Learn Something New Everyday #2

Kitty realizes she has more than one paw

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okay i need all of your help

my gf, @layschips12 , is in a really bad mental state now and i can’t afford to lose her

she’s agreed on the one note = one day staying alive

so please, please, PLEASE, reblog/like

The universe is at peace. A peace won by the Voltron paladins and the great sacrifice of Princess Allura. However, peace cannot last forever. After nearly twenty years a new threat has emerged sending tremors through our reality. Coming out of nowhere and launching a viscous attack. The universe is sorely unprepared and the need for Voltron is great. With the lions scattered in unknown reaches and the former paladins all falling into a mysterious coma. The Coalition of Free planets fears this could be the end of the peace they knew.

However, the lions have a different plan. Each calling out to a different new hero. These young souls must discover their inner powers and try to fill the void left by their predecessors. Fighting to save their reality and world as they know it.

A delinquent artist, hotheaded Garrison cadet, flamboyant prince, tech headed hermit, and part-time pizza cook hold the fate of the entire universe in their hands.

~This is my new Vld story about the next generation of Paladins currently on Ao3~

The Derivative Chapter 17: Kids Stuff

Chapter 1 <- Chapter 16

Don knew he was handling things differently. Every case that involved kids was bad however, he could feel them hitting him a little deeper now. Lucinda Shay was a single mother just like Janice had been and when he saw her son at the crime scene all he could think of was what Abby must have gone through when she was alone after her mom died. 

Despite this he had to stay focused on the case, keep his emotions in check, that was the only way they were going to catch the killer and get justice for Lucinda and Daniel. He entered the office and spotted Charlie standing out like a curly headed traffic cone dressed in orange with David and Colby who were gray and white suits. 

Don quickly made it over to his brother “hey, thanks for coming” he gave Charlie a pat on the shoulder. 

“No problem” 

“Hey did the kid see anything?” David asked, gesturing toward where Megan was sitting with Daniel playing cards. 

“Well, if he did, he’s not saying anything.” Don replied. 

“I didn’t know Lucinda Shay had a kid” Charlie voiced. 

“Yeah little boy named Daniel,” Don explained, pointing to show Charlie, who looked back letting sadness drift into his eyes. “What? You knew her?” 

“I met her a few times.” Charlie explained “when the scandal first broke at the SEC, I was asked to examine the accounting related to Syntel’s offshore partnerships. She was very helpful” 

“Yeah” Colby murmured “well sweetheart plea bargain will do that for you” 

“You know I don’t think she knew what Syntel was doing at first but once she figured it out, she blew the whistle” Charlie informed “Was her son there when…?” 

“Yeah” Don murmured, cutting Charlie’s question off. 

“What can I do?” Charlie asked. 

“Well, we’re putting together a list of former employees and shareholders” Don explained “maybe you could narrow it down?” 

“I’ve already analyzed the company’s SEC filings. It’s a pretty good picture of who made money, who lost money.” Charlie explained. 

“All right, well, whatever you can do, we’d appreciate it,” Don said gratefully. 

“You got it,” Charlie agreed. 

“Thanks” Don murmured, patting his brother on the shoulder again as he headed over to where Megan was sitting with the boy. 

“What’s going to happen to her son?” Charlie questioned. 

“We don’t know” David admitted “she’s a single-parent mom. I’m trying to run down the father, any other relative, but, uh, so far no luck.” 

“You know after Abby’s mother died they were able to find Don” Charlie offered “I mean it took a couple months but, you could find someone for this boy” 

“We’ll be trying Charlie,” David reassured the mathematician. 

Meanwhile Don was knocking at the door of the sitting room Megan and Daniel were in. His partner looked up and he gestured for her to come and talk. She told Daniel she’d be right back before getting up and meeting Don outside of the room and earshot of the boy. 

“How’s he doing?” Don asked. 

Megan cleared her throat glancing back at the boy before turning to Don “there’s some blunt effect in response to the trauma.” she explained. 

“What’s that, like some kind of post traumatic shock kind of thing?” the man inquired. 

“A little” Megan informed “this is more immediate and hopefully it’s temporary. But he’s like an overloaded circuit. He’s just shut down right now.” 

“I’m going to need him to talk to us,” Don murmured ruefully. 

“I know that,” the woman reassured, glancing back at the boy “but he’s too fragile right now.” 

Don shrugged “I know, but if he knows who shot his mother-” 

“It’s exactly the problem” Megan clarified “he probably did, and he’s a little boy and he’s terrified. And if we push him too far now, we may never get what we need” 

“All right, all right” Don agreed, walking past Megan into the room and taking the seat across from the boy “hey Daniel” he greeted attempting to shake the twisting feeling in his gut and the thought of Abby. “I’m Don Eppes. Remember? From before?” he paused and when the boy gave no indication of response he sighed “Look, I’m sorry about what happened to your mom, but-” he hesitated as Daniel shifted and grimaced slightly “I know how rough this must be for you, what- what you must be thinking.” He took a breath and glanced back out at the bullpen, the thought of a young, alone Abby still pulling at the back of his brain thoughts of his own mother as well “Actually, you know, to be honest, I don’t know what you’re thinking. But I do know something about what you’re feeling.” he admitted “You know, not too long ago my mom died.” Daniel looked up at that but his eyes quickly flickered back to the table “yeah she was like the one person who had the right answer for everything. You know, I mean all the time. And then all of a sudden she was gone” Don took a deep breath “Here’s what I’m hoping. That you and I maybe could partner up. Maybe help each other out.” he paused, gauging the boy carefully before continuing “I need to know if you saw anything this morning, Daniel.” 

“No,” Daniel barely whispered, shaking his head. 

“You sure?” Don pressed carefully. 

“The doorbell rang,” Daniel voiced. 

“Mm-hmm and your mom answered it?” The agent inquired. Daniel nodded “did you hear any voices?” 

Daniel shook his head “just the gun” 

“What about after?” Don asked “Did you see anything, hear anyone?” Daniel shook his head looking down at the table again curling into himself. “All right, okay.” Don backed off “Hey, that’s a good start. Good job” 

“I want…” Daniel spoke up voice choked with emotion “I want her to come back” 

“Yeah” Don sighed, biting his lip “I know you do. Me, too.” 

As Don got up to leave gesturing for Megan to take his place sitting with the boy he wandered into the breakroom. He let off a large breath and reached for his phone on his belt. He wanted to call Abby and just hear her voice for whatever reason but a quick glance at his watch told him she’d be in class and unable to take his call. So he took another deep breath and replaced his phone on his belt before making for the coffee. 

___________________

Abby POV. 

I walked out of class with an annoyed groan. “Oh dear did Prof. Lisben assign another tedious reading exercise?” 

I looked up at the question to see Larry meandering down the hallway. “Essay” I explained “and I already have two others due for other classes” 

“Ah I see” Larry sighed as we began to walk down the hallway “quite the taxing conundrum” 

“I mean professors do realize that we have more classes than theirs, right?” I asked. 

“If they do I suppose they don’t care” Larry declared juggling the apple in his hand “such is the lot of the student I suppose” 

I hummed in agreement as we reached my uncle’s office and headed inside. He was working on the blackboard with his back to us as we entered. What looked to be some kind of tree-pruning algorithm. 

“Charles” Larry spoke calmly. Charlie about jumped out of his skin though. 

He let off a breath once he realized it was just us “I wish you wouldn’t do that” he muttered. 

“Boo” I shrugged. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry” Larry apologized “but why are you splitting a tree-pruning algorithm?” 

“I’m trying to reduce a cumbersome set of variables to a common point” Uncle C explained as I headed over to one of the various chairs in the office and sat down. 

“Okay, well, a bit of pruning I understand” Larry said “but why divide it into subsets?” 

“Because I’m dealing with different groups of suspects each with almost opposite motives for committing the same crime” Charlie informed. 

“Ah, so an FBI case” I voiced. 

“Yes, Don asked for my help” Charlie informed “one set lost money and wants revenge. The others made money and wants to keep it.” 

“Oh, this is about Syntel Corp.” Larry deduced coming closer. 

“How do you know that?” Charlie questioned, surprised. 

“What’s a Syntel Corp?” I asked. 

“A large corporation that was caught with a fraud scandal not long ago” Charlie explained. 

“Oh” I nodded in realization.

“I heard about the Chief Financial Officer being killed.” Larry informed “you might recall I lost a considerable investment in Syntel” 

“Yeah? Well, you got an alibi for this morning?” Charlie joked. Larry let out a breath “I’m kidding” Charlie chuckled and I smirked. 

“Ah don’t be too quick to dismiss me as a suspect” the physicist objected. 

“Why, how much you lose?” Uncle C inquired, exchanging a concerned glance with me. 

“175,000” Larry sighed. 

“Dollars?” Charlie questioned in surprise. 

“No euros” I muttered and earned a small glare from my uncle. 

“Look, in my defense, I didn’t count on being defrauded,” Larry pointed out. 

“Oh wow, well, are you okay, financially?” Charlie asked. 

Larry scoffed “well let’s just say the words ‘publish or perish’ have taken on a brand-new meaning. But, yeah, I mean, fortunately, I’ve hedged my bets on Google.” 

“Well help me then” Charlie voiced, turning back to the chalkboard and I swiveled in my seat to get a look as well. “I’ve, uh, I’ve got to combine two different groups of suspects,” Uncle C explained, raising up the front of his chalkboard. “According to monetary incentives and risk/reward ratios”

“So we need to rank them according to their motive for committing the murder” Larry clarified. 

“While also taking into account what might deter them from choosing murder verses another path hence the risk/reward” I added. 

“That’s right,” Charlie agreed. 

“Okay, what do these variables here express?” Larry inquired, pointing past Charlie at an equation on the chalkboard. I craned my neck to see the board around my uncle. 

“Well, I derived them from the bankruptcy data.” Charlie informed, “I assigned probability values to motives according to the suspects’ current circumstance.”

“Current circumstances?” Larry questioned confused “like what, where are they now or..?”

“Right,” Charlie nodded. 

“Okay,” Larry murmured, pacing around the younger professor. As we all thought on the problem. “Charles” Larry finally voiced after a moment and my uncle hummed in response. “Just as a thought experiment” the physicist paused and Charlie nodded for him to continue as I sat forward in my seat “what if you didn’t know the story of the Garden of Eden?” 

“Adam and Eve” Charlie muttered as Larry gestured to the apple in his hand. 

“What does this have to do with the creation of the world?” I inquired confused. 

“It’s just a thought experiment, let me explain” Larry advised me and I nodded. “Let's say you met them after they were exiled from Eden. Now, as they both suffer equally under the same punishment, how would you know which of them had taken the bite from the forbidden fruit?” 

“But they both-” 

“Shhh shhh shhh thought experiment” Larry hushed me as the cogs in Charlie’s brain began to turn. 

“The outcome doesn’t provide enough information to discern the inputs” Charlie deduced “if I really want to figure out who’s guilty I’ve got to reconstruct the original fraud at Syntel” 

“Precisely” Larry concluded “you’ve got to go back to the apple” the man took a large bite of his snack. 

Charlie turned back to his chalkboard and began working again at a dizzying rate. Meanwhile Larry meandered back over to my side of the desk. “You know people are always so hard on Eve but Adam was just as bad if not worse” I voiced. 

“What’s that?” Larry questioned. 

“Well Eve had to deal with the literal devil Adam just had to say no to a naked woman” I pointed out. Larry made a humming noise as his eyebrows rose on his head and he practically nodded with his hands. 

________________________

3rd POV. 

Don sighed as Charlie headed out of the room and his eyes scanned the bullpen landing on Daniel who was at a desk with his meager bag of belongings. “How’s our kid doing?” he asked Megan, eyes still on the boy. 

“Uh, I guess he’s a little better, but you know,” she let off a breath. “how would any of us be doing in his situation?” 

“Yeah” Don sat down next to her “any word from family services?” 

“There is no father in the picture” Megan explained “and we found a grandmother in” she reached for a pad of paper where she had written a note down “Bethany, Oklahoma. She has a heart condition and she can’t fly.”

“So what happens to him?” Don inquired looking over to see an agent talking nicely to the boy. 

“Well, tonight he’s going to go to this group home.” Megan informed. 

Don felt his stomach drop “oh come on you’ve got to be kidding me” he stated “I mean, that’s a nightmare. You know what those homes are like Abby’s social worker said she was put in one after her mom died. And- and she hated it” 

“I know” Megan defended “but I called WITSEC and they won’t put a minor into custody without a court order. And you know what? It’s not really any better than a group home is, anyway.” 

“I know, but I just don’t want him to get twisted around, till whatever chance we have of getting what he knows is gone.” Don explained trying to keep his emotions in check and make a logical argument. He had to stop thinking about Abby on this case.

“Well, I don’t like this at all,” Megan agreed “but I’m not set up to take care of a kid and you can barely handle the one you have” 

“Thanks” Don muttered but knew she was right. 

“What are we supposed to do?” Megan asked and Don looked back out at the kid, an idea coming to mind. 

“Charlie has an extra room at his house” he voiced. 

“Seriously? Charlie?” Megan asked skeptically. 

“Well my dad’s there and Abby is staying over to so-” he gestured vaguely with his hand. 

