Fluff, Relationships, and Traditions

Sep. 22nd, 2013 07:54 pm
scribblemyname: (raining story and song)
[personal profile] scribblemyname
This entry is part 52 of 52 in the series 365 Challenge

So characters have habits, ways they interact with certain people and situations, things they do and like to do, stories and histories together. I've known a lot of my characters' for a long time but getting them all into fic is interesting, particularly for the ones I don't know that for.

I've got about five novelettes I want to turn out plus a short story, created out of the 5 Things Meme and then the whole Pieter/Ashen dynamic that originally played in my head before I even wrote that first Ashen drabble (and it is awesome to me, but got sidelined drastically with a deluge of other prompts), but, but, but...

I'm on day 265 of my challenge and story count 157 and I'm still plying angles and there's all those little things above that I'm itching to nibble at. Want to help a girl out?

Particularly of interest to me are things like where does Wesley work (not sure actually), and then relationship things that I haven't gotten to like how Justus always recognizes Shift regardless of her current form or demeanor, friendships, sibling relationships, Ilsa and her husband, etc.

Calling for prompts, as promised:

  1. character(s) and/or canon/fandom
  2. random word, quote, or other prompt

Oh, and I'll try to keep it short and fluffy or sweet. Try is the operative word. :grins:

Prompts

Ficlets

Seven Days

Kingdoms and Thorn

Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

Tags:
  • Add Memory
  • Share This Entry
Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Price of Reconciliation

Date: 2013-10-18 06:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
A/N: So this doesn't go into a lot of the science, since Recall doesn't do science, as she says, and there is some dialogue that didn't come into this where she offers to learn who he is first and then only give him certain memories, but that didn't fit in this. Still, she can pick and choose memories to give, so... she would. A part of me has this thought about her only getting one good memory for Wolf, but he might not even be the one in this scene. He doesn't have to be.



“You weren’t on a team.”

“Never had a team. Just a partner,” the woman said, closing her eyes. “Gone now.”

“Can you actually do this?”

She uncurled herself from the reports and rolled her shoulders, then her neck. “I don’t know. Science was never something I understood or wanted to understand. Vules didn’t make himself very welcome when he was testing me, so when he explained things, I didn’t like to listen. He said something once about Fracture actually rearranging his brain when he fractured—he rewrites his genetics to be whatever he needs to be and genetics supposedly includes the mind—so that was why he never remembered anything when he was done, but if he rewrote his brain, his memories shouldn’t be there like a normal person’s. Then again, taking memories from Fracture always hurt a lot more than it did with others—my theory being that his were ones I had to work harder for because they’re not where they’re expected to be. Looking over what they used to do this stuff to you, I’m thinking—”

“That you can’t?”

“I might get something. I might get nothing. The only thing I can guarantee is that it will hurt.”

“Hurt?”

“Mostly me, though I’m told it stings sometimes when I give people memories.” She let out a breath. “I can do this if you want me to try. If you don’t, I’ll go. I’ll find something else to do.”

“How do we know you can do any of what you’ve said you can do?”

“I can prove it if you want, but that still means me having access to someone’s memories.”

“You won’t like what you see.”

“I have the memories of a man who stopped a nuclear holocaust on his own in my head. I have murderers, rapists, and terrorists in there. There isn’t much I haven’t seen and processed already. I’m not afraid of what I might see—and I’m already insane, so that’s not an issue, either.”

“Child soldiers?”

She met his gaze, neither confirming or denying anything, and in the end, he held out his hand. “Here.”

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Price of Reconciliation

Date: 2013-10-18 06:54 pm (UTC)
scribblemyname: (Default)
From: [personal profile] scribblemyname
Ooooh. Considering the AU nature of fanfic, you mind if I speculate Recall-ward in my replyfic?

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Price of Reconciliation

Date: 2013-10-18 07:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
I admit, I am curious to see what you might want to speculate on. Sure.

Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: It's a Start Anyway

Date: 2013-10-18 07:33 pm (UTC)
scribblemyname: (rogue mind)
From: [personal profile] scribblemyname
A/N: It made me think about where would he put his memories? what kind of memories? There are always general this-is-that memory (learning) and information storage (not episodic), such as faces, presidents, etc. But this made me think of what about the deja vu moments, where episodic memory gets concreted into something else? What if you could piece together all the muscle memory and nonepisodes and actually get a memory minus certain details like words? Just thoughts. Anyway, this doesn't quite get that far... At all.



Sting was a rather nice way of putting it. Wolf gritted his teeth as he felt the energy transfer of what she was doing and wondered if she had a clue how much it messed with his own sense of the energy streams underlying the use of most special abilities. He doubted he could knot up or suppress this one. Her ability seemed to work by tying it down herself, bringing his mental energy flow and hers into such tight proximity that she could read what she needed.

For the first time since Whisper told him he was a wolf, he understood why that was significant. He'd never had that sort of power used on him before, and he couldn't say he liked it.

And there was a memory he knew coming back at him.

"Qiqeret."

Hot, feverish, agonizing pain screaming through his body as he coughed. Damp air, cement floor, and that soft touch on his skin as a woman held his chin and looked into his eyes with her own warm brown ones and said, low enough to be a whisper, "You will live."

Recall pulled away, frowning.

It was also rather nice to say that there were obvious holes in his history. That wasn't really the case. There was nothing, and then there was Red, who became Red Wolf and Alpha. He didn't even remember processing, only its aftermath—something apparently rare.

"So it worked," he said cautiously, referring to the memory transfer more than whether she had found what she was looking for.

She waited. It wasn't like she needed the proof she could do it.

He considered what he knew, what resources he had, whether he wanted to even try this, but it hadn't overwhelmed him. It was living the memory, but it wasn't quite what he expected. It came attached with what he knew and felt then rather than now. He nodded shortly. "Did you get anything?"

"I'll need to process it before I can share much," she said.

She did look like she'd been affected. He'd seen plenty of varying reactions to the way using an ability could drain somebody.

"Shall I see you in a day or two?" he asked quietly.

"I should have something for you by then."

Red Wolf breathed in, deliberately smoothing it out from his automatic reaction. She had gotten something. "Where does your friend keep his memories?"

Her grimace turned to a bittersweet smile. "Like I said, I'm not into the science."

#

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: It's a Start Anyway

Date: 2013-10-18 08:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
I had some thoughts on the memory thing myself, because I thought about her being about to pull up things from places other than episodic memory, that she could draw off muscle memory and other things as well, that she manages to pull from multiple sources when she does it, but I think we were having similar thoughts regarding Recall.

I like the glimpse into what Wolf can do, how he does it, and his reaction to what she does and what he feels as she does it.

And the last bit...

I love it.

She's where he keeps his memories, but that's not something she'd admit.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: It's a Start Anyway

Date: 2013-10-18 08:29 pm (UTC)
scribblemyname: (Default)
From: [personal profile] scribblemyname
Of course she wouldn't! :grins:

When possible, I do like to step into how their abilities feel to them. It's a lot different than just, well, normal.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: It's a Start Anyway

Date: 2013-10-18 08:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
:)

It's a good way of knowing who they are and how it is for them.

With Recall, that first scene where she likens it to lots of knives stabbing her, it was easier to understand how she felt when she used her ability, but Fracture was harder to get because he is different, because he has varying reactions to what he's doing and how much of it he understands, but there's pain involved in what he does, too, and so... yeah, I do my usual shying away from it. :/

Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: Selfish or Selfless

Date: 2013-10-18 09:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
A/N: So Recall threw me for a huge loop on this one. I didn't intend to go this way, but she got... um, noble? I guess that's what she did. Maybe. I'm still trying to figure this one out myself.


He could have stopped me, Recall thought, still shaken by the meeting she’d had with the man now known as Red Wolf. She could call him by other names—she knew enough of him to know almost all of them, even without the old memories that she’d tempted him into reclaiming.

