Hi. Just a short oneshot written after listening to a particularly sad song. There are some sensitive themes towards the end. I don't own Falling Skies or the lyrics used (Song: Gone Too Soon - Artist: Daughtry)
Thanks for all the support for my other Falling Skies fics too! New chapter of We All Bleed the Same Way should be up soon
GONE TOO SOON
DANCERINTHEDARK101
Ever wondered if there was another reason why Tom Mason is so protective of his children? Contains sensitive themes.
Today could've been the day
That you blew out your candles
Make a wish as you close your eyes
Today could've been the day
Everybody was laughin'
Instead I just sit here and cry
-FALLING SKIES-
Tom Mason sat in his tent, head down and eyes closed as silent tears slipped down his face in remembrance. Wiping a dirt-stained hand across his eyes, he took a deep shuddering breath and attempted to get himself under control. If his boys were to see him like that… it wasn't something he was ready to explain; not now, maybe never.
Today was the fourteenth of September. A day of which he had thought he would be been celebrating with his wife and three sons. But now, his wife was dead, they were in the middle of a war and one of sons was slowly being destroyed from the inside out by an alien harness placed on him while held captive.
This wasn't what he wanted for his family. Hal was supposed to be heading towards college; playing sports, taking a girlfriend out for dinner. Ben would have been studying for high school exams, reading up on anything and everything and being a general pain in the ass to his older brother. And Matt… Matt was supposed to still be a kid.
Now they were soldiers in a war for the right to live on their planet. Hal had become one hell of a fighter, handling weaponry like he was born to do so. Ben was fighting against the effects of the harness, scared out of his mind of what it was doing to him (even though he would never admit that) and Matt was struggling to cope with the fact that one day his family would leave on a mission or supply run and never come back.
Who would you be?
What would you look like?
When you looked at me for the very first time
Today could've been the next day of the rest of your life
"Dad!"
Tom looked up as the frantic shout echoed in the night air. Quickly wiping his eyes again, the father stood up and made his way outside to see a convoy of trucks and motorbikes pulling into the temporary camp they had set up. He could hear the yelling of several fighters as they pulled something from the back of the pickup truck. No, not something… someone.
"Dad!" Hal's voice carried above the rest and Tom hurried over to where his eldest was standing. Blood coated his jacket, arms and hands; the deep red soaking into the material. Hal's hands were shaking and his face was white. "It was an accident…"
Confused, Tom turned to look at the person being carried from the truck. Ben.
His middle child was covered in blood, head lolling to the side as Dai and Margaret carefully lowered him from the back into waiting arms. His eyes were closed, face almost grey in colour and his mouth slack; a small trickle of blood seeping out from the corner of his lips.
"Ben…" he whispered, agony wrapping around his heart and squeezing hard at the sight of his child unconscious and bloody.
"What happened?" Tom spun round to face Hal again, waiting for an answer. When none came, he grabbed Hal by the collar and shook him. "What the hell happened to your brother, Hal? If he dies…" He let the threat hang.
Hal's mouth opened, but nothing came out. Tom was about to shake him again when a hand landed on his arm. Glancing to his right, Tom saw Captain Weaver.
"Tom… he's in shock. This isn't helping him, or Ben."
Tom took a deep shuddering breath in and released it slowly, at the same time releasing the hold on his son. Weaver was right…
"I'm sorry…" came the quiet whisper from his eldest, who was now sitting on a metal drum, head down and hands clenched into fists in front of him. "I'm so sorry…"
As he looked on, Tom saw tears start to fall from his son's closed eyes. Feeling his heart break for the second time that day, Tom sat next to his son and placed an arm around his shoulders as Hal shook from the force of his silent tears.
"It's okay, Hal… Ben's a fighter. He's gonna be just fine…" and he hoped like hell he was going to be right… If Ben died… If Ben died, then Tom didn't think he would be the only one dying today. He didn't think he could handle two of his children… not on this day.
