Fic: Lives Are For Living. (13/35)
Title Lives Are For Living. (13/35)
Fandoms Torchwood/Being Human crossover fic.
Characters/pairings Andy Davidson/Tom McNair. Other Torchwood and Being Human characters will appear later on.
Word count: This part 2050. (Total posted 26,850 /65,000)
Rating This part PG (adult over all)
Contains Mentions of depression/anxiety. Mentions of past canon major character death. Mention of minor character death - not canon. In later parts canon level violence, graphic sex, Andy's homophobic mother. Spoilers for Being Human (UK version) up to series 5 episode 3, and for Torchwood up to Children of Earth.
A/N: Crossover with Being Human. Technically a CoE fix it as it's set in the same 'verse as Finding Ways To Smile Again (although that isn't apparent until about 2/3 the way through the story). Follows on from Break and Breakaway from Tom McNair's POV - which is where it breaks from Being Human canon.
Summary
After being pushed out of the police force following the events of Children of Earth, Andy Davidson tries to build a new life for himself in the deep in the Welsh countryside.
Tom McNair walked out off his old life after realising it wasn't what he needed.
A chance meeting would take their lives in directions that they had never expected and bring them love that they'd not thought they'd find.
Starts here: http://the-silver-sun.livejournal.com/214504.html
Waking up, Andy rapidly decided, was no fun at all when even trying to turn over to look at the clock meant feeling like somebody had just given you a swift kick in the ribs. Lying in bed, he stared up at the ceiling. The memories of the previous evening were a little bit hazy, although he remembered clearly enough talking to Tom about why he'd been forced to leave the police.
He still didn't want to think too closely about the bad days when he'd dreaded going into work or the even worse ones when he been on suspension when he'd barely left the house or spoken to anybody for days on end. Knowing there was somebody there to talk to, even if it was about something completely unrelated or inconsequential to act as a distraction when he felt like running from his problems and never stopping, did actually help.
He remembered Tom waking him after he'd slept for a few hours on the sofa and then talking to him about how he'd make sure everything was ready for the solar panels so they wouldn't fall behind on getting most farm fixed up over the summer. He'd kept him awake and distracted long enough to make sure enough of it had passed that he could take another pill before going to bed, and then, when it had when it became apparent that he couldn't actually manage to take off his t-shirt by himself Tom had helped him get ready for bed.
Pushing down the bed covers, Andy looked at the bruising and grimaced. It had developed into a fairly spectacular range of purple, black, blue in a thick line across the bottom of his chest, fading to green and yellow round the edges. It was going to take ages to fade, Andy thought miserably as he pulled the cover back up, not wanting to look at it any more.
Andy was still trying to decide whether he should try getting up before things like getting to the toilet became a more pressing issue, when he heard his phone ring. Not the mobile he'd thrown across the living room few days before, that had been beyond repair, but his old handset that had been relegated to a cupboard drawer after getting his new, and now smashed, mobile. He'd not been happy with the idea of being back in contact with the world, but concern about the solar panel company needing to contact him and change the installation dates had won in the end, and the sim card had been put into the old phone.
The mobile rang for a few moments before stopping. Relieved that he wasn't going to have to get up and answer it, Andy tried to find a more comfortable spot in the bed.
“I said he's asleep, why don't you believe me?” Tom said, a minute or so later, sounding like he was getting worried by the persistence of whoever he was talking to.
He's answered my phone, was Andy's first thought, closely followed by, he must have stayed the night if he here this early. Biting his lip to suppress a groan, Andy got himself into a roughly seated position, propped by pillows. Then, suspecting he already knew who'd phoned, he called out,“I'm awake! You can come it.”
Letting himself in to Andy's bedroom, Tom looked briefly at him, before asking, “Do you want me to find you some clothes?”
“No, I'm fine, I'm not cold,” Andy said quickly, taking the phone from him, hoping that the person on the other end hadn't heard and come to the wrong conclusion about what was going on. He glanced down at the display. It was Gwen's number.
“Alright, I just finish getting us some breakfast then,” Tom said, heading back to the door. “Give me a shout if you need anything.”
Anyd waited for Tom to close the door behind him for saying,“Hi, Gwen, sorry I haven't called you back earlier, my phone broke.”
