Trick or Treat - fanfic challenge 'For the Love of October'
Title: Trick or Treat
Author: pluschi
Rating: PG-13
Category: Het
Characters: Sara/Michael
Disclaimer: Don't own them, would like to though!
Notes: Written for pamalax's October challenge. (So I'm obviously a little late since it's December but better late than never, right?) I picked Sara, full moon, a fall cold and candy corn as prompts. Spoilers for Season 1, episode "By the Skin and the Teeth" it's a missing piece story really and it's of course Sara POV since Sara was my prompt. Concrit is very welcome!
PROMPT: Sara - full moon, fall cold, candy corn, a scream
Trick or treat
She’d never felt so comfortable in her office as in the last hour. She knew she was ultimately torturing herself but she couldn’t let this moment pass. Sara knew she was perhaps stretching her professional concern a bit too far. It’s not like every other patient got to have his private recovery room, but for this particular patient she could not deny herself the indulgence or reassurance. She knew it and she suspected so did Katie. Though Katie never mentioned a word, the quirked eyebrow she received upon the transfer to her office, was enough communication for the two of them. And now she was sitting here, under the pretence of doing paperwork and watching her patient’s condition. She had admitted to herself about 45 minutes ago that paperwork was not going to work. So to keep herself busy she’d been checking his vitals every few minutes. Medically probably not necessary…but she took in those precious few moments she felt she was granted in studying every inch of his bare body and intricate tattoo. As if the answers to all the confusing questions this man evoked in her were hidden inside the lines and symbols. She’d watched his breathing and the peaceful expression on his face. She’d noticed the calming effect of it on her own senses, so contrary to the turmoil she’d felt only two hours ago when they brought him in, completely tortured.
For the last 10 minutes, she’d been staring at the same file, checking every detail of the procedure and waiting…waiting for him to wake up. When he finally did, she felt the first stirrings in the flutter of her breathing before the sound of it registered in her ears.
She went to him, trying to explain what happened. His expression in the first few moments of post narcotic awakenings overtook her as both peaceful and fragile. Then it was quickly replaced by a more guarded, exploring expression and she briefly wondered what he had been through during these few weeks at Fox River and how on earth he got here in the first place. She quickly dismissed that line of thought and focussed again on Michael.
“I’m going to keep you here for a couple of hours, Michael.” She saw the weariness disappear from his features at her statement and was instantly gratified.
“Hmm…” He murmured while smiling lightly. “Possessive, are we?” He strained to get the words out through his foggy mind but still managed to sound teasing.
“Maybe..” She countered back in the lightest of voices…then quickly sobered, adding “Though this is serious, Michael.” She sighed.
“Hmm..” was his groggy answer.
She decided to leave the berating until he was a bit more awake and turn to more soothing conversation for the time being.
“How are you feeling, Michael?” It was not a doctor’s question and Michael seemed to pick up on it as he tried to look up into her eyes, slowly.
“Been better…” He slurred a bit while Sara gave him a reassuring smile.
“How you feeling?” He added, the words obviously requiring some effort on his part.
“Michael” She replied warningly…then cut her sentence as she observed a genuine concern for her in his face.
She briefly trained her eyes away from his and stared at her feet before softly sighing “Confused”.
He closed his eyes briefly at her reply, then opened them again revealing an honest concern. “Worried” She quickly continued, gauging his reaction at her admission.
He looked at her, his gaze intense and burning its way through her defences at lightning speed. For a moment it looked as though he was going to evade her comment once again, but then he kept his eyes locked on hers.
“Me too.” A soft admission, but it felt to Sara like a tiny crack in his armour of deflection.
She softly laid her hand on his shoulder, feeling his warm skin tingle underneath her fingers. He closed his eyes contently, turning his head ever so slightly towards the warmth of her hand.
A few minutes passed in companiable silence as her fingers started to gently move across his shoulder. Like the softest of kisses, she was caressing him in an effort to soothe herself, him or both…she could not decide.
“You ever go trick or treating?” He smiled with his eyes closed and gave her a curious, daring look as he opened them.
A chuckle got caught in her throat at the question.
