Fic: Just Another Tuesday
Title: Just Another Tuesday
Authors:
aliaspiral and
rinalin
Fandom: Inside
Characters: Danny, Rebecca, Paul, Mel, Web
Word Count: 2,146
Notes: This is what happens when things get slow for
aliaspiral and I at work. We round robin through email.
Rebecca hadn't been claustrophobic before. Amazingly not, considering the amount of time she'd spent in small, dark places as a child. But even the closet she'd been locked in hadn't been this dark. This absolute.
The pit was deep and dank, not even wide enough for her to lay down. The walls were made of hard packed dirt and stretched for yards above her head. The ground squished beneath her feet and the stench was unbearable. She didn't want to know why.
She didn’t know how long she’d been down there. The hours and days bled together, interrupted sporadically when Maurice, the creepy little man who’d snatched her, lowered a ration of food. Those times, when the cover was lifted up and fresh air spilled down and filled her lungs, she remembered she was still alive. It lasted until the dark encased her again.
He threw the food down, and she had to dig through the muck to find it.
She was hungry enough to eat it.
The granola bar was far too little, and she polished it off quickly, licking the wrapper for any crumbs. She tucked it carefully into her pocket. She had no idea what she was going to do with granola wrappers, but it seemed stupid to toss something onto the floor that she might find a use for later.
She swallowed. Her mouth was so dry.
Rebecca wedged herself into the corner where the floor seemed a little less disgusting and let her legs give out.
She was starting to get the shakes.
This wasn’t a case. This wasn’t something she had been following or planning or even profiling. This was just sheer bad luck.
She looked like his sister.
And he had killed his sister years ago.
She leaned her head back against the wall, ignoring the fear of something crawling through her hair.
She wasn’t sure how she would get out of this one.
She felt like she was living in Silence of the Lambs.
He didn’t even have a dog.
She could hear faint noises from above. It wasn't unusual. Most of them were muffled by the earth and the dark. She paid them no mind. She thought sometimes Maurice made them on purpose, to make her think help was coming. It was all part of the game.
But help wasn't coming.
Not this time. This wasn't a case. There were no clues. Just a woman snatched in broad daylight and thrown into a hole in the ground.
She looked up at the sound of voices. They words were muffled, unintelligible, but there was no mistaking the fact that there were two of them. And one was angry.
Rebecca searched upwards with her eyes, straining to see through the blackness. The voices rose, and a loud slam came down onto the cover of the pit, sending dust raining down on her. She tried to stifle a cough, gagging into her hand. She was torn between making noise and hoping it was someone there to help her, or staying quiet for fear that he or they would just kill her instead.
She scrambled to her feet as the shouting got louder, one hand sinking unpleasantly into the muck on the floor.
She could almost hear what they were saying.
She hoped that he hadn't found another girl. There wasn't enough room down there for more than one. The implication chilled her.
The voices went silent.
She waited.
She strained to hear the faint scraping that drifted down to her. She could hear footsteps echo on the floorboards above her head. Maurice always took care not to walk over her.
They stopped right above her.
Her heartbeat quickened.
"H-help! Please!" Her voice was weak from disuse, "Please, someone!"
A male voice answered her, calling out in surprise.
She frowned in confusion. It sounded like her name. She didn’t waste the time thinking about it, immediately answering, "Here! Down here!" She tried to thump on the wall, but it was too thick to give off much sound.
The voice was swearing, loud and rhythmic.
She assumed he was trying to figure out how to open the trap door.
Light flooded in suddenly, and she cried out, clapping a hand over her eyes.
"Rebecca?"
She forced herself to look up, despite the way the light burned, making her eyes water. She desperately needed to see his face, to make sure he was real. "Danny?"
"Hold on, sweetheart," he moved away from the hatch, letting more light spill down over her. "I'll get you out of there."
"How did you...?" Her fingers dug into the earth at her side, her voice breaking.
"Doesn't matter."
She could hear him moving around and pictured him searching for something to get her out with. His movements took him further away from the hole and she felt panic rising, "Danny?"
"I'm here."
"Keep talking. Please?"
"Alright, so, I says to Mable, I says..."
Against her will and through her exhaustion, Rebecca felt a laugh bubble up inside her. It quickly became a cough, and the light shifted again as Danny leaned back over the pit.
