A/N: A different outcome to the story you read in the last chapter. Little changes were made here and there to the base story to hopefully keep things interesting.

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Version Two: Acting Your Age

"Robin called me earlier," Thomas said as he sat down on a chair in the living room, a bottle of beer in his hand.

"Oh, yeah?" Rick said as he reached for a handful of popcorn. "How's our favorite number one bestselling author?"

Magnum took a drink of his beer. "Doing good. Working on research for his next novel." Thomas sank a bit more into his chair. "He wanted to warn me that he's in talks with a couple of studios to have the White Knight books made into movies."

T.C. choked on his beer and started coughing, Rick patting his back as his friend tried to get it together again. After another minute, T.C. said, "Seriously?"

Thomas sent T.C. a look, asking if his friend was truly alright, getting a nod and grin in reply.

Rick glanced at T.C., looking relieved, before he shrugged. "You gotta admit it makes sense. Books as successful as Robin's get made into movies all of the time."

"And with multiple books, they already have built in sequels if the first one is a success," Thomas said, nodding at what his best friend just said.

"Did Robin say how likely it would be a deal would be made?" T.C. asked.

"Still too early to say. Robin said he wants writing the screenplay as part of the deal, but he's not sure either of the studios will go for that."

Thomas couldn't help but hope the deal fell through. It was bad enough there were books based on him, but to have them turned into movies somehow seemed so much worse ever since the estate was invaded and Juliet tortured for information. He still felt guilty about Kumu and Juliet being in that situation because of him.

"T.C., if the deal does go through and Queen's Gambit is made into a movie, who would you want to play your character?" Rick asked.

After several moments of T.C. looking thoughtful, his expression changed to one anyone would recognize as a 'lightbulb moment.' "Chadwick Boseman would be good. Or, no, even better would be that Michael something Jordan guy."

"Dude, aren't those the actors from Black Panther?"

"And what is wrong with that, Rick? They were both pretty bad ass in that movie. I'd even be happy with the guy from that TV show, you know; the one who played the dad of Jordan's character in that dream sequence." T.C. was about to take a sip of his beer when he pointed the bottle towards his friends instead. "Did you ever see him on that show Supernatural? Played Gordon. Guy is a great actor."

"Supernatural? You watch that show?"—Rick lightly punched T.C.'s shoulder—"How did I not know that? I love that show."

Thomas hadn't known that about either of his friends. "I thought that show already went off the air."

"Naw man," T.C. replied. "It's still on."

"For now," Rick added, looking slightly subdued. "It's ending this year. Fifteen seasons…"—Rick sighed—"I'm going to miss that show."

Magnum knew if he let them, they'd get into a long discussion about favorite episodes, story arcs, or whatever other minutiae they could come up with. When they'd all been in Iraq, his friends would get into these drawn out conversations about their mutual favorite TV shows despite being half a season or more behind on most of them. Despite not really wanting to talk about dream casting the White Knight characters, he wanted to hear about Supernatural even less, so he decided to try and get the conversation back on track.

"I don't know T.C…. Those actors might not work. Can they do comedy? Because you know whoever writes the screenplay is probably going to take further liberties with your character."

T.C. chuckled. "Wouldn't surprise me. The books rarely take what our characters look like into account. For the movies, that means they could hire anyone they want."

"Don't be too sure about that. You know Robin will want to keep the integrity of the characters, especially if he writes the screenplay," Rick said.

"Not sure that's the best idea, to be honest. Book authors aren't always the best at screenplay writing. Just look at—"

Magnum rolled his eyes at how quickly his friends had gone off track. "Guys! Can we get back on topic? Dream casting. Remember? Rick, you're up."

Thomas had barely finished speaking when Rick said, "Brad Pitt."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," T.C said with a chuckle.

"What? Why not? The guy is a good actor. Just won an Oscar."

"And that's exactly why he won't be playing your character. Besides the fact that he's in his 50s, Pitt's asking pricing will be too high for a while. Do you really think the studio is going to use up that much of the movie's budget on an actor that's basically going to be playing a supporting role?" T.C. shook his head. "Not likely, man. They're going to spend the dough on the actor who is going to play the White Knight."

Looking slightly downcast, Rick nodded after a moment. "Yeah, you're probably right."—Rick scratched at the stubble on his face—"Matthew McConaughey? He can do comedy."

"Might work," Magnum said, with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Though he might also be too expensive."

"If I stick to T.C.'s theme, then how about… Chris Evans? Chris Hemsworth? Chris Pine?"

"Not gonna happen."—T.C. chuckled—"Besides, one of those is not like the others," T.C. concluded in a sing-songy kind of voice.