“As a kid?” Stealing a glance at him then quickly averting her gaze to his shoulder. “Sure I did, usually my private teacher took me since my dad and mom never really…..” She stopped mid-sentence, surprising herself with her revelation. So far for doctor-patient relationship she reprimanded herself, then let her judgement go as he muttered a heartfelt “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well.” She felt his intent stare on her and as she turned her head to meet him, she briefly saw a tiny flicker of doubt…or so she thought before he continued.
“After mom died, we never really liked holiday-things anymore. Linc always tried to get me to go, but…” His voice trailed away and it looked like he was going back in time before he added “Well, my mom always made our costumes so afterwards, it was never really the same for me.”
Sara felt the pain of his words acutely in her chest, making her breath come in little puffs at the intimacy of the moment. She saw the crack in the wall, and decided to take her chances. She may not be a structural engineer but life had taught her enough about instability to recognize the moment for potential change.
“It’s always been one of my favourite holidays.” She contemplated.
“Why’s that?” Michael asked warmly.
“Oh, I don’t know…” She pulled her chair up a bit closer to the table and allowed her hand to fall back to his arm, continuing her soothing, sculpting motions. “Something about the imaginary world, I guess. Being someone else, if only for a day. Daring and dreaming and the thrill of it all. Make belief perhaps.” He gave her a happy grin mixed with perhaps a bit of melancholy.
“I’ll bet ya you liked being a pirate…” He asked teasingly but there was a hint of something more in it…like he was trying to read her, make the pieces of the puzzle fit.
Sara burst out in laughter, a genuine happy laugh.
“What makes you think that?” She quickly questioned.
“I think you loved being a rebel…you must have been, yeah. No fairy tale princess for you. Being someone else, like you said. Exploring the world, new adventures…yeah, I think you were a pirate.” Her laugh died away in her throat as she realized he was seeing her…but how could he? Crack in the wall…she reminded herself.
“Euhm, I was actually.” She started blushing. “That was my favourite costume.” She started smiling again as she let the memories take her back to her childhood.
“You know I had this terrible fall cold that year.” She chuckled. “It was horrible, I was sneezing every other minute and all the paint on my face to make me look ‘piraty’ was smudged because I was blowing my nose all the time.” He stared at her, transfixed as in awe…taking in every detail of her appearance. “All I wanted was candy corn for treats because they soothed my sore throat and it was the only candy I could swallow! It was terrible, but I had so much fun that year.”
“Being ferocious, no doubt.” He teased.
“No, just testing Darwin’s survival of the fittest, I guess.” She blurted out innocently, laughing at the memory. “I was meeting some friends, you know sweet girls - daughters of my father’s political colleagues - the kind of sweet girl I wouldn’t be. And they were all dressed up as princesses, twirling around. And then I came at them from behind and hooked my Captain Hook at the back of one of their dresses.” She was heartily laughing now herself as Michael joined her with happy throaty chuckles. “You should have heard their scream. It was horrible!!!” They both laughed as they slowly came to.
“So what’s your best trick-or-treat story?” She ventured.
“I liked being a werewolf.” He answered so quickly that it surprised both of them a bit.
“A werewolf…hmm that’s a scary sight.” She teased…
“Not when Linc’s dressing you up, I assure you.” He blurted out laughing as she joined him.
“Seriously though” He added as he sobered. “I liked the idea of only becoming a werewolf at full moon.” He was more serious now so Sara pressed on.
“Why’s that?” She lightly questioned.
“When she died….” He paused and Sara felt each and every muscle in her body tighten in anticipation. “…she” He swallowed, hard. “…she told us to look for the full moon, whenever we were lonely or missed her most.” Sara deliberately joined her other hand on his arm in a gesture of comfort and attention. “Because…just as steady as the sun, the full moon came at a regular pace but unlike the sun, it could not be there at every moment of every day. Just like she couldn’t…”
“Michael…” Sara whispered.
“So the werewolf, for me, was like a connection to her, at a time when I missed her presence the most.”
“That’s beautiful.” She squeezed his arm gently, letting him know she was with him.
“Yeah…” He sighed, lost in thought.
They were silent for a few more minutes before he tried to move his head in her direction and she instinctively moved her head closer to his in an attempt to catch every word.
“Sara?” He asked determined, worry lines visible around his eyes.
“Yes” she said decidedly, holding her breath.
