A/N: First Midnight, Texas fic. Just a little ficlet, really. Actually, it's my first posted fic in a LONG time. Just couldn't stop myself. I only found the show about a week ago & binged it in one night. I wrote this right after. Then I watched it all over again. Then started reading the books. I'm hooked and in love and can't get enough so I read the fics for it on here. Figured I'd post this now in honor of the season 2 premiere. As always, I don't own Midnight, Texas or any characters, yatta yatta.
With a Little Help From My ...Friends?
"You know CPR? Just in case it doesn't go well."
Feet dragging over the threshold, Manfred's body gave another lurch and Joe side-eyed the newcomer in hopes the spirit was leaving his body. That maybe because the psychic had summoned Aubrey to the house, that she would stay tethered there. Sure, he wouldn't have been able to actually see the ghost depart, but he figured that when water stopped pouring out of Manfred's mouth would be a pretty good sign. But as he and Fiji dragged the boneless body across the front porch, the water didn't stop. Manfred wasn't shaking because Aubrey was leaving; he was seizing. Drowning.
Dying.
"How do we get her out?" Joe turned to the witch, taking most of the younger man's weight as they reached the steps. "What'da we do?"
"I don't know, I don't know," Fiji scrambled to keep hold, eyes scanning the driveway, the road, the storefronts, the sky; as if somewhere the secret to saving her new neighbor would be held. Her frantic gaze fell upon her own home and she gasped. "My - my place! We need to get him inside! It -" Manfred's sputtering got louder then, cutting her off. "Hurry!"
At that, Joe didn't hesitate, reaching under the psychic's legs and hoisting him over one shoulder. He took off in a sprint then, Fiji not far behind. She was opening the door for the man when Olivia - just having locked the Rev in and cursing at the circus show trio parading across the street - reached them, jogging to a stop.
"What the hell -"
"Get him inside, quick!" Fiji waved Joe through.
Joe lunged through the doorway, his boots barely touching the welcome mat before the body in his arms was convulsing. With quick but careful movements, Joe lowered Manfred to the floor and then stepped back, only able to watch as the man's back arched, chest rising - but not with air. He guessed this was the spirit leaving and smiled. The grin was short-lived, though, as Manfred's body banged back against the ground, limp. Lifeless.
Water no longer sputtered out from his mouth, only leftover thin tendrils still making their way down his cheek and beads dripping from his chin. But that was all that was left moving. There was no more choking or quaking. No nothing.
"He's not breathing," Joe moved forward as Fiji cupped both hands over her mouth.
Olivia reached the psychic first though, diving down on her knees before Joe was even halfway bent over or Fiji had time to let out her breath.
"Heart's still beating," she announced and Fiji placed a hand over her own chest, "for now."
Tilting the psychic's head back and pinching his nose, Olivia bit back some colorful commentary before bending forward and breathing for the man. Once. Twice. Three times. Fingers on neck and another whispered curse later, she switched to chest compressions. Then at the mouth again. Back and forth. Until her limbs shook and she started piecing together where to hide the body and a good cover story because damn it, we don't more police around here. How did you explain that one to the cops anyway? Man drowns in his own living room. Olivia could figure out what had happened. The three of them had left to deal with the ghosty-slash-possible-demon-love-nest that had been throwing a party in Manfred's home, and to contact Aubrey. Aubrey, who was found washed up. Aubrey, who had most likely drowned. Manfred, who had been drowning less than a minute ago. Well, if the psychic croaked on Fiji's landing, they'd have some problems, but at least they'd know how Aubrey had died. The bitch. Still screwing with them, even as a ghost. It would have horrified someone like Fiji to know these sorts of thoughts were what was going through Olivia's mind as she tried to bring Manfred back to the land of the living. How she was scoffing inside because the irony of the fact that she was attempting to save the man she had tied to a chair and nearly killed just the other day was a bit too annoying for her liking.
No, Fiji wouldn't have liked that at all. But that was Feej for you. All long skirts and soft fabric. Whereas Oliva was leather and sharp edges. She didn't billow and blow in the wind like the witch, she figured out which way the wind was going to go and then rode it down.
Joe, well, Joe would probably just flex and stand there, letting that wind beat at his back. Probably while shielding someone else from it. Idiot.
The man in question had moved over to twist a supportive arm around Fiji. The witch was whispering some sort of incantation. Joe wondered idly if he should be praying. He hadn't known the psychic for long, none of them had. But it wasn't as if he wanted him to die. He was a good man, Joe could tell. A man Joe could foresee becoming one of them. A Midnighter. A friend. And then, of course, there was the matter with the younger man's house. If there truly was a demonic presence poking around Midnight, the town just might need Manfred.
