comment_fic 1125 - 1129: Princess Bride/Last Unicorn, SN, HL, Leverage, original
Title: The Last Master
Fandom: The Princess Bride/The Last Unicorn
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: pre-PB, way post-LU
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 155
Point of view: third
Prompt: The Princess Bride/The Last Unicorn, Inigo+the Unicorn, He has learned from all the great masters, there's only one left to learn from.
Why have you sought me out, Man? asks the creature from the lilac woods.
His feet are wearied; his soul even more so. He has learned the art of the sword from all the masters in the world but there is still something missing, something he must know if he is to ever avenge his father.
He falls to his knees before her, his sword glinting on the ground beside him. Teach me to be patient, milady, he begs, the back of his neck bared as he dare not look upon her without permission.
The lilac wood is silent and he waits.
Finally, she says, Rise, Man, and tell me your quest.
As he climbs to his feet, leaving the sword on the forest floor, he feels all of ten years old again, listening to his father about their shared art.
His father would love her, he thinks, finally daring to look upon the unicorn.
Title: unintended consequences
Fandom: Supernatural
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: AU during season 5
Pairings: John/Mary, Dean/Sam
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 380
Point of view: third
Prompt: Supernatural, Sam/Dean, the cupids aftermath of meddling with John and Mary = Sam and Dean's erotic codependency
John Winchester and Mary Campbell were meant to be partners and soulmates, yes - but platonically. There's a sweet girl in Baton Rouge who will never meet her husband and a man up in Albany who is going to die painfully instead of being saved by a hunter who'll laugh at his name.
But cupids don't make the rules, you see. They follow orders. Maybe that's where everything goes wrong.
.
So what happens with two brothers who shouldn't exist? Whose parents weren't meant to be in love?
Platonic soulmates are a thing. Any cupid could've told the angels that. But the angels didn't ask, and cupids don't talk out of turn.
(High up on the mountain, Eros is laughing.)
Of course, platonic soulmates almost never result in offspring, so...
.
There are always side-effects. But so long as the boys grow up, no one cares.
.
Dean Winchester hates himself for a lot of reasons. Selling his soul to bring back his baby brother is not and never will be one of them.
Sam Winchester hates himself, too. What he'll do to save his brother doesn't make the list.
.
(High up on the mountain, Eros turns to his mother and says, They really should've seen it coming.)
The angels wanted Dean and Sam Winchester to exist, to grow, to consent. Thousands of years of planning and it all comes down to two men, standing face-to-face, wingbeats filling the air as all of creation waits.
(The first time Sam kissed Dean, Sam was barely fifteen and Dean gently pushed him away with a murmured, No, Sammy.
The last time Dean kissed Sam, howling was in the air as the deal came to a close.)
.
High up on the mountain, Eros smiles as Zachariah realizes the major miscalculation.
.
On earth, Dean tilts his head, smirking. Sam nods, grin widening.
They shouldn't exist, either of them. But they do. Castiel asks, "What happens now?" as the angels prepare for a war that will not be fought in Winchester skins.
"What happens," Dean says, "is that all y'all fuck off because fuck destiny."
Sam steps up behind him, hands spread, what Azazel planted in him at full fruition, head held high.
.
Any cupid could have warned them. No angel thought to ask.
High up on the mountain, Eros laughs until he cries.
Title: lord of the storm
Fandom: Highlander
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Gilgamesh
Warnings: references to death/violence
Pairings: implied Methos/Kronos
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 375
Point of view: third
Prompt: any, any, "Only one rule: we all die in the end."
The first thing Methos teaches each of his students, from the first to the last, is how to die.
After that, he shows them how to live.
.
He spaces them out across centuries, keeps them until he's sure they can survive, and then checks in from time to time. He loves them neither more nor less than the mortal children he raises, and none of them ever know the name he's been assigned by the Watchers, the name that means oldest of us all.
Well, none of them but one. Kronos is the exception to so many of his rules.
Despite how it ends, he only regrets a single thing about his years with Kronos: how Kronos never learned to adapt.
.
In the end, so many of the dead cry, there can be only one.
It's such a stupid thing. Not even he knows where it came from.
.
They all fall, as time marches on. Every child he has ever loved and left. They all fall.
He promises, listening to Byron's last piece, that he'll never take on another student.
Of course, he's promised that before.
.
When he's not annoyed at Methos, MacLeod does ask about the wisdom learned over so many centuries. There is so much Methos could teach, if he chose to.
Methos smiles at him, the ghosts of Kronos and Byron, even of Caspian, standing around them both, here in Joe's bar.
"You're not my student," he says, swirling his beer in the bottle. "You don't learn, anyway."
MacLeod pouts at him.
.
The first thing Methos ever teaches his students is how to die.
Joe asks him, just once, if he's got any nemeses the way MacLeod seems to. MacLeod's killed more of their kind than most headhunters manage, ever so honorable and noble. He's a child, not even half a millennium yet. He's killed more of their kind than Methos has.
