(no subject)
Title: Illumination In Unnatural Light.
Character/Pairing: Ando/Daphne, Matt/Daphne.
Warnings: Spoilers for all aired episodes.
Rating: G.
Summary: Daphne craves freedom even when she apparently already has it. Written for heroes_contest.
Author Notes: Um, sorry, Matt. :/
It's been years since Danko's men shot her. The scars make her skin uneven, pale and thin in places around her collarbone. In the first years after Nathan was prosecuted for human rights infringement, she wore them proudly, the marks signifying a freedom she'd never experienced before in her life - not before manifesting, or after it.
That she lives with Matt is a given. The apartment is cramped and damp, but they stay. They could afford better, much better, with their slices of the compensation paid out by a shamed government, but Matt says this is their home; this is the place his mind's eye shows him. They settle into a routine quick enough; Matt takes her suggestion and moves into the field of private investigation, and she finds work wherever she can, though nothing really holds her attention. Molly lives between them and Mohinder's new apartment, and the fact that Matt has joint custody with an Indian scientist hardly phases Daphne at all. Strange, after all, is what she does.
She knows that at some point they're going to have a baby - Daniella, named after her grandmother - it's another of Matt's certainties, and it's viewed as such. It's not the romantic notion of having children, it just is, it just will be.
She loves Matt. She does. But it's a small spark between them, one produced after hours of rubbing kindling together. Nothing can ever be spontaneous because every step has already been marked out for them.
-
Tokyo reminds her of her former life as a magpie, when she took anything that caught her eye, that shone or sparkled. Those days she moved fast, lived fast, with nothing to catch her if she fell and no destination planned. She's missing those days more and more now.
“Where do you want to go?” The streets are crowded and frenetic; Ando holds her hand tightly, knowing that otherwise she'd happily get swept away into the chaos.
She laughs, craning her neck to gaze up at the glittering skyscrapers, every part of this world lit up but for a patch of inky black sky. It's eleven in the morning in New York; with Matt out on a job and Molly at school, she could stay to watch the dawn break over Mount Fuji.
“I don't care,” she replies breathlessly, and Ando steps close, the sea of people curving around the two of them, and follows her gaze. His other hand comes to rest on her hip, steadying her against the crush. “I wish I had more time.” One sunrise hardly seems enough.
He laces his fingers tightly with hers. “We could have more time.” His voice is quiet, though she hears him clearly, and his breath warms her neck. “As long as we don't step on any butterflies.”
She leans her head against his. It's not an affair, not yet, but she thinks one day it might be. Thinks Matt knows already.
Right now, though, it's just freedom.
Character/Pairing: Ando/Daphne, Matt/Daphne.
Warnings: Spoilers for all aired episodes.
Rating: G.
Summary: Daphne craves freedom even when she apparently already has it. Written for heroes_contest.
Author Notes: Um, sorry, Matt. :/
It's been years since Danko's men shot her. The scars make her skin uneven, pale and thin in places around her collarbone. In the first years after Nathan was prosecuted for human rights infringement, she wore them proudly, the marks signifying a freedom she'd never experienced before in her life - not before manifesting, or after it.
That she lives with Matt is a given. The apartment is cramped and damp, but they stay. They could afford better, much better, with their slices of the compensation paid out by a shamed government, but Matt says this is their home; this is the place his mind's eye shows him. They settle into a routine quick enough; Matt takes her suggestion and moves into the field of private investigation, and she finds work wherever she can, though nothing really holds her attention. Molly lives between them and Mohinder's new apartment, and the fact that Matt has joint custody with an Indian scientist hardly phases Daphne at all. Strange, after all, is what she does.
She knows that at some point they're going to have a baby - Daniella, named after her grandmother - it's another of Matt's certainties, and it's viewed as such. It's not the romantic notion of having children, it just is, it just will be.
She loves Matt. She does. But it's a small spark between them, one produced after hours of rubbing kindling together. Nothing can ever be spontaneous because every step has already been marked out for them.
-
Tokyo reminds her of her former life as a magpie, when she took anything that caught her eye, that shone or sparkled. Those days she moved fast, lived fast, with nothing to catch her if she fell and no destination planned. She's missing those days more and more now.
“Where do you want to go?” The streets are crowded and frenetic; Ando holds her hand tightly, knowing that otherwise she'd happily get swept away into the chaos.
She laughs, craning her neck to gaze up at the glittering skyscrapers, every part of this world lit up but for a patch of inky black sky. It's eleven in the morning in New York; with Matt out on a job and Molly at school, she could stay to watch the dawn break over Mount Fuji.
“I don't care,” she replies breathlessly, and Ando steps close, the sea of people curving around the two of them, and follows her gaze. His other hand comes to rest on her hip, steadying her against the crush. “I wish I had more time.” One sunrise hardly seems enough.
He laces his fingers tightly with hers. “We could have more time.” His voice is quiet, though she hears him clearly, and his breath warms her neck. “As long as we don't step on any butterflies.”
She leans her head against his. It's not an affair, not yet, but she thinks one day it might be. Thinks Matt knows already.
Right now, though, it's just freedom.