OCS: From Heaven Unto The Earth, part 1 [K+]
Fandom:
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Title:
From Heaven unto the Earth
A holiday seemed like a great idea. Only, the Mysterons had other ideas for Captain Scarlet and his daughter.
Author:
lt_indigo
Pairing(s):
Scarlet/Rhapsody (background only)
Warning(s):
child in peril
Disclamer:
No-one you recognise is mine.
Word count:
10,779
"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth" (Revelation 9:1)
Captain Scarlet grabbed for the edge of the building as he toppled from the roof. A bullet, lodged securely in his chest had thrown him off balance, dangerously close to the edge. The white-hot pain had distracted him for long enough that he had fallen.
He knew not why, or whom he had been fighting, just that his clutching fingers brushed the smooth walls, but found no purchase. There was a scream, and he was falling… falling… falling…
Scarlet awoke in a cold sweat. Again. His hands shook as he turned the illuminated face of his alarm clock towards him. 02:47. He'd been asleep for barely an hour. Silently, he got up and moved into the main room of his quarters to pour himself a glass of water. He picked up the full plastic tumbler and moved to an armchair. He sank down into the soft cushions and focussed his gaze on the illuminated fish tank next to him. The motions of the fish and the gentle bubbling of the filter always seemed to calm him, and eventually the dream faded from his mind, leaving behind only a distinct sense of unease.
He nearly dropped his tumbler in shock when someone perched on the padded arm of the chair and put an arm around his shoulders.
"What's wrong, Paul?" his wife Dianne, Rhapsody Angel, asked softly.
Scarlet shook his head. "Nothing, Angel," he replied distantly, watching a particularly large angelfish swimming in the tank.
"You had another nightmare, didn't you?" Rhapsody absently brushed her fingers through Scarlet's dark hair in a soothing motion.
"Hmm."
"The same one?"
Scarlet nodded silently. Even though his dream was a distant memory now, it was still that - a memory. He could still remember his fear, the feel of the air rushing past him as he fell, the pain of the bullet wound. Every sensation.
"Paul?"
"Yes, Angel?" Scarlet replied, matching his wife's soft tone.
"Is it… is it the Car-Vu?"
Scarlet closed his eyes. It was the same question he had been asking himself, over and over again for the past few weeks. The building he'd been falling from certainly seemed familiar, but he could never remember what it looked like when he awoke: the finer details slipped through his fingers like sand.
"I don't know," he answered quietly. "I wish I did."
Rhapsody nodded her understanding. It had been twelve years since the events that had changed her husband's life forever, but she knew that he had no memory of what happened following the car accident that had first claimed his life. Recovering those memories would mean that Scarlet could finally put that time behind him and move on with his life.
"Come back to bed, darling," she coaxed, standing up and readjusting her robe. "Even you need to sleep."
"I'll be there in a minute," Scarlet said, distantly.
Rhapsody pursed her lips, but refrained from speaking. She knew better than to question her husband when he was in this state of mind. He needed time alone to think about himself and what had been done to him. He would be okay again by morning, and she was tired and on duty on an early shift in Angel One. She kissed Scarlet's cheek gently and returned to bed.
Scarlet stayed up, thinking about nothing and everything, until he realised that it was nearly half past four and there was no point in going to sleep now, so he quietly dressed and gathered some of his civilian clothes, ready to be packed in preparation for his shore leave, commencing that afternoon and lasting two weeks.
He was just contemplating whether to go for breakfast or not when his seven year old daughter, Rose, trailed through the lounge area on her way to the bathroom.
"Hi Daddy," she mumbled sleepily without looking at him as she entered the bathroom.
Moments later the toilet flushed, water splashed into the sink, and Rose reappeared.
"You're awake early," she said, sounding much more alert now.
"I know. Go back to bed, sweetheart," Scarlet answered her.
Rose shook her head. "I'm not tired," she stated. Briefly glancing at the clock above the fish tank she added, "It's oh-five-hundred. There's no point."
"Okay," Scarlet sighed, bowing to her logic. She would only be woken again in half an hour in order to go to breakfast before the duty shift started at 0600h. She really didn't sound sleepy either. There was no pleading or persuasion in her voice, no hint of fatigue. Scarlet studied her carefully, checking for any other signs of 'unnaturalness'.
Scarlet had very little need for sleep, averaging about two or three hours in a normal night. His body simply didn't require as much rest as a normal person.
He had already been reconstructed by the time Rhapsody had become pregnant with Rose. Seemingly, their little girl had shown no signs of any Mysteron powers, but occasionally something made Scarlet stop and think. She always knew, without seeing, if he was nearby, and there was her broken arm that had taken only three weeks to heal. Every bump, scrape, cut and sickness had healed quickly, but not quickly enough to be thought of as retrometabolism. Was this something else to add to the list?
