crossover fic: Babylon 5/BSG, Certain Slant of Light
Disclaimer: not mine
rating: g.
fandoms: BSG/Babylon 5.
characters: Valen, Sam Anders
Spoilers: oh baby oh baby. Season four of Babylon 5, I'm sorry I don't know the episode title. lizardbeth_j says War Without End was season three of Babylon 5, actually. Season three of BSG, specifically, Maelstrom, which is an UNAIRED episode as of yet.
length: 800 words.
Notes: y'can blame this on lizardbeth_j. Title is... um, I closed the Norton Anthology of Poetry already. It came from some poem.
Certain Slant of Light
by ALC Punk!
His name had been something other than Valen, once. He remembers that in his dreams, remembers it when he walks in the gardens, watching the designs he will walk amongst in a later time (earlier than now). And he wonders if this was how she felt, still feels occasionally, this disconnect between the self-that-was and the self-that-is-now.
It's not an answer he expects from the young man in front of him.
He's human, blue-eyed and dark-haired, skin pale from too long in space with too little planet-side sunlight. The clothing isn't familiar, but it appears practical.
Two of the Rangers found him on a training mission, his ship had crashed in a ravine. Without them, he would have been dead. Or perhaps not. Valen senses a deep well of determination from the young man. The fight to live. To stand on the precipice and jump, never expecting death. Sometimes, he remembers how that feels.
Rested and awake, the man stands there, regarding him across the basalt floor. He seems to ignore the guards flanking him, Rangers fresh from training who could kill him in three seconds or less. One threatening move is the only thing it would take, yet he stands there with an almost casual arrogance, a self-assurance that bespeaks confidence built upon experience. "I'm Sam Anders," he says, breaking the silence. His voice is rusty and he clears his throat, "I'm looking for someone."
When he says nothing else, Valen lets his curiosity get the better of him. "Who?"
Satisfaction flickers through the man's eyes, then is gone a moment later as he replies, "My wife. She was lost somewhere in the vicinity of your planet. I was hoping you might have seen her."
And, there, Valen catches an emotion from the man, a desperation and pain that cuts to the bone. Whoever this woman is, she means much to him. Whether good or bad, though... "And if we have?"
"Please. If you've seen Kara--we lost contact with her nearly a week ago."
"You're human," Valen says, and it's not abrupt though it feels like it. "What makes you think we have any interest in your troubles?"
"If you don't, then why the frak am I still here?" challenges Anders, eyes almost angry. "Why the frak did your people pull me from that ravine and care for me so that I lived?"
"Perhaps that's simply our way."
"Bullshit."
Valen almost smiles at the fire in the younger man. In his early days, he, too, would have called his bluff. It's rare these days that anyone challenges his words, rarer still that he finds himself allowing sentiment to color his responses. "What do you hope to gain by finding this woman?"
"I love her." The answer was succinct, the emotion in his eyes real.
"You speak as though love gives you every answer in the world."
"Doesn't it?" A soft laugh escapes Sam Anders and he looks away, "Love was never enough, with Kara, but it's all I have. And we..." his hand went to the small pendant hanging from a black cord around his neck. "Please."
The truth, then. Valen sighs and tries to offer him solace as he dashes his hopes, "We have seen no sign of your wife, but she may have been picked up by a passing ship." No need to mention that the Shadow have spies operating, even now. And something with new technology would certainly catch their eye.
"Damn." A sigh escapes Anders and he slumps a moment before straightening again and nodding, "All right. Can you help me contact our main fleet?" A wry smile twists his lips, "Or at the least, help me fix the ship I came in? Chief warned me the drive might do that, but I didn't exactly listen."
"My people are working on it." Coming to a decision, Valen steps forward and gestures, "Come with me. Tell me about your people. They are... nothing I have seen."
"Thanks." Anders shoots him a glance, obviously curious, "Not to pry, but what is your name?"
Out of ear-shot of the other Rangers, Valen has but a moment to consider before he replies. "I am called Valen, now."
"Now?" The man's ear is well-trained, catching the prevarication. "And before?"
"I'm afraid the man I was before no longer exists."
Silence for a moment, and then Sam Anders slowly nods, "Life does that. You go from being a pro-pyramid player to a resistance leader. It's funny that way."
Intriguing, Valen decides as they enter his quarters. Obviously, this conversation may take a while. Ringing for tea and something edible, he settles down and begins questioning Anders on his people.
There will be time to consider a course of action once he has more of a picture of the facts.
