Original: Unconditionally (Dree and Chapel) PG
Title: Unconditionally [ INDEX]
Author: Erin (erinm_4600)
Characters, Pairing: Dree and Chapel (mention of Max, Trey and El'Ari)
Rating: PG
Summary: She sometimes forgets that there is one person who has never given up on her.
Warning: a few years before Stay Asleep *Written for Round 35 of prompt-in-a-box. Prompt #32: He really loves you, you just don't always love yourself. (Belly Up - Maria Mena)
Disclaimer: The original characters of The Wizard of Oz belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters of Tin Man belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The OCs are mine and bizarra's.
It's one of her bad days - enough that she's barricaded herself in the medical bay and is pacing her small, private room, muttering to herself and acting like... well, a crazy person. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with crazy people, because they usually have a damn good reason for being crazy and it's not their fault that the rest of the universe doesn't understand it. Dree doesn't even know what brought this most recent attack on - not that she ever really knows why they start - but she knew enough to know to get out of her quarters. Thankfully, Elly, was home, so Max wasn't left alone.
Her breathing is shallow, her nerves shot; she's expecting to start crying at any moment, but somehow manages to keep the emotions back. A soft knock on the door gets an angry "Not now!" and another heavy sigh. Dree finally moves over to the medical bed and sits on the edge, dropping her chin and gripping the edge of the mattress. She knows that she should apologize to Doctor Barnes - after all, the woman is only trying to do her job - but Dree also knows that, by now, Chapel's used to this behavior.
She lets go of the bed and kicks her heels up, resting on the bed frame, and leans against her knees. Dropping her face to her hands, Dree takes slow, deep, breaths and forces the voices and chatter out of her head. Well, they never really do go away, but she can at least turn them down, with enough focus. Of course, that just means she's going to have one hell of a headache, later on.
Once she's calmed down, Dree wipes at her eyes and nose and looks up. Blinking, she realizes that there's a large board hanging on the wall, in place of the picture Chapel used to have there. Her brow furrows slightly, remembering that she had demanded Chapel 'get rid of the damn thing', because it didn't make her feel calm and relaxed, as was its intention. Dree's eyes graze over the surface, which is covered with pictures, notes and... things.
Letting out a shaky breath, Dree pushes herself off the bed and moves over to the board. Reaching up, she touches Max's face in one of the photos. There are half a dozen others of her - with Max, with El, with Trey - and some of Max's messy drawings. There are also notes from various Celcians on the ship, photos of some of the places they've been to... just a lot of stuff. When Dree sees the small note attached to a piece of plaster - a piece of Max's first cast - she actually laughs.
"I heard that," she hears, and turns to see Chapel standing in the doorway.
"What is this?" Dree asks in a hushed tone.
"Well," Chapel says as she enters the room and moves to Dree's side, "you said the painting - which was very expensive, I'll have you know," she teases, "didn't make you feel comfortable. So, I figured that if you're going to lock yourself in here, the quickest way to get your head on straight is to remind you what's outside this room." Barnes raises an eyebrow at Dree's look. In a whisper, she reaches up and pushes Dree's hair back over her ear. "Audree, the only one who thinks you're a bad person... is you."
Chapel turns her head and points to a photo of Max hanging over Dree's shoulder and grinning. "Look at this face, Adora." Barnes knows Dree is listening, because she's been trained to know that Chapel using her real name means business. Dree stares at the photo of her son and bites her lip. "There is absolutely nothing you could ever do, to convince this boy that you are anything less than wonderful." Dree closes her eyes as Chapel's voice hitches. "So," Dree opens her eyes as Chapel clears her throat, "get your shit together, go back home and give that boy a hug and a kiss. And if I ever see you in here again..." Chapel trails off, knowing that there's really no way to avoid it. But she can try and pretend the threat is enough.
Dree can't help but smile, but quickly recovers to her blank, moody stare. She turns to look at Chapel, only to find herself standing in the room, once again alone. As she slowly glances back to the board, her eyes focus on a white paper, with a scribble of red crayon and an obviously-assisted hand, which has scrawled: Max loves Mommy.
