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When they met, Yusuf was a merchant trading across Europa, and Nicolò a priest turned warrior paying off a debt of honor in the Norse lands. Yusuf fell in love with Nicolò slowly - spending a week together each year before he was compelled to travel onwards and leave Nicolò behind.
Nicolò fell in love almost as soon as they met.
Now they are each other’s, crossing Europa side by side. Ahead of them is a journey of a thousand miles, and a lesson that loving a person up close is very different to loving them from afar.
Series
- Part 2 of A Norse Saga
Bookmarked by Reader202020
26 May 2026
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The team's first mission post-film goes pretty well, but no one's really as happy about it as they'd like to be. Nicky and Joe take advantage of their hotel room's luxurious shower to check in with each other and think about where they've been and where they're going.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 17,228
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 64
- Kudos:
- 602
- Bookmarks:
- 176
- Hits:
- 7,635
Bookmarked by Reader202020
15 May 2026
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Nicolò’s path has always been clear. As the third son he would become a monk and dedicate his life to the service of God. Nicolò has come to accept that, but when a mysterious stranger is washed up on shore and placed into his care, Nicolò has to fight with the temptation of everything he never knew he could want: companionship, friendship and maybe even more.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 33,788
- Chapters:
- 9/9
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 235
- Kudos:
- 818
- Bookmarks:
- 132
- Hits:
- 11,662
Bookmarked by Reader202020
14 May 2026
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Of Monsters and Miracles by LaReineDuLune
Fandoms: The Old Guard (Movie 2020), The Old Guard (Comics)
16 Aug 2020
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Booker sucked in a large, deep breath, “When Merrick had you and Nicky. When Dr. Kozak was working on you, did they… did they take semen samples?”
Joe was taken aback and felt some new emotion gnaw deep in his gut. “What?” he gasped.
“Joe, you have to see where I’m going with this.”
“I… I don’t know, we were in and out of it a lot. There were so many drugs in our system, we died many times. I have no specific memory, but maybe? I don’t know. She took a piece of everything else. Why? Why?”
“Because I have Nicky’s son with me,” Booker said after an eternally long pause.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 20,509
- Chapters:
- 6/6
- Comments:
- 433
- Kudos:
- 2,274
- Bookmarks:
- 483
- Hits:
- 28,759
Bookmarked by Reader202020
14 May 2026
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Nico blinks. “I cannot help what I am. I won’t apologize.”
“Of course not,” Jo corrects, angry on his behalf. “None of this is your fault. None of it is mine, either. We’re disposable, you and I. To these people. But not to one another.”
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Rome, First Century BC. Jovilius "Jo", famed gladiator, is a force to be reckoned with in the arena. Nicknamed Invictus for his prowess and constitution, he is able to catch the eye of the Emperor with ease. For his successive victories he is rewarded a night with the Emperor's concubinus - the kindhearted yet sharp-tongued Nico - and the two men discover they have much more in common then they seem to realize.
But Jo is only a mere couple of wins away from affording total freedom. And the more time he spends with Nico, the less he can picture a future without him.
Bookmarked by Reader202020
14 May 2026
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“We cannot let anyone see us die. We cannot let them see us heal. We must get out of this city, away from them. If they catch you, they will kill you. If they see what you are…it will go as badly for you as it would for me. Neither of us is safe with them, you understand? You need me to help you get past them, away from this place. I need you to help me out there, in the desert, until we reach a port. Do you understand? We are the same. We must get out.”
He stopped; he was not sure how to make himself any clearer, and the Saracen was not evidently interested in conveying anything other than his loathing. Nicolò waited, and after a long, uncomfortable moment, the Saracen finally responded. He spat an incomprehensible sentence in Arabic, heavy with disdain, and thrust his bound hands forward. A demand to be released? That would make sense. Nicolò hesitated.
“Do you understand me?” he pressed, repeating his gestures. “We are the same. We go together? Away from here? Both of us?”
The Saracen repeated also; his Arabic phrase, and the twisting of his wrists against their bindings. Nicolò nodded, and crouched before him.“I am going to free you,” he said. “Please help me.”
