Drabble Series: Family Portrait
Prompt: 'RSVP'
Character: Dan, mentions of Jake and Rachel
Rating: PG-13
Authors Note: I love Dan (abandoned/forgotten characters get me every time) but I literally no practice writing him… So here goes nothing. Also on ff.net.
Ninety-nine dreams I have had
And every one a red balloon
It's all over, and I'm standing pretty
In the dust that was a city
I could find a souvenir
Just to prove the world was here
Here it is, a red balloon
I think of you and let it go
99 Red Balloons, Goldfinger
oOOOo
Daniel clutched the letter- invitation, really- in his hand, the innocuously innocent text written in his sister-in-law's textbook perfect script drawing invisible, bloody trails across his heart.
His nephew was turning eighteen next month, and Jean wanted him- as one of the few family member Jake allowed near him, probably because Dan knew damn well not to treat his brother's only surviving son like a circus freak or a celebrity- to come celebrate the occasion.
Legally Steve's youngest would now be old enough to vote, serve in his country's military (instead of repeatedly bleeding and nearly dying for it undercover), and attend adult entertainment establishments; the irony that Jake had seen and done so much and still wouldn't be "allowed" to drink for three years is bitter and thick like guilt in Dan's mouth. It's also a damned shame Jake doubtless wouldn't be interested in the few options opened to him he hadn't already done- Steve had stared helplessly at his beer only a week ago and wondered aloud if his son would ever even attempt to live the life a boy his age should be living again.
Rachel- Rachel would have been eighteen forty-six days ago, and if she was here at the moment Dan figured she would have been at the front of the line teasing her cousin about being old, just like she had when he was five, eight, thirteen- so with his eldest's childish laughter echoing and skipping through his memories, Dan swallowed and picked up the phone to dial Jean's number.
Prompt: 'Weighing Options'
Character: Rachel
Rating: PG-13
Authors Note: I'm end of series dwelling right now. :P Also on ff.net.
We've come here with nothing
And take it with us the day we leave
The first and last breath don't matter
It's all the ones that are in-between
Happy Ending, Sugarland
oOOOo
In the conclusion, that twilight of her existence she had known was coming, Rachel did the one thing no one who knew or had fought beside her would have guessed.
She didn't fight.
Instead she had hugged her sisters a moment longer, listened to her mother a moment more, kissed Tobias harder, and wished she's had time to tell her father anything the truth. Rachel spent her last night wanting to bury the hatchet with her childhood best friend before she didn't have the chance and to chase the current shadows from her cousin's eyes before the guilt he doubtless would feel would cloud them forever- hell, she even wanted to make sure Marco was as okay as he was so very good at pretending he was…
But she didn't fight leaving them behind to live- for her.
Prompt: 'Achilles' Heel'
Character: Jordan
Rating: PG-13
Authors Note: Post-series speculation drabble. Also on ff.net.
To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.
Thomas Campbell
oOOOo
For everyone else she will passed on the street, today is one for celebration, her era's Fourth of July and Pearl Harbor rolled together; Jordan draws a bold, black X through the square on her wall calendar and refuses to even turn on the television in case some station as innocently reputed as the Weather Channel dares to remind her that today is the ten year anniversary of Rachel's death.
Sarah is off at her junior year of high school, their parents have both remarried other people Jordan calls Lori and Phil instead of mom and dad, and Jordan herself should be elbow deep in dank, old criminal defense records, but she has yet to be able to make herself leave her tiny student apartment. The sister who taught her to rollerblade and steal brownie batter before their mom put it into the oven is the only person in the existence of the world who can bring their entire family to their knees just by saying her name, and she isn't even here to appreciate the power she still has over them.
oOOOo
Eventually, though, the noise of her neighbors quiets as they disperse for class, and she convinces herself- already two hours late for a study group that has no doubt long since dispersed- to lock up her apartment and exit the aging building.
The first girl Jordan passes on the rain-slicked street has long, blond hair and is laughing at the shy looking boy next to her; the stranger is beautiful in the downpour, unaffected by the elements- and Jordan hopes anyone who might have glanced her own way mistakes the startled tear on her cheek for rain.
Prompt: 'Achilles' Heel'
Character: Jordan
Rating: PG-13
Authors Note: Post-series speculation drabble. Also on ff.net.
“Run like hell and get the agony over with.”
Clarence DeMar
oOOOo
The trees whip past her in the weak morning light; the ground muffles her pounding footsteps to the mere cracks of twigs and leaves as they break like tiny bones under her feet as she dodges the foliage in her unbeaten path. She runs until she’s no longer sure if she’s running scared or running blind, running from or running to, because when she’s moving she doesn’t have to stop and think.
A hidden root snags her left foot; she falls to the ground and the rough forest floor catches tears at her unprotected hands and knees while her lungs heave with exhaustion. Everything stops, and the truth she’s been fleeing from collides with her; her already ragged breaths become sobs.
Rachel’s memorial service is tomorrow, and Jordan isn’t ready.