“That's okay, now are you going to tell me what's going on?” Gwen said, sound undecided on whether she was more worried or curious. “So just why do you have some strange bloke in your house at seven in the morning while you're in bed with nothing on. Look if I'm interrupting something, I can call back later.”
“No, no it's not like that, really,” Andy said, pulling up the covers, aware that it was a fairly ridiculous thing to do, as it wasn't like Gwen could actually see him. “And I do have something on.”
“You gone all red haven't you?” Gwen said with laugh. “I hope it's not as bad as that time with Sharon on traffic.”
“It not,” Andy replied, glad that she couldn't see that, if anything, it was worse.
“You sound a lot better than you did the other day,” Gwen said sounding relieved. “I was worried about you. Rhys said I was being daft, that you could look after yourself and that you'd be pretty pissed off if I used one of the computer programs to track your phone and find out where you were.”
She didn't need to mention Torchwood for him to know that's what she meant. The power and tech that they apparently still had available and the willingness to use and abuse it for their own reasons was down right worrying sometimes. “He's right,” Andy said, deciding he really didn't want to know what else Gwen had access to. “And that's not something I say very often about Rhys.”
“So how are you really? Tom said something about an accident.”
“I lost an argument with a piece of copper pipe, just not paying attention to what I was doing. It's just bruises really.” Which was a massive understatement, Andy thought to himself, but he didn't want Gwen to worry about him any more than she already had been. “So the answers are sore, stupid and really grateful that Tom is the nicest, most understanding bloke in the world.”
Gwen laughed before she could stop herself. “You're still sticking with nothing going on at all story then, right?”
Andy knew only too well what the situation must have sounded like. It was too close to what he'd like, but was still too scared of rejection to ask for, so he said, “You spend too much time with Harkness.”
“No, I don't. Not any more,” Gwen said sadly. “He's gone. He left months ago, I don't know even know where he is. After everything, after losing Ianto and his grandson...it was tearing him apart to stay. And I couldn't help him, couldn't do anything to make it better.”
The silence stretched out between, Andy feeling awkward and uncertain of what to say. He'd not even know that Jack had a grandchild, although given Jack's reputation of flirting with, and presumably sleeping with, just about anybody who fancied him, he supposed there being multiple little Harkness' out there was more likely than not. It was a terrible thing to have happened though whatever the circumstances. “Maybe he'll come back,” Andy said, hoping that it was the right thing to say.
“Maybe,” Gwen echoed, sounding less than convinced. She sighed and then said, “So who's this Tom and why is he so protective of you? Because it was more than a 'don't disturb my boss, he's busy' that I got from him.”
“He's a friend, a good friend.” It was the safest and most accurate description of what their current relationship was that Andy could think of.
“Are you sure knows that?” Gwen said, sounding concerned for him again. “Just don't lead him on, not when you're not interested.”
“I wouldn't do that,” Andy said, knowing that him and Gwen were talking at cross purposes, but choosing not to point it out.
“You might not mean to, but you're an attractive bloke, Andy. You're nice, you care about people and you try so hard to make sure everybody is happy. It'd be easy to misread that, to see something more there. I guess I'm just saying let him down gently and don't let it get to a point where it's going to screw up you being friends with him over it.”
It was odd hearing Gwen tell him he was attractive, especially as he'd had a thing for her for years, right from the moment she was paired up with him to go out on patrol. He'd never really had a chance, anybody with half a brain could see that she was always going to pick Rhys in the end. “I suppose you're right,” Andy replied, trying not to get his hopes up that Tom might actually fancy him.
“Sorry, I've got to go,” Gwen said after a brief pause. “I can hear Ceri's woken up again. She'll be looking for her breakfast. It's been good catching up, well trying to any way. So don't be a stranger, you call me sometime, maybe even come over for visit. I'd like it.”
“I'd like that too,” Andy said, surprised to find that he actually meant it. “I'll talk to you later then. Bye.” Switching off the phone, he lay back against the pillows.
What was he going to do about Tom? Tom who did twisty things to his insides that were wonderful and uncomfortable and which he didn't want to stop. Tom was kind and funny and who'd put up with so much in his short life and still cared so much about others. Tom who was the best thing in his life and who would, once the building work was complete, be gone from it forever. He didn't have a phone or even an address, once he left that would be it, there would be no way of finding him again.
Andy supposed that he could give Tom his old mobile once he got round to replacing the once that he'd smashed, so he could call him. But living as Tom apparently did he wouldn't have anywhere to charge it and there was a reasonable chance that if Tom missed his call he wouldn't have any credit to phone back.
