Breakable, by mosylu (T)
Jan. 28th, 2010 01:21 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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het_reccersFandom Category: Earth 2
Pairing: Devon Adair/John Danziger
Fic Title: Breakable
Author: mosylu
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2313015/1/Breakable
Rating/Warning(s): T for teen, Post-"All About Eve"
Genre: post-series, general romance, hurt/comfort
WIP?: no
Why This Must Be Read: I have this desperate desire to read fic after a show ends, but for Earth 2, this was an absolute and undeniable necessity because of how the series ended. This fic takes place post-All About Eve, and does it wonderfully. The emotional aftermath is handled deftly without overdoing it. The characters are pitch-perfect. The humor is hilarious. The angst is never overly-dramatic. And the UST between Devon and Danziger is like right out of the show. Except it, y'know, actually gets a resolution.
If you're anything like me and hate cliffhangers, especially cliffhangers that never get resolved, you'll love this fic because it deals with the aftermath of the Earth 2 finale.
He stared at her, narrow-eyed, for several seconds. "I don’t know what’s going on in your head, Adair," he said finally. "I don’t even know if I want to know. But I promised Uly I’d talk to you about something, and that’s what I’m going to do."
"Uly?" His behavior at dinner came back to her, and she forgot everything else. "Is something wrong? What’s wrong with him?"
"Calm down," he ordered sharply. "The kid's perfectly healthy. Quit hyperventilating."
She pressed her lips together, forcing herself to be still. "Healthy," she said, knowing instinctively that there was a reason John had said that and not fine. "All right. Is there something on his mind that he couldn't tell me?" What could her son not tell her?
He did sit then, but far down the log, bracing his palms against his knees. To Devon, it looked as if he were searching for very difficult words. Her fingers dug into the bark, a rock settling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't think she wasn't going to like this.
"You ever realize that Uly knew he was going to die when he was five years old?"
Cold washed over her. "No. No, he knew he was going to live. He always knew that. I always told him--"
"Lady," he said wearily, "I'm no expert on the Syndrome, but even I know the statistics. What is it--thirty or so little kids get diagnosed every year? And only three of that thirty will even make it to Uly's age. He's smart. He saw it happening to them, he knew it'd happen to him." John’s fingers tapped restlessly on his knees. "He told me about some of his little buddies. Paolo, Jennie, Matt, Layla--" He looked at her. "Sound familiar?"
They had been Uly's friends. They hadn't made it to the launch. Paolo hadn't even made it to his fifth birthday. Devon put her hands to her trembling mouth.
"He thought you were dead for the first two weeks, because we put you in that sleep chamber and left you behind."
Her voice wobbled and cracked. "Didn't you tell him I--"
"He said adults lie about this kind of thing all the time." He looked at her. "Your boy loves you, Adair, and he knows he almost lost you for good. He also knows you're not running at full strength, no matter how much you pretend you are. And he's sick and tired of being lied to. So quit it."
"I'm not lying," she said steadily. "I'm trying to protect him. He doesn’t need that kind of stress--"
"What he doesn’t need is your protection. Did you hear me? He gets it. He looked death in the face for three years, and just because he got to walk away doesn’t mean he’s forgotten what it looks like. Let him take care of you for a change. He needs to do something instead of just watching you kill yourself all over again. Let him love you. Think you can handle that?"
Words wouldn’t come. She struggled for them, but they dammed up her throat, and she could only stare at her own knees as if the patches on her pants held the key to the universe.
After several moments, he let out his breath. "Look, believe what you want, you always do anyway." He got to his feet. "I kept my promise, so--"
Her hand darted out and caught at his. He jerked away, almost tripping over his own feet. She stared up at him, her arm hanging in mid-air a moment before she let it fall.
"Sorry," he said. "Sorry." But he didn’t offer any explanation for it, and she couldn’t understand his expression.
She said, "Thank you," which was what she’d meant to say when she reached out to him.
He looked skeptical. "For what? Yelling at you? Again?"
