or as I like to call it, "Thursday"
So apparently yesterday was Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day. Which is clearly an awesome idea, but I was all trying to be a professional, or some garbage, so I couldn't truly embrace the spirit. (I did attempt to dress the part though, in a moderate and restrained way.)
All of which is to say, I wrote Timepunchers! fanfic which wasn't on the future-writing, not-exactly-WiPs list. And it's not even Nick/Tony? Talk about fandom of one...
Title: winter just wasn't my season
Pairing/Characters: Nick, Toni
Fandom: Timepunchers!
Warnings: None
Summary: Gen AU from 'My Antonia.' The time bubble never resolves, Tony remains Toni -- and calls Nick on his bs in benching her during the ep.
Nick watched as Toni twirled a pen across her fingers, dancing it down her knuckles and back exactly the way Tony had. He'd offered to teach Nick once, but Nick was pretty sure the trick was in violation of physics or physiology or both. Probably physics -- Toni's fingers were smaller than Tony's.
"You're doing it again," Toni said flatly. Her voice hadn't changed much and so was almost startlingly low, given her small frame. After a moment, she turned her head slightly to look at him and raised her eyebrow.
"Doing what?"
"Staring." The pen stopped its spin, grasped in Toni's hand.
Nick's immediate, instinctive response was to deny he'd been doing any such thing. However, he'd been the one pushing recently for honesty between partners. "Sorry. It's just... weird." He made a gesture that he hoped encompassed the entire timeline situation and not just Toni's new shape, because that could only be awkward.
"The staring is weird."
The monitor came to life, revealing Julie in full-on investigation mode, hair pinned up with an assortment of pens. "You're on, guys." Toni dropped her feet off the console. Nick had a hand on her shoulder and was leaning towards the monitor before he'd even thought about it. "Got an anomaly in 1855."
"The League?"
"Can't tell from now." She finally looked up from her yellowing broadsheets, eyes flicking to Nick's hand. Nick stepped away -- because he'd need the room to punch out, not because the casual touch abruptly felt less casual. "The Wells Fargo office seems to be at the epicenter."
"We're on it," he said and punched.
Nick let his arm drop back to his side, in a field of yellowing grasses. Toni appeared beside him with a whoop, still euphoric in the wake of every time-punch. Nick looked away rather than get caught smiling. The town lay just ahead. A glance down confirmed that his uniform had changed into relatively nondescript clothes. Dark brown suit, striped vest and, yes, cowboy boots and a hat to match. He turned to the rookie -- who was shaking out a long skirt. He frowned. The attire for women in this era left a lot to be desired if it came to a confrontation with the League. The skirt alone would be difficult to manage, but if Toni was wearing a corset -- he tore his mind away from inappropriate thoughts about his partner's underwear.
"Are you going to be able to work in that?"
She frowned right back. "Better than if I tried pulling off the pant suit look in 1855."
"Maybe you should sit this one out, too."
She didn't even deign to reply, just popped open her parasol, and started walking towards town.
A parasol. Nick shook his head.
The town was fairly large - not quite a city, not yet, but on its way. People nodded to them on the wooden sidewalks, but no one stared. Strangers didn't stand out in this now; that was useful. Nick eyed a bar across the street. Strangers didn't stand out, but a woman in a bar might invite comments that he'd have trouble ignoring. He knew past attitudes about appropriate gender roles were highly arbitrary, but they'd previously been something he hadn't had to consider much. And if it came to a fight, Toni would make a vulnerable target. He cleared his throat. "So, I'm thinking about trying for some intel in that bar," he said, with a head-tip towards the door.
"That saloon," Toni said with relish, and Nick hadn't known that Tony/Toni had a thing for the wild west. "Sounds like a plan." She started forward; Nick caught her elbow.
"Is that a good idea?" She glared up at him, that familiar quicksilver flash of anger. He didn't back down; this was about the mission. "We won't get far if we upset the now-ers."
"Fine. I'll go find a quilting bee or something. Now let go of me."
Nick did, and watched her storm off, and refused to think about the way her expression had crumpled, however briefly.
**
When they met back up, Toni was smiling smugly. Nick acknowledged to himself, again, that Tony and Toni were really the same person. "Find anything?" she asked sweetly. Nick cut her a look, and she went on. "Well, I never did find that quilting bee, but I did uncover evidence of intentional timeline tampering."
"When?"
