Title: Misplaced and Misunderstood
Author: OneShotWonderment (or lt-sp on LJ)
Pairing: Gary/Rachel
Rating: G
Summary: Gary may be different, but at least he can see what no else does.
Notes/Warnings:
- There are only spoilers if you don't know who Gary, Nina and Rachel are.
- Title inspired by Pink's song, "***ing Perfect."
Disclaimer:
All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of this author. This author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Gary knows he is different. He has to be, hasn't he? Everyone else…everyone else understands each other. Everyone else has full conversations without having to clarify or dumb things down.
Gary has to be different then everybody else, but he doesn't feel that way. In his mind, he makes perfect sense, it is the others who can't keep up, can't understand. They are speaking in patterns and rhythms that make no sense. It frustrates him endlessly that no matter how clear he is or what words he chooses, the others treat him differently…except Rachel. Rachel never raises her voice when she has to repeat something for him or get angry when he finds a subject fascinating and couldn't let it go. Rachel smiles at him and always keeps him in the conversations at group meetings, even when the others try to push him out. Rachel treats him like everyone else and that makes him feel special.
Who wouldn't feel special when someone has a person as wonderful as Rachel Pirzad in their corner? Rachel is…perfect. She's sweet, kind, open, and understanding. She has this habit, though, of fading into the background, as if she's unimportant. Gary notices because Gary notices everything. Every since they met, Gary wonders how anyone could miss her, pass her by, as many do. Even Dr. Rosen looks past Rachel sometimes and it upsets him. It upsets him because Rachel is Racheland no one seems to understand how important that is. How important she is.
Instead, everyone sees Nina and sure, Nina has her positive aspects. She is her very skilled with her alpha ability, though that is not really a surprise seeing that she's been training the longest, and she is unafraid to get into the thick of things and she is pretty…in that perfectly symmetrical obvious way. However, Nina is also brash, overly confident in her abilities, and a tad too vain in Gary's opinion. He likes Nina, of course he does, but she's no Rachel.
Rachel compares herself to Nina all the time. Gary sees her do it. She glances at the other woman after she has gotten attention from men to see what Nina did, that she herself did not do, that warranted the reaction. She pulls on her clothes after Nina arrives for the morning and then frowns down at them. Always. But, it is completely ridiculous because Nina never shines as brightly as Rachel does.
Yes, Rachel has flaws. Who doesn't? She bites her nails when nervous and talks to loudly when she's on the phone with her mother. She always misses the recycling bin when putting papers in it and she never knocks before entering his office when the door is closed. Those few undesirable habits do not detract from the most vital fact.
Rachel is Rachel and Gary loves her for that.
A/N: Just a little ficlet because I love Gary/Rachel and I couldn't find any fanfiction for them which made me sad.