Some Secrets • •

[george xavier mackie]

Mack knew he should be doing something else with his time. He had a seemingly endless list of chores and errands to run, and yet he found himself at the edge of the ice rink, switching his shoes for his own skates, making sure everything he considered important and valuable was safely tucked away in the locker he had tossed changed into the kiosk for. The voice in his head reminded him once again about just how much he was ignoring to be here. Mack had at least four medical journals on his desk that he needed to read at some point. At night he was ignoring them, choosing to watch the sports channels instead and say he was just too drained for them after another long day working for the CDC. He had other mundane tasks to see to, like grocery shopping, mailing some parcels to his sisters and mother, and cleaning up his apartment. He really needed to be anywhere else but here.

The virologist missed his sisters though. Teresa was the reason he ended up on the ice in the first place, and being there again took him back to the days when they were just kids. She was happiest on the ice, and he would do anything for the two of his sisters. He had given up so many hours to make sure she had perfected the techniques she needed for her classes. Of course, he found hockey through it, too, but that had been a plus to helping his sister. The hockey practice ran at the same time as the classes Teresa took, so it just saved the teenage Mack from having to drive there and back again repeatedly to collect her. He had something to occupy his own time, and to put his own frustration and energy into. These days, he enjoyed a game on the television when he was able to catch one, but his work often kept him busy. Some jobs cost him sleep and there were fascinating cases that he just couldn’t talk about with others because of confidentiality, even though he had been completely amazed and a tiny bit excited by them. Although, he always felt guilty when he felt that flutter of excitement and it was at the cost of someone’s health.

Mack stepped onto the ice as though he’d never been away. If he was to think about it, it had been New Year when he was last on a rink. He had gone with his sisters. He had danced and pulled off fancy tricks with Teresa while Kayleigh and their mother kept close to the edges just in case their legs decided to disappear from underneath them. To look at him, he skated like a regular though. It was a talent that never aged for him. He lapped the ice twice, then three times going backwards, just to get the feel of things and to warm himself up. Once again, he ignored the voice in his head reminding him about the list of things that needed doing back at home. Twisting back to face the right way, Mack took the bend he was approaching with ease, curving around a group of nervous young teenagers, and slipping back into the free space he had chosen – far enough away from the wobbly legs of the beginners – to pick up some speed. Just before the next bend, he had to skid out of the way of someone falling, though they didn’t quite crash to the ice. He stopped in a spray of ice and turned against the flow of skaters to see if the person needed any help maybe finding their way back to the barrier. Mack had a sudden memory of Teresa leaving that safe space too early and almost crying with fear as she wobbled and fought to find her balance on the blades. “Need a hand?” He offered his, wearing a warm smile that was as lopsided as his beanie hat.

• • •

TAGGED! Talia Katarina Roma
WORDS! 667!
OUTFIT! Gentle Gent!
LYRICS! I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me- - Fall Out Boy
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Talia Katarina Roma]

Talia had no idea what possessed her to even lace up the skates in the first place. She could do her job without ever having to know what the heavy bladed boots felt like on her feet. At the very least she could have asked one of the guys to teach her discreetly. She could have been taught in private back at the rink. Of course, that had also been her reasoning behind going so far away to torture herself like this. She hadn't wanted to ask one of them and have them tease her about it, even though she knew none of them would say anything intentionally cruel. Well, one might but he was always looking for a fight when he thought he was being watched. Talia put up with it because he wasn't such a bastard when they were alone. It seemed more like some sort of public persona that he really needed to get rid of but she was working on it. Either way, Talia wasn't interested in being around that bunch when she was going to be like a newborn fawn trying to get her feet under her.

When Talia got to the arena, she had wanted to sit there and watch everyone go around the rink. Truth was, she needed to talk herself into renting a pair of skates and actually putting them on her feet. She worked for a hockey team and had never in her life even put on a pair of skates. She knew from having to step in from time to time during PR sessions that the boots were heavy but she had only been carrying them from one side of a room to another, she hadn't been walking in them. She didn't even know how to properly fit them! Talia knew there were plenty of things that could go wrong and that she should have brought someone with her to at least hold her hand but she was incredibly independent and was stubborn beyond words sometimes. She had even told her assistant that she was stepping out for a personal appointment and that she would message her when she was finished with it. It was something she rarely did, usually just once a year on the anniversary of her parent's death, so they didn't ask many questions.