Probably not, he reasoned eventually. Rose had been sent to bed early so that she would be ready for the holiday.
"Daddy?" Rose said softly, noticing her father's apparent lack of enthusiasm.
Scarlet looked into the girl's big blue eyes. They seemed to be questioning him. Rose was much more at ease with Scarlet's nature than her parents. That could have been put down to a lack of comprehension, but Scarlet suspected that she understood a lot more than she let on.
"Daddy, it's not this that matters to anyone," she said wisely, running a small finger along Scarlet's forearm. He shivered when he realised that it was exactly the same spot as his last injury - something she could not possibly have known. "It's here and here," she continued, pointing to his head and his heart. "You're a good guy, Daddy. You can't worry about what the Mysterons made you do."
Scarlet picked up the little girl and hugged her tightly.
"I know, Rosie," he whispered before setting her down on the floor. "How about you go and get dressed and we can pack your suitcase before breakfast?"
Rose nodded and ran off to her room. She was rarely allowed off base, and so every opportunity was special. It was no wonder she was excited.
Before Scarlet had even gotten the chance to collect a suitcase, Rose had reappeared, seemingly fully dressed. In her haste, she had buttoned her blouse wrongly. Scarlet sighed indulgently and sorted out the mess.
"Did you put your knickers on?" he asked, remembering the tricks he had often used whilst dressing quickly at her age.
Rose nodded proudly, but Scarlet quickly spotted her bare feet.
"Back you go," he said, tickling her toes. "You know what Colonel White says about wearing shoes."
"'You have to wear shoes outside your quarters. It's a Health and Safety issue,'" she quoted, mimicking the colonel's upper class British accent with surprising accuracy before running back to fetch shoes and socks. Scarlet followed and took some underwear from her drawers. As the girl started to pull outfits from her wardrobe, Scarlet heard Rhapsody's alarm clock sound and his wife's accompanying groan of displeasure.
Scarlet entered the bedroom and reached atop the wardrobe for the suitcase he would be taking with him that evening.
"Paul?" Rhapsody said, moving around him. "Would you get Rose up?"
"She's already awake," he replied, catching hold of the suitcase as it fell. "We're just packing."
"I wish I could go with you," Rhapsody said mournfully, "but with Harmony and Melody both ill, it's not fair to leave the others."
"I know," Scarlet said softly. "I wish you could come too, but I'll just have to meet you in England next week, when they're back on their feet."
"Promise?" Rhapsody enquired, a small smile on her lips.
Scarlet dropped the suitcase and swept his wife into his arms. "Dianne, my love, it wouldn't be the same without you."
"Good answer," she said, allowing him to kiss her.
Several hours later, Scarlet collected Rose from her Computer Science lesson with Captain Green and swung by the Amber Room to find Captain Ochre sitting watch there alone. He informed them testily that Rhapsody was in Angel One, and Destiny had gone to the hangar deck five minutes ago. And that he was not looking forward to his long, boring, cramped, lonely shift in Angel One one little bit, that Scarlet was a lucky so-and-so for managing to escape and that he was seriously considering not handing over the note that Rhapsody had left for them. Scarlet winked at him as he ushered Rose (who was somehow carrying the note) out, towards the hangar and their waiting plane.
.oOo.
Later on, Rhapsody was sat in the Amber Room, flicking through a magazine. She threw it aside, unread, and picked up another. Five minutes later she threw that aside too.
"What is it, Rhapsody?" her best friend, Symphony Angel, asked finally in annoyance.
"I hate it whenever she leaves Cloudbase," Rhapsody said mournfully, picking up a newspaper. "Especially when I'm not there with her."
"Oh, Dianne," Symphony said, sympathetically. "Rose is with Paul. They're fine. What's gonna happen to them in New York?"
Rhapsody absently drummed a pen on that morning's copy of the New York Times which, despite Symphony's reassurance, reported the finding of a body in a city dumpster. "I know," she sighed. "I just can't shake this feeling of dread. What if they decide that this is the opportunity they need?"
"They won't," Symphony said, moving closer across the settee and squeezing one of Rhapsody's hands. "I know that the circumstances weren't great when Rose was born, and they tried to get onto Cloudbase a couple of times when she was younger, but honestly, when was the last time they tried to get her? Maybe they've given up interest, or maybe they've realised that she's not what they thought she might be, or whatever. There's not gonna be a problem now. You wouldn't be sending her to school in September if there was going to be any problems."