Fiji wasn't thinking about any of those things. Not Aubrey or cops or demons or the fact that a man might just die on her very own floor. She was focused solely on the enchantment dancing across her lips, and the lifeless neighbor at her feet.
The lifeless neighbor who was suddenly sputtering again. This time, though, water wasn't spewing out. Between the coughs and the hiccups, Manfred choked down air on his own for the first time since he had dropped to his knees in his kitchen. His chest heaved and then slowed to a steady rise and fall, the coughs quieting to crackling breaths.
"Guess he wasn't kidding about the CPR thing," Joe sighed, running a hand through his hair and using the other to rub Fiji's arm.
"Joe, you mind gettin' him to the couch?" Fiji moved toward her kitchen. "I'm gonna fix him some tea for when he wakes. I'm guessin' he ain't gonna be feelin' too good for a bit."
"I know I feel great after drowning," Olivia stood, dusting off the knees of her jeans.
"It's not just that," Fiji glanced over at the now peaceful psychic. "Mediums come through Midnight. They don't stay. With the veil being so thin here -" she shook her head, "I doubt he's slept much since he got here. Reckon' he hasn't had a moment 'a peace, really."
"Makes his wanting to stay all the more suspicious," Olivia hummed as she followed Joe to the sofa, their new neighbor not so much as stirring as he was plucked off the floor and then deposited onto the cushions.
"Mind gettin' his coat off?" Fiji opened a jar off the shelf and turned to them. "Can't be comfortable."
"Oh, and we're just all about comfort here at Fiji's Inquiring Minds Hotel for Wayward Psychics," Olivia grinned, but still began pulling on the jean jacket sleeves as Joe propped Manfred up.
"I know what it's like to have a power you can't always control," Fiji stared at the newcomer and Olivia didn't need to be as suspicious as she was to know that the woman was hiding something behind that gaze.
Sure, they were neighbors and she hadn't wanted him to die. But was there something else blooming between the weeds of everything else going on? He hadn't run away screaming after Lem and Olivia had puller their little bad cop and bad cop routine on him. Or when she started crumpling a police car in the middle of the street. In fact, he had offered to help. Had even almost died trying. Would he have minded so much really? Manfred has told Olivia to either end it or let him go. Had talked about CPR like possibly needing his heart restarted wasn't a big deal. Sure, his eyes brightened when he looked at Creek - everyone in town had already noticed that. But the other times? The few instances when she spied him across the road? He just looked in pain. Tired. Yes, he was hiding from someone and had enough self-preservation to try to stay alive, but really? Had Manfred hurt someone, like she had? Or had the world and his gift just hurt him too much? Maybe Midnight could be good for the psychic. They looked out for each other here. Protected each other. When her powers had been too much, when she had hurt that boy, it was her aunt that got her through. And when Mildred had passed, Fiji was already a part of the town and had a new support system. Manfred had had his grandmother, but who else? Who now? A guy like Manfred would've never said it, but Fiji was pretty sure he could use some friends.
"Least I can do is let him have a moment's peace." Fiji shook herself out of her thoughts. "Considerin' the state of his house and everything with Aubrey and the police, I doubt any of us are gonna get that for some time.
"Way to be optimistic, Feej," Olivia stood from her spot on the coffee table. "Well, if you've got this under control and don't need any more life saving for today, I'm going to get going."
"Thank you," Fiji caught the woman's arm as they passed each other. "For saving him."
"It wasn't for him," Olivia tilted her head, offering her friend a rare warm smile. "Text me if he starts spewing water again," she called over her shoulder and then was out the door.
Joe was hovering, hands in his pockets, having draped the psychic's jacket over his sleeping form.
"I should," and what could he say? I got to go check on the demon under the floorboards? Warn Chuy that their peaceful life here might be interrupted? That the veil is fraying? " - let Chuy know what's goin' on."
"Thanks, Joe," Fiji hugged the man. "I'll call you when he wakes up, which could be a while."
"You do that," Joe cast one last look back at their unconscious new neighbor. "Take care, Fiji. Don't you go back into that house without a plan and some backup, you hear me?"
"Already on it," she waved a herb and then made a shooing motion with it. "Now, go on. I've got this."
Joe nodded and went to leave, lingering a moment to take one last glance back at the witch, then the psychic, before shutting the door behind him.
Fiji set the herb on the counter before grabbing another jar and unscrewing the cap, all the while staring at Manfred. Her mind reached back to those moments. His eyes white. The coldness of the house. And the fire under the floorboards that seemed to be burning - for her. Manfred wasn't the only one who needed friends right about now. Somewhere deep down. Fiji was pretty certain she would need her Midnighter family more than ever before this was all over.
With a breath, she shook the root out of the jar and into her hands, rubbing it between her palms and closing her eyes.
"I've got this."