She turned onto her side, curling up against herself. She hadn’t processed this much in a long time, having most of Fracture’s memories except the most recent ones, and she hadn’t hurt this much, either. She almost welcomed this kind of pain, though. She would rather be lost in someone else’s memories than her own than remember what was missing, than acknowledge the gaping hole that would never be filled.

She should have found someone else, someone besides Wolf. He was dangerous in more than one sense. He was a former operative—she had known that before she approached him—and that should frighten her, but she had lived with Fracture long enough to be immune to fear, only what she had forgotten was that she was weak. The idea of someone besides Fracture stopping what she could do—she wanted that.

She also had a terrible feeling that she’d break him if she gave him back all of his memories, just like a fracture she’d given too much to in the past. What she had gotten—Wolf was two different men, not like Fracture, not the same.

Did his wife know? Recall hadn't sorted through everything yet, so she had to wonder if he had told Whisper he was going to do this. He might not have—there was a chance that it wouldn’t work at all—and he might not have said anything until he knew that it had. Recall didn’t doubt the man’s devotion to his wife, but she did understand his fears, probably better than most because she could get thoughts and feelings from what she processed. Memories were full of many things, more than people realized, and she had his.

She forced herself up off the bed, crossing to the phone. One way or another, she’d need someone else’s cooperation. She would hate herself a little more for this, but she knew what had to be done. “I need you to back me up when I lie to him.”

“What?”

“He needs to believe that I didn’t get much from him—and that you love him regardless of who he was in the past.” Recall leaned over the desk, fighting the pain. “Please. I made the offer with good intentions, and I know when not to give too much. This is one of those times. When I tell him there is nothing beyond what I give him, help him to accept that. I thought I was helping, but I’m not. I was being selfish.”

“I see.”

The words were quiet, and Recall didn’t miss their significance. “He already knows he likes music. No harm in showing him that, and when I have, I’ll be gone. No more interference. I promise. I just... needed to be sure someone would be there for the fallout.”

The silence was condemning, but she didn’t expect anything else—what she’d done was wrong, even if she thought she was doing right when she made the offer. She went to end the call, losing her grip on the desk and consciousness first.

Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Right Question

Date: 2013-10-20 02:43 am (UTC)
scribblemyname: (abyss: rogue)
From: [personal profile] scribblemyname
Whisper put the phone down and glanced over at her husband, already half-asleep himself on the bed. She wondered briefly how much of what the woman said was from herself and how much overflow from his own uncertainty. Nevertheless, it told her that Recall hadn't finished processing his memories. Whisper would never lie to him.

Gently, she settled on the bed beside him, tracing one finger faintly over his cheek. He didn't move. He rarely did anymore when it was her, just as her own reflexes were beginning to take into account that she trusted him.

"What did you ask her?" she whispered to herself in Alaric. She knew he was going to find out what was possible, but when he left, he hadn't really decided how much he was willing to actually test.

Whisper had long suspected Red Wolf's past was best learned about from the outside in, due to Justus' long silence on the matter, but she wasn't entirely sure how different he had been. Wolf was an alpha, harsh when necessary, and an extremely competent operative who did what needed to be done. The impression she received from the information they were only now beginning to dig into was that as a young man, he'd been a fundamental Christian, good guy next door, and an enthusiastic bluegrass fiddler. Perhaps the difference was as wide as the gulf between her own childhood and what she had become, but it was hardly one worth losing love over.

She flicked a wave of tight pressure over his shoulder.

He tensed instantly, then sat up slowly as he realized it was her that had woken him. "Whisper?" He was keeping the grumpiness out of his voice and it made her smile.

"You're always a grouch at night," she commented softly, thoroughly amused.

He groused but leaned against the backboard and tucked her under his arm. "What'd you need?" he asked somewhat more amiably.

She hummed thoughtfully as she got comfortable, then, "What did you ask her?"

He blinked, then caught on to her topic. "I asked her to prove it," he said slowly.

"Which she did..."

"Which she did." Wolf looked at her carefully, scrutinizing this odd frame of mind. "She got something from before. I'm not sure how much."

