Life on Mars - Baby, Set My Soul on Fire (Sam/Gene, PG)
For slodwick and trinityofone. Trufax!
Life on Mars
Sam/Gene, PG
Post-series
Baby, Set My Soul on Fire
1.
Life is so much better when you're dead. It really is. Sam will testify to this before Her Majesty, God and the whole bit, and he should know better than anyone, right?
The things that bothered Sam before: Gene as The Law, Maya leaving him, the itchiness of his cheap bed linens, his dad as a villain, the ugly wallpaper in his bed-sit -- they just don't bother him as much as they did when he was in a coma. As much as they did when he was supposedly alive in another time.
There's a difference between being alive and living that Sam's finally getting a handle on.
Instead of getting his knickers in a twist, Sam just changes the things he doesn't like. He's applying all his methodology and methodical thinking to his life.
He reckons he was actually better off without his dad and that Maya is happy now. He's sorry for his mum, sorry that he left her, but he's happy now and he knows she would want that. That if she could see him now, she'd understand the choice he made better than he could ever explain it.
He changes his bed-sit for a small flat, and he paints the walls white. White is good. Bright. Sam invests in a better telly and a larger bed. He goes shopping at the week-end and watches footie at the Railway Arms.
He does all the things living people do to make a happier life.
The difference is that Sam's paying attention now. He notices things more.
At first it was just the wee things from the last time around: that sand bucket where Annie must've put her hand when she came to save him, the fact that Ray and Chris are almost surgically attached at the hip, the way that the Guv always wears his driving gloves and how rare it is for Sam to see him bare-handed.
Yes, Sam is noticing lots of things about Gene Hunt.
2.
Being dead takes a lot of guess work out of everyday actions. Should Sam eat that second helping of chips? Should he have that sixth pint? Should he be in the middle of the office staring at the Guv’s bare hands? Is it hot in here or is it just him? What is Gene thinking when he's staring at Sam rolling his sleeves up to his forearms? How bad would things get if Sam snogged the Guv right here and now? Why do the walls of Gene's office not go all the way up to the ceiling? Who the hell built this place and why did they have no consideration for people who want to shag at work?
3.
Sam's in the Cortina picking his nose. Well, not really picking his nose, but he might as well do since he's just laying about waiting on the Guv. Most of Sam's life seems to be waiting on the Guv. It's better than waiting in a coma though.
"Alpha one…"
The radio crackles and Sam drops it twice before he gets a handle on it. He does miss his mobile at times like this. "Phyllis, go ahead."
"..Sailors…dance hall!"
"Sorry, I can't hear you. What's that?"
"Then move about a bit!" Phyllis demands down the weak line. "I said we got a call about sailors fighting in the dance hall."
Sam has to have a moment. Even dead people get the wind-up and Bowie's 'Life on Mars' did come out this year. "I didn't know we still had dance halls," he says haltingly.
"Yeah, well, we do, so are you going to sort this out or what?"
"Yeah, we'll sort it out," Sam says as the door opens and Gene slides in.
"Whassit, Gladys?" The Cortina shakes a bit as Gene settles himself. When Sam glances over, Gene's got egg butty smeared all over his mouth.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Sam says.
"Try me." Gene's talking and chewing and spraying crumbs all over Sam's face; he bats at them fruitlessly.
"We've got a call about sailors fighting in a dance hall."
"It must be my lucky day," Gene says, shoving the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and turning the car over. "Who doesn't love a good punch-up?"
Sam just shakes his head and grabs hold of the handle above the door as Gene takes off on two wheels.
Out the corner of his eye, Sam wonders if the Guv would ever consider seeing Bowie with him. And then maybe pigs will fly and Sam will lead the Pride Parade.
What's really sad is that Sam's going to have to wait another two years for 'Fame' and 'Diamond Dogs' to be released.
4.
Existence is pretty basic for Sam most days. Wake up, shave, have a bath, go to work, work a bit, work, work harder, fight with the Guv, solve a case, fight some more, have a drink, maybe see a film with Annie, maybe have dinner with Gene.
Maybe Sam will get laid in a bed one of these days.
Maybe he'll stop thinking about stealing the Guv's driving gloves to have a wank.
5.
It's the little things that make 1973 a good year: David Bowie on vinyl, tickets to Old Trafford you don't have to buy on eBay, coming in to work with a hangover the size of David Beckham's bank account - not that that last one would make any sense to anyone else - and not getting shit about it. Oh, and having a punch up with your guv and not losing your job over it.
Not that Sam could probably lose his job over being in a headlock and smacking Gene's arms a lot. "I told you I was right, Nora!" Gene crows. His hold on Sam isn't that tight, but it's firm. This won't do at all.
