{*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*]*~Multiverse Mysteries~*[*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*}
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-ImbeddedAlienVerse*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
*~5~*
/KbLH4XR
Devil Went Down
To Jersey…
Story 3
5*-Imbedded Aliens Verse-*5
*~*~Verse5~*~*
Okay so Alec's life has gotten complicated. Plus side? He is now officially an FBI field agent.
Negative side: EVERYTHING else…
He's an Alien partnered with an unsettlingly gorgeous conspiracy nut assigned to An FBI division dedicated to investigating Cryptids, unexplained mysteries and, oh yeah...aliens...
Aliens like him...and his family...
And their boss...
Like he said: complicated.
Fortunately it seems like he can put off the existential crises and moral dilemma for at least a bit longer. Their first case is just normal levels of crazy. Investigating recent sightings of 'The Jersey Devil'.
Yeah the case seems ridiculous but Magnus seems happy and It'll be good to have a low pressure case to just ease into their partnership.
And really this'll be the perfect case to start. I mean come on: it's a kangaroo/lizard/bat/horse thing. No way there's any actual truth to that.
Right?
Meanwhile Simon's back at work with his fancy see-the-hidden-world-necklace and it opens his eyes to far more than he anticipated.
Notes:
Hey everyone we're back for another round!
Yeah, yeah I know I haven't finished the stories in the previous round but I just couldn't wait any longer. Don't worry those stories are still gonna be completed and I'm hoping an injection of something new will provide me with enough of a rush to pick up the pace and push those ones through the finish line.
Sorry this last round has been so drawn out by the way. This is definitely an anomaly. Most rounds won't take anywhere near this long. This just happened to be where I had to get everything solidified so I didn't have to worry about going back and retconing things as the series progresses {I had to do that a bit with V2- not a bunch and it was subtle enough to where I could blend it in to where it worked but I really hate having to do that so I wanted to do my best to avoid it with the other verses.}
It should go much faster with the upcoming rounds as I'm really set up well from here on out.
I have the outlines for every single story I have coming in all the verses {100 stories- I know I have a problem lol}. I have plots, dialogue, and even some entire scenes worked out- so really thinking we're good to go.
Thanks again for all of your patience and I promise it'll be worth it. And thank you again for reading and especially for those of you who take the time to comment it really does help motivate me.
Okay enough of me babbling. We have our first official Scifi Case fic! Truth be told I absolutely adore Cryptids and all that other fun crazy stuff so I've been looking forward to the actual cases with this verse even more than the characters and overall story arcs.
Kay, Let's get started, can't wait to dive into this!
Chapter 1:
Crash Course in Cryptids…
{****************}
*-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*{****************}
Okay good. Done with that. He's got all there is on the Bunyip, onto the next.
Alec sighs, shifting in his seat, slipping the Bunyip card back into the middle of the stack, idly shuffling the laminated flash cards a bit more before drawing another one at random, bright, sharp gaze flickering over the name.
Tahoe Tessie.
Hmm…Tahoe Tessie. Oh! Okay he knows this! Tahoe Tessie is the lake monster thought to live in Lake Tahoe. It's in category one, very similar to Ogopogo which is completely different than Nessie- category two- but somewhat similar to Champ and Pressie but with a head more like Kusshii a-no wait…
Wait…Kusshii is the one with the horns. Right? Right, right—horns, humps on the back, long neck. So like Champ but with a head like Mussie?
No, no that's not right. Mussie is the three eyed sturgeon/walrus thing which looks like a fever dream you'd have after getting too much sun on a fishing trip at the San Francisco pier. So not like Mussie. Mussie's very much in the third category. Tessie falls somewhere between category one and two. Like a giant serpent but with a few prehistoric type traits tossed in for good measure.
Okay so Tahoe Tessie isn't like Mussie or Kusshii or Hodgee. It's not like a plesiosaur or some other extinct prehistoric beast, more of a traditional sea serpent type. So some kind of snake or eel type thing…only bigger and toothier and apparently with its own line of merch…okay whatever. Enough about Tahoe Tessie.
Back to the others.
He sighed, shuffling the deck yet again, flickering through the cards. Okay well if anything he seems to be getting the basics down…they don't make any sense but at least it's a start. He hums softly, gaze shifting over the titles before pausing, head tilting curiously.
Wait…which one was the bat winged, giraffe necked, six legged bulldog whatever? Was that the Elizabeth lake monster or the Lake Worth monster? N-no…no…Lake Worth is the fishy man-goat with white fur and scales…O-or is it the other way around?
