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Drabbles: Heroes (Matt/Mohinder) and TW (Jack/Ianto)
Okay, so, in the spirit of clearing my head for Remix, I decided to type up the recorded snippets that I have sitting on my MP3 player. This way, it's empty and waiting to be filled with Remix inspiration. Uh-huh.
So first we have a little Heroes snippet that... is almost fic-length, honestly, but was recorded months ago. Set between S1 and S2, with Matt in the hospital:
First Name Basis
Janice had visited.
Matt was too high on morphine to remember. He only knows that she definitely came because the nurses had told him later and handed over the letter she left. He wonders about that. If she'd done it on purpose. If it had been a last, regretful taunt: at all of his inabilities, at all of the ways he couldn't live up to what she needed.
But Janice...
Matt's pretty sure she was never that mean. She probably couldn't stand watching him sleep, didn't have the heart to wait for him to wake up and then ask for a divorce. So she left divorce papers and a letter to explain, and if it took Matt hours to read, well...
He was stuck in a hospital bed anyway. It's not like he had anything better to do.
In a way, he's grateful. At least she told him before he read it inside her thoughts.
***
The first visitor Matt remembers is Mohinder. He wakes up one morning in the hospital, a morning that seems well, just like the last six or seven: white walls, small TV screen, an easy routine of nurses checking his chart and topping up his drip, the constant itch of the IV needle in his arm.
But one morning, between a Judge Judy repeat and the second round of nurses, Mohinder steps in and says, "Good morning, Officer Parkman."
"Good morning." Matt pauses, trying to remember the guy's name. It was all vowels and soft sounds, he remembers that much. "Dr Suresh?"
"Mohinder Suresh." Mohinder gives a brief nod and Matt notices that his hair is bordering on scruffy. "You may call me Mohinder."
"Why? Is Dr Suresh your father?" Matt asks, repeating the old joke. Just one of those stupid things you say when you're nervous and stuck in a hospital room.
Mohinder smiles serenely but Matt gets a blur of emotion: pride and anger and hurt, loss and regret. The painkillers are messing with his abilities, blurring the words until he can't hear thoughts and he keeps getting random surges of emotion.
"Dr Suresh was my father, yes," Mohinder says, looking far calmer than he feels.
"Then why are you here?" Matt asks. People don't drop by for no reason. Janice had only come to get him to sign divorce papers. She also left a storage locker key. And a letter that explained her reasons (and told him where his stuff was and that she'd already paid for the first three months).
"I promised to bring Molly to visit you."
Matt smiles at the thought of Molly. It's an automatic reaction: he really can't help it. "When did you promise that? Did Molly ask?"
"She did ask, but I made the promise to you," Mohinder says, dark eyes looking around the room. There's one bunch of flowers -- cheery reds and yellows -- that were sent by his old precinct. It'd be strange, but the entire incident has been written up as 'wounds sustained in the line of duty' while working with the FBI to track down terrorists. According to his file, his superiors were aware of this and his suspension was a necessary part of his cover.
Matt's not sure who's rigged it or why, but he's not going to question as long as his hospital bills are getting paid.
"No offence, Dr Suresh--"
"Mohinder, please," Mohinder says, holding up a hand.
"Fine. No offence, Mohinder, but I don't remember you making any promises to me. Apart from that brief moment where you were pointing a gun at me, I don't think we've ever talked."
"You were on a rather high dose of morphine at the time." Mohinder almost maintains a straight face. "You made me promise to bring Molly to see you. You also threatened to shoot me like a rabid dog should anything happen to Molly while you were in here."
Matt cringes. "If it helps, I've never actually shot a dog."
"That does not help a great deal," Mohinder says with a gentle smile. "Considering you spent the next hour discussing the wonderful colours of the hospital decor, I realised that you were not completely lucid."
Matt laughs. The walls of this room are a blue so pale they look grey in some lights, white in others. "I'll bet I was seeing colours nobody else was."
"According to you, the corridors were painted in a rather wonderful shade of magenta. Now, if you're feeling up to it, I'll go and get Molly from the waiting room."
"You brought her?" Matt grins again. The expression feels a bit tight on his face, but that's okay. He'd worried about her. Not that he can do anything while he's stuck here, spending more hours asleep than awake, and hooked up to a drip, but his first priority when he got out of here would have been tracking her down and making sure she was okay. "How come you didn't bring her in straight away?"