Author: Erin (erinm_4600)
Characters, Pairing: Dree and Chapel (mention of Max, Trey and El'Ari)
Rating: PG
Summary: She sometimes forgets that there is one person who has never given up on her.
Warning: a few years before Stay Asleep *Written for Round 35 of prompt-in-a-box. Prompt #32: He really loves you, you just don't always love yourself. (Belly Up - Maria Mena)
Disclaimer: The original characters of The Wizard of Oz belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters of Tin Man belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The OCs are mine and bizarra's.
It's one of her bad days - enough that she's barricaded herself in the medical bay and is pacing her small, private room, muttering to herself and acting like... well, a crazy person. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with crazy people, because they usually have a damn good reason for being crazy and it's not their fault that the rest of the universe doesn't understand it. Dree doesn't even know what brought this most recent attack on - not that she ever really knows why they start - but she knew enough to know to get out of her quarters. Thankfully, Elly, was home, so Max wasn't left alone.
Her breathing is shallow, her nerves shot; she's expecting to start crying at any moment, but somehow manages to keep the emotions back. A soft knock on the door gets an angry "Not now!" and another heavy sigh. Dree finally moves over to the medical bed and sits on the edge, dropping her chin and gripping the edge of the mattress. She knows that she should apologize to Doctor Barnes - after all, the woman is only trying to do her job - but Dree also knows that, by now, Chapel's used to this behavior.
She lets go of the bed and kicks her heels up, resting on the bed frame, and leans against her knees. Dropping her face to her hands, Dree takes slow, deep, breaths and forces the voices and chatter out of her head. Well, they never really do go away, but she can at least turn them down, with enough focus. Of course, that just means she's going to have one hell of a headache, later on.
Once she's calmed down, Dree wipes at her eyes and nose and looks up. Blinking, she realizes that there's a large board hanging on the wall, in place of the picture Chapel used to have there. Her brow furrows slightly, remembering that she had demanded Chapel 'get rid of the damn thing', because it didn't make her feel calm and relaxed, as was its intention. Dree's eyes graze over the surface, which is covered with pictures, notes and... things.
Letting out a shaky breath, Dree pushes herself off the bed and moves over to the board. Reaching up, she touches Max's face in one of the photos. There are half a dozen others of her - with Max, with El, with Trey - and some of Max's messy drawings. There are also notes from various Celcians on the ship, photos of some of the places they've been to... just a lot of stuff. When Dree sees the small note attached to a piece of plaster - a piece of Max's first cast - she actually laughs.
"I heard that," she hears, and turns to see Chapel standing in the doorway.
"What is this?" Dree asks in a hushed tone.
"Well," Chapel says as she enters the room and moves to Dree's side, "you said the painting - which was very expensive, I'll have you know," she teases, "didn't make you feel comfortable. So, I figured that if you're going to lock yourself in here, the quickest way to get your head on straight is to remind you what's outside this room." Barnes raises an eyebrow at Dree's look. In a whisper, she reaches up and pushes Dree's hair back over her ear. "Audree, the only one who thinks you're a bad person... is you."
Chapel turns her head and points to a photo of Max hanging over Dree's shoulder and grinning. "Look at this face, Adora." Barnes knows Dree is listening, because she's been trained to know that Chapel using her real name means business. Dree stares at the photo of her son and bites her lip. "There is absolutely nothing you could ever do, to convince this boy that you are anything less than wonderful." Dree closes her eyes as Chapel's voice hitches. "So," Dree opens her eyes as Chapel clears her throat, "get your shit together, go back home and give that boy a hug and a kiss. And if I ever see you in here again..." Chapel trails off, knowing that there's really no way to avoid it. But she can try and pretend the threat is enough.
Dree can't help but smile, but quickly recovers to her blank, moody stare. She turns to look at Chapel, only to find herself standing in the room, once again alone. As she slowly glances back to the board, her eyes focus on a white paper, with a scribble of red crayon and an obviously-assisted hand, which has scrawled: Max loves Mommy.