He groans, rolling not only his eyes but his entire head, just barely fighting the urge to throw the entire pile of cards in the air in exasperation.
Ugh, these damn names!
Would it really be so hard to add the fishy-man-goat part? Really The Fishy Man Goat of Lake Worth has a much better ring to it. And at least then it'd stand out.
Though that also tells you just how insane the thing seems. Maybe they keep it so generic specifically BECAUSE the actual description sounds so crazy. Okay…that'd actually kinda make sense.
Doesn't make it any easier. Maybe he can just assume the more generic the name the more insane the creature. that works…well except for the Devils lake monster which is just a giant octopus. Or the Iliamna lake monster which is just a pissed off barracuda with an attitude or the-
Okay yeah no, scratch that. There's no actual rhyme or reason to the names.
He scoffs again, once more shaking his head, flickering though the stack of green, yellow and red tinted cards pulling out two of the red ones, quickly checking over the stats and key facts on the back of the cards.
Hmm…oh okay, so he was right; Bat/giraffe/insectoid/bulldog is Elizabeth lake, Fishy, furry, scaly man-goat is Lake Worth.
Kay that's good…alright so not good that his job now consists of trying to build an encyclopedic knowledge of every movie monster reject ever dreamt up but if anything at least he'll have the 'facts' down.
Well…facts/hallucinations/ crazy acid trip/crackpot/fever dreams, same difference. He really didn't like categorizing these as 'facts' as he's a scientist and facts generally apply to hard, concrete data rather than campfire tales and myths but these are about the closest things to 'facts' he's gonna get here.
And that's the last of the cards. at least with this set He's still got the aerial and terrestrial cryptids to go over more but it's a start. It's basically a jumbled mess in his head but at least he has some beginnings of an understanding to build on.
So far he has the cryptids sorted by habitat and then broke down into three basic categories organized in degree of plausibility. Category one is oversized/undersized or wildly out of place version of existing creatures. Things like oversized snakes, eels, giant squids or panthers in England and Scotland and sewer gators in New York. These ones seem to make the most sense.
I mean yeah they seem a bit farfetched but there are plenty of plausible explanations for them. Gigantism, misidentification, escaped exotic pets. These he could see there being something to the case more than just a wild drunken exaggeration or someone's imagination and fear getting the best of them. They might be a bit out there but all told they're at least somewhat plausible.
Category two is extinct and/or prehistoric creatures returning from the dead. These are a bit farer fetched but they don't seem totally out of the realm of possibility. Things like Nessie and bigfoot. I mean he's not exactly convinced there's dinosaurs lurking in lakes and hairy wildmen roaming the woods but these are beings that at one point roamed the earth, that do have evidence in the fossil record and while he may not believe they're still traipsing about in the modern day the idea that a being could stay hidden up to the modern day isn't totally crazy.
He doesn't think it's likely but he can't totally rule out the idea that some things have managed to slip though the perception of humanity. I mean he knows for a fact there are a ton of beings that do exactly that. The earth is absolutely bursting with unknown beings that the human population is none the wiser of. Granted those beings tend to have sophisticated cloaking devices, disguises, glamours and the like to cover their existence but even so he can acknowledge that the idea that there are undiscovered or forgotten species out there that have somehow managed to slip through the cracks is a possibility, however slim it may be.
Sigh…
And then there's category three. Category three Cryptids are the crazy ass fever dream ones that seem like a bad acid trip. Things that just make no logical/biological/psychological sense. Those that just seem like an escapee from a cheesy scifi movie marathon. Things like the Elizabeth Lake/Lake Worth monsters. Like seriously a scaly, spiny, bat winged, giraffe necked, six legged bulldog creature? A fishy, furry, scaly man-goat?
What even IS that?
He gets that there can be unique and unexpected creatures but in general those creatures need to make some semblance of sense. Yeah there are anomalies, mutations and the like but by in large most living beings make some kind of sense. They fit into a specific category, a specific part of the ecosystem. They develop in a way that enables them to thrive in their native environment.
Outside of a bad Sci-Fi movie or a mad scientists lab there is no environment in which a fishy, furry, scaly man-goat could thrive. I mean come on, He is a non-human being. A literal alien. An alien doctor with an extensive near encyclopedic knowledge of xenobiology, xenozoology and comparatatiave exophysiology and even he cannot make sense of these beings.
He can tell you the exact chemical makeup, physiology, endothermic impact, diet and evolutionary trajectory of a Quendsion lunar Lava slug but even he cannot make sense of 'fishy, furry man-goat.'
Oh my god how is this his life?
And that's the LESS insane part of his job! The other part – the really crazy part that sends him spiraling if he thinks about it too much- is the part where he somehow has to simultaneously hunt down and cover up the existence of Non-human beings. Non-human beings like him…and his family…and their boss…
Alec swallowed, mindfully shaking that away, pushing his focus back to the Cryptids. Back to the manageable crazy.
He stretched, groaning, shifting in his desk chair, looking somewhat forlornly over at the packed to the gills shelves of their 'research'. Accounts of Aliens and UFO's mixed in with accounts of things like Sea monsters, bigfoots, The dover demon, melonheads, flying humanoids, something called a batsquatch a-
Oh dear lord…there's even one on freaking evil gnomes. Multiple books on evil gnomes.
Seriously how is this his life?
What cosmic force did he piss off to end up working cases on evil gnomes, batsquatch and weird ass fishy, furry, scaly man-goats? Okay, okay, yes nearly half the shelves are taken up by books on UFO's USO's extraterrestrials, psychic abilities, reptilians and that kind of thing but it's not like that's in any way better!
Oh my god it is SO much worse! Hell half the reason he's focusing so much on the Crazy ass Cryptids is because if he looks at the other stuff for too long- the stuff that he actually DOES understand and makes sense to him- he's liable to have a panic attack!
I mean yeah the category three cryptids cases are gonna be a headache. They're gonna seem insulting and like a total waste of his time and training but if he follows Magnus's advice; focus on the case, focus on the witness and helping them deal with what is likely the craziest most terrifying, mind warping day of their lives he thinks he can power through those. If he focuses on helping people find answers to what they experienced and helping preserve their sanity he can see that as something more than going on a glorified snipe hunt.
But what about the others? The cases involving UFO's, aliens, alien cover-ups and conspiracies and all the other non-human related cases? How is he supposed to help the witnesses there without while at the same time actively keeping them from finding the truth? What about all the things he knows about that he's gonna have to pretend he DOESN'T know about? How is he supposed to seem compassionate and helpful and like he's actually working a case when it involves something he has to actively cover up?
How the hell is he supposed to handle those?
How is he supposed to act like he DOESN'T believe in the things he knows exist? How is he supposed to both seem like a competent agent working a case trying to uncover the truth and help the witnesses AND cover up all the parts of the case that his partner and the witnesses can't actually know about?
What's he supposed to do, just play dumb? He doesn't know how to do that! He's never played dumb in his life.
He might be able to fake an interest in the Cryptid cases and try to keep as open-minded as possible to them and yeah he's basically a socially awkward weirdo but he's a socially awkward weirdo with enough manners not to just laugh in someone's face no matter how crazy what they're saying is but how do you fake faking an interest in something?
How do you fake having an open mind about the existence of something that you know without a doubt exists?
He doesn't know how the hell to do that! That's like expert level human/social interaction. He's not expert level! Hell he's barely at the beginner level! He's spent the last decade working with freaking dead people!
He's not sneaky, he's not stealthy! He's about as deceptive as Mags is Demure! How the hell is he supposed to work with his partner and investigate cases and empathize with witnesses while simultaneously trying to keep said partner and witnesses and everyone else he encounters from learning the truth without anyone figuring out he's actively trying to keep them from learning the truth?
Like…what is he even supposed to do here?
How is he supposed to work with Magnus and gain his trust when he's likely gonna be lying straight to his face on a pretty regular bases? He can't lie to people's faces! Not in any way convincingly in any case. He's like one of the worst liars on the planet!
See? This is why for the last decade he's opted to just work with dead people! Yeah it had its drawbacks but there were a lot of advantages. Less questions, less drama, less having to pivot and think on his feet. He doesn't know how to do that! He tries to pivot, adjust on the fly and think on his feet he's most likely gonna end up falling flat on his ass.
Honestly at this point he's kinda really missing his old job.
He and Magnus are gonna be working together. They're gonna learn each other's patterns, each other's tics. It's unavoidable. How long will it be before Magnus catches his in a lie? Magnus may be bat crap crazy but he's also a highly trained government agent, smart as hell and can spot a bluff a mile away. Freaking Matt said he was like half a step from a human lie detector.
And THAT'S the person Alec is supposed to outmaneuver? Oh my god this is s-
O-okay okay…Whoa.
He swallowed, blinking taking a few gulping breaths, raising his hand to his chest, feeling the frantic twin beats.