"I'm looking for a rope or something, okay?"
"Okay," she croaked. "Where," she coughed. "Where are the others?"
"I just called them, they're on their way. Look up."
She squinted upwards, still struggling to see his face through the light. He waved his arm at her and she realized he was holding a bottle.
She dove for it, ripping the cap off and guzzling the first few mouthfuls, ignoring the way her stomach clenched against the unexpected invasion.
"Slow down! You'll get sick." He was tired. She could hear the worry in his voice.
She hadn’t noticed until right that second.
"Why aren’t the others here?" She asked, watching his silhouette shift away again and wanting to know that he hadn’t left her.
"We didn't know where to look for you." He responded. It was the first time she'd ever heard him sound helpless. "Hold on, okay." He disappeared. "I think I might have found something."
"Just... Keep talking."
"Take it easy on that water, Becca." He kept talking, his voice was distant, but it was there. "Paul and Mel were across town, checking out that mall you were at last week. Carter hacked into your bank records. It was the last place there was any activity." She can hear the forced humor in his voice, "Victoria's Secret? Never'd have pegged you for lace, Locke."
She released a watery giggle.
"Web was...doing whatever Web does. Consulting the tea leaves or whatever. Don't think he'll be long."
He returned to the top of the hatch and she could see him better this time, "I've got a hose, it's not great but it'll work. Stand back."
She pressed herself against the furthest wall as the hose unfurled down to her. Rebecca tugged on it to check its security.
"You got the strength to do this?" Danny asked from above, the note of concern in his voice startling her.
She nodded, not looking at him, because she wasn’t sure if she did. She tugged on the hose again, shrugging out of her suit jacket. She cringed, looking down at her shoes. It would be easier to climb without them, but she dreaded the thought of having to touch the floor with her bare feet.
"Hey," Danny's voice was soft.
She looked up to see him watching, blue eyes studying her.
He tugged the top of the hose. "Just climb on, and I'll haul you up." He smiled, a real one this time. "I think I can take your weight."
A faint smile curved the corner of mouth. Even if this didn't work, he'd get her out of there. She was sure of that.
She made a loop from the end of the hose and tied a knot, wedging her foot inside. Wrapping her hands around the hose, she braced herself. "Okay. Ready."
Danny began hauling her up. She whispered a prayer with every inch she left behind. She couldn't see him anymore, only the hole, growing ever closer.
And then, finally, she'd reached the edge and Danny's hands were gripping hers, muscles bunching as he pulled her free and sent them both tumbling backward to the floor.
Rebecca shivered against Danny's chest, his arms tight around her shoulders. She inhaled deep, cleansing breaths, filling her lungs with fresh air and the scent of his cologne.
"I’ll move…" she started, but her arms gave out when she tried to push herself off of him.
He tightened his grip. "Careful," he warned. "You're dehydrated and undernourished. And unless you had some sleeping pills down there, exhausted on top of that."
She nodded into his neck. "But I'm okay."
Danny snorted. "Of course you are. Aren't you always?" He muttered sarcastically, and she looked up with a tired frown. He grimaced at her. "You don’t have to save yourself every time, Locke."
"No," she sighed, her lashes fluttering closed as she felt the solid heat of him begin to warm her. "You pretty much took care of that this time."
He grunted, his hands rubbing along her back when she shivered again.
"How did you find me?" she whispered. "When the others didn't?"
"I don't know." He shrugged, "I just did."
"Okay." She could feel his heartbeat beneath her hand, and her fingers curled into the material of his shirt. "Your heart is racing."
She hadn't meant to say anything, but the words escaped before she could stop them.
"Yeah. Well."
He sounded embarrassed, and she felt her lips curl up in a small smile. "Yeah, well?"
Danny grumbled, the sound rumbling under her cheek. "You try running yourself crazy looking for someone, and then end up with a pretty girl on top of you." He sniffed. "Your heart would be racing too."
"Oh, I doubt that," she said sleepily. "I like boys, so having a pretty girl lay on me wouldn’t affect me very much." Her eyes flew open suddenly. "Wait," she looked up at him, resting her chin on his chest. "You think I'm pretty?"
"Most of the time. Right now, not so..." He smirked, looking down to meet her eyes. "Hell, right now too."
