FIC: Redirected Prologue: Test, 1, 2, 3 (RPF; Jason Isaacs; PG)
FIC: Redirected Prologue: Test, 1, 2, 3 (RPF; Jason Isaacs; PG)
Title: Redirected Prologue: Test, 1, 2, 3
Author: darkrosetiger
Fandom: RPF, "Redirected" AU
Pairings/Characters: Jason Isaacs, 2 OMC's
Archive: Please ask.
Rating: PG
Summary: In a world where everyone is divided into tops and subs, 16-year-old Jason Isaacs is going to be a top--no matter how many times he has to take the placement test.
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Not RL; didn't happen. Jason's family as depicted here is absolutely nothing like his real family. If you think this has anything to do with the real actors involved, then you need to put down the crack pipe.
Notes: Set in 1979, roughly 27 years prior to Redirected 1. More notes follow at the end.
The moment Jason saw the "I'm not angry; I'm disappointed" expression on his father's face, he knew that something was wrong. He could smell something cooking, but Scott wasn't in the kitchen, which indicated that whatever it was, it was serious. And I bet I know what.
"Have a seat, Jason." Alan gestured at the space on the sofa beside him.
"Sure...I guess my test results came in?" Jason hid a smile at his father's brief flash of consternation. Why yes, Dad, I can read you that well. He didn't bother being irritated that his father had looked before he even got home; that was to be expected.
"Yes, and I'm a little concerned, Jason. You scored...well, let's just say that if you still plan on aiming for the Foreign Office--or even going back to Harrow--this isn't going to cut it."
Jason blinked. "What, did I test out sub? Is it really that big of a deal these days?" Even as he said it, Jason knew the answer; he'd overheard and even participated in some of the whispered conversations at school, though he'd always thought it was unsporting to place bets on how various people would test out.
Alan shook his head. "Come on--you know better than that. Sure, there are quite a few subs in the FO now, and most of them are clerical staff, or at the most, cultural attachés. I was under the impression that you had somewhat higher goals than that."
And it has nothing to do with your expectations, of course. "So you want me to take the test again?" Jason asked. Alan took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Jason, this isn't about what I want. As long as you're happy, that's what's important. But you've always said that you're interested in a career in international law, and maybe in government. And like it or not, politics is still a top's game. Now, your scores were fairly close..." Alan put his glasses back on and studied the sheet of paper before handing it to Jason. "I've scheduled you to take the test again in two weeks."
Jason looked down at the paper, where his personality and future was summed up in two sets of numbers: Dominant--44%; Submissive--56%. "How do you know I'm going to be able to change it?" he asked his father. "Maybe this is just the way I am."
Alan chuckled. "I think I know my son well enough to know that you're not a sub. You've been pushy ever since before you could talk, Jason--it's just that you're also very thoughtful and polite, which is probably why you tested out that way." He stood up and kissed the top of Jason's head. "Now come on--Scott's kept dinner waiting long enough, I think."
*****
"Jason, can you pop into my office for a moment?" Alan's face was grim, and Jason realized that his second test scores must have come in. He went into his father's study and shut the door before taking a seat in the big leather chair across the desk from his father.
"Well," Alan began, "your scores won't be mailed out until tomorrow morning, but I pulled a few strings to see if I could get the results a little early."
"I take it they're not good," Jason said, settling back for what he suspected was going to be a long and excruciating conversation.
"They're not what I'd hoped to see, frankly. They're a bit problematic. You scored as a switch."
Jason raised an eyebrow at that. One in a hundred people who took the test scored within the four percent margin to be considered a switch. Usually, those people were re-tested, and their scores were averaged to determine their final categorization.
"I'm not done, Jason," his father told him. "Your score this time didn't just fall within the switch range--you had a dead even split. Do you have any idea how unusual that is?"
"One in a thousand," Jason said, allowing himself a slight smirk when his father blinked. "I've been doing a bit of reading--figured it might be relevant."
"Yes, well...The Testing Agency people are always very excited to run across someone like you, and I'm sure they'll want to look into this further." Alan rubbed his forehead. "Standard practice, however, is that in the case of a 50/50 split, you'd automatically be re-tested, but since you've got a set of test results already, they could agree to let that stand. If that's what you wanted."