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 165,545
- Chapters:
- 21/21
- Comments:
- 270
- Kudos:
- 660
- Bookmarks:
- 145
- Hits:
- 17,951
Bookmarked by Reader202020
22 Apr 2026
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Historical AU set during the Fall of Carthage (2nd century BCE). When Carthaginian merchant Yusuf first met Nicolò in Rome, he thought him simply a pleasant night's distraction from the looming threat of war between their respective homelands. He did not expect to meet him again in battle outside the walls of Carthage—or, well…anything else that followed, really.
Bookmarked by Reader202020
08 Apr 2026
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Who Feeds On Pain by Anonymous
Fandoms: Twenty One Pilots, Trench - Twenty One Pilots (Album), Clancy - Twenty One Pilots (Album)
26 Oct 2025
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“You want to help?”
He should say no. He came out here to get some fresh air, came here to escape the dangers of being captured. He is not about to lose it all helping some dipshit vigilante.
Torch says yes.-–—–-
After seeking shelter from the Bishops of Dema in its smaller, 'child city' called Trench, smuggler and escapee Torch thought life might wind down for a bit. Then he meets the city's local freakshow, Clancy, and it all goes flying out the window.
Series
- Part 1 of Who Feeds On Pain
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 74,143
- Chapters:
- 13/13
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 152
- Kudos:
- 205
- Bookmarks:
- 36
- Hits:
- 4,115
Bookmarked by Reader202020
19 Mar 2026
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Yusuf rents out a cabin in the Yukon. It's just like he wanted; he is alone and there is little else to do but sit in his daydreams. He has traveled so far north to escape his writer’s block only, now that he’s here, it’s unfortunately clear that he’s still himself.
Bookmarked by Reader202020
27 Feb 2026
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Love Scene by nicelytousled (dtbird)
Fandoms: The Old Guard (Movie 2020), The Old Guard (Comics)
30 Apr 2021
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If someone else were to enter their room and switch on the lamp they would be able to gather clues as to how he and Joe spend their nights. The hand-knotted afghan rug by the balcony door is askew, and a pair of empty whiskey tumblers sit on the coffee table glittering in the light. The bed is unmade, a discarded tie looped lazily around one of the slats in the headboard, and a chair is pulled out haphazardly from the heavy wooden desk in the corner. The desk itself is littered with drawing paper and charcoal pencils and crescent moon shapes scratches into its surface. The space smells like them, like Joe, like men and sex and sleepless nights. Nicky can almost feel the phantom sting of carpet burn on his knees.
Bookmarked by Reader202020
08 Feb 2026
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The Full Scale Of The Talking Problem by Safaia
Fandoms: The Old Guard (Movies 2020 2025)
31 Jan 2026
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It doesn't matter how old you are; one of the most human traits is how difficult some conversations are to have. There have been many massive changes for the immortals, and this is a time when they'll have to use their words, not their weapons.
[6 difficult conversations The Old Guard were avoiding and 1 that required no words at all]
Series
- Part 2 of My Empire of Dirt
Bookmarked by Reader202020
05 Feb 2026
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After a beat, Nicolo’s head bobbing in a tired nod. Yusuf patted his back, giving him a little shove toward the water. “Don’t drown! I don’t want to go in after you,” he said, backing away. Nicolo paused, glancing back at him, eyebrow raised and face painted in blood. There was a question there, in those incredible, expressive eyes—another question Nicolo would not say out loud. “And I would,” Yusuf answered this time. “I would go in after you. I would become a spirit of this forest, haunting that river until I found you.”
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 12,763
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Comments:
- 285
- Kudos:
- 3,100
- Bookmarks:
- 604
- Hits:
- 34,496
Bookmarked by Reader202020
22 Jan 2026
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No parent should outlive their child but with immortality, it is inevitable.
Series
- Part 2 of The Stars in Their Eyes
Bookmarked by Reader202020
19 Nov 2025
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Joe al-Kaysani, professor of art history, has a very clear idea of what he's looking for in a partner: a fellow academic with his shit together who can provide deep intellectual conversations on demand.
Nicolò di Genova, surly food services chef who doesn't even warn people about pork or have a bed frame, does not hit the brief.
Still, there's something magnetic about him, and Joe figures there's no harm in having a little fun while he waits for Prince Charming to arrive.
Bookmarked by Reader202020
15 Nov 2025
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“Booker!” Andy shouts. “Get your sons out of my hair!”
She's clearly referring to Nicky and Joe. Nile looks helplessly at Booker.
"What am I missing?"
