&&genius-level intellect

@forthewinn (broadway verse)

Entering his dressing room, Winn held the Newsie cap in his hand as he pushed the door open. What he didn't expect was the sound of a voice he hadn't heard in forever. Startled, Winn threw the cap in her direction letting out a loud gasp as he threw his hand over his heart. "Kara." He spoke, disbelief in his voice before it fully hit him. She was here. She found him. "Wh-what are you doing here? How did you get back here? Wait don't answer that, pretty sure you are faster than anyone in this theater."

" yeah, well. diseased raccoons aren't exactly seen as a threat to the DEO's operations, " alex countered, without shame, and returned her attention to the touchscreen she'd only briefly glanced up from. her disapproval alone wouldn't chase him off the scent of the wild notion he'd been unravelling... but she knew what would. " but I mean — if you want to risk getting a shot in your ass, that's totally your call. "

"Don't take away my dream of having a racoon sidekick." Winn groaned as she mentioned the shot. Needles were not his thing, he was fine to face a lot of fears but needles were where he drew the line. "Do you find joy in killing my dreams? Or just the animal related ones?"

She chooses not to look too closely at what she just said, at what it really means. Because saying that at all feels like laying herself bare, and thinking any further is more than she can take. Because Sarah is loyal, scarily so. She'd go this far for anyone she cares about, anyone she loves. Even if she can't admit to herself that love is what this is.

And then she said it. That she couldn't live with herself if something else happened to him. It finally got through to him, Winn freezing and letting the silence sit between them for a beat longer than he should have. He would sometimes think about it, wonder what it had been like for Sarah to dig through the earth to find him. "Sarah. What happened wasn't your fault."

She gave him a look, not that she didn't believe that Evan was protective, because he was. But he also wouldn't blindly throw himself at anyone, he was just relieved that she was back around. Just like she was relieved to be able to be around her brother again. "He'd never do that, he knows better" she assured him still as she settled against the counter. "It was Buck's idea, I told him I still wanted to be able to help people, but I didn't want to put people in danger" obviously she would never want to subject anyone to the potential of Dough walking through that door and hurting them merely because she was there. "And this way I'll be able to help people, even if it's just over the phone"

Winn relaxed slightly at her words, knowing that if Maddie trusted her brother then he had no reason to worry. He understood Buck wanting to be protective, and knowing what Maddie went through Winn felt the same way. Maddie didn't deserve what she went through. Winn smiled at her words, happy that she found something that she loved doing. He was still looking, trying to find something that he could do that his father couldn't track him down for. "You do have a knack for staying calm in stressful situations. When the car broke down in Oklahoma I thought I was going to lose my mind and somehow you were so put together." He smiled at the memory, able to laugh about it now. "Maybe your brother can help me find a job so I'm not just doing freelance work anymore. I love helping men set up VPNs to help them hide their extracurricular activities from their significant others but I would rather do something that actually helps me sleep at night."

Sidney Sheldon, “Rage of Angels”

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, from a letter featured in The Life & Letters of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

— Rick Warren

˚. ✦.˳·˖✶ ⋆.✧˚