“Okay” Megan nodded “I guess it’s something” 

“Yeah,” Don muttered. He watched the kid for a moment longer.

“Don” his partner finally broke the silence with a tone that made him turn to look at her eyes and he could tell she was profiling him. “If you keep acting like this case isn’t hitting you differently you’re not going to handle it properly” she declared.

Don’s eyebrows knit together “I’m not- I just-” he cut off at her look. 

“That boy reminds you of Abby. You said it yourself a second ago that Abby was in the system after her mom died and before they found you as her guardian.” Megan voiced “it’s okay if it gets to you.” 

“Yeah” Don sighed. Knowing she was once again right. 

_______________________

Abby POV.

I gasped as my eyes scanned over the page of the book I was reading. “What?” Gramps asked mildly concerned as he sat reading in his chair. 

“Plot twist- I- neh-” I ended up just making a weird noise and waving him off as I continued reading the story. 

“Okay then” I heard the man mutter then there was noise from further in the house. 

“Charlie that you?” Alan called. 

“No, Dad, it’s me,” my father’s voice replied. “Hey Abby” he called in greeting and I waved in his general direction. My eyes still transfixed on the story in my hand. 

“Donnie. What are you doing here so late?” Alan questioned “I thought Abby would be spending the night and dinner’s been put away already” 

“She is and I don’t need dinner.” he paused “look-” 

“If you’re looking for Charlie he’s not here yet” Gramps informed. 

“Actually, I think I can talk to you” Don explained “I mean I’m sure he’ll be okay with it, but..” Don trailed. 

“And who is this?” I heard Alan inquire and I finally looked up to see a boy standing in the foyer looking around a bag hung on his shoulder.  

“This is Daniel.” Don introduced. 

“He’s not my brother is he?” I asked and both men gave me a look. 

________________

I sat a plate of PB&J down in front of Daniel as Alan and Don talked in the other room. The boy immediately picked it up to start eating. Once Don had explained what was happening I felt bad for the kid and my previous joke. This kid and I actually had a lot in common. 

“Thanks” he murmured after a moment. 

“No problem” I replied with a small smile. Then paused “I’m sorry about your mom. I lost my mom too and I know it hurts” 

He looked up at me in a little surprise “you lost your mom?” 

“Yeah and I didn’t know my dad back then either.” I explained “so I know it can be scary when you don’t have anybody but I know my dad now and I know he’ll work to get your mom justice at least okay?” 

The boy nodded slightly and I looked up to see Don coming over. “Hey buddy” he greeted Daniel taking a seat. “She makes a pretty good sandwich, huh?” he asked, sharing a glance with me. 

“Mom’s is better,” Daniel stated. 

“Yeah” Don nodded “yeah, I’m sure that’s true” 

“I was thinking about what you asked me,” Daniel explained hesitantly “you know, about what I saw?” 

“Uh-huh,” Dad murmured, encouraging the boy to continue. 

“There was a car” Daniel informed “After I heard the gunshot, I looked out the window.” 

“Do you remember what kind of car it was?” Don questioned carefully. 

“It was black or blue, maybe” Daniel offered thinking “big but not as big as an SUV.”

“You think if I showed you some pictures, maybe you’d remember?” Don suggested “I mean, you just have to do the best you can. It’s uh..” he trailed, losing the words. 

“So did you find them?” Daniel asked after a moment. 

“Who?” Don questioned. 

“The people who killed my mom” the boy stated. 

“Why do you think-” Don pressed, confused as I looked at the boy in surprise “I mean, are you remembering something?” 

“They were talking,” Daniel explained “at your office” a sad and guilty expression befell my father’s face as the boy continued “they said there are, like, 6,000 people who wanted to kill my mom.” 

“Oh, no, no, no” Don quickly objected “oh, no that’s not, that’s not… I think the thing is, um, you know, sometimes when we don’t know who the bad guys are, we start with a really big list. And, uh, it doesn’t mean everyone on it wanted to hurt your mom. I mean, in fact, I really think we’re probably just looking for one person.”

“Where am I gonna sleep?” Daniel asked, changing the topic. 

“Uh, I thought I’d put you up in my room” Don suggested giving me a look to tell me I would not be staying in the room I normally held in the house. “How’s that?” 

“Where will you sleep?” Daniel inquired, looking confused. 

“Oh, I don’t live here anymore, it’s from when I was a kid,” Don explained. “Abby stays in it when she sleeps here. It’s a pretty good room. I think you’ll like it.” 

“But you’re gonna stay right?” the boy clarified “you’re not gonna leave?” 

 Don looked back at the boy’s worried gaze before replying “uh, yeah, I can stay, sure” he agreed. “Yeah, you got it.” 

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

3rd POV. 

Abby blinked her eyes open. There was a figure looking down at her. She was laying down. There was a mask on her face and cool air was coming from it. Everything seemed hazy. She was looking up at the night sky. There were a lot of moving figures at the edge of her vision and she smelled smoke. 

“My mom” Abby tried but the words were quieter and hard to get out “where’s my mom?” Hadn’t they just been driving a second ago? How had she gotten here? She couldn’t remember. That started her heart to beat faster and her breathing picked up. She always remembered. Why couldn’t she remember what just happened?

“Hey you’re awake” the person above her, who was still little more than a blur, spoke comfortingly. “Try to stay calm. What’s your name?” 

“Abby” the girl replied softly, a sharp pain stabbing her side “where’s my mom?” she grunted through the pain.

“I don’t know Abby but we’re going to get you to the hospital” the person replied. She tried to sit up but her back wouldn’t move. The only responsive part of her body seemed to be her arm and when she lifted it up she could see the blood covering it.  “Abby?” She heard the person but they were muffled as her arm fell and the hazy darkness consumed her vision again.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Abby POV. 

I gasped awake sitting up in bed and putting a hand to my mouth half expecting the oxygen mask to still be there. I took a couple deep breaths as the memory faded and looked around. I was in the guest room of Charlie’s house. And according to the clock on the nightstand it was the middle of the night. 

I took another deep breath and sighed getting up. It figured that everything going on with Daniel would stir up my memories of my mother’s death. I opened the door to the room quietly and carefully krept down the hallway and stairs. I was cutting through the foyer heading for the kitchen when the light flicked on behind me and I whirled around. 

Don was sitting up on the couch giving me a disgruntled and questioning look. “I was just getting a glass of milk,” I informed at a whisper. 

The man sighed and looked at his watch. “Why so late?” 

I shrugged “couldn’t sleep” 

“Nightmare?” 

“Sort of” 

Don sighed and started to get up. “Yeah I could use some milk too” he stated and we both headed into the kitchen. I hopped up to sit on the counter as my father got two mugs and filled them with milk. “My mom always said if you heat it up it helps you sleep” he informed. 