She blushed, hiding her face against his neck. After everything, he could still make her blush.
The sound of a door opening and the rush of footsteps from somewhere in the house drew their attention, a moment later Paul and Mel burst through the door, stopping short to see them on the floor.
Over her surprise, Mel rushed to Rebecca's side, pulling her gently from Danny's embrace, "Are you okay? Dear, God, what is all over you?"
Paul shrugged out of his jacket, wrapping it around her. "How long were you down there?" He glanced at Danny, "Have you called for an ambulance yet?"
He sat up slowly, shaking his head, "Not yet."
Rebecca saw Mel's eyebrows arch curiously, and the redhead shot Danny a questioning glance.
Danny shook his head at Mel, and changed the subject before Mel could ask a single question. "Had to get her out of the pit she was in. She could use more water."
Paul nodded and returned to rubbing Rebecca's arms through the fabric of his jacket. "Well, she needs to be checked out by the paramedics."
"She is sitting right here," Rebecca pointed out in irritation. "And I just want to go home."
"Don't worry, Becca," Danny told her as he climbed to his feet. "There’s no rush. I watered your plant for you."
She looked at him, confused. "How did you get in?"
He shot her an innocent look, reaching out to take her arm from Paul to lead her outside. "I have skills."
"Skills, huh?" Her vision swam and her step faltered enough that Danny simply picked her up. Somehow, her arms found their way around his neck. Her lids felt heavy, and she gave in and let them close. "You'll have to show me those sometime."
She could feel Danny's laugh vibrate through his chest and forced her eyes open. "I meant the lock picking."
"Well, maybe I'll show you that too." A siren could be heard in the distance, fast approaching. "I think your ride is here."
Her grip tightened momentarily around him before being released into the care of the paramedics. She lost track of what was going on around her amid the flurry of EMTs and police that were suddenly roaming the area. She remembered Mel didn’t leave her side, Paul kept compulsively checking on her and even Web came to inform her that Maurice had been found alive, but in critical condition.
She only caught glimpses of Danny though, weaving in and out amongst the police and paramedics.
Her last thought, before finally succumbing to exhaustion, was that she wanted him back.
He made her warm.
Authors:
aliaspiral and
rinalin
Fandom: Inside
Characters: Danny, Rebecca, Paul, Mel, Web
Word Count: 2,146
Notes: This is what happens when things get slow for
aliaspiral and I at work. We round robin through email.
Rebecca hadn't been claustrophobic before. Amazingly not, considering the amount of time she'd spent in small, dark places as a child. But even the closet she'd been locked in hadn't been this dark. This absolute.
The pit was deep and dank, not even wide enough for her to lay down. The walls were made of hard packed dirt and stretched for yards above her head. The ground squished beneath her feet and the stench was unbearable. She didn't want to know why.
She didn’t know how long she’d been down there. The hours and days bled together, interrupted sporadically when Maurice, the creepy little man who’d snatched her, lowered a ration of food. Those times, when the cover was lifted up and fresh air spilled down and filled her lungs, she remembered she was still alive. It lasted until the dark encased her again.
He threw the food down, and she had to dig through the muck to find it.
She was hungry enough to eat it.
The granola bar was far too little, and she polished it off quickly, licking the wrapper for any crumbs. She tucked it carefully into her pocket. She had no idea what she was going to do with granola wrappers, but it seemed stupid to toss something onto the floor that she might find a use for later.
She swallowed. Her mouth was so dry.
Rebecca wedged herself into the corner where the floor seemed a little less disgusting and let her legs give out.
She was starting to get the shakes.
This wasn’t a case. This wasn’t something she had been following or planning or even profiling. This was just sheer bad luck.
She looked like his sister.
And he had killed his sister years ago.
She leaned her head back against the wall, ignoring the fear of something crawling through her hair.
She wasn’t sure how she would get out of this one.
She felt like she was living in Silence of the Lambs.
He didn’t even have a dog.
She could hear faint noises from above. It wasn't unusual. Most of them were muffled by the earth and the dark. She paid them no mind. She thought sometimes Maurice made them on purpose, to make her think help was coming. It was all part of the game.
But help wasn't coming.
Not this time. This wasn't a case. There were no clues. Just a woman snatched in broad daylight and thrown into a hole in the ground.
