Spitefic: Escape Route (Charlie Swan, PG)
Title: Escape Route
Author: gehayi
Fandom(s): New Moon
Rating: PG
Word Count: 645
Summary: Charlie knows that Bella has never dealt well with unpleasant reality.
Inspiration: Because God Commanded It--Chapter 17-On the Head of a Pin.
Author's Notes: The italicized line at the beginning is from Touch of the Wind's Twilight/Supernatural crossover, Because God Commanded It, in which Bella becomes an angel and is then shoehorned into every scene in which Castiel appears thereafter.
The story takes place after Bella's leap from the cliff. AU in which Bella does not get to dodge the effects of gravity and physics.
***
With a gasp Bella flew up from the bed, her eyes wide and noting the figures in the room. She recognised them...but she didn't care.
Charlie Swan saw a vein pulsing on Bella's forehead and sighed. This happened every time she got confused and upset, and it seemed to be happening much more often lately. Why she was getting stressed, he didn't know. Her psychiatrist had told him that Bella was catatonic and had been slipping into that state even before she jumped off that damned cliff in Forks and broke her neck. (Charlie had taken Bella and himself off to Florida after that; as far as he was concerned, Washington was cursed.)However, despite what Florida physicians had to say, Charlie couldn't shake the feeling that Bella--who had never dealt well with unpleasant reality--wasn't so much catatonic as hiding.
The only things that Bella ever showed any awareness of were TV programs; at least, she kept her eyes open while a few of them were on. At this point, Charlie would take any sign that Bella was fighting to come back and would one day work her way back from quadraplegia to paraplegia. And wasn't it a wonderful life when this was the good option?
One of the TV shows dealt with two monster-hunting brothers and their nerdy angel friend. This surprised Charlie; Bella had been nuts about vampires and werewolves, though she'd pretended not to be. Maybe she'd just been embarrassed that she liked something so--so common for teenaged girls. Guys who killed vampires didn't seem like her kind of thing. Besides, Bella had always had more of a fixation on statues, cold, and body glitter. Charlie had found this out by accident and had spent the next two years striving not to think about it.
Thinking that Bella liked something was probably ridiculous, but sometimes he couldn't help but hope that she was responding to something--anything!--that wasn't that fucking bastard Edward Cullen.
Which was one reason that Charlie had moved to Florida with Bella. If he stayed in Forks, sooner or later he'd go hunting for the Cullens. And if he only killed Edward, he'd be lucky.
He was a cop, damn it. Cops. Didn't. Kill. People. Not even smarmy little turds who destroyed minds and lives. Cops had to be better than criminals, or there was no point.
Best to put the temptation behind him.
Charlie had wondered for a while if Bella liked the show for the angel. But he wasn't rich and, as far as Charlie could tell, he was a pretty ordinary-looking guy. So that couldn't be it. Maybe she liked the tall guy. Or the guy who owned the Impala.
Then again, he had no idea if Bella was even aware of the shows. She might be enmeshed in a complex fantasy world that she couldn't escape from--or she might be so badly damaged that she was basically stuck in "fire bad, tree pretty" mode.
Damn it, his eyes were getting wet again. He'd have to go out into the hall for a few minutes. It was one of his rules--don't cry in front of her. She had to know that he still believed in her. She had to believe that there was hope.
He stood up, then leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "Love you, angel," he said, his voice shaking. "I'll be right back."
The door closed after him.
Back in the bed, Bella frowned. Something was very wrong. Someone was unhappy and in trouble. Someone who loved her very much. A grown man...who was really an angel.
The angel--her angel, her wonderful, handsome angel-husband--was in trouble. And only she could save him.
Just before she slipped away once more, three words that she could no longer speak echoed in her mind:
I'm coming, Castiel.
Author: gehayi
Fandom(s): New Moon
Rating: PG
Word Count: 645
Summary: Charlie knows that Bella has never dealt well with unpleasant reality.
Inspiration: Because God Commanded It--Chapter 17-On the Head of a Pin.
Author's Notes: The italicized line at the beginning is from Touch of the Wind's Twilight/Supernatural crossover, Because God Commanded It, in which Bella becomes an angel and is then shoehorned into every scene in which Castiel appears thereafter.
The story takes place after Bella's leap from the cliff. AU in which Bella does not get to dodge the effects of gravity and physics.
***
With a gasp Bella flew up from the bed, her eyes wide and noting the figures in the room. She recognised them...but she didn't care.
Charlie Swan saw a vein pulsing on Bella's forehead and sighed. This happened every time she got confused and upset, and it seemed to be happening much more often lately. Why she was getting stressed, he didn't know. Her psychiatrist had told him that Bella was catatonic and had been slipping into that state even before she jumped off that damned cliff in Forks and broke her neck. (Charlie had taken Bella and himself off to Florida after that; as far as he was concerned, Washington was cursed.)However, despite what Florida physicians had to say, Charlie couldn't shake the feeling that Bella--who had never dealt well with unpleasant reality--wasn't so much catatonic as hiding.
The only things that Bella ever showed any awareness of were TV programs; at least, she kept her eyes open while a few of them were on. At this point, Charlie would take any sign that Bella was fighting to come back and would one day work her way back from quadraplegia to paraplegia. And wasn't it a wonderful life when this was the good option?
One of the TV shows dealt with two monster-hunting brothers and their nerdy angel friend. This surprised Charlie; Bella had been nuts about vampires and werewolves, though she'd pretended not to be. Maybe she'd just been embarrassed that she liked something so--so common for teenaged girls. Guys who killed vampires didn't seem like her kind of thing. Besides, Bella had always had more of a fixation on statues, cold, and body glitter. Charlie had found this out by accident and had spent the next two years striving not to think about it.
Thinking that Bella liked something was probably ridiculous, but sometimes he couldn't help but hope that she was responding to something--anything!--that wasn't that fucking bastard Edward Cullen.
Which was one reason that Charlie had moved to Florida with Bella. If he stayed in Forks, sooner or later he'd go hunting for the Cullens. And if he only killed Edward, he'd be lucky.
He was a cop, damn it. Cops. Didn't. Kill. People. Not even smarmy little turds who destroyed minds and lives. Cops had to be better than criminals, or there was no point.
Best to put the temptation behind him.
Charlie had wondered for a while if Bella liked the show for the angel. But he wasn't rich and, as far as Charlie could tell, he was a pretty ordinary-looking guy. So that couldn't be it. Maybe she liked the tall guy. Or the guy who owned the Impala.
Then again, he had no idea if Bella was even aware of the shows. She might be enmeshed in a complex fantasy world that she couldn't escape from--or she might be so badly damaged that she was basically stuck in "fire bad, tree pretty" mode.
Damn it, his eyes were getting wet again. He'd have to go out into the hall for a few minutes. It was one of his rules--don't cry in front of her. She had to know that he still believed in her. She had to believe that there was hope.
He stood up, then leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "Love you, angel," he said, his voice shaking. "I'll be right back."
The door closed after him.
Back in the bed, Bella frowned. Something was very wrong. Someone was unhappy and in trouble. Someone who loved her very much. A grown man...who was really an angel.
The angel--her angel, her wonderful, handsome angel-husband--was in trouble. And only she could save him.
Just before she slipped away once more, three words that she could no longer speak echoed in her mind:
I'm coming, Castiel.