“Actually, while milk does have trace amounts of tryptophan which is used within the brain to make serotonin and melatonin. It’s been tested and proven that milk doesn’t help you sleep better. Heated or not. It’s just relaxing” I explained. Don gave me a look as he placed the mugs in the microwave. “Sorry” 

Don sighed, pressing the button to start the microwave and turning to me. “It’s fine at this point I’m used to the random fact dropping in the house” 

“Fair enough” I smirked. There was a quiet moment when neither of us spoke and the kitchen was only filled with the sound of the microwave humming. 

“Listen Abby-” Don started hesitantly but then was cut off by the sudden beeping of the microwave that made us both jump. He sighed, removing the two steaming mugs and handing me mine so I could blow on it softly. “Abby” he started again “I wanted to ask you, ab- about when you were in foster care” he stated. I looked at him a little confused over the top of my mug. “It’s just Megan mentioned something today and you know Daniel was almost sent to a group home before I offered to watch him and uh- you never really talk about your experience so-” 

“Dad” I cut off the man’s rambling. “It’s okay,” I reassured him, feeling comfortable at least talking about that side of my history. “I wasn’t there long to be honest. It was just one house I’d been in the hospital for two week after the accident because of the my injuries and uh, yeah the mom was mean, the dad was ignorant, the daughter was a brat, and the son was a perv” Don choked on his milk slightly at the last but Abby kept talking “I was there for about a month before I ran away.”

“A month?” Don questioned, perplexed. “But I thought it was a whole six months before you came to live with me after Janice died”

“It was,” I nodded. “I just spent most of it on the streets” Don blinked at me in shock. I had figured my social worker had already told Don that. “It’s not that big a deal” I spoke quickly “i’m fine” 

“Yeah but you were really homeless for five months?” the man exclaimed. 

I shrugged, pushing away the thoughts of a dancing girl with red hair, an old abandoned apartment building, an underpass, an old house with loud music and a smiling boy on a table. “It was just another season of my life” 

Don sighed taking a drink from his mug “you’re too young to have seasons to your life”

“Maybe” I murmured holding my warm mug with both hands “but it made me who I am today so, not all bad” 

A girl with flaming red hair was spinning dancing to the music as lights flickered around her and people bounced and swayed to the music. She took my hand and pulled me up onto the coffee table twirling me around and we laughed. 

I blinked away the memory, the smile fading from my face as Don straightened from where he had been leaning on the counter opposite me. He placed his mug in the sink “well we should try and get some sleep” 

“Yeah” I nodded, hopping off the island counter and heading back to my room with my still half filled mug. “Goodnight” I called as I reached the steps and Don made it to the couch. 

“Goodnight” he called in reply. 

________________

“... look I couldn’t get a hold of you, so I asked him, and he said it would be okay.” Don was telling his brother as I came downstairs in the morning. 

“Okay for what?” Charlie questioned. 

“For Lucinda Shay’s kid to stay here.” Don murmured checking his phone then spotting me coming over. 

“Of course, yeah, that’s fine.” Charlie replied a little surprised “Daniel Shay is upstairs” 

“I think he just got up” I informed the men who turned to me “I heard him head to the bathroom” 

“Look, I also need another favor” Don continued as he tucked in his shirt. “I gotta get to the airport to see if I can catch up with Thomas Galway. You two think you can hang here till Dad gets back?” 

“You need me to baby-sit?” Charlie asked. 

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to leave him here alone.” Don explained. 

“He’s eleven he doesn’t need that much babysitting Uncle C” I scoffed at the professor “you don’t have to look so scared” 

“I’m not- I’m not scared” Charlie objected adamantly. “Actually, I have a way with children, so..” 

“Oh, yeah?” Don asked skeptically and I raised a dubious eyebrow at the mathematician.

“Yeah. I’ve been told I do.” Uncle C insisted. 

“You positive there wasn’t sarcasm involved?” I questioned and earned a reproachful look from my Uncle. 

“It’s just for ten minutes,” Don interjected, grabbing his jacket and heading for the stairs “come on, I’ll introduce you.” 

________________

“Hey Granger” I called as I approached my uncle’s office. 

The agent who had been standing in the doorway turned and smiled. “Hey Abby” I came up beside him and spied my uncle in the room working completely oblivious to his audience. “Does he always work like that?” Granger questioned, seeming fascinated. 

“Nah, this is him more relaxed actually” I murmured. 

Granger scoffed and finally knocked on the door stepping fully into the office as I followed. “Charlie, Don sent me down to check and see what you got from the supercomputer,” he explained, grabbing the professor’s attention.

Charlie hummed in disappointment “he must not have gotten my message” 

“I guess not” Granger murmured then looked into my uncle’s bowl of bubble gum “ooh, can I take one of these?” Charlie shrugged and the agent picked his candy as I went around to sit on the desk past the candy bowl. “Which message?” 

“There was a glitch in the data run,” Charlie explained. “But- uh, can you just tell me which one you’re taking?” 

“This red one” Granger replied, holding up the candy and I scoffed as Charlie dug around for the data sheet for his little experiment. 

“That’s very interesting,” the mathematician informed, writing down the information. 

“Okay,” Granger muttered, shooting me a glance I just shrugged. “So, look how small is this glitch, because Megan profiled seven ex-employees, all who have the potential to be the killer.” The agent handed Charlie the file and I hopped off the man’s desk to peek over his shoulder and he shifted the file out of view. “And anything you have might help us take this guy down before he has a chance to shoot another Syntel exec.” 

“I think I have one of these names on my list, actually” Charlie said and I took a step to the side when I saw him grab the bottom of the chalkboard in order to flip it. “Yeah, Morton Standbury, but the probability of Morton’s guilt is less than ten percent” Charlie tried to explain but Granger was already getting out his phone “I mean, that’s hardly conclusive” 

“Great, thanks,” the agent murmured, giving a thumbs up and putting his phone to his ear as he headed out of the office “David, hey, it’s me. Listen, Megan was right on with her hunch. The Stanbury guy is a match” he gave one final wave before disappearing. 

“Success?” I questioned giving Charlie a look. He just hummed looking back at the board “on only ten percent” 

__________________

3rd POV. 

Alan smiled softly as Don got up from talking to Daniel. “What?” his eldest questioned as he passed him heading for the back door. 

“Nothing,” Alan shrugged following his son. “Uh you know actually,” he paused, catching Don at the door. “You’ve just grown so much since, uh since Abby came along and uh, well I guess this boy is just bringing that out a bit.” 

Don let off a breath looking down to avoid Alan’s eye. “Well Abby changed a lot of things you know” he paused, biting his lip “I’ll come by later” he murmured heading back out the door. Alan watched him go and nodded lightly. 

