The 4400: Start By Emptying (Susan Farrell)
Title: Start By Emptying
Author: voleuse
Fandom: The 4400
Character: Susan Farrell
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Life is, mostly, a series of imagined imperatives.
Notes: Set before 4.12
It might have been a minute, or an hour, to Shawn's perception, but for three years, Susan set an empty place at the dinner table and pretended she had two sons, instead of just one.
When the 4400 returned, she dusted all the furniture, washed Shawn's favorite jersey, and told herself everything would be right again. She filled the freezer with hot dogs and pistachio ice cream, and raided the bargain bin at Blockbuster.
Now, Shawn's surrounded by a blockade of media and security and staff, and she still hasn't returned the wedding gift she bought for him last year. When she calls him in the morning to tell him she loves him, his aide has to check his schedule before putting her through.
When Susan sets the table for dinner, sometimes she forgets and puts three plates on the table. It's only after everything's done that she remembers, with regret: Shawn returned after three years gone, but he never came back home.
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A/N: Title and summary adapted from Kristen Case's Housework. Link courtesy of breathe_poetry.
Author: voleuse
Fandom: The 4400
Character: Susan Farrell
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Life is, mostly, a series of imagined imperatives.
Notes: Set before 4.12
It might have been a minute, or an hour, to Shawn's perception, but for three years, Susan set an empty place at the dinner table and pretended she had two sons, instead of just one.
When the 4400 returned, she dusted all the furniture, washed Shawn's favorite jersey, and told herself everything would be right again. She filled the freezer with hot dogs and pistachio ice cream, and raided the bargain bin at Blockbuster.
Now, Shawn's surrounded by a blockade of media and security and staff, and she still hasn't returned the wedding gift she bought for him last year. When she calls him in the morning to tell him she loves him, his aide has to check his schedule before putting her through.
When Susan sets the table for dinner, sometimes she forgets and puts three plates on the table. It's only after everything's done that she remembers, with regret: Shawn returned after three years gone, but he never came back home.
###
A/N: Title and summary adapted from Kristen Case's Housework. Link courtesy of breathe_poetry.