Tom had been far nicer to him than Andy believed he could possibly deserve given what he'd said to him just a few days before. Those days with Tom not speaking to him had been awful, living there without him, Andy suspected, would feel even worse, the farm becoming strange and lonely in a way the place hadn't felt before Tom's arrival. It felt like home with Tom there and Andy found that he was dreading losing it. Yet short inventing more work for Tom to do and getting him to move into the house once the weather turned there was no practical way for him to stay.
He sighed and closed his eyes. It was mess. Inventing work for Tom to felt too much like he'd paying him for their continued friendship and that was so many levels of wrong, especially as he still held out the almost certainly impossible hope that one day it might turn into something more. Not that Tom had expressed any interest whatsoever in that direction or any other. In fact apart from the vague mention of Annie who made greats of cups of tea and who'd been good to talk to he didn't seemed to have had anybody much in his life apart from his late father. And on the rare occasions when he did speak about her he'd always made it sound like she was a friend rather than a girlfriend. There was always a hint of sadness in his eyes when he mentioned her too, like there was when he talked about his dad. It was enough that Andy didn't feel there was anything to be gained by asking any more questions about her and quite possibly something to be lost if he managed to upset Tom or even drive him away by prying.
Wait and see wasn't really much a plan, but for now, Andy decided, especially as he was too sore to do much else, it was the best one he had. All he could do was hope that Tom would give some sign of wanting to be more than friends with him before the summer ended and Tom was gone.
Part 14 http://the-silver-sun.livejournal.com/220579.html
NOTE.
At this point Gwen and Andy think that events as seen in CoE is what has happened. From Jack and Ianto's points of view, they are now on a space cruise liner, as per Finding Ways To Smile Again
Yes, this is actually part 13a, this part go so long that I've ended up splitting in two, the second half of it, 13b will hopefully be up on Wednesday. I chose to call it 13a and 13b, as I didn't want to change the posting format of odd numbered parts being from Andy's POV and even numbered parts being from Tom's POV. I ended up changing the order of the next couple of parts, so the next is 14 and from Tom's pov, what would have been 13b will now be 15.
Fandoms Torchwood/Being Human crossover fic.
Characters/pairings Andy Davidson/Tom McNair. Other Torchwood and Being Human characters will appear later on.
Word count: This part 2050. (Total posted 26,850 /65,000)
Rating This part PG (adult over all)
Contains Mentions of depression/anxiety. Mentions of past canon major character death. Mention of minor character death - not canon. In later parts canon level violence, graphic sex, Andy's homophobic mother. Spoilers for Being Human (UK version) up to series 5 episode 3, and for Torchwood up to Children of Earth.
A/N: Crossover with Being Human. Technically a CoE fix it as it's set in the same 'verse as Finding Ways To Smile Again (although that isn't apparent until about 2/3 the way through the story). Follows on from Break and Breakaway from Tom McNair's POV - which is where it breaks from Being Human canon.
Summary
After being pushed out of the police force following the events of Children of Earth, Andy Davidson tries to build a new life for himself in the deep in the Welsh countryside.
Tom McNair walked out off his old life after realising it wasn't what he needed.
A chance meeting would take their lives in directions that they had never expected and bring them love that they'd not thought they'd find.
Starts here: http://the-silver-sun.livejournal.com/214504.html
Waking up, Andy rapidly decided, was no fun at all when even trying to turn over to look at the clock meant feeling like somebody had just given you a swift kick in the ribs. Lying in bed, he stared up at the ceiling. The memories of the previous evening were a little bit hazy, although he remembered clearly enough talking to Tom about why he'd been forced to leave the police.
He still didn't want to think too closely about the bad days when he'd dreaded going into work or the even worse ones when he been on suspension when he'd barely left the house or spoken to anybody for days on end. Knowing there was somebody there to talk to, even if it was about something completely unrelated or inconsequential to act as a distraction when he felt like running from his problems and never stopping, did actually help.
He remembered Tom waking him after he'd slept for a few hours on the sofa and then talking to him about how he'd make sure everything was ready for the solar panels so they wouldn't fall behind on getting most farm fixed up over the summer. He'd kept him awake and distracted long enough to make sure enough of it had passed that he could take another pill before going to bed, and then, when it had when it became apparent that he couldn't actually manage to take off his t-shirt by himself Tom had helped him get ready for bed.
