Silver Age

[Red Ranger 1]

15 hours ago, pembie said:

What I can gather from YouTube people say start with the Thawne stories and the old stuff that they wrote for the books is called legends and ended in 2012

Are you posting a chapter today 

Heir to the Empire is the first of the Thawn stories so, yeah. And yes, the old EU is now officially known as Star Wars Legends, although it ended in 2014.

New chapter incoming...

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“You’re not joking, are you?”Shannon asked Selina,“You really are going?”

  “It is allowed,”Selina answered awkwardly,“Other people do it.”

  “Well, yeah, I know.I just wasn’t expecting it from you.”

  Selina could see Shannon’s point.“I admit it’s come out of the blue.”

  “More like out of nowhere!How come you’re suddenly going off to the navy with Jack?”

  “I’m not going with Jack,”Selina protested,“He just…happens to be there.”She hesitated before adding, “He is more grown-up these days though, don’t you think?”

  “You obviously do,”Shannon teased, before considering the matter,“Yeah, he’s certainly not the person he was when he lived here.He seems kind of together.”

  “Still, they say you shouldn’t go back and when we were together before, it ended in a disaster…”

  “Selina…Jack would not be my first choice for most things but I’m not you.And if there’s one thing I’ve learnt being with Shane, it’s that awkward history is not a good reason for turning down a chance of happiness.”Shannon sighed.“You know, Mandy’s going to be going soon and Curtis and Sal…With you gone too, I’m going to be out of friends.”

  Selina gave her a hug.“You can always contact me if you need anything, know that?Give me a call whenever you want.”

  The two friends linked arms and headed outside.

***

Irene, Curtis, Sally, Joey, Mandy and Shane were all waiting with Jack.Irene looked more than a little forlorn at the sight of Selina.“I can’t believe you’re going.”

  “Place is definitely going to be quiet without you,”Joey agreed.

  Selina sniffed.“Okay, stop it, you’re going to make me cry.”She gave the pair a hug and did the same with the others present.

  “I think you might just have found something to fulfill you,”Mandy noted quietly when it was her turn.

  “Guess so,”Selina agreed.She got into the car next to Jack.

  “You ready?”he asked her.

  “Just one thing I have to do first.”Selina turned Jack towards her and kissed him.

  “What was that for?”he asked.

  “Just seeing if I could remember what it was like.”

  “And?”

  Selina gave a half-smile.“I might be open to doing it again soon.”She gestured to the road ahead.“Come on, get going.”

  “Whatever you say.”

***

Shane, Shannon and Mandy headed back into the house.“You okay?”Mandy asked.

  “Yeah,”Shannon confirmed,“It’s just going to be really strange without Selina here.”

  “Do you two know the Digest Writers’ Prize?”Shane asked as he retrieved a magazine Tiegan had left lying around.

  “Yeah, sure,”Shannon answered,“I was thinking of entering it this year but…well, things got in the way.”

  “You’ll never guess who won it.Joanne Brennan!”

  It took Shannon a moment to place the name.“That school secretary that was dealing drugs?”

  “That’s the one.Angel used to be friends with her…or that’s what Joanne thought anyway.”He handed her the magazine.

  Shannon read a few sentences out of polite interest…and then she froze.“I wrote this.”

  “What do you mean?”Mandy asked.

  “This is a piece I was working on a few weeks ago, before Shane went to hospital.It was in my notebook…and I haven’t seen my notebook for a while, come to think of it.”

  “But how would Joanne have got it?”Shane asked.

  “I don’t know but I’m going to find out.”Shannon closed the magazine with a determined air.“Where does Joanne live now?”

***

Shannon hammered on the door, which was answered by a woman for whom the word superficial might have been invented.“Yes?”

  Shannon thrust the magazine at Joanne.“Did you write this?”

  Joanne scanned the piece.“Why, yes.That’s why it’s got my name on it.”

  “Wrong.I wrote it.”

  Joanne smiled, giving up any pretense of innocence.“I think you’ll have a hard time proving that, Shannon.”

  “How did you get it anyway?”

  “You know, you really should look into getting better security at that caravan park.Stuff left lying around where anyone can get their hands on them.Notebooks, cloths…”

  “Cloths?”Shannon was confused for a moment, then something clicked in her mind.“Like the one that Shane…”

  “Nice to see you again, Shannon,”Joanne concluded before shutting the door in her face and leaving her gaping.

[Red Ranger 1]

Thanks for the comments, pembie and zara grace!

CHAPTER TWELVE

“She did it,”Shannon insisted to Shane,“She even wanted me to know she did it.She was dropping all these smug hints and I just wanted to punch her.”

  “I think you’d have to get in the queue,”Shane commented.

  “She thinks she can get away with everything.Screw around with our lives and goodness knows how many other people’s lives.”

  “Yeah, I agree with you, but what are we going to do about it?”

  Shannon looked awkward.“Well…I might have the beginnings of a plan.”

  It was at that moment that Frankie knocked on the door and gave Shannon a quizzical look.“Hey.Er, you wanted to see me?”

  Shane gave Shannon an uncertain look.Shannon returned the gaze without apology.“This affects her as well,”she pointed out before turning to Frankie,“Come in.We’ve got something to tell you.”