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

“I have a granddaughter” Alan voiced in bewilderment as both his sons and him sat at the kitchen table. The older one hunched over and looking like he was in between ill and dazed. 

“I have a niece,” Charlie added, just as shocked as his father. 

“I have a-“ Don hesitated to say it “I have a daughter.” He let out a large breath with the statement “I have a daughter I never even knew existed.” The man opened his mouth to speak more on it but found the words gone and ended up looking like a fish on land. 

“Well what are you going to do?” Charlie asked the big question. 

“He’s going to take her in.” Alan declared, looking to his eldest. “Aren’t you? ‘Cause if you don’t I will” 

“Of- of course I’m going to take her in.” Don answered quickly “I just- I just-“ but the words wouldn’t come and the man simply stood up and left the room heading outside into the yard. 

Alan watched him go. Charlie rose slightly from his seat as if to follow him. The elder quickly raised a hand to stop him. “I’ll talk to him,” he declared, getting to his feet. 

Alan headed outside to see Don pacing the yard back and forth. Running his hand through his hair and over his face. 

“Donnie” Alan spoke up to draw his son’s attention. “Talk to me” 

“It- its nothing Dad I just need a minute” the son attempted. 

His father saw right through him. “Uh huh sure because finding out you're a father is nothing” the man stated sarcastically. 

Don stopped in his pacing and turned to look at his father. The elder man took a seat on the back steps. A couple seconds later Don staggered over to join him. 

“It’s just I have no idea what it is to be a father,” Don admitted. “I mean my work is my life and I’m not in any type of relationship. I’ve never really even thought of kids b-“

“What? You think there’s a manual for this?” Alan cut his son off. “The day me and your mother brought you home I was more nervous and terrified than I had ever been in my life” Alan advised. “I also was far happier than I had ever been. You see, no father knows what they are doing; they figure it out along the way. They take from those who influenced them and they try to do what’s best for their kid.” He paused before adding “and pray they don’t mess them up to bad” 

Don scoffed. Looking out at the yard. “Do you think I can be a good dad?” 

Alan looked at his son with loving eyes. “I think you’re going to be the best Dad you possibly can and that with that you’ll be just fine” 

Don smiled lightly. As his father pat him on the back. This however did little to quell the nervous churning in his stomach. 

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Abby POV. 

“Do you have any idea what I could do with 300 million dollars?” Larry asked milling about Uncle C’s bookshelf as I sat on the floor doing homework and Uncle C worked on his computer at his desk. 

“Three hundred and twelve” Charlie corrected. “You said you were alright” 

“No, I am.” Larry assured “I was talking about my application for the Talis Foundation Research Grant” 

“Why are you worried about that?” Charlie asked. 

“Yeah weren’t you just bragging yesterday how you would smoke the competition and they’d be fouls not to choose you?” I asked. 

“I was but now Ivan Tsgorski has taken over the chairmanship of the grant committee” Larry explained coming over. 

“You attacked his theory on polarization flux,” Charlie pointed out. 

I winced “oh that’s not good” 

“I merely pointed out certain characteristics of gravitational waves that he had chosen to ignore” the physicist defended. 

“Larry I was there when he gave that paper” Charlie reminded “and you stood up and you called him a big, fat cheater in front of a room full of people” 

I gaped up at the older professor “you did not?!” 

“Well, no. Now you’re exaggerating” Larry objected “that room could not have been more than half full” 

I scoffed in amusement at this discovery. “Might we get back on task?” Charlie interjected. “And you back to your homework” he peered over his desk at me. 

“You’re no fun Uncle C” I pouted. 

“Come on, that essay isn’t going to write itself, meanwhile we have to solve a case” Charlie decreed, looking to Larry. 

“All right, okay,” Larry muttered, rubbing his face with the palm of his hands as he plopped into the seat in front of Charlie’s desk. “the money, the money, the money. The money is not where we thought it would be” 

“It should show up in the company’s cash flow statements, after the fraudulent transactions” Charlie explained as I attempted to focus on my mind numbing essay. 

“You know all these funds, they would have been transferred electronically, correct?” Larry voiced. 

“I imagine so,” Charlie agreed. 

“Electronic transactions” Larry stood up as he continued “have no mass and cannot be constrained in the manner of physical objects” 

“But they are bound by time, Larry,” Charlie pointed out. “And time only flows one way” 

“Please do not start a philosophical debate right now I am already bored out of my mind” I warned my uncle as the physicist wandered over toward the doors. Uncle Charlie sighed and gave me a look before Larry once again called our attention. 

“Are you aware you have standing water in this corner?” Larry asked, crouching down at the space between the two doors. 

“I know about the leak” Charlie muttered with annoyance “I called maintenance” 

“And?” 

“And they’ve got to tear out the wall and find the source of the leak” Charlie explained getting up while I craned my neck to see what Larry was up to. I saw him pull up the carpet in the corner. “What is with you today Larry? All I ask is for a little focus. Now what are we missing?” 

“Patience” I muttered under my breath and Charlie let out an exasperated breath. 

“What are you doing?” he pestered the physicist who pulled out a pen. 

“Finding the leak,” Larry stated, snapping the pen and pouring the ink into the puddle. 

“Well, you’re making a mess” Charlie stammered as I got to my feet and came over to look over his shoulder. 

“Well by staining the currents we can observe the ink spread out on the pooled water,” Larry explained “and then figure out the flow pattern” we watched the ink move in the water drifting closer to the wall “and once we know how it flows… yeah, you see?” he pointed “it’s not coming down from the wall. It’s coming up from the floor” 

“That’s cool Larry,” I commented. 

“That’s it” Charlie muttered “we’re missing the flow” 

_________________

I headed into the house quickly and was met with a lot of FBI. “What happened?” I asked, approaching my uncle and father. 

“Daniel’s missing,” Don quickly informed. 

“What!?” 

“It’s okay, Mr. Eppes. We’re gonna find him” Megan was reassuring Gramps as she entered the room with him. 

“I went into the kitchen to get a couple of cans of soda for us.” Alan explained “he was standing over there, right by the table” Gramps pointed past me and Charlie as Don raised his hands to try and calm his father down. “He couldn’t have gotten away” 

“It’s not your fault. So could you please just calm down?” Don asked as me and Charlie headed over to the table. 

“I would have seen him,” Alan insisted. 

“You're not helping the situation Dad” Don sighed. 

I looked at the table that pretty much only held a phone and a couple magazines “could he have made a call?” I suggested. 

“Let’s see,” Charlie muttered, picking up the phone and hitting redial. 

 “Hey, Don, give me a second.” Granger called while walking in, my father turned and spotted Charlie on the phone. “I just talked to David. He said he found something in the Syntel employment records.” 

