Sanctuary fic -- American
This is for the unused History Battle prompt "Kate and Nikola, American."
This takes place the night between Vigilante and Hollow Men.
This story is for tielan, who asked me for a Kate story a while ago.
Kate doesn't like Druitt. She thinks she's all too familiar with the type, the violent boyfriend who's got one problem or another and who swears he's going to change, it will all be better this time, soon it will be ok because he really loves you. He kind of humanizes Magnus though. She hadn't thought that somebody so put together could fall for the same dumb game, but it just goes to show that no matter how kickass you are you can still fall for the same lines over and over and over. She'd thought Magnus was some kind of superwoman. But not. And so she steers clear of Druitt, at least as much as you can while being in the same house.
Tesla's growing on her though. She can't figure out why Will hates the guy so much. He's not so bad. He picks on her the same way he picks on Will and Henry, without any heat to it, without any edge. He works like a dog. Kate's got to respect that. She always respects hard work. And you know, he gets it done. Whatever it is.
He comes on to Magnus all the time, but she seems ok with that. He never comes on to Kate. Maybe she's not his type, or maybe he thinks she's a teenager or something, just way too young to be interesting. Probably she is to him. But as far as she can tell he's not looking her over anymore than he's looking over Henry, which is a nice change. With Druitt she knows she's prey. Occasionally she catches him glancing at her and conspicuously glancing away, like a cat who knows it's going to be in trouble if it eats its owner's canary, and besides there are lots of birds in the world.
But Tesla's ok. He drinks a lot, but he never seems drunk. He never seems out of control. He goes from good humored snarkiness to bad humored snarkiness, but it's not a big spectrum. Ok, yeah, he uses the place like a hotel, but he's Magnus' friend and it's her house. If she doesn't mind him crashing whenever he feels like it, it's not anybody else's problem.
Which is about the only thing that isn't. At the point where the Big Guy's been shot, Henry's been tazed, this Worth guy is raving in the isolation ward, Magnus has radiation sickness, and they've got Druitt in the house, Kate feels like she's about the only thing holding it together. Well, and Tesla. Who is working all night on this vampire shield thing. Again. He works all night a lot, fueled by alternating wine and black coffee.
They've reached black coffee again about four in the morning. Kate's made the rounds downstairs. The Big Guy is sleeping with a nice shot of Demerol in the line to ease the pain, Worth is finally dozing, Will has gone to bed to catch a couple of hours since he was up all night the night before, and Kate figures there's not much point in going to bed since she'll have to be up in two hours anyway, and that's just enough time to make her fuzzy headed all day.
Tesla comes in and pours another cup from the pot that's been brewing for six hours, finishing it up. He takes a long drink which you'd think would burn, but he swallows it down greedily, his Adam's apple moving. Then he goes over to the sink and rinses out the pot carefully with lukewarm water because cold water will make the pot crack. He's wearing a cashmere sweater vest and long sleeves with cufflinks.
Which abruptly reminds Kate of her father. Not that her father wears cufflinks, but the same careful attention to detail. Even when he was laid off and had some crappy customer service job he always made sure his blue button down was ironed, the collar starched, his cuffs unfrayed. Like it mattered.
Tesla carefully refills the pot to the twelve cup line with cold water, turns off the coffeepot and refills the reservoir. He turns around and looks at her. "Yes?"
"Making more coffee?" Kate asks. She doesn't want to say that suddenly he reminded her of her dad, so suddenly and sharply that she caught her breath.
"If I make it now, there will be coffee when I want it," Tesla says. He takes out the used filter carefully so that he doesn't spill a single ground in the basket and throws it in the trash. "And I foresee that there will be a great need for coffee this morning. Even if Helen and Johnny don't drink it."
"Yeah, the tea thing." Kate figures she'll wait around for the fresh pot. She could use some more coffee too. "I guess you've gotten over being all Victorian British."
"I'm American," Tesla says, putting the new filter in the basket and carefully measuring out the good coffee, eyeballing the scoop to make sure it's flat. "And I never was British. I was born in Serbia."
Kate's not entirely sure where that is. Somewhere in Eastern Europe. One of those tiny little countries that don't have a lot of tourists. "Yeah?"
Tesla carefully measures the second scoop as though coffee were a complicated chemical reaction. "I chose to be American a long time ago."
"Why?" The question pops out before Kate can think about it.
Tesla straightens up and he looks at her like he really sees her for the first time. "Because I was tired of being inferior. I don't imagine you have any concept of what it meant to be a Slav in the nineteenth century. In America money talks. That has its drawbacks, but it also has its advantages."
"Yeah," Kate says. She cups her hands around her mug. "Tell me about it."
"I don't expect I have to." Tesla puts the coffee scoop back in the vacuum sealed coffee jar and closes it.
"No," Kate says. She leans back and puts her booted feet up on the table. "If you've got the money you can do anything. But if you don't you're just some little desi girl."
Tesla turns on the coffeepot and leans back against the counter while it starts sputtering. "There are some things better than money. Power."
"Is that what turns you on?"
"One of the things." Tesla says, charming and boyish and hardly more than thirty five, for all she knows he's more than a hundred and fifty. "There are other things, but the power to remake yourself into whatever you want to be isn't something to take lightly. But you know that." He holds her eyes for a second, and Kate thinks he sees too much. But then maybe Magnus has been a second chance for him too. Or a third. Or a fourth. A chance to be someone else, someone she wants to be. Somebody who stays up all night holding it together for their friends, getting it done.
Tesla glances at the pot. There's not enough to make it worth it to top off his mug, but he does anyway. "How about you?"
