G is for Going Home - Grief
Nov. 28th, 2011 03:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rinkhcTitle: G is for Going Home
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: David Parrish, OFC, Evan Lorne
Pairing: Parrish/Lorne
Orientation: Slash
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,823
Prompt: HC Bingo Fill: "Grief"
Hefting his bag over one shoulder, he shuffled along with the others through the Gate. He didn’t look back. He had nothing left there now.
Once he got to the SGC he let them process his paperwork. He took the commercial airline ticket the sergeant pressed into his numb hand and followed along with the others being shuttled to the airport. Once in his seat, he put his head back and closed his eyes. There was nothing he wanted to see.
He disembarked and went to the area for ground transport. He hadn’t checked any baggage, so he had no reason to go there with the other three people from Atlantis that had been on the plane. He gave them a silent wave and that was the last he saw of them. He gave the cab driver the address, grumbling it out. The guy made him repeat it. He scowled mildly, but couldn’t rouse himself to be truly annoyed; that would require caring. He didn’t care about anything, not anymore.
The cab let him off on the sidewalk and sped away, the driver not induced to stay for any reason. He stared up at the house. It was just as he had seen it in sketches and watercolors and a few photographs used for reference. He had hoped to come here under better circumstances, and not alone, he had never thought to come here alone.
He slowly walked up to the door; it was late afternoon, so someone should be home. He had not called or written. He didn’t even know these people. He pressed the bell and waited. The breeze came off the Bay and ruffled his hair. It smelled different than the Lantean sea.
A lady with a round, kind face and long dark hair opened the door slightly, stopping as the chain caught. “Yes? May I help you?”
This was a mistake, he shouldn’t have come. “No, I’m sorry. I’ll go. I didn’t mean to trouble you.” He backed away, looking up and down the street. What had he been thinking?
“Wait!” She called. He stopped as the door closed and he heard the chain clink. The door opened and she trundled out. “Are you David?”
“Yes.”
She surprised him by surging forward and wrapping her arms around him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been held by anyone other than his lover. It felt good. He leaned into the embrace. She whispered near his ear, “Come in. You just come right in. I wondered if you would come, I had an email from a doctor on your base.”
“I’m sorry, I should have called first. I didn’t have a number.”
She wrapped an arm around his waist and led him inside. “Nonsense.”
He found himself sitting on a overstuffed chair staring out the window at the bay with a cup of steaming tea in his hand a short time later. She lowered herself to the sofa across from her. “Thank you, Mrs. Lorne. I didn’t know where else to go, I guess.”
“Call me Heather. You don’t have any family?”
Sipping at the tea, he shook his head. “Not any more. Not for a long time. Evan was my family.”
She nodded sadly. “You’ll stay here. I use Evan’s old room for guests. His sister comes up from Santa Fe every few months with her baby. She just left a few days ago, after the memorial service. The mention of that sent a stab of pain through his midsection. He was glad he’d missed it, once had been enough. He nodded and sipped his tea.
“Evan said in his letters that you were a scientist. He called you his botanist?”
“Yes. I was. Well, I was on his team. I suppose I’ll go back to the University now.”
She tilted her head and gave him a confused look, “You’re not staying with the mission you boys were on?”
“No one is, Mrs… Heather. They recalled us and ended the research portion.”
She leaned forward, her wrists crossed as her arms resting along her thighs. “What really happened, David? The Air Force wouldn’t tell me much. They sent home an empty coffin,” her voice caught on the last word.
“I can’t tell you much. I don’t know much myself. He went on a recon mission and didn’t come back. His tags were recovered, covered in blood, with the remains of two of the men on his team. Evan and Sergeant Markham are both missing, presumed dead. They were in a hostile area; they could not have survived the night, much less three days there.”
She bit down on her knuckles and started to sob quietly. Feeling bad, David set his teacup on the small table beside the chair and scooted over to crouch beside her. She blinked at him as he rubbed her upper arms. “I hoped. I hoped because there was no body…”
“We all did. It was just too long.” He pulled her into his arms as she started to cry. He couldn’t tell her about the subcutaneous transponders. It would have been too gruesome and cruel to tell her about the mutilated corpses. As she shook in his arms and clung to him he took a deep breath. So far, he had managed not to cry. He’d been strong. If he gave in, if he started, he knew he wouldn’t stop.
~*~
Heather made him welcome, and soon the days passed into weeks. She insisted she liked having him there; he was a piece of Evan, and he should be in no hurry to leave. He was welcome there as long as he wanted to stay.
Gathering up the little energy he had, David made a few phone calls to the universities. It didn’t seem hopeful he’d find another teaching position, based on those calls, jobs were in short supply. He thought he’d likely have to go crawling back to the SGC eventually. Maybe the IOA had something.
The phone rang about six weeks after he had settled into Evan’s old room and started to slowly make his peace with the fact that his lover was gone. He couldn’t pretend any longer that Evan was just away. “David, phone call!” Heather shouted up the stairs.
Hoping it might be the community college he had applied at, he jogged down the stairs. “Hello?”
“Parrish! Get your ass to Colorado Springs, we’re going back!”
“Doctor McKay?” he asked stupidly, and was rewarded with a derisive snort in response.
“We leave in six days. You’re the head of the Organics Division.” Never one for any kind of small talk, McKay hung up.
David turned towards Heather, the phone in his hand. “I’m apparently going back on mission.”
Heather frowned. “I’ll miss you. I got used to having you here.”
He nodded and put the phone back in the charger. “I’ll miss you too.”
“Do you have to go?”
Did he? Was he better off here? Evan had died protecting that stupid city. He’d loved that damned place. The five years he had spent there had been a long time, at least for David, who had been shuffled from place to place his whole life.
“I think Evan might have wanted me to,” David replied cautiously after thinking it over. “I know the ins and outs of the place, a new person would take time to train, time they don’t have.”
“How soon?”
“A few days. I’ll help you trim those hedges back before I go, and finish the flowerbeds.”
She shook her head and patted his arm, “You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
~*~
There was a clumping on the porch two days later, as David and Heather sat in the living room after dinner. Heavy steps followed by the thud of something hitting the floorboards by the door. The door handle jiggled.
“Expecting anyone?”
“No,” Heather replied.
David moved to the window and peeked out, but it was too dark and the angle was wrong to see anything except a shadow of someone standing in front of the door, the screen open. The porch light was out; David had meant to fix that before he left. He pulled the baseball bat from the umbrella stand behind the door and slowly opened the door.
“Do not hit me with that bat!”
David dropped the bat. “You can’t be here.”
“I am here, David.”
Stupidly, his mouth working as his brain tried to find something to say, David stepped back, only to be dragged forward again up against a firm, hard and very real chest. “Evan?”
“Who else, dumbass?” Evan muttered, raining kisses along David’s face until he got to his mouth. The kiss stole David’s breath as well as any thoughts he had.
“Evan? Oh my God, Evan, it is you!” Heather exclaimed as she came up behind them.
Evan broke off kissing David long enough to lift one arm and sweep Heather into a three-way hug. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then another on David’s mouth. “It’s me, I’m okay. A little banged up and singed around the edges, but I’m fine.”
After standing there holding each other for what seemed like an hour, Heather pushed at Evan’s arm. “Come in and sit down. I’ll make tea, the kettle is still hot.”
Grabbing his bag from the porch, and leading David in, Evan smiled as he watched her dart away. “She fusses, she likes to fuss.”
“You’re here.”
Sitting on the couch and dragging David down beside him, Evan leaned close and whispered, “The Genii grabbed us for the gene. They faked the evidence.”
Heather appeared in the doorway and smiled, her hand going to her cheek. “I just wanted to look again.”
“Still here, Mom.” As she disappeared again with a giggle, Evan wrapped his arms around David and kissed him thoroughly.
David pushed back and looked at Evan, tracing the line of his cheek, rubbing the stubble. “I thought you were gone.” He hiccupped once and then the dam broke and everything he had been holding back gushed out and over. He threw himself at Evan, sobbing hysterically.
Hearing the noise, Heather came out of the kitchen, clucking her tongue as she saw David huddled in Evan’s arms. “Finally. He’s been holding everything in. I got an email letter from a Doctor Heightmeyer, she said he needed a place, needed someone to help him through.”
Evan nodded and held David, kissing him occasionally and rocking him. Heather brought tea and dropped down beside Evan, leaning in on his other side. He put an arm around her shoulders too. “Thanks, Mom.”
~*~
Three very short days later, Evan and David stood on pier looking out over the bay. They had talked for hours, deciding what to do about Atlantis. It seemed they had come to a decision.
“Sure about this?” Evan whispered, reaching down to squeeze David’s hand briefly as he held it and looked out at the water.
