FIC: No One Knows What Happened
Title: No One Knows What Happened (Red Is My Colour Prompt for Day Nine)
Author: blue_fjords
Pairings/Characters: Suzie, Owen, slight Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13, but only for language
Setting: pre-series one (close to “Everything Changes”)
Words: about 1,300
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Suzie steps a little closer to the edge.
Prompt:
"The white of the dusting of snow
lingers in the shadows, on the fallen leaves,
the cooler spots in the yard,
in the lee of the shrubs, the crooks of the branches
in subtle and still ways, remaining
a little longer, cooling the world,
providing fringe and accent
before the sameness of winter
when shades of gray in the snow
will mark its edges, dimensions
now it remains trim around the edges
in little and small places, in the calm
away from sun and activity
hiding a while before fading
slowly, slowly, away
before the winter coming"
-- Raymond A. Foss
Winter Coming
The wind had insistent fingers, and they would not let her sleep. They pulled at her hair, sent chills up her leg from her ankle, sneaking into the space between her shoes and her trousers, and batted at her shoulders until she finally strove towards consciousness, if only to voice her complaint. The rest of her senses were slow to follow, and at first all she could do was lie there and breathe in the smell of frozen dirt and rotting leaves. Gradually she became aware that one of the leaves was stuck to her cheek. She was lying on her side, at the base of a marble plinth. Why was she doing that? She couldn’t remember. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the gray gloom of an overcast midday, she realized she was in a cemetery. Tombstones and statues dotted the hillside around her. Angels, kneeling or weeping, arms spread wide or holding a harp, looked down on her with unseeing eyes.
A buzzing sound finally pierced the fog in her head, and her eyes hit upon her comm link, lying less than a meter from her hand. She tried to sit up, and immediately closed her eyes again in pain. Something was definitely broken. Gathering her courage, she gritted her teeth and half-rolled, half-dragged herself over to the comm. It looked as damaged as she felt. Her left leg was broken, she decided. She peered at the comm in her hand, perhaps she could get a channel if she just -
“Suzie! Earth calling Suzie! Where the fuck are you, sweetheart?!”
Owen. One channel available, and of course it would have to be Owen’s.
“No need to bray, Owen,” she said tiredly.
“Suzie Costello! There you go, comparing me to a donkey - again.”
He had been completely insufferable ever since she had given in to temptation and finally slept with him. Well, fucked him. She didn’t trust him enough to sleep with him. She thought she had at one point, but she had been growing increasingly paranoid lately; she couldn’t place her finger on the why.
“Owen, just - be a doctor, will you; I’ve broken my leg.”
He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was brusque, business-like.
“Where are you?”
“A cemetery.”
“Which cemetery?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did you go to the cemetery?”
“I don’t know.”
“How did you break your leg?”
“I don’t know.”
She took a calming breath. She couldn’t afford to go into hysterics, especially not in front of Owen, even if it was just his voice.
“Okay, Suzie. What’s the last thing that you do remember?”
Damn him, damn him for staying so calm! She reminded herself that this is what she wanted. Owen was being her doctor. She could trust her doctor. People trusted their doctors.
“Alright. Alright. The Rift spike Tosh tracked this morning. She gave me the coordinates. It was the same signature as that blanket thing from last week; I went out to pick it up on my own, since, well, you remember what happened.”
She knew Owen was picturing it, too: the look on Jack’s face when he saw the stitching on the blanket, the tear in his eye when he reached out and touched it, hand trembling. Owen hadn’t seen it later, though, draped around Ianto’s lanky form as he dozed on the dilapidated settee in the Hub. Jack had said the blanket was supposed to grant a perfect dream. He had wrapped it around Ianto himself. Then he had gone off to brood.
“A dream blanket attacked you?”
“No! I never made it there. I was in the SUV and then - damn it, Owen, I don’t remember!”
“Okay, we’ll figure this out. Tosh can run a trace on your comm, and we’ll activate the tracking device in the SUV. Don’t worry. Hold tight.”
She could hear a rustling in the background, and murmurs that had the inflection of Tosh’s voice.
“Suzie? Tosh has identified your cemetery. You’re about ten kilometers from the Hub. Jack and Ianto are closest; I’m going to have them pick you up and bring you back here. Hang on.”
Another muffled noise, presumably Owen alerting Jack and Ianto of the situation. She wondered what they were doing out together, just the two of them. She wondered what car they were driving. She wondered if it was big enough to accommodate her broken leg. Most of all, she wondered what had happened to her, and why, and if whatever it was, was still out there. She started violently when Owen’s voice came back to her.
“Sit tight, Suzie, they’re about three minutes out.”
“That’s good.”
“Can you see any evidence of an attacker? Should I be warning them of something?”