  Frankie stood and listened with mounting astonishment as they filled her in.“You really think this Joanne woman set up Paul?Why would she do that?”

  “She was always bitter about Angel,”Shane mused,“They were at school together and she thought Angel had had chances that she hadn’t.She’d like nothing more than to rub her nose in something.And since she hasn’t got Angel to mess with any more…”

  “…she seems to have decided we’re the next best thing,”Shannon concluded.

  Joanne nodded slowly.“Okay.Say I accept this.What do we do about it?”

  Shannon hesitated.“Well…I do have a plan of sorts.But it’ll need all of us to work together.”

***

Joanne stalked across the threshold into the caravan park house and looked over the delegation waiting for her with more than a little disdain:Shane, Shannon and Frankie.“Okay, I got your summons.So what’s your deal?”

  “We want the profits from that story you sold,”Shannon told her,“Hand them over and we’ll forget all about the other stuff.”

  Joanne laughed.“If that’s the best you’ve got, then you’ve got nothing.Just the jealous ramblings of someone who couldn’t cut it as a writer.”

  “Maybe you could bluff it out if this was just about plagiarism,”Shannon replied,“But what you did to Shane was far worse.”

  “Because what you told Shannon was right,”Shane confirmed,“I did leave that cloth lying around.But how would you know that?”

  Joanne shrugged.“I guessed, that’s all.It doesn’t take much imagination.”

  “And what about Paul?”Frankie asked,“Why frame him?Why put the blame on him?”

  “If Paul’s in trouble with the police, it’s his own fault,”Joanne replied,“Stalking?Given everything he did to your family, I’m surprised you want anything to do with him.It’s not a stretch for the police to think he’d want to hurt anyone here.”

  “But you overstretched yourself,”Shannon argued,“You’ve been in prison as well.Drug dealing, right? Which means the police will have your fingerprints on file.One thorough examination of that bottle you left in Paul’s van and you’ll be right in their sights.”

  Joanne laughed.“You really think I’m that dumb?I wiped the bottle.There won’t be anything to link it back to me so they’ll all think it was Paul that poisoned Shane, not me.”

  There was a long silence as everyone looked at Joanne in a way she could only describe as triumphant. “You hear all that?”Shane asked loudly.

  Constable Terri Gardner came into the room through the interior door.She went over to Shannon and removed the recording device she’d been wearing.“I heard it all.And everyone that listens to the recording will hear it too.”She turned back to Joanne, whose mouth was hanging open.“Joanne Brennan, I’m arresting you for attempted murder.”

[Red Ranger 1]

Thank you for the comments, zara grace and pembie, here's the last chapter!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Dylan was page boy, of course, and Angel was bridesmaid.Frankie had promised that Katie would have been involved if she’d been older.Shane did his best to believe her.

  There weren’t many people there.It was just a quiet registry office wedding.Somehow that seemed appropriate.And anyway, Paul and Frankie didn’t seem to mind.They only had eyes for each other as they said their vows.They’d set the date as soon as he’d been released from jail, all charges dropped.

  Shane and Shannon were among the gathering, making up about a fifth of the congregation.Shane had been worried they were going to be asked to be witnesses but Paul’s mother had agreed to attend and he’d found an old college friend to stand in as best man.

  “What are you thinking?”Shannon whispered.

  “I was wondering what Angel would make of this,”Shane admitted.

  “She’d have a few things to say,”Shannon agreed,“But I guess she’d want to see Frankie happy?”

  Shane nodded.“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I’m trying to do.”

  Paul and Frankie shared their first kiss as husband and wife before being surrounded by well wishers. Frankie pushed her way through the group of friends to join Shane and Shannon.“Thanks for coming, and for bringing the children.Do you want to join us for a drink?”

  Shannon looked at Shane, who gave a brief nod.She smiled.“We’d love to!”

***

Pippa gave Shannon a warm hug, the first one she’d received in quite a while.“I’m sorry we weren’t there for you.”

  Shannon slowly disentangled herself.“It’s okay,”she noted,“I mean, we did agree to look after the place while you were away.”

  Michael looked around in an exaggerated manner.“Well, the place is still standing, so that’s a plus.”

  “Yeah, we covered up the fire damage pretty well,”Shane joked.

  Pippa smiled at them both.“Well, I’d say you did very well.Maybe it’s a sign you should be doing something like this yourself.”

  Shannon laughed.“What, foster parents?I think we’ve done our job of looking after teenagers.”

  “At least until our lot grow up,”Shane concluded.

  Shannon winced.“Oh, don’t.I am not ready for that yet.”

  “Well, hey, you were the one that wanted to start again,”Shane commented.

  Shannon looked at him with a twinkle in her eye.

***

The handover was finished and they’d moved back to their own place.And Shane was waiting on his own in the living area, Shannon having declined his offer to join her.

  A moment later, Shannon came rushing back in, waving a stick about.“It’s positive!”

  “You’re pregnant?”Shane checked delightedly.

  Shannon nodded enthusiastically.“I am!”

  Shane swept her up in a hug.“What with looking after the caravan park and ending up in hospital and all that stuff with Joanne, I’d almost forgot we were trying.”

  “Well, somehow we managed to do it, despite all that.”

  Shane grinned.“Looks like we’re going to have one big family.”

 

 

 

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