Fic: Coffee Flavored & Stillness (The Inside)
I know many of you are waiting for me to get back to Firefly fic. And I will. I plead lack of time and an unhealthy affection for Special Agent Love.
I do have a week off coming up at the end of June, and I hope to spend some time getting all the plot bunnies out of my head.
In the mean time, two fics for the Inside Table:
Title: Coffee Flavored
Author: Rinny
Fandom: Inside
Characters: Paul, Danny, Rebecca
Word Count: 371
Prompt: Coffee
~
Paul sat back with a heavy sigh, finally tearing his eyes away from the stack of casework in front of him. They were taking a break between cases to catch up on paperwork and prepare for case pitch in two days. He knew the others thought of it as a necessary evil, but Paul liked the quiet times. He got home at a decent hour every night, it allowed him time to digest the case and get his head back on straight.
But that didn't mean he didn't need a break from the tedium.
His gaze landed on Rebecca first.
He didn't even feel guilty about it anymore.
She was hard at work, as comfortable working diligently at her desk as luring a psychotic killer into a trap. Or being trapped. He sometimes wondered if she knew there was a difference.
She idly dipped her hand into the candy jar on her desk and withdrew a few jellybeans, glancing into her palm for a moment before popping them one by one into her mouth as she read the file on her desk.
It amused him some that she had a sweet tooth.
He shifted his eyes to Mel, she sat diligently at her desk, a pair of headphones on to keep her focused. Danny had been in and out of the bullpen all day, sitting for no more than an hour at a time before getting stir crazy and taking a break.
Paul's eyes wound their way back to Rebecca, watching her place a jellybean into a pile set aside on her desk and toss another in her mouth. She glanced up and caught him looking, "What?"
"Nothing," he smiled, watching her separate another jellybean from the others before going back to work.
Shifting through his papers, Paul glanced up periodically to watch Rebecca meticulously separate the candies.
He didn’t notice Danny come back until he stopped beside Rebecca’s desk. They exchanged a look and she smiled faintly as he scooped up the handful of brown jellybeans and went back to his desk.
Paul arched a questioning brow at Rebecca.
She shrugged, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, trying to hide her blush. "He likes the coffee flavored ones."
End
Title: Stillness
Author: Rinny
Fandom: Inside
Characters: Danny, Rebecca, Web
Word Count: 339
Prompt: Gun
Notes: Alternate Ending to “Gem”. I loved that last scene with Web and Danny and Dallas and thought it needed another twist.
~
There was something different about Danny.
A stillness.
She watched him through lowered lashes the entire way to the Dallas mansion. There was something different and she couldn’t put her finger on it.
They left Paul and Mel behind. That was different too.
The arrived with little fanfare and she stuck close to Angelica. She knew Danny and Web were going to search the office. Her role was to keep Angelica and her mother clear until Dallas was in custody. She didn’t question Web, but she couldn’t help from looking back at Danny one last time.
He appeared impossibly young in the fading afternoon light.
She kept one eye on the office while she waited with Maria and Angelica, the other children on the premises gathered around to welcome her back. Tension coiled in her stomach and she tamped it down.
Web stepped out through the door, squinting against the sunlight and stood rooted to the ground.
He didn’t even flinch at the gun shot.
Instinctively, she drew her gun and sprinted past him. She pushed the door open, entering cautiously, “Danny?”
He stood frozen in the middle of the office; his gun clinging limply from his fingers. Dallas lay bleeding on the floor.
“Danny?” She lowered her weapon, moving swiftly to kneel beside the body. The bullet was clean through his chest.
She rose slowly, “Are you alright?” She touched his arm when he didn’t respond, “Danny. Look at me.”
He dragged his eyes from Dallas, to her hand and followed along the path of her arm. When he finally met her eyes, she wished he hadn’t.
“My weapon accidentally discharged.”
“How--?”
She’d never been afraid of Danny before. She’d seen many things in his eyes since joining VCU; kindness, respect, concern, and lately, flashes of interest that he tried to keep hidden. She’d never seen this.
His words were clipped and the blue in his eyes cut into her. “My weapon. Accidentally. Discharged.”
She nodded and had to look away from the nothing in his eyes.
End