Not a day goes by that I don't think of you
I'm always asking why this crazy world had to lose
Such a ray of light we never knew
Gone too soon
Hours later, Tom sat on seating provided outside the medic bus with Matt and Hal as they awaited the results of Ben's surgery. He had since received the intel on what had gone so wrong, and to be honest, it hadn't helped much.
The group had been on a recon mission, scouring the roads ahead of them to see if they were clear of Skitters and Mechs, and to look out for any places that would suffice as the next camp or shelter area if they were to come under fire.
On their way back, they had run into an ambush. The battle had been long and bloody, but everyone had made it out with only a few scratches and bruises. Hal had said that they had been moving out when someone pointed out that Ben wasn't with them. The group had then doubled back to the ambush site and scoured it section by section for him. It had taken twenty minutes before they located Ben. He was lying next to a Skitter on the side of the road, partially obscured by the hideous alien.
Then Dai had pointed out that he was pretty sure that Skitter was the one they had hit with the truck as they had high-tailed out it out of the area. It didn't take long for them to realise that Ben must have been right beside the Skitter and had been hit by the truck as well.
Hal had been driving.
Tom closed his eyes as he went over everything in his head again for the hundredth time. It had been an accident; one that could have easily been avoided, but an accident none the less. He knew Hal felt terrible about it, blaming himself. He had tried everything to snap his eldest out of the despair he had fallen into, but Tom was sure that his eldest wouldn't be okay until his brother was.
"Tom?"
Head snapping up at Anne's voice, Tom stood up quickly as he spun to look at the 2nd Massachusetts resident doctor.
"Ben?" he queried. He had to know. Matt and Hal stood next to him as they awaited the fate of their brother.
"The surgery was a success. He pulled through with flying colours. He's going to be just fine."
Tom felt his knees weaken at the words that his son was going to be okay. He wasn't going to die… not today. He felt Hal start to tremble beside him and slung and arm around his shoulders before leaning over and whispering in his ear.
"He's going to be fine, Hal. It's not your fault. He's gonna be okay."
He hugged his son close, before gripping Matt's shoulder and pulling him close too. "Can we see him now?"
Dr. Glass nodded, a smile decorating her features. "Of course you can, Tom. In fact, he's awake and is asking for you."
Tom did a double take at that.
"He's awake? But he just had surgery…"
"I think it's something to do with the effects of the harness. Drugs seem to wear off a lot faster with Ben. I went through a lot more morphine than normal when I was operating. There doesn't seem to be any adverse effects."
Nodding at the explanation, Tom pushed his way up the bus steps and into the area where Ben was laying on a stretcher, hooked up to an IV and an oxygen mask covering his mouth.
"The oxygen is just a precaution," Anne clarified as they made their way to Ben's bedside.
Would you have been president?
Or a painter, an author, or sing like your mother?
One thing is evident
Would've given all I had
Would've loved you like no other
"Hey, Dad…" came the weak words spoken, muffled by the mask on his face. Tom smiled, closing his eyes briefly as he fought off tears. His son's eyes were open and as he stared into their green depths, he made his way over and grabbed Ben's hand.
"Ben..." Motioning to Matt and Hal to come over, Tom watched as a smile blossomed on Ben's face.
"Hey guys. What's up?" Tom chuckled as Matt started to list off everything that had happened between the time Ben had gone on the recon mission until now. The eldest Mason tuned out as he watched the reaction of Hal. He hadn't said a thing since they had come in and he was just standing there, not even looking at his brother.
"Hal?" Snapping out of his thoughts as Ben broke through his younger brother's tirade, Tom watched his two eldest sons. "It's… it's not your fault you know," Ben explained. "You didn't… you didn't know I was there. I was behind the… behind the Skitter. There was no way you could have… seen me."
He was tired, that much Tom could see. The breaks between words; the sharp intakes of breath as the pain broke the barrier the morphine had erected explained everything.
