Present (Team Shmoop)
This fic was written for the Angst vs Schmoop Challenge at numb3rswriteoff. After you’ve read the fic, please rate it by voting in the poll located here. (Your vote will be anonymous.) Rate the fic on a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being the best) using the following criteria: how well the fic fit the prompt, how angsty [or schmoopy] the fic was, and how well you enjoyed the fic. When you’re done, please check out the other challenge fic at numb3rswriteoff. Thank you!
Title: In Hospital for Danwei. <-click link.
Team: Shmoop
Author: Keenir
Prompt: Present
Pairing/Characters: Matt Li, Liz Warner, Nikki Betancourt; mention of Don. Hints of future Matt Li/Nikki Betancourt.
Word count: 1,021.
Rating/Category: PG13 Gen Shmoop (pre-het)
Spoilers: Harvest, Rampage, The Fifth Man.
Divergence: The Fifth Man.
Summary: In a mild AU*, where Nikki’s injury was more severe, Matt Li stands vigil.
Notes: In early seasons, Matt Li is listed in the credits as “FBI Tech.”
* = in the sense of a tiny change from what we saw onscreen.
Author’s notes: Writing this story was like reading a “choose your own adventure” book - multiple endings, several beginnings and a few false starts…and the pairing kept jumping around, changing like a hyperactive wrasse. But I had fun, and learned a few things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The human brain is very good at predicting future events and at reconstructing past occurrences. Matt Li hadn’t been part of the field team assigned to take down the four home invaders, but, as he stood here, in the hospital, looking through the glass window at the hospitalized Nikki Betancourt, one of the two victims of that assignment, his training in analysis only made his mind’s reconstructions of the failed take-down worse.
And he had only one way to fight that tendency, only one strategy in his arsenal against those constructed visions: to focus on something fleeting, ephemeral, maybe falling, and focus entirely on the moment, on the present, on the instant.
But, being ephemeral, it was a bubble easily burst. Matt Li looked at who had just joined him outside the hospital room glass. "Agent Warner," he said in his usual quiet voice.
"Liz she corrected. "You been here long?"
"No," honestly: he hadn't looked at a clock since he had gotten here. It's easy to overlook me, Agent; it's nothing personal. "Dr. Munoz says Agent Betancourt will make a full recovery," once they finish patching up that gash in her head. And with a mind that made associations all too easily, it was less than a hop, skip, and jump from there to once more seeing how Nikki and Don might have been ambushed.
"That's good to hear," Liz said. "Nikki's lucky to have a friend like you."
"She doesn't," Matt said. Honesty had brought him this far in life, so he trusted it to take him further.
"Excuse me?"
"We're not friends." Nikki, like yourself and everyone else in the bullpen, is part of my danwei - colleagues and nearly-family...I understand if I'm not part of your danwei, that'd be nothing new for me, sadly.
"Sure you are - you're standing here," Liz pointed out.
"People in a hospital shouldn't be alone," Matt said. And the doctors say her parents won't be able to get here until tomorrow at the earliest. So I’m here now.
"Ah," Liz said, feeling guilty that she'd been with everyone else at Don's bedside...when not pursuing leads in the case.
"It's understandable," Matt said, "and Agent Betancourt would in all likelihood agree. Agent Eppes has been on the team longer, knows you better, and has a more critical injury." Same distance from the criminal, yet different wounds were inflicted. Gender bias in the assaulter’s mind? That might narrow the list of suspects…or it might not.
Liz thought to herself that, Nikki would agree that we should be out there hunting the four or five or however many of them down. "Even so -"
"People are emotions, nor numbers," Matt said. If Charlie had spent his childhood trying to apply math to the real world, Matt had spent his own childhood watching emotions and facial expressions, learning to know what came when. ‘If the forehead scrunches, then…’ and the like. Computer programming for the brain.
Liz smiled for the first time that day. "Just try telling Charlie that," she joked.
Matt said nothing, making Liz wonder - "Is there history between you and Charlie?" she asked. Not long ago today, Charlie had started heading down to check on Nikki, only to turn abruptly around back to Don.
"We don't cross paths outside of work," Mat said. Ever.
At first, Liz thought he'd just given her a non-answer. Then, reconsidering, she asked the FBI Tech, "That's for a reason, isn't it?"