"I wanted to make sure you were lucid this time," Mohinder says and then disappears out the door.
Matt feels the weight of cautious concern, a fierce protective affection. He's not sure if the emotions are his.
Molly looks safe and well. More importantly, she looks happy as she torpedos into the room, throwing herself across his bed. He bites down on the groan as she wraps tiny vice-like arms around his chest, but Mohinder must see his face because he pulls Molly back with a soft, "Molly, perhaps a little more gently. Officer Parkman--"
"Call me Matt," Matt says.
Mohinder gives a little nod of his head, almost a bow and says, "Matt is here to get better. We need to be careful while he heals."
Molly looks worried for a moment and starts to scrabble off the bed. Matt wraps an arm around shoulders and shuffles sideways. "You're a little thing, Molly. I think you could squeeze beside me."
She glances at Mohinder, who gives another little nod and sits down in the corner of the room, then settles against Matt's side. "Sure?" she asks warily.
"I'm sure," Matt says. "So, how have you been?"
"I lost a tooth!" she says excitedly, pointing at the gap, concerns forgotten.
"Maybe you should think about where you saw it last. That always helps me find lost stuff."
"I don't need to find it. The Tooth Fairy took it."
"The Tooth Fairy, huh?"
"Yeah. But I think she got a little confused. She only left me a dollar. Normally she leaves three."
===
Then we have a little snippet of Jack/Ianto conversation, set during the dancing scene in Something Borrowed. I think it could either do with a polish or is part of a series of post-scene conversations that I've yet to write. But for what it is, I like it.
Something Old, Something New
"Penny for your thoughts?" Ianto whispered into Jack's ear, cheek against Jack's cheek as they danced.
"Probably not good to share," Jack said, glancing over to the other side of the hall. There stood Gwen and Rhys, all smiles and laughter, champagne glasses in hand. Perfect picture of the happy couple.
"A pound then."
Jack laughed. "You're no good at haggling."
"But I'm good at getting what I want," Ianto said. He pulled back enough to look Jack in the eye.
Jack sighed and knew that Ianto would give up until Jack had given in. After a moment Jack asked, "Is this what you want?"
"I don't follow."
"This," Jack said, shrugging and glancing around the room. "The engagement, the big wedding. Family and friends. 'Til death do us part. The whole thing."
Ianto cocked his head to the side, considering. Then he said slowly, "It's what I wanted with Lisa. I hadn't found the right ring yet, I hadn't asked, but it was what I wanted."
"That's what I thought," Jack said. When Jack jokingly insulted weddings, Ianto jumped to defend the tradition. When Gwen asked for help, Ianto sacrificed a Tuesday to help send out invitations. And throughout Gwen's ceremony, Ianto had worn the sweetest, most sentimental smile Jack had ever seen.
"I can understand the appeal," Ianto said, leaning in closer to Jack again, breathing the words onto the skin above Jack's collar. "Is that such a bad thing?"
"Not of itself." Jack took a breath, certain he didn't want to say any of this to Ianto. Equally certain it would be unfair not to tell him. "It's not something I do well. Believe me, I've tried. I've really tried. Marriage isn't something I'm built for."
"I'm not sure I am, either."
"Ianto," Jack said softly. It was sweet, it really was, but Jack didn't need false reassurance. "There's nothing wrong with wanting the happily ever after."
"It's something I wanted once, but I'm not the same person I was in London." Ianto gave Jack's shoulder a brief squeeze. "Marriage is a commitment. You're promising your life to someone, promising you'll prioritise them above all else. I don't think I can work for Torchwood and do that."
Jack glanced across the room, saw Rhys and Gwen with her father, glasses clinking together. "Can anyone?" he wondered aloud.
"Personally, I don't think I can. Lisa," a tiny pause, a small catch in Ianto's voice, "was a prime example of that. Of me putting one person above what I knew was right."
Jack brought Ianto's hand up to his chin and sucked a slow kiss against his first knuckle. Then he held on tight.
"It's not something I want right now," Ianto said, finding his words carefully. "I'm not sure I'll ever want it."
Then he pulled back, out of Jack's reach, and Jack frowned. But before Jack could object, Ianto added, "I need to queue the next few songs. Stay here."
"I can do that," Jack said and from Ianto's answering grin, he knew exactly what Jack meant.
