Brightflame
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Summary
River thinks he’s starting to understand the rules. If he doesn’t answer a question, he’ll be punished. If he answers but they don’t like what he has to say, he’ll be punished. The questions are easy now and the punishment light, but River strongly suspects that this is just a warm-up meant to get him talking, and that as the questions get more detailed (and more classified), the punishment will change accordingly. It isn’t going to be a good time, that’s for fucking sure, but it isn’t overly complicated, either. No tricky mind games here, at least not for the time being. He can handle this.
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OR—River is kidnapped and the slow horses have to get him back, even if it means breaking the rules a little (or more than a little).
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Written for the 2026 Slow Horses Big Bang! Rating for canon-typical language and violence. Chapter-specific warnings will be in the chapter notes (:- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 56,945
- Chapters:
- 15/15
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 114
- Kudos:
- 111
- Bookmarks:
- 34
- Hits:
- 1,761
Bookmarked by Brightflame
26 Sep 2026
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River doesn't realize he's hurt until he starts leaking all over the carriage floor on the London tube.
A River Cartwright / Slow Horses whump story.
Bookmarked by Brightflame
20 Sep 2026
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"River was watching the shopfront across the road as if concentration could hold up his bones. The rain had the thin, needling quality London saves for January. He shivered; then he didn’t; then he did, hard enough that he had to put his coffee down in haste before it spilt. His skin had that too-bright sheen she remembered from other winters. Min, after a long night. Herself, once, unpleasantly. Fever."
Rainy stakeout turns fever spiral: Louisa drags stubborn River home and keeps vigil until the fever finally breaks.Bookmarked by Brightflame
06 Jan 2026
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"Wow, there’s a really big gender discrepancy here,” Shirley squinted at the website, disapproving, “Maybe they should start running diversity schemes to get women into international crime.”
River blinked at her, “That’s your takeaway from ending up on Interpol’s most wanted list? Really?”
She shrugged, "Someone's got to advocate for women in crime. It sure as hell isn't going to be your piece of shit father."My River and Shirley friendship thesis which got out of hand; in which Patrice survives, frames River and Shirley for mass murder, and the slow horses have to untangle the web Frank Harkness has left behind.
Written for the Slow Horses Big Bang 2025
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 22,158
- Chapters:
- 3/13
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 26
- Kudos:
- 45
- Bookmarks:
- 10
- Hits:
- 854
Bookmarked by Brightflame
06 Jan 2026
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Summary
Getting four hundred men down three days' worth of Nazi-held road would be easier if Steve knew what the hell he was doing. Fortunately he's got Bucky Barnes and a stubborn disposition, not to mention a spare frying pan.
Bookmarked by Brightflame
11 Jul 2025