Character: Dan, mentions of Jake and Rachel
Rating: PG-13
Authors Note: I love Dan (abandoned/forgotten characters get me every time) but I literally no practice writing him… So here goes nothing. Also on ff.net.
Ninety-nine dreams I have had
And every one a red balloon
It's all over, and I'm standing pretty
In the dust that was a city
I could find a souvenir
Just to prove the world was here
Here it is, a red balloon
I think of you and let it go
99 Red Balloons, Goldfinger
oOOOo
Daniel clutched the letter- invitation, really- in his hand, the innocuously innocent text written in his sister-in-law's textbook perfect script drawing invisible, bloody trails across his heart.
His nephew was turning eighteen next month, and Jean wanted him- as one of the few family member Jake allowed near him, probably because Dan knew damn well not to treat his brother's only surviving son like a circus freak or a celebrity- to come celebrate the occasion.
Legally Steve's youngest would now be old enough to vote, serve in his country's military (instead of repeatedly bleeding and nearly dying for it undercover), and attend adult entertainment establishments; the irony that Jake had seen and done so much and still wouldn't be "allowed" to drink for three years is bitter and thick like guilt in Dan's mouth. It's also a damned shame Jake doubtless wouldn't be interested in the few options opened to him he hadn't already done- Steve had stared helplessly at his beer only a week ago and wondered aloud if his son would ever even attempt to live the life a boy his age should be living again.
Rachel- Rachel would have been eighteen forty-six days ago, and if she was here at the moment Dan figured she would have been at the front of the line teasing her cousin about being old, just like she had when he was five, eight, thirteen- so with his eldest's childish laughter echoing and skipping through his memories, Dan swallowed and picked up the phone to dial Jean's number.
Prompt: 'Weighing Options'
Character: Rachel
Rating: PG-13
Authors Note: I'm end of series dwelling right now. :P Also on ff.net.
We've come here with nothing
And take it with us the day we leave
The first and last breath don't matter
It's all the ones that are in-between
Happy Ending, Sugarland
oOOOo
In the conclusion, that twilight of her existence she had known was coming, Rachel did the one thing no one who knew or had fought beside her would have guessed.
She didn't fight.
Instead she had hugged her sisters a moment longer, listened to her mother a moment more, kissed Tobias harder, and wished she's had time to tell her father anything the truth. Rachel spent her last night wanting to bury the hatchet with her childhood best friend before she didn't have the chance and to chase the current shadows from her cousin's eyes before the guilt he doubtless would feel would cloud them forever- hell, she even wanted to make sure Marco was as okay as he was so very good at pretending he was…
But she didn't fight leaving them behind to live- for her.
Prompt: 'Achilles' Heel'
Character: Jordan
Rating: PG-13
Authors Note: Post-series speculation drabble. Also on ff.net.
To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.
Thomas Campbell
oOOOo
For everyone else she will passed on the street, today is one for celebration, her era's Fourth of July and Pearl Harbor rolled together; Jordan draws a bold, black X through the square on her wall calendar and refuses to even turn on the television in case some station as innocently reputed as the Weather Channel dares to remind her that today is the ten year anniversary of Rachel's death.
Sarah is off at her junior year of high school, their parents have both remarried other people Jordan calls Lori and Phil instead of mom and dad, and Jordan herself should be elbow deep in dank, old criminal defense records, but she has yet to be able to make herself leave her tiny student apartment. The sister who taught her to rollerblade and steal brownie batter before their mom put it into the oven is the only person in the existence of the world who can bring their entire family to their knees just by saying her name, and she isn't even here to appreciate the power she still has over them.
oOOOo
Eventually, though, the noise of her neighbors quiets as they disperse for class, and she convinces herself- already two hours late for a study group that has no doubt long since dispersed- to lock up her apartment and exit the aging building.
The first girl Jordan passes on the rain-slicked street has long, blond hair and is laughing at the shy looking boy next to her; the stranger is beautiful in the downpour, unaffected by the elements- and Jordan hopes anyone who might have glanced her own way mistakes the startled tear on her cheek for rain.
Prompt: 'Achilles' Heel'
Character: Jordan
Rating: PG-13
Authors Note: Post-series speculation drabble. Also on ff.net.
“Run like hell and get the agony over with.”
Clarence DeMar
oOOOo
The trees whip past her in the weak morning light; the ground muffles her pounding footsteps to the mere cracks of twigs and leaves as they break like tiny bones under her feet as she dodges the foliage in her unbeaten path. She runs until she’s no longer sure if she’s running scared or running blind, running from or running to, because when she’s moving she doesn’t have to stop and think.
A hidden root snags her left foot; she falls to the ground and the rough forest floor catches tears at her unprotected hands and knees while her lungs heave with exhaustion. Everything stops, and the truth she’s been fleeing from collides with her; her already ragged breaths become sobs.
Rachel’s memorial service is tomorrow, and Jordan isn’t ready.