“Hold on,” Dad ordered his agent and then turned to his brother who was now talking to the person on the phone “Charlie, you got to keep the line clear” then turned back to his agent “say what?” 

“Okay can you hold on a second” Charlie muttered into the phone then looked to Don “Dad said he saw him here. I hit redial. It’s National Cab Company.” 

“Cab? Why the hell would he take a cab?” Gramp questioned. 

“Running away?” I asked in confusion. 

“All right, I’m on the cab.” Granger declared heading out of the room. 

“Tell me if you get anything,” Don told him, his eyes lingering on me for a moment before a thought occurred to him and he  jumped into action. “Megan, come with me. I think I know where he is.” with that he was heading from the house. 

“I hope he’s alright,” Alan muttered. 

“Me too Gramps” I agreed. 

______________

I waved alongside Charlie and Alan as Daniel waved goodbye from next to Don. “I liked the kid, shame he has to go” I muttered. 

Alan hummed “yes well the next stray we pick up you can look after” 

Charlie scoffed “admit it you liked having him around” 

“Yeah well” Alan sighed “having someone young in the house was a nice change of pace I suppose” 

I smiled as we watched Daniel give my father a hug. Don passed the boy off to a flight attendant at the door to the airport waving goodbye. “What?” he asked with a chuckle as he rejoined us. 

“My hope for grandchildren has been rekindled” Alan decreed and I gave him a look. 

“What am I chop liver?” 

“Grandchildren who I get to enjoy before they become angsty teenagers” Alan replied. 

“Ah” I scoffed. 

“Don’t start dad.” Don complained. 

“I’m not making a formal request, I’m simply saying it would be nice” Gramps explained. 

“Come on,” Don muttered. 

“Dad you do realize how long the odds actually are for this man?” Charlie joked. 

“Charlie, what’s your problem, huh?” Don defended quickly as he pulled me into a side hug “I already contributed. You got nothing” 

“Wow now I’m a bragging point” I muttered sarcastically. 

“Well, given your dating pattern” Charlie argued “or absence of a dating pattern-” 

“Look, I wouldn’t talk if I were you, buddy” Don countered. 

“I’m crunching numbers, kid” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Statistically I’m on course to be way ahead of you in the stable family environment for offspring” 

“Yeah, yeah, makes sense you’re older” Alan agreed as my father released me and we started walking. 

“I don’t see siblings in my future” I muttered jokingly. “Well anymore planned ones” 

“Hey, keep it up” Don muttered pulling his keys from his pocket “it’s a long walk home” 

Me, Alan, and Charlie all exchanged a look and bit our tongues following my father to the parking lot. 

The Derivative  Chapter 8: Sports

Chapter 1 <- Chapter 7

“Do I even need to ask?” David snapped. Uncle Charlie just smiled smugly turning his hand around. The entire table groaned in annoyance. 

“It’s not what it looks like, promise” Don spoke up. 

“You brother hustling us?” one of Don’s friends Mike muttered. 

“I’ve only played once before” Charlie informed as they collected the cards to deal another round of poker. “I actually have a one in eight chance of hitting a set when I’m holding a pocket pair. I’m about 50/50 to draw a flush with suited cards in my hand, two off the draw. I also count my outs I- I multiply by two. I add one. That’s roughly my percentage of hitting.” he explained. 

“Card math” I muttered over my father’s shoulder as I walked past the table. Leaning over to snag some chips out of the snack bowl. 

“Mr. Eppes you need to take my seat, your son is killing us” David declared as Alan brought out more chips. 

“No, not me” Gramps objected “the only other time Charlie played, I learned my lesson about gambling with a mathematician” 

“Hey could I-” 

“No” Don cut me off “Ms. I-can’t-help-but-card-count” 

“Not my fault I was born with perfect visual memory” I muttered as my father got up and headed to the kitchen. 

“Hey weren’t we playing with bottle caps?” Charlie pointed out to his father.

“Yeah or else you’d have walked away with the pink slip to my car” Alan informed. 

“You know, there is some element of chance here” Charlie explained “you know I- I may just be getting lucky.” 

“Or you're just unlucky,” David joked to Mike. 

“That’s funny Sinclair keep that up. It comes back to me when baseball starts” Mike countered taking a swig of his beer as dad returned and handed me a Mountain Dew as he sat down with his glass of water. 

“Baseball?” Charlie questioned “”the FBI have a team?” 

“Yeah, we got a whole league.” David explained “there’s, uh, LAPD, Sheriffs’ department” 

“D.A.’s got the killer squad” Mike commented “Now that Kraft’s in San Diego, you guys don’t have a power hitter.” 

“What about Don?” Charlie suggested. 

“It’s not my thing” Don objected 

“Oh, you play?” Mike inquired. 

“Don went to college on a baseball scholarship,” Charlie informed. “What are you talking about? You played pro second base.” 

“Single A about a million years ago” Don muttered. 

“That’s great. It means you’re this year’s ringer.” Mike grumbled. 

“Nope. I’m sorry.” Don objected quickly “not interest buddy” 

“Come on, you gotta do it” David asked hopefully as Don’s phone rang. 

“Excuse me” he murmured to us answering it. “Eppes… we’ll be right there” he declared, getting to his feet. 

I sighed and shuffled back toward the kitchen where Alan was. “Looks like I’m spending the night,” I informed. 

He looked up at me confused “really? Why?” 

Just then Don popped into the doorway pulling on a jacket “hey dad I just got called in can she stay here tonight?” 

I gave my grandfather a look who sighed “yes of course” 

“Thanks,” Don murmured heading out. 

______________

3rd POV. 

“I’ve never seen him before,” Mr. Bayle declared, handing Don back the photo of Salazar. 

“Are you sure?” the agent asked. 

“Yeah” the man confirmed. 

“I mean, maybe he did some work for you guys around here.” Don persisted. 

“Yeah, he could have. I wouldn’t know” Bayle explained “Lisa was in charge of all that.” 

“I’m just trying to figure out if there’s any possibility that this man knew your wife.” Don insisted as they stepped from the other man’s kitchen into his living room. 

“Why?” Bayle inquired with a shrug as he stopped to face Don. 

“You’re not going to want to hear this” Don prefaced reluctantly “but there are some questions about Cliff Howard’s conviction” 

“The bastard said he did it,” Bayle scoffed. 

“I know,” Don nodded. 

“I haven’t seen you in a year” Bayle continued “I haven’t seen you since you interrogated me for 48 hours.” 

“Sir..” Don tried to speak up but the other man continued. 

“I had to call the funeral home handcuffed to a table.” 

“I was pursuing your wife’s murder wherever it took me” Don attempted to explain his actions. “So help me..” he paused shaking his head and biting his lip and Bayle took the moment to speak again.

