{Fic} Dead Zone: At the End of the World; for kneazles
At the End
of the World (there are monsters...)
Author: Clarity Scifiroots (artoflife_muse / enchanting_muse) karasumouri (AT) earthlink (DOT) net
Archive: Art of Life http://enchantingmuse.com/artoflife/, fic_on_demand, artoflife_muse, enchanting_muse. Anyone else-please speak with me before hand.
Fandom/Pairings: The Dead Zone - Johnny/Bruce (light slash)
Request: kneazles’s nightmare theme (again ;;^^)
Disclaimers Apply.
Summary: Major spoilers for season one episode “Here There Be Monsters.” Visions of “what might have been” continue to plague Johnny.
He still had dreams about the fire that had almost consumed him. Countless nights he had woken up because of the violent coughs that wracked his body as he tried to clear his lungs of ghostly smoke and ash. In his dreams Dana and the cavalry hadn’t arrived in time-the flames caught on his clothes, melting the rubber on his sneakers, and eating away his skin; his screams faded quickly as the flames and smoke choked all sound, but he could still hear the enthusiastic shouting from the crowd... And one other voice, so different from the others, screaming and begging-Oh God, Bruce... The thought registered only for a few moments before he was blinded by agony and a rush of visions of his own autopsy, not that it was needed, and burial preparations. He even saw the dirt piling on top of him and the decaying shrinkage of his skin over his bones.
“NO!” His scream seemed to echo eerily around the large den. He gasped in a lungful of clean air and almost coughed in surprise. His eyes were wide open and staring blindly at the blank TV screen across from him.
“Oh God, man, I’m so sorry...” Bruce suddenly appeared, his dreadlocks swinging at his shoulders after his sprint back to the room. “I just-I shouldn’t have, damn it.”
Johnny looked numbly at the worried face above him.
“John, I’m so sorry...” Bruce knelt in front of him and wrapped his arms tightly the still gasping man. “I’m so sorry... We’re okay, you’re okay... Jeez, it’s been two months, when are these nightmares going to let up?”
Slowly calming down and regaining some sense of reality, Johnny brought one shaking hand up to rest against Bruce’s hair. He stared at the contrast of light and dark without thoughts for a moment, a blissful reprieve.
“They hurt you...” he murmured, the memory somehow a little hazy.
Bruce glanced up in surprise and leans back a bit to get a better look at Johnny’s face. “I’m fine, man, it really wasn’t so bad...”
Johnny knew that was a lie. He remembered how much pain his friend had been in and recalled the vision he had caught of Bruce checking in at a walk-in clinic they had finally stopped at on the way home-the physician on call had mentioned cracked ribs and prescribed a pain medication that Johnny knew Bruce hadn’t filled, let alone taken, until they got back to Cleave’s Mills.
“Hey, hey... John, you with me?” Bruce’s dark eyes were full of concern and a little bit of fear. He had raised one hand to cup Johnny’s cheek-he hadn’t even noticed.
“Yeah... I’m...” Johnny grimaced at the unfinished sentence, unable to describe how he felt and unable to brush it off as if everything were okay.
Bruce moved onto the couch beside him and leaned forward so that their foreheads touched. “We’re gonna make it through all this, man.”
Johnny closed his eyes and sighed. “It might be a long time, Bruce.”
“I don’t care. We’re in this together, John, and it’s not that easy to get rid of me.”
A shadow of a smile touched Johnny’s lips. He felt so tired... the nightmares hadn’t allowed him good rest for a long time.
“I’m gonna be right here, John, it’s okay to rest,” Bruce said quietly.
Johnny wanted to protest and deny any further attempts to sleep, but Bruce’s embrace was warm and his body had finally relaxed under his touch.
As he drifted off into peaceful oblivion, he thought he might have felt the brush of lips against his skin and an I love you whispered against his ear.
~ * Fin * ~
Author: Clarity Scifiroots (artoflife_muse / enchanting_muse) karasumouri (AT) earthlink (DOT) net
Archive: Art of Life http://enchantingmuse.com/artoflife/, fic_on_demand, artoflife_muse, enchanting_muse. Anyone else-please speak with me before hand.
Fandom/Pairings: The Dead Zone - Johnny/Bruce (light slash)
Request: kneazles’s nightmare theme (again ;;^^)
Disclaimers Apply.
Summary: Major spoilers for season one episode “Here There Be Monsters.” Visions of “what might have been” continue to plague Johnny.
He still had dreams about the fire that had almost consumed him. Countless nights he had woken up because of the violent coughs that wracked his body as he tried to clear his lungs of ghostly smoke and ash. In his dreams Dana and the cavalry hadn’t arrived in time-the flames caught on his clothes, melting the rubber on his sneakers, and eating away his skin; his screams faded quickly as the flames and smoke choked all sound, but he could still hear the enthusiastic shouting from the crowd... And one other voice, so different from the others, screaming and begging-Oh God, Bruce... The thought registered only for a few moments before he was blinded by agony and a rush of visions of his own autopsy, not that it was needed, and burial preparations. He even saw the dirt piling on top of him and the decaying shrinkage of his skin over his bones.
“NO!” His scream seemed to echo eerily around the large den. He gasped in a lungful of clean air and almost coughed in surprise. His eyes were wide open and staring blindly at the blank TV screen across from him.
“Oh God, man, I’m so sorry...” Bruce suddenly appeared, his dreadlocks swinging at his shoulders after his sprint back to the room. “I just-I shouldn’t have, damn it.”
Johnny looked numbly at the worried face above him.
“John, I’m so sorry...” Bruce knelt in front of him and wrapped his arms tightly the still gasping man. “I’m so sorry... We’re okay, you’re okay... Jeez, it’s been two months, when are these nightmares going to let up?”
Slowly calming down and regaining some sense of reality, Johnny brought one shaking hand up to rest against Bruce’s hair. He stared at the contrast of light and dark without thoughts for a moment, a blissful reprieve.
“They hurt you...” he murmured, the memory somehow a little hazy.
Bruce glanced up in surprise and leans back a bit to get a better look at Johnny’s face. “I’m fine, man, it really wasn’t so bad...”
Johnny knew that was a lie. He remembered how much pain his friend had been in and recalled the vision he had caught of Bruce checking in at a walk-in clinic they had finally stopped at on the way home-the physician on call had mentioned cracked ribs and prescribed a pain medication that Johnny knew Bruce hadn’t filled, let alone taken, until they got back to Cleave’s Mills.
“Hey, hey... John, you with me?” Bruce’s dark eyes were full of concern and a little bit of fear. He had raised one hand to cup Johnny’s cheek-he hadn’t even noticed.
“Yeah... I’m...” Johnny grimaced at the unfinished sentence, unable to describe how he felt and unable to brush it off as if everything were okay.
Bruce moved onto the couch beside him and leaned forward so that their foreheads touched. “We’re gonna make it through all this, man.”
Johnny closed his eyes and sighed. “It might be a long time, Bruce.”
“I don’t care. We’re in this together, John, and it’s not that easy to get rid of me.”
A shadow of a smile touched Johnny’s lips. He felt so tired... the nightmares hadn’t allowed him good rest for a long time.
“I’m gonna be right here, John, it’s okay to rest,” Bruce said quietly.
Johnny wanted to protest and deny any further attempts to sleep, but Bruce’s embrace was warm and his body had finally relaxed under his touch.
As he drifted off into peaceful oblivion, he thought he might have felt the brush of lips against his skin and an I love you whispered against his ear.
~ * Fin * ~