comment_fic 356-360: Heroes, White Collar, NCIS
Title: on the flipside
Fandom: Heroes
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: very future!fic
Pairings: none stated
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 190
Point of view: third
Prompt: author's choice, once upon a time we all thought we could change the world
In his sleep, he remembers the old days. Back when he'd just started flying. He was so young then.
She was, too. Just a child. Even what they thought was horrible then, like blowing up New York... not such a big deal, looking back.
Shit, they were so young.
And now, they are so very old. Now, he's the head of the council and she's his enforcer, and the world is theirs to command, theirs to destroy, and no one dares defy them.
Well, that's not entirely accurate. And who would have ever thought…
Sylar was the boogeyman back at the beginning, and now he's the last hope of the masses, the one they pray to, the one they whisper about when they think nobody's listening.
Of course, somebody is always listening.
In his sleep, he remembers the night he met them both, and it all seems like some story, like it happened to someone else.
But no. He is a god, now, and Claire is his right hand, and Sylar is still always forever his enemy, the only one with the power to stop him.
The same way it's always been.
Title: ambrosia
Fandom: White Collar
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: schoomp
Pairings: pre-Peter/Neal/Elizabeth
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 260
Point of view: third
Prompt: Peter/Neal, strawberry cheesecake milkshake
Peter, when he's not being forgetful, is very thoughtful. He doesn't always remember dates-just ask El-but he does remember favorites. The icecream she loves best, for example, or the song that always makes her smile, or the movie that has her laughing for hours.
When he was chasing Caffrey, before Caffrey became Neal, he learned everything there was to know. And most of that information hasn't changed.
Neal is stuck in a meeting, for a case Peter's team isn't working. The lead for that case, though, knows that Neal is Peter's, and there had better not be a repeat of the Rice fiasco.
Peter goes to lunch with El. They talk about what's playing at the local theater, about Satchmo's latest girlfriend-a sweet cocker spaniel from down the street-and about Neal. She knows almost everything Peter does about their ex-con, and she has a perspective that helps him understand Neal sometimes.
Elizabeth orders a piece of cheesecake for dessert and they share it; El eats the crust but lets Peter have the fluff that came on top of the slice.
The first time Peter ever saw Caffrey's face, it was as he fled the scene of a con that barely had time to get off the ground. He even left his half-finished milkshake languishing on the counter.
Peter smiles, flicking through the dessert menu, and when he returns to the office, he hands off a strawberry cheesecake milkshake to Neal.
Neal grins up at him, a real grin, and Peter can't stop smiling.
Title: forbidden
Fandom: White Collar
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: takes place early in the series
Pairings: implied Peter/Neal
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 85
Point of view: third
Prompt: Jones/any, off limits
Caffrey flirts with anyone and everyone, and he never really means anything by it, Clinton knows that.
Caffrey is smart, and beautiful in the way of classic sculpture, and he uses everything to his advantage, and when he smiles at Clinton, it's his flirt smile, and it doesn't mean anything, and Clinton knows that, he really does.
So Clinton tries to ignore it, to forget it, and when Burke places a hand on Caffrey's shoulder, well, he already knew Caffrey was off-limits, anyway.
Title: a year without
Fandom: NCIS
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: somewhat sad
Pairings: could be Gibbs/Tony or just a father-son relationship
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 165
Point of view: third
Prompt: author's choice, author's choice, "So if you're ever lost and find yourself all alone/I'd search forever just to bring you home" (Nickelback - I'd Come For You)
It's been a year since Tony walked out of the office and never made it to his apartment. Gibbs ripped Washington apart, paid a visit to everyone who ever said anything bad about Tony, and ran himself into the ground, but nothing came of it. There were no leads, less evidence, and a gaping hole in the team, NCIS, and Gibbs himself.
A year today. Time hasn't lessened the sense of loss, the pain and fear and despair. He keeps expecting Tony to walk through the door, around the corner, down the stairs. Each day, though, his hope fades a little more.
A year ago, Tony said, see ya tomorrow, Boss, and Gibbs nodded. Tomorrow came, but Tony didn't. A year with no word, no idea, no one to shoot or punish or blame for Tony's disappearance.
A year without Tony. It's as bad as the first year without Shannon and Kelly, and from experience, he knows it won't be getting any better.
Title: sculpting
Fandom: White Collar
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: set during season 2
Pairings: none stated
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 130
Point of view: third
Prompt: Neal & Diana, friendship
It is very easy to like Neal Caffrey. He's charming and sweet, funny and brilliant-quite brilliant, in fact, and though he throws on mask after mask, she can see that his life hasn't been charmed, that his childhood was not all sunshine and roses, beautiful and wonderful, that he was not a beloved son.
Peter complains about how Neal treats life like it's a game, that the world twists itself to suit Neal's whims, but she can tell he sees past the masks, too. So few do.
It's easy to like Neal Caffrey, but not to know him, and Diana doesn't want the mask; she wants to speak to Neal, to that little boy he hides, to who he is beneath the beautiful veneer, to the man Peter calls friend.