An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
For any Domhnall Gleeson and Echo Valley fans interested, Chapter 1 of my Jackie Lawson x OC fanfiction, Partners in Crime, is now up on AO3. I hope you like it!
Pairing: Jackie Lawson x AuDHD Female OC (faceclaim: Ella Purnell)
Rating: Explicit
Summary:
Ivy Morland is Kate Garretson's beautiful and eccentric twenty-five-year-old AuDHD occasional assistant. Frustrated by the shitty job market, her lingering burnout, feelings of inadequacy due to her lack of major success after college, and Kate having to pay her less due to cancelling horse riding lessons after Patty's death, Ivy is finding the little work she's been getting to do for Kate and the gig work she's been doing since the pandemic unfulfilling.
Then, one August afternoon, she goes to Echo Valley to talk to Kate, and Claire's dealer, Jackie, shows up. Ivy learns that Kate had dumped a body that turned out to be a young man who overdosed on one of Ryan's drugs, and Jackie intends to extort Kate for more money. After Jackie gets angry at Kate for saying she has no money, Ivy backs her up and then makes an offer to Jackie: for the two of them to make money using their collective skills.
Jackie agrees to it, and they soon start to bond over growing up in the impoverished neighborhood of Coldwell, listening to rap, and having deep familial wounds. Ivy also learns that Jackie's reason for wanting so much money is not what it seems. They soon realize maybe what they both need most is each other.
Excerpt:
Jackie chuckled bitterly. "Okay, Kate, you win," he said to her before turning his attention back to Ivy. "So, Ivy, what is your alternative? What do you suggest I do to get my money?"
Ivy tried to think of something quick before her Architecture degree came into mind again. "I have an offer," she said. "I have an Architecture degree with a concentration in Interior Design from Temple University. You are a seasoned dealer. There are numerous safehouses in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, and most of them are clear dumps that are easy targets for police and suspicious do-gooders. Together, with our collective skills, we can take those safehouses and make them into nice, comfortable, unassuming spaces that will not immediately trip outsiders up at first sight."
Jackie looked skeptical at first. "Who the fuck are you? What is your last name?"
"Morland," Ivy said.
Jackie grinned. "So you're Shane and Lenore's little rugrat all grown up," he said.
"You've seen me when I was little?" Ivy asked.
"No," Jackie said. "I never saw you, and I didn't know your name until Kate told me minutes ago. But I did know your parents had a kid, and that Lenore left Coldwell with her mother and her kid. Shane Morland liked to make offers and bets, too, but he fucking sucked at following through and picking winning teams."
"Yep," Ivy said. "And he hated my guts because I was smarter than him even when I was fucking six years old. I was too weird and my mom "coddled" me too much, so he decided he didn't want to be a dad anymore." Ivy could feel the urge to tear up coming but squashed it down. "But he's a loser. So fuck him. Are you going to take the deal or not, Lawson? You can keep trying to make Kate your cash cow even when it's plain to see that her milk supply is fucking dry, or you can join me and make some money doing something interesting and that you can keep doing even after you return from your brief exile. Chances are, this venture will attract less police attention than any kind of bullshit you would've attempted with Kate. Your choice."
"Ivy, no," Kate said.
Jackie soon let Kate go. "Fuck it," Jackie said, walking towards Ivy. "We'll try your business idea, Morland. But we start immediately, and if the first three jobs are a bust, I'll make you sorry you ever showed up on this farm. Deal?" he said, reaching his right hand out.
Ivy put the gun on safety and placed it in her bag. "Deal," she said, taking her right hand and shaking his. "Time to make some money."
