Fic: Pain is Knowledge
Title: Pain is Knowledge
Author: miss_m_cricket
Fandom: Star Trek Reboot! / Doom Crossover.
Verse: Guardian!Verse
Rating: PG-13 for now
Pairing: will be Reaper!McCoy/James T. Kirk
Disclaimer: Own neither Doom, nor Star Trek.
Prompt: inell's prompt which asked for this scene with Reaper and Sam.
Once again thank you to mysterysquid for his amazing beta'ing and listening skillz.
Summary: Many people have theorised over the connection between twins, attributing many things to a depth of bond that cannot be measured by scientists in their sterilised labs....
Guardian Angel
Pain is Knowledge
“Here, freed of the Grim Reaper's scythe, we learn that pain is knowledge and all knowledge pain.”
- Frederico Fellini
She was dying.
Edward sat by her bedside, the bedside of the woman who over the last fifteen years had been like a mother to him. She had been the one to listen to him when he came home from school, the one to bandage up his injuries, the one who listened to him when he sighed about the girls in his classes at school.
And now, she wasn’t going to be there anymore.
Jacob had passed away three years ago, in an accident involving a house search for the elusive criminal Reaper and a trigger happy soldier, who had shot first and asked questions later. Samantha had not really recovered from her husband’s death, retreating into herself, and it had been unsurprising when her health began to deteriorate as well.
Now she was dying.
And Edward was afraid.
What would happen when Sam died? What would happen to the house, the horses, and him? What would become of them all?
The door swung open.
Edward spun around on his chair, wide blue eyes taking in the sight of a man standing tall in the doorway, hair saturated by the rain pouring down outside. He was dressed from top to toe in black, well worn combat gear and carrying a gun that looked like it could do some real damage. Someone else might have been afraid of this figure; anyone else might have cried aloud for help or dived for the small hand held weapon hidden in the bedside drawer.
Not Edward. He lunged out of his chair, launching himself at the tall dark haired man, not attacking but clinging to him with all the strength he had. And the man, putting down his weapon, hugged him back, stroking his back soothingly.
Wrapped up in strong, warm arms, Edward let himself relax for the first time since Sam had been unable to get out of bed one morning three days ago. Held tightly by the man before him, he didn’t feel like the young adult he was, but like the six year old boy he had been when this man had first rescued him.
“John…I knew you would come.”
~*~
Many people have theorised over the connection between twins, attributing many things to a depth of bond that cannot be measured by scientists in their sterilised labs.
Somehow John had known, tramping through the forests in the North of the former United States of America, somehow he had felt it.
His twin was dying.
There were distinct advantages to being close to invincible, John had thought to himself with bitter amusement less than an hour later, dodging heavy gunfire to steal one of the fancy new hover bikes, and speed down the road leading away from the UAC bastards chasing him, and towards the two people who meant the world to him.
Now he was here, having ditched the hover bike a days’ ride away from his sister’s house. Superhuman she had once called him, and this was true: superfit, superfast, he had raced across the ground covering the distance more quickly than any normal human.
It would take them a while to find him.
Long enough to say goodbye to the one of the two people who truly knew him, knew John Grimm. Knew John and not the Reaper of the horror stories that UAC made the media bastards report.
Edward was in his bedroom, sleeping. John had checked on him a little while ago, had brushed the longish fair hair away from the closed blue eyes before padding out of the room.
Walking into the bedroom in which his sister lay was hard. He was a soldier dammit and if there was one thing soldiers feared it was the slow death of disease or old age overtaking you. But in he walked, because some things were more important than fear. Sam was more important than fear.
Slowly her eyes, more green in their hazel depths than his, opened and focused on him. The tired smile that warmed her face made his heart ache and slowly he knelt by her side, resting his head against the bedclothes.
“I can’t do this without you Sam.”
“Sure you can.” She breathed tiredly, fragile hand covered by paper thin skin brushing over the thick dark hair. “My little brother.”
“It was not supposed to be like this.” John mumbled into the blankets, voice choked up by the treacherous tears burning the back of his throat. “We were born the same day, ten minutes apart. You have been here every minute of my life, even when we weren’t talking. I knew you were somewhere out there. But you are leaving me, and I will linger on here in this world we monsters have created, to see us destroy ourselves with our greed, until something blows me apart so thoroughly this mutation cannot piece me back together again.”
“No...” Sam breathed, fingers carding his hair gently, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Perhaps I was selfish John, injecting you with the C24. I couldn’t bear the thought of being alone in that hell but I also think that there was no other choice. You were dying, just as I am dying now. And anything I could do to save you, I would have done.”
“I would save you.” John murmured huskily, “If I could, I would save you.”
“I know John. I know.”
“Edward...I’ll look after him.”
“I know you will. He worships you, even after all these years, and knowing all about genetics he still sees you as a Guardian Angel sent from heaven above.”
“More like a demon from hell, risen from below. I am the Reaper remember.”
His sister snorted, and he felt his mouth curve into a small watery smile.
“You are a good man John Grimm. Which reminds me, I have something for you.”