"For being there for him. When I--I couldn’t."
Pairing: Devon Adair/John Danziger
Fic Title: Breakable
Author: mosylu
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2313015/1/Breakable
Rating/Warning(s): T for teen, Post-"All About Eve"
Genre: post-series, general romance, hurt/comfort
WIP?: no
Why This Must Be Read: I have this desperate desire to read fic after a show ends, but for Earth 2, this was an absolute and undeniable necessity because of how the series ended. This fic takes place post-All About Eve, and does it wonderfully. The emotional aftermath is handled deftly without overdoing it. The characters are pitch-perfect. The humor is hilarious. The angst is never overly-dramatic. And the UST between Devon and Danziger is like right out of the show. Except it, y'know, actually gets a resolution.
If you're anything like me and hate cliffhangers, especially cliffhangers that never get resolved, you'll love this fic because it deals with the aftermath of the Earth 2 finale.
He stared at her, narrow-eyed, for several seconds. "I don’t know what’s going on in your head, Adair," he said finally. "I don’t even know if I want to know. But I promised Uly I’d talk to you about something, and that’s what I’m going to do."
"Uly?" His behavior at dinner came back to her, and she forgot everything else. "Is something wrong? What’s wrong with him?"
"Calm down," he ordered sharply. "The kid's perfectly healthy. Quit hyperventilating."
She pressed her lips together, forcing herself to be still. "Healthy," she said, knowing instinctively that there was a reason John had said that and not fine. "All right. Is there something on his mind that he couldn't tell me?" What could her son not tell her?
He did sit then, but far down the log, bracing his palms against his knees. To Devon, it looked as if he were searching for very difficult words. Her fingers dug into the bark, a rock settling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't think she wasn't going to like this.
"You ever realize that Uly knew he was going to die when he was five years old?"
Cold washed over her. "No. No, he knew he was going to live. He always knew that. I always told him--"
"Lady," he said wearily, "I'm no expert on the Syndrome, but even I know the statistics. What is it--thirty or so little kids get diagnosed every year? And only three of that thirty will even make it to Uly's age. He's smart. He saw it happening to them, he knew it'd happen to him." John’s fingers tapped restlessly on his knees. "He told me about some of his little buddies. Paolo, Jennie, Matt, Layla--" He looked at her. "Sound familiar?"
They had been Uly's friends. They hadn't made it to the launch. Paolo hadn't even made it to his fifth birthday. Devon put her hands to her trembling mouth.
"He thought you were dead for the first two weeks, because we put you in that sleep chamber and left you behind."
Her voice wobbled and cracked. "Didn't you tell him I--"
"He said adults lie about this kind of thing all the time." He looked at her. "Your boy loves you, Adair, and he knows he almost lost you for good. He also knows you're not running at full strength, no matter how much you pretend you are. And he's sick and tired of being lied to. So quit it."
"I'm not lying," she said steadily. "I'm trying to protect him. He doesn’t need that kind of stress--"
"What he doesn’t need is your protection. Did you hear me? He gets it. He looked death in the face for three years, and just because he got to walk away doesn’t mean he’s forgotten what it looks like. Let him take care of you for a change. He needs to do something instead of just watching you kill yourself all over again. Let him love you. Think you can handle that?"
Words wouldn’t come. She struggled for them, but they dammed up her throat, and she could only stare at her own knees as if the patches on her pants held the key to the universe.
After several moments, he let out his breath. "Look, believe what you want, you always do anyway." He got to his feet. "I kept my promise, so--"
Her hand darted out and caught at his. He jerked away, almost tripping over his own feet. She stared up at him, her arm hanging in mid-air a moment before she let it fall.
"Sorry," he said. "Sorry." But he didn’t offer any explanation for it, and she couldn’t understand his expression.
She said, "Thank you," which was what she’d meant to say when she reached out to him.
He looked skeptical. "For what? Yelling at you? Again?"
"For being there for him. When I--I couldn’t."
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