"Did you want to see it?" Whisper asked. He hadn't decided and maybe he still hadn't and this was all moot. She craned her neck to meet his gaze better. He could have asked her for his records for years. He had always known she was a tracer. It was only in the last few months that they had walked down that path.

Wolf shrugged. "Some of it," he said softly, tucked his chin against her hair. "I'd like to feel like a brother."

She thought about that, hummed softly under her breath, then traced over his jaw with one hand. "Ask her for that then."

He breathed out a sigh.

She waited a moment, listening until the silence held acceptance, then slipped under the covers and drew him down with her toward sleep.

#
Edited Date: 2013-10-20 02:51 am (UTC)

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Right Question

Date: 2013-10-20 03:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
I wasn't really sure how Recall's awkward almost change of heart would go over, but I'm glad it wasn't too terrible.

I like seeing Whisper's reaction to it, the way she chose to support him and all she already knows, her loyalty to him, all of that.

They are an awesome couple because of these quiet moments where they strengthen each other.

I have another part where he does see Recall again, and it would take a bit of tweaking to fit with this, if that's okay.

Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: Trying to Give Back

Date: 2013-10-20 04:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
Okay. :)

A/N: So... Not quite sure about Wolf's dialogue here, and I hope the tweaks make it fit okay even if his comments are a bit... off.



“Have you ever lost the one thing you were ever a part of, the one thing that is so much a part of you that you are... nothing without it?” Recall didn’t look up from her hands. She should know the answer to that question, but she didn’t want to hunt it down in his memories. “I don’t expect forgiveness. I shouldn’t have asked. I just... needed a purpose again, and I thought I’d found it. I thought only of myself, not what it would mean for anyone else.”

“Your offer wasn’t a crime.”

“Doesn’t make the disappointment any less devastating. Haven’t you suffered enough already? Why should I torment you with a promise I can’t fulfill?”

“You didn’t promise anything more than pain, remember?”

“You can stop me. I’d like it if you did, though I don’t deserve favors.”

“No one said it worked that way.”

“Idizo. It should.” She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around her body. “I am supposed to be stronger than this. I didn’t realize how broken I was. I don’t even know why I keep talking like this. I am supposed to give you back what I got.”

“You made it sound like you didn’t get back anything.”

“Habit. That’s the lie I give Sukut all the time. I got a few pieces. It’s not much. It’s what you already knew, but... it’s yours, so you may as well have it,” she said, holding out her hand. She’d give him a few disconnected memories of learning to play, nothing that could hurt too much or disagreed too sharply with the man he was now, and hope he didn’t realize she’d been lying. She knew now that she’d processed more that the wife wouldn’t lie. She knew that Recall knew more, and it was somewhat of a surprise that she wasn’t with him—though she knew that Whisper trusted her husband’s strength and his judgment. She would let him see what he wanted, what he felt he needed.

“How much did you see?”

“It’s always too much. The memories aren’t mine, after all.” She saw his look, knew that she couldn’t leave it at what she’d already said. “I like your kids. They’re sweethearts—mostly. I admire your wife. She’s a better woman than I am. I envy you your family—and I don’t just mean the ones that live with you. And you played beautifully.”

There. Sharp intake. He was waiting for that. He might not have expected her to get something past the processing—though she supposed that he probably knew she’d gotten something, she’d never been good at hiding it—and she shouldn’t have it according to their science, but she wasn’t like them. She hadn’t been made and controlled. She was an anomaly born from trauma, imprisoned by her body, her mind lost years ago.

“You know all that?”

“I can get lifetimes in seconds, and I was looking for something specific for you, something before the processing. I got a little. It’s yours.”

“Anything about my birth family? About... About me as a brother?”

She’d been prepared to give him only memories about his music, but she could give him a few of those memories, too. “I told you—what little I got is yours.”

He watched her, and she didn’t know that he believed her, but he would have been right not to if he didn’t. She almost wanted to feel a just punishment for all she’d done, though she did not think he would hurt her. She reached for his hand, wanting this done, and she passed as much to him as she dared, unwilling to do more damage than she already had. “There. Now if you will excuse me—bizh.”

