FIC: Timelines (LoM/A2A)
Title: Timelines
Rating: PG
Fandom: Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes
Character(s): Sam Tyler, Gene Hunt, Alex Drake
Summary: How many times do you have to bounce back and forth between timelines until you’re satisfied?
Word Count: 1,210
Didn't put so much effort into it by the end, lol. Spoilers for LoM ending.
Timelines
“How many times do you have to bounce back and forth between timelines until you’re satisfied?”
“It’s never enough! I don’t want to be back in 2006, 2009, or 2000-and-anything!” Sam Tyler snaps at the shadows, feeling the world tilt around him, and good god, he was tired of this - of all the craziness, but he couldn’t stop. Sam Tyler was a ghost of the millennia, sometimes popping back up briefly, visiting his mum and telling her of things, calming her down, and then he… died. Again.
How many times…
It’s only been twice that he’s looped back. Well, a third is in the process, if the shadows would just sod off, although he’s afraid this time. He bled out in the Guv’s Cortina, sinking in a river. Wasn’t looking forward to getting himself out of that mess, although he would be free of the bullet.
“I’ve got a bloody good reason for this, now let me go back!” he yells, fists clenched, breathing hard. He hears voices echoing around him, from beyond the shadows. Words of suicide, oh, that’s not a surprise. He also hears water, curving all around him, pushing in, and he feels his ears block up, and he chokes back a breath. “Please, please, I can’t leave them!”
“What if they’ve moved on without you?”
“So what,” Sam gasps, falling to his knees and pressing fists against his temples. “I don’t care. I want to be with them. There’s nothing for me here. I want to go back.”
“Haven’t you ever thought of why this keeps happening to you?”
“Because I let it.”
“But why you? Why did it start at all?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. I didn’t have to go through this bloody conversation any of the other times, so why now? What, are you supposed to be death? My conscience? Un-bloody-believable. I’m done with this.”
“Well, alright, Sam, if you think it’s a good idea. I’m sure we’ll meet again, given your circumstances.”
“Wait, what do you mean, my circumst -”
“Have a nice swim, Sam Tyler.”
He’s not allowed anything else after that, and he’s met with a mouthful of water and desperation bleeding through his brain. The Cortina is gone, which means they found it, and the Guv must’ve gone berserk over that. Then again, he probably was pretty angry about missing it, and the fact that Sam had driven off with it in the first place.
He manages to surface, and the breath of air is his salvation, and then he starts to laugh, floating onto his back in the same familiar clothes and place, a torn bit of shirt from where the bullet had gone through, but that bullet was gone. He was okay. He was alive, in the past, where he belonged.
Question was, if the Cortina was gone, then how long has it been since he… died? Last time he came back, it was right where he left off, right in all the action. What was going on?
Why does this keep happening…
He drags himself to the riverbank, pulling over dirt and grass, holding tightly, taking fistfuls of it all.
Why to you?
He needed to find them. He had to. He had to be with them… they were his anchor, they were his only anchor between either side. Present and Future. There was no past now, this was his present. His home. He just needed to find it.
What if they’ve moved on…
No.
No, it didn’t matter.
When he finally shows up in Manchester, he’s more panicked than before, especially with how Annie had reacted. Not the best of… scenes. He couldn’t really blame her considering it was apparently 1982 now; further ahead than he thought he’d be. Still. Maybe things would go better, here…
“You’re… you’re Sam Tyler…!”
“Uh, yeah… sorry, have we met?” Sam takes a step away from the woman, hands up. He barely made it into the office before running into company.
“No, but I - I read your files… listened to your tapes, I -”
He swallowed, growing uncomfortable and trying to slip around her so that he could get out of the hall. “Sorry, um, I’m here to see DCI Hunt, so if you’ll excuse me -” Ah, there we go, he might just have to make a break for it now -
“I’m from 2009!”
That stops him cold and he’s afraid to turn around. He thinks he can hear voices from outside of him againand he can try to ignore them as much as possible, but they’re there, gibberish. Took him years to be back, why? Why is there someone else here from the future? There just can’t be!
“Oh my god, Boss!”