At first, Matt said nothing, just watched the peacefully regular readouts on all the equipment hooked up to Nikki. Finally, "Amita needed to vent, so I listened."
Ah, Liz thought: Charlie's weak spot.
Matt was still talking: "She told me how Charlie could have strangled her - my words, not hers," lest Agent Warner gets the wrong idea or form the wrong opinion. "I based it on her description of the shape of his hands that were almost at his side." Matt sighed, a sound in time with Nikki's by the look of it. "Then she thanked me for being a sympathetic ear, gave me a quick impulsive hug, and left." Acted in the moment, in what was then the now.
"And Charlie saw?" Liz asked, remembering how Megan had once said that she went to Larry whether she wanted to bounce ideas off of or just to talk. But Liz had learned firsthand that if one just wanted to talk to someone, talk that wouldn't be put on file and wouldn't judge you, then you couldn't do better than to unburden yourself to Matt. He listens and keeps mute about it all.
Liz chuckled.
"Agent Warner?
Even if he does have a tendency to always use formal titles. "I'm sorry, but there're days I wonder who has less of a social life, you or Charlie," and as she considered how Nikki-like a statement that was, Liz considered setting the two of them up on a date. Not so sure either of them would agree to a blind date - it’s not in either of their natures.
While Matt was fishing for the right reply to that, Liz said, "Why don't you go in there? Keep her company."
"She doesn't know me, and so wouldn't want me in there." To her, I’m the guy at the keyboard, if even that much.
"Believe me, Li, she's noticed you," you're not that good at going unseen. At least, she’s noticed you lately. "Besides, trust me when I tell you that a person in that much pain just wants somebody to stay by their side - I can't think of anybody better, or of someone I'd want at my bedside."
Matt took in the advice, nodded, and went into the room. The nurse smiled at him on her way out. Matt stood at Nikki Betancourt's side, searching his memories for something to tell him what to do.
In the end, he did what he'd seen in the pictures: with both hands, he held one of hers.
And, in a pleasant now, a durable bubble, one Matt didn’t mind if this present stretched to eternity, Nikki's hand squeezed his.
,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,
The end
Author’s note: I wasn’t sure whether to end it with that, or with Nikki squeezed back, since Matt didn’t squeeze first. Hence the ending I left there.
Title: In Hospital for Danwei. <-click link.
Team: Shmoop
Author: Keenir
Prompt: Present
Pairing/Characters: Matt Li, Liz Warner, Nikki Betancourt; mention of Don. Hints of future Matt Li/Nikki Betancourt.
Word count: 1,021.
Rating/Category: PG13 Gen Shmoop (pre-het)
Spoilers: Harvest, Rampage, The Fifth Man.
Divergence: The Fifth Man.
Summary: In a mild AU*, where Nikki’s injury was more severe, Matt Li stands vigil.
Notes: In early seasons, Matt Li is listed in the credits as “FBI Tech.”
* = in the sense of a tiny change from what we saw onscreen.
Author’s notes: Writing this story was like reading a “choose your own adventure” book - multiple endings, several beginnings and a few false starts…and the pairing kept jumping around, changing like a hyperactive wrasse. But I had fun, and learned a few things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The human brain is very good at predicting future events and at reconstructing past occurrences. Matt Li hadn’t been part of the field team assigned to take down the four home invaders, but, as he stood here, in the hospital, looking through the glass window at the hospitalized Nikki Betancourt, one of the two victims of that assignment, his training in analysis only made his mind’s reconstructions of the failed take-down worse.
And he had only one way to fight that tendency, only one strategy in his arsenal against those constructed visions: to focus on something fleeting, ephemeral, maybe falling, and focus entirely on the moment, on the present, on the instant.
But, being ephemeral, it was a bubble easily burst. Matt Li looked at who had just joined him outside the hospital room glass. "Agent Warner," he said in his usual quiet voice.
"Liz she corrected. "You been here long?"
"No," honestly: he hadn't looked at a clock since he had gotten here. It's easy to overlook me, Agent; it's nothing personal. "Dr. Munoz says Agent Betancourt will make a full recovery," once they finish patching up that gash in her head. And with a mind that made associations all too easily, it was less than a hop, skip, and jump from there to once more seeing how Nikki and Don might have been ambushed.
