Fic: I am not a Martyr
I am not a Martyr, Charlie, Ben, Miles, Monroe, (mentions of other characters, one character dies, & maybe my shipper heart's showing a little) AU, PG (swearing + death), (1,829 words) || Prompt: Ninth Life.
She’s six the first time she dies.
Danny cries. Her mother’s mouth twists. Her father kisses the top of her head.
Author's notes: I took the prompt more in the immortality direction. Even though it kept reminding me of Doctor Who for no helpful reason at all. And I decided that there's no secrets in the Matheson family - everyone knows about the pendants.
01.
She’s six the first time she dies.
Danny cries. Her mother’s mouth twists. Her father kisses the top of her head.
02.
She’s eight when she falls into the river.
She washes up an hour later to find her father splashing into the shallows to get her as her mother stands on bank eyes narrowed. Danny clinging to her leg.
03.
She’s twelve when she rolls down the mountainside.
It doesn’t hurt exactly.
But it stings as she hits the hard rocks and cuts open up along her skin.
Then a big drop comes, and she doesn’t feel anything for a while.
04.
She’s sixteen when bandits set upon her and her father as they’re coming back from the market.
It’s been so long since she’s seen a gun that she doesn’t react to it until it’s pressed against her skull and the trigger clicks.
When she wakes up, her father’s leaning over her, dried blood and dirt covering him.
It takes her another moment to realise she’s lying in a shallow grave, her grave. She reaches up to wipe at some of the dirt on his face, as he reaches to help he sit up.
Maggie pulls her into a hug when they return to camp, but she shrugs it off to walk over to Danny who just offers up her pack with a sigh.
05.
She’s a day away from eighteen when she gets shot for the second time.
She brings her arm down in a vicious arc, her knife slicing through shirt to wedge in flesh, and staggers a few steps to fall down away from her attacker.
She’s awake long enough this time - gut shot - to watch in satisfaction as he bleeds out on the dirt.
When she stumbles back to camp, her father grips her shoulders, while Maggie watches on. She tells him bits and pieces, but leaves out the fact that her would be murderer had been tracking them.
And he was Militia.
06.
They come again when she’s twenty; she’s in time to see Danny fall.
Danny’s never been hurt and that tugs painfully at her - her mother had made them be so careful - when she rushes to be at his side.
A stray shot hits her father and he goes down.
The man responsible manages one more breath, before one of the villager’s shoots him in the chest.
Guns are going off on both sides, but Charlie pays them no heed - Danny’s more important - and a shot spins her on her feet.
She falls. But she’s just close enough to touch Danny’s hand.
Even as he’s struggling for breath, red leaking out his lips, he looks concerned for her, his fingers curl around hers.
It’s the last thing she sees before she passes out.
When she wakes, her father’s sitting at Danny’s side grimly.
They sit there for hours, waiting. But Danny never wakes up.
‘They took the pendant, Charlie,’ her father says, sadly. ‘We have to go.’
She helps him to his feet. Knowing they're both wondering who's blood ran through Danny's veins, if not theirs.
07.
Miles isn’t the man they thought they’d find.
Her father’s face says as much, and as her uncle greets them, rigidly, Charlie wonders if he suffers from the family peculiarity, as well.
She accepts the drink that’s pressed into her hand, but refuses the seat, leaving that to her father, leaving the talking to her father also, and walking away to study the empty rooms of the hotel.
When she returns, Miles looks surlier (if possible) and her father greets her with a smile, reaching for her hand to pull her onto the sofa beside him.
‘Miles is going to help us.’
Charlie smiles grimly. ‘He’s an old drunk living in a dusty hotel.’
She’s amused as Miles sits up straighter, setting his glass down.
‘Kid, you have no idea what I’m capable of.’
‘Well, we’re about to find out.’
At his eyebrow raise, she smiles. ‘The Militia followed us here’
The Militia have the hotel surrounded by dawn.
It’s hard to be worried about the inevitable.
Charlie reaches to refill her glass listening to Miles stomps around muttering about family.
Her father, behind her, peruses the scant collection of books Miles has, a little smile upturning his lips as he raises one by Stephen King. ‘Predictable, Miles.’