"I suppose you're right, Karen," Rhapsody replied, returning the squeeze. "Besides, I'll see them next week, won't I?"
"Atta girl. You'll see them in Winchester if I have to fly you there myself," Symphony said confidently. "Even if we have to drag the Cherubs up here…"
.oOo.
Captain Scarlet smiled as Rose stood at the door to the cockpit of the SPJ that Destiny Angel was flying. It wasn't that the girl had never been in a plane before, but the few trips that she had been allowed to take to the surface had taken place when she was younger and she had tended to sleep right through the flight. Now, at the age of seven, she was insanely curious about everything and simply wanted to know what her Aunt Juliette was doing.
He could scarcely believe that in two short months, she would be going away to school. The schooling system that had been set up by the agents on Cloudbase worked well enough, but it was a strain on his colleagues to fit in the tutoring sessions around their duty, and whilst everyone said that it was a pleasure to pass on their knowledge to such a willing student, Scarlet and Rhapsody no longer felt it fair to impose on their lives any further. And, he suspected that some of the imparted knowledge would not be found on any school's curriculum - such as how to hack into the Cloudbase mainframe. As the Mysterons did not seem to have taken much of an interest in Rose as had been expected, Scarlet, Rhapsody and Colonel White had arranged for her to attend a boarding school in England this coming term. Cloudbase would seem quiet without her, though, after all this time.
When she passed through the door, Scarlet sighed and called out to his daughter. "Rose, stop pestering Juliette and come and sit down."
When he received no reply, he stood up and headed for the cockpit himself. He could hear Destiny and Rose chattering away in French, as was normal for them. Upon reaching the door, he could see that Rose was sat in the previously vacant co-pilot's seat, studying the instrument panel under Destiny's direction.
"Rose, what have I told you about bothering people when they're on duty?" he scolded her, adopting the same language as she and Destiny were using.
"You should not be so harsh, Paul," Destiny said. "Rose is not 'bothering me'. Living on Cloudbase, it is only right that she should learn how to fly a plane sometime. I am happy to teach her how to read the instruments."
"Don't encourage her, Destiny," Scarlet told the French pilot. "She doesn't need it. Besides, seven is far too young to learn how to fly."
"Papa…" Rose moaned, her bottom lip quivering.
"I invited her to sit down, Paul," Destiny said in no uncertain terms. "She is not bothering me, and I am pleased to be able to teach her. Please, Paul. I do not have lessons with Rose any more, unlike the others; I would like to show her this."
Scarlet looked at Destiny, who seemed downcast. He looked at Rose, on the verge of tears. His heart melted - he had never been able to refuse his little girl anything, and he had not realised how much Juliette felt left out of Rose's life. Unlike a majority of the senior Spectrum Agents, Destiny was not one of Rose's teachers, having preferred the social life at university to studying. Destiny had taught the girl French, practically from birth, and had been so successful that their lessons had stopped some time ago. Perhaps it was time for them to start again: Rose was starting to lag in her reading and writing skills.
"Very well," he sighed. "Just so long as you don't actually let her fly this thing, I suppose there's no harm in it…"
Rose's face brightened up considerably, and Destiny smiled.
"Thank you, Paul," she said. "Of course, I will allow Rhapsody to teach Rose to fly properly. I would not take that away from her."
Scarlet nodded, before turning to his daughter. "Now, if Destiny asks you to go back into the main cabin, you must do so. Don't pester her."
"Non, Papa," Rose replied sweetly, turning her attention back to the altimeter.
Scarlet sighed and left Destiny to her lesson. Settling back down in his seat, he pulled a book from his bag and opened it at the marked page.
"Très bien, ma petite alliée," Destiny said conspiratorially to her co-pilot. "You did that wonderfully. Your father was never able to resist a woman who is upset."
Rose giggled. She liked living on Cloudbase very much, but there were so many rules that she was supposed to follow. Aunt Juliette had long ago taught her how to get around her father, and therefore most of the rules, by becoming 'upset' and threatening tears. It worked quite well with most of her uncles too and she employed it to great effect when she was being set homework. It didn't work on Aunt Karen though, who set lots of homework, and even more if Rose complained. It wasn't that she didn't like learning, but doing homework meant that she had less time to do fun things like watching movies, reading or playing cards or chess in the Officers' Lounge. The Officers' Lounge was one of those places that she wasn't really allowed to go to, but Colonel White, her beloved Uncle Charlie (except that she couldn't call him that) had stopped telling her off for being there, and had told her that as long as she went back to her quarters during an emergency, and did not distract the officers whilst they were working, she would be allowed to stay.