Jason sighed. "Dad...you know, it's possible that I really am a sub. I know it might not be easy, but it's not like I'm a different person or something. My marks are still good, and as long as I keep up with the work....there are subs in sixth form these days, and besides, you've always told me that it's bollocks anyway, and that being a sub doesn't mean you're stupid. You wouldn't be with Scott if you thought that."
Alan stood and stared out the window behind his desk. After a long silence, he said, "My year was the first one after they started letting submissives stay for sixth form. Before, if you tested sub, you went off to finishing school--no one figured you needed a university education when you were just going to get married. There were two subs in my classes--a girl and a boy. The girl--Susan, I think was her name--left three weeks into the term. Steven stayed out that year, but God, it wasn't easy for him. People were always touching him, leaving straps lying around, making comments about his looks. The professors singled him out for criticism...I remember one of the history teachers who always made him kneel in the back during lectures..." Alan turned to face his son. "I found him after exams in the spring. He'd tried to hang himself. I was able to get him down, thank God...his parents came and got him the next day." He sighed and ran a hand through his short hair. "It would break my heart to see you have to go through something like that, Jason.
"And no, of course I don't think that subs are inherently stupid. But people have certain expectations of them, different expectations." Alan sat down again, giving Jason a level look. "Scott didn't finish his degree until after we were married, you know. When I met him, he was married to someone else. He'd left uni himself and was working as the Economics Department secretary in order to help put his husband through medical school. I encouraged him to go back for his degree after he'd gotten divorced and married me--it was a bit of a scandal among our set at the time--but as a sub, no one really thought he needed to go to uni, not if he was going to be minding the house and raising children."
"Fine, Dad. I'll take the test again," Jason said. "But...if it still comes up sub, can we just leave it there? Please?"
"Sure." Alan smiled, visibly relieved. "I promise."
*****
Alan was at a conference on the day Jason's third test results came in. Jason was home, so he grabbed the post as soon as it arrived. The plain, business-sized envelope should have felt heavier, he thought, since it held the weight of his future inside.
"Jason, I've made scones--ah, I see the post's here." Scott smiled at him. "Your scores, I take it?"
"Yeah. I don't know if I should wait to open them until Dad gets home, though."
"Why don't you come in the kitchen and have some tea first?" Scott suggested. Jason agreed, and joined him in the kitchen. After pouring a cup for Jason and giving him a plate of still-warm scones, Scott made tea for himself and sat across the table from Jason.
"Jason, love...I know it must seem like your father is...I don't know, maybe making too much of your test results," Scott said, not-quite looking at Jason. "But he only wants what's best for you."
"Doesn't it bother you?" Jason asked, voicing a question that had been bothering him for weeks. "That he's so insistent that I'm not a sub?"
Scott laughed and tucked a strand of red hair behind one ear. "Oh sweetheart, you're not a sub, trust me. You've never had any problems asserting yourself, that's for sure! No, it's just that you're also sensitive. I think you must get that from your father--he certainly isn't the sort of top who thinks being a dominant means you have to be hard. It's one of the things I've always loved most about him."
"Dad said you were married before? You never told me that," Jason said, curious.
"Oh...well, it's..." Scott flushed a little. "It used to be that if you were a divorced sub, then everyone wondered what was wrong with you, that you couldn't keep a top." He sighed. "Richard and I got married when we were both quite young, and I suppose he didn't really think about the fact that I'd never be able to give him children--surrogates were a new thing, then, so if you wanted kids, you had to be with an opposite-sex partner or adopt. It didn't seem to matter, but then his father died and he was feeling pressure, I guess...
Scott reached across the table and patted Jason's hand. "But then your father asked me out, and then he proposed, and when I pointed out that we couldn't have children together, he just laughed and said that we'd cross that bridge when we came to it. And I couldn't love you more if I'd given birth to you myself."
Jason squeezed Scott's hand. "I know. I'm just trying to figure stuff out, I guess."