Miles pauses to lean over the banister, ‘Good taste didn’t stop when you ended the world, Benjamin.’
For some reason Miles won’t be talked out of fighting.
Charlie looks to her father to see if her uncle’s joking, but he looks resigned, so she shrugs and picks up the nearest sword.
Almost instantly, Miles plucks it from her fingers and thrusts a crossbow at her. ‘Mine, kid.’
‘Charlie,’ she corrects, and places the crossbow on the nearest table, moving over to her pack for her bow. She glances at her father, now engrossed in a book, ‘Dad try and stay out of the way.’
Her father’s one of the first shot, and Miles works his way over to him, cutting down anyone in his way in one of the most pointless displays of sentimentality Charlie’s ever seen.
A bullet to the back is Miles’ reward and he falls to the tiles with a grunt. It takes another few shots before he’s still. And in the meanwhile, Charlie cuts down a few Militia soldiers just for the hell of it.
She doesn’t see who shoots her in the end, but it doesn’t matter.
They just booked a Militia escorted trip to get the pendant.
She lets herself sink away into the black, eager to get going.
08.
She’s unimpressed to wake up in the back of the cart.
Half on top of Miles, she wriggles away; even more displeased to find her arms tied behind her back.
Miles glowers at her, like this is her fault and she glares back.
She glances around for her father and sees him walking next to one of the Militia soldier’s horses, his hands bound by rope, the end of the rope held by the man riding the horse.
‘Why does he always wake up first?’ she asks, without thinking.
‘He’s usually shot first,’ Miles says dryly and grunts and arches until he can finally sit up to. ‘But don’t ask me about the science of this. It never made any sense to me.’
Charlie looks at him, ‘Just how many times have you died?’
Miles actually smiles, teeth and everything and it’s not entirely displeasing.
‘How long have you got?’
‘Not that long,’ Charlie says. ‘We need to work out what we’re going to do when we get to Philly.’
‘Kid-’
‘Charlie.’
‘Charlie,’ Miles says, ‘Monroe’s going to torture us. So how about we try and survive that and then we can talk escape plan.’
Rolling her eyes, Charlie lies back down and tries to get comfortable. ‘For a former General you make a really good old drunk.’
‘You ain’t seen nothing yet,' he murmurs, and she wonders if he means drinking or fighting.
- - -
They’re attacked by Rebels, just two days out from Philly.
Bound the way they are, they haven’t must of a defensive strategy when the explosion rocks the road, dust showering everything and sending men flying.
Charlie and Miles share a look.
The next explosion sends everything black.
09.
She’s pushed into the room by Captain Neville, her father and uncle either side of her.
The man behind the desk rises with a warm smile, ‘Miles. Ben…and,’ his intense gaze lands attention on her, ‘ah, this must be young Charlotte.’
‘Charlie,’ she and Miles correct at the same time.
Charlie turns and gives him a look and then her frown dissipates and she nods, her hands still bound behind her back, ‘Okay, Miles, do the thing. Save us.’
Miles narrows his eyes.
Charlie’s mouth twitches.
‘After all those stories I heard on the road,’ she says, shaking her head. ‘You’re a fraud.’
'Don't test me, Kid.'
‘Children,’ Neville’s voice cuts in coldly, and they turn to see him standing expectantly by the window. ‘Play nice. They’ll be plenty of time for talking later.’
‘You may go, Captain,’ the man observing them says. ‘I can take it from here.’
Neville’s brows crease but he nods and retreats from the room.
Charlie turns back to the man, ‘Who are you?’
‘Charlie,’ her father says, ‘this is Sebastian Monroe.’
He closes his mouth like wants to say more and Charlie frowns.
‘As in the Monroe Militia?’ she says disbelievingly. She lets out a startled noise as Monroe suddenly drags her forward, his grip tight on her collar.
Miles takes half a step forward but a look from Monroe stops him going further.
‘Charlotte,’ Monroe says, deliberately, voice lowering, ‘I’ve heard you’re as extraordinary as your father and uncle - don’t make me test it.’