“Now you want to tear these wounds open again.” 

“I don’t want to do that,” Don objected adamantly. 

Both men paused to breathe and Don’s eyes wandered over to the mantel where he spotted a picture he recognized he shuffled over to point at it “that’s your, uh, your daughter. What’s her name? Paula?” he asked, trying to remember. 

“Yes” Jonas answered, his voice still tense with emotion. 

“Right. May I?” Don gestured to the photo. 

“Go ahead,” Bayle allowed. Don took the photo from the mantel and looked at the young girl. “She’s a sophomore now.” 

“Yeah, so is my daughter,” Don admitted. 

“You have a daughter?” Jonas asked, surprised. 

Don nodded “her names Abby.” he chuckled slightly with a bittersweet spike in his gut “yeah she came to live with me not too long ago after her mother died, car crash” 

“I’m sorry” Bayle murmured, shifting on his feet. 

Don replaced the photo and turned to face the other man. “Jonas, don’t you want to know the truth about your wife’s death?” 

“Cliff Howard is the truth,” Bayle insisted. 

______________

Abby POV. 

“Okay tell me I’m crazy” Larry declared, setting his pencil down and rubbing his face with his hands. “I think I’ve just found a way to express Calabi-Yau manifolds in a way that goes beyond the existence of a nonvanishing harmonic spinor.” 

“You're crazy,” I muttered, taking another bite of my food. 

“Ch- Charles” Larry whined when he received no response from his fellow mathematician. 

“Has he been out there all night?” Uncle C questioned turning away from the window he had been gazing out of. Watching my father play basketball. 

“Well, on the bright side it seems like Don’s taken up an interest in sports again.” Alan commented. 

Charlie sighed taking the seat next to me “it’s like the evidence proves him right and wrong at the same time” 

“Oh, yeah, the old paradox of Schroedinger’s cat.” Larry murmured. 

“Is that that persian that keeps hiding out in our garage?” Alan inquired. 

“No, that's the Myers down the street’s cat” I muttered, taking a sip of my drink. 

“It’s an intellectual exercise,” Charlie explained. 

“I knew that,” Alan lied. 

“Okay this is vastly simplified” Larry prompted “there’s a cat in a box. 50/50 chance it’s been poisoned, but now here’s the paradox: until such time as we can open the box and observe the cat, for that time, that cat is both alive and dead.” 

“Larry I-I fail to see the analogy, though.” Charlie objected “I mean, in reality Don can’t be both right and wrong at the same time.” 

“Well, of course not.” Alan chimed in “I mean, if a man is both right and wrong, then something’s gotta be wrong.” 

“Positive and a negative equal a negative?” I scoffed. 

“No. the truth of Schroedinger’s cat is that the question itself is meaningless until we look inside the box.” Larry informed. 

“So you could ask a whole different question” I voiced. 

“For a whole different result” Larry finished. Uncle Charlie immediately straightened and turned to look at the window again. Before getting up and heading outside after his brother. “Well and off he goes again to help solve the unjust of the world” 

“You can always tell when he gets an idea he spaces out then runs” I muttered. 

Larry hummed in agreement “you know you are quite insightful young enigma quite like your uncle I’m surprised you’ve yet to push ahead of your peers in academia like he so did” 

“Oh here we go” Alan muttered. 

“Well I’ve tried they won’t put me in advanced classes because I wasn’t in school consistently as a kid.” I explained. 

“Well that’s absurd a brilliant mind shouldn’t be held back by the amount of desks they haven’t sat at or lectures they’ve witnessed” Larry voiced in annoyance. 

“Preaching to the choir,” I told him. 

“Yes but do me a favor and don’t get on the soap box of yours again” Gramps asked me. 

I nodded in agreement and picked at the last bits of food on my plate. “You know what?” Larry spoke up causing me and Alan to look at him but his eyes were trained on me “you should attend CalSci once you’ve escaped high school. We have no such requirements if you show the aptitude” 

“I don’t know I’m still looking at quite a bit of time being forced to look at this stuff in school let alone do I want to keep having to do school work beyond it.” I pointed out. 

“No no no” Larry objected waving his hands “it’s not like that at CalSci you can learn what you want and gain knowledge and work to gather more knowledge of the universe itself with a very hands on approach” 

I sighed finishing off my dinner and gathered my dishes. “I’ll think about it” 

“Very well” Larry accepted the answer as I stood up. 

“You done?” Alan asked. 

“Yeah” I murmured, taking my dishes into the kitchen. I glanced out the window and spotted my Uncle joining my father in his basketball playing. I loved basketball. The one sport I was decent at. As I watched my mind different back to just shortly before I went to live with my father here. 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

3rd POV. 

“Yo Calvin” Abby looked up from where she was sitting with her back to a wall in the courtyard book in hand. A girl named Naomi was looking at her from the basketball court with the ball tucked under her arm. Other girls around her were glancing in Abby’s direction and muttering to each other. “We need a even number get over here” 

Abby hesitated. Veronica was standing on the court eyeing her with the same hate in her eyes. However after one of her accomplices came over and whispered in her ear she nodded her agreement with the situation.  

Abby sighed and closed her book getting up and heading to the court. “‘ight y’all line up me and V will choose the teams,” Naomi declared. 

Abby stood in line with the seven other girls they had goated into playing with them. Veronica stuck to choosing her pals and Naomi was smart enough not to choose them but Veronica only had three friends and Abby ended up being the last one on the line as Naomi chose the girl next to her. 

“Calvin and V on the same team” one of the girls on Naomi’s team voiced “this’ll be interesting.” 

Abby scoffed and took her position on the court. “Hey bookworm don’t get in the way” Veronica snapped. 

“Then stay out of mine” Abby shrugged. Veronica shot her a glare as the other girls jeered. 

“Hey let’s play” Naomi called everyone’s attention. 

The game started out easy. Naomi had the ball and was heading down the court. Abby intercepted her snagging the ball easily and heading down the court when she was slammed in the side hitting the ground. Veronica had the ball now and shot it into the hoop. 

“Hey!” Abby yelled getting back to her feet “thought we were on the same team” 

“Thought I said stay out of my way” Veronica retaliated coming up to get Abby’s face. 

“Hey knock it off” Naomi pushed between the girls “either play or leave and sort your shit out the way you normally do and land in the infirmary” 

“You telling me what to do, china?” Veronica snarled at Naomi. 

Naomi shifted back a bit “I’m actually Korean not that it matters but what I’m trying to do is play some basketball. Now you two can go duke it out if you want at least it’ll keep the teams even” 

Veronica scoffed “whatever” she stalked back onto the court. 

