Temptation-Being Human mini-fic
Title: Temptation
Rating: PG
Pairing: None. George and Mitchell, but not like that.
Disclaimer: They belong to Toby Whithouse
Spoilers: Slight for episode 2.
Summary: Missing end of scene- the one where Mitchell finds the girl with the cut finger in the bathroom.
He can’t remember the girl’s name, can’t distinguish the words she’s saying. Can’t take his eyes off her hand with the blood beading there. He scrabbles desperately in the human recesses of his mind, trying to find a reason not to do this. He needs something he can hold on to.
With an effort he pulls himself back, sets his face into something approaching normality, ushers her out of the bathroom. “Why don’t we get you downstairs. George is there, we can find you a plaster...” As she heads down the landing he lingers a moment to pull the plug from the sink, and watches the bright tendrils of blood swirl away on the water. He holds onto the edge of the sink and concentrates on breathing.
When he gets downstairs George has sat the girl down at the kitchen table, a vast array of plasters and dressings and antiseptic wipes spread out between them. Mitchell hovers in the doorway, torn between politeness and self-preservation, until George looks up and meets his eyes.
Mitchell lowers himself carefully onto the sofa as though a sudden movement might send him over the edge. He places his hands deliberately on his knees and focuses on George’s voice, debating at length over the relative merits of waterproof and fabric plasters. Something he can hold on to.
As the girl pulls the front door closed behind her Mitchell lets his head drop back against the sofa and closes his eyes. A few minutes later he feels the couch dip reassuringly under George’s weight. Something warm nudges against his hand, and he takes the offered mug without opening his eyes and wraps his hands around it gratefully. With George’s comforting almost-human bulk pressed against his side he remembers that he once called George stocky, and he thinks now that “sturdy” might have been a better choice of adjective. Sturdy, solid, always-there.
George and Mitchell sit quietly together until Mitchell is ready to open his eyes.