Fandoms 5 and 6.
Title Nightmares
Fandom Coronation Street
Summary David doesn't have nightmares.
He doesn’t talk about the nightmares.
(he doesn’t have nightmares. He doesn’t care about anything so he doesn’t have nightmares.)
He tried to talk to Sarah once. She turned away and muttered something about him being a baby. Silly bitch. He’d heard her cry at nights after bad dreams. Did she think her troubles were any worse than his? At least she was never without support. Their mother and Bethany and myriads of boyfriends. He wondered if that was because they all thought she’d put out. Or perhaps they were all stupid. They probably cuddled her when she had bad dreams and told her it was all okay. Thought it was sweet.
(if he did have nightmares, he wouldn’t be sweet. Sweat and terror and alone underwater, swallowing dirt and cold. Tied up in the back by himself, wanting to scream with a hand smothering his mouth. Listening to a madman tell him it was okay and the family would all be together soon.)
Well, who needed a family anyway? Family just drove you crazy, then abandoned you when you needed them. Left for Canada, drove you into canals, left for Liverpool and forgot you existed …
He doesn’t care any more.
But he still has nightmares.
Title: Not Good, But Mine
Fandoms: Queer as Folk UK/Life on Mars
Summary: AU. Nathan asks about Vince's Dad.
“Hazel,” Nathan said. “What happened to Vince’s Dad?”
He supposed it was a bit of a cheeky question really, but you didn’t get anywhere in life if you didn’t ask a few cheeky questions and anyway, Hazel was probably quite used to that by now. And she didn’t look too worried, just raised her eyebrows expressively and fumbled for another cigarette.
“Cleared off,” she said.
“The bastard,” Bernard added helpfully.
“Quiet you, you just didn’t like him because all the girls thought he was prettier than you were!”
She laughed but something told Nathan that it wasn’t quite as funny as she tried to make it sound. He nibbled on the egg she’d made him and waited as she looked away, sucking at the cigarette and frowning a little.
“He was a bastard though,” she said, reflectively. “Charmer, obviously. Especially in his youth, although he was a bit out of that by the time I met him. Bit of a rogue, you know? Been in some trouble with the coppers in the past, wanted to lay low a bit but had all these grand schemes and ideas … ”
Bernard gave a disapproving cough and Hazel glared at him. Obviously, Bernard hadn’t thought very much Vince’s father.
“Were you married?” he asked.
“Married?” Hazel scoffed. “Give over, can you see me getting married to anyone? Took his name but that was more for Vince’s sake than anything. Besides, he was already married.”
That got Nathan’s attention. It wasn’t surprisingly that Hazel might have been involved with a married man or two but the way she’d been talking before hadn’t sounded like he’d been married. He put his knife and fork down and showed her that he was paying full attention. She continued to stare out of the window.
“Left his wife and kid behind when he had that bit of trouble with the police. Never got round to divorcing her. Never actually stopped loving her, truth be told but there was no chance of him going back without getting nabbed. Which was why we had a bit of a barny when I wanted to move back ‘ere. Knew the police might be around.”
“You weren’t living here?”
“Nah, moved away for a bit. Work, you know. That was how I met him. Only I wanted to move back and he was not entirely overjoyed by the idea and we had a bit of a barney, he got drunk and finally let me know a little bit of his past that he neglected to mention. Bloody bastard. And God knows what he was doing, he was a bit cagey about the exact details of his behaviour. Can’t say I was overly impressed to find out he’d run out on the poor woman and his kid.”
Nathan suspected that Hazel’s “not overly impressed” had probably involved a lot of things being slung at the unlucky man’s head. He winced in vague sympathy.
“Did he not move back with you then?”
“Oh, he did,” Hazel said with a small shrug. “Not for long though. Suppose I can’t blame him for buggering off - ”
“She did at the time,” Bernard mumbled.
“Shut up you. Anyway, you can’t blame him, the police were sniffing round a bit and looks like he really pissed them off. Left me with a four year old and some debts. Guess which one I preferred?”
Nathan grinned back at her but his mind was still back with the story earlier.
“So Vince has a brother? Does he know?”
“Course he bloody knows, I’m not having my Vince get a shock like that! Told him right from the start that he had a brother somewhere. Tracked him down later on too, didn’t want any nasty surprises down the line. Chatted with his mother. Nice woman, wasn’t at all surprised that he’d got a new family. Didn’t tell her son. He’s a copper so God hopes he never found out about his Dad.”
“What’s he like? Does Vince know him?”
“Sam Tyler. No, they never met, you dozy sod. How could they, Sam doesn’t know his father was a bastard. Doesn’t matter that much now anyway. Poor sod got hit by a car. Been in a coma for months. Sent a sympathy card to his mother, she’s getting on a bit now and it must have been a nightmare for her.”
Nathan vaguely remembered that. Everyone had gone on about what a tragedy it was. He just remembered thinking that the guy in the paper was rather hot.
“So, what happened to him?” he asked. “Vince’s Dad, I mean.”
“Haven’t seen him since,” Hazel said crisply. “Never will again, I expect. Maybe he’s got a third lady somewhere. Miss him sometimes. Not a good bloke. But he was my bloke.”
She walked out of the room and Nathan looked after her, wondering if he’d gone too far. But Bernard didn’t chastise him for it and Hazel was perfectly cheerful later. It only occurred to him as he curled up in bed that Hazel had been trying gently in her own way to remind him how important family was. Trying to remind him that his own family might not be perfect but they were family.
He wondered if Sam Tyler would agree with her if he had ever known that his father was a crook.