"I don't do nemeses, Joe," Methos says, wondering how Joe will explain the Chronicle that Methos isn't supposed to know he's writing.
Methos does not leave threats at his back. And if Joe doesn't figure out the warning, well. He's getting old, for a mortal. And for all that Methos likes him -
Well, he'd loved Kronos for three thousand years.
Title: mending
Fandom: Leverage
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: major character death; AU during The Grave Danger Job
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 115
Point of view: third
Prompt: Leverage (Spoilers for The Grave Danger Job), Parker+any, Hardison doesn't survive the burial and Parker wants revenge.
Nate begs them not to, and Sophie leaves in tears, but Parker stands resolute in his room and Eliot stands with her.
"They took him from us," she says as Nate follows Sophie. She doesn't look over, doesn't reach for his hand. His scent is still on the air, orange soda and cheetohs and sweat, and she doesn't move toward the bed or the shirt discarded on the floor.
"We can't get him back," Eliot says softly. He doesn't move, either.
"We can make them feel like we do," she whispers.
He wouldn't want that, wouldn't like that. But it's all she can think to do.
"Yeah," Eliot says. He sounds tired. "That we can."
Title: Happiness
Prompt: Author’s choice, any/any, happy
Finished September 20, 2015
You could have been it for me,
the one and the only.
You could have been the one -
but you weren't.
They’re all so sorry when I tell we’re not anymore.
They’re all so sad and I’m not.
Who we were together isn’t who I want to be.
I’ve grown past you now;
I smile even when it rains.
I laugh and I dance
and I’ve remembered how to sing.
You could’ve been my everything
and for so long you were.
I lost myself in being what you needed
and became only your want.
But I am more than that,
more than your fairy tale dream.
Who I was in your eyes isn’t who I want to be.
They don’t understand and I don’t care;
weren’t they your friends first anyway?
I’m so happy now, happier than I ever was
sleeping beside you every night,
trying not to cry.
I cry now, whenever I need,
I cry just so happily.
I’m learning so much about myself,
not trying to fit into your mold of perfection.
I’m going places I’ve never been,
doing things I never dared dream I’d do -
The world’s an adventure again
like back when I was young and wanted
to climb mountains, to sail the seas,
to lose myself in a forest and dance into the sun.
Once, I thought I was happy in your arms.
I know now just how wrong I was.
I’m happy now, happier than I’ve been in so long.
Don’t you understand?
It doesn’t matter how you beg,
how loudly you plead, how much you cry -
I’m never going home to you
because wherever you are could never be my home.
Who I am now is who I want to be
and that’s a me without you,
happier than I ever dreamed.
Fandom: The Princess Bride/The Last Unicorn
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: pre-PB, way post-LU
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 155
Point of view: third
Prompt: The Princess Bride/The Last Unicorn, Inigo+the Unicorn, He has learned from all the great masters, there's only one left to learn from.
Why have you sought me out, Man? asks the creature from the lilac woods.
His feet are wearied; his soul even more so. He has learned the art of the sword from all the masters in the world but there is still something missing, something he must know if he is to ever avenge his father.
He falls to his knees before her, his sword glinting on the ground beside him. Teach me to be patient, milady, he begs, the back of his neck bared as he dare not look upon her without permission.
The lilac wood is silent and he waits.
Finally, she says, Rise, Man, and tell me your quest.
As he climbs to his feet, leaving the sword on the forest floor, he feels all of ten years old again, listening to his father about their shared art.
His father would love her, he thinks, finally daring to look upon the unicorn.
Title: unintended consequences
Fandom: Supernatural
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: AU during season 5
Pairings: John/Mary, Dean/Sam
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 380
Point of view: third
Prompt: Supernatural, Sam/Dean, the cupids aftermath of meddling with John and Mary = Sam and Dean's erotic codependency
John Winchester and Mary Campbell were meant to be partners and soulmates, yes - but platonically. There's a sweet girl in Baton Rouge who will never meet her husband and a man up in Albany who is going to die painfully instead of being saved by a hunter who'll laugh at his name.
But cupids don't make the rules, you see. They follow orders. Maybe that's where everything goes wrong.
.
So what happens with two brothers who shouldn't exist? Whose parents weren't meant to be in love?
Platonic soulmates are a thing. Any cupid could've told the angels that. But the angels didn't ask, and cupids don't talk out of turn.
(High up on the mountain, Eros is laughing.)
Of course, platonic soulmates almost never result in offspring, so...
.
There are always side-effects. But so long as the boys grow up, no one cares.
.
Dean Winchester hates himself for a lot of reasons. Selling his soul to bring back his baby brother is not and never will be one of them.
Sam Winchester hates himself, too. What he'll do to save his brother doesn't make the list.
.
(High up on the mountain, Eros turns to his mother and says, They really should've seen it coming.)
The angels wanted Dean and Sam Winchester to exist, to grow, to consent. Thousands of years of planning and it all comes down to two men, standing face-to-face, wingbeats filling the air as all of creation waits.