She looked up at the sound of voices. They words were muffled, unintelligible, but there was no mistaking the fact that there were two of them. And one was angry.
Rebecca searched upwards with her eyes, straining to see through the blackness. The voices rose, and a loud slam came down onto the cover of the pit, sending dust raining down on her. She tried to stifle a cough, gagging into her hand. She was torn between making noise and hoping it was someone there to help her, or staying quiet for fear that he or they would just kill her instead.
She scrambled to her feet as the shouting got louder, one hand sinking unpleasantly into the muck on the floor.
She could almost hear what they were saying.
She hoped that he hadn't found another girl. There wasn't enough room down there for more than one. The implication chilled her.
The voices went silent.
She waited.
She strained to hear the faint scraping that drifted down to her. She could hear footsteps echo on the floorboards above her head. Maurice always took care not to walk over her.
They stopped right above her.
Her heartbeat quickened.
"H-help! Please!" Her voice was weak from disuse, "Please, someone!"
A male voice answered her, calling out in surprise.
She frowned in confusion. It sounded like her name. She didn’t waste the time thinking about it, immediately answering, "Here! Down here!" She tried to thump on the wall, but it was too thick to give off much sound.
The voice was swearing, loud and rhythmic.
She assumed he was trying to figure out how to open the trap door.
Light flooded in suddenly, and she cried out, clapping a hand over her eyes.
"Rebecca?"
She forced herself to look up, despite the way the light burned, making her eyes water. She desperately needed to see his face, to make sure he was real. "Danny?"
"Hold on, sweetheart," he moved away from the hatch, letting more light spill down over her. "I'll get you out of there."
"How did you...?" Her fingers dug into the earth at her side, her voice breaking.
"Doesn't matter."
She could hear him moving around and pictured him searching for something to get her out with. His movements took him further away from the hole and she felt panic rising, "Danny?"
"I'm here."
"Keep talking. Please?"
"Alright, so, I says to Mable, I says..."
Against her will and through her exhaustion, Rebecca felt a laugh bubble up inside her. It quickly became a cough, and the light shifted again as Danny leaned back over the pit.
"I'm looking for a rope or something, okay?"
"Okay," she croaked. "Where," she coughed. "Where are the others?"
"I just called them, they're on their way. Look up."
She squinted upwards, still struggling to see his face through the light. He waved his arm at her and she realized he was holding a bottle.
She dove for it, ripping the cap off and guzzling the first few mouthfuls, ignoring the way her stomach clenched against the unexpected invasion.
"Slow down! You'll get sick." He was tired. She could hear the worry in his voice.
She hadn’t noticed until right that second.
"Why aren’t the others here?" She asked, watching his silhouette shift away again and wanting to know that he hadn’t left her.
"We didn't know where to look for you." He responded. It was the first time she'd ever heard him sound helpless. "Hold on, okay." He disappeared. "I think I might have found something."
"Just... Keep talking."
"Take it easy on that water, Becca." He kept talking, his voice was distant, but it was there. "Paul and Mel were across town, checking out that mall you were at last week. Carter hacked into your bank records. It was the last place there was any activity." She can hear the forced humor in his voice, "Victoria's Secret? Never'd have pegged you for lace, Locke."
She released a watery giggle.
"Web was...doing whatever Web does. Consulting the tea leaves or whatever. Don't think he'll be long."
He returned to the top of the hatch and she could see him better this time, "I've got a hose, it's not great but it'll work. Stand back."
She pressed herself against the furthest wall as the hose unfurled down to her. Rebecca tugged on it to check its security.
"You got the strength to do this?" Danny asked from above, the note of concern in his voice startling her.
She nodded, not looking at him, because she wasn’t sure if she did. She tugged on the hose again, shrugging out of her suit jacket. She cringed, looking down at her shoes. It would be easier to climb without them, but she dreaded the thought of having to touch the floor with her bare feet.
"Hey," Danny's voice was soft.
She looked up to see him watching, blue eyes studying her.
He tugged the top of the hose. "Just climb on, and I'll haul you up." He smiled, a real one this time. "I think I can take your weight."
A faint smile curved the corner of mouth. Even if this didn't work, he'd get her out of there. She was sure of that.