‘If you think I’m going to grin and bear whatever the fuck this situation is,’ Charlie says, sharply, ‘you have another thing coming, Sebastian.’
Monroe huffs out a breath of air and shoots a loaded look at Miles. ‘No one calls me that anymore.’
‘I do,’ Charlie says, gaining his attention back. ‘Now let go of me.’
It takes a moment but Monroe does, stepping away looking amused. ‘So like your mother.’
Beside her, Miles pales.
‘Would you like to see her, Charlotte?’
Charlie swallows, thinking of Danny suddenly. 'My mother's dead.' She looks over at her father for confirmation.
'Rachel died here,' her father says, and Charlie's surprised to see anger flash in his eyes. 'Miles saw the body.'
A grin splits Monroe's face.
'As much as she may wish it otherwise, I'm afraid Rachel is very much alive.'
The door opens behind them and a man sticks his head into the room.
'Jeremy,' Monroe waves him in and then gestures to Charlie. 'Take Charlotte to get cleaned up for dinner.' He and Miles lock eyes for a long moment and he sighs. 'And make sure no one does anything unseemly, she needs to be in fit condition to see her mother.'
Charlie turns halfway around and then looks at Monroe, 'Untie me first. I'm not leaving this room with a strange man,' she looks over at the waiting man, 'no offence.'
'None taken,' Jeremy agrees, lightly.
'-all bound up,' Charlie finishes, staring expectantly at Monroe until he reaches across his desk for his letter opener.
Bodily turning her, he saws through the dirty rope, letting it drop to the ground and turns her back around again. 'Do what Jeremy tells you. And don't try to escape, I have plans for you.' He give her a little shove towards Jeremy and she takes a few stumbling steps.
'I can't wait to hear them,' Charlie mutters, then takes one last look at her father. 'I'll see you at dinner, Dad.' Her eyes dart to Miles. 'Both of you.'
She follows Jeremy down the hallway, rubbing her red worn wrists.
'So, is Monroe crazy, or is it an act?'
Jeremy grins lazily, at her boldness.
'Depends who you ask,' he says honestly.
_______________________________________________
And I guess, because I think they are questions that need to be answered:
- You can kill a Matheson only in 2 ways, and neither of them are particularly easy.
- Danny was Monroe's kid.
She’s six the first time she dies.
Danny cries. Her mother’s mouth twists. Her father kisses the top of her head.
Author's notes: I took the prompt more in the immortality direction. Even though it kept reminding me of Doctor Who for no helpful reason at all. And I decided that there's no secrets in the Matheson family - everyone knows about the pendants.
01.
She’s six the first time she dies.
Danny cries. Her mother’s mouth twists. Her father kisses the top of her head.
02.
She’s eight when she falls into the river.
She washes up an hour later to find her father splashing into the shallows to get her as her mother stands on bank eyes narrowed. Danny clinging to her leg.
03.
She’s twelve when she rolls down the mountainside.
It doesn’t hurt exactly.
But it stings as she hits the hard rocks and cuts open up along her skin.
Then a big drop comes, and she doesn’t feel anything for a while.
04.
She’s sixteen when bandits set upon her and her father as they’re coming back from the market.
It’s been so long since she’s seen a gun that she doesn’t react to it until it’s pressed against her skull and the trigger clicks.
When she wakes up, her father’s leaning over her, dried blood and dirt covering him.
It takes her another moment to realise she’s lying in a shallow grave, her grave. She reaches up to wipe at some of the dirt on his face, as he reaches to help he sit up.
Maggie pulls her into a hug when they return to camp, but she shrugs it off to walk over to Danny who just offers up her pack with a sigh.
05.
She’s a day away from eighteen when she gets shot for the second time.
She brings her arm down in a vicious arc, her knife slicing through shirt to wedge in flesh, and staggers a few steps to fall down away from her attacker.
She’s awake long enough this time - gut shot - to watch in satisfaction as he bleeds out on the dirt.
When she stumbles back to camp, her father grips her shoulders, while Maggie watches on. She tells him bits and pieces, but leaves out the fact that her would be murderer had been tracking them.
And he was Militia.
06.
They come again when she’s twenty; she’s in time to see Danny fall.
