On The Other Side
Title: See You On The Other Side (1-shot)
Author: AceCee
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Sept 7th-9th
Characters: Reid, Luke
Warnings: Multiple character death
Words: 1563
Disclaimer : I wish. Except I’d be embarrassed to have my name tied to this travesty.
Summary: Reid arrives on the other side to find an unexpected familiar face.
Reid Oliver remembers dying. He remembers the act of it, if not how it felt anyway.
At first, it’s just like in the stories - his life plays out before his eyes before all he can see is a blur and a great flask of light.
But where he ends up?
Yeah, he’s never heard of anything like this before.
It’s a living room of some sort. It’s warm, homey, and he’s pretty damned sure he’s never seen it before. The thumping sound of feet flying down a flight of stairs has him turning, only to find his arms fun of blonde.
“You’re here! I thought you’d never get here!”
He doesn’t move for a moment because he is suddenly warm and whole and everything is perfect even if he has no idea what the hell is going on. He plies the body away from him softly and is shocked.
“Luke?” No, no, no, no, no Luke is alive and well, and breathing and heartbeating and not dead.
But in front of him, brown eyes sparkling, Luke is watching him like an angel delivered. Luke brushes a hand down the side of his face.
“Hey now. It’s okay. Breathe. Reid, everything is fine.” His tone is hushed and comforting.
“I’m...dead?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re...”
“Also dead.”
“What? How? No! I saw you! You were there beside me, you kissed me!”
“I remember.” Luke bites his lip and looks a little broken for a second and the hole in Reid’s chest aches. “That was a long time ago Reid.”
“That was minutes ago!”
Luke smiles, and the ache subsides. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I...am confused.” He looked around at the room once more, and suddenly saw how it was all inexplicably Luke and wonders how he didn’t just know this first time he saw it. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long. Forever.”
Reid tossed him a glare. “Now you’re just doing it on purpose.”
“Time works differently here.” Luke shrugged. “Both answers are correct.”
“How did you-” Reid almost can’t make himself ask. “Why are you here?”
“I died.”
“Before me?”
“I was there when you died, Reid.” Luke rolled his eyes.
“Don’t give me that look! You aren’t exactly being a fountain of information you know!”
Luke grabbed his hand and lead him to the couch, pushing him to sit down. They sat as close as they could without being a part of one another. Luke rested his head on Reid’s shoulder.
“Luke Snyder passed away fifty four years, three months and six days after Reid Oliver.”
“Are you going to keep referring to yourself in the third person?”
His answer came in the form of a smack across the chest. “You wanna hear this story or not?”
“Please, continue.”
“I died,” They both swallowed hard. “in my bed, in my home, because I refused to die in a hospital. My kidneys finally said enough’s enough. I wasn’t alone.”
Reid grip tightened around Luke’s shoulder. “Fifty four years...that’s a long time.”
“For some.”
“You were happy?”
“Sometimes. I loved. I was loved. I helped, I hurt. I lived. And it was good.” Luke’s hand began to rub over the place Reid’s heart should be. “But I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
Luke laughed. “No you didn’t. You just got here.”
“When I lived. Before I knew you, I missed you.”
“That...was sappy.” Luke shook his head. “Death has made you soft Dr. Oliver.”
“Fifty-four years, and I’m just now getting here?”
Luke pulled back and watched Reid’s face for a moment. “You didn’t want to be dead.”
“Does anybody?”
“You didn’t want to leave me.”
“I had just told you I loved you and you didn’t want me to go, you kept telling me about the life we were going to have the things we were going to do and I-”
“Shhhh.” Luke placed his thumb over Reid’s lip. “It’s okay now. We’re here now.” And finally finally Luke pressed his lips softly against Reid’s and the inner twisting and turning he’d been feeling melted away. “You didn’t let go. You held on to me so tight, you couldn’t move. Move on. Move up. I could always feel you with me but I didn’t know how tightly you had me gripped until...”
“Until you died.”
“When I died, you got lost for a bit. But you found me. I knew you would.”
“I’ll always find you.”
“Kiss me again?” They kiss, and once again, it’s soft and reverent. “I missed this.”
“Where are we?”