And Valen considers that Jeffrey Sinclair would have approved.
-f-
rating: g.
fandoms: BSG/Babylon 5.
characters: Valen, Sam Anders
Spoilers: oh baby oh baby. Season four of Babylon 5, I'm sorry I don't know the episode title. lizardbeth_j says War Without End was season three of Babylon 5, actually. Season three of BSG, specifically, Maelstrom, which is an UNAIRED episode as of yet.
length: 800 words.
Notes: y'can blame this on lizardbeth_j. Title is... um, I closed the Norton Anthology of Poetry already. It came from some poem.
Certain Slant of Light
by ALC Punk!
His name had been something other than Valen, once. He remembers that in his dreams, remembers it when he walks in the gardens, watching the designs he will walk amongst in a later time (earlier than now). And he wonders if this was how she felt, still feels occasionally, this disconnect between the self-that-was and the self-that-is-now.
It's not an answer he expects from the young man in front of him.
He's human, blue-eyed and dark-haired, skin pale from too long in space with too little planet-side sunlight. The clothing isn't familiar, but it appears practical.
Two of the Rangers found him on a training mission, his ship had crashed in a ravine. Without them, he would have been dead. Or perhaps not. Valen senses a deep well of determination from the young man. The fight to live. To stand on the precipice and jump, never expecting death. Sometimes, he remembers how that feels.
Rested and awake, the man stands there, regarding him across the basalt floor. He seems to ignore the guards flanking him, Rangers fresh from training who could kill him in three seconds or less. One threatening move is the only thing it would take, yet he stands there with an almost casual arrogance, a self-assurance that bespeaks confidence built upon experience. "I'm Sam Anders," he says, breaking the silence. His voice is rusty and he clears his throat, "I'm looking for someone."
When he says nothing else, Valen lets his curiosity get the better of him. "Who?"
Satisfaction flickers through the man's eyes, then is gone a moment later as he replies, "My wife. She was lost somewhere in the vicinity of your planet. I was hoping you might have seen her."
And, there, Valen catches an emotion from the man, a desperation and pain that cuts to the bone. Whoever this woman is, she means much to him. Whether good or bad, though... "And if we have?"
"Please. If you've seen Kara--we lost contact with her nearly a week ago."
"You're human," Valen says, and it's not abrupt though it feels like it. "What makes you think we have any interest in your troubles?"
"If you don't, then why the frak am I still here?" challenges Anders, eyes almost angry. "Why the frak did your people pull me from that ravine and care for me so that I lived?"
"Perhaps that's simply our way."
"Bullshit."
Valen almost smiles at the fire in the younger man. In his early days, he, too, would have called his bluff. It's rare these days that anyone challenges his words, rarer still that he finds himself allowing sentiment to color his responses. "What do you hope to gain by finding this woman?"
"I love her." The answer was succinct, the emotion in his eyes real.
"You speak as though love gives you every answer in the world."
"Doesn't it?" A soft laugh escapes Sam Anders and he looks away, "Love was never enough, with Kara, but it's all I have. And we..." his hand went to the small pendant hanging from a black cord around his neck. "Please."
The truth, then. Valen sighs and tries to offer him solace as he dashes his hopes, "We have seen no sign of your wife, but she may have been picked up by a passing ship." No need to mention that the Shadow have spies operating, even now. And something with new technology would certainly catch their eye.
"Damn." A sigh escapes Anders and he slumps a moment before straightening again and nodding, "All right. Can you help me contact our main fleet?" A wry smile twists his lips, "Or at the least, help me fix the ship I came in? Chief warned me the drive might do that, but I didn't exactly listen."
"My people are working on it." Coming to a decision, Valen steps forward and gestures, "Come with me. Tell me about your people. They are... nothing I have seen."
"Thanks." Anders shoots him a glance, obviously curious, "Not to pry, but what is your name?"
Out of ear-shot of the other Rangers, Valen has but a moment to consider before he replies. "I am called Valen, now."
"Now?" The man's ear is well-trained, catching the prevarication. "And before?"
"I'm afraid the man I was before no longer exists."
Silence for a moment, and then Sam Anders slowly nods, "Life does that. You go from being a pro-pyramid player to a resistance leader. It's funny that way."
Intriguing, Valen decides as they enter his quarters. Obviously, this conversation may take a while. Ringing for tea and something edible, he settles down and begins questioning Anders on his people.
There will be time to consider a course of action once he has more of a picture of the facts.
And Valen considers that Jeffrey Sinclair would have approved.
-f-