"I'll show you. This way." Toni turned, presumably to lead him out of sight.
"Wait. You could just tell me."
Toni positively bristled and stalked around the corner. He couldn't blame her -- he didn't even know where that came from. He glanced around and followed. She led him down a gap between buildings, then wheeled on him. "What is your damage?" she demanded.
"My--"
"Look, I expect occasional attitude from now-ers. Most of them don't know better, I'm used to it, and maybe seeing us working as equals shifts our present closer. But from you? That's new. And I'm not --" She cut off with an achingly familiar irritated noise, the kind Tony had made back when Nick used to lay down the law regarding paradox-avoidance, back when 'just do it' stopped working, and Tony demanded Nick start treating him like an equal and not the rookie he really still was. Toni took a deep, slow breath, and re-opened her eyes, locking Nick with her gaze. "Two weeks ago relative time, we were good. Maybe the best partnership in the Agency. Now, you're trying to shut me out of this mission, when nothing's changed."
"Something has changed, and you know it even if you don't remember it."
Her mouth twisted. "I guess so, because suddenly you're more worried about parochial gender roles than getting the job done. What the heck, Nick? You think I care what a bunch of now-ers think of me?"
He frowned. "I'm not worried about your reputation; I was worried about what would happen if a brawl broke out."
She rolled her eyes and had him pinned face to the wall before she'd finished. She leaned up, pushing against his wrist for leverage, and spoke into his ear. "I've got the same training I've always had. Trust me to hold my own."
Nick could probably break the hold, but not without a struggle. It was a good hold -- one that Tony had used a time or two in the practice room. The whole idea of Toni was still strange to him. She'd displaced Tony, the rookie whom he'd been slowly shaping into a partner worth having. A partner to be proud of. Toni, however, hadn't really replaced Tony or changed from Tony -- as far as she was concerned, she'd always been herself, and everything that had gone before (relatively) had happened to her. Nick really hated paradox.
"Yeah, got it," he gritted out. She let go and stepped back. He turned and studied her, under the guise of straightening his sleeves and dusting off his jacket. His partner, like it or not. The corner of his mouth curled up at the memory of their first meeting. "So, you gonna show me when the interference is, or what?"
Turned out Toni's grin could burn every bit as bright as Tony's.
The Dreamwidth version of this entry currently has
comments.
All of which is to say, I wrote Timepunchers! fanfic which wasn't on the future-writing, not-exactly-WiPs list. And it's not even Nick/Tony? Talk about fandom of one...
Title: winter just wasn't my season
Pairing/Characters: Nick, Toni
Fandom: Timepunchers!
Warnings: None
Summary: Gen AU from 'My Antonia.' The time bubble never resolves, Tony remains Toni -- and calls Nick on his bs in benching her during the ep.
Nick watched as Toni twirled a pen across her fingers, dancing it down her knuckles and back exactly the way Tony had. He'd offered to teach Nick once, but Nick was pretty sure the trick was in violation of physics or physiology or both. Probably physics -- Toni's fingers were smaller than Tony's.
"You're doing it again," Toni said flatly. Her voice hadn't changed much and so was almost startlingly low, given her small frame. After a moment, she turned her head slightly to look at him and raised her eyebrow.
"Doing what?"
"Staring." The pen stopped its spin, grasped in Toni's hand.
Nick's immediate, instinctive response was to deny he'd been doing any such thing. However, he'd been the one pushing recently for honesty between partners. "Sorry. It's just... weird." He made a gesture that he hoped encompassed the entire timeline situation and not just Toni's new shape, because that could only be awkward.
"The staring is weird."
The monitor came to life, revealing Julie in full-on investigation mode, hair pinned up with an assortment of pens. "You're on, guys." Toni dropped her feet off the console. Nick had a hand on her shoulder and was leaning towards the monitor before he'd even thought about it. "Got an anomaly in 1855."
"The League?"
"Can't tell from now." She finally looked up from her yellowing broadsheets, eyes flicking to Nick's hand. Nick stepped away -- because he'd need the room to punch out, not because the casual touch abruptly felt less casual. "The Wells Fargo office seems to be at the epicenter."
"We're on it," he said and punched.