Pushing down the bed covers, Andy looked at the bruising and grimaced. It had developed into a fairly spectacular range of purple, black, blue in a thick line across the bottom of his chest, fading to green and yellow round the edges. It was going to take ages to fade, Andy thought miserably as he pulled the cover back up, not wanting to look at it any more.
Andy was still trying to decide whether he should try getting up before things like getting to the toilet became a more pressing issue, when he heard his phone ring. Not the mobile he'd thrown across the living room few days before, that had been beyond repair, but his old handset that had been relegated to a cupboard drawer after getting his new, and now smashed, mobile. He'd not been happy with the idea of being back in contact with the world, but concern about the solar panel company needing to contact him and change the installation dates had won in the end, and the sim card had been put into the old phone.
The mobile rang for a few moments before stopping. Relieved that he wasn't going to have to get up and answer it, Andy tried to find a more comfortable spot in the bed.
“I said he's asleep, why don't you believe me?” Tom said, a minute or so later, sounding like he was getting worried by the persistence of whoever he was talking to.
He's answered my phone, was Andy's first thought, closely followed by, he must have stayed the night if he here this early. Biting his lip to suppress a groan, Andy got himself into a roughly seated position, propped by pillows. Then, suspecting he already knew who'd phoned, he called out,“I'm awake! You can come it.”
Letting himself in to Andy's bedroom, Tom looked briefly at him, before asking, “Do you want me to find you some clothes?”
“No, I'm fine, I'm not cold,” Andy said quickly, taking the phone from him, hoping that the person on the other end hadn't heard and come to the wrong conclusion about what was going on. He glanced down at the display. It was Gwen's number.
“Alright, I just finish getting us some breakfast then,” Tom said, heading back to the door. “Give me a shout if you need anything.”
Anyd waited for Tom to close the door behind him for saying,“Hi, Gwen, sorry I haven't called you back earlier, my phone broke.”
“That's okay, now are you going to tell me what's going on?” Gwen said, sound undecided on whether she was more worried or curious. “So just why do you have some strange bloke in your house at seven in the morning while you're in bed with nothing on. Look if I'm interrupting something, I can call back later.”
“No, no it's not like that, really,” Andy said, pulling up the covers, aware that it was a fairly ridiculous thing to do, as it wasn't like Gwen could actually see him. “And I do have something on.”
“You gone all red haven't you?” Gwen said with laugh. “I hope it's not as bad as that time with Sharon on traffic.”
“It not,” Andy replied, glad that she couldn't see that, if anything, it was worse.
“You sound a lot better than you did the other day,” Gwen said sounding relieved. “I was worried about you. Rhys said I was being daft, that you could look after yourself and that you'd be pretty pissed off if I used one of the computer programs to track your phone and find out where you were.”
She didn't need to mention Torchwood for him to know that's what she meant. The power and tech that they apparently still had available and the willingness to use and abuse it for their own reasons was down right worrying sometimes. “He's right,” Andy said, deciding he really didn't want to know what else Gwen had access to. “And that's not something I say very often about Rhys.”
“So how are you really? Tom said something about an accident.”
“I lost an argument with a piece of copper pipe, just not paying attention to what I was doing. It's just bruises really.” Which was a massive understatement, Andy thought to himself, but he didn't want Gwen to worry about him any more than she already had been. “So the answers are sore, stupid and really grateful that Tom is the nicest, most understanding bloke in the world.”
Gwen laughed before she could stop herself. “You're still sticking with nothing going on at all story then, right?”
Andy knew only too well what the situation must have sounded like. It was too close to what he'd like, but was still too scared of rejection to ask for, so he said, “You spend too much time with Harkness.”
“No, I don't. Not any more,” Gwen said sadly. “He's gone. He left months ago, I don't know even know where he is. After everything, after losing Ianto and his grandson...it was tearing him apart to stay. And I couldn't help him, couldn't do anything to make it better.”
The silence stretched out between, Andy feeling awkward and uncertain of what to say. He'd not even know that Jack had a grandchild, although given Jack's reputation of flirting with, and presumably sleeping with, just about anybody who fancied him, he supposed there being multiple little Harkness' out there was more likely than not. It was a terrible thing to have happened though whatever the circumstances. “Maybe he'll come back,” Andy said, hoping that it was the right thing to say.