She made a loop from the end of the hose and tied a knot, wedging her foot inside. Wrapping her hands around the hose, she braced herself. "Okay. Ready."
Danny began hauling her up. She whispered a prayer with every inch she left behind. She couldn't see him anymore, only the hole, growing ever closer.
And then, finally, she'd reached the edge and Danny's hands were gripping hers, muscles bunching as he pulled her free and sent them both tumbling backward to the floor.
Rebecca shivered against Danny's chest, his arms tight around her shoulders. She inhaled deep, cleansing breaths, filling her lungs with fresh air and the scent of his cologne.
"I’ll move…" she started, but her arms gave out when she tried to push herself off of him.
He tightened his grip. "Careful," he warned. "You're dehydrated and undernourished. And unless you had some sleeping pills down there, exhausted on top of that."
She nodded into his neck. "But I'm okay."
Danny snorted. "Of course you are. Aren't you always?" He muttered sarcastically, and she looked up with a tired frown. He grimaced at her. "You don’t have to save yourself every time, Locke."
"No," she sighed, her lashes fluttering closed as she felt the solid heat of him begin to warm her. "You pretty much took care of that this time."
He grunted, his hands rubbing along her back when she shivered again.
"How did you find me?" she whispered. "When the others didn't?"
"I don't know." He shrugged, "I just did."
"Okay." She could feel his heartbeat beneath her hand, and her fingers curled into the material of his shirt. "Your heart is racing."
She hadn't meant to say anything, but the words escaped before she could stop them.
"Yeah. Well."
He sounded embarrassed, and she felt her lips curl up in a small smile. "Yeah, well?"
Danny grumbled, the sound rumbling under her cheek. "You try running yourself crazy looking for someone, and then end up with a pretty girl on top of you." He sniffed. "Your heart would be racing too."
"Oh, I doubt that," she said sleepily. "I like boys, so having a pretty girl lay on me wouldn’t affect me very much." Her eyes flew open suddenly. "Wait," she looked up at him, resting her chin on his chest. "You think I'm pretty?"
"Most of the time. Right now, not so..." He smirked, looking down to meet her eyes. "Hell, right now too."
She blushed, hiding her face against his neck. After everything, he could still make her blush.
The sound of a door opening and the rush of footsteps from somewhere in the house drew their attention, a moment later Paul and Mel burst through the door, stopping short to see them on the floor.
Over her surprise, Mel rushed to Rebecca's side, pulling her gently from Danny's embrace, "Are you okay? Dear, God, what is all over you?"
Paul shrugged out of his jacket, wrapping it around her. "How long were you down there?" He glanced at Danny, "Have you called for an ambulance yet?"
He sat up slowly, shaking his head, "Not yet."
Rebecca saw Mel's eyebrows arch curiously, and the redhead shot Danny a questioning glance.
Danny shook his head at Mel, and changed the subject before Mel could ask a single question. "Had to get her out of the pit she was in. She could use more water."
Paul nodded and returned to rubbing Rebecca's arms through the fabric of his jacket. "Well, she needs to be checked out by the paramedics."
"She is sitting right here," Rebecca pointed out in irritation. "And I just want to go home."
"Don't worry, Becca," Danny told her as he climbed to his feet. "There’s no rush. I watered your plant for you."
She looked at him, confused. "How did you get in?"
He shot her an innocent look, reaching out to take her arm from Paul to lead her outside. "I have skills."
"Skills, huh?" Her vision swam and her step faltered enough that Danny simply picked her up. Somehow, her arms found their way around his neck. Her lids felt heavy, and she gave in and let them close. "You'll have to show me those sometime."
She could feel Danny's laugh vibrate through his chest and forced her eyes open. "I meant the lock picking."
"Well, maybe I'll show you that too." A siren could be heard in the distance, fast approaching. "I think your ride is here."
Her grip tightened momentarily around him before being released into the care of the paramedics. She lost track of what was going on around her amid the flurry of EMTs and police that were suddenly roaming the area. She remembered Mel didn’t leave her side, Paul kept compulsively checking on her and even Web came to inform her that Maurice had been found alive, but in critical condition.
She only caught glimpses of Danny though, weaving in and out amongst the police and paramedics.
Her last thought, before finally succumbing to exhaustion, was that she wanted him back.
He made her warm.