Sam jerks forward, towards Chris with relief to see him and get away from the woman, away from her desperation. He can’t help her. He doesn’t understand how he manages this, not really. He got hit by a car, fell into a deep, prolonged coma and woke up in the past. Wandered into the light away from people that needed him, wake back up in 2006 from his coma. Suicide - jumped off a building - to get back to where he left off. Went off without the Guv, got himself in more trouble than he could handle: shot, drove off, crashed into the river. Woke up on a street corner below the building he jumped from, arriving in 2009. Repeated the suicide attempt after talking to his mum… woke up in the river in… 1982.
He could tell her killing herself might work, but it might not. Depends how much she wants to risk. If she really has something to go back to. He’s always running from the future, himself.
“Chris!” And he’s clasping the man tightly, assuring himself that this was real, situation with Annie aside. “Thank god, I wasn’t sure I’d see you again…”
“The Guv’s going to flip!”
“The Guv’s going to flip about wh - … bleedin’ ’ell, I’ve lost my marbles.”
“Think you’ve done that long ago, Guv.”
“Tyler! Get in here, NOW!”
“Sam - please! I need to talk to you!”
The barrage of voices knocks him off balance for a moment, but they bleed over the outside sounds and cement him into this world, which is what he needed. He grabs the woman’s shoulders, voice low, urging her to listen to him. “I don’t know what happened with you, or why you’re here, and I certainly don’t know how you can get back.”
“But you’ve done it,” she insists, sharp and quiet.
“I don’t know how I did it the first time, alright? The second time it happened because I died. I swear to god though, don’t make my mistake. Don’t treat these people like they’re expendable, like they’re fake. If you hurt them, in any way, I won’t forgive you.” He leaves her quickly, nodding to the shocked Ray and passing beyond the door reading ‘DCI Gene Hunt.’
“So. You’re back.”
“Yeah. I am.”
“Thought you were dead.”
I was. “Some things are better without any explanation.”
Gene takes a seat, folds his arms, and looks up.
“Really, Gene.”
“I think I’m willing to listen.”
“I think you need more alcohol for that.”
“Well then, you’re payin’.”
Rating: PG
Fandom: Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes
Character(s): Sam Tyler, Gene Hunt, Alex Drake
Summary: How many times do you have to bounce back and forth between timelines until you’re satisfied?
Word Count: 1,210
Didn't put so much effort into it by the end, lol. Spoilers for LoM ending.
Timelines
“How many times do you have to bounce back and forth between timelines until you’re satisfied?”
“It’s never enough! I don’t want to be back in 2006, 2009, or 2000-and-anything!” Sam Tyler snaps at the shadows, feeling the world tilt around him, and good god, he was tired of this - of all the craziness, but he couldn’t stop. Sam Tyler was a ghost of the millennia, sometimes popping back up briefly, visiting his mum and telling her of things, calming her down, and then he… died. Again.
How many times…
It’s only been twice that he’s looped back. Well, a third is in the process, if the shadows would just sod off, although he’s afraid this time. He bled out in the Guv’s Cortina, sinking in a river. Wasn’t looking forward to getting himself out of that mess, although he would be free of the bullet.
“I’ve got a bloody good reason for this, now let me go back!” he yells, fists clenched, breathing hard. He hears voices echoing around him, from beyond the shadows. Words of suicide, oh, that’s not a surprise. He also hears water, curving all around him, pushing in, and he feels his ears block up, and he chokes back a breath. “Please, please, I can’t leave them!”
“What if they’ve moved on without you?”
“So what,” Sam gasps, falling to his knees and pressing fists against his temples. “I don’t care. I want to be with them. There’s nothing for me here. I want to go back.”
“Haven’t you ever thought of why this keeps happening to you?”
“Because I let it.”
“But why you? Why did it start at all?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. I didn’t have to go through this bloody conversation any of the other times, so why now? What, are you supposed to be death? My conscience? Un-bloody-believable. I’m done with this.”
“Well, alright, Sam, if you think it’s a good idea. I’m sure we’ll meet again, given your circumstances.”
“Wait, what do you mean, my circumst -”
“Have a nice swim, Sam Tyler.”