"It's a confusing time. With me, there was never any real question how I was going to test. And I wanted a family most of all--I wasn't like you, wanting to run the country from the time I was six." Scott grinned.
"Did you ever think about more kids?"
"Oh, sure. But then your father got the fellowship at Harvard, and the job in Brussels, and we were moving everywhere and things were so busy that we decided not to. And you were quite the handful all on your own, young man," Scott added with a mock glower.
Jason looked at the envelope on the table. "It's weird...everything about my life comes down to what's in this envelope."
Scott snorted. "Would you rather go back to the days before the tests, when being a boy automatically meant you were a top and being a girl meant you were a sub? At least this way, everyone gets to reach their potential, regardless of their sex."
Jason wasn't entirely sure that was true, but he couldn't stand waiting any more. He picked up the envelope and carefully opened it. I think I had the "right" answers figured out, so it should be good.... He slid the still-folded sheet of paper over to Scott. "You tell me; I'm too nervous."
"Let's see, then...Dominant--59% ; Submissive--41%--oh, Jason, this is wonderful!" Scott beamed at him, and jumped up so he could give Jason a hug. "Your father will be so happy!"
The question is, will I be?
The Redirected and Misdirected arcs were inspired by helenish's excellent fic Take Clothes Off As Directed (SGA, John/Rodney, NC-17, kink). The world in TCOAD is divided into doms and subs, with subs being treated much like women in the '40s and '50s here in the real world. The universe interested us enough that we thought it'd be fun to see what happens to people in a world like that who don't fit easily into the standard categories. We want to thank helenish for writing TCOAD and urge you to read it, even if you're not in SGA fandom.
Because of the complications of rewriting history, we've tried to keep the actual world-building to a minimum. The important things to know for this piece are that in the UK, the test is administered to everyone shortly after their 16th birthday. The government pays for the test once; if someone wants to take it again, they have to pay, and it's not cheap. Also, because gender is less important than orientation, a few things are different: single-sex schools like Harrow are co-ed for gender, but have only recently started allowing students who test submissive to stay. Same-sex marriage is legal in both the US and UK; marriage between two tops or two subs is regarded much as many people view same-sex marriage today. Surrogate parenting and IVF are much more common, with children considered to "belong" to the dominant parent.
Title: Redirected Prologue: Test, 1, 2, 3
Author: darkrosetiger
Fandom: RPF, "Redirected" AU
Pairings/Characters: Jason Isaacs, 2 OMC's
Archive: Please ask.
Rating: PG
Summary: In a world where everyone is divided into tops and subs, 16-year-old Jason Isaacs is going to be a top--no matter how many times he has to take the placement test.
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Not RL; didn't happen. Jason's family as depicted here is absolutely nothing like his real family. If you think this has anything to do with the real actors involved, then you need to put down the crack pipe.
Notes: Set in 1979, roughly 27 years prior to Redirected 1. More notes follow at the end.
The moment Jason saw the "I'm not angry; I'm disappointed" expression on his father's face, he knew that something was wrong. He could smell something cooking, but Scott wasn't in the kitchen, which indicated that whatever it was, it was serious. And I bet I know what.
"Have a seat, Jason." Alan gestured at the space on the sofa beside him.
"Sure...I guess my test results came in?" Jason hid a smile at his father's brief flash of consternation. Why yes, Dad, I can read you that well. He didn't bother being irritated that his father had looked before he even got home; that was to be expected.
"Yes, and I'm a little concerned, Jason. You scored...well, let's just say that if you still plan on aiming for the Foreign Office--or even going back to Harrow--this isn't going to cut it."
Jason blinked. "What, did I test out sub? Is it really that big of a deal these days?" Even as he said it, Jason knew the answer; he'd overheard and even participated in some of the whispered conversations at school, though he'd always thought it was unsporting to place bets on how various people would test out.
Alan shook his head. "Come on--you know better than that. Sure, there are quite a few subs in the FO now, and most of them are clerical staff, or at the most, cultural attachés. I was under the impression that you had somewhat higher goals than that."