He lifted his head and raised one dark eyebrow.
“Over in the drawer over there, the small box with the gold angel on the top.” John got up and retrieved it, brown eyes looking at his sister curiously. “It is for you, for the day that you find that someone who makes your blood sing.”
Curiously he opened the box and his fingers reached in to pluck out a single plastic vial. He didn’t need to read the label to know what was contained in it, and he dropped it as though his fingers had been burnt.
“C24! What the fuck Sam?”
“I had it in my pocket when we returned from down below.”
“Do you know how dangerous this is?” John’s voice rumbled dangerously in his chest and the hazel green eyes flashed, “What if it had been discovered, you would have given them everything they needed to continue the experiment.”
“I kept it for you.”
“Christ Sam, I’m already infected I don’t need another dose!”
“One day, you will find someone to love John. Now don’t you go interrupting me.” She scowled at him as his mouth opened to protest her assumption. “I don’t want you to use the C-24 in your genes as an excuse not to love them with all your heart. Someday you will find someone, and I want you to be able to have them for all your long lives together.”
“Sam...”
“Promise me John.”
“What?” the young man looked up into the time ravaged face of his sister and then away, “Sam...”
“Promise me! Promise me that when you find her, or him, you will give them the chance to love you. Promise me that you won’t lock yourself away so that the world cannot hurt you anymore. Promise me that you won’t ever stop loving people, no matter how bad things get, or how long it takes.”
“Why are you asking me for this...” he begged, feeling trapped by the green depths of her hazel eyes.
“Because I know you John. You are my brother. I know you.”
The words she had spoken on Olduvai, the words that had held him like a shining silver cord to his sanity and his body. I know you. He didn’t hesitate any longer.
“I promise.”
She smiled at him, closing her eyes. “Thank you John.”
There was silence for a long moment.
“You had this, all these years.” John murmured, picking up the vial slowly, “Sam, why didn’t you use it on yourself?”
“Oh John.” She smiled at him before closing her eyes once more, “I loved my life. And I wanted you to love yours.”
They both stayed silent for a long time, John’s thumb gently stroking over the back of her hand, feeling her pulse beating against the pads of his fingers. In his chest his heart beat in time with hers, and his breaths went in and out as hers did.
In and out...
In and out...
In...and out...
Out...
Out...
Her chest didn’t rise again, the pulse gone from against his fingers.
“Sammy...” his voice broke, and one of Earth’s most wanted men, one of the horror stories of their generation pressed his face into the coverlets, covering his sister’s side, and sobbed his heart out.
Author: miss_m_cricket
Fandom: Star Trek Reboot! / Doom Crossover.
Verse: Guardian!Verse
Rating: PG-13 for now
Pairing: will be Reaper!McCoy/James T. Kirk
Disclaimer: Own neither Doom, nor Star Trek.
Prompt: inell's prompt which asked for this scene with Reaper and Sam.
Once again thank you to mysterysquid for his amazing beta'ing and listening skillz.
Summary: Many people have theorised over the connection between twins, attributing many things to a depth of bond that cannot be measured by scientists in their sterilised labs....
Guardian Angel
Pain is Knowledge
“Here, freed of the Grim Reaper's scythe, we learn that pain is knowledge and all knowledge pain.”
- Frederico Fellini
She was dying.
Edward sat by her bedside, the bedside of the woman who over the last fifteen years had been like a mother to him. She had been the one to listen to him when he came home from school, the one to bandage up his injuries, the one who listened to him when he sighed about the girls in his classes at school.
And now, she wasn’t going to be there anymore.
Jacob had passed away three years ago, in an accident involving a house search for the elusive criminal Reaper and a trigger happy soldier, who had shot first and asked questions later. Samantha had not really recovered from her husband’s death, retreating into herself, and it had been unsurprising when her health began to deteriorate as well.
Now she was dying.
And Edward was afraid.
What would happen when Sam died? What would happen to the house, the horses, and him? What would become of them all?
The door swung open.
Edward spun around on his chair, wide blue eyes taking in the sight of a man standing tall in the doorway, hair saturated by the rain pouring down outside. He was dressed from top to toe in black, well worn combat gear and carrying a gun that looked like it could do some real damage. Someone else might have been afraid of this figure; anyone else might have cried aloud for help or dived for the small hand held weapon hidden in the bedside drawer.
Not Edward. He lunged out of his chair, launching himself at the tall dark haired man, not attacking but clinging to him with all the strength he had. And the man, putting down his weapon, hugged him back, stroking his back soothingly.
Wrapped up in strong, warm arms, Edward let himself relax for the first time since Sam had been unable to get out of bed one morning three days ago. Held tightly by the man before him, he didn’t feel like the young adult he was, but like the six year old boy he had been when this man had first rescued him.
“John…I knew you would come.”
~*~
Many people have theorised over the connection between twins, attributing many things to a depth of bond that cannot be measured by scientists in their sterilised labs.
Somehow John had known, tramping through the forests in the North of the former United States of America, somehow he had felt it.