So first we have a little Heroes snippet that... is almost fic-length, honestly, but was recorded months ago. Set between S1 and S2, with Matt in the hospital:
First Name Basis
Janice had visited.
Matt was too high on morphine to remember. He only knows that she definitely came because the nurses had told him later and handed over the letter she left. He wonders about that. If she'd done it on purpose. If it had been a last, regretful taunt: at all of his inabilities, at all of the ways he couldn't live up to what she needed.
But Janice...
Matt's pretty sure she was never that mean. She probably couldn't stand watching him sleep, didn't have the heart to wait for him to wake up and then ask for a divorce. So she left divorce papers and a letter to explain, and if it took Matt hours to read, well...
He was stuck in a hospital bed anyway. It's not like he had anything better to do.
In a way, he's grateful. At least she told him before he read it inside her thoughts.
***
The first visitor Matt remembers is Mohinder. He wakes up one morning in the hospital, a morning that seems well, just like the last six or seven: white walls, small TV screen, an easy routine of nurses checking his chart and topping up his drip, the constant itch of the IV needle in his arm.
But one morning, between a Judge Judy repeat and the second round of nurses, Mohinder steps in and says, "Good morning, Officer Parkman."
"Good morning." Matt pauses, trying to remember the guy's name. It was all vowels and soft sounds, he remembers that much. "Dr Suresh?"
"Mohinder Suresh." Mohinder gives a brief nod and Matt notices that his hair is bordering on scruffy. "You may call me Mohinder."
"Why? Is Dr Suresh your father?" Matt asks, repeating the old joke. Just one of those stupid things you say when you're nervous and stuck in a hospital room.
Mohinder smiles serenely but Matt gets a blur of emotion: pride and anger and hurt, loss and regret. The painkillers are messing with his abilities, blurring the words until he can't hear thoughts and he keeps getting random surges of emotion.
"Dr Suresh was my father, yes," Mohinder says, looking far calmer than he feels.
"Then why are you here?" Matt asks. People don't drop by for no reason. Janice had only come to get him to sign divorce papers. She also left a storage locker key. And a letter that explained her reasons (and told him where his stuff was and that she'd already paid for the first three months).
"I promised to bring Molly to visit you."
Matt smiles at the thought of Molly. It's an automatic reaction: he really can't help it. "When did you promise that? Did Molly ask?"
"She did ask, but I made the promise to you," Mohinder says, dark eyes looking around the room. There's one bunch of flowers -- cheery reds and yellows -- that were sent by his old precinct. It'd be strange, but the entire incident has been written up as 'wounds sustained in the line of duty' while working with the FBI to track down terrorists. According to his file, his superiors were aware of this and his suspension was a necessary part of his cover.
Matt's not sure who's rigged it or why, but he's not going to question as long as his hospital bills are getting paid.
"No offence, Dr Suresh--"
"Mohinder, please," Mohinder says, holding up a hand.
"Fine. No offence, Mohinder, but I don't remember you making any promises to me. Apart from that brief moment where you were pointing a gun at me, I don't think we've ever talked."
"You were on a rather high dose of morphine at the time." Mohinder almost maintains a straight face. "You made me promise to bring Molly to see you. You also threatened to shoot me like a rabid dog should anything happen to Molly while you were in here."
Matt cringes. "If it helps, I've never actually shot a dog."
"That does not help a great deal," Mohinder says with a gentle smile. "Considering you spent the next hour discussing the wonderful colours of the hospital decor, I realised that you were not completely lucid."
Matt laughs. The walls of this room are a blue so pale they look grey in some lights, white in others. "I'll bet I was seeing colours nobody else was."
"According to you, the corridors were painted in a rather wonderful shade of magenta. Now, if you're feeling up to it, I'll go and get Molly from the waiting room."
"You brought her?" Matt grins again. The expression feels a bit tight on his face, but that's okay. He'd worried about her. Not that he can do anything while he's stuck here, spending more hours asleep than awake, and hooked up to a drip, but his first priority when he got out of here would have been tracking her down and making sure she was okay. "How come you didn't bring her in straight away?"
"I wanted to make sure you were lucid this time," Mohinder says and then disappears out the door.
Matt feels the weight of cautious concern, a fierce protective affection. He's not sure if the emotions are his.