“I can’t see anything. I mean, literally, my eyesight is decent, but as far as alien activity, I would have to say it must have left.”
She realized she was babbling, and clamped her mouth shut. Her head also really hurt. She should probably tell Owen that. He had said something back to her, but she had missed it.
“Owen? Owen? My head hurts.”
“They’re almost there, Suzie. And when they get you back here, I’m going to set your leg, and fix your head, and Jack’s going to wrap you up in that idiot blanket, and Ianto’s going to make you a coffee. Tosh is already tracking the SUV, she’ll find out what happened; she’s brilliant. You don’t have to worry about a thing, Suzie. Not a thing.”
She nodded, knowing he couldn’t see her. She thought she could hear him calling her name, but it was too close. She opened her mouth to say so.
“Suzie. Sir, I found her, northeast corner.”
She smiled with relief.
“Owen? The cavalry is here.”
Ianto knelt down next to her, and she allowed him to give her head a cursory inspection (“Split scalp, but not too much blood visible; left leg is twisted, the break is in the calf area.”), but he wasn’t speaking to her. It took her another moment to realize he was speaking about her.
“Suzie? I’m going to pick you up and carry you to my car now. Okay, ma’am?”
Ianto was always so bloody polite. She wondered if he fucked people without sleeping with them. She wondered if she trusted him. She decided the answer to both questions was maybe.
He lifted her up in his arms, and she bit back a curse when pain shot up her leg in pulsating waves.
“Sorry about that, ma’am.”
She was up so high. It was a whole new perspective from up here. She could see Jack running towards them, gracefully avoiding walking on graves, but still moving so fast. Now there was a man who definitely fucked people without sleeping with them. She decided she also trusted him. Mostly.
“Suzie!”
Jack kissed her forehead when he reached them, took her hands in his and rubbed them. She had almost forgotten how cold she was, but now feeling returned and with it the sharp sting of the wind. She must have made a noise of protest, because Ianto picked up his pace. His car was waiting for them patiently by the side of the road, unlike the traitor SUV. Ianto placed her delicately into the back seat and ran around to the passenger side door in the front. Jack had already started the engine, and he floored it once Ianto shut his door.
She began to lose consciousness again. She wished she could remember what had happened. She wished she knew what she was doing in a cemetery. She wished she could stop herself from changing, growing colder and more paranoid every day. She wished a lot of things, but she was a practical woman. Winter was coming. She best accept it and hunker down to get through it, or else it would drag her under.
Author: blue_fjords
Pairings/Characters: Suzie, Owen, slight Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13, but only for language
Setting: pre-series one (close to “Everything Changes”)
Words: about 1,300
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Suzie steps a little closer to the edge.
Prompt:
"The white of the dusting of snow
lingers in the shadows, on the fallen leaves,
the cooler spots in the yard,
in the lee of the shrubs, the crooks of the branches
in subtle and still ways, remaining
a little longer, cooling the world,
providing fringe and accent
before the sameness of winter
when shades of gray in the snow
will mark its edges, dimensions
now it remains trim around the edges
in little and small places, in the calm
away from sun and activity
hiding a while before fading
slowly, slowly, away
before the winter coming"
-- Raymond A. Foss
Winter Coming
The wind had insistent fingers, and they would not let her sleep. They pulled at her hair, sent chills up her leg from her ankle, sneaking into the space between her shoes and her trousers, and batted at her shoulders until she finally strove towards consciousness, if only to voice her complaint. The rest of her senses were slow to follow, and at first all she could do was lie there and breathe in the smell of frozen dirt and rotting leaves. Gradually she became aware that one of the leaves was stuck to her cheek. She was lying on her side, at the base of a marble plinth. Why was she doing that? She couldn’t remember. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the gray gloom of an overcast midday, she realized she was in a cemetery. Tombstones and statues dotted the hillside around her. Angels, kneeling or weeping, arms spread wide or holding a harp, looked down on her with unseeing eyes.
A buzzing sound finally pierced the fog in her head, and her eyes hit upon her comm link, lying less than a meter from her hand. She tried to sit up, and immediately closed her eyes again in pain. Something was definitely broken. Gathering her courage, she gritted her teeth and half-rolled, half-dragged herself over to the comm. It looked as damaged as she felt. Her left leg was broken, she decided. She peered at the comm in her hand, perhaps she could get a channel if she just -
“Suzie! Earth calling Suzie! Where the fuck are you, sweetheart?!”
Owen. One channel available, and of course it would have to be Owen’s.
“No need to bray, Owen,” she said tiredly.
“Suzie Costello! There you go, comparing me to a donkey - again.”
He had been completely insufferable ever since she had given in to temptation and finally slept with him. Well, fucked him. She didn’t trust him enough to sleep with him. She thought she had at one point, but she had been growing increasingly paranoid lately; she couldn’t place her finger on the why.