“Heaven? Summerland? Here, there, everywhere?” Luke laughed. “I have no idea. But I like it, now that you’re here.”
“What do we do here?”
“Anything we want. It’s just you, and me and all the time in the world.”
“Just us?”
“There are others, but...it’s not like being alive. We don’t visit each other, no one gets interrupted, there’s no work. But you’re never bored. You’re just...content to be. The people who you were attached to you know where you are and that you are happy. You can see them if you want.”
“Content? So, no fighting?”
“Oh, there’ll be fighting.” Luke grinned. “You wouldn’t be happy with out it.”
They sit quietly, but Reid’s mind is running a million miles a minute, and he is still the opposite of calm and as nice as it is he is still not okay with all of this.
“It’ll get better. Quieter. I promise.” Luke’s voice came without his lips moving.
“Can you read my mind now too?”
“I didn’t have to. I may not know much about you, but I do know you. The what make’s you Reid? Yeah, that I have always known.”
“The important parts.”
“You can ask me anything you know. I may not have all the answers, but I’ll help as much as I can.”
There are thousands upon thousands of questions threatening to spill through his lips, but only one is strong enough to make it through.
“Did you have a good life?” The question seems to shock Luke, and Reid feels a nip of victory to be the one to throw him off balance for once since he had gotten here. It was never a good idea to let a Snyder keep the upper hand for to long. “I mean, after an appropriate amount of gut wrenching sorrow and grief, did you...you moved on.”
“I fell in love a time or two. I was loved back. I had a child. A little girl, her name was Sarah...she had beautiful blue eyes, and blonde hair. She was 43 when I died.” Luke frowned before looking back at Reid.
“So life was good to you.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Luke gave a little grin, as if laughing at a secret joke. “Life for Luke Snyder is never easy...I almost gave up a few times along the way. I remember once, god, I must have been...thirty? Thirty five? Somewhere around there - I was sitting in a bar. Sarah was just a new born, and she was in the hospital. They didn’t think she was going to make it. I sat there for over an hour with the glass in my hand, and the bottle right next to me. I wanted it so bad. And then, just before the glass touched my lips I heard it, clear as glass-”
“I never thought you were incredibly bright Mr. Snyder, but I never thought you could be this stupid.”
It was hard to tell who looked more surprised, Luke or Reid. Luke kept his story going.
“It was as if you were right there. For a second I thought I saw you...” He swallowed. “Then the moment passed, and you were gone. But I stopped feeling alone. I put the glass and the bottle down, left a more than generous tip and spent the next 48 hours at my daughters bedside.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You remember something.”
“Not really. I just...I knew.”
“You were with me. You saved me, again. My hero.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“I spent a lot of my life mad at you. For dying. For leaving me by myself so soon after we had found each other. It took me years to see you as the hero of the story.”
“I’m sorry.” Luke pressed his forehead to Reid’s.
“Don’t be sorry.” He whispered against his lips. “It’s long over now.” He paused, gripping Reid tighter. “I gave my heart away, I couldn’t shut myself off from love -
“There’s to much of it in you for that.”
“But no one ever really owned me like you did. I wasn’t surprised to see you here.”
Reid nods like he has any idea what Luke means by that. “What now? Do we just sit here?”
“Is that what you want to do?”
“Stop answering my questions with other questions. Its aggravating.”
“We, Reid Oliver,” Luke stood, extending his arm to grasp Reid’s hand and help him off the couch. “Have both a bed, and all the privacy we could ever hope for.”
“Continuation?”
Luke stared deep into Reid’s eyes, and slid his hand up and down his arm, feeling his skin (Reid’s skin) beneath his palm. He wants this picture in his brain burned from here til the end of eternity. “I never thought I’d be able to do this again.”
Reid gives him a questioning look, alarmed to see tears swimming in Luke’s eyes. Luke just shook his head, and like magic, the tears and the sad thoughts were gone.
Luke lead him to the stairs. He stopped abruptly. “I love you. I’m not sure if I made that clear yet.”
Reid pulled Luke to him, and they shared their first real, passionate, hair pulling, shirt grasping kiss since...since well before they had died.
“I love you so much.”