Fandom Coronation Street
Summary David doesn't have nightmares.
He doesn’t talk about the nightmares.
(he doesn’t have nightmares. He doesn’t care about anything so he doesn’t have nightmares.)
He tried to talk to Sarah once. She turned away and muttered something about him being a baby. Silly bitch. He’d heard her cry at nights after bad dreams. Did she think her troubles were any worse than his? At least she was never without support. Their mother and Bethany and myriads of boyfriends. He wondered if that was because they all thought she’d put out. Or perhaps they were all stupid. They probably cuddled her when she had bad dreams and told her it was all okay. Thought it was sweet.
(if he did have nightmares, he wouldn’t be sweet. Sweat and terror and alone underwater, swallowing dirt and cold. Tied up in the back by himself, wanting to scream with a hand smothering his mouth. Listening to a madman tell him it was okay and the family would all be together soon.)
Well, who needed a family anyway? Family just drove you crazy, then abandoned you when you needed them. Left for Canada, drove you into canals, left for Liverpool and forgot you existed …
He doesn’t care any more.
But he still has nightmares.
Title: Not Good, But Mine
Fandoms: Queer as Folk UK/Life on Mars
Summary: AU. Nathan asks about Vince's Dad.
“Hazel,” Nathan said. “What happened to Vince’s Dad?”
He supposed it was a bit of a cheeky question really, but you didn’t get anywhere in life if you didn’t ask a few cheeky questions and anyway, Hazel was probably quite used to that by now. And she didn’t look too worried, just raised her eyebrows expressively and fumbled for another cigarette.
“Cleared off,” she said.
“The bastard,” Bernard added helpfully.
“Quiet you, you just didn’t like him because all the girls thought he was prettier than you were!”
She laughed but something told Nathan that it wasn’t quite as funny as she tried to make it sound. He nibbled on the egg she’d made him and waited as she looked away, sucking at the cigarette and frowning a little.
“He was a bastard though,” she said, reflectively. “Charmer, obviously. Especially in his youth, although he was a bit out of that by the time I met him. Bit of a rogue, you know? Been in some trouble with the coppers in the past, wanted to lay low a bit but had all these grand schemes and ideas … ”
Bernard gave a disapproving cough and Hazel glared at him. Obviously, Bernard hadn’t thought very much Vince’s father.
“Were you married?” he asked.
“Married?” Hazel scoffed. “Give over, can you see me getting married to anyone? Took his name but that was more for Vince’s sake than anything. Besides, he was already married.”
That got Nathan’s attention. It wasn’t surprisingly that Hazel might have been involved with a married man or two but the way she’d been talking before hadn’t sounded like he’d been married. He put his knife and fork down and showed her that he was paying full attention. She continued to stare out of the window.
“Left his wife and kid behind when he had that bit of trouble with the police. Never got round to divorcing her. Never actually stopped loving her, truth be told but there was no chance of him going back without getting nabbed. Which was why we had a bit of a barny when I wanted to move back ‘ere. Knew the police might be around.”
“You weren’t living here?”
“Nah, moved away for a bit. Work, you know. That was how I met him. Only I wanted to move back and he was not entirely overjoyed by the idea and we had a bit of a barney, he got drunk and finally let me know a little bit of his past that he neglected to mention. Bloody bastard. And God knows what he was doing, he was a bit cagey about the exact details of his behaviour. Can’t say I was overly impressed to find out he’d run out on the poor woman and his kid.”
Nathan suspected that Hazel’s “not overly impressed” had probably involved a lot of things being slung at the unlucky man’s head. He winced in vague sympathy.
“Did he not move back with you then?”
“Oh, he did,” Hazel said with a small shrug. “Not for long though. Suppose I can’t blame him for buggering off - ”
“She did at the time,” Bernard mumbled.
“Shut up you. Anyway, you can’t blame him, the police were sniffing round a bit and looks like he really pissed them off. Left me with a four year old and some debts. Guess which one I preferred?”
Nathan grinned back at her but his mind was still back with the story earlier.
“So Vince has a brother? Does he know?”
“Course he bloody knows, I’m not having my Vince get a shock like that! Told him right from the start that he had a brother somewhere. Tracked him down later on too, didn’t want any nasty surprises down the line. Chatted with his mother. Nice woman, wasn’t at all surprised that he’d got a new family. Didn’t tell her son. He’s a copper so God hopes he never found out about his Dad.”
“What’s he like? Does Vince know him?”
“Sam Tyler. No, they never met, you dozy sod. How could they, Sam doesn’t know his father was a bastard. Doesn’t matter that much now anyway. Poor sod got hit by a car. Been in a coma for months. Sent a sympathy card to his mother, she’s getting on a bit now and it must have been a nightmare for her.”
Nathan vaguely remembered that. Everyone had gone on about what a tragedy it was. He just remembered thinking that the guy in the paper was rather hot.
“So, what happened to him?” he asked. “Vince’s Dad, I mean.”
“Haven’t seen him since,” Hazel said crisply. “Never will again, I expect. Maybe he’s got a third lady somewhere. Miss him sometimes. Not a good bloke. But he was my bloke.”
She walked out of the room and Nathan looked after her, wondering if he’d gone too far. But Bernard didn’t chastise him for it and Hazel was perfectly cheerful later. It only occurred to him as he curled up in bed that Hazel had been trying gently in her own way to remind him how important family was. Trying to remind him that his own family might not be perfect but they were family.
He wondered if Sam Tyler would agree with her if he had ever known that his father was a crook.