fic: the character has been set

[dreamingwriter]

Title: the character has been set
Author: dreamingwriter
Rating: G
Warnings: Character death.
Characters: The Middleman, Ida, Wendy
Disclaimer: I don't own The Middleman, haha. I don't even get half of the pop culture references.
Summary: It's like a buisness, and some people, those who ask moments before the blackout, get to wait.A/N: We're back in the

Comments

[brista]

I don't even get half of the pop culture references.

Dude, neither do I! I read reviews about how it's too quirky and in-joke for the sci-fi/comic folks and I'm like...uh...I've never even seen a Star War, let alone have expansive knowledge of obscure comic books, and I'm following along just fine!

[dreamingwriter]

Exactly! But I still love it, haha, it's nice. And I can kinda get when there's an inside joke, so it reminds me to look them up later!

[the_blue_fenix]

I find myself thinking about the line after Middleman '69 lost his hand, "We're soldiers. We know the risks." (He was already lying by that point, but that line was accidentally true.) Learning to love the people you fight alongside, platonic-ly or otherwise, and then losing them is as ancient a risk as getting limbs lopped off.

If Wendy got killed then MM would certainly mourn, and never forget. He'd probably never be the same again. But I do think he'd keep on with the work, for its own sake and also in her honor.

Here's a point to ponder. There appears to be no quitting once you're a Middleman. The survival-to-retirement rate for is close to zero in the tv series, specifically spelled out AS zero in the comic book. MM not only lives every day knowing that about himself, he hired Wendy knowing it applied to her.

[dreamingwriter]

That's what I think the Middleman was thinking during this fic. He's saddened by it, and misses her, and wishes things could have turned out differently, but she waited for him, alone, in the Underworld (well, they have a program that allows people to say goodbye). And he feels like he needs to save the world for her.

He knows that killing himself over her death won't accomplish anything, so he finds himself doing the same things he did before her as a coping device.

And oh, knowing that he'd die on the job, that eventually she'd die on the job... Don't make me write more of this! Haha, I'd love to, but I need to finish my ficathon ones first.