Nick let his arm drop back to his side, in a field of yellowing grasses. Toni appeared beside him with a whoop, still euphoric in the wake of every time-punch. Nick looked away rather than get caught smiling. The town lay just ahead. A glance down confirmed that his uniform had changed into relatively nondescript clothes. Dark brown suit, striped vest and, yes, cowboy boots and a hat to match. He turned to the rookie -- who was shaking out a long skirt. He frowned. The attire for women in this era left a lot to be desired if it came to a confrontation with the League. The skirt alone would be difficult to manage, but if Toni was wearing a corset -- he tore his mind away from inappropriate thoughts about his partner's underwear.
"Are you going to be able to work in that?"
She frowned right back. "Better than if I tried pulling off the pant suit look in 1855."
"Maybe you should sit this one out, too."
She didn't even deign to reply, just popped open her parasol, and started walking towards town.
A parasol. Nick shook his head.
The town was fairly large - not quite a city, not yet, but on its way. People nodded to them on the wooden sidewalks, but no one stared. Strangers didn't stand out in this now; that was useful. Nick eyed a bar across the street. Strangers didn't stand out, but a woman in a bar might invite comments that he'd have trouble ignoring. He knew past attitudes about appropriate gender roles were highly arbitrary, but they'd previously been something he hadn't had to consider much. And if it came to a fight, Toni would make a vulnerable target. He cleared his throat. "So, I'm thinking about trying for some intel in that bar," he said, with a head-tip towards the door.
"That saloon," Toni said with relish, and Nick hadn't known that Tony/Toni had a thing for the wild west. "Sounds like a plan." She started forward; Nick caught her elbow.
"Is that a good idea?" She glared up at him, that familiar quicksilver flash of anger. He didn't back down; this was about the mission. "We won't get far if we upset the now-ers."
"Fine. I'll go find a quilting bee or something. Now let go of me."
Nick did, and watched her storm off, and refused to think about the way her expression had crumpled, however briefly.
**
When they met back up, Toni was smiling smugly. Nick acknowledged to himself, again, that Tony and Toni were really the same person. "Find anything?" she asked sweetly. Nick cut her a look, and she went on. "Well, I never did find that quilting bee, but I did uncover evidence of intentional timeline tampering."
"When?"
"I'll show you. This way." Toni turned, presumably to lead him out of sight.
"Wait. You could just tell me."
Toni positively bristled and stalked around the corner. He couldn't blame her -- he didn't even know where that came from. He glanced around and followed. She led him down a gap between buildings, then wheeled on him. "What is your damage?" she demanded.
"My--"
"Look, I expect occasional attitude from now-ers. Most of them don't know better, I'm used to it, and maybe seeing us working as equals shifts our present closer. But from you? That's new. And I'm not --" She cut off with an achingly familiar irritated noise, the kind Tony had made back when Nick used to lay down the law regarding paradox-avoidance, back when 'just do it' stopped working, and Tony demanded Nick start treating him like an equal and not the rookie he really still was. Toni took a deep, slow breath, and re-opened her eyes, locking Nick with her gaze. "Two weeks ago relative time, we were good. Maybe the best partnership in the Agency. Now, you're trying to shut me out of this mission, when nothing's changed."
"Something has changed, and you know it even if you don't remember it."
Her mouth twisted. "I guess so, because suddenly you're more worried about parochial gender roles than getting the job done. What the heck, Nick? You think I care what a bunch of now-ers think of me?"
He frowned. "I'm not worried about your reputation; I was worried about what would happen if a brawl broke out."
She rolled her eyes and had him pinned face to the wall before she'd finished. She leaned up, pushing against his wrist for leverage, and spoke into his ear. "I've got the same training I've always had. Trust me to hold my own."
Nick could probably break the hold, but not without a struggle. It was a good hold -- one that Tony had used a time or two in the practice room. The whole idea of Toni was still strange to him. She'd displaced Tony, the rookie whom he'd been slowly shaping into a partner worth having. A partner to be proud of. Toni, however, hadn't really replaced Tony or changed from Tony -- as far as she was concerned, she'd always been herself, and everything that had gone before (relatively) had happened to her. Nick really hated paradox.
"Yeah, got it," he gritted out. She let go and stepped back. He turned and studied her, under the guise of straightening his sleeves and dusting off his jacket. His partner, like it or not. The corner of his mouth curled up at the memory of their first meeting. "So, you gonna show me when the interference is, or what?"
Turned out Toni's grin could burn every bit as bright as Tony's.
The Dreamwidth version of this entry currently has
comments.