But this September, she would be going to school on the surface. It meant that she would not be living on Cloudbase anymore, but she would meet other children, and would be able to play with them instead. It would be a new adventure for her, and she was almost more excited about that than her upcoming vacation.
The journey to the surface was uneventful; Destiny did not allow Rose to take control of the plane, much to Scarlet's relief, and the two Metcalfes said goodbye to the Angel pilot at New York before borrowing a car and heading for their hotel. Their plans were simple: they would spend the coming week sightseeing in New York, then catch a commercial flight to London and spend a week with Scarlet's parents in Winchester, where Rhapsody would be joining them. No strict rules to bind the child to an adult world, no distractions, no Mysterons. This was going to be a perfect holiday.
Scarlet liked this hotel, having stayed at it on several previous sojourns to New York. Magenta had suggested it initially as somewhere low-key but still with a certain level of standards with both the rooms and the food. Scarlet had worried initially, all those years ago, that it might be well-frequented by the mafia, considering the source of the recommendation, but his concern had turned out to be unfounded, and he had returned again and again, normally with Rhapsody, Blue and Symphony, whenever the girls wanted to do some serious shopping in the Big Apple.
Scarlet reclined on the luxurious double bed and allowed himself to relax properly for a moment.
"Daddy, Daddy! Where shall we go first?" Rose demanded, bouncing onto the bed beside him and shattering his peace. "Can we see the Statue of Libty? Uncle Rick says it's a big, green lady but I think he's teasing me. Ladies aren't green."
Scarlet struggled to stop himself from laughing - it was a perfectly reasonable observation, and she couldn't possibly begin to grasp the reason the statue was green.
"No, he's right - the Statue of Liberty is a big, green lady," Scarlet confirmed. "We can go and see her tomorrow, if you want."
Rose frowned. "Can't we go now?"
Scarlet did laugh softly at that point. "Rosie, it's nearly night-time. Don't you want to get some sleep?"
Rose shook her head. "Not tired."
Scarlet sighed. "Okay then, how about this? When it gets dark, we can go up to the roof and look at the city. Until then…" He pulled a travelling chess set out of his bag. "Why don't we practice, so that you can beat Uncle Pat when we get back to Cloudbase?"
Rose nodded eagerly, and helped him to set the board up.
Next morning, Rose frowned across the water at Liberty Island, having clambered up the quayside railings for a better view.
"It's a silly colour for a lady," she announced.
A couple of passers-by looked scandalised, whilst Scarlet was still trying to do his utmost not to laugh.
"It's just what she's made out of, sweetheart," he said. "She's made of copper."
"Copper's not green," Rose said stubbornly. He should have known better, really: Lieutenant Copper's uniform was certainly not green. Born and raised in Spectrum, Rose knew more colours off the top of her head than he did.
"It goes green when it gets old."
"Like bread?"
Scarlet smiled and squeezed her shoulders gently. "Yes, sweetheart, like bread."
Rose frowned. "So, is she furry?"
He sighed. "No, sweetheart, she's not. They shave her to stop that." In retrospect, he probably should have tried to explain it properly last night, rather than somehow finding himself in this ridiculous situation.
The frown deepened. "Even her hair?"
"Probably. It does seem a bit silly, that, doesn't it? We can go on a boat and see her closer, if you want."
Rose shrugged indifference, and they went for ice cream instead. Scarlet was grateful, as it distracted Rose from the furriness (or otherwise) of Lady Liberty.
"You told her what?!"
"I know," Scarlet said, sighing. "I admit, it's probably not the best thing I could have told her."
"You don't say?" Rhapsody said, scathingly. "You shouldn't confuse her, Paul."
"She's not confused," he countered; "she understood perfectly that copper goes mouldy when it gets old..."
There was a deep sigh on the other end of the radio. "But it doesn't get mouldy! You'd have been more accurate if you said that it gets green rust!"
"That didn't occur to me at the time. Her mind was going with 'mould'; I just went with it."
"She's seven years old!" Rhapsody replied. "What you actually did was decide that you'd be lazy and just go along with her explanations."
"Seven-year-old logic is difficult to dispute," Scarlet sighed. "It wasn't the best decision I've made all day. I thought you'd find the idea of having to shave fuzz off the Statue of Liberty funny."
There was a moment of hesitation in which he knew his wife was picturing it. "I suppose it is quite amusing, when you put it like that," she said, a small quaver in her voice. "How was the rest of your day?"
.oOo.
The next day, Symphony found a note waiting for her in the Amber Room. Opening it, she immediately recognised Rhapsody's elegant handwriting. The message was simple, yet curious: 'Meet me in my quarters after your shift.' Symphony frowned. Whatever could Rhapsody have planned?