"I'm American," Kate says, and he grins.
This takes place the night between Vigilante and Hollow Men.
This story is for tielan, who asked me for a Kate story a while ago.
Kate doesn't like Druitt. She thinks she's all too familiar with the type, the violent boyfriend who's got one problem or another and who swears he's going to change, it will all be better this time, soon it will be ok because he really loves you. He kind of humanizes Magnus though. She hadn't thought that somebody so put together could fall for the same dumb game, but it just goes to show that no matter how kickass you are you can still fall for the same lines over and over and over. She'd thought Magnus was some kind of superwoman. But not. And so she steers clear of Druitt, at least as much as you can while being in the same house.
Tesla's growing on her though. She can't figure out why Will hates the guy so much. He's not so bad. He picks on her the same way he picks on Will and Henry, without any heat to it, without any edge. He works like a dog. Kate's got to respect that. She always respects hard work. And you know, he gets it done. Whatever it is.
He comes on to Magnus all the time, but she seems ok with that. He never comes on to Kate. Maybe she's not his type, or maybe he thinks she's a teenager or something, just way too young to be interesting. Probably she is to him. But as far as she can tell he's not looking her over anymore than he's looking over Henry, which is a nice change. With Druitt she knows she's prey. Occasionally she catches him glancing at her and conspicuously glancing away, like a cat who knows it's going to be in trouble if it eats its owner's canary, and besides there are lots of birds in the world.
But Tesla's ok. He drinks a lot, but he never seems drunk. He never seems out of control. He goes from good humored snarkiness to bad humored snarkiness, but it's not a big spectrum. Ok, yeah, he uses the place like a hotel, but he's Magnus' friend and it's her house. If she doesn't mind him crashing whenever he feels like it, it's not anybody else's problem.
Which is about the only thing that isn't. At the point where the Big Guy's been shot, Henry's been tazed, this Worth guy is raving in the isolation ward, Magnus has radiation sickness, and they've got Druitt in the house, Kate feels like she's about the only thing holding it together. Well, and Tesla. Who is working all night on this vampire shield thing. Again. He works all night a lot, fueled by alternating wine and black coffee.
They've reached black coffee again about four in the morning. Kate's made the rounds downstairs. The Big Guy is sleeping with a nice shot of Demerol in the line to ease the pain, Worth is finally dozing, Will has gone to bed to catch a couple of hours since he was up all night the night before, and Kate figures there's not much point in going to bed since she'll have to be up in two hours anyway, and that's just enough time to make her fuzzy headed all day.
Tesla comes in and pours another cup from the pot that's been brewing for six hours, finishing it up. He takes a long drink which you'd think would burn, but he swallows it down greedily, his Adam's apple moving. Then he goes over to the sink and rinses out the pot carefully with lukewarm water because cold water will make the pot crack. He's wearing a cashmere sweater vest and long sleeves with cufflinks.
Which abruptly reminds Kate of her father. Not that her father wears cufflinks, but the same careful attention to detail. Even when he was laid off and had some crappy customer service job he always made sure his blue button down was ironed, the collar starched, his cuffs unfrayed. Like it mattered.
Tesla carefully refills the pot to the twelve cup line with cold water, turns off the coffeepot and refills the reservoir. He turns around and looks at her. "Yes?"
"Making more coffee?" Kate asks. She doesn't want to say that suddenly he reminded her of her dad, so suddenly and sharply that she caught her breath.
"If I make it now, there will be coffee when I want it," Tesla says. He takes out the used filter carefully so that he doesn't spill a single ground in the basket and throws it in the trash. "And I foresee that there will be a great need for coffee this morning. Even if Helen and Johnny don't drink it."
"Yeah, the tea thing." Kate figures she'll wait around for the fresh pot. She could use some more coffee too. "I guess you've gotten over being all Victorian British."
"I'm American," Tesla says, putting the new filter in the basket and carefully measuring out the good coffee, eyeballing the scoop to make sure it's flat. "And I never was British. I was born in Serbia."
Kate's not entirely sure where that is. Somewhere in Eastern Europe. One of those tiny little countries that don't have a lot of tourists. "Yeah?"
Tesla carefully measures the second scoop as though coffee were a complicated chemical reaction. "I chose to be American a long time ago."
"Why?" The question pops out before Kate can think about it.
Tesla straightens up and he looks at her like he really sees her for the first time. "Because I was tired of being inferior. I don't imagine you have any concept of what it meant to be a Slav in the nineteenth century. In America money talks. That has its drawbacks, but it also has its advantages."
"Yeah," Kate says. She cups her hands around her mug. "Tell me about it."
"I don't expect I have to." Tesla puts the coffee scoop back in the vacuum sealed coffee jar and closes it.
"No," Kate says. She leans back and puts her booted feet up on the table. "If you've got the money you can do anything. But if you don't you're just some little desi girl."
Tesla turns on the coffeepot and leans back against the counter while it starts sputtering. "There are some things better than money. Power."
"Is that what turns you on?"
"One of the things." Tesla says, charming and boyish and hardly more than thirty five, for all she knows he's more than a hundred and fifty. "There are other things, but the power to remake yourself into whatever you want to be isn't something to take lightly. But you know that." He holds her eyes for a second, and Kate thinks he sees too much. But then maybe Magnus has been a second chance for him too. Or a third. Or a fourth. A chance to be someone else, someone she wants to be. Somebody who stays up all night holding it together for their friends, getting it done.
Tesla glances at the pot. There's not enough to make it worth it to top off his mug, but he does anyway. "How about you?"
"I'm American," Kate says, and he grins.