(The first time Sam kissed Dean, Sam was barely fifteen and Dean gently pushed him away with a murmured, No, Sammy.
The last time Dean kissed Sam, howling was in the air as the deal came to a close.)
.
High up on the mountain, Eros smiles as Zachariah realizes the major miscalculation.
.
On earth, Dean tilts his head, smirking. Sam nods, grin widening.
They shouldn't exist, either of them. But they do. Castiel asks, "What happens now?" as the angels prepare for a war that will not be fought in Winchester skins.
"What happens," Dean says, "is that all y'all fuck off because fuck destiny."
Sam steps up behind him, hands spread, what Azazel planted in him at full fruition, head held high.
.
Any cupid could have warned them. No angel thought to ask.
High up on the mountain, Eros laughs until he cries.
Title: lord of the storm
Fandom: Highlander
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Gilgamesh
Warnings: references to death/violence
Pairings: implied Methos/Kronos
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 375
Point of view: third
Prompt: any, any, "Only one rule: we all die in the end."
The first thing Methos teaches each of his students, from the first to the last, is how to die.
After that, he shows them how to live.
.
He spaces them out across centuries, keeps them until he's sure they can survive, and then checks in from time to time. He loves them neither more nor less than the mortal children he raises, and none of them ever know the name he's been assigned by the Watchers, the name that means oldest of us all.
Well, none of them but one. Kronos is the exception to so many of his rules.
Despite how it ends, he only regrets a single thing about his years with Kronos: how Kronos never learned to adapt.
.
In the end, so many of the dead cry, there can be only one.
It's such a stupid thing. Not even he knows where it came from.
.
They all fall, as time marches on. Every child he has ever loved and left. They all fall.
He promises, listening to Byron's last piece, that he'll never take on another student.
Of course, he's promised that before.
.
When he's not annoyed at Methos, MacLeod does ask about the wisdom learned over so many centuries. There is so much Methos could teach, if he chose to.
Methos smiles at him, the ghosts of Kronos and Byron, even of Caspian, standing around them both, here in Joe's bar.
"You're not my student," he says, swirling his beer in the bottle. "You don't learn, anyway."
MacLeod pouts at him.
.
The first thing Methos ever teaches his students is how to die.
Joe asks him, just once, if he's got any nemeses the way MacLeod seems to. MacLeod's killed more of their kind than most headhunters manage, ever so honorable and noble. He's a child, not even half a millennium yet. He's killed more of their kind than Methos has.
"I don't do nemeses, Joe," Methos says, wondering how Joe will explain the Chronicle that Methos isn't supposed to know he's writing.
Methos does not leave threats at his back. And if Joe doesn't figure out the warning, well. He's getting old, for a mortal. And for all that Methos likes him -
Well, he'd loved Kronos for three thousand years.
Title: mending
Fandom: Leverage
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: major character death; AU during The Grave Danger Job
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 115
Point of view: third
Prompt: Leverage (Spoilers for The Grave Danger Job), Parker+any, Hardison doesn't survive the burial and Parker wants revenge.
Nate begs them not to, and Sophie leaves in tears, but Parker stands resolute in his room and Eliot stands with her.
"They took him from us," she says as Nate follows Sophie. She doesn't look over, doesn't reach for his hand. His scent is still on the air, orange soda and cheetohs and sweat, and she doesn't move toward the bed or the shirt discarded on the floor.
"We can't get him back," Eliot says softly. He doesn't move, either.
"We can make them feel like we do," she whispers.
He wouldn't want that, wouldn't like that. But it's all she can think to do.
"Yeah," Eliot says. He sounds tired. "That we can."
Title: Happiness
Prompt: Author’s choice, any/any, happy
Finished September 20, 2015
You could have been it for me,
the one and the only.
You could have been the one -
but you weren't.
They’re all so sorry when I tell we’re not anymore.
They’re all so sad and I’m not.
Who we were together isn’t who I want to be.
I’ve grown past you now;
I smile even when it rains.
I laugh and I dance
and I’ve remembered how to sing.
You could’ve been my everything
and for so long you were.
I lost myself in being what you needed
and became only your want.
But I am more than that,
more than your fairy tale dream.
Who I was in your eyes isn’t who I want to be.
They don’t understand and I don’t care;
weren’t they your friends first anyway?
I’m so happy now, happier than I ever was
sleeping beside you every night,
trying not to cry.
I cry now, whenever I need,
I cry just so happily.
I’m learning so much about myself,
not trying to fit into your mold of perfection.
I’m going places I’ve never been,
doing things I never dared dream I’d do -
The world’s an adventure again
like back when I was young and wanted
to climb mountains, to sail the seas,
to lose myself in a forest and dance into the sun.
Once, I thought I was happy in your arms.
I know now just how wrong I was.
I’m happy now, happier than I’ve been in so long.
Don’t you understand?
It doesn’t matter how you beg,
how loudly you plead, how much you cry -
I’m never going home to you
because wherever you are could never be my home.
Who I am now is who I want to be
and that’s a me without you,
happier than I ever dreamed.