Gene howls when Sam stomps on his foot. "You wouldn't know right if it bit you on the arse!" Sam spits back, standing up fast enough to see stars. He's not as young as he used to be. His back is going to hurt later.
"At least I've got an arse to bite!" Gene snaps, making a run for Sam and slamming him against a tall stack of files that fall on both of them. They really have to stop doing this in the Lost and Found.
Sam elbows Gene in the back and Gene gives him one in the kidneys. He'll be lucky if he's not pissing blood later tonight. "Are you saying I've got a flat arse?"
"Any flatter and you'd crack when you sit down!"
Sam finally breaks free and shoves Gene back. "You're a bastard," Sam says, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. In the dim lighting the blood from his split lip looks almost brown.
Gene smoothes down his hair. He's got a great big shiner coming. His face is already a bit puffy. "I know you're jealous," he says with a wide grin, "but we can't all be the great DCI Gene Hunt, Tyler."
6.
Sam doesn't care when he puts on a few pounds and isn't always the fastest down the corridor when they're kicking the ball about. He doesn't flinch so much every time the Guv works his magic on suspects either. Some of the time Sam wishes he were the one doing the work, but everyone has their place in the food chain, and if his place is keeping Gene in line, well, it could be a lot worse.
7.
Manchester is not London. There were no swinging 60s and no Carnaby Street. There is no sexual revolution happening here. Or if there is, no one’s told Sam about it. What Sam has is Gene coming by to watch Sunday afternoon football matches, because the Missus is off visiting her sister and Sam's just found this sausage he loves at the market and he made enough for two.
What Sam has is wandering the streets where he grew up (or will grow up) on game days and the way the pavement smells clean after it rains. During the summer Sam walks late at night, and sometimes he finds himself at the Guv's house.
Sometimes he waits and sometimes he walks past. Sometimes he'll see the guv watching out the window, smoking a fag, and he'll think it's because he wants to see him, but he always keeps walking, because that's what people do, dead or alive, they just keep going.
And occasionally, very occasionally, if Sam walks slow enough, he'll turn a corner and find Gene there, the way Gene always finds him, and Gene will drag him somewhere else and touch him and push him. The brick will be damp or cold or warm or just plain hard against Sam's back, but it's always there. He always feels it.
Just like Gene.
Just like 1973.
Because this is living, and it's better than anything else anyone could give him.
-end-
Beta by the most wicked lazlet. Dedicated to slodwick and trinityofone.
Life on Mars
Sam/Gene, PG
Post-series
Baby, Set My Soul on Fire
1.
Life is so much better when you're dead. It really is. Sam will testify to this before Her Majesty, God and the whole bit, and he should know better than anyone, right?
The things that bothered Sam before: Gene as The Law, Maya leaving him, the itchiness of his cheap bed linens, his dad as a villain, the ugly wallpaper in his bed-sit -- they just don't bother him as much as they did when he was in a coma. As much as they did when he was supposedly alive in another time.
There's a difference between being alive and living that Sam's finally getting a handle on.
Instead of getting his knickers in a twist, Sam just changes the things he doesn't like. He's applying all his methodology and methodical thinking to his life.
He reckons he was actually better off without his dad and that Maya is happy now. He's sorry for his mum, sorry that he left her, but he's happy now and he knows she would want that. That if she could see him now, she'd understand the choice he made better than he could ever explain it.
He changes his bed-sit for a small flat, and he paints the walls white. White is good. Bright. Sam invests in a better telly and a larger bed. He goes shopping at the week-end and watches footie at the Railway Arms.
He does all the things living people do to make a happier life.
The difference is that Sam's paying attention now. He notices things more.
At first it was just the wee things from the last time around: that sand bucket where Annie must've put her hand when she came to save him, the fact that Ray and Chris are almost surgically attached at the hip, the way that the Guv always wears his driving gloves and how rare it is for Sam to see him bare-handed.
Yes, Sam is noticing lots of things about Gene Hunt.
2.
Being dead takes a lot of guess work out of everyday actions. Should Sam eat that second helping of chips? Should he have that sixth pint? Should he be in the middle of the office staring at the Guv’s bare hands? Is it hot in here or is it just him? What is Gene thinking when he's staring at Sam rolling his sleeves up to his forearms? How bad would things get if Sam snogged the Guv right here and now? Why do the walls of Gene's office not go all the way up to the ceiling? Who the hell built this place and why did they have no consideration for people who want to shag at work?
3.
Sam's in the Cortina picking his nose. Well, not really picking his nose, but he might as well do since he's just laying about waiting on the Guv. Most of Sam's life seems to be waiting on the Guv. It's better than waiting in a coma though.
