A/N: This is a small piece of drabbles dealing with a certain scene in "Waterloo - part I". So, there are spoilers. It's unbeta-ed...but I guess, there are only so many mistakes I can make in 500 words. Hope you enjoy.
Shot down
He tries to do it as casually as possible, knowing it won't work. So, the second step is brash dismissal and focus on the case. They hate it, but comply and that is soothing his frazzled soul. Reciting the facts he avoids their eyes, even though he wants to memorize them for eternity. "Shot down" flashes in his mind, mixing with agonized screams of despair. All he has, all he is, is torn away from him. He begins to realize that. Feeling their eyes on him - worried, questioning, confused - he knows that breaking down is only a matter of time.
He tries to do it as casually as possible, but dropping a bomb like this, it's bollocks. She's glad to be sitting, because for a moment her heart stops. This can't be true. He rattles on, trying to divert their focus, but even though they gamely follow, it's more out of shock than real interest. He - they - are shot down, the vultures having circled for a long time. They never had much, but they'll lose so much more than a job - their dysfunctional family - their home. Her heart aches and the first tears, though suppressed, burn acidly in her throat.
He tries to do it as casually as possible, but that makes the shock even bigger. He reels from it, is glad that he's sitting down. For the flash of a moment he wonders about the consequences for himself, but that's swept away by confusion and anger. As always there's no explanation, as if they aren't worth it. They are shot down - not just Boyd, all of them - and because of that he thinks they deserve more than that. But before fury can spread, he catches a glimpse of the others' faces and the pain of the news grips him.
He tries to do it as casually as possible, and from a scientific point of view it fails spectacularly. It's such a bomb that even her usual poker face disappears momentarily, before her clinical analysis comes back to work again quickly. Boyd rushes to change the topic and unlike Spence, but very much like Grace, she recognizes that as a sign of how badly the news affect him. They've shot Peter Boyd down, taken away the centre of his life and that is tragic enough. But they are also destroying his family - their family - and that she can hardly grasp.
He tries to do it as casually as possible, but that doesn't soften the blow. From the look on the others' faces, their world has just ended as well. She is in complete shock, but unlike them she hasn't lost anything - except her self-respect. It makes her avoid the others' gaze. They've shot Boyd down, and she's handed them the gun. It scares her to imagine what will happen, if they ever find out, but that's nothing compared the guilt weighing on her. She's destroyed a family and she can only hope that she can redeem herself before the end.
Thank you for reading. Comments would be greatly appreciated.