"That's good to hear," Liz said. "Nikki's lucky to have a friend like you."
"She doesn't," Matt said. Honesty had brought him this far in life, so he trusted it to take him further.
"Excuse me?"
"We're not friends." Nikki, like yourself and everyone else in the bullpen, is part of my danwei - colleagues and nearly-family...I understand if I'm not part of your danwei, that'd be nothing new for me, sadly.
"Sure you are - you're standing here," Liz pointed out.
"People in a hospital shouldn't be alone," Matt said. And the doctors say her parents won't be able to get here until tomorrow at the earliest. So I’m here now.
"Ah," Liz said, feeling guilty that she'd been with everyone else at Don's bedside...when not pursuing leads in the case.
"It's understandable," Matt said, "and Agent Betancourt would in all likelihood agree. Agent Eppes has been on the team longer, knows you better, and has a more critical injury." Same distance from the criminal, yet different wounds were inflicted. Gender bias in the assaulter’s mind? That might narrow the list of suspects…or it might not.
Liz thought to herself that, Nikki would agree that we should be out there hunting the four or five or however many of them down. "Even so -"
"People are emotions, nor numbers," Matt said. If Charlie had spent his childhood trying to apply math to the real world, Matt had spent his own childhood watching emotions and facial expressions, learning to know what came when. ‘If the forehead scrunches, then…’ and the like. Computer programming for the brain.
Liz smiled for the first time that day. "Just try telling Charlie that," she joked.
Matt said nothing, making Liz wonder - "Is there history between you and Charlie?" she asked. Not long ago today, Charlie had started heading down to check on Nikki, only to turn abruptly around back to Don.
"We don't cross paths outside of work," Mat said. Ever.
At first, Liz thought he'd just given her a non-answer. Then, reconsidering, she asked the FBI Tech, "That's for a reason, isn't it?"
At first, Matt said nothing, just watched the peacefully regular readouts on all the equipment hooked up to Nikki. Finally, "Amita needed to vent, so I listened."
Ah, Liz thought: Charlie's weak spot.
Matt was still talking: "She told me how Charlie could have strangled her - my words, not hers," lest Agent Warner gets the wrong idea or form the wrong opinion. "I based it on her description of the shape of his hands that were almost at his side." Matt sighed, a sound in time with Nikki's by the look of it. "Then she thanked me for being a sympathetic ear, gave me a quick impulsive hug, and left." Acted in the moment, in what was then the now.
"And Charlie saw?" Liz asked, remembering how Megan had once said that she went to Larry whether she wanted to bounce ideas off of or just to talk. But Liz had learned firsthand that if one just wanted to talk to someone, talk that wouldn't be put on file and wouldn't judge you, then you couldn't do better than to unburden yourself to Matt. He listens and keeps mute about it all.
Liz chuckled.
"Agent Warner?
Even if he does have a tendency to always use formal titles. "I'm sorry, but there're days I wonder who has less of a social life, you or Charlie," and as she considered how Nikki-like a statement that was, Liz considered setting the two of them up on a date. Not so sure either of them would agree to a blind date - it’s not in either of their natures.
While Matt was fishing for the right reply to that, Liz said, "Why don't you go in there? Keep her company."
"She doesn't know me, and so wouldn't want me in there." To her, I’m the guy at the keyboard, if even that much.
"Believe me, Li, she's noticed you," you're not that good at going unseen. At least, she’s noticed you lately. "Besides, trust me when I tell you that a person in that much pain just wants somebody to stay by their side - I can't think of anybody better, or of someone I'd want at my bedside."
Matt took in the advice, nodded, and went into the room. The nurse smiled at him on her way out. Matt stood at Nikki Betancourt's side, searching his memories for something to tell him what to do.
In the end, he did what he'd seen in the pictures: with both hands, he held one of hers.
And, in a pleasant now, a durable bubble, one Matt didn’t mind if this present stretched to eternity, Nikki's hand squeezed his.
,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,
The end
Author’s note: I wasn’t sure whether to end it with that, or with Nikki squeezed back, since Matt didn’t squeeze first. Hence the ending I left there.