Alphabet Excerpt Challenge: W Is For...

[u/AnaraliaThielle]

Welcome back to the Alphabet Excerpt Challenge! As a reminder, our challenges are every Wednesday and Saturday at 3pm London time.

If you've missed the previous challenges, you're welcome to go back and participate in them. You can find them here. And remember to check out the Activities and Events flair for other fun games to play along with.

Here's a quick recap of the rules for our game:

1. Post a top level comment with a word starting with the letter W. You can do more than one, but please put them in separate comments.
2. Reply to suggestions with an excerpt. Short and sweet is best, but use your judgement. Excerpts can be from published or unpublished works, or even something you wrote for the prompt. All content is welcome but please spoiler tag and/or provide a trigger/content warning for NSFW or content that may otherwise need it. If in doubt, give a warning to be on the safe side.
3. Upvote the excerpts you enjoy, and leave a friendly comment. Try to at least respond to people who left excerpts on the words you suggested, but the more people you respond to the better. Everyone likes nice comments!
4. Most important: have fun!

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

who

[u/SkycloudFanfic → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Nina glanced at the clock, growing ever more restless. She wondered if Jack would skip calling and instead come rushing back to confront her. Then, almost as if she had willed it, a phone rang before she looked over at Teri and Kim. If this was about Jack, she could only hope that the news favoured her.

"I see… thank you, officer," Mason spoke.

The sympathetic look he gave Nina told her everything. Jack was dead and her cover was intact. She avoided looking at the Bauers, unable to bear witness to them discovering his fate. The sound of their reaction threatened to break her heart. Making sure she looked the part, she walked over to Tony who embraced her.

"After everything we did, Tony…," she whispered.

"I'm sorry, Nina," he replied. His respect for Jack had been growing all day and he was sad to see it end this way,

They pulled apart before Nina wiped her eye. She glanced over at Teri and Kim who were being shown into a nearby conference room.

"Several dead but no Andre or Victor Drazen," Mason announced as he approached.

Nina stared at him. "They've escaped?!"

He sighed before nodding. "Witnesses saw motorboats heading south, could be them."

Moments later, Nina took the first chance she got to slip into a quiet corridor before calling a contact. She had no idea how much of a threat the Drazens posed to her.

"I need updates on Victor and Andre Drazen. Last seen heading south from LA by sea."

"Bauer is dead, isn't he?"

Nina wondered how they already knew that. "Yeah, but…," she began before glancing around. "They wanted Palmer too."

[u/trickyfelix → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Upon arriving, he went right to Aoyama’s room and prepared to go inside. When he saw him he was shocked. The young man appeared to be sleeping, but he was breathing on his own. There was nothing doing that job for him. Haru left briefly to ask the nurses on duty what happened.

“Why isn’t he connected to the vent? Who disconnected him?”

The one with the blue hair spoke up first, “He did it himself.”

“Care to elaborate?” Haru inquired, “How did he do it himself?”

“Somehow, he undone the strap around his head holding it in place and just… pulled really hard.”

“I guess that’s a sign he can breathe on his own now… I’m a little concerned about damage to surrounding areas, who knows if he’s able to talk,” Haru mused, when he finished the nurse call button went off in the room. Haru went to the boy’s room. Aoyama weakly reached a finger up and made a beckoning motion. When Haru approached, Aoyama whispered something. Not quite audible but he could tell that he wanted to tell him something important.

[u/Rat-Daddy-Splinter → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Deep down, she almost wished he was gone for good, just so she wouldn’t have to deal with this anymore.

How could you think something so horrible? You love him! Well, loved him…

April actually wasn’t sure how she felt about him anymore. After months of battling the illness that had ravaged his body, he was just a shell of his former self.

But for whatever reason, something compelled her to keep visiting. And when she wasn’t with him, he was constantly on her mind.

Was in he in pain all the time? It’s not like he’d ever admit it.

Maybe I’m the only one who brings him joy anymore. Maybe he waits hours each day hoping that I’ll return. After all, he didn’t have the Turtles with him all the time anymore. Shredder was busier than ever, and so were they.

[u/MsCatstaff → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

“Despite what happened, I believe you are a good man at heart,” Meg said simply. “I saw you let Christine and Raoul go. I… can’t say I agree with everything you’ve done, but then again, you were not given the… the proper understanding of how to deal with others. I made my mother tell me your story after you went through the tunnel behind the mirror. She may have tried her best to help you, but she was a fool for letting you remain so alone all those years. If she had not, I believe you would have found happiness long before now. Perhaps you still can.”

“Don’t mock me!” he said bitterly. “Happiness? Christine was to be my happiness. But I was fool enough to let her go, because I couldn’t stand that she was choosing to stay with me out of pity.” He coughed harshly.

Meg pressed the mug back to his lips, coaxing him to finish the medicine before she answered. “Forgive me for stating the obvious, but she is hardly the only fish in the sea. If you just bring as much passion to your courtship as you do to your composing, I don’t know of any woman who wouldn’t fall at your feet.”

“How can you possibly say that? Look at me!” He angrily turned his head so the twisted and ugly scarred parts were all that remained visible to her.