"Alpha one…"
The radio crackles and Sam drops it twice before he gets a handle on it. He does miss his mobile at times like this. "Phyllis, go ahead."
"..Sailors…dance hall!"
"Sorry, I can't hear you. What's that?"
"Then move about a bit!" Phyllis demands down the weak line. "I said we got a call about sailors fighting in the dance hall."
Sam has to have a moment. Even dead people get the wind-up and Bowie's 'Life on Mars' did come out this year. "I didn't know we still had dance halls," he says haltingly.
"Yeah, well, we do, so are you going to sort this out or what?"
"Yeah, we'll sort it out," Sam says as the door opens and Gene slides in.
"Whassit, Gladys?" The Cortina shakes a bit as Gene settles himself. When Sam glances over, Gene's got egg butty smeared all over his mouth.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Sam says.
"Try me." Gene's talking and chewing and spraying crumbs all over Sam's face; he bats at them fruitlessly.
"We've got a call about sailors fighting in a dance hall."
"It must be my lucky day," Gene says, shoving the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and turning the car over. "Who doesn't love a good punch-up?"
Sam just shakes his head and grabs hold of the handle above the door as Gene takes off on two wheels.
Out the corner of his eye, Sam wonders if the Guv would ever consider seeing Bowie with him. And then maybe pigs will fly and Sam will lead the Pride Parade.
What's really sad is that Sam's going to have to wait another two years for 'Fame' and 'Diamond Dogs' to be released.
4.
Existence is pretty basic for Sam most days. Wake up, shave, have a bath, go to work, work a bit, work, work harder, fight with the Guv, solve a case, fight some more, have a drink, maybe see a film with Annie, maybe have dinner with Gene.
Maybe Sam will get laid in a bed one of these days.
Maybe he'll stop thinking about stealing the Guv's driving gloves to have a wank.
5.
It's the little things that make 1973 a good year: David Bowie on vinyl, tickets to Old Trafford you don't have to buy on eBay, coming in to work with a hangover the size of David Beckham's bank account - not that that last one would make any sense to anyone else - and not getting shit about it. Oh, and having a punch up with your guv and not losing your job over it.
Not that Sam could probably lose his job over being in a headlock and smacking Gene's arms a lot. "I told you I was right, Nora!" Gene crows. His hold on Sam isn't that tight, but it's firm. This won't do at all.
Gene howls when Sam stomps on his foot. "You wouldn't know right if it bit you on the arse!" Sam spits back, standing up fast enough to see stars. He's not as young as he used to be. His back is going to hurt later.
"At least I've got an arse to bite!" Gene snaps, making a run for Sam and slamming him against a tall stack of files that fall on both of them. They really have to stop doing this in the Lost and Found.
Sam elbows Gene in the back and Gene gives him one in the kidneys. He'll be lucky if he's not pissing blood later tonight. "Are you saying I've got a flat arse?"
"Any flatter and you'd crack when you sit down!"
Sam finally breaks free and shoves Gene back. "You're a bastard," Sam says, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. In the dim lighting the blood from his split lip looks almost brown.
Gene smoothes down his hair. He's got a great big shiner coming. His face is already a bit puffy. "I know you're jealous," he says with a wide grin, "but we can't all be the great DCI Gene Hunt, Tyler."
6.
Sam doesn't care when he puts on a few pounds and isn't always the fastest down the corridor when they're kicking the ball about. He doesn't flinch so much every time the Guv works his magic on suspects either. Some of the time Sam wishes he were the one doing the work, but everyone has their place in the food chain, and if his place is keeping Gene in line, well, it could be a lot worse.
7.
Manchester is not London. There were no swinging 60s and no Carnaby Street. There is no sexual revolution happening here. Or if there is, no one’s told Sam about it. What Sam has is Gene coming by to watch Sunday afternoon football matches, because the Missus is off visiting her sister and Sam's just found this sausage he loves at the market and he made enough for two.
What Sam has is wandering the streets where he grew up (or will grow up) on game days and the way the pavement smells clean after it rains. During the summer Sam walks late at night, and sometimes he finds himself at the Guv's house.
Sometimes he waits and sometimes he walks past. Sometimes he'll see the guv watching out the window, smoking a fag, and he'll think it's because he wants to see him, but he always keeps walking, because that's what people do, dead or alive, they just keep going.
And occasionally, very occasionally, if Sam walks slow enough, he'll turn a corner and find Gene there, the way Gene always finds him, and Gene will drag him somewhere else and touch him and push him. The brick will be damp or cold or warm or just plain hard against Sam's back, but it's always there. He always feels it.
Just like Gene.
Just like 1973.
Because this is living, and it's better than anything else anyone could give him.
-end-
Beta by the most wicked lazlet. Dedicated to slodwick and trinityofone.