There was a moment of silence. "Ben, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" and then came the tears. Everything Hal had been trying to keep in came rushing out in one flood. "I'm supposed to be protecting you, not hurting you!"
"Hal…" Ushering his son to sit, Tom motioned for Matt to come over and placed him on the other side of him. He leaned over and again whispered into Hal's ear.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. I was out of line. It wasn't your fault and for what it's worth, I'm sorry."
Hal nodded against his shoulder and Tom pulled him closer, hugging Matt to his side at the same time. Taking a deep breath, Tom realised that he needed to tell them; tell his boys what had been affecting him so badly for the past few days; and especially today.
"Boys, there's something I need to tell you…"
Who would you be?
What would you look like?
Would you have my smile and her eyes?
Today could've been the next day of the rest of your life
Looking around at the confused expressions on his sons' faces, Tom swallowed. He knew that what he was about to tell them would change their lives forever. He had no idea how it was going to be taken, and whether they would hate him for not telling them sooner.
"Dad?" Ben spoke from his bed, struggling into a sitting position. Tom quickly rose and pushed his son back down.
"Don't strain yourself, Ben. You need to heal, and to do that, you have to rest."
"What's going on, Dad?"
"There's something I haven't told you boys; something I've known for almost a year. You may have noticed that the past few days I haven't exactly been… myself. I've been snappish and withdrawn and pretty much an asshole to everyone, including you boys.
"I know that you've noticed that I seem to be overly protective at times, and I know that you're not too fond of the whole idea. But… there is a reason. I just haven't been able to tell anyone until now."
Tom looked up from looking at his hands resting in his lap. Confusion was written on his boys' faces and out of the corner of his eye Tom could see Anne standing in the doorway too. He ignored her and carried on speaking, also ignoring the pain that threatened to tighten around his heart.
"Before the invasion happened, your mother and I discovered something." Once Tom spoke those words, there was no going back. Since the initial invasion, he had hardly spoken about his wife to their sons. It was almost a taboo subject.
"We were going to tell you, but then the aliens came and it just never came up, surviving was more important. And then your mother was killed and Ben was taken."
Tom could feel the tears rolling down his face as he recounted the day when he had found out Rebecca was dead. He had just been told that Ben's friend's house had been destroyed and that no one was found alive; that Ben was missing. And then there was the news of Rebecca's death. That day had almost killed him. If it hadn't been for Hal and Matt, he wasn't sure he would have made it.
"The day your mother died… I didn't just lose your mother. I lost my unborn child too…"
The silence that followed the sentence was only broken by Hal's shocked whisper a few moments later.
"What?"
Taking a deep breath, Tom braced himself. "Your mother was pregnant; a few months along. We didn't even know if it was a girl of boy. We never got the chance to find out. Today was the day he or she was supposed to be born."
"Oh my god…"
"And that's why I think I've been so protective of you boys," Tom carried on. "Because I've already lost a child to these bloody aliens and I'm not prepared to lose another. I never want to go through that again."
"Dad…"
Looking into his son's eyes, Tom saw the pain of loss he knew would be reflected in his own. They had just found out they had lost not only their mother, but a younger sibling they never got the chance to know.
Matt started to cry and Tom found he couldn't hold back the tears any longer. He hugged his two sons before standing and leaning into a gentle hug with his injured middle child.
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Ben," he said before turning to Hal and Matt. "I'm not going to let anything happen to any of you. Never again."
Not a day goes by that I don't think of you
Always asking why this crazy world had to lost
Such a ray of light we never knew
Gone to soon…
-END-
Well, I hope you enjoyed reading my little ficlet. I had been listening to the song Gone too Soon by Daughtry and the idea came to me that maybe why Tom Mason was so protective of his kids (other than that they're his children) that he had already lost a child to the war with the aliens.
I personally have never lost (nor had) a child, so I don't write this from experience. If any of you out there have lost a child in any way, I am deeply sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how it must feel.
Thanks for taking the time to read. Let me know what you thought.
-Rachel