Sunday Snippet: Hold to Let Go

Well, I can finally breathe again. I'm truly hoping I'm done with the cold / viral ick / seasonal funk now. Yeesh.

Gotham had a great episode. I loved the end with two potential villains putting their heads together. That combo could lead to some truly good viewing.

The Flash is getting interesting. I have a sneaking suspicion about who Zoom is going to turn out to be, but I'll refrain from speculating for now. My biggest hint is in looking at his garb…

Arrow keeps getting better and better. I like seeing Oliver and Felicity having some conflict. And it's always fun to see Mama Smoak.

Not much to say about the other shows, but Agents of SHIELD is staying twisty and I like that. Unless it gets too hard to tell who is on what side. Then I'll be annoyed.

One final television note. Doctor Who. Yeah. So disappointed. I can't shake the feeling Moffat and company are trying to be too clever and they're sacrificing the emotional component to do so. "Sleep No More" came off as a jumbled mess, in my opinion. Maybe I'm too stupid to 'get' the cleverness. I don't know.

Tonight's post is from Hold to Let Go, a sexy short that may end up becoming a novella, where my main characters figure out how to navigate a relationship while saving their people.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Banner Nix and Quade Newelson go way back and have a lot of baggage to show for it. When an opportunity to save their people presents itself, they put their crap aside and work together to make it happen, even though their plan is in direct opposition to their leaders'.

And a preview snippet…

Quade Newelson sat through another long meeting. He'd lost interest less than five minutes in and wondered if they'd ever get to 'new' business. The constant rehashing of the same topics drove him mad. The one thing he missed about stepping away from the military had to be losing his 'voice'. As a major, he made a decision and expected it to be carried out. As a brand new delegate to the barely held together government, he had to wait his turn. Sitting on the bottom rung meant he could see his next birthday before he got anything on his agenda heard.

It didn't help he'd opposed the prime minister's course of action. Quade didn't think they should limit their search for a new planet to a single path. He'd cast the deciding vote to open up the option and let Banner follow an opposite trajectory than the PM.

As long as they found what they needed, why should it matter how they got it?

It shouldn't. The PM's personal issues with Banner had become the sole reason for the prickly treatment Quade now received. The PM could be a rank bastard all he wanted. Quade's drama with Banner went back one hell of a lot further than Mick Fitzwater's did. If Quade could get past it, the PM should take that as a sign and get his shit together. They all needed to work toward the same goal.

Ready to nod off, Quade slid his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper with ragged edges. He flipped it open and read the two words written over and over on it—Quade Newelson.

His name.

The only thing Banner swore kept her from breaking during her incarceration with the enemy. He traced a finger over the handwriting, a jolt running through him. She'd held onto him and wouldn't let go. Why couldn't it have been like that before she'd been captured?

Their previous issues didn't matter. They hadn't trusted each other. Not when it came right down to the truth. They could put their lives in each other's hands, but not their hearts. He'd had time to think it all through, when she'd been gone. The missteps, the back and forth, never being on the same page. Both too close to their history, too busy staying alive, they couldn't take a breath. Made it damned difficult to gain perspective.

Believing her dead, Quade made time to ask hard questions. He always pushed Banner, tested their boundaries, but tried to keep some distance. He didn't want to admit how much he needed her. Hell, he didn't want to need anyone. Too damned easy to lose people. His brother drove the point home five years ago, before things got so bad they had to leave their planet, killing himself is a wild car ride and seriously injuring Banner.

I enjoy characters who have internal conflict along with an outside issue. Banner and Quade definitely have both.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye