Not All There, 1/?
Not all there - 1/?
Disclaimer: I do not own either Tin Man or due South.
Other notes: The third of the three scenes I’ve got kicking around in my head. The second and third are related, while the first bears no relationship to the other two.
Current notes: Yes, am working on various essays. -quiet groan- Will finish after have eaten real food. Gummi Bears=/=real food, BTW. Also, I need to make a Tin Man and a The Bill icon.
Ratings/warnings/spoilers: Spoilers for Tin Man, post CotW due South, rated about R-ish. RayK/Fraser
Summary: Sometimes slipping doesn't mean that you fall.
Strangely Here
Not All There: One| Two|
--
It had taken weeks before the entire castle was investigated. The members of the resistance, despite having seen the man break down in front of them, were still almost superstitious about Zero’s chambers. It took Cain turning up to break down the door by force, sometime into the second week, to get people inside.
Zero himself had wanted to come along (had screamed that they shouldn’t try without him, had snarled that there were “uh, traps, yeah! Traps!”, and had at last narrowed his eyes and muttered that Cain shouldn’t go, which rather cemented his going, really), but he was still being held At Her Majesty’s Pleasure in the dungeons. Needless to say, the Queen was not currently pleased with him.
The doors turned out to be thicker and more soundproofed than other rooms’. The young longcoat spy, about 28 and an excellent field agent, or so Cain had been told upon meeting the young man with the cold gray eyes, had actually shivered as he’d looked at it.
“Klaus?”
“…He’d always tell us to leave him at this door.”
Cain frowned.
“Why-”
Klaus shook his head.
“He had a servant. Took one day to break him. A slipper, broken and kept in these rooms.”
Cain didn’t think. He hit the other man.
“Sir?” Klaus managed to splutter, staggering under the sheer force of the blow.
“You left him? You didn’t think to come down here for more than a week!”
“The room was always well-stocked! He LIVES here!”
“He shouldn’t need to!” And Cain didn’t add that this wasn’t living if you were trapped, it was existing, and the difference between the two was astronomical.
Still furious, but a contained fury now, he set to work breaking the door. Zero had hidden the keys somewhere, and they’ gotten lost in all the excitement. After a moment, Klaus joined him silently, head bowed at the knowledge of just how greatly this assignment had skewed his perceptions.
They did not expect to be greeted by a tall man, wearing a longcoat jacket and the outfit worn by palace servants underneath, holding a gun in each hand. Klaus took a step backwards.
“Who are you?” Cain demanded. If this was the servant-slipper, then he should be pleased to find that he wasn’t Zero.
Not angry.
“Where is Zero?”
The words were satin over steel, and Cain blinked.
“You were his servant, right? The one from the Other Side?” he asked, focusing on keeping his voice gentle, like he had done those years ago when his wife was both pregnant and feverish…
Knuckles tightened on the twin weapons, and Cain fought the urge to just charge at the man and disarm him. He was clearly unhinged, but he stood with the ease of one who could use the guns in his hands, and was more than capable of fighting without them.
“My name is Cain, I’m here to help…”
The man blinked.
“Wyatt Cain?”
Cain nodded carefully, warily. The man faltered.
“Zero mentioned you. He said…” a pause, an almost swallow. “He said that your file said you were an honourable man. He told me, before he left, that I would be able to trust you if you came.”
The guns lowered.
“Where is Ray?”
--
He looked so lost. It wasn’t that the man was gaunt - on the contrary, even out of the darkened chambers that Zero had lived in, he was still an imposing figure.
It was the lost expression in his eyes.
Upon speaking more with the man, some things became apparent.
Number one: He was indeed a Slipper, from a place called ‘Canada’. Both Amaho and the Princess DG confirmed this as a real place.
Number two: He called himself ‘Fraser’, although he admitted this was not his given name.
Number three: He would not divulge his given name. Amaho accepted this without a second’s hesitation, and advised Cain to do the same. Cain felt it would be slightly hypocritical of him not to do so anyway. Only his wife had ever actually called him ‘Wyatt’, anyway.
Number four: Cain’s initial analysis had been entirely accurate. The man - Fraser - was unhinged.
Number five: Honestly, as if Zero wasn’t really Zero!
Number six: Although, come to think of it, that would explain why Zero himself would occasionally scream out “Chicago PD!”, amongst other entirely incomprehensible things, in his sleep.
Number seven: Chicago was a city and DG had wanted to go there when she was a little girl because she thought it sounded cool.
Number eight: What if Zero really was this Ray person?
Number nine: Klaus needed to be reminded that he wasn’t undercover anymore.
Number ten: Maybe Cain should have charged at Fraser in the first place anyway. It would have saved so much trouble…
--
“Where is Ray?”
It took them a day. They managed to obtain permission from the Queen (who only agreed after she’d seen the lost look in the man’s eyes for herself). But that in itself didn’t take the whole day.
The man collapsed not too long after the initial questions. The doctor diagnosed him with fatigue and stress and malnourishment (or, as DG explained it quickly to a pre-op Glitch, who had asked: “He’s tired and worried and hungry”), and recommended that he be left in peace until he woke up, and then fed.
It seemed as though he hadn’t slept since that last mission that Zero had gone on.
“Ray…”
--
Zero had his eyes closed, and he was sitting on the floor. Well, that’s what the guard had last seen him doing. By the time Cain reached him, however, he was leaning against a wall, watching. He’d had a haircut since he’d been dragged in, almost comatose. For a brief and endless moment, Cain had almost let Zero die, alone on that floor, but he’d sent the doctors in anyway. The hair was merely flat against his skull now, short and straight; without the flowing sidepart that had seemed practically immovable, he looked less the part of monster.
“If you’ve hurt him, I swear, no metal bars will keep me from destroying you.”
Cain wasn’t quite sure what he should say to that. He had no idea what he should say to the man who stood in front of him, mere metal bars and a painful history keeping them apart.
“Your file said that her name was Adora.”
This was, after all, the first time they’d actually shared a room, just them, since Zero had been taken out of the Suit.
“I’m sorry for what happened to her.”
How could he not know? But there was no lie in his eyes, and Raw had whispered the truth to him.
“Well, what? Are you going to say anything? Say something, dammit!” Zero yelled, striding forward to grab at the bars that kept him in his cage.
“Your friend was sick.”
There was loss and pain and hurt in his eyes now, and it seemed like it couldn’t be hidden, and Cain could almost allow himself to feel sympathy for the face in front of him.
“Where is he?”
Almost.
“He’s stable. Doc said he just needed rest and food.”
“Told him I’d be fine, that I’d be coming home and that we’d both be able to go home at last. Damn fool Mountie, worried himself sick. Y’know, I always thought that was a wazzamathingie. Whosama. Simile,” Zero whispered sadly, sagging against the steel.
“Metaphor?” suggested Cain, surprising himself.
“Yeah. That.” Zero caught Cain’s eye again.
“You get him better, y’hear me?”
Again, there was nothing he could say to that.
--
TBC...
Disclaimer: I do not own either Tin Man or due South.
Other notes: The third of the three scenes I’ve got kicking around in my head. The second and third are related, while the first bears no relationship to the other two.
Current notes: Yes, am working on various essays. -quiet groan- Will finish after have eaten real food. Gummi Bears=/=real food, BTW. Also, I need to make a Tin Man and a The Bill icon.
Ratings/warnings/spoilers: Spoilers for Tin Man, post CotW due South, rated about R-ish. RayK/Fraser
Summary: Sometimes slipping doesn't mean that you fall.
Strangely Here
Not All There: One| Two|
--
It had taken weeks before the entire castle was investigated. The members of the resistance, despite having seen the man break down in front of them, were still almost superstitious about Zero’s chambers. It took Cain turning up to break down the door by force, sometime into the second week, to get people inside.
Zero himself had wanted to come along (had screamed that they shouldn’t try without him, had snarled that there were “uh, traps, yeah! Traps!”, and had at last narrowed his eyes and muttered that Cain shouldn’t go, which rather cemented his going, really), but he was still being held At Her Majesty’s Pleasure in the dungeons. Needless to say, the Queen was not currently pleased with him.
The doors turned out to be thicker and more soundproofed than other rooms’. The young longcoat spy, about 28 and an excellent field agent, or so Cain had been told upon meeting the young man with the cold gray eyes, had actually shivered as he’d looked at it.
“Klaus?”
“…He’d always tell us to leave him at this door.”
Cain frowned.
“Why-”
Klaus shook his head.
“He had a servant. Took one day to break him. A slipper, broken and kept in these rooms.”
Cain didn’t think. He hit the other man.
“Sir?” Klaus managed to splutter, staggering under the sheer force of the blow.
“You left him? You didn’t think to come down here for more than a week!”
“The room was always well-stocked! He LIVES here!”
“He shouldn’t need to!” And Cain didn’t add that this wasn’t living if you were trapped, it was existing, and the difference between the two was astronomical.
Still furious, but a contained fury now, he set to work breaking the door. Zero had hidden the keys somewhere, and they’ gotten lost in all the excitement. After a moment, Klaus joined him silently, head bowed at the knowledge of just how greatly this assignment had skewed his perceptions.
They did not expect to be greeted by a tall man, wearing a longcoat jacket and the outfit worn by palace servants underneath, holding a gun in each hand. Klaus took a step backwards.
“Who are you?” Cain demanded. If this was the servant-slipper, then he should be pleased to find that he wasn’t Zero.
Not angry.
“Where is Zero?”
The words were satin over steel, and Cain blinked.
“You were his servant, right? The one from the Other Side?” he asked, focusing on keeping his voice gentle, like he had done those years ago when his wife was both pregnant and feverish…
Knuckles tightened on the twin weapons, and Cain fought the urge to just charge at the man and disarm him. He was clearly unhinged, but he stood with the ease of one who could use the guns in his hands, and was more than capable of fighting without them.
“My name is Cain, I’m here to help…”
The man blinked.
“Wyatt Cain?”
Cain nodded carefully, warily. The man faltered.
“Zero mentioned you. He said…” a pause, an almost swallow. “He said that your file said you were an honourable man. He told me, before he left, that I would be able to trust you if you came.”
The guns lowered.
“Where is Ray?”
--
He looked so lost. It wasn’t that the man was gaunt - on the contrary, even out of the darkened chambers that Zero had lived in, he was still an imposing figure.
It was the lost expression in his eyes.
Upon speaking more with the man, some things became apparent.
Number one: He was indeed a Slipper, from a place called ‘Canada’. Both Amaho and the Princess DG confirmed this as a real place.
Number two: He called himself ‘Fraser’, although he admitted this was not his given name.
Number three: He would not divulge his given name. Amaho accepted this without a second’s hesitation, and advised Cain to do the same. Cain felt it would be slightly hypocritical of him not to do so anyway. Only his wife had ever actually called him ‘Wyatt’, anyway.
Number four: Cain’s initial analysis had been entirely accurate. The man - Fraser - was unhinged.
Number five: Honestly, as if Zero wasn’t really Zero!
Number six: Although, come to think of it, that would explain why Zero himself would occasionally scream out “Chicago PD!”, amongst other entirely incomprehensible things, in his sleep.
Number seven: Chicago was a city and DG had wanted to go there when she was a little girl because she thought it sounded cool.
Number eight: What if Zero really was this Ray person?
Number nine: Klaus needed to be reminded that he wasn’t undercover anymore.
Number ten: Maybe Cain should have charged at Fraser in the first place anyway. It would have saved so much trouble…
--
“Where is Ray?”
It took them a day. They managed to obtain permission from the Queen (who only agreed after she’d seen the lost look in the man’s eyes for herself). But that in itself didn’t take the whole day.
The man collapsed not too long after the initial questions. The doctor diagnosed him with fatigue and stress and malnourishment (or, as DG explained it quickly to a pre-op Glitch, who had asked: “He’s tired and worried and hungry”), and recommended that he be left in peace until he woke up, and then fed.
It seemed as though he hadn’t slept since that last mission that Zero had gone on.
“Ray…”
--
Zero had his eyes closed, and he was sitting on the floor. Well, that’s what the guard had last seen him doing. By the time Cain reached him, however, he was leaning against a wall, watching. He’d had a haircut since he’d been dragged in, almost comatose. For a brief and endless moment, Cain had almost let Zero die, alone on that floor, but he’d sent the doctors in anyway. The hair was merely flat against his skull now, short and straight; without the flowing sidepart that had seemed practically immovable, he looked less the part of monster.
“If you’ve hurt him, I swear, no metal bars will keep me from destroying you.”
Cain wasn’t quite sure what he should say to that. He had no idea what he should say to the man who stood in front of him, mere metal bars and a painful history keeping them apart.
“Your file said that her name was Adora.”
This was, after all, the first time they’d actually shared a room, just them, since Zero had been taken out of the Suit.
“I’m sorry for what happened to her.”
How could he not know? But there was no lie in his eyes, and Raw had whispered the truth to him.
“Well, what? Are you going to say anything? Say something, dammit!” Zero yelled, striding forward to grab at the bars that kept him in his cage.
“Your friend was sick.”
There was loss and pain and hurt in his eyes now, and it seemed like it couldn’t be hidden, and Cain could almost allow himself to feel sympathy for the face in front of him.
“Where is he?”
Almost.
“He’s stable. Doc said he just needed rest and food.”
“Told him I’d be fine, that I’d be coming home and that we’d both be able to go home at last. Damn fool Mountie, worried himself sick. Y’know, I always thought that was a wazzamathingie. Whosama. Simile,” Zero whispered sadly, sagging against the steel.
“Metaphor?” suggested Cain, surprising himself.
“Yeah. That.” Zero caught Cain’s eye again.
“You get him better, y’hear me?”
Again, there was nothing he could say to that.
--
TBC...