He’s not allowed anything else after that, and he’s met with a mouthful of water and desperation bleeding through his brain. The Cortina is gone, which means they found it, and the Guv must’ve gone berserk over that. Then again, he probably was pretty angry about missing it, and the fact that Sam had driven off with it in the first place.
He manages to surface, and the breath of air is his salvation, and then he starts to laugh, floating onto his back in the same familiar clothes and place, a torn bit of shirt from where the bullet had gone through, but that bullet was gone. He was okay. He was alive, in the past, where he belonged.
Question was, if the Cortina was gone, then how long has it been since he… died? Last time he came back, it was right where he left off, right in all the action. What was going on?
Why does this keep happening…
He drags himself to the riverbank, pulling over dirt and grass, holding tightly, taking fistfuls of it all.
Why to you?
He needed to find them. He had to. He had to be with them… they were his anchor, they were his only anchor between either side. Present and Future. There was no past now, this was his present. His home. He just needed to find it.
What if they’ve moved on…
No.
No, it didn’t matter.
When he finally shows up in Manchester, he’s more panicked than before, especially with how Annie had reacted. Not the best of… scenes. He couldn’t really blame her considering it was apparently 1982 now; further ahead than he thought he’d be. Still. Maybe things would go better, here…
“You’re… you’re Sam Tyler…!”
“Uh, yeah… sorry, have we met?” Sam takes a step away from the woman, hands up. He barely made it into the office before running into company.
“No, but I - I read your files… listened to your tapes, I -”
He swallowed, growing uncomfortable and trying to slip around her so that he could get out of the hall. “Sorry, um, I’m here to see DCI Hunt, so if you’ll excuse me -” Ah, there we go, he might just have to make a break for it now -
“I’m from 2009!”
That stops him cold and he’s afraid to turn around. He thinks he can hear voices from outside of him againand he can try to ignore them as much as possible, but they’re there, gibberish. Took him years to be back, why? Why is there someone else here from the future? There just can’t be!
“Oh my god, Boss!”
Sam jerks forward, towards Chris with relief to see him and get away from the woman, away from her desperation. He can’t help her. He doesn’t understand how he manages this, not really. He got hit by a car, fell into a deep, prolonged coma and woke up in the past. Wandered into the light away from people that needed him, wake back up in 2006 from his coma. Suicide - jumped off a building - to get back to where he left off. Went off without the Guv, got himself in more trouble than he could handle: shot, drove off, crashed into the river. Woke up on a street corner below the building he jumped from, arriving in 2009. Repeated the suicide attempt after talking to his mum… woke up in the river in… 1982.
He could tell her killing herself might work, but it might not. Depends how much she wants to risk. If she really has something to go back to. He’s always running from the future, himself.
“Chris!” And he’s clasping the man tightly, assuring himself that this was real, situation with Annie aside. “Thank god, I wasn’t sure I’d see you again…”
“The Guv’s going to flip!”
“The Guv’s going to flip about wh - … bleedin’ ’ell, I’ve lost my marbles.”
“Think you’ve done that long ago, Guv.”
“Tyler! Get in here, NOW!”
“Sam - please! I need to talk to you!”
The barrage of voices knocks him off balance for a moment, but they bleed over the outside sounds and cement him into this world, which is what he needed. He grabs the woman’s shoulders, voice low, urging her to listen to him. “I don’t know what happened with you, or why you’re here, and I certainly don’t know how you can get back.”
“But you’ve done it,” she insists, sharp and quiet.
“I don’t know how I did it the first time, alright? The second time it happened because I died. I swear to god though, don’t make my mistake. Don’t treat these people like they’re expendable, like they’re fake. If you hurt them, in any way, I won’t forgive you.” He leaves her quickly, nodding to the shocked Ray and passing beyond the door reading ‘DCI Gene Hunt.’
“So. You’re back.”
“Yeah. I am.”
“Thought you were dead.”
I was. “Some things are better without any explanation.”
Gene takes a seat, folds his arms, and looks up.
“Really, Gene.”
“I think I’m willing to listen.”
“I think you need more alcohol for that.”
“Well then, you’re payin’.”