It took longer than she would have liked to talk herself into getting out on the ice but Talia finally got up from her seat, tossing her coffee cup out. She spent a couple minutes talking to the kid behind the counter, trying to get the right size skates for her before heading over to lace up. She might not know what she was getting herself into but she did know how to lace the skates up. Tighter was better and when she stood up she didn't wobble which pleased her. Talia took a couple breaths, gearing herself up before stepping out onto the ice. She slipped and staggered, feeling like she was acting out some poor Three Stooges skit before maybe catching her balance. She did not want to fall. Her heart was pounding so loud in her ears and the adrenaline was rushing through her veins so fast she could feel it. "If you wouldn't mind escorting me off the ice, I'm finished." She had decided almost immediately. If she decided to do it again, she would ask one of the guy's from the team to teach her.

♦ ♦ ♦

Tag || george xavier mackie
Words || 577
Clothes || Coming Soon
Music || Take it from Me --Jordan Davis
Notes || <3

[george xavier mackie]

Most of the time Mack found himself in a sterile lab, eye pressed against the right end of a microscope. He flipped from slides to lab reports, spit swabs to blood vials, and all in all he was surrounded by the very things that could kill a person. He knew the code to the storage where they kept some of the deadliest viruses in the world, and honestly, that kind of power terrified him. He was by no means a psychopathic villain who would unleash one of them on the unsuspecting public just because he could, but he still wasn’t sure he wanted that kind of responsibility in his life. It hadn’t been one of those things that crossed his mind when he chose his career path, and he still hadn’t thought about it his first day at the CDC. Mack just wanted to help people, to find out all about those twisted diseases that could kill off a population. He wanted to be part of the teams that helped to eradicate them from the globe, if it were at all possible. He was an inherently good guy, who sometimes wondered why other jackets weren’t white like his work one. When that thought crept into his mind he knew it was time to take a break, to get some air, and remember that there was a life away from viruses and bacterium.

It was difficult to do when there were things playing on his mind that kept pulling him back to work. Sometimes there were cases that just lingered, resting heavy on his shoulders even when he could do nothing more than wait for results from lab work or potential treatments. Other times, it was easy to switch off and walk away from it all, handing the reigns to someone else in there. He did his best to keep the balance in his life, but his job wasn’t always the regular nine-to-five. If something big hit, or they had suspicions that something could become an epidemic then it could be days before he saw the inside of his apartment again, if he was even allowed to work from the city base. He had been flown across the world before now as part of a team to assess an outbreak. They could be scary times, knowing that they were only there because an American citizen was at risk or had fallen sick. He kept a cheery personality, a positive outlook to the world because if he didn’t then those closest to him could worry and even panic and then it would be like a ripple effect.

Helping people was just in his nature, which was why he had no problem coming to the aid of a stranger, especially one in the middle of an ice rink. Plenty of things could be scary about the first few times on the ice and anyone who tried to say there wasn’t was an absolute liar in Mack’s book. They all started out on wobbly legs, lost between a crowd who knew better and skated at speeds that seemed downright impossible for newbies. He chuckled warmly, understanding her fears completely. It had been a long time since he was a newcomer to the ice, but it was still a memory he held onto vividly. “I think I can do that.” He guided her back to the edge, doing most of the work for both of them and keeping a hold of her arm until she was on firmer ground. “First time, or a long time since?” He asked, knowing that both could be valid reasons for her Bambi moment. He was somewhat thankful the rink in New York had allowed his own skills to stay decent over the recent years. He could have easily allowed them to rust while he had been in school and then at the CDC.

• • •

TAGGED! Talia Katarina Roma
WORDS! 648!
LYRICS! I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me- - Fall Out Boy
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Talia Katarina Roma]

Talia wasn't usually the type of person to cave to peer pressure. She was usually more stubborn and bullheaded than she'd been with this whole ice skating thing. Then again, she wasn't back at the rink with the guys, she was nowhere near there for her first attempt. She was respected back at her office and treated well, much like a beloved little sister to most of the guys, probably because she'd already turned down three of them and made sure the word got out that she wasn't interested in being a puck bunny. To be perfectly honest, she had higher standards and she was not at all interested in their money; she had her own. They only thing they had that she didn't was the ability to skate! Talia had wanted to go away from the rink to learn to skate so she could hit the ice with them and impress the guy's she worked with so closely. There were a few of them, the ones her age, that teased her because she'd gone so long without learning how to skate while the others, the ones a little older, the married ones, the taken ones who all thought of the Italian beauty as a little sister, offered to teach her the skill. What the ones teasing her didn't know, however, was that she was raised mostly in Italy. There weren't exactly ice rinks in every neighbourhood like it seemed to be in America. She could swim circles around each of them without any strain on her. She could also chew them out in Italian whenever they've done something that meant she had to work overtime to clean it up.