She flailed, trying to find something to grab that wasn’t him before she went down. She hadn’t accounted for how much it would take to pass memories to a man like him, and she wasn’t done processing, so going down afterward was only to be expected. Still, she cursed herself for being such an idiot even as she kind of hoped she’d pushed it too far and wouldn’t get back up this time.
Edited Date: 2013-10-20 04:03 am (UTC)

Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Only Mercy

Date: 2013-10-21 03:38 am (UTC)
scribblemyname: (abyss: rogue)
From: [personal profile] scribblemyname
She woke on a couch, stretched out comfortably with her head on a decorative pillow. On the couch across a waiting room table from her, Red Wolf was leaning forward, elbows on his knees, but not looking at her. He seemed to be contemplating something within his own mind. She could guess it was the memories she had given him.

Recall tried to sit up but that drew immediate discomfort and Wolf's instant attention.

"You all right?" he asked evenly. He studied her with an almost expressionless gaze.



He hadn't meant to hurt her, even though he knew perfectly well she had mentioned it would hurt—and her far more than him.

He saw her walls go up behind her eyes and knew that she had fended off someone else before who had some amount of protective instinct. It made him feel a pang of something... strange. Wolf remembered nothing before the team, but they had always had each other, protected each other, and relied on each other. Interdependence was their greatest strength.

But he treated it like it was something else instead: the wounds they all carried, the horrors that had happened to them, the losses they had felt. He shrugged before she could answer, like it didn't matter, because sometimes that was the greatest mercy of all. Silence in the face of the unthinkable.

Alpha Wolf stood, taking on the leader he had been rather than the uncomplicated strike team operative. He nodded at her in respect. "Thank you."

Then, he offered the only other mercy he could, the end of where his own needs could cause her harm. He walked away.

#

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Only Mercy

Date: 2013-10-21 04:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
Oh, he is such a good guy. And he is doing really what's best for her, though... she's so messed up and lost in this AU she wouldn't care about giving him more or how much it hurt, just as long as she didn't hurt him.

Though I am a bit sad to admit it and find myself not liking the idea of closing it down, this really does feel like a place where it could end.

Not sure I can let that be it, though, because I have to find something to resolve her part of it because a Recall who thinks Fracture is dead is in a very, very bad place, and I'm not capable of leaving her there.

Hmm...
Edited Date: 2013-10-21 04:28 am (UTC)

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Only Mercy

Date: 2013-10-21 02:47 pm (UTC)
scribblemyname: (Default)
From: [personal profile] scribblemyname
Even when I saw him making an assumption and acting on it, I knew it was what he would do, so I let him, but I am definitely interested if you know how to open this thread back up.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Only Mercy

Date: 2013-10-21 03:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
He's not entirely wrong in his assumption.

A side effect of her ability, one she doesn't discuss much but comes clear with Wolf and with Fracture, is that she gets enough of people to know them. She sees them like friends or even family, cares about them and people that they do, and she'd do anything for Wolf or someone he cares about, no matter the cost to her, even though she's a stranger to them. That's the messed up relationship she had with Fracture.

Walking away from her is probably the only way to save her, not that she wants to be saved. She was desperate for someone else, something else to belong to, and she would have taken it too far.

I do have a thought about it, I have a scene or two, and it is a convoluted thought (Recall wouldn't go directly to Wolf, though I considered her calling Whisper to apologize, but there is a point where he could become involved again if he chooses.) It is a bit crazy an idea, so I don't know how you'll like it, but I'll share it once I have it a bit more fleshed out.
Edited Date: 2013-10-21 03:50 pm (UTC)

Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Wrong Way to Meet the Special Unit 1/2

Date: 2013-10-21 04:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
A/N: So this is... convoluted at best, though I did try to explain a few things in here. I don't know that it was a good choice to go with characters I'm even less familiar with, but this idea kept me up last night. I had to fix a few things this morning, so... here goes the insanity.


“You deal with crimes against your kind or involving your kind, right? Specials? That would be why they call this special unit, yes?”