“Very. Let’s go home, Ev.”
The End
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: David Parrish, OFC, Evan Lorne
Pairing: Parrish/Lorne
Orientation: Slash
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,823
Prompt: HC Bingo Fill: "Grief"
Hefting his bag over one shoulder, he shuffled along with the others through the Gate. He didn’t look back. He had nothing left there now.
Once he got to the SGC he let them process his paperwork. He took the commercial airline ticket the sergeant pressed into his numb hand and followed along with the others being shuttled to the airport. Once in his seat, he put his head back and closed his eyes. There was nothing he wanted to see.
He disembarked and went to the area for ground transport. He hadn’t checked any baggage, so he had no reason to go there with the other three people from Atlantis that had been on the plane. He gave them a silent wave and that was the last he saw of them. He gave the cab driver the address, grumbling it out. The guy made him repeat it. He scowled mildly, but couldn’t rouse himself to be truly annoyed; that would require caring. He didn’t care about anything, not anymore.
The cab let him off on the sidewalk and sped away, the driver not induced to stay for any reason. He stared up at the house. It was just as he had seen it in sketches and watercolors and a few photographs used for reference. He had hoped to come here under better circumstances, and not alone, he had never thought to come here alone.
He slowly walked up to the door; it was late afternoon, so someone should be home. He had not called or written. He didn’t even know these people. He pressed the bell and waited. The breeze came off the Bay and ruffled his hair. It smelled different than the Lantean sea.
A lady with a round, kind face and long dark hair opened the door slightly, stopping as the chain caught. “Yes? May I help you?”
This was a mistake, he shouldn’t have come. “No, I’m sorry. I’ll go. I didn’t mean to trouble you.” He backed away, looking up and down the street. What had he been thinking?
“Wait!” She called. He stopped as the door closed and he heard the chain clink. The door opened and she trundled out. “Are you David?”
“Yes.”
She surprised him by surging forward and wrapping her arms around him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been held by anyone other than his lover. It felt good. He leaned into the embrace. She whispered near his ear, “Come in. You just come right in. I wondered if you would come, I had an email from a doctor on your base.”
“I’m sorry, I should have called first. I didn’t have a number.”
She wrapped an arm around his waist and led him inside. “Nonsense.”
He found himself sitting on a overstuffed chair staring out the window at the bay with a cup of steaming tea in his hand a short time later. She lowered herself to the sofa across from her. “Thank you, Mrs. Lorne. I didn’t know where else to go, I guess.”
“Call me Heather. You don’t have any family?”
Sipping at the tea, he shook his head. “Not any more. Not for a long time. Evan was my family.”
She nodded sadly. “You’ll stay here. I use Evan’s old room for guests. His sister comes up from Santa Fe every few months with her baby. She just left a few days ago, after the memorial service. The mention of that sent a stab of pain through his midsection. He was glad he’d missed it, once had been enough. He nodded and sipped his tea.
“Evan said in his letters that you were a scientist. He called you his botanist?”
“Yes. I was. Well, I was on his team. I suppose I’ll go back to the University now.”
She tilted her head and gave him a confused look, “You’re not staying with the mission you boys were on?”
“No one is, Mrs… Heather. They recalled us and ended the research portion.”
She leaned forward, her wrists crossed as her arms resting along her thighs. “What really happened, David? The Air Force wouldn’t tell me much. They sent home an empty coffin,” her voice caught on the last word.
“I can’t tell you much. I don’t know much myself. He went on a recon mission and didn’t come back. His tags were recovered, covered in blood, with the remains of two of the men on his team. Evan and Sergeant Markham are both missing, presumed dead. They were in a hostile area; they could not have survived the night, much less three days there.”
She bit down on her knuckles and started to sob quietly. Feeling bad, David set his teacup on the small table beside the chair and scooted over to crouch beside her. She blinked at him as he rubbed her upper arms. “I hoped. I hoped because there was no body…”
“We all did. It was just too long.” He pulled her into his arms as she started to cry. He couldn’t tell her about the subcutaneous transponders. It would have been too gruesome and cruel to tell her about the mutilated corpses. As she shook in his arms and clung to him he took a deep breath. So far, he had managed not to cry. He’d been strong. If he gave in, if he started, he knew he wouldn’t stop.
Heather made him welcome, and soon the days passed into weeks. She insisted she liked having him there; he was a piece of Evan, and he should be in no hurry to leave. He was welcome there as long as he wanted to stay.
Gathering up the little energy he had, David made a few phone calls to the universities. It didn’t seem hopeful he’d find another teaching position, based on those calls, jobs were in short supply. He thought he’d likely have to go crawling back to the SGC eventually. Maybe the IOA had something.
The phone rang about six weeks after he had settled into Evan’s old room and started to slowly make his peace with the fact that his lover was gone. He couldn’t pretend any longer that Evan was just away. “David, phone call!” Heather shouted up the stairs.
Hoping it might be the community college he had applied at, he jogged down the stairs. “Hello?”
“Parrish! Get your ass to Colorado Springs, we’re going back!”
“Doctor McKay?” he asked stupidly, and was rewarded with a derisive snort in response.
“We leave in six days. You’re the head of the Organics Division.” Never one for any kind of small talk, McKay hung up.
David turned towards Heather, the phone in his hand. “I’m apparently going back on mission.”
Heather frowned. “I’ll miss you. I got used to having you here.”
He nodded and put the phone back in the charger. “I’ll miss you too.”
“Do you have to go?”
Did he? Was he better off here? Evan had died protecting that stupid city. He’d loved that damned place. The five years he had spent there had been a long time, at least for David, who had been shuffled from place to place his whole life.
“I think Evan might have wanted me to,” David replied cautiously after thinking it over. “I know the ins and outs of the place, a new person would take time to train, time they don’t have.”
“How soon?”
“A few days. I’ll help you trim those hedges back before I go, and finish the flowerbeds.”
She shook her head and patted his arm, “You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
There was a clumping on the porch two days later, as David and Heather sat in the living room after dinner. Heavy steps followed by the thud of something hitting the floorboards by the door. The door handle jiggled.
“Expecting anyone?”
“No,” Heather replied.
David moved to the window and peeked out, but it was too dark and the angle was wrong to see anything except a shadow of someone standing in front of the door, the screen open. The porch light was out; David had meant to fix that before he left. He pulled the baseball bat from the umbrella stand behind the door and slowly opened the door.
“Do not hit me with that bat!”
David dropped the bat. “You can’t be here.”
“I am here, David.”
Stupidly, his mouth working as his brain tried to find something to say, David stepped back, only to be dragged forward again up against a firm, hard and very real chest. “Evan?”
“Who else, dumbass?” Evan muttered, raining kisses along David’s face until he got to his mouth. The kiss stole David’s breath as well as any thoughts he had.
“Evan? Oh my God, Evan, it is you!” Heather exclaimed as she came up behind them.
Evan broke off kissing David long enough to lift one arm and sweep Heather into a three-way hug. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then another on David’s mouth. “It’s me, I’m okay. A little banged up and singed around the edges, but I’m fine.”
After standing there holding each other for what seemed like an hour, Heather pushed at Evan’s arm. “Come in and sit down. I’ll make tea, the kettle is still hot.”
Grabbing his bag from the porch, and leading David in, Evan smiled as he watched her dart away. “She fusses, she likes to fuss.”
“You’re here.”
Sitting on the couch and dragging David down beside him, Evan leaned close and whispered, “The Genii grabbed us for the gene. They faked the evidence.”
Heather appeared in the doorway and smiled, her hand going to her cheek. “I just wanted to look again.”
“Still here, Mom.” As she disappeared again with a giggle, Evan wrapped his arms around David and kissed him thoroughly.
David pushed back and looked at Evan, tracing the line of his cheek, rubbing the stubble. “I thought you were gone.” He hiccupped once and then the dam broke and everything he had been holding back gushed out and over. He threw himself at Evan, sobbing hysterically.
Hearing the noise, Heather came out of the kitchen, clucking her tongue as she saw David huddled in Evan’s arms. “Finally. He’s been holding everything in. I got an email letter from a Doctor Heightmeyer, she said he needed a place, needed someone to help him through.”
Evan nodded and held David, kissing him occasionally and rocking him. Heather brought tea and dropped down beside Evan, leaning in on his other side. He put an arm around her shoulders too. “Thanks, Mom.”
Three very short days later, Evan and David stood on pier looking out over the bay. They had talked for hours, deciding what to do about Atlantis. It seemed they had come to a decision.
“Sure about this?” Evan whispered, reaching down to squeeze David’s hand briefly as he held it and looked out at the water.
“Very. Let’s go home, Ev.”
The End