“Show me.” Luke smiled. “I’m done waiting.”
Author: AceCee
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Sept 7th-9th
Characters: Reid, Luke
Warnings: Multiple character death
Words: 1563
Disclaimer : I wish. Except I’d be embarrassed to have my name tied to this travesty.
Summary: Reid arrives on the other side to find an unexpected familiar face.
Reid Oliver remembers dying. He remembers the act of it, if not how it felt anyway.
At first, it’s just like in the stories - his life plays out before his eyes before all he can see is a blur and a great flask of light.
But where he ends up?
Yeah, he’s never heard of anything like this before.
It’s a living room of some sort. It’s warm, homey, and he’s pretty damned sure he’s never seen it before. The thumping sound of feet flying down a flight of stairs has him turning, only to find his arms fun of blonde.
“You’re here! I thought you’d never get here!”
He doesn’t move for a moment because he is suddenly warm and whole and everything is perfect even if he has no idea what the hell is going on. He plies the body away from him softly and is shocked.
“Luke?” No, no, no, no, no Luke is alive and well, and breathing and heartbeating and not dead.
But in front of him, brown eyes sparkling, Luke is watching him like an angel delivered. Luke brushes a hand down the side of his face.
“Hey now. It’s okay. Breathe. Reid, everything is fine.” His tone is hushed and comforting.
“I’m...dead?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re...”
“Also dead.”
“What? How? No! I saw you! You were there beside me, you kissed me!”
“I remember.” Luke bites his lip and looks a little broken for a second and the hole in Reid’s chest aches. “That was a long time ago Reid.”
“That was minutes ago!”
Luke smiles, and the ache subsides. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I...am confused.” He looked around at the room once more, and suddenly saw how it was all inexplicably Luke and wonders how he didn’t just know this first time he saw it. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long. Forever.”
Reid tossed him a glare. “Now you’re just doing it on purpose.”
“Time works differently here.” Luke shrugged. “Both answers are correct.”
“How did you-” Reid almost can’t make himself ask. “Why are you here?”
“I died.”
“Before me?”
“I was there when you died, Reid.” Luke rolled his eyes.
“Don’t give me that look! You aren’t exactly being a fountain of information you know!”
Luke grabbed his hand and lead him to the couch, pushing him to sit down. They sat as close as they could without being a part of one another. Luke rested his head on Reid’s shoulder.
“Luke Snyder passed away fifty four years, three months and six days after Reid Oliver.”
“Are you going to keep referring to yourself in the third person?”
His answer came in the form of a smack across the chest. “You wanna hear this story or not?”
“Please, continue.”
“I died,” They both swallowed hard. “in my bed, in my home, because I refused to die in a hospital. My kidneys finally said enough’s enough. I wasn’t alone.”
Reid grip tightened around Luke’s shoulder. “Fifty four years...that’s a long time.”
“For some.”
“You were happy?”
“Sometimes. I loved. I was loved. I helped, I hurt. I lived. And it was good.” Luke’s hand began to rub over the place Reid’s heart should be. “But I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
Luke laughed. “No you didn’t. You just got here.”
“When I lived. Before I knew you, I missed you.”
“That...was sappy.” Luke shook his head. “Death has made you soft Dr. Oliver.”
“Fifty-four years, and I’m just now getting here?”
Luke pulled back and watched Reid’s face for a moment. “You didn’t want to be dead.”
“Does anybody?”
“You didn’t want to leave me.”
“I had just told you I loved you and you didn’t want me to go, you kept telling me about the life we were going to have the things we were going to do and I-”
“Shhhh.” Luke placed his thumb over Reid’s lip. “It’s okay now. We’re here now.” And finally finally Luke pressed his lips softly against Reid’s and the inner twisting and turning he’d been feeling melted away. “You didn’t let go. You held on to me so tight, you couldn’t move. Move on. Move up. I could always feel you with me but I didn’t know how tightly you had me gripped until...”
“Until you died.”
“When I died, you got lost for a bit. But you found me. I knew you would.”
“I’ll always find you.”
“Kiss me again?” They kiss, and once again, it’s soft and reverent. “I missed this.”
“Where are we?”