“Owen, just - be a doctor, will you; I’ve broken my leg.”
He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was brusque, business-like.
“Where are you?”
“A cemetery.”
“Which cemetery?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did you go to the cemetery?”
“I don’t know.”
“How did you break your leg?”
“I don’t know.”
She took a calming breath. She couldn’t afford to go into hysterics, especially not in front of Owen, even if it was just his voice.
“Okay, Suzie. What’s the last thing that you do remember?”
Damn him, damn him for staying so calm! She reminded herself that this is what she wanted. Owen was being her doctor. She could trust her doctor. People trusted their doctors.
“Alright. Alright. The Rift spike Tosh tracked this morning. She gave me the coordinates. It was the same signature as that blanket thing from last week; I went out to pick it up on my own, since, well, you remember what happened.”
She knew Owen was picturing it, too: the look on Jack’s face when he saw the stitching on the blanket, the tear in his eye when he reached out and touched it, hand trembling. Owen hadn’t seen it later, though, draped around Ianto’s lanky form as he dozed on the dilapidated settee in the Hub. Jack had said the blanket was supposed to grant a perfect dream. He had wrapped it around Ianto himself. Then he had gone off to brood.
“A dream blanket attacked you?”
“No! I never made it there. I was in the SUV and then - damn it, Owen, I don’t remember!”
“Okay, we’ll figure this out. Tosh can run a trace on your comm, and we’ll activate the tracking device in the SUV. Don’t worry. Hold tight.”
She could hear a rustling in the background, and murmurs that had the inflection of Tosh’s voice.
“Suzie? Tosh has identified your cemetery. You’re about ten kilometers from the Hub. Jack and Ianto are closest; I’m going to have them pick you up and bring you back here. Hang on.”
Another muffled noise, presumably Owen alerting Jack and Ianto of the situation. She wondered what they were doing out together, just the two of them. She wondered what car they were driving. She wondered if it was big enough to accommodate her broken leg. Most of all, she wondered what had happened to her, and why, and if whatever it was, was still out there. She started violently when Owen’s voice came back to her.
“Sit tight, Suzie, they’re about three minutes out.”
“That’s good.”
“Can you see any evidence of an attacker? Should I be warning them of something?”
“I can’t see anything. I mean, literally, my eyesight is decent, but as far as alien activity, I would have to say it must have left.”
She realized she was babbling, and clamped her mouth shut. Her head also really hurt. She should probably tell Owen that. He had said something back to her, but she had missed it.
“Owen? Owen? My head hurts.”
“They’re almost there, Suzie. And when they get you back here, I’m going to set your leg, and fix your head, and Jack’s going to wrap you up in that idiot blanket, and Ianto’s going to make you a coffee. Tosh is already tracking the SUV, she’ll find out what happened; she’s brilliant. You don’t have to worry about a thing, Suzie. Not a thing.”
She nodded, knowing he couldn’t see her. She thought she could hear him calling her name, but it was too close. She opened her mouth to say so.
“Suzie. Sir, I found her, northeast corner.”
She smiled with relief.
“Owen? The cavalry is here.”
Ianto knelt down next to her, and she allowed him to give her head a cursory inspection (“Split scalp, but not too much blood visible; left leg is twisted, the break is in the calf area.”), but he wasn’t speaking to her. It took her another moment to realize he was speaking about her.
“Suzie? I’m going to pick you up and carry you to my car now. Okay, ma’am?”
Ianto was always so bloody polite. She wondered if he fucked people without sleeping with them. She wondered if she trusted him. She decided the answer to both questions was maybe.
He lifted her up in his arms, and she bit back a curse when pain shot up her leg in pulsating waves.
“Sorry about that, ma’am.”
She was up so high. It was a whole new perspective from up here. She could see Jack running towards them, gracefully avoiding walking on graves, but still moving so fast. Now there was a man who definitely fucked people without sleeping with them. She decided she also trusted him. Mostly.
“Suzie!”
Jack kissed her forehead when he reached them, took her hands in his and rubbed them. She had almost forgotten how cold she was, but now feeling returned and with it the sharp sting of the wind. She must have made a noise of protest, because Ianto picked up his pace. His car was waiting for them patiently by the side of the road, unlike the traitor SUV. Ianto placed her delicately into the back seat and ran around to the passenger side door in the front. Jack had already started the engine, and he floored it once Ianto shut his door.
She began to lose consciousness again. She wished she could remember what had happened. She wished she knew what she was doing in a cemetery. She wished she could stop herself from changing, growing colder and more paranoid every day. She wished a lot of things, but she was a practical woman. Winter was coming. She best accept it and hunker down to get through it, or else it would drag her under.