O-okay…okay…stop spiraling. You're fine, you're cool…it's okay. Stop spinning. This is why you were focusing on the Manageable Crazy…j-just go back to that…
You're okay. All you can do is just approach it logically and take it one step at a time. Focus on the details, focus on the work, focus on the case and the witnesses. Work the cases the same way you'd work any other case. When you come to a complication you can figure it out then. There's no sense stressing, spinning and spiraling about what ifs.
You'll have plenty of things to do that about on your actual cases, no sense making even more.
Alec huffed faintly at himself, rolling his eyes.
Oh, yeah, THAT helps.
Alright, enough of that. Stop spinning. Just go back to your studying. You like studying, it relaxes you. And you do have a LOT to learn here. No two ways about it on this job depending on the case he's gonna be fluctuating wildly between blind panic and utter cluelessness.
There's not too much he can do about the panic beforehand and the more he thinks about it the worse it's gonna get but if anything there IS something he can do to help with the cluelessness.
He shifted again in his seat, stretching once more before groaning faintly, shaking his head, reaching over, picking up the stack of Orange backed cards with the terrestrial cryptids, shuffling the stack, beginning to pick one at random, gaze flickering over the name.
Chupacabra- literally translated to goat sucker…oh that's lovely. A near frail looking, surprisingly strong Vampiric being generally described as a reptilian like creature about the size of a medium sized dog with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.
Most commonly found in t-
"Pack your bags gorgeous we got a case!"
Alec jumps at the door to the office slamming open sending the stack of cards in his hands flying. Magnus gasps, holding his hands up placatingly.
"Oh crap! Sorry sweetheart didn't mean to startle you." He chuckled, lightly tossing the tablet he's holding onto the desk, flashing a quick, apologetic smile before moving forward, quickly beginning to gather up the cards.
Alec smiled, waving him off, shifting down, gathering the cards as well, shaking his head.
"No problem it's fine, think I was lost in my own world. Tend to get kinda jumpy when I'm focused on something."
Magnus chuckled, nodding in amusement, grabbing the last of the cards before gracefully standing up, stacking the cards neatly beginning to hand them to Alec before pausing, head tilting curiously, looking over them in interest.
"What are- are these flash cards of cryptids?"
Alec shifted, giving a somewhat sheepish shrug, reaching up brushing his hair back.
"Uh…yeah…"
Magnus blinked in surprise, huffing out a faint laugh, flipping through them in interest before handing them over to Alec, smiling, nodding approvingly.
"That's really clever. Should be a great way to familiarize yourself with this. I didn't even know they made these. Did you get these online?"
Alec huffed out a faint laugh, shaking his head.
"Um no-I made them."
Magnus blinked, brow raising, gaze again flickering down to the stack of cards in his hand in interest.
"You made them?"
Alec shrugged, shifting awkwardly, feeling his cheeks heat.
"I-well…yeah." He groaned, shaking his head, shrugging kind of helplessly.
"Yeah okay I know it's kinda over the top but it's something I've done ever since high school. It's the best way I've found to learn a new subject quickly. Especially subjects that I have a lot of trouble grasping or that are wildly out of my depth. Which... I mean…" He huffed out a faint laugh, gesturing pointedly at the stacks upon stacks of books, files, photos and assorted craziness that made up their research resources.
"This is about as far from my depth as we can possibly get. And it is a LOT of very new, wildly different information for me…" He smiled, glancing up, catching Magnus's eye, again shrugging.
"Like I said I am totally out of my element here. I'd say I feel like I'm starting at zero but honestly I think zero would be a vast improvement. Pretty sure I'm well into the negative numbers on this stuff and I really don't like that feeling. I know I may not be able to fully understand everything but I don't like feeling like I'm just totally flying blind.
I don't understand any of this, I don't even know where to begin to try to understand this but data, facts and stats I know. I know how to study them and memorize them and familiarize myself with them.
I know it's not much but at least it's a start. And it's something I know how to do. I know how to study a new subject. It's the same process I always use. Gather the info, Sort it, label it, color code it in a way that it makes sense in my mind and I'm usually good no matter how out there the subject matter is. And this subject matter is REALLY out there."
Magnus chuckled, waving him off a bit.
"Oh it's not THAT out there-"
Alec blinked, looking over completely deadpan, gesturing to the bookshelves of insanity.
"Magnus? I can see three books on Evil Gnomes from here."
"I-O-okay…yeah that's fair. But-"
"But?! There's no But when Evil Gnomes-"
"Gnomes don't have butts? Huh, think I missed that in my own research. Maybe I'll need to borrow your cards for reference. Seems you're very thorough."