She had gone completely out of her way to find an ice rink that no one at work should have known about that happened to have an open skate and then spent all that time sitting there, drinking her coffee and working up the courage to even approach the rental kiosk. Talia knew she wasn't going to be any good at ice skating. She could genuinely ride a bike because her brother taught her, she could ride a skateboard because her high school boyfriend taught her. No one had thought to teach her to ice skate, despite the fact that hockey was by far her absolute favourite sport and she probably would have enjoyed it. Instead, they'd gotten her season passes year after year and now she watched the games both home and away on the team's dime. It was pretty damn nice. Still, it all meant that she never learnt to skate. At all. And now she worked for a National Hockey League team.

At least she didn't have to know how to skate to do her damn job because, at this rate, she would never learn on her own. And she was far too proud to ask one of the guy's for help. Maybe if she asked without actually asking she could get away with it. Maybe not. "First and last." She informed her saviour in a poor mood. "If those assholes think they'll get me out on the ice at practice they'll be thinking again." She muttered to herself. There were a few guys of the team who had offered to teach her either before or after practices and around the travel schedule but she'd declined, not wanting to make an ass of herself. Instead, she'd made an ass of herself in front of complete strangers. Now she can only hope that they're not avid Rangers fans and spot her with her badge around her neck on either TV during a game or at the arena itself.

♦ ♦ ♦

Tag || george xavier mackie
Words || 610
Music || Take it from Me --Jordan Davis
Notes || <3

[george xavier mackie]

Mack had never really been the type to follow the crowd. He had spent too much of his life ensuring that his sisters were happy and cared for that most of his hobbies and likes had come from them. He had learnt to skate for Teresa, got interested in flowers because they had to go to prom and money was tight. Mack had given up most of his own high school chances to make sure they were okay, that they weren’t struggling in any classes or having problems with the other kids. Despite all of this though, Mack had decent friends in high school who understood that he had more responsibilities than them. He didn’t know if any of them pitied him for his situation, but there was really no need to. He had been happier once his father wasn’t around, and he knew what he aspired to be; that was more than many of the teenagers in his class knew. They were all still focused on prom and nothing beyond that, but Mack knew where he wanted to be when he was thirty, and he was thrilled when he got there.

Working for the CDC was hard. It had taken him some time to make his sisters understand that he wasn’t available for text messages or lunch time chats when he was at work. So much of his job was secretive and classified, mostly because they didn’t want panic spreading across the nation every time some unusual sickness struck. More often than not, a quarantined patient made a full recovery once diagnosed, and their contact with others had been minimal enough that most of the time they were free of any illness. Mack did his job though, and ensured that all the boxes were ticked and outbreaks were contained. He was still impressed with just how often they managed to sneak by the media and close down buildings for testing without anyone being concerned. It wasn’t his job to worry about the security of a place or the lockdown of it, so he didn’t know how many strings were pulled to allow him to do his job peacefully and without fighting through a swarm of scared and confused citizens.

Mack smiled; he knew ice skating wasn’t for everyone, just like football wasn’t for some people either. “Once you find your balance then it’s easy. And finding that balance is also easier than it seems.” He said with a small shrug, not wanting to pressure this woman into something she wasn’t comfortable with. “It may take a few bruises and a bit of cold, but you’d be surprised how quickly you can pick it up.” He had played hockey, and he had watched his sister figure skate. Mack thought he had seen the worst of the bruises the ice could give, and even had a few of them himself. With beginners though, it was all about the nerves and getting over that “what if” mentality. He knew that was easier said than done though. Fear could be a powerful thing, and there were times when it did win. Thankfully, none of his fears centred around the ice.

• • •

TAGGED! Talia Katarina Roma
WORDS! 531!
LYRICS! I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me- - Fall Out Boy
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Talia Katarina Roma]

Talia had become obsessed with hockey when she was sixteen. Before that, she'd vaguely heard of the game but she'd never seen it being played. Her boyfriend at the time had been shocked by this discovery and had wanted to share his favourite sport with her. From that first game, she'd become obsessed and wanted to know everything she could about the home team they'd been there to see; the New York Rangers. Thanks to her parents and their connections, she and her brother had been given season passes to see every game, and they'd been damn good seats, too. At some point long before she'd started working for the very team that drove her obsession, she should have taken skating lessons but it had never come up and she'd never actually thought it would matter. She talked her way out of the skating events they put on, claiming she needed to be elsewhere, working her magic. No one had ever called her out for it but she felt like her time with that was running out and sooner rather than later, someone was going to ask her why. Talia wanted to at least have the basics down by then so she could say something smart and cheeky about it and prove that she could but she's just not as steady on ice as she is in her favourite heels. It was a little ridiculous and she definitely did not need to know how to skate to do her job but she was PR for a hockey team, it would make sense that she could skate.

"I'm not afraid of a few bruises, I played field hockey growing up. I'm afraid of falling and someone not being able to get around me in time and skating through my fingers." Talia said in a huff because if she'd learned anything growing up, it was to voice the fears. Some were real and understandable, some were wild and only came from an equally wild and creative imagination. And some, like Talia's, came from a teasing big brother, potentially a film she couldn't remember and an overactive imagination. But most of them had a habit of not being so bad once they were spoken out loud. She would rather have a ridiculous fear and look foolish in front of a stranger than ask any of the guys on the team or her brother to teach her to skate. She could have asked her father but he was a busy man and she didn't feel right asking him to take time away from something that could be serious so he could teach her to skate, even though she knew he would cancel his entire week without hesitation.

Both her parents had been hands-on long before they'd actually adopted her. As friends of her biological parents, they took multiple trips a year to Italy and owned a home just around the corner from Talia's childhood home. They'd been the closest of friends with her parents since they were children so it made sense that when they were killed in a car accident, that they would be the ones to care for Talia. Her parents had put everything in their wills so Talia was given everything. It was all in her name and their long-time lawyer would be in charge of taking care of all the minor details until she turned eighteen. They also made sure that it was in writing that her parents had all permissions required to adopt Talia into their family. They could offer her their name and it was her decision if she would accept or not. Of course, she agreed, she wanted something close to normal and having the same last name as the rest of her family. It was something that seemed so small but meant so much.

♦ ♦ ♦

Tag || george xavier mackie
Words || 638
Music || Take it from Me --Jordan Davis
Notes || <3

[george xavier mackie]

Mack had a knack for making the hard work look easy. It wasn’t a skill he was born with, but it was something he had picked up during the years of looking after his sisters and helping his mom. It was also something he had discovered came in useful when working in a career such as his. People worried and fretted given that he worked long hours, often rushed to scenes where there was a risk of deadly contamination or an outbreak, and he needed to downplay their concern. Sometimes it wasn’t as bad as their fears made them believe, or that the rush he was put on commanded, but it was better to be safe in his line of work. Other times it could be that bad, but Mack couldn’t let people outside his team know that because of the panic that would follow. He felt like he had spent most of his life perfecting all the ways he could say “I’m fine” or “it’s okay”, when he was really exhausted, drained, or in a precautionary quarantine while waiting on his own bloodwork to come back and reassure himself of that truth.

As it was, Mack had developed a soothing nature – at least for his immediate family and friends. It was up to someone else to do that for the public when those plastic tents went up, and he was thankful for that; public speaking was not his strong suit. He had always been the science kid who preferred the lab over the presentation side of the subject. He was better with the microscope than the microphone, and did his best to stay away from the limelight. Literally anyone else could take that, and he stick with being an out of focus face working away in the background, a blurred, unrecognisable feature no one would pay any notice to.

Nodding his head in soft understanding, Mack shifting his weight, easily keeping his balance on the narrow blades. It was almost like second nature after years on the ice with Theresa. “You know, that’s actually a common fear when it comes to ice skating. And one of the things that happens far less frequently than the internet would have you believe.” He revealed with a sweet smile. “Chances are more likely you’d fall and cause a pile up on the ice.” He turned back to the rink, glancing around to assess the crowd gathered. “And 74% of the people on the rink right now are beginners to aspiring amateurs themselves. They’re not about to leave the comfort of the barrier to cause that kind of damage.” He added, trying to be reassuring. Mack held out his hand, another warm smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. “How about I help you complete a lap, and then you can see how you feel then? You can lean on me, without fear of falling at all, and I’ll make sure we’re not near anyone.” It would mean keeping her away from the edge, but she could use him to find her balance, and he’d pull her around the whole way if that made her feel more comfortable.

• • •

TAGGED! Talia Katarina Roma
WORDS! 534!
LYRICS! I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me- - Fall Out Boy
NOTES! <3 <3 <3