“Maybe,” Gwen echoed, sounding less than convinced. She sighed and then said, “So who's this Tom and why is he so protective of you? Because it was more than a 'don't disturb my boss, he's busy' that I got from him.”
“He's a friend, a good friend.” It was the safest and most accurate description of what their current relationship was that Andy could think of.
“Are you sure knows that?” Gwen said, sounding concerned for him again. “Just don't lead him on, not when you're not interested.”
“I wouldn't do that,” Andy said, knowing that him and Gwen were talking at cross purposes, but choosing not to point it out.
“You might not mean to, but you're an attractive bloke, Andy. You're nice, you care about people and you try so hard to make sure everybody is happy. It'd be easy to misread that, to see something more there. I guess I'm just saying let him down gently and don't let it get to a point where it's going to screw up you being friends with him over it.”
It was odd hearing Gwen tell him he was attractive, especially as he'd had a thing for her for years, right from the moment she was paired up with him to go out on patrol. He'd never really had a chance, anybody with half a brain could see that she was always going to pick Rhys in the end. “I suppose you're right,” Andy replied, trying not to get his hopes up that Tom might actually fancy him.
“Sorry, I've got to go,” Gwen said after a brief pause. “I can hear Ceri's woken up again. She'll be looking for her breakfast. It's been good catching up, well trying to any way. So don't be a stranger, you call me sometime, maybe even come over for visit. I'd like it.”
“I'd like that too,” Andy said, surprised to find that he actually meant it. “I'll talk to you later then. Bye.” Switching off the phone, he lay back against the pillows.
What was he going to do about Tom? Tom who did twisty things to his insides that were wonderful and uncomfortable and which he didn't want to stop. Tom was kind and funny and who'd put up with so much in his short life and still cared so much about others. Tom who was the best thing in his life and who would, once the building work was complete, be gone from it forever. He didn't have a phone or even an address, once he left that would be it, there would be no way of finding him again.
Andy supposed that he could give Tom his old mobile once he got round to replacing the once that he'd smashed, so he could call him. But living as Tom apparently did he wouldn't have anywhere to charge it and there was a reasonable chance that if Tom missed his call he wouldn't have any credit to phone back.
Tom had been far nicer to him than Andy believed he could possibly deserve given what he'd said to him just a few days before. Those days with Tom not speaking to him had been awful, living there without him, Andy suspected, would feel even worse, the farm becoming strange and lonely in a way the place hadn't felt before Tom's arrival. It felt like home with Tom there and Andy found that he was dreading losing it. Yet short inventing more work for Tom to do and getting him to move into the house once the weather turned there was no practical way for him to stay.
He sighed and closed his eyes. It was mess. Inventing work for Tom to felt too much like he'd paying him for their continued friendship and that was so many levels of wrong, especially as he still held out the almost certainly impossible hope that one day it might turn into something more. Not that Tom had expressed any interest whatsoever in that direction or any other. In fact apart from the vague mention of Annie who made greats of cups of tea and who'd been good to talk to he didn't seemed to have had anybody much in his life apart from his late father. And on the rare occasions when he did speak about her he'd always made it sound like she was a friend rather than a girlfriend. There was always a hint of sadness in his eyes when he mentioned her too, like there was when he talked about his dad. It was enough that Andy didn't feel there was anything to be gained by asking any more questions about her and quite possibly something to be lost if he managed to upset Tom or even drive him away by prying.
Wait and see wasn't really much a plan, but for now, Andy decided, especially as he was too sore to do much else, it was the best one he had. All he could do was hope that Tom would give some sign of wanting to be more than friends with him before the summer ended and Tom was gone.
Part 14 http://the-silver-sun.livejournal.com/220579.html
NOTE.
At this point Gwen and Andy think that events as seen in CoE is what has happened. From Jack and Ianto's points of view, they are now on a space cruise liner, as per Finding Ways To Smile Again
Yes, this is actually part 13a, this part go so long that I've ended up splitting in two, the second half of it, 13b will hopefully be up on Wednesday. I chose to call it 13a and 13b, as I didn't want to change the posting format of odd numbered parts being from Andy's POV and even numbered parts being from Tom's POV. I ended up changing the order of the next couple of parts, so the next is 14 and from Tom's pov, what would have been 13b will now be 15.