___
Andy, Quynh, and Booker rescue Nicky and Joe when they are children and raise them.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 8,649
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 281
- Kudos:
- 2,731
- Bookmarks:
- 592
- Hits:
- 17,220
Bookmarked by Reader202020
28 Oct 2025
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Yusuf couldn’t help but snort, drawing Nicolò’s glare.
“It’s not funny,” Nicolò said over the burst of Yusuf’s laughter. “I don't see why it’s only happening to me and not to you.”
“God loves me more,” Yusuf said quickly, as he had many times before.
In the early days of their friendship, Nicky and Joe stumbled across a family in need of their particular brand of help.
Technically a prequel to Driving Lessons, but stands alone.
Series
- Part 2 of Immortality and Family
Bookmarked by Reader202020
18 Oct 2025
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Missed You By a Few Minutes, a Few Centuries by just_another_tinker
Fandoms: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
19 Dec 2020
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Summary
Nicolò di Genova was killed on one of the endless mornings of The Crusades, struck down by a scimitar. He woke again later that evening.
Yusuf al-Kaysani bled out hours later from wounds left by a sword. He woke again that next morning.
A person often meets his destiny on the road he chose to avoid it.
Alternatively, Nicky and Joe's second meeting was over 900 years too late. And neither one knows the other is immortal, or that they've already met.
Series
- Part 1 of Missed You
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 115,938
- Chapters:
- 12/12
- Comments:
- 874
- Kudos:
- 3,046
- Bookmarks:
- 955
- Hits:
- 77,731
Bookmarked by Reader202020
10 Oct 2025
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"He's not breathing!" Joe screams, rocking the lifeless Nicky back and forth and Nile has to support herself on the wrecked car, gasping helplessly into the phone. At the other end Copley slowly starts to figure out what happened through Joe's desperate shouts.
-*-
The aftermath: The team has lost its heart. Deeply hit by the great loss, the found family struggles to keep going. But before they can entirely go down under the emotional pain their heart, from which they feared to have lost it forever, starts beating again. Now it's time to come to terms with the past events, renew their bonds and keep in mind that family is always there.
A story about family strength, a love older than time itself and the process of healing even if it seems impossible.
Series
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 47,910
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 146
- Kudos:
- 508
- Bookmarks:
- 81
- Hits:
- 13,490
Bookmarked by Reader202020
05 Oct 2025
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let not time deceive you (you cannot conquer time) by Draco_sollicitus
Fandoms: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
28 Sep 2020
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Nicolo Genova, or Nicky to his American friends, is just trying to get through his PhD program. He's writing his dissertation on Post-classical homoerotic poetry, but he cannot find anyone who speaks an extinct dialect of Arabic so he can translate a famed love poem by a little known poet, al-Kaysani.
Strangely enough, his friend knows a professor on campus who can translate the poem. What starts as a simple request for assistance on his dissertation blossoms into something that Nicky -- shy, reserved Nicky who abandoned his plans for the priesthood months before ordination -- had never imagined for himself: true love.
What he doesn't know is that Dr. Joseph Jones (his handsome, erudite, kind, lovely Joe) is harboring a secret too large for anyone to believe -- and that secret might just cost them everything.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 85,717
- Chapters:
- 11/11
- Comments:
- 2,691
- Kudos:
- 4,584
- Bookmarks:
- 1,417
- Hits:
- 86,792
Bookmarked by Reader202020
27 Sep 2025
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Summary
When days are infinite, days blend.
Andy wakes up with an ache that seems out of the ordinary, her neck a little more pained than it was yesterday. She’s grateful she’s an early riser, because if Nicky was awake, he’d chastise her for falling asleep in the chair and Nile would go on about the benefits of a good mattress, and Joe would agree with anything Nicky said simply because he could. Andy found herself looking to the left often out of muscle memory when she found Joe and Nicky too much to bear, but Booker wasn’t there.
He wasn’t there.
***
The aftermath of Booker’s betrayal weighs heavy on everyone’s hearts in ways that they didn’t expect. The group thought it would make them feel safer to have the final ruling, but all they do is feel the emptiness of the chair around the table. Except when Quyhn returns and it’s revealed that Dr. Kozak made it out of Merrick, Inc., they know there’s no time to dwell in their pain. Instead, the group looks forward to stay together, and perhaps find a piece that has been missing.
Bookmarked by Reader202020
25 Sep 2025