She soon found out. Upon reaching the Metcalfe's quarters, she found Rhapsody sat amidst a pile of classical movie discs and nail varnish.
"It's so peaceful without them," she declared. "I've had a bit of a clearout, and found all these films. It's been so long since it's been just us girls…"
Symphony smiled. Rhapsody seemed to have bounced back from her dejected mood and seen the lighter side of having such spacious quarters to herself for a change. She had cleared away Rose's toys and given the place a good clean, by the smell of things. As she sat on the sofa, Symphony noticed a suspicious bottle on the table.
"Wine?" she enquired.
"It's non-alcoholic," Rhapsody explained. "Now, do you fancy 'Casablanca' or 'Bridget Jones's Diary' to start off with? And just wait until you hear about Paul's explanation for why copper goes green…"
.oOo.
"THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE MYSTERONS. WE KNOW THAT YOU CAN HEAR US, EARTHMEN. WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOUR FUTILE ATTEMPTS TO FIGHT US, AND WE GROW WEARY. WE INTEND TO TAKE A GREAT WEAPON AND TURN IT AGAINST YOU. WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN."
"Well, it could be any number of things, Colonel," Captain Blue said immediately, the moment that Colonel White had sought opinions on the matter of the threat. "The Mysteron gun does seem the most likely target, or they could be referring to a nuclear weapon."
"Well, that narrows it down," Ochre grumbled, not in the best of moods.
White sighed. "It is a rather ambiguous target, isn't it? Captain Blue is correct. Lieutenant Indigo, ensure that every Spectrum base checks its complement of Mysteron guns, and doubles the guard on them until further notice."
"SIG, sir," the young Russian communications officer said efficiently, already typing the commands into his console.
"Captain Magenta, Captain Green, I'm sending you to WAAF headquarters, to ensure that their nuclear weaponry is properly secured. Grey, Blue, Ochre, search for any other targets that the Mysterons may be referring to," White continued. "We cannot afford to be taken by surprise with this."
"SIG," the five captains said briskly.
"Should I recall Captain Scarlet?" Lieutenant Indigo asked as the senior officers filed out.
"I don't see any reason to interrupt his furlough at this juncture," White said. "I am certain that the other captains can cope without him this once - they are perfectly capable officers, after all."
"This is useless!" Ochre complained, for the sixth time, many hours later. "I mean, what couldn't it be? We've got nuclear weaponry all over the world; half of it pointing at Mars! We've got Mysteron guns at every Spectrum base."
"This does have a 'needle in a haystack' feel to it," Blue agreed, "but they've given us less to go on before now. We've got to keep looking."
Grey scratched his earlobe nervously.
"I hate to seem callous," he said to the others, "but has anyone thought that the target might be Scarlet?"
"I don't think 'callous' even begins to cover that!" Ochre said. "God, and you say I'm insensitive."
"Actually, he's got a point," Blue admitted. "We do tend to use Scarlet's ability to heal as a kind of weapon against the Mysterons, just by sending him on kamikaze missions. How many times have we only thwarted one of their plots because he did something that we couldn't?"
"I can't believe you two!" Ochre exclaimed righteously. "You're thinking of Paul as some kind of… thing. You're thinking like… like…"
"Like Mysterons," Blue finished. "Yes, we are. I think Grey's on to something."
White listened to Grey's theory stoically, his face giving no hint of his thoughts towards either the idea itself, or of Grey for having thought something so terrible about a friend.
"It is plausible," he agreed. "Your reasoning is sound - the Mysterons most likely do think of Scarlet as a weapon that we use against them, as they once used him against us. Lieutenant Mauve, please contact Captain Scarlet."
Mauve touched several controls on his board, frowned, and tried again.
"I can't seem to raise him, sir," he said eventually. "His communicator is offline."
"That is highly irregular," White said sharply. "Are you certain?"
Mauve pressed more controls, which only served to irritate White. The Colonel had gotten used to having Green there, who not only would have re-checked the line before reporting the fault, but probably would have been able to tell White precisely what the problem was. These two new officers, Indigo and Mauve, just weren't up to Green's standard yet, which was infuriating.
Finally, Mauve nodded. "I'm sure, sir. I'm not getting any error messages from the comm., so it's either so badly damaged that it can't send an error report, or the battery has expired."
"Let us hope that it is simply the latter," White said, turning back to the senior officers. "Captains Magenta and Green appear to have everything under control with the WAAF, and the electron rifles are all securely contained by our ground forces. Therefore, the three of you should retrieve Scarlet as quickly as possible and return him and Rose to Cloudbase."
On to part 2