Abby sighed and followed the game started up again and Abby barely touched the ball as it was passed from player to player. Until it got to a point where they had five minutes left of courtyard time and Naomi’s team was up by one. 

“We need to score. You beat Naomi at ball, that's a serious brag even with dead weights like Harp and Richards on her team” Veronica’s lacky Fiona stated. 

“Yeah well we aren’t going to if Veronica tries to score again” Abby muttered to the rest of the huddle. 

“You saying I can’t shoot Calvin?” Veronica turned to her angry. 

“No I’m saying our entire strategy has been geared to give you glory this entire time and they’ve figured that out” Abby explained “that’s why they’ve blocked our last five attempts.” 

“What? You want us to pass it to you?” Veronica asked “that ain’t how that works Calvin” 

“I don’t care who you pass it to” Abby shrugged “you just gotta pass it” 

Veronica thought about it a moment “Alright Fi you take it” she declared. “Let’s go” 

“Okay” Fiona muttered, sounding unsure. 

The game started and Naomi’s team got the ball dribbling down the court. Veronica intercepted as Abby and Fiona headed down opposite sides of the court. Veronica looked to pass it and saw Naomi guarding Fiona who was looking less than confident. Then she saw Calvin raise her hand. She was completely open. No one expected Veronica to pass the ball to the one girl she beat up every other day. 

Veronica passed the ball. Abby caught it easy and dribbled it a step before shooting it circled the hoop before dropping in to the cheers of the team.

“Alright ladies time to get inside” one of the matron’s called from the door the girls shuffled to the door Naomi scooping the ball. 

“Nice shot Calvin” Naomi told her, shoving her shoulder as she passed. 

Abby grabbed her book and headed inside. She was heading down the hall at a casual pace before she was pinned to the wall. Veronica had her collar. “That was a one time thing you got that?” 

Abby blinked at the other girl “really? You're so insecure about your status you have to make that point?” she asked with every ounce of sass she could muster. 

Veronica growled and threw her to the floor Abby got on her feet and shoved Veronica’s middle. The bigger girl pushed her away and soon they were grabbing at each other pulling hair and scratching. Soon someone was there to pull them apart. 

“Why do any of us expect different of those two?” Abby heard Naomi mutter to Fiona as Abby and Veronica were led to the infirmary.  

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

Abby POV.

“Bye Uncle Charlie” I called from the shade as the mathematician peeled off the fence of the batting cages and headed back to his car. 

“Bye Abbs” Charlie replied with a wave. I glanced over at my father as another crack of baseball on bat sounded. He was really starting to get into a rhythm, a proud smile on his face. I smiled lightly and returned to my reading. However there was only a moment of peace before Don appeared grabbing his water bottle and taking a swig.

“You want to take a few whacks?” He asked, gesturing to the batting cage. 

I shot another look over at the ball spitter. “Uh no thanks I’ve never really..” I trailed off gesturing at the cage with an implied statement and apathetic wave. 

Don looked at the cage then back at me with a small amount of shock evident in his face. “You’ve never played baseball before?” He asked in disbelief. 

“Maybe once in gym class” I shrugged answering honestly. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed Donald but I’m kinda on the nerd side of things” 

Don scoffed. “Come on” he grabbed my book and much to my relief remembered to put the bookmark in its place before closing it. “No daughter of mine is going to go through life without playing baseball”

I scoffed as I was pulled to my feet and given a helmet. I would normally put up a bit more of a fight but I knew that this sport meant a lot to him. So I kept my remarks to myself and went along with it. We headed out to the cage. He showed me what position to take. How to hold the bat properly and watch the ball. 

Even with his coaching it took a while before I actually hit the ball. When I did it was quite auspicious to us both. Despite it not going anywhere near where we wanted it to go. There was a lot of laughing and joking and we both left happy reliving the events in story with some subtle elaborations. Don excited to take me back some time.

Chapter 9 -> 

while i get and agree with the fact that gay people should probably play gay people and gay stories are best written by gay people, the fervor to prove that “straight people shouldn’t play gay characters!!” is what the interviewer used to forcibly out lee pace so like

idk maybe slow your roll and realize that like… actors can be closeted, content creators can be closeted, and tbh this “you can only write your own experiences, never write someone else’s” rhetoric is also a bigot’s fucking wet dream?? like the perfect excuse to never write diverse characters?? and to say that they have nothing in common with people who don’t look/love/exist the same way as them??

yeah, the author of simon vs the homo sapien’s agenda is a cis straight woman, which means love, simon (though directed by a married gay man with multiple gay characters played by gay/bi actors) is based on a novel written by a straight woman… but this straight woman literally ends her book acknowledging the LGBT teens who helped her write the book and make sure she was writing it appropriately.

this is the content we want

listen… EVERY SINGLE piece of media EVER involves some level of writing about experiences that are not your own, especially if it’s diverse. even bland stories just about white people involves an author writing about genders that are not their own. if you want a story with characters of color, white authors are going to have to write about those perspectives. if you want gay characters in every story, straight authors are gonna have to write about those perspectives. even LGBT narratives might involve gay authors writing about bi characters or cis authors writing about trans characters.

what we HOPE FOR when they do that is that they talk to people… actually belonging to those groups to learn what is and isn’t appropriate and true to life. which is what the author of simon vs the homo sapien’s agenda did.

it’s exactly what she did. she literally worked in a support group for LGBT and GNC kids, saw they did not have cute love stories written for them after they told her this, and then worked with them to give them the love story they craved.

this is a good thing. this is progress for lgbt people. this is the path we need to walk towards getting LGBT content created by LGBT authors.

when you attempt to take the ~moral ground on protesting this film, all you’re doing is telling people who fund these projects that gay products don’t sell. they don’t get the nuance of what you’re going for. and, chances are, you’re looking like a fucking hypocrite, because i can promise you most of the canon gay characters you stan profit a cishet somehow (if they’re even canon).

so, y’unno, as someone who has read simon vs the homo sapien’s agenda AND seen the fucking movie let me tell you!! it’s fine!! it’s diverse beyond having gay character, it’s written respectively, and it hit home on a lot of experiences i WISH i had as a gay teen. it’s corny, it’s silly, and it’s all i ever would have wanted at 13, 14, 15

if you don’t want to see it, just fucking say so! but don’t act like you’re doing it on moral grounds. you can just… not like a movie or not want to see it without it being some moral victory.

alternatively I do think it’s funny to be like

Villain: fool! the prophecy says that no man may kill me!

Trans Man Hero: *ineffectual stabbing*

Trans Man Hero: okay so like. the prophetic acknowledgement of my gender is good but also. very inconvenient right now.

So many situations in movies where there’s something scary happening and the women are in hysterics but the men are completely calm.. doesn’t seem realistic at all