The woman—the leader—looked over at Recall with suspicion, and Recall didn’t blame her for that. She wouldn’t trust a teal and black haired freak that appeared out of nowhere, looking like a mess. She’d managed to tear her jacket on something when she ran, and she’d been in no state for running in the first place. She still had a bit more processing to do, had to recover from giving Wolf his memories—she didn’t blame him for walking away, she knew why he had and she knew he was right to turn away from her path of self-destruction—but she hadn’t been given that opportunity.

“Our kind?”

The words were a bit clipped, and Recall almost winced when she heard them, knowing she’d said them first, causing the tension to start. “Where I’m from, we’re anomalies, but that isn’t the case here. People know you exist now, they know about the war and—idizo. I’m not—I knew I could and should come to you, but how much of what I should say I’ll get out before I lose consciousness is debatable.”

“You here to report that some ‘special’ did this to you?”

“No.” Recall reached for the nearest support she could find and almost laughed. In a way, a special had done this to her, though she’d done it to herself, truly, but she had Wolf’s memories, and giving some of them back to him had weakened her, but this wasn’t about him. He’d been better to her than he should have been considering what she’d done—raising his hopes, yanking that away, and lying to him about how much she got back.

She just knew that he couldn’t be the man he was, and she wouldn’t hurt him by giving him more than she had. That was the trouble with getting people’s memories—she knew them too well, and in some cases, she found herself caring for them when they saw her as a stranger.

“What happened?”

“I overextended myself, and someone brought me to the medical center, and I was kind of too weak to object to being left there. I don’t think it would have been a problem if a different doctor was on duty, but this one...”

“This one what?”

That harsh question came from one of the others, but the leader held up her hand and moved toward Recall, sympathy betrayed for a moment in her eyes, some kind of understanding. Recall would have hunted in Wolf’s memories for a mention of what this woman could do if she felt stronger—she thought he knew because she had to have gotten the idea to come here from him—or she’d gotten it from someone she bumped after her shirt tore, which was very not good because that meant more processing, and processing more than one person’s memories at the same time was unpleasant at best—and that made three, not just two. Two was bad enough.

“The doctor scared you. Why?”

Recall knew she didn’t have the strength to explain, not now. “When I collapse in a minute, don’t touch my skin. Please.”

“If you could just tell us what—”

“Would. Can’t. Ninamen,” she said and lost consciousness.


“Well?” Marc asked as he stood, backing away from the woman he’d just finished moving. She’d said not to touch her skin, and he’d been careful not to, but no one was going to leave her on the floor no matter what she said.

Jarrod leaned close to her. “She’s not registered. At least, not that I can tell.”

“Cate?”

“She’s got some kind of... shielding. I’d have to push, and even then, I’m not sure I’d get anything.”

Ilsa nodded, studying the stranger for another woman before looking over at her team. “Don’t touch her.”

Jarrod rose. “She didn’t say why we shouldn’t, and we don’t know anything about her.”

“I read fear and pain. That much was genuine,” Ilsa said. “Don’t touch her.”


Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Right Question

Date: 2013-10-21 03:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
A/N: And so this is probably so far from canon I should never have touched it, but I got stuck on Recall's canon story thanks to Fracture, again, and this was bothering me, so I put it on paper and decided to share anyway. Sorry?


Recall wrapped her arms around her legs and looked up, wary. “Are you worried that I’ll tell him the reason you won’t ever forgive him?”

The man’s eyes darkened, and she knew that she could probably use that. She could prod at an old, painful wound, dig in and make it hurt enough to get the backlash she had some insane idea of wanting. She didn’t need to provoke him, not when he hadn’t wanted what he became, not when he hated himself for it, not when he was half-destroyed from the guilt of choosing to survive. She would not hurt him even though she could, easily. She knew too much.

She shook her head. “I won’t. He can’t ever be who he was, but he would still blame himself for it when it isn’t his fault any more than it was yours.”

“I chose it.”

She nodded. “I know a few things about that.”

“Do you?”