Danny’s never been hurt and that tugs painfully at her - her mother had made them be so careful - when she rushes to be at his side.
A stray shot hits her father and he goes down.
The man responsible manages one more breath, before one of the villager’s shoots him in the chest.
Guns are going off on both sides, but Charlie pays them no heed - Danny’s more important - and a shot spins her on her feet.
She falls. But she’s just close enough to touch Danny’s hand.
Even as he’s struggling for breath, red leaking out his lips, he looks concerned for her, his fingers curl around hers.
It’s the last thing she sees before she passes out.
When she wakes, her father’s sitting at Danny’s side grimly.
They sit there for hours, waiting. But Danny never wakes up.
‘They took the pendant, Charlie,’ her father says, sadly. ‘We have to go.’
She helps him to his feet. Knowing they're both wondering who's blood ran through Danny's veins, if not theirs.
07.
Miles isn’t the man they thought they’d find.
Her father’s face says as much, and as her uncle greets them, rigidly, Charlie wonders if he suffers from the family peculiarity, as well.
She accepts the drink that’s pressed into her hand, but refuses the seat, leaving that to her father, leaving the talking to her father also, and walking away to study the empty rooms of the hotel.
When she returns, Miles looks surlier (if possible) and her father greets her with a smile, reaching for her hand to pull her onto the sofa beside him.
‘Miles is going to help us.’
Charlie smiles grimly. ‘He’s an old drunk living in a dusty hotel.’
She’s amused as Miles sits up straighter, setting his glass down.
‘Kid, you have no idea what I’m capable of.’
‘Well, we’re about to find out.’
At his eyebrow raise, she smiles. ‘The Militia followed us here’
The Militia have the hotel surrounded by dawn.
It’s hard to be worried about the inevitable.
Charlie reaches to refill her glass listening to Miles stomps around muttering about family.
Her father, behind her, peruses the scant collection of books Miles has, a little smile upturning his lips as he raises one by Stephen King. ‘Predictable, Miles.’
Miles pauses to lean over the banister, ‘Good taste didn’t stop when you ended the world, Benjamin.’
For some reason Miles won’t be talked out of fighting.
Charlie looks to her father to see if her uncle’s joking, but he looks resigned, so she shrugs and picks up the nearest sword.
Almost instantly, Miles plucks it from her fingers and thrusts a crossbow at her. ‘Mine, kid.’
‘Charlie,’ she corrects, and places the crossbow on the nearest table, moving over to her pack for her bow. She glances at her father, now engrossed in a book, ‘Dad try and stay out of the way.’
Her father’s one of the first shot, and Miles works his way over to him, cutting down anyone in his way in one of the most pointless displays of sentimentality Charlie’s ever seen.
A bullet to the back is Miles’ reward and he falls to the tiles with a grunt. It takes another few shots before he’s still. And in the meanwhile, Charlie cuts down a few Militia soldiers just for the hell of it.
She doesn’t see who shoots her in the end, but it doesn’t matter.
They just booked a Militia escorted trip to get the pendant.
She lets herself sink away into the black, eager to get going.
08.
She’s unimpressed to wake up in the back of the cart.
Half on top of Miles, she wriggles away; even more displeased to find her arms tied behind her back.
Miles glowers at her, like this is her fault and she glares back.
She glances around for her father and sees him walking next to one of the Militia soldier’s horses, his hands bound by rope, the end of the rope held by the man riding the horse.
‘Why does he always wake up first?’ she asks, without thinking.
‘He’s usually shot first,’ Miles says dryly and grunts and arches until he can finally sit up to. ‘But don’t ask me about the science of this. It never made any sense to me.’
Charlie looks at him, ‘Just how many times have you died?’
Miles actually smiles, teeth and everything and it’s not entirely displeasing.
‘How long have you got?’
‘Not that long,’ Charlie says. ‘We need to work out what we’re going to do when we get to Philly.’
‘Kid-’
‘Charlie.’
‘Charlie,’ Miles says, ‘Monroe’s going to torture us. So how about we try and survive that and then we can talk escape plan.’
Rolling her eyes, Charlie lies back down and tries to get comfortable. ‘For a former General you make a really good old drunk.’