And it has nothing to do with your expectations, of course. "So you want me to take the test again?" Jason asked. Alan took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Jason, this isn't about what I want. As long as you're happy, that's what's important. But you've always said that you're interested in a career in international law, and maybe in government. And like it or not, politics is still a top's game. Now, your scores were fairly close..." Alan put his glasses back on and studied the sheet of paper before handing it to Jason. "I've scheduled you to take the test again in two weeks."
Jason looked down at the paper, where his personality and future was summed up in two sets of numbers: Dominant--44%; Submissive--56%. "How do you know I'm going to be able to change it?" he asked his father. "Maybe this is just the way I am."
Alan chuckled. "I think I know my son well enough to know that you're not a sub. You've been pushy ever since before you could talk, Jason--it's just that you're also very thoughtful and polite, which is probably why you tested out that way." He stood up and kissed the top of Jason's head. "Now come on--Scott's kept dinner waiting long enough, I think."
*****
"Jason, can you pop into my office for a moment?" Alan's face was grim, and Jason realized that his second test scores must have come in. He went into his father's study and shut the door before taking a seat in the big leather chair across the desk from his father.
"Well," Alan began, "your scores won't be mailed out until tomorrow morning, but I pulled a few strings to see if I could get the results a little early."
"I take it they're not good," Jason said, settling back for what he suspected was going to be a long and excruciating conversation.
"They're not what I'd hoped to see, frankly. They're a bit problematic. You scored as a switch."
Jason raised an eyebrow at that. One in a hundred people who took the test scored within the four percent margin to be considered a switch. Usually, those people were re-tested, and their scores were averaged to determine their final categorization.
"I'm not done, Jason," his father told him. "Your score this time didn't just fall within the switch range--you had a dead even split. Do you have any idea how unusual that is?"
"One in a thousand," Jason said, allowing himself a slight smirk when his father blinked. "I've been doing a bit of reading--figured it might be relevant."
"Yes, well...The Testing Agency people are always very excited to run across someone like you, and I'm sure they'll want to look into this further." Alan rubbed his forehead. "Standard practice, however, is that in the case of a 50/50 split, you'd automatically be re-tested, but since you've got a set of test results already, they could agree to let that stand. If that's what you wanted."
Jason sighed. "Dad...you know, it's possible that I really am a sub. I know it might not be easy, but it's not like I'm a different person or something. My marks are still good, and as long as I keep up with the work....there are subs in sixth form these days, and besides, you've always told me that it's bollocks anyway, and that being a sub doesn't mean you're stupid. You wouldn't be with Scott if you thought that."
Alan stood and stared out the window behind his desk. After a long silence, he said, "My year was the first one after they started letting submissives stay for sixth form. Before, if you tested sub, you went off to finishing school--no one figured you needed a university education when you were just going to get married. There were two subs in my classes--a girl and a boy. The girl--Susan, I think was her name--left three weeks into the term. Steven stayed out that year, but God, it wasn't easy for him. People were always touching him, leaving straps lying around, making comments about his looks. The professors singled him out for criticism...I remember one of the history teachers who always made him kneel in the back during lectures..." Alan turned to face his son. "I found him after exams in the spring. He'd tried to hang himself. I was able to get him down, thank God...his parents came and got him the next day." He sighed and ran a hand through his short hair. "It would break my heart to see you have to go through something like that, Jason.
"And no, of course I don't think that subs are inherently stupid. But people have certain expectations of them, different expectations." Alan sat down again, giving Jason a level look. "Scott didn't finish his degree until after we were married, you know. When I met him, he was married to someone else. He'd left uni himself and was working as the Economics Department secretary in order to help put his husband through medical school. I encouraged him to go back for his degree after he'd gotten divorced and married me--it was a bit of a scandal among our set at the time--but as a sub, no one really thought he needed to go to uni, not if he was going to be minding the house and raising children."
"Fine, Dad. I'll take the test again," Jason said. "But...if it still comes up sub, can we just leave it there? Please?"
"Sure." Alan smiled, visibly relieved. "I promise."
*****
Alan was at a conference on the day Jason's third test results came in. Jason was home, so he grabbed the post as soon as it arrived. The plain, business-sized envelope should have felt heavier, he thought, since it held the weight of his future inside.