“It’s like trick or treating in here everyday…” He stumbled on his words, trying to get them out and she gave him a questioning look, not following his trail of thoughts. He took a deep breath and continued “It’s like black or white in here, good or bad, you know…trick or treat…like there’s nothing in between.” She nodded, trying to follow his lead.
“But out there…” He averted his eyes in the direction of the window. “…it’s a whole world of grey…people are not black or white, actions are not…” She cut him off and continued his line of thought “good or bad; they’re sometimes in between. That’s what you’re trying to say, right?”
She took his smile as an affirmative…and continued the puzzle in her head. If she got his point and the hidden layer of meaning behind his trick or treat story, then he was saying don’t judge me black and white because it’s about the greyish zone. As she was silently contemplating this, she felt his eyes search her face…looking for comprehension.
They were both startled out of their reverie by the sound of the door opening carefully as Katie popped her head through it whispering to Sara that the night doctor had arrived and was going to work in her office soon.
Sara knew that was her cue to move and restore their interaction to strictly doctor-patient but she felt herself terribly reluctant to do so. As she carefully took his hand and covered it with hers, she leaned forward closer to his mouth as she whispered urgently …
“Even so, Michael, you know I can’t possibly let this go. What happened to you tonight is serious. I have to report…” He quickly cut her off saying “I know you do…” He sighed audibly. “…it’s just…” He faltered… “Greyish?” She tried.
He gave her a blinding smile as she heard her night-colleague’s footsteps approaching her office.
“You’ll be in the observation room tonight and I’ll come see you and give you your meds first thing in the morning, ok? “ He nodded his understanding. “But I can’t let this go, Michael.” He nodded again as she noted for the first time the tiredness in his features and she felt her heart pound in her chest.
Turning her chair around in a swift movement, she quickly busied herself with the nearby instrument tray as her colleague entered the room. As she got up to leave, she gave Michael one last look and noted his weak effort to smile back at her. But she could tell the wall was closing once again between them as reality took its place.
She went over to the doctor with Michael’s file clutched tightly to her chest as she informed him of his condition.
As she walked out into the parking lot, she looked up a the clouded sky and just as she was about to turn and get into her car, she saw the clouds shifting as the full moon revealed her smile…
Author: pluschi
Rating: PG-13
Category: Het
Characters: Sara/Michael
Disclaimer: Don't own them, would like to though!
Notes: Written for pamalax's October challenge. (So I'm obviously a little late since it's December but better late than never, right?) I picked Sara, full moon, a fall cold and candy corn as prompts. Spoilers for Season 1, episode "By the Skin and the Teeth" it's a missing piece story really and it's of course Sara POV since Sara was my prompt. Concrit is very welcome!
PROMPT: Sara - full moon, fall cold, candy corn, a scream
Trick or treat
She’d never felt so comfortable in her office as in the last hour. She knew she was ultimately torturing herself but she couldn’t let this moment pass. Sara knew she was perhaps stretching her professional concern a bit too far. It’s not like every other patient got to have his private recovery room, but for this particular patient she could not deny herself the indulgence or reassurance. She knew it and she suspected so did Katie. Though Katie never mentioned a word, the quirked eyebrow she received upon the transfer to her office, was enough communication for the two of them. And now she was sitting here, under the pretence of doing paperwork and watching her patient’s condition. She had admitted to herself about 45 minutes ago that paperwork was not going to work. So to keep herself busy she’d been checking his vitals every few minutes. Medically probably not necessary…but she took in those precious few moments she felt she was granted in studying every inch of his bare body and intricate tattoo. As if the answers to all the confusing questions this man evoked in her were hidden inside the lines and symbols. She’d watched his breathing and the peaceful expression on his face. She’d noticed the calming effect of it on her own senses, so contrary to the turmoil she’d felt only two hours ago when they brought him in, completely tortured.
For the last 10 minutes, she’d been staring at the same file, checking every detail of the procedure and waiting…waiting for him to wake up. When he finally did, she felt the first stirrings in the flutter of her breathing before the sound of it registered in her ears.
She went to him, trying to explain what happened. His expression in the first few moments of post narcotic awakenings overtook her as both peaceful and fragile. Then it was quickly replaced by a more guarded, exploring expression and she briefly wondered what he had been through during these few weeks at Fox River and how on earth he got here in the first place. She quickly dismissed that line of thought and focussed again on Michael.
