What I wrote for HLH_Shortcuts '22

[brightknightie]

hlh_shortcuts has de-anonymized! Find all 15 stories with their authors on the AO3.

Now that the guessing game is complete, I can share which new Highlander story I wrote:
"Would you leave" (G, gen, ~3K words).
Richie, Angie, Anne, Duncan. Richie and Anne talk after Mac flees an argument he can't win; Angie learns of the crash at the motorcycle track.

Essentially, it's a missing scene from "Testimony," introduced by a missing scene from "Take Back the Night," with a referenced missing scene from "The Darkness," landing on what I intend as a turn into canon divergence, from which Richie and Angie will get to step out of canon's camera frame and build a better fate for themselves, together, whether as friends or lovers — either way, as partners. Its inspiration spark was very much in a "here, have some prompts" post on my recipient's journal (thank you, argentum_ls!).

Apparently, the story has "Brightknightie" written all over it, even without endnotes, because 6 players guessed me as its author, and no one guessed me as the author of anything else. Um. Well, let's see: rigorous canonicity, mortal characters, surviving loss... the same 3-part missing-scene-and-a-twist structure I wrote last year... compulsive "end" written at the end... yep, sounds like me.

I will now go put on its endnotes (thank you for beta-reading, skieswideopen!). Then I'll return with recommendations for the rest of the exchange. Lots of great stories!