Truth in Fiction
Title: Truth in Fiction
Fandom: Heroes
Rating|Genre: g | family/friendship, het
Characters|Pairing: Noah Bennet | Noah/Sandra
Summary: Noah began a new life when his first wife died; a life he had complete control over…
Word count: 499
Notes: Written for drabble challenge #36, “New” at heroes_contest. When the upcoming themes were posted to the community, I instantly knew that I needed to write something about Noah’s background as revealed in “The Wall”. I feel that seeing him as a writer sort of explains a few things about him. Anyway, here it is now!
It was the best play he had ever written and starred in. Each line was written with the leading lady in mind, and he based his improvisations on her words, smiles and gestures.
Sandra was the oblivious participant in a show, carelessly (or so it had seemed) casted by his superior, and he supposed that an unseen audience somewhere was applauding their performance.
Noah hadn’t thought he could do it at first. It didn’t seem right when Thompson asked it of him, and he didn’t think he had the strength, the skill and the inspiration.
He had been wrong. Once, he had been an amateur actor and a playwright, but there was nothing amateurish about him now. His entire future and everything he had come to believe in depended on the success of this drama.
He had pictured an excellent career before, but life had turned out differently. He had met an aspiring novelist in a class of creative writing, and before he knew it he was married and sold cars to pay the bills, waiting for a breakthrough that never came.
But now? He had left the small theater company he had been writing for when his wife died, thinking that his days as a writer were over.
But now the Company was paying his bills and here he was, on a stage that only he could see.
Noah had always loved writing, for the possibility of becoming someone else, in total control of an alternate reality. Acting in plays written by others was the second best thing, but to be fair, his boss only gave him general directions and left the finer plot points up to him.
Courting a girl, pretending to be a paper salesman, marrying her, talking about having children… it was surprisingly easy. Before the Company found him, he had even discovered that he was pretty damn good at selling overpriced cars to clueless people. So many things in life became easier once they were thought of as parts of a play.
This wasn’t the real Noah. The real Noah was gone (or invisible like Claude?) and now he was re-inventing himself, re-writing himself, from scratch.
But there must be something true in all good pieces of fiction, right? Something of the author’s soul, even if it is hidden under layers and layers of hints, subtexts and brilliant lies?
Sometimes he even convinced himself. Sometimes he doubted his sanity; what was true and what was not true? Who was this Noah Bennet, once reckless, savage and cold in his hatred, now calculated, controlled and burning with desire to protect the innocent?
One day when Sandra said that she loved him he looked into her eyes and found himself wishing that it could be true - that she could love the real him.
But there were some things that had to be hidden, certain plot holes that had to be ignored. Perhaps playing his part to perfection was the closest to reality he could ever come.
Fandom: Heroes
Rating|Genre: g | family/friendship, het
Characters|Pairing: Noah Bennet | Noah/Sandra
Summary: Noah began a new life when his first wife died; a life he had complete control over…
Word count: 499
Notes: Written for drabble challenge #36, “New” at heroes_contest. When the upcoming themes were posted to the community, I instantly knew that I needed to write something about Noah’s background as revealed in “The Wall”. I feel that seeing him as a writer sort of explains a few things about him. Anyway, here it is now!
It was the best play he had ever written and starred in. Each line was written with the leading lady in mind, and he based his improvisations on her words, smiles and gestures.
Sandra was the oblivious participant in a show, carelessly (or so it had seemed) casted by his superior, and he supposed that an unseen audience somewhere was applauding their performance.
Noah hadn’t thought he could do it at first. It didn’t seem right when Thompson asked it of him, and he didn’t think he had the strength, the skill and the inspiration.
He had been wrong. Once, he had been an amateur actor and a playwright, but there was nothing amateurish about him now. His entire future and everything he had come to believe in depended on the success of this drama.
He had pictured an excellent career before, but life had turned out differently. He had met an aspiring novelist in a class of creative writing, and before he knew it he was married and sold cars to pay the bills, waiting for a breakthrough that never came.
But now? He had left the small theater company he had been writing for when his wife died, thinking that his days as a writer were over.
But now the Company was paying his bills and here he was, on a stage that only he could see.
Noah had always loved writing, for the possibility of becoming someone else, in total control of an alternate reality. Acting in plays written by others was the second best thing, but to be fair, his boss only gave him general directions and left the finer plot points up to him.
Courting a girl, pretending to be a paper salesman, marrying her, talking about having children… it was surprisingly easy. Before the Company found him, he had even discovered that he was pretty damn good at selling overpriced cars to clueless people. So many things in life became easier once they were thought of as parts of a play.
This wasn’t the real Noah. The real Noah was gone (or invisible like Claude?) and now he was re-inventing himself, re-writing himself, from scratch.
But there must be something true in all good pieces of fiction, right? Something of the author’s soul, even if it is hidden under layers and layers of hints, subtexts and brilliant lies?
Sometimes he even convinced himself. Sometimes he doubted his sanity; what was true and what was not true? Who was this Noah Bennet, once reckless, savage and cold in his hatred, now calculated, controlled and burning with desire to protect the innocent?
One day when Sandra said that she loved him he looked into her eyes and found himself wishing that it could be true - that she could love the real him.
But there were some things that had to be hidden, certain plot holes that had to be ignored. Perhaps playing his part to perfection was the closest to reality he could ever come.