Fic: Master and Servant (LoM)
Title: Master and Servant
Author: windout
Wordcount: 407
Genre: Gen...mostly. Het if you squint
Fandoms: Life on Mars
Characters/Pairings: Gene Hunt and another charrie. I now ship these two.
Ratings: PG for dark themes
Disclaimer: LOM's not mine. I'm not worthy
A/N: Being foiled by not having Giles in my head, this bunny came up to me at 1 in the morning, smacked me with a sledgehammer and demanded to be written. I had no choice.
Summary: What was going through Gene's mind when Sam Tyler showed up to cause havoc?
There’s a commotion outside, like some new sheriff stomping on his turf, and he can’t have that.
Gene sniffs a bit, and jerks roughly at his lapels. Licks his lips. The conscientious objector hasn’t shut up yet, meaning that Gene’s going to have to do something about it now. His shoulders hunch.
This newcomer’s not settling down, not unlike the others before him. Gene gets them all in the end-doesn’t make it any easier, not by a long shot. He’s been in that position once, longer ago than he cares to remember.
If he’s still some nights, the dust and grit creeps up on him, startles him. He imagines that he’s back home, under a wide, electric blue sky, his wife in his arms. Her hair smells like lilacs.
Quick as it happens though, he’s back in his office, hyperventilating with a lingering feel of soil beneath his fingernails and flowers in his nose. Someone usually checks on him, but he’s fine, really. It’s fine, everything’s fine; get out, you div!
He wants it to end. He wants to think he’d have the courage to do the right thing back then. The only problem is that whenever he’s got the gun in his mouth, finger sweating on the trigger, the lilacs overwhelm him and he can’t do it. The worst thing is that he knows it’s her fault, but he can’t do anything about it. “One more,” she promises, “then you can go home. I just need one more, Gene, then I’ll bring you back.”
It’s always one more. It’s been one more for ten years.
“I’ll bring you back, Gene. This is the one.” The little girl smiles. “His name’s Sam Tyler; do be gentle with him. He looks like so much fun, Gene, don’t you think?”
He doesn’t reply. Gene Hunt doesn’t acknowledge his madness.
“Go meet him. This is the one; I promise, Gene. I’ll take you back home.”
Lilacs burn his eyes and nose, so he lights a cigarette to forget. He’s not going home; he knows it. He’s getting his hopes up anyway, even if it hurts him in the long run, and he can’t have that. So Gene swaggers out of his office, trusting his bravery will smudge out his pain. Sam Tyler looks defiant, like he’s going to fight, but that doesn’t matter.
The test card girl gets them all in the end, just like she got Gene Hunt.
Author: windout
Wordcount: 407
Genre: Gen...mostly. Het if you squint
Fandoms: Life on Mars
Characters/Pairings: Gene Hunt and another charrie. I now ship these two.
Ratings: PG for dark themes
Disclaimer: LOM's not mine. I'm not worthy
A/N: Being foiled by not having Giles in my head, this bunny came up to me at 1 in the morning, smacked me with a sledgehammer and demanded to be written. I had no choice.
Summary: What was going through Gene's mind when Sam Tyler showed up to cause havoc?
There’s a commotion outside, like some new sheriff stomping on his turf, and he can’t have that.
Gene sniffs a bit, and jerks roughly at his lapels. Licks his lips. The conscientious objector hasn’t shut up yet, meaning that Gene’s going to have to do something about it now. His shoulders hunch.
This newcomer’s not settling down, not unlike the others before him. Gene gets them all in the end-doesn’t make it any easier, not by a long shot. He’s been in that position once, longer ago than he cares to remember.
If he’s still some nights, the dust and grit creeps up on him, startles him. He imagines that he’s back home, under a wide, electric blue sky, his wife in his arms. Her hair smells like lilacs.
Quick as it happens though, he’s back in his office, hyperventilating with a lingering feel of soil beneath his fingernails and flowers in his nose. Someone usually checks on him, but he’s fine, really. It’s fine, everything’s fine; get out, you div!
He wants it to end. He wants to think he’d have the courage to do the right thing back then. The only problem is that whenever he’s got the gun in his mouth, finger sweating on the trigger, the lilacs overwhelm him and he can’t do it. The worst thing is that he knows it’s her fault, but he can’t do anything about it. “One more,” she promises, “then you can go home. I just need one more, Gene, then I’ll bring you back.”
It’s always one more. It’s been one more for ten years.
“I’ll bring you back, Gene. This is the one.” The little girl smiles. “His name’s Sam Tyler; do be gentle with him. He looks like so much fun, Gene, don’t you think?”
He doesn’t reply. Gene Hunt doesn’t acknowledge his madness.
“Go meet him. This is the one; I promise, Gene. I’ll take you back home.”
Lilacs burn his eyes and nose, so he lights a cigarette to forget. He’s not going home; he knows it. He’s getting his hopes up anyway, even if it hurts him in the long run, and he can’t have that. So Gene swaggers out of his office, trusting his bravery will smudge out his pain. Sam Tyler looks defiant, like he’s going to fight, but that doesn’t matter.
The test card girl gets them all in the end, just like she got Gene Hunt.