during the fast, but she pushed through. Thankfully, the philosophy of the household in regards to the fast was that water, and broth if on antibiotics, was fine. Rachel tended to bend the rule a bit and added a splash of lemon juice to her water, particularly if the water tasted particularly metallic or chlorinated that day.

96 (WC-Parting)

Spencer hadn't been able to make a lot of friends at CalTech. Not because of his age, though that was probably a factor, but because of the social isolation that his age imparted, he wasn't the best in social situations. Thankfully, though he didn't think so at the time, he was caught outside in one of the sudden cloudbursts that occurred in LA. When he got to the computer lab, dripping wet and shivering, the other inhabitant was a curvy girl with medium-brown hair. She looked away from her computer when she heard the door close, and immediately grabbed a cotton sweater from atop her backpack, using it to sop up some of the water from his hair.

Thus occurred his momentous first encounter with the phenomenon that was Penelope Garcia. Almost immediately after that first meeting, he gained a meal companion and stand-in mom. She was only three years older, but she seemed to revel in making sure he ate and slept, and came to bother him if he stayed shut up in the lab for more than 16 hours. Even the strange concept of being the TA for her matrix algebra class didn't mess up their friendship. Therefore, when she disappeared two days after she got an upsetting phone call about a year later, he was confused, and panicked until finally, one of the registrar secretaries took pity on him and told him she had withdrawn. He tried emailing her a few times, but she never replied.

97 (WC-Reunion)

It was Spencer's first day at the BAU, so he was pretty nervous, and had actually shredded the cuff of his sweater by the time he got in the elevator. Gideon met him in the floor foyer outside of the BAU offices with a grimace-smile.

"Dr. Reid. I'll introduce you around as I show you where things are, then let you settle into your desk with some case-file consults. Follow me."

"Yes, sir."

Roberts, Morgan, and Hotchner were nice enough, which was good, as they were members of the same team, they'd skipped over most of the other profilers. When it came time to meet the support staff, Gideon begged off, as someone had come up to him with some kind of emergency.

"Reid, the media liaison and the technical analyst are down that hallway. Agent Jareau, our liaison, is rarely in her office, so you can meet her later, maybe at a briefing. Our tech analyst is new, I don't know her name, but she's in the third room on the left."

"Thank you, sir. Should I come to the conference room when I'm done?"

"Come see if anyone's in the bull-pen, I'm not sure if anything will come of this."

Spencer knocked on the door, and entered upon an answer.

"I'll be with you in a moment, new person..."

"Take your time. I don't want to interrupt."

He was in for the shock of his life when the woman in the chair turned around. He recognized those eyes!

"Penny?" He gasped, tilting his head.

He must have been right, as she jumped up and hugged him around the neck, dragging him to lean forward so she could kiss his forehead.

"You've grown up, little Beaker!"

98 (WC-Stag) (Sam, Kurt bromance)

**so is your dapper boyfriend still being dapper?**

**I don't need to threaten him, do I**

-Sam! my long-distance fag stag!

-do you have spell check on? Or is your dyslexia doing better?

**spell check and reader**

**its lots faster**

**i'm at the library with headphones, we're still pinching pennies**

-Let me know if you want some jeans.

-I grew another inch since you left.

**Really? So how about your BF?**

-I'm still trying to get him to transfer.

-I want my senior year to be magic.

-I'm sorry about the situation with Mercedes

**Don't worry about it. I'm still working.**

**Don't tell anyone, but I'm busing at a strip club**

-jaw drops

-are the tips at least good?

**Yeah, mostly because they have me in my Rocky shorts**

**no shirt, I forgot I had those shorts.**

-fortuitous eye candy

-those desperate middle-aged ladies must love you

**funny story, actually made almost a month's rent from a bachelorette party**

-as long as you don't feel too objectified

**a little, but its worth it, **

**Stephanie's in the middle of a growth spurt, and Stevie needed new shoes**

**my birthday presents for them rocked**

-you're such a good brother!

-I should let you get to work on homework before your 20 minutes end

-hope things continue to look up

**Thanks, Kurt.**

Let 99 and 100 be #a drabbles in the prior installments.


End file.
