Fic: Faith In Fighting Chance (Glee, Heroes)
Faith In Fighting Chance
by Tracy (lunarknightz)
Rating:PG
Category: Crossover; slight Emma/Will.
Spoilers: Through "Sectionals" for Glee; through "Brave New World" for Heroes.
Summary: Hollywood never made movies about hand sanitizer.
They took her hand sanitizer. And that just wasn’t fair. Thank goodness that the airborne pills were solids, and they didn’t care how many you carried onboard the plane. Emma was all for safety (goodness knows she wasn’t fond of dying in a fiery plane wreck, not now or ever). Like she could really cause harm with Purell. The germs were more dangerous than a former guidance counselor from Ohio could ever be.
Hollywood made movies about killer diseases. Hollywood never made movies about hand sanitizer.
The flight was rough, and Emma’s mind was going a million miles a minute, going over the events of the last few days- of Glee’s victory, of the breakup with Ken and the wedding that wasn’t, and of Will, that kiss with Will in the hallway. It was beautiful and wonderful, it sort of felt like a fairy tale come true. Or as close as a fairy tale could ever come to the halls of McKinley High.
Her cell phone rang and broke the spell. Her grandmother was dying, and she babbled something at Will, ran to her car, threw some clothes in a bag and sped to the airport.
Emma’s relationship with her family was…complicated. Her parents were loving but distant, and her brother was a bit of a jerk. But her grandmother was wonderful.
Grandma Charlie was a character. Still a redhead in her advanced age, she spoke with a Texas twang that hadn’t faded after traveling and living in different places all over the globe. Grandma had worked in a factory during World War II, went to Disneyland on opening day, participated in the Civil Right movement in the sixties, and partied at Woodstock (and those were just the stories she told in mixed company). She was sweet yet determined, and sometimes just seemed like she was a walking encyclopedia.
Grandma was well off- she’d invested money wisely- got in on the ground floor of Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Google. Charlie knew that her extended family was probably already starting to fight over the money.
Emma didn’t really care about the money. She’d miss her grandmother, her laugh, her smile, her love; and the way that Grandma Charlie always seemed to know that everything would work out okay. Since she was a child, Emma had confided her fears to Grandma Charlie- and Grandma Charlie had always been right. The Soviet Union wasn’t going to invade the US, everybody would have cell phones, and they’d be a hell of a lot smaller than Zach Morris’ on Saved By the Bell, Y2K was a bunch of hooey, New Orleans would rebuild after Katrina, but it would take time, ER would survive without George Clooney. It seemed awfully scary that there could be a world without her Grandma.
As soon as she got off the plane, Emma ran to the airport gift shop. She felt better once she’d purchased a travel sized hand sanitizer.
_________
“Don’t tell anybody,” Grandma Charlie said to Emma in a whisper, “but you’ve always been my favorite. I always felt you looked the most like me.”
“We have the same hair.” Emma said softly, “And the same eyes.”
“We had the same hair color, honey. Mine’s been coming from a bottle for years.” Grandma Charlie coughed, and Emma’s face fell.
“Do you need some water?” Emma felt so helpless. She couldn’t fight the tears that threatened to fall.
Grandma Charlie shook her head. “They told me that I would die before. When I was young. Had a brain aneurysm, inoperable. Told me I would die young.”
“What happened? You didn‘t, I mean obviously, you didn‘t…”
“A miracle. Got healed, and for the first time I was able to really live. The world’s scary, Emma dear, and I know that it’s hard to handle. God knows that I love all of y’all in my family, but some of them are plumb foolish, and we both know it. I worry about you because you’ve got the same kind of head on your shoulders that I did. You think too much, and live in your head. And honey, I just don’t want you to wait too long.”
“I…I’ll try.”
“Do or do not, sugar bean. There is no try.”
“But what it….what if things don’t work out? How do you know, how are you able…” Emma stuttered, frustrated, “Do you have any regrets?”
“There’s regret in anybody‘s life, child. People that you miss. The boy who got away. But I’ve been able to cherish what I have. And I just want that for you.”
Emma didn’t know what to say.
“Call him, sweetheart.”
“What? Call who? ”
“You’ve been fiddling with that phone since you got here. You’ve obviously got someone on your mind. Call him, whoever he is.”
“But…”
“I have a strong suspicion that it’s not my time quite yet.” Grandma Charlie shooed her. “Now go.”
“I’ll be right back.” Emma left the hospital room, heading for the outside courtyard, hopefully to get a little privacy. As she walked through the waiting room, she noticed an Asian looking man giving her a funny look, but Emma shrugged it off.
