cat_77: (thoughtcrimes)
cat_77 ([personal profile] cat_77) wrote2008-12-28 10:14 pm
Entry tags:

Thoughtcrimes - Promises

I'm on a Highlander kick and posting Thoughtcrimes fic. Yeah, I don't know either.

Title: Promises
Genre: Thoughtcrimes, Gen
Rating: PG-13 for language
Length: ~ 1000 words
Summary: On an assignment gone wrong, promises are made.
Disclaimer: I don’t own them and I am not making any profit from this.


~~~~~~~~~~

Pain. An assignment. Voices. Interview. Suspect. Set up. Voices. Too many. Can’t control it. Swarming. Surrounding. Too much. Not enough. Control. Slipping. Losing it. Not going back. Not again. Make it stop. Pain.

“Freya!” A single voice called to her. It was so far away, so quiet in the din of sound. Hands were on her. She could feel them, but they were nothing.

“What’s wrong with her?” Another voice. New. No, familiar, just not as much. It was fading, slipping into the masses.

“She’s shot. It looks like a sedative of some sort.” The first voice was talking again. The hands were pressing into the ache. Sharp flare, light blazing in the darkness.

“Why would they shoot her with that, but use bullets against us?” Swarming. She pulled it from the midst.

“Shit! It was a set up. The whole damn thing was a set up!” The hands were groping, prying open eyes she did not know she had squeezed shut. “Freya! Stay with me. We have to get you out of here.”

The smear and swirl of lights and shadows coalesced into a worried face. “Brendan?” she choked, voice sounding hollow to her own ears. That was alright, it was fading in with the others.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” he promised. She heard metal slide against fabric, saw a gun find home in it’s holster. She felt herself leave the ground, float in the safety of his arms. His head turned away, just for a moment, looking into the shadows around them. “They were after her. Haggerty, cover us. I can’t shoot and carry her at the same time.”

“Why the hell would they be after a tiny little consultant like her? There’s nothing to her.”

“Let’s just say she has a history.” Her hair blew in her eyes. She didn’t try to move it. “And that there’s more to her than meets the eye.”

New voices came closer. The light dimmed and the darkness grew. “They’re coming back,” she warned. She had no idea who ‘they’ were, only that they held anger and danger and fear.

“I know,” Brendan grunted, weight shifting, air against her face. “You’re safe though. I swear to you, we’re going to keep you safe.”

Images came. Tables and exams and hospital beds and too many people and too much noise and drugs pumped into her system and control slipping away. She had no idea if they were memories, or what was to come if the people after her had their way. “Not going back,” she ground out.

“No, you’re not,” her partner agreed. She fumbled at his waist, took his gun into her own shaking hands. “Stop that! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he shouted.

“Not going. Can’t do that again,” she tried. There were too many words, not enough of them hers.

“That better the hell be for them and not for yourself,” Brendan muttered, shifting her slightly. Glimpses of clarity told her he was reaching for his second weapon.

There was the echo of gunshots, but she knew she had not pulled the trigger. There was no smell, no recoil, only the slamming of both of them against a brick wall and Haggerty’s voice bitching, “She’s higher than a kite and you armed her? Some bright thinking there, Dean.”

It wasn’t his choice, none of this was. His defense was lost in the screaming around her. The voices were shouting, the shadows growing once again. There was another echo, another shot, only this time she felt it: the heat and the weight and the cost. There was blood; she could smell it, feel it sticky against her skin. Pain erupted from her chest, soaring upwards even as her body was lowered, her own voice joining the miasma around her.

Hands on her face, fingers prying her eyes open. Brendan stared down at her. “You’re okay,” he promised. “You’re not hit, it was someone else.” One hand left, the other pressed into her temple. She felt metal being pulled from her hand. She fought it, gripping harder. “Fine, keep it, but I’m turning the safety on.”

“Dean? You got her? I’ve got two coming this way.”

Get her. We’re close. Almost there. Gonna be paid well for this one.

“I’ve got her.” He was looking down at her again, pressing the weapon to the side. Her eyes followed, only to have her head wrenched upwards towards him again. “Focus on me. That’s what works for you, right? Look only at me and focus only on my voice. Block everything else out. I’m all that exists and I’m here to keep you safe.”

“Safe?” she asked. It was a concept, an idea that she wasn’t sure she believed in.

“Safe,” he promised. He took a breath and she could hear it as he let it out in the cold air, voices dimming in the background. “There’s a nice warm armored car just around the corner. We’re going to get you there and then get you the hell out of here, okay?”

She saw his lips move, heard only his thoughts and his words, their discordance righting into harmony. “No hospitals,” she begged. “Too many people.” Too many nightmares.

He keyed his radio, requesting a private location with a physician ready and waiting for her. Side effects. Abnormal reaction. Lies. It didn’t matter because he was getting her to safety. He was keeping his promise. His eyes never left her, but she felt his focus shift back to her as he asked, “Ready?”

“Don’t know how much longer I can last,” she admitted, already feeling herself slip under. It was dark, but it was quiet, and it would do.

“That’s okay,” he told her. She felt his hand in her hair for a moment, his arms circling beneath her to lift her once again. “You pass out all you want, but know I’m going to be there the whole time, okay?”

“Not going to leave?” she asked, knowing how pathetic she had to sound. He was her tether, at least for now. He was her security.

She saw flashes. Him chasing after the men they had caught a glimpse of. Him taking them down. Him handing over his weapon the Haggerty. Him sitting by her bedside instead. “No fucking way,” he promised.

She closed her eyes, and knew he would be there when she opened them again.

~~~~~~~~~~


Feedback is always welcomed.

[identity profile] lone-poppy.livejournal.com 2008-12-29 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
One of the best I've read.

Thank you so much.

[identity profile] cat-77.livejournal.com 2008-12-29 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind words!

[identity profile] karri-kln1671.livejournal.com 2008-12-29 05:24 am (UTC)(link)
That was terrific! *claps*

[identity profile] cat-77.livejournal.com 2008-12-29 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you very much!

[identity profile] padawan-aneiki.livejournal.com 2008-12-29 03:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Way cool, do some other ones! :D *claps*

[identity profile] threnodyjones.livejournal.com 2008-12-29 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Niiice. Good job with describing her thinking she's been shot. I agree, do some other ones.

[identity profile] cat-77.livejournal.com 2008-12-29 06:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah! Glad that part worked - that was what I was going for. I might have a few other ideas, but no idea when I'll get to them. Thank you kindly, though. :)

[identity profile] cat-77.livejournal.com 2008-12-29 06:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh. Thank you! I have a couple ideas, but nothing beyond that yet. Glad you enjoyed!

[identity profile] sakurablue13.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
i was so waiting for this!
thanks! ^__^

[identity profile] cat-77.livejournal.com 2009-01-02 12:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! Happy I could provide!

[identity profile] ameshinju.livejournal.com 2009-01-03 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
This is so well done.
I really loved this!

[identity profile] cat-77.livejournal.com 2009-01-06 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you very much!

[identity profile] bhgstoryteller.livejournal.com 2009-01-24 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Well done. I like the interaction between them and Freya's willingness to rely on him.

[identity profile] cat-77.livejournal.com 2009-01-25 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I think that's one of the things that made me fall in love with TC from the very beginning.

[identity profile] space1traveler.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
I love it the way Brendan takes care of Freya, the way she trust him enough to let go. Wow! This was intense and exciting. "Oliver, wants more please." I loved it. Thank you.

[identity profile] cat-77.livejournal.com 2009-03-04 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much! I've kinda fallen in love with Freya and Brendan and am having so much fun writing them. Glad you enjoy it!