Alec blinked before groaning, rolling not only his eyes but his whole head, rubbing his face.
"Oh my god…"
Magnus chuckled, holding his hands up placatingly.
"Sorry! Couldn't resist."
Alec glanced over between his fingers, brow quirking.
"You could have tried."
"Afraid not gorgeous. I don't have that much will power."
Alec snorted, head tilting brow quirking.
"Shocker."
Magnus just shrugged totally unabashed, hopping up, lightly perching on the edge of Alec's desk next to where he'd tossed his tablet, spotting the other two stacks of cards, one blue and the other purple. He reached forward, lightly plucking the purple stack of Arial cryptids cards off the desk, flicking through them in interest, long nimble fingers trailing over the titles, flipping them over to see the data points, brow raising a bit more.
"These are very detailed. You put a lot of work into this. Very in-depth research…"
Alec shifted, feeling a bit self-conscious about the fussily organized fastidiously designed little cards. He sighed faintly, mindlessly flipping through the stack of orange backed cards in his hand, shifting and shuffling them just to give him something to do with his hands.
Yeah okay, gotta admit, they were pretty over the top. They were the same size as a deck of standard playing cards. All the typing and images were Perfectly centered, with the name in clean bold print on the back, the front printed with a clear detailed image of the creature along with the data points on the creature, lightly tinted green, yellow or red corresponding to his own defined Cryptid categories.
Oh good god it looked like a weirdly colored stack of Magic the Gathering cards- only somehow even moregeeky.
Ugh…
Alec just barely managed to fight back a groan, trying to mentally push the flush he could feel rising in his cheeks back down, clearing his throat, giving a somewhat halting, hesitant shrug.
"I-yeah I know they're WAY over the top. Jace and Izzy always gave me grief about it saying I put more effort into making my study aids then most people would even put into studying. I know it's pretty weird but it's what I do with any new subject. It's the best way I know to learn a subject and learn it quickly.
I know I could just stick with the books or even just scrawl the important things on paper like a normal person but…well… I-I don't know this just always seems to work best for me…" He trailed off, shrugging, glancing away sheepishly, leaning back against one of the file cabinets.
God he probably thinks he's such a-
"Oh my god you are so freaking adorable."
Alec blinked, giving a disbelieving laugh, glancing back up in surprise. He feels his hearts pick up a few tics, mouth going dry, unable to keep from again blinking when he catches sight of Magnus's expression. It's not the teasing, judgmental or even somewhat pitying look like he usually expects when someone comes across his weirdly obsessive study aids. Instead he's met with a bright, dizzying smile, Magnus's beautiful dark brown eyes sparkling warm, soft and slightly amazed.
Oh wow that look is just…um…whoa…
Alec feels his head spin in a whole different way, an excited little thrill slipping down his spine, swallowing, shifting closer to Magnus. The other man gave a soft, warm little chuckle, reaching over, resting his hand on Alec's arm, subconsciously tugging him closer still, shaking his head, smiling reassuringly.
"Sweetheart that wasn't in anyway an insult or criticism. These are amazing. It's clear you put a lot of time and effort into this. I appreciate that. I wish more people were this considerate."
Alec swallowed, shaking himself out of his Magnus-daze, smiling faintly, reaching up, nervously scratching at his neck, again shaking his head, smiling.
"I…well…thanks but I don't know if I'd call it considerate so much as really persnickety and type A and like boarding on OCD-ish…though gotta admit your description sounds a lot better. It just kinda works for me." He paused, shifting a bit closer, settling against the desk next to Magnus, glancing over, shaking his head.
"And I told you I'm not adorable. I'm a six foot four fully grown FBI agent."
Magnus laughed, nudging his shoulder, smiling flirtatiously, playfully waggling his eyebrow.
"An adorable six foot four, fully grown FBI agent. Though I most definitely agree it works for you…VERY well."
Alec snorted, rolling his eyes, waving him off, nudging his shoulder right back. Magnus chuckled, reaching over, running his hand along Alec's arm, down to his hand, lightly plucking the stack of orange cards from his hand, flicking through them, a pretty smile tugging at his full soft violet tinted lips, head tilting curiously.
"I love that you did this. These really are wonderful. And extremely well done. Actually, do you think you could maybe make me a set?"
Alec blinked in surprise, brow quirking.
"I-w-well yeah sure, no problem. I have a program for my computer at home to print them. It'd be nothing to make another copy…but umm…why? You don't need them. You probably know this stuff well enough to proof these books."