She chose not to elaborate. “He had no way of knowing they were coming for him. And he knew he owed you for what you tried to do. One of the last things he thought about before they put him through processing—no, I won’t tell you. I’ll show you.”

He moved to dodge her, but she was faster than he realized, and even his training couldn’t stop her. Yes, her wrist was likely broken, but she’d gotten her hand on him anyway, and that was all she needed. He let go as he assimilated the memory.

Ben tugged on his bonds again, shaking his head as he did. No amount of pulling would get him free, and he had to get free. This was all his fault. They’d been after him, and if Justus hadn’t tried to help him, he’d be free right now. He’d be home with his family. Ben didn’t know how he’d make it up to him, but he swore he would someday. He just had to get free first.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

She moved her wrist against her stomach. “Maybe not. Maybe it won’t do anything, change anything, maybe it’s—”

“Did you get his whole life?”

“You always had the answers. You could have given them to him.”

“And you wonder why I didn’t?”

“I know why you didn’t.”

“So why did you?”

“I didn’t. I gave him a few pieces.”

“Just a few?”

“That’s all I got.”

“You’re lying.”

She almost smiled. “I’d taunt you into doing something about that, but I don’t want to add another scar on your conscience. You don’t need it, and as much as I seem incapable of dealing with my fate on my own, I won’t make it your problem. Go home.”

“You are—”

“I think they could forgive you,” Recall said, knowing that she hadn’t processed enough to assume anything. “And she loves you, so go home.”

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Right Question

Date: 2013-10-21 03:41 am (UTC)
scribblemyname: (tears: four)
From: [personal profile] scribblemyname
Far from canon? Yes.

Happy, hug-to-my-chest fanfic? Oh, yeah!

:hugs: I love things like this. I really, really do.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Right Question

Date: 2013-10-21 04:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
I'm glad you liked it. I had that nagging thought about them getting Justus when all they wanted was Red (as one was naturally gifted and the other wasn't) and it just kind of demanded to be written even though I knew it was far from accurate.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Right Question

Date: 2013-10-21 02:08 pm (UTC)
scribblemyname: (Default)
From: [personal profile] scribblemyname
Red wasn't actually naturally gifted. He was processed, so genetically modified. It was illegal as all get out, but they did it anyway, which was covered in Rett's scenes in Wake and Thrive.

But yeah, I liked this a lot.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Right Question

Date: 2013-10-21 03:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
Right. I should know that: I did read Wake and Thrive. I just took what Justus said in that piece with Shift too far, apparently.

:) I really am glad you liked it.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Right Question

Date: 2013-10-20 03:17 am (UTC)
scribblemyname: (Default)
From: [personal profile] scribblemyname
I wasn't sure how Whisper would feel about it at first; I think she was tempted to feel insulted at being asked to lie, then she realized how easy it was to second guess oneself and have second thoughts with something like someone else's mind. Seriously. So she went for her other natural reaction: intel. Maybe Wolf wasn't hoping for the level of memories that would cause a problem. If she has time to think before acting, she usually does.

I love their quiet moments too. They're good for each other and I love that about them.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn/Fracture & Recall Crossover: The Right Question

Date: 2013-10-20 03:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thecatisacritic.livejournal.com
Yeah, I didn't think she'd like being asked to lie, but the more I thought about it, the more Recall would hate herself if she knew that trying to reconcile Wolf with who he'd been would be more destructive than constructive, if she was doing more harm than good, she'd try and back out of it if possible. She was lost enough to ignore what she already knows about memory loss from those years with Fracture, but when reason got a hold of her again, she would not want to be a part of damaging someone's mind.

He can stand a few memories on their own, like we discussed, but the whole thing, which she thought she'd be giving him, that's too much.

They are very good for each other. :)
  • Add Memory
  • Share This Entry
Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Profile

scribblemyname: (Default)
scribblemyname
Main Journal

July 2024

S M T W T F S
 123456
78910111213
1415 1617181920
21222324252627
28293031   

Links

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 22nd, 2025 08:26 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios