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another gender-swap snippet
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cofax7 and I were playing with some ideas about a gender-swap (genderswitch?) AU, and wrote a couple snippets. Then she wrote another snippet, set a few years later. And last night I wrote this, which is part of how we get from A to B.
---
John's cell rang once, twice; he glanced at the display. It was an unfamiliar number, but he flicked it open anyway. "Hello?" Not like he was making sense of the weather data coming in, some kind of pressure spike but...
"Daddy?"
And just like that, he forgot the data, the computer, everything. "Stephanie?"
"Daddy, I-- There was--" she choked words out. "We-- Daddy, I need you."
He was already on his feet, keys in his hand, halfway to the door. "OK, OK. Everything's going to be OK, Stephanie. Where are you?"
"I didn't think-- I mean, it wasn't-- but the fire--"
He stopped still, halfway out the door, like there was nothing before him but the abyss and he was already falling, falling into it. His heart lodged up in his throat, he couldn't see, his fingers clutched the door like it was the only thing that could hold him up and damn you he thought. That's your little girl calling you. Go! "Stephanie," he tried again, but she still wasn't making sense. "Stephanie!" One more time, this time giving his voice all the strength and authority he didn't feel.
She took a deep breath. "Yes, sir."
He didn't know if what he felt then was relief or his heart breaking all over again. "I'm on my way, but I need you to tell me where you are."
"I'm at Dave's," she said.
"Dave's?" he asked. His head felt thick, like he could smell the smoke; he ought to know this.
"My boyfriend. He's... I'm outside his house. I got out."
"Good," he said, "That's good." Getting out the door, getting into the car, he could do all that without thinking. "Where's the house?"
She started giving him directions as he turned north; he would hang up soon, to preserve the cell phone battery, but right now his daughter's voice in his ear was the only thing in the world not made of darkness and fire, and he needed something to let him see the road.
end.
---
I've never been all that interested in AUs, but what I kind of like about this one is how changing one thing might change everything else -- obviously the relationships here aren't quite the same as the relationships we see in the show -- but the characters are still, at the core, who they always were.
cofax7 and I were playing with some ideas about a gender-swap (genderswitch?) AU, and wrote a couple snippets. Then she wrote another snippet, set a few years later. And last night I wrote this, which is part of how we get from A to B.---
John's cell rang once, twice; he glanced at the display. It was an unfamiliar number, but he flicked it open anyway. "Hello?" Not like he was making sense of the weather data coming in, some kind of pressure spike but...
"Daddy?"
And just like that, he forgot the data, the computer, everything. "Stephanie?"
"Daddy, I-- There was--" she choked words out. "We-- Daddy, I need you."
He was already on his feet, keys in his hand, halfway to the door. "OK, OK. Everything's going to be OK, Stephanie. Where are you?"
"I didn't think-- I mean, it wasn't-- but the fire--"
He stopped still, halfway out the door, like there was nothing before him but the abyss and he was already falling, falling into it. His heart lodged up in his throat, he couldn't see, his fingers clutched the door like it was the only thing that could hold him up and damn you he thought. That's your little girl calling you. Go! "Stephanie," he tried again, but she still wasn't making sense. "Stephanie!" One more time, this time giving his voice all the strength and authority he didn't feel.
She took a deep breath. "Yes, sir."
He didn't know if what he felt then was relief or his heart breaking all over again. "I'm on my way, but I need you to tell me where you are."
"I'm at Dave's," she said.
"Dave's?" he asked. His head felt thick, like he could smell the smoke; he ought to know this.
"My boyfriend. He's... I'm outside his house. I got out."
"Good," he said, "That's good." Getting out the door, getting into the car, he could do all that without thinking. "Where's the house?"
She started giving him directions as he turned north; he would hang up soon, to preserve the cell phone battery, but right now his daughter's voice in his ear was the only thing in the world not made of darkness and fire, and he needed something to let him see the road.
end.
---
I've never been all that interested in AUs, but what I kind of like about this one is how changing one thing might change everything else -- obviously the relationships here aren't quite the same as the relationships we see in the show -- but the characters are still, at the core, who they always were.