Magnus chuckled, head tilting concedingly.
"True, but you're right it is a lot of information and trying to keep it straight is a lot. Plus no matter how well you know a subject it never hurts to brush up every now and then. So you'll make me a set?"
Alec huffed out a faint breath of a laugh, shrugging, relaxing a bit more, nodding.
"Sure no problem."
Magnus beamed happily, reaching over, squeezing his arm.
"Wonderful, thank you sweetheart. I'm sure they'll be very helpful." He paused, head tilting, flicking through the stack of orange cards, bright, warm gaze shifting over them once more, head shaking, smiling softly before glancing up, holding the cards up in emphasis.
"And thank you for taking this so seriously. There aren't many people who'd put this much effort into learning about something they don't even believe in."
Alec shrugged, reaching up, brushing his hair back.
"Well it is my job now. I mean I may not understand this stuff or believe in the majority of it but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna blow it off, stick my head in the sand and just dismiss everything completely out of hand. You can't work a case if you don't know the information and I don't want to have to waste half our time on a case just trying to get caught up on whatever we happen to be investigating.
Like you said at the end of the day these are real investigations we're looking into involving real people who are scared, confused and looking for help. They experienced something they don't understand and they want help finding answers. How can I find them answers if I don't even really know the question?
If I'm gonna investigate their case I'm gonna have to actually have some idea what it is I'm supposed to be looking into. Gotta admit I don't know how much it'll help me really grasp this but if anything at least if I have the facts, details and stats I have somewhere to start." He shrugged, trailing off, not really sure what else to say.
Magnus smiled, nodding approvingly.
"That's a really clever way of looking at it." He paused, reaching over, again picking up the Purple backed stack of cards, waving them about.
"And so is this. Good job sweetheart. This is very reassuring."
Alec shrugged, kind of waving him off.
"Thanks but I really don't know how much it's actually gonna help. I still don't really understand this stuff and even if I get the basic facts memorized I don't know how much that's gonna help me during an actual investigation into encounters with one of these things."
Magnus smiled, perking up.
"Well only one way to find out."
Alec started, nodding faintly something occurring to him.
"What do y-Oh wait- did you say we have a case?"
Magnus positively beamed, nodding excitedly.
"Yup, we fly out at one. Are you gonna need a lot of time to get your things?"
Alec shook his head, waving him off.
"No I'm pretty much always ready. At my old job things tended to move pretty quickly and you had to be ready to pick up and go where you're needed. I always have a bag in my car with the essentials, a few changes of clothes and my good heavy duty leather jacket. So I'm good."
Magnus blinked, nodding approvingly.
"Very good." He smirked, winking.
Alec chucked, waving him off, fighting down a faint blush.
"So what's the case? What are we investigating?"
Magnus chuckled, shifting, flickering through the stack of purple backed cards before pausing, pulling one out, holding it up triumphantly. Alec blinked, gaze flickering over the title on the card, brow quirking in confusion.
"We're investigating the Jersey Devil?"
Magnus nodded eagerly, pretty brown eyes sparkling bright.
"Yup!"
Alec blinked, head tilting curiously.
"Why are we investigating a hockey team?"
Magnus snorted teasingly quirking his brow.
"Sorry, this time I'm the one who couldn't resist." Alec chuckled, placatingly holding his hands up, flashing a faint smile, shifting over, taking the card from Magnus's hand, giving a bit of a shrug, lightly tapping on the card.
"No I remember that one. Weird kangaroo/lizard/bat/horse type thing. Said to glow in the dark and possibly breathe fire. Lives in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, said to have been the thirteenth child of a man named Mother Leeds.
He cursed the child it apparently turned into a weird dragon like thing and has been haunting the pine Barrens ever since." Alec chuckled faintly, flipping the card over, gaze flickering over the little bullet points of information before shifting back up, head shaking, glancing up, brow quirking at Magnus.
"You really believe that?"
Magnus sighed, giving a bit of a conceding wave, shaking his head.
"Well…okay no, not necessarily that. The idea that one random seemingly immortal cursed being is behind all of this is pretty farfetched. Evidence suggests it's a real flesh and blood creature and one single animal surviving for hundreds of years is pretty out there.
It's probably just a myth that got mixed up with the truth but it definitely seems like there's something there. Long before the Leeds myth started there were stories of creatures in the forest. The Lenape tribes called the area the place of the dragon and it was largely regarded as a place to be avoided at all costs.