"Bradley Cooper? Matt Damon? Woody Harrelson?"

Thomas started chuckling as T.C. lightly pushed over a grinning Rick. "Just give it up, man."

"So, Thomas. Who do you want to play the White Knight?" T.C. asked.

Thomas's mouth engaged before his brain and he blurted out, "Tom Selleck."

"Tom Selleck?! Isn't that guy in his 70s?"

"Yeah. So what? Harrison Ford is going to be in another Indiana Jones movie and he's about the same age, so why can't Selleck play my character?"

Rick's face morphed to one of sympathy. "Tommy, I know you used to watch Selleck's TV show with your mom back when you were a kid, but you have to know it's not going to happen. Whatever studio picks this movie up is most likely going to skew the cast much younger. Ya know, for potential sequels."—Rick grinned—"Besides, I doubt he'd be willing to shave off his mustache."

"Who says he has to?"

"He's got you there, Rick," T.C. said.

Magnum knew it was highly unlikely someone like Selleck would be able to play the White Knight, but he still couldn't help feel disappointed. Thomas missed his mother so much sometimes; having the actor in the movie, even if the man didn't play the title character, would be a great little homage to their weekly ritual of watching the show.

Thomas sighed and felt he was going to regret asking his next question. "Well, who do you guys think should play the White Knight?"

Rick shrugged, but T.C. chuckled. "How about Benecio del Toro, Diego Luna, or Oscar Isaac?"

"Really, T.C…. Another themed list?" Rick held up a hand. "Not that I don't like your ideas, of course."

T.C. rolled his eyes. "Of course."

Magnum thought it was funny how T.C.'s mind could work at times. He'd really liked the character of Poe in the most recent Star Wars movies, so he wasn't too opposed to the idea of Oscar Isaac, but he wasn't too certain about Benecio del Toro. If Selleck or Pitt were too old, then wasn't del Toro?

Something T.C. said not that long ago occurred to him. Unless the movie deal specifically required the studios to hire people resembling the physical characteristics of the characters in the book, then it didn't matter how much they dream casted. Their choices were likely never going to happen. The studio will hire who the studio wants to hire.

Thomas felt Rick nudging his knee. When he looked up, Rick said, "What are ya thinking there, bud? You went quiet on us."

Taking a sip of his beer and then shrugging, he replied. "I was just thinking that this conversation is basically pointless. It's—"

"Pointless?" Rick said, interrupting Thomas. "Sure, our choices happening are about as likely as a lightning strike, but we're having fun – right? Enjoying our beers. Relaxing."

T.C. pats Rick on the shoulder. "The man's right Thomas. Reality has no say in this, so just have fun with it."

Thomas debated with himself for a moment before replying. He shrugged and said, "You're right. Thanks, guys. So… Who do you think will play the villain?"

ooooooo

Eleven months later…

When his phone rings, Thomas checks the caller ID and sees that it's Robin calling him.

"Hey, Robin. What's up?"

"I'm about half way through my next book, but that's not why I called. I just got some news about the White Knight movie and thought you should hear it from me first."

That doesn't sounds good, Thomas thinks to himself. "What news? They're not cancelling the project are they?"

"No; it's still ongoing. In fact, they just cast the lead…"

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The next day…

Because the universe hates him sometimes, when the news breaks about who is going to play the White Knight, Thomas is with Rick, T.C., and Juliet.

Rick's phone chimes as they're walking towards Kamekona's shrimp truck, and he takes it out of his pocket to check it, stopping to read the screen. Seconds later, his friend busts out laughing, making the three of them turn to look at him.

T.C. asks Rick what he's laughing at and Rick shoves his phone towards the man. "You've got to be kidding me," T.C. says and laughs.

A bad feeling steels over Thomas as he says, "What?"

"They cast a 17-year-old!" Their laughing resumes and Juliet joins in after she'd looked at Rick's phone.

Having been forewarned, Thomas needs no further explanation of that remark and continues heading towards the shrimp truck. The moment Robin told him, he knew he wouldn't be able to live it down that an actor so young was going to play the White Knight. He'd decided right then and there to hold off on the humiliation for as long as possible and didn't tell his friends.

He didn't mind too much, but then again, he'd eventually have his revenge. Robin had also told him that the studio was going young for the co-stars, which meant he wasn't going to be the only one to have their character turned into a kid.

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The end.

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A/N: Many thanks to Celticgal1041 for proofing. Any remaining mistakes are my fault.

Thanks for reading!

*Please do not repost or use this or any of my other works on another site or app without my knowledge or consent. FanFiction and Archive of Our Own are the only two sites (as AZGirl on both) where my fiction should be posted. Thank you!