Once outside, Emma scrolled through her cell phone’s built in phonebook. She clicked on Will’s name and waited for the line to connect to Ohio.
by Tracy (lunarknightz)
Rating:PG
Category: Crossover; slight Emma/Will.
Spoilers: Through "Sectionals" for Glee; through "Brave New World" for Heroes.
Summary: Hollywood never made movies about hand sanitizer.
They took her hand sanitizer. And that just wasn’t fair. Thank goodness that the airborne pills were solids, and they didn’t care how many you carried onboard the plane. Emma was all for safety (goodness knows she wasn’t fond of dying in a fiery plane wreck, not now or ever). Like she could really cause harm with Purell. The germs were more dangerous than a former guidance counselor from Ohio could ever be.
Hollywood made movies about killer diseases. Hollywood never made movies about hand sanitizer.
The flight was rough, and Emma’s mind was going a million miles a minute, going over the events of the last few days- of Glee’s victory, of the breakup with Ken and the wedding that wasn’t, and of Will, that kiss with Will in the hallway. It was beautiful and wonderful, it sort of felt like a fairy tale come true. Or as close as a fairy tale could ever come to the halls of McKinley High.
Her cell phone rang and broke the spell. Her grandmother was dying, and she babbled something at Will, ran to her car, threw some clothes in a bag and sped to the airport.
Emma’s relationship with her family was…complicated. Her parents were loving but distant, and her brother was a bit of a jerk. But her grandmother was wonderful.
Grandma Charlie was a character. Still a redhead in her advanced age, she spoke with a Texas twang that hadn’t faded after traveling and living in different places all over the globe. Grandma had worked in a factory during World War II, went to Disneyland on opening day, participated in the Civil Right movement in the sixties, and partied at Woodstock (and those were just the stories she told in mixed company). She was sweet yet determined, and sometimes just seemed like she was a walking encyclopedia.
Grandma was well off- she’d invested money wisely- got in on the ground floor of Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Google. Charlie knew that her extended family was probably already starting to fight over the money.
Emma didn’t really care about the money. She’d miss her grandmother, her laugh, her smile, her love; and the way that Grandma Charlie always seemed to know that everything would work out okay. Since she was a child, Emma had confided her fears to Grandma Charlie- and Grandma Charlie had always been right. The Soviet Union wasn’t going to invade the US, everybody would have cell phones, and they’d be a hell of a lot smaller than Zach Morris’ on Saved By the Bell, Y2K was a bunch of hooey, New Orleans would rebuild after Katrina, but it would take time, ER would survive without George Clooney. It seemed awfully scary that there could be a world without her Grandma.
As soon as she got off the plane, Emma ran to the airport gift shop. She felt better once she’d purchased a travel sized hand sanitizer.
_________
“Don’t tell anybody,” Grandma Charlie said to Emma in a whisper, “but you’ve always been my favorite. I always felt you looked the most like me.”
“We have the same hair.” Emma said softly, “And the same eyes.”
“We had the same hair color, honey. Mine’s been coming from a bottle for years.” Grandma Charlie coughed, and Emma’s face fell.
“Do you need some water?” Emma felt so helpless. She couldn’t fight the tears that threatened to fall.
Grandma Charlie shook her head. “They told me that I would die before. When I was young. Had a brain aneurysm, inoperable. Told me I would die young.”
“What happened? You didn‘t, I mean obviously, you didn‘t…”
“A miracle. Got healed, and for the first time I was able to really live. The world’s scary, Emma dear, and I know that it’s hard to handle. God knows that I love all of y’all in my family, but some of them are plumb foolish, and we both know it. I worry about you because you’ve got the same kind of head on your shoulders that I did. You think too much, and live in your head. And honey, I just don’t want you to wait too long.”
“I…I’ll try.”
“Do or do not, sugar bean. There is no try.”
“But what it….what if things don’t work out? How do you know, how are you able…” Emma stuttered, frustrated, “Do you have any regrets?”
“There’s regret in anybody‘s life, child. People that you miss. The boy who got away. But I’ve been able to cherish what I have. And I just want that for you.”
Emma didn’t know what to say.
“Call him, sweetheart.”
“What? Call who? ”
“You’ve been fiddling with that phone since you got here. You’ve obviously got someone on your mind. Call him, whoever he is.”
“But…”
“I have a strong suspicion that it’s not my time quite yet.” Grandma Charlie shooed her. “Now go.”
“I’ll be right back.” Emma left the hospital room, heading for the outside courtyard, hopefully to get a little privacy. As she walked through the waiting room, she noticed an Asian looking man giving her a funny look, but Emma shrugged it off.
Once outside, Emma scrolled through her cell phone’s built in phonebook. She clicked on Will’s name and waited for the line to connect to Ohio.