The Pipes Called
By: Song
A/U and Disclaimer: Yes, this is a song fic- a song fic with a twist. Instead of a song from a band, this is from an old (and personal) favorite ''Oh Danny Boy''. I don't own the song, or DP, or Severus Snape, or a Galapagos marine iguana (instead I have the plain green kind- but I love Lex anyway) or Lex Luthor, or the internet or even the computer I'm writing this on. Damn.
Jack sighed as he watched his son deport to the middle east. The boy was waving sadly to his friends and family a grim smile on his face. The draft was tearing his family- and this community- America apart.
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
And that whole damn thing was over oil.
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
Who would have thought that the little 'ghost' town of Amity Park in a small little valley would be so directly effected by the war?
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
The fact be that war had just deported the realm of the living's only hope that it would not be taken over by lives past... they did not know. They didn't know that they had taken away a boy hero. They didn't know that they had removed one of the world's only hope for peace. They didn't know that by sending off his child the fate of human kind could very easily be altered. They didn't know that by a single act of stupidity wrapped in lies that war with fellow humans would be the least of their worries. They didn't know...
Tis you, 'tis you, must go and I must bide.
Sure there were other heroes in the world. But none of them had power against the dead. Each had his own weakness- blindness, the media, mortality in general, that funny little glowing green rock that he could never remember the name of... love... but each had their own enemies. So did his little boy...
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
His boy had been forced to grow up too fast... his little boy had been given the burden of a hero.
His son had been given a piece of the fate of the world.
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
Why had that been? Why had his son been given this? Why, on top of all that, did the draft have to happen? When his son already bore so much responsibility?
Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Why was his son taken away from him? At such an important part in his life?
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
Why?
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
A tall man in a navy uniform came to the cold door one fateful October day. He took his hat off then looked to Jack. "Mr.Fenton? Is your wife here?" Grief flicked across his face. "I-I'll be right back." Quickly he left the door to find his petite wife. Minuets later he returned with wife at his side.
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
Jack knew he was dying. The acute heart disease had come back. He was just a ticking time bomb. Chances that he would ever see his son alive again were getting slimmer by the day, for both of them.
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton? I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but ... your son's missing in action." He said
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
His heart seemed to turn to stone. Oh Danny... why did you have to leave?
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
The war had been going on for years. It had erupted into World War III. It wasn't until after Jack had died that Danny, the soul survivor of his division was found. Shot down, living only by instinct, clinging to life in the cold and treacherous Pakistani mountains.
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
"Hi dad..." he whispered, a tear leaking down sharp features. "I'm back home... in amity park..." He sat there and talked, never stopping, a young black haired woman standing as if she was not there.
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
"Danny." Gently she touched the man by the grave. "We need to go... you'll catch a cold out here." He stood up, turned too his fiancee, and kissed her gently on the lips.
Smiling faintly, she wondered why the gift of love had been granted to her. She had cried inside the day he 'died'.
"Just a sec." He turned to the grave and picked a small stone off the ground. With caring hand he shot small rays at it, carving an intricate rose. The stone was laid upon the tomb and he left, hand in hand with the woman he loved.
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.
Somewhere deep below the earth an eternal resting figure smiled in his sleep. His little boy had finally come home.
Jack Fenton
1954-2011
Loving husband, father and grandpappy.
May you rest in peace.
You couldn't save everyone, but you could let them depart with honor. That lesson was hard to learn, but essential to life. War is an awful thing- but it is part of mankind. It rips families apart- when the world needs a hero, one will arise, but the hero had a life too.
They must give up everything and work for the greater good. That was their job. That was their calling. They might not be able to change the future, but they could make it little bit brighter.
Fin