“Heaven? Summerland? Here, there, everywhere?” Luke laughed. “I have no idea. But I like it, now that you’re here.”
“What do we do here?”
“Anything we want. It’s just you, and me and all the time in the world.”
“Just us?”
“There are others, but...it’s not like being alive. We don’t visit each other, no one gets interrupted, there’s no work. But you’re never bored. You’re just...content to be. The people who you were attached to you know where you are and that you are happy. You can see them if you want.”
“Content? So, no fighting?”
“Oh, there’ll be fighting.” Luke grinned. “You wouldn’t be happy with out it.”
They sit quietly, but Reid’s mind is running a million miles a minute, and he is still the opposite of calm and as nice as it is he is still not okay with all of this.
“It’ll get better. Quieter. I promise.” Luke’s voice came without his lips moving.
“Can you read my mind now too?”
“I didn’t have to. I may not know much about you, but I do know you. The what make’s you Reid? Yeah, that I have always known.”
“The important parts.”
“You can ask me anything you know. I may not have all the answers, but I’ll help as much as I can.”
There are thousands upon thousands of questions threatening to spill through his lips, but only one is strong enough to make it through.
“Did you have a good life?” The question seems to shock Luke, and Reid feels a nip of victory to be the one to throw him off balance for once since he had gotten here. It was never a good idea to let a Snyder keep the upper hand for to long. “I mean, after an appropriate amount of gut wrenching sorrow and grief, did you...you moved on.”
“I fell in love a time or two. I was loved back. I had a child. A little girl, her name was Sarah...she had beautiful blue eyes, and blonde hair. She was 43 when I died.” Luke frowned before looking back at Reid.
“So life was good to you.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Luke gave a little grin, as if laughing at a secret joke. “Life for Luke Snyder is never easy...I almost gave up a few times along the way. I remember once, god, I must have been...thirty? Thirty five? Somewhere around there - I was sitting in a bar. Sarah was just a new born, and she was in the hospital. They didn’t think she was going to make it. I sat there for over an hour with the glass in my hand, and the bottle right next to me. I wanted it so bad. And then, just before the glass touched my lips I heard it, clear as glass-”
“I never thought you were incredibly bright Mr. Snyder, but I never thought you could be this stupid.”
It was hard to tell who looked more surprised, Luke or Reid. Luke kept his story going.
“It was as if you were right there. For a second I thought I saw you...” He swallowed. “Then the moment passed, and you were gone. But I stopped feeling alone. I put the glass and the bottle down, left a more than generous tip and spent the next 48 hours at my daughters bedside.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You remember something.”
“Not really. I just...I knew.”
“You were with me. You saved me, again. My hero.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“I spent a lot of my life mad at you. For dying. For leaving me by myself so soon after we had found each other. It took me years to see you as the hero of the story.”
“I’m sorry.” Luke pressed his forehead to Reid’s.
“Don’t be sorry.” He whispered against his lips. “It’s long over now.” He paused, gripping Reid tighter. “I gave my heart away, I couldn’t shut myself off from love -
“There’s to much of it in you for that.”
“But no one ever really owned me like you did. I wasn’t surprised to see you here.”
Reid nods like he has any idea what Luke means by that. “What now? Do we just sit here?”
“Is that what you want to do?”
“Stop answering my questions with other questions. Its aggravating.”
“We, Reid Oliver,” Luke stood, extending his arm to grasp Reid’s hand and help him off the couch. “Have both a bed, and all the privacy we could ever hope for.”
“Continuation?”
Luke stared deep into Reid’s eyes, and slid his hand up and down his arm, feeling his skin (Reid’s skin) beneath his palm. He wants this picture in his brain burned from here til the end of eternity. “I never thought I’d be able to do this again.”
Reid gives him a questioning look, alarmed to see tears swimming in Luke’s eyes. Luke just shook his head, and like magic, the tears and the sad thoughts were gone.
Luke lead him to the stairs. He stopped abruptly. “I love you. I’m not sure if I made that clear yet.”
Reid pulled Luke to him, and they shared their first real, passionate, hair pulling, shirt grasping kiss since...since well before they had died.
“I love you so much.”
“Show me.” Luke smiled. “I’m done waiting.”