Warehouse 13 Ficlet: Fighting Temptation
Title: Fighting Temptation
Fandom: Warehouse 13
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Pete Lattimer, Myka Bering.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Pete knows than even though he hasn’t taken a drink in years, he’ll never stop being an alcoholic, and the temptation to fall back into the bottle will never really go away, but some days are always going to be harder to get through than others.
Word Count: 636
Written For: clare_dragonfly’s prompt ‘Warehouse 13, Pete Lattimer, Rum and Coca-Cola,’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Warehouse 13, or the characters. They belong to their creators.
The worst thing about Pete’s job, and the worst thing about his whole life, is that there’s no way he can permanently avoid being in the presence of alcohol. As an alcoholic, that’s one of the toughest challenges there is, because the craving for it never goes away. It’s a temptation that has to be resisted every second of every minute of every day, and no matter what anyone says, it doesn’t get any easier over time. Especially not when he has to go into bars, or clubs, or restaurants, or Hell, even the supermarket or the corner grocery store. Booze is available everywhere and at all hours of the day and night. Small wonder so many people get hooked on it.
It would be the easiest thing in the world to fall back into old habits and right back into the bottle, but that’s the one thing Pete knows he can never afford to do. Not a single sip of beer, not a spoonful of dessert laced with brandy, not even a chocolate liqueur must pass his lips. That’s the deal he made with himself when he quit drinking and attended his first AA meeting.
Some people might sneer, but it helps to spend time with other people dealing with the exact same cravings that gnaw at him twenty-four seven. Makes him feel less alone and helps him to stay strong when the world conspires against him, shoving temptation in his face at every turn. Pete Lattimer is not gonna backslide so much as a millimetre. Not ever. He doesn’t want to become the man he used to be, not again. He doesn’t want his friends to ever see that side of him. They never knew the old Pete, and they wouldn’t like him any more than the new Pete does.
That’s why stepping into this bar is such an exercise in willpower. The fumes alone are almost enough to get a man high, but breathing isn’t optional, no matter what he might wish, and he’s no mouth-breather either. Not that he thinks it would make the situation much easier to endure when the percentage of alcohol molecules floating through the air is such that he can almost taste it. But then he catches a single whiff as he passes a table… and it almost does him in. He knows that aroma like an old friend, rich and dark and sweet, and it hits him like a sucker punch to the solar plexus, knocking all the wind out of his sails with a surge of pure want. Rum and coke was Amanda’s drink of choice more than his own, although if he’s honest, he never met a bottle he wouldn’t happily cosy up to. Booze is booze, no matter what it says on the label and one kind will get you drunk as easily as another, if you knock back enough of it.
A warm hand touches his arm. “You okay?” It’s Myka, of course.
“Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” They both know it’s a lie, but it’s a necessary one; if he tells himself often enough, maybe he can make it the truth through sheer force of will. Even if it doesn’t work it’s worth a try. Anyway, they have a job to do, and Pete isn’t leaving until they’ve done it. He’s fought temptation before and won; he can do it again, as many times as he has to. “Come on, let’s get this done.”
“Right behind you, partner. I’ve got your back.”
And Pete knows she doesn’t just mean for the job at hand; she’s there for him whatever, because that’s what partners do, but right at this moment he’s never felt more grateful to have Myka Bering on his side. She’s his anchor. He needs her more than she’ll ever know.
The End
Fandom: Warehouse 13
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Pete Lattimer, Myka Bering.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Pete knows than even though he hasn’t taken a drink in years, he’ll never stop being an alcoholic, and the temptation to fall back into the bottle will never really go away, but some days are always going to be harder to get through than others.
Word Count: 636
Written For: clare_dragonfly’s prompt ‘Warehouse 13, Pete Lattimer, Rum and Coca-Cola,’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Warehouse 13, or the characters. They belong to their creators.
The worst thing about Pete’s job, and the worst thing about his whole life, is that there’s no way he can permanently avoid being in the presence of alcohol. As an alcoholic, that’s one of the toughest challenges there is, because the craving for it never goes away. It’s a temptation that has to be resisted every second of every minute of every day, and no matter what anyone says, it doesn’t get any easier over time. Especially not when he has to go into bars, or clubs, or restaurants, or Hell, even the supermarket or the corner grocery store. Booze is available everywhere and at all hours of the day and night. Small wonder so many people get hooked on it.
It would be the easiest thing in the world to fall back into old habits and right back into the bottle, but that’s the one thing Pete knows he can never afford to do. Not a single sip of beer, not a spoonful of dessert laced with brandy, not even a chocolate liqueur must pass his lips. That’s the deal he made with himself when he quit drinking and attended his first AA meeting.
Some people might sneer, but it helps to spend time with other people dealing with the exact same cravings that gnaw at him twenty-four seven. Makes him feel less alone and helps him to stay strong when the world conspires against him, shoving temptation in his face at every turn. Pete Lattimer is not gonna backslide so much as a millimetre. Not ever. He doesn’t want to become the man he used to be, not again. He doesn’t want his friends to ever see that side of him. They never knew the old Pete, and they wouldn’t like him any more than the new Pete does.
That’s why stepping into this bar is such an exercise in willpower. The fumes alone are almost enough to get a man high, but breathing isn’t optional, no matter what he might wish, and he’s no mouth-breather either. Not that he thinks it would make the situation much easier to endure when the percentage of alcohol molecules floating through the air is such that he can almost taste it. But then he catches a single whiff as he passes a table… and it almost does him in. He knows that aroma like an old friend, rich and dark and sweet, and it hits him like a sucker punch to the solar plexus, knocking all the wind out of his sails with a surge of pure want. Rum and coke was Amanda’s drink of choice more than his own, although if he’s honest, he never met a bottle he wouldn’t happily cosy up to. Booze is booze, no matter what it says on the label and one kind will get you drunk as easily as another, if you knock back enough of it.
A warm hand touches his arm. “You okay?” It’s Myka, of course.
“Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” They both know it’s a lie, but it’s a necessary one; if he tells himself often enough, maybe he can make it the truth through sheer force of will. Even if it doesn’t work it’s worth a try. Anyway, they have a job to do, and Pete isn’t leaving until they’ve done it. He’s fought temptation before and won; he can do it again, as many times as he has to. “Come on, let’s get this done.”
“Right behind you, partner. I’ve got your back.”
And Pete knows she doesn’t just mean for the job at hand; she’s there for him whatever, because that’s what partners do, but right at this moment he’s never felt more grateful to have Myka Bering on his side. She’s his anchor. He needs her more than she’ll ever know.
The End