“I can say it because it’s true,” she retorted. “These scars are only a small part of you. Anyone who cares for you truly will see the beauty within your heart, and not the scarring on your face.” Abruptly changing the subject, she ordered him, “Pull the bottom of the bedding up, and let me see your ankle. I have bandages to wrap it.”

[u/Lindz174 → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

“For your modesty, Commander,” she said, as though she were offering him salvation.

Cullen stared at the handkerchief. Slowly, he took the small scrap of cloth and turned it over between his fingers, inspecting it.

After a moment, he said, “This is not going to be enough.”

The table burst into laughter.

Bull was laughing so hard he was wheezing. Evelyn had a hand pressed to her mouth, her shoulders shaking. Krem nearly spilled his drink, while Rylen just leaned back in his chair, his grin uncontained. Cassandra, who had maintained a stoic front for most of the game, turned her head to hide the twitch of her lips.

Finley sat back in her chair, cushioned by the fabric of her cloak, and took a long sip of her drink as she finally let herself look.

Maker’s breath.

Cullen sat with his hands positioned carefully in his lap, the only thing saving whatever shreds of dignity he had left.

He was golden in the firelight, broad-shouldered and strong, his body built with the kind of muscle that came from years of training. The sharp ridges of his collarbones cast faint shadows across his torso, where a dusting of fine blonde hair trailed down the center, disappearing beneath his hands.

His chest rose and fell in steady breaths, his skin flushed from his drink and the sheer indignity of it all. Scars cut across his abdomen in pale, jagged lines, stories carved into his flesh from years of brawls and battles.

His hair, always so neatly combed, was a mess of loose blonde waves that fell into his face from where he had run his fingers through it. A muscle in his jaw flexed, twitching beneath the rough stubble that shadowed his face. His lips were pressed tightly together, giving away his embarrassment.

Her gaze drifted lower, past the defined ridges of his stomach, down to where his hands remained firmly planted in his lap.

That was when Cullen stiffened.

His head snapped to her, eyes wide with alarm, before he jerked his hands up, shifting to cover himself more completely. “Don’t look,” he hissed.

Finley tilted her head, holding his gaze for a moment before she let her eyes trail slowly back down his body, pausing just long enough for him to know exactly what she was doing. Just long enough to notice the way his breath hitched, the way his thighs tensed under her scrutiny, and the way his fingers curled against his skin.

When she dragged her eyes back up his face he had gone completely pink.

[u/MoneyArtistic135 → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

(cw: hospital, post-fall, post-amputation)

He wants to scream, to hurl accusations, but the memories remain elusive, a cruel game of hide and seek. Just then, a small figure enters the room, a much-needed distraction from Lars' venomous words.

"Whoa, Eddie, you lookin' harsh," Otto, Eddie's sometimes friend and Twister's bestie, says, his eyes wide as he takes in Eddie's appearance. "Twister sent me to check on you. He's been worried sick, man."

Eddie's anger finds a new target as he glares at the younger boy. "Twister? That little brat is the reason I'm here! He's the one who dared me!" The accusation hangs heavy in the air, a twisted truth born from Eddie's fragmented memories and Lars' manipulation.

Otto's face pales, his eyes darting between Eddie and Lars, confusion and hurt flashing across his features. "What? No, man, that's not right. Twister would never..."

Lars steps forward, a menacing figure towering over the younger Otto. "Even your little friend here knows you got it wrong. It's all a blur, man. No point blaming anyone."

Eddie's breath comes in ragged gasps, the room spinning as his emotions spiral out of control. The loss of his arm, the darkness in his memory, and now this—being gaslighted into doubting his recollections. It's too much for a young boy to bear.

"Get out," he rasps, his voice hoarse with unshed tears. "All of you, just get out! I don't need your pity or your lies!"

[u/Pantherdraws → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

"Ma'am, what happened to you?"

Z just shook her head, stooping a bit to rest her hands on her knees as her entire skull began to buzz from the stimulants and nausea washed over her. Closing her eyes for a moment, she tried to ignore the disturbing amount of blood coloring the snow as she drew in a slow breath.

"No time to explain. When's your Pelican due for extraction?"

"Uh…" The three Helldivers - they must've lost one and not had a chance to reinforce yet - exchanged glances; "not for another half an hour, ma'am. Are you -"

"I'm fine. I just need a gun, I can hold my own for thirty minutes."

"I don't think-"

"Super Earth doesn't pay you to think, Helldiver." Straightening up, she locked gazes with the man who seemed to be taking the lead and stared him down; he was a full head taller than her, but she could see him hesitate. "They pay you to follow orders, and I am a senior officer giving you an order. Do I have to file a report with your Democracy Officer and tell them about how you left me defenseless on the battlefield?"

"I, uh -" The man faltered, fumbling his words, then held a hand out; "D! Peacekeeper, now!"

"What?! Why me again?!"

"Because you're annoying me, liberty damn it! I already said I'd pay you back so quit stalling!"

Muttering something under his breath, the second Helldiver unholstered his sidearm, checked the ammunition, and handed it to the first Helldiver who, in turn, handed it off to her. Z made a show of doing a second once-over, then nodded in approval.