Title: - Seven Masks
Author: - Bella
Rating: - PG
Characters: - Abby, Stephen
Warnings: - None
A/N: - Un-Beta'ed, mistakes are my own. Set just after Series 1.
Seven Masks
Abby had known Stephen Hart for exactly two months, three weeks and seventeen days. Normally, when she had known someone for that length of time, she pretty much knew them. People, she had discovered, were generally desperate to share their life story with you; humans in general seemed to see the sharing of secrets as a way of becoming close to someone. Abby wasn't sure what that theory said about Stephen Hart. Because, despite having known him for two months, three weeks and seventeen days, and having associated with various sides of his character, she thought that she had yet to meet the real Stephen; the man behind the mask. And certainly, if hiding away your true character was a talent, then Stephen had turned it into an art form.
Counting through their various interactions, Abby found that she could identify at least seven different masks, seven other personas that Stephen became, or hid behind, depending on how you looked at it. The first of which was The Scientist. Quite simply, Stephen was good at his job, and, especially when he was out in the field, always gave it 100 of his focus. First time she had met the man she had been struck by his intensity and dedication, the fact that he hadn't said more than two words to either her or Connor, until the task in hand was sorted. He was, literally, the perfect scientist.
Secondly, was Stephen the Action Hero. The guy looked like he had been born with a gun in his belt. It was an image he fitted. And when he risked his own life to get everyone else out safely, somehow it didn't seem ridiculous or arrogant, as the same action would coming from her or Connor. Because you could look at him and truly believe he had the skills and the courage to save the world.
There was also Stephen the Friend, a persona that made most of its appearances around Nick. This Stephen was laughing and joking, open and relaxed for once, so that you could occasionally get a glimpse of the 'real him'. Abby had thought that this Stephen was also the most loyal, prepared to do whatever it took to protect Nick. Until last week, when she had realised that you can never truly know your friends. She didn't want to remember the look on Nick's face when Helen had dropped her little bombshell. Or the look on Stephen's for that matter. He had look devastated, and Abby had wondered whether Stephen himself had even realised about persona number four – The Betrayer.
Her second favourite side of Stephen was shown when they found a new creature or a new landscape, a favourite example being his discovery of the spaghetti junction. Eyes wide with wonder, mouth slightly agape, and pure fascination on his face, he had seemed to revert straight back to childhood, taking immense pleasure in the simplest of things. Admittedly, she saw this expression more on Nick than she did on Stephen, but it was sometimes there, never the less.
But without a doubt, her favourite Stephen was The Romantic. The one that made her go weak at the knees and wonder if someone had turned the planet's thermostat up when she wasn't looking. The one that made her heart beat faster until it was pounding in her ears and revert back to the ridiculous shyness of a teenage crush. The one that she knew, ultimately, she would never get more than a few brief tastes of. Because above all, Stephen is A Mystery. He's an enigma, wrapped in intrigue, sealed in a padlocked box whose key has been missing for hundreds of years. Sure she knows the basic facts. She knows he supports Liverpool, hates beetroot and would sell his soul for a Cornish beach and a surfboard, but she doesn't know HIM. She doesn't want to know his favourite colour, or his least favourite food, she wants to know what it feels like to wake up with him, which spots to touch to make him shudder and above all, what it might feel like to be loved by him. But she knows that his favourite colour is all she's going to get, because after the Helen incident, that side of him was hurt badly, and now it's closed off, and she thinks its forever. And that hurts, it hurts like hell. So she tells herself that she's being ridiculous. She's known him a mere 2 months, 3 weeks and 17 days. She can't possibly have fallen in love with him.