His twin was dying.
There were distinct advantages to being close to invincible, John had thought to himself with bitter amusement less than an hour later, dodging heavy gunfire to steal one of the fancy new hover bikes, and speed down the road leading away from the UAC bastards chasing him, and towards the two people who meant the world to him.
Now he was here, having ditched the hover bike a days’ ride away from his sister’s house. Superhuman she had once called him, and this was true: superfit, superfast, he had raced across the ground covering the distance more quickly than any normal human.
It would take them a while to find him.
Long enough to say goodbye to the one of the two people who truly knew him, knew John Grimm. Knew John and not the Reaper of the horror stories that UAC made the media bastards report.
Edward was in his bedroom, sleeping. John had checked on him a little while ago, had brushed the longish fair hair away from the closed blue eyes before padding out of the room.
Walking into the bedroom in which his sister lay was hard. He was a soldier dammit and if there was one thing soldiers feared it was the slow death of disease or old age overtaking you. But in he walked, because some things were more important than fear. Sam was more important than fear.
Slowly her eyes, more green in their hazel depths than his, opened and focused on him. The tired smile that warmed her face made his heart ache and slowly he knelt by her side, resting his head against the bedclothes.
“I can’t do this without you Sam.”
“Sure you can.” She breathed tiredly, fragile hand covered by paper thin skin brushing over the thick dark hair. “My little brother.”
“It was not supposed to be like this.” John mumbled into the blankets, voice choked up by the treacherous tears burning the back of his throat. “We were born the same day, ten minutes apart. You have been here every minute of my life, even when we weren’t talking. I knew you were somewhere out there. But you are leaving me, and I will linger on here in this world we monsters have created, to see us destroy ourselves with our greed, until something blows me apart so thoroughly this mutation cannot piece me back together again.”
“No...” Sam breathed, fingers carding his hair gently, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Perhaps I was selfish John, injecting you with the C24. I couldn’t bear the thought of being alone in that hell but I also think that there was no other choice. You were dying, just as I am dying now. And anything I could do to save you, I would have done.”
“I would save you.” John murmured huskily, “If I could, I would save you.”
“I know John. I know.”
“Edward...I’ll look after him.”
“I know you will. He worships you, even after all these years, and knowing all about genetics he still sees you as a Guardian Angel sent from heaven above.”
“More like a demon from hell, risen from below. I am the Reaper remember.”
His sister snorted, and he felt his mouth curve into a small watery smile.
“You are a good man John Grimm. Which reminds me, I have something for you.”
He lifted his head and raised one dark eyebrow.
“Over in the drawer over there, the small box with the gold angel on the top.” John got up and retrieved it, brown eyes looking at his sister curiously. “It is for you, for the day that you find that someone who makes your blood sing.”
Curiously he opened the box and his fingers reached in to pluck out a single plastic vial. He didn’t need to read the label to know what was contained in it, and he dropped it as though his fingers had been burnt.
“C24! What the fuck Sam?”
“I had it in my pocket when we returned from down below.”
“Do you know how dangerous this is?” John’s voice rumbled dangerously in his chest and the hazel green eyes flashed, “What if it had been discovered, you would have given them everything they needed to continue the experiment.”
“I kept it for you.”
“Christ Sam, I’m already infected I don’t need another dose!”
“One day, you will find someone to love John. Now don’t you go interrupting me.” She scowled at him as his mouth opened to protest her assumption. “I don’t want you to use the C-24 in your genes as an excuse not to love them with all your heart. Someday you will find someone, and I want you to be able to have them for all your long lives together.”
“Sam...”
“Promise me John.”
“What?” the young man looked up into the time ravaged face of his sister and then away, “Sam...”
“Promise me! Promise me that when you find her, or him, you will give them the chance to love you. Promise me that you won’t lock yourself away so that the world cannot hurt you anymore. Promise me that you won’t ever stop loving people, no matter how bad things get, or how long it takes.”
“Why are you asking me for this...” he begged, feeling trapped by the green depths of her hazel eyes.
“Because I know you John. You are my brother. I know you.”
The words she had spoken on Olduvai, the words that had held him like a shining silver cord to his sanity and his body. I know you. He didn’t hesitate any longer.
“I promise.”
She smiled at him, closing her eyes. “Thank you John.”
There was silence for a long moment.
“You had this, all these years.” John murmured, picking up the vial slowly, “Sam, why didn’t you use it on yourself?”
“Oh John.” She smiled at him before closing her eyes once more, “I loved my life. And I wanted you to love yours.”
They both stayed silent for a long time, John’s thumb gently stroking over the back of her hand, feeling her pulse beating against the pads of his fingers. In his chest his heart beat in time with hers, and his breaths went in and out as hers did.
In and out...
In and out...
In...and out...
Out...
Out...
Her chest didn’t rise again, the pulse gone from against his fingers.
“Sammy...” his voice broke, and one of Earth’s most wanted men, one of the horror stories of their generation pressed his face into the coverlets, covering his sister’s side, and sobbed his heart out.