“I’m going to keep you here for a couple of hours, Michael.” She saw the weariness disappear from his features at her statement and was instantly gratified.
“Hmm…” He murmured while smiling lightly. “Possessive, are we?” He strained to get the words out through his foggy mind but still managed to sound teasing.
“Maybe..” She countered back in the lightest of voices…then quickly sobered, adding “Though this is serious, Michael.” She sighed.
“Hmm..” was his groggy answer.
She decided to leave the berating until he was a bit more awake and turn to more soothing conversation for the time being.
“How are you feeling, Michael?” It was not a doctor’s question and Michael seemed to pick up on it as he tried to look up into her eyes, slowly.
“Been better…” He slurred a bit while Sara gave him a reassuring smile.
“How you feeling?” He added, the words obviously requiring some effort on his part.
“Michael” She replied warningly…then cut her sentence as she observed a genuine concern for her in his face.
She briefly trained her eyes away from his and stared at her feet before softly sighing “Confused”.
He closed his eyes briefly at her reply, then opened them again revealing an honest concern. “Worried” She quickly continued, gauging his reaction at her admission.
He looked at her, his gaze intense and burning its way through her defences at lightning speed. For a moment it looked as though he was going to evade her comment once again, but then he kept his eyes locked on hers.
“Me too.” A soft admission, but it felt to Sara like a tiny crack in his armour of deflection.
She softly laid her hand on his shoulder, feeling his warm skin tingle underneath her fingers. He closed his eyes contently, turning his head ever so slightly towards the warmth of her hand.
A few minutes passed in companiable silence as her fingers started to gently move across his shoulder. Like the softest of kisses, she was caressing him in an effort to soothe herself, him or both…she could not decide.
“You ever go trick or treating?” He smiled with his eyes closed and gave her a curious, daring look as he opened them.
A chuckle got caught in her throat at the question.
“As a kid?” Stealing a glance at him then quickly averting her gaze to his shoulder. “Sure I did, usually my private teacher took me since my dad and mom never really…..” She stopped mid-sentence, surprising herself with her revelation. So far for doctor-patient relationship she reprimanded herself, then let her judgement go as he muttered a heartfelt “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well.” She felt his intent stare on her and as she turned her head to meet him, she briefly saw a tiny flicker of doubt…or so she thought before he continued.
“After mom died, we never really liked holiday-things anymore. Linc always tried to get me to go, but…” His voice trailed away and it looked like he was going back in time before he added “Well, my mom always made our costumes so afterwards, it was never really the same for me.”
Sara felt the pain of his words acutely in her chest, making her breath come in little puffs at the intimacy of the moment. She saw the crack in the wall, and decided to take her chances. She may not be a structural engineer but life had taught her enough about instability to recognize the moment for potential change.
“It’s always been one of my favourite holidays.” She contemplated.
“Why’s that?” Michael asked warmly.
“Oh, I don’t know…” She pulled her chair up a bit closer to the table and allowed her hand to fall back to his arm, continuing her soothing, sculpting motions. “Something about the imaginary world, I guess. Being someone else, if only for a day. Daring and dreaming and the thrill of it all. Make belief perhaps.” He gave her a happy grin mixed with perhaps a bit of melancholy.
“I’ll bet ya you liked being a pirate…” He asked teasingly but there was a hint of something more in it…like he was trying to read her, make the pieces of the puzzle fit.
Sara burst out in laughter, a genuine happy laugh.
“What makes you think that?” She quickly questioned.
“I think you loved being a rebel…you must have been, yeah. No fairy tale princess for you. Being someone else, like you said. Exploring the world, new adventures…yeah, I think you were a pirate.” Her laugh died away in her throat as she realized he was seeing her…but how could he? Crack in the wall…she reminded herself.
“Euhm, I was actually.” She started blushing. “That was my favourite costume.” She started smiling again as she let the memories take her back to her childhood.
“You know I had this terrible fall cold that year.” She chuckled. “It was horrible, I was sneezing every other minute and all the paint on my face to make me look ‘piraty’ was smudged because I was blowing my nose all the time.” He stared at her, transfixed as in awe…taking in every detail of her appearance. “All I wanted was candy corn for treats because they soothed my sore throat and it was the only candy I could swallow! It was terrible, but I had so much fun that year.”