Molly looks safe and well. More importantly, she looks happy as she torpedos into the room, throwing herself across his bed. He bites down on the groan as she wraps tiny vice-like arms around his chest, but Mohinder must see his face because he pulls Molly back with a soft, "Molly, perhaps a little more gently. Officer Parkman--"
"Call me Matt," Matt says.
Mohinder gives a little nod of his head, almost a bow and says, "Matt is here to get better. We need to be careful while he heals."
Molly looks worried for a moment and starts to scrabble off the bed. Matt wraps an arm around shoulders and shuffles sideways. "You're a little thing, Molly. I think you could squeeze beside me."
She glances at Mohinder, who gives another little nod and sits down in the corner of the room, then settles against Matt's side. "Sure?" she asks warily.
"I'm sure," Matt says. "So, how have you been?"
"I lost a tooth!" she says excitedly, pointing at the gap, concerns forgotten.
"Maybe you should think about where you saw it last. That always helps me find lost stuff."
"I don't need to find it. The Tooth Fairy took it."
"The Tooth Fairy, huh?"
"Yeah. But I think she got a little confused. She only left me a dollar. Normally she leaves three."
===
Then we have a little snippet of Jack/Ianto conversation, set during the dancing scene in Something Borrowed. I think it could either do with a polish or is part of a series of post-scene conversations that I've yet to write. But for what it is, I like it.
Something Old, Something New
"Penny for your thoughts?" Ianto whispered into Jack's ear, cheek against Jack's cheek as they danced.
"Probably not good to share," Jack said, glancing over to the other side of the hall. There stood Gwen and Rhys, all smiles and laughter, champagne glasses in hand. Perfect picture of the happy couple.
"A pound then."
Jack laughed. "You're no good at haggling."
"But I'm good at getting what I want," Ianto said. He pulled back enough to look Jack in the eye.
Jack sighed and knew that Ianto would give up until Jack had given in. After a moment Jack asked, "Is this what you want?"
"I don't follow."
"This," Jack said, shrugging and glancing around the room. "The engagement, the big wedding. Family and friends. 'Til death do us part. The whole thing."
Ianto cocked his head to the side, considering. Then he said slowly, "It's what I wanted with Lisa. I hadn't found the right ring yet, I hadn't asked, but it was what I wanted."
"That's what I thought," Jack said. When Jack jokingly insulted weddings, Ianto jumped to defend the tradition. When Gwen asked for help, Ianto sacrificed a Tuesday to help send out invitations. And throughout Gwen's ceremony, Ianto had worn the sweetest, most sentimental smile Jack had ever seen.
"I can understand the appeal," Ianto said, leaning in closer to Jack again, breathing the words onto the skin above Jack's collar. "Is that such a bad thing?"
"Not of itself." Jack took a breath, certain he didn't want to say any of this to Ianto. Equally certain it would be unfair not to tell him. "It's not something I do well. Believe me, I've tried. I've really tried. Marriage isn't something I'm built for."
"I'm not sure I am, either."
"Ianto," Jack said softly. It was sweet, it really was, but Jack didn't need false reassurance. "There's nothing wrong with wanting the happily ever after."
"It's something I wanted once, but I'm not the same person I was in London." Ianto gave Jack's shoulder a brief squeeze. "Marriage is a commitment. You're promising your life to someone, promising you'll prioritise them above all else. I don't think I can work for Torchwood and do that."
Jack glanced across the room, saw Rhys and Gwen with her father, glasses clinking together. "Can anyone?" he wondered aloud.
"Personally, I don't think I can. Lisa," a tiny pause, a small catch in Ianto's voice, "was a prime example of that. Of me putting one person above what I knew was right."
Jack brought Ianto's hand up to his chin and sucked a slow kiss against his first knuckle. Then he held on tight.
"It's not something I want right now," Ianto said, finding his words carefully. "I'm not sure I'll ever want it."
Then he pulled back, out of Jack's reach, and Jack frowned. But before Jack could object, Ianto added, "I need to queue the next few songs. Stay here."
"I can do that," Jack said and from Ianto's answering grin, he knew exactly what Jack meant.
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::squishes Jack and Ianto in hug::
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Aw, that's lovely.
And this Ianto had worn the sweetest, most sentimental smile Jack had ever seen. is so true. It was the cutest little thing.
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It really was! I mean... oh. Ianto! What a sweetheart!
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"I can do that," Jack said and from Ianto's answering grin, he knew exactly what Jack meant.
Awwww!
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