There's a lot of theories about what it is- the Leeds story is just one of many. Anything from an alien to a type of undiscovered pterodactyl or possibly a mutated hammerhead bat very far out of its natural habitat. Really the possibilities are endless. That's what makes it so fascinating."
Alec blinked, brow raising faintly.
"So…we're going out looking for a dragon, a dinosaur or a mutated bat? And those are the logical options?"
Magnus shrugged.
"Well when the alternative is an immortal demon cursed child. The crazy in Cryptozoology is kinda like grades, tends to go on a curve."
Alec blinked, head shaking faintly. Magnus chuckled, shrugging, reaching over, patting Alec's arm reassuringly.
"Yeah I know how it sounds but this really is pretty par for the course with Cryptid cases. And pretty much any other case that comes across our desk come to think of it."
Alec huffed out a faint breath of an almost laugh, settling next to Magnus on the desk, slumping faintly.
"Great…"
Magnus sighed, smiling reassuringly, lightly squeezing his arm.
"I know darling, it's a lot when you first start off but you'll get the hang of it. You're gonna do fine, I'm sure of it."
Alec scoffed, giving a somewhat flippant wave.
"Well that makes one of us."
Magnus sighed, settling closer, hand trailing down Alec's arm, catching er hand, squeezing gently.
"Oh now darling don't be like that. You don't really strike me as the kind to balk at a challenge."
Alec shrugged, giving a bit of a halfhearted wave with his free hand.
"I'm not…at least not usually."
"But?"
"But…" Alec shrugged somewhat helplessly, glancing back up at the other man.
I- look I'm really gonna try but honestly I don't know how I'm gonna do at this. I don't believe in this stuff. Sorry but I just don't. I'm gonna try to be open-minded and go into this without any preconceived notions but I don't know how well I'll be able to do that. Most of this just seems completely insane and I'm really gonna try to keep an open mind about it and everything but at the end of the day I am a scientist and a doctor and an FBI agent and the idea of looking into mythical creatures and things straight out of campfire stories and B level sci-fi monster movies is just a major change for me.
I just… I know what you said about these people dealing with likely the most confusing events in their life. Dealing with things that terrify them, shake them to their very core and make them question their sanity and I get that I do and the last thing I'd want is to screw up and accidentally make it worse."
Magnus smiled, waving him off.
"Sweetheart I told you you're gonna do fine."
Alec huffed, brow raising, waving animatedly.
"How can you know that?"
Magnus chuckled, brow quirking, holding up the stack of cards in his hand, waving them.
"Because of this."
Alec blinked.
"Because I'm weirdly obsessive about studying?"
He laughed, shaking his head.
"Because you are actually studying this! Because you're treating learning about cryptids, aliens and paranormal phenomena the same way you would anatomy, astrophysics or organic chemistry. You're treating it the same way you would any other new field of study. That alone tells me that you're going to do just fine."
"You really think so?"
"I know- In fact I can sense it."
Alec laughed, brow quirking, glancing over, lightly nudging his shoulder.
"You can sense it? What are you psychic now?"
Magnus smirked, flashing a playful wink.
"Oh sweetheart I'm all kinds of things."
Alec laughed brightly, relaxing faintly, settling closer, kind of leaning against his shoulder, glancing over playfully, bright gaze flickering over him.
"Now that I believe…" he hummed softly, flashing an impishly teasing smile.
"Sounds like maybe we should be investigating you."
Magnus chuckled, nudging his shoulder right back flashing a flirty wink.
"Go for it gorgeous."
Alec flushed brightly, a soft kinda high laugh slipping out, settling a bit closer before catching himself, startling faintly, shifting back a bit, awkwardly brushing his hair back.
"Uh…y-yeah…um…think we should probably focus on the case."
Magnus huffed.
"Spoilsport."
Alec gave him a totally heatless glare. Magnus just chuckled, waving him off, flashing a bright grin.
"Relax sweetheart I'm just having a bit of fun. Don't stress. We got this. I like the cards and the stats and I really do think they'll help but don't stress on it too much. I got you. Just try not to get too caught up in the crazy. I can handle that part-it's kinda my strong suit."
Alec chuckled, teasingly smiling, nodding.
"Now THAT I believe."
Magnus chuckled, shrugging totally unapologetically.
"Hey always good to know your strengths and play to them." He paused, a pretty spark shimmering in those deep brown eyes, cute little smirk tugging at his lips, giving a faint shrug.
"Actually maybe that's what we should do."
Alec blinked, head tilting curiously.
"What do you mean?"
Magnus shrugged.
"Well we have two very different skill sets. It's good for us to know both sides of it but it'd be far more efficient if we both play to our strengths. And the crazy is definitely one of mine.