"Jason, I've made scones--ah, I see the post's here." Scott smiled at him. "Your scores, I take it?"
"Yeah. I don't know if I should wait to open them until Dad gets home, though."
"Why don't you come in the kitchen and have some tea first?" Scott suggested. Jason agreed, and joined him in the kitchen. After pouring a cup for Jason and giving him a plate of still-warm scones, Scott made tea for himself and sat across the table from Jason.
"Jason, love...I know it must seem like your father is...I don't know, maybe making too much of your test results," Scott said, not-quite looking at Jason. "But he only wants what's best for you."
"Doesn't it bother you?" Jason asked, voicing a question that had been bothering him for weeks. "That he's so insistent that I'm not a sub?"
Scott laughed and tucked a strand of red hair behind one ear. "Oh sweetheart, you're not a sub, trust me. You've never had any problems asserting yourself, that's for sure! No, it's just that you're also sensitive. I think you must get that from your father--he certainly isn't the sort of top who thinks being a dominant means you have to be hard. It's one of the things I've always loved most about him."
"Dad said you were married before? You never told me that," Jason said, curious.
"Oh...well, it's..." Scott flushed a little. "It used to be that if you were a divorced sub, then everyone wondered what was wrong with you, that you couldn't keep a top." He sighed. "Richard and I got married when we were both quite young, and I suppose he didn't really think about the fact that I'd never be able to give him children--surrogates were a new thing, then, so if you wanted kids, you had to be with an opposite-sex partner or adopt. It didn't seem to matter, but then his father died and he was feeling pressure, I guess...
Scott reached across the table and patted Jason's hand. "But then your father asked me out, and then he proposed, and when I pointed out that we couldn't have children together, he just laughed and said that we'd cross that bridge when we came to it. And I couldn't love you more if I'd given birth to you myself."
Jason squeezed Scott's hand. "I know. I'm just trying to figure stuff out, I guess."
"It's a confusing time. With me, there was never any real question how I was going to test. And I wanted a family most of all--I wasn't like you, wanting to run the country from the time I was six." Scott grinned.
"Did you ever think about more kids?"
"Oh, sure. But then your father got the fellowship at Harvard, and the job in Brussels, and we were moving everywhere and things were so busy that we decided not to. And you were quite the handful all on your own, young man," Scott added with a mock glower.
Jason looked at the envelope on the table. "It's weird...everything about my life comes down to what's in this envelope."
Scott snorted. "Would you rather go back to the days before the tests, when being a boy automatically meant you were a top and being a girl meant you were a sub? At least this way, everyone gets to reach their potential, regardless of their sex."
Jason wasn't entirely sure that was true, but he couldn't stand waiting any more. He picked up the envelope and carefully opened it. I think I had the "right" answers figured out, so it should be good.... He slid the still-folded sheet of paper over to Scott. "You tell me; I'm too nervous."
"Let's see, then...Dominant--59% ; Submissive--41%--oh, Jason, this is wonderful!" Scott beamed at him, and jumped up so he could give Jason a hug. "Your father will be so happy!"
The question is, will I be?
The Redirected and Misdirected arcs were inspired by helenish's excellent fic Take Clothes Off As Directed (SGA, John/Rodney, NC-17, kink). The world in TCOAD is divided into doms and subs, with subs being treated much like women in the '40s and '50s here in the real world. The universe interested us enough that we thought it'd be fun to see what happens to people in a world like that who don't fit easily into the standard categories. We want to thank helenish for writing TCOAD and urge you to read it, even if you're not in SGA fandom.
Because of the complications of rewriting history, we've tried to keep the actual world-building to a minimum. The important things to know for this piece are that in the UK, the test is administered to everyone shortly after their 16th birthday. The government pays for the test once; if someone wants to take it again, they have to pay, and it's not cheap. Also, because gender is less important than orientation, a few things are different: single-sex schools like Harrow are co-ed for gender, but have only recently started allowing students who test submissive to stay. Same-sex marriage is legal in both the US and UK; marriage between two tops or two subs is regarded much as many people view same-sex marriage today. Surrogate parenting and IVF are much more common, with children considered to "belong" to the dominant parent.