‘You ain’t seen nothing yet,' he murmurs, and she wonders if he means drinking or fighting.
- - -
They’re attacked by Rebels, just two days out from Philly.
Bound the way they are, they haven’t must of a defensive strategy when the explosion rocks the road, dust showering everything and sending men flying.
Charlie and Miles share a look.
The next explosion sends everything black.
09.
She’s pushed into the room by Captain Neville, her father and uncle either side of her.
The man behind the desk rises with a warm smile, ‘Miles. Ben…and,’ his intense gaze lands attention on her, ‘ah, this must be young Charlotte.’
‘Charlie,’ she and Miles correct at the same time.
Charlie turns and gives him a look and then her frown dissipates and she nods, her hands still bound behind her back, ‘Okay, Miles, do the thing. Save us.’
Miles narrows his eyes.
Charlie’s mouth twitches.
‘After all those stories I heard on the road,’ she says, shaking her head. ‘You’re a fraud.’
'Don't test me, Kid.'
‘Children,’ Neville’s voice cuts in coldly, and they turn to see him standing expectantly by the window. ‘Play nice. They’ll be plenty of time for talking later.’
‘You may go, Captain,’ the man observing them says. ‘I can take it from here.’
Neville’s brows crease but he nods and retreats from the room.
Charlie turns back to the man, ‘Who are you?’
‘Charlie,’ her father says, ‘this is Sebastian Monroe.’
He closes his mouth like wants to say more and Charlie frowns.
‘As in the Monroe Militia?’ she says disbelievingly. She lets out a startled noise as Monroe suddenly drags her forward, his grip tight on her collar.
Miles takes half a step forward but a look from Monroe stops him going further.
‘Charlotte,’ Monroe says, deliberately, voice lowering, ‘I’ve heard you’re as extraordinary as your father and uncle - don’t make me test it.’
‘If you think I’m going to grin and bear whatever the fuck this situation is,’ Charlie says, sharply, ‘you have another thing coming, Sebastian.’
Monroe huffs out a breath of air and shoots a loaded look at Miles. ‘No one calls me that anymore.’
‘I do,’ Charlie says, gaining his attention back. ‘Now let go of me.’
It takes a moment but Monroe does, stepping away looking amused. ‘So like your mother.’
Beside her, Miles pales.
‘Would you like to see her, Charlotte?’
Charlie swallows, thinking of Danny suddenly. 'My mother's dead.' She looks over at her father for confirmation.
'Rachel died here,' her father says, and Charlie's surprised to see anger flash in his eyes. 'Miles saw the body.'
A grin splits Monroe's face.
'As much as she may wish it otherwise, I'm afraid Rachel is very much alive.'
The door opens behind them and a man sticks his head into the room.
'Jeremy,' Monroe waves him in and then gestures to Charlie. 'Take Charlotte to get cleaned up for dinner.' He and Miles lock eyes for a long moment and he sighs. 'And make sure no one does anything unseemly, she needs to be in fit condition to see her mother.'
Charlie turns halfway around and then looks at Monroe, 'Untie me first. I'm not leaving this room with a strange man,' she looks over at the waiting man, 'no offence.'
'None taken,' Jeremy agrees, lightly.
'-all bound up,' Charlie finishes, staring expectantly at Monroe until he reaches across his desk for his letter opener.
Bodily turning her, he saws through the dirty rope, letting it drop to the ground and turns her back around again. 'Do what Jeremy tells you. And don't try to escape, I have plans for you.' He give her a little shove towards Jeremy and she takes a few stumbling steps.
'I can't wait to hear them,' Charlie mutters, then takes one last look at her father. 'I'll see you at dinner, Dad.' Her eyes dart to Miles. 'Both of you.'
She follows Jeremy down the hallway, rubbing her red worn wrists.
'So, is Monroe crazy, or is it an act?'
Jeremy grins lazily, at her boldness.
'Depends who you ask,' he says honestly.
_______________________________________________
And I guess, because I think they are questions that need to be answered:
- You can kill a Matheson only in 2 ways, and neither of them are particularly easy.
- Danny was Monroe's kid.