“Being ferocious, no doubt.” He teased.
“No, just testing Darwin’s survival of the fittest, I guess.” She blurted out innocently, laughing at the memory. “I was meeting some friends, you know sweet girls - daughters of my father’s political colleagues - the kind of sweet girl I wouldn’t be. And they were all dressed up as princesses, twirling around. And then I came at them from behind and hooked my Captain Hook at the back of one of their dresses.” She was heartily laughing now herself as Michael joined her with happy throaty chuckles. “You should have heard their scream. It was horrible!!!” They both laughed as they slowly came to.
“So what’s your best trick-or-treat story?” She ventured.
“I liked being a werewolf.” He answered so quickly that it surprised both of them a bit.
“A werewolf…hmm that’s a scary sight.” She teased…
“Not when Linc’s dressing you up, I assure you.” He blurted out laughing as she joined him.
“Seriously though” He added as he sobered. “I liked the idea of only becoming a werewolf at full moon.” He was more serious now so Sara pressed on.
“Why’s that?” She lightly questioned.
“When she died….” He paused and Sara felt each and every muscle in her body tighten in anticipation. “…she” He swallowed, hard. “…she told us to look for the full moon, whenever we were lonely or missed her most.” Sara deliberately joined her other hand on his arm in a gesture of comfort and attention. “Because…just as steady as the sun, the full moon came at a regular pace but unlike the sun, it could not be there at every moment of every day. Just like she couldn’t…”
“Michael…” Sara whispered.
“So the werewolf, for me, was like a connection to her, at a time when I missed her presence the most.”
“That’s beautiful.” She squeezed his arm gently, letting him know she was with him.
“Yeah…” He sighed, lost in thought.
They were silent for a few more minutes before he tried to move his head in her direction and she instinctively moved her head closer to his in an attempt to catch every word.
“Sara?” He asked determined, worry lines visible around his eyes.
“Yes” she said decidedly, holding her breath.
“It’s like trick or treating in here everyday…” He stumbled on his words, trying to get them out and she gave him a questioning look, not following his trail of thoughts. He took a deep breath and continued “It’s like black or white in here, good or bad, you know…trick or treat…like there’s nothing in between.” She nodded, trying to follow his lead.
“But out there…” He averted his eyes in the direction of the window. “…it’s a whole world of grey…people are not black or white, actions are not…” She cut him off and continued his line of thought “good or bad; they’re sometimes in between. That’s what you’re trying to say, right?”
She took his smile as an affirmative…and continued the puzzle in her head. If she got his point and the hidden layer of meaning behind his trick or treat story, then he was saying don’t judge me black and white because it’s about the greyish zone. As she was silently contemplating this, she felt his eyes search her face…looking for comprehension.
They were both startled out of their reverie by the sound of the door opening carefully as Katie popped her head through it whispering to Sara that the night doctor had arrived and was going to work in her office soon.
Sara knew that was her cue to move and restore their interaction to strictly doctor-patient but she felt herself terribly reluctant to do so. As she carefully took his hand and covered it with hers, she leaned forward closer to his mouth as she whispered urgently …
“Even so, Michael, you know I can’t possibly let this go. What happened to you tonight is serious. I have to report…” He quickly cut her off saying “I know you do…” He sighed audibly. “…it’s just…” He faltered… “Greyish?” She tried.
He gave her a blinding smile as she heard her night-colleague’s footsteps approaching her office.
“You’ll be in the observation room tonight and I’ll come see you and give you your meds first thing in the morning, ok? “ He nodded his understanding. “But I can’t let this go, Michael.” He nodded again as she noted for the first time the tiredness in his features and she felt her heart pound in her chest.
Turning her chair around in a swift movement, she quickly busied herself with the nearby instrument tray as her colleague entered the room. As she got up to leave, she gave Michael one last look and noted his weak effort to smile back at her. But she could tell the wall was closing once again between them as reality took its place.
She went over to the doctor with Michael’s file clutched tightly to her chest as she informed him of his condition.
As she walked out into the parking lot, she looked up a the clouded sky and just as she was about to turn and get into her car, she saw the clouds shifting as the full moon revealed her smile…