Don't worry gorgeous, I know this seems pretty out there but I've been on dozens of these kinds of cases. Ones way more out there than this. Don't worry about the crazy. I can deal with that- I have it down. Thinking we'll just each play to our strengths, divide and conquer. Seems like it could work, right?"
Alec blinked, again catching a curiously mischievous little spark in those pretty deep brown eyes. He shrugged, unable to stop a bit of a smile, quirking his eyebrow questioningly.
"Sure? So your strength is the case crazy…what are my strengths?"
Magnus shrugged, gesturing towards the cards.
"Exactly what you said. Data, stats, facts, the actual Incident type parts of the cases. The things that are really solid and tangible and logical." He smiled, head tilting, bright pretty eyes sparking.
"How about this? I have the crazy, out there, mindboggling parts of the case, you have the logical, rational, statistical and incidental type parts.
How's that sound?"
Alec huffed out a faint laugh, the reason behind the cute mischievous little spark clicking into place, smirking, brow quirking.
"Like you're planning on sticking me with all the paperwork?"
Magnus chuckled, flashing a cheeky smirk and an adorable little wink.
"Beauty and brains- my favorite combination."
Alec laughed brightly, rolling his eyes, brow quirking. Magnus sighed faltering, holding his hands up placatingly.
"Okay yeah, you got me. Can't blame a guy for trying-"
Alec chuckled, waving him off.
"Actually? I'm kinda good with that plan."
Magnus froze, blinking.
"Wha-wait. You are?"
Alec huffed, nodding.
"Definitely. Paperwork I understand, it makes sense. It's logical. The rest of this? Not so much. You handle the insanity, I translate the insanity into a report. Think I can work with that. Besides I actually like paperwork."
"You do?"
Alec laughed, shrugging, nodding faintly.
"Wow and I thought I was weird."
"Hey!"
Magnus chuckled, waving him off.
"Relax gorgeous. Weird's good, keeps life interesting. And in this case it keeps me from having to slog through a tedious report so weird is very, VERY good…" he settled closer, smiling, nudging his shoulder before shifting, reaching over, picking up his tablet with a flourish, hitting a few buttons, bringing up the case file.
"Now onto the facts we have for this specific case. The first sighting was around midnight in the alleyway behind a local diner…"
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***EndOfChapterNotes***
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Ugh, okay sorry for the sudden, abrupt ending, it just kept going and I needed to find a way to end it. I know this kinda rambled and didn't really further the story too much but I think it sets up things pretty well. Besides I like Alec making flash cards to learn about the Cryptids I know it's kinda out there but it just seemed so awkward and charming and I thought it'd go a long way to show Magnus just how serious he's taking this.
This is gonna be a lot of fun, I'm really glad to be back in this verse I really missed it. So since I added the new story into the mix {and will add the new stories for verses 7 and 6 as well soon enough} My list for the remaining chapters for the round doesn't really work, here's a kinda reworked update list that I think I'm gonna stick to:
*Devil Went Down To Jersey {V5 –ch1}*
*Picture Perfect {Verse 9} {Ch9}*
*Trust Is A Tricky Thing {V7-ch1}*
*Death Was Just The Beginning {Verse 3 {Ch9}*
*Opposites Attract {V6-ch1}*
Nosey Neighbors {Ch9}*
You Can Go Home Again {Verse 1} {Ch9}*
So again this is the order I *Think* I'm gonna go in but it all just depends on where my brain decides to wander to. That being said the next chapter for V8 I really do have over halfway done so once I can get my brain focused on that it shouldn't be too long before I have another update. Fingers crossed I'll be able to get it up Thursday or Friday as those are my days off this next week.
Clearly this isn't all the chapters we have coming but this selection gets all three of the new stories started and all of the stories from this last round to the last three chapters. I always write chapter 10 then 12 then double back and write 11 so I have time to proof the final chapter a bit more so once we get to that those I should be able to run through fairly quickly.
I know I've been saying it forever but we really are in the home stretch here. It probably was kinda stupid of me starting this before finishing the last round but I just really couldn't wait any longer to get back into this verse. I really miss this verse and Verse 7. I'm so glad to be back into them. I know it seems like adding even MORE to my already overly abundant list of upcoming chapters seems counterintuitive but I've been working on this last set of stories for so long I feel like I'm kinda stagnating on them. I think with the injection of the new stories it'll give me the oomph I need to pick up the pace on the others.
This story should be a lot of fun.
So what do you think so far?
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