Fly Like an Eagle, Run Like the Wind
A Flash / Dawson's Creek crossover
by Laura Picken
Hi all! While I'm not a huge fan of Dawson's Creek, I'm a sucker for a good romance.
And, since I'm massively hooked on Charmed, it's given me the opportunity to catch a
couple episodes of Dawson's Creek this season.
DISCLAIMER: The Dawson's Creek characters belong to Kevin Williamson and
whatever the heck the name of his production company is. The Flash belongs to DC Comics, and the characters from the TV version of the Flash belong to Danny
Bilson and Paul DiMeo (Pet Fly Productions). Chances of them coming up with
something like this - are you kidding? I just hope they enjoy it enough that they won't
sue me.
SPOILERS: This is completely, 100% AU. I'm recreating the DC world as I see fit.
Figure on the story being set in about May/June of the current school year for the DC
crew - roughly four/five months after the events in Reluctant Hero. Apologies to those
of you who like more of Jen in their stories-good, bad or otherwise. After she missed the
opening sequence, she kinda got left out of the loop. Oh, and I'm making the
assumption here of a Pacey/Andie romance. C'mon guys, he's got to get over Ms. Jacobs
-sometime-...*g*
Feedback always welcome!
On with the show...
****
Dawson, Pacey, Andie and Joey relaxed on the blankets Andie had brought, enjoying the
perfect Indian summer day. Pacey sighed, relaxing contentedly at how it felt to have
Andie in his arms without distraction. "Now, I don't know about you guys, but I believe
that it is far too nice a day today to be cooped up in some cramped schoolroom learning
about the French Revolution, don't you agree?" Everyone nodded their heads in
agreement, and even Andie looked up at Pacey and smiled.
The loving expression on Andie's face so captivated Pacey that neither of them noticed
Dawson and Joey fidgeting restlessly just two feet away from them. Joey spotted a
husband and wife having a picnic with their two young children several feet away from
them, and she deliberately let the children's antics catch her attention while her mind
wandered. It had been several months since she had told Dawson she needed her
'space'. And while she still believed that Dawson loved her, Joey was...uncertain.
Without question, Dawson Leery was her best friend. She felt like she could talk to him
about anything, and it hurt like hell when they fought or were stuck being away from
each other.
And yet...it was almost like they were on two rowboats tied together with a long piece of
string. Sometimes they were so close, so together that each of them could take an oar
and move both boats in the same direction at the same time without breaking the
connection between them. Sometimes they would bump heads, but only for a brief,
clanging moment before separating, when the contented peace of their relationship
would fill their lives once again.
But now, though, it felt like they were drifting apart, and that thin cord that kept their
boats tied together was badly frayed and about to break for good. [Listen to me,] she
thought, chuckling lightly to herself, [Now -I'm- beginning to sound like Dawson...] A
loud clap of thunder followed by a torrential downpour of rain interrupted Joey's
musings, and she cursed under her breath in frustration.
Pacey was equally as frustrated by the sudden storm. "And -just- as things were
beginning to get interesting," he exclaimed, "God decides to dump a bucket of water on
our heads!" The wind started to pick up, blowing the four friends around mercilessly as
they and the young couple sought sanctuary in the picnic shelter. Collapsing on the
ground as soon as they no longer felt the rain beating down on them, they all rested,
grateful for even the small modicum of protection the three brick walls allowed them
from the increasingly harsh weather.
The young mother was the first to break the silence among the group when, looking
around, she realized that her family was short one member. Concerned, she turned to
her older son. "Christopher? Where's your brother?"
The young boy simply shrugged. "I dunno."
"Well," the mother replied patiently, "What were you doing when it started to rain?"
"Playing hide-and-seek. He musta hid real good, I guess."
The young mother exchanged a pleading look with her husband, and the man sighed
deeply. "Okay, honey, I'll go look for him."
A light bulb went off in Joey's mind, and she jumped up to intercept the young father.
"I'll go with you," she insisted, "I think I saw where he went."
The man inspected the small wisp of a girl who was offering to help him, and wondered
idly if she wasn't going to blow away in the fierce windstorm. Then again, she saw
where Alec was hiding. What did he have to lose? The young father sighed. "All right,
kid. C'mon."
And before Dawson had a chance to protest, Joey was gone.
*****
He knew he shouldn't have been surprised. Joey was the type of person who would go
out on a limb for anybody-had been since she was a kid. It didn't worry Dawson any
less, though, when she took a stupid risk to help someone else.
Like she was doing right now.
Dawson loved Joey more than anything else in his life. So, he figured, worrying came
with the territory.
Standing just at the edge of the shelter, Dawson watched with a strange mix of pride,
fear and that familiar worry as Joey and the young boy's father searched the tall reeds
near the old Maple tree. He could barely hear the two of them calling, "Alec! Alec!"
over the sound of the howling wind and the pounding of the rain on the tin roof above
their heads.
Finally, they found the boy in the hollow under one of the tree's biggest branches, and
Dawson watched as the boy jumped into the safety of his father's waiting arms. Dawson
could almost make out Joey's smile from where he stood, and he relaxed, knowing
everything was going to be all right, but still praying that the group would be able to get
out of the rain safely - and soon.
The sickening CRRRRRACCCCCK of the lightning's impact on the tree was only
amplified by the deafening clap of thunder everyone heard less than a split second later.
Dawson watched in horror as the old maple tree started to split down the middle, one
half threatening to land directly on top of Joey-
*****
"NOOOOOO!"
Pacey could clearly hear his best friend's terror-filled scream over everything else that
was going on. He was huddled with a shivering Andie in the back of the shelter, just
waiting for the storm to blow over. Whatever Dawson was seeing, it was big. Very,
very big. Pacey jumped up to see what was frightening Dawson so badly...
...only to be nearly knocked over by the huge gust of wind that blew into the shelter.
Regaining his composure, Pacey looked up to see that his friend had-vanished? Into
thin air? What the heck was going on here? Scanning the view in front of him, it
wasn't hard to miss the young father Joey was helping, holding on to his son for dear
life-while staring at the trunk of the old Maple tree that had split in two. [Ohmygod,]
thought Pacey, [Joey could be under that thing...]
Pacey started to run toward the maple tree himself as another powerful gust of wind
drove him back into the shelter. When he regained his footing, he looked up to see his
best friend Dawson had reappeared in the shelter - dry as a bone,
and cradling a very shell-shocked Joey in his arms.
The young father ran back into the shelter before any of the group had calmed down
enough to speak. Pacey was the first to find his voice. "Dawson, what happened?
Where were you just now?"
"Lightning struck the tree," replied Joey as she watched Alec run into his anxious
mother's waiting arms. Hearing his friends' voices shook Dawson back to reality, and he
set Joey down so she could continue telling her story. "This huge piece was going to hit
Alec and his father. I pushed them out of the way, but I guess I didn't move fast enough
because the next thing I remember was seeing the tree coming toward me..."
Now even Andie was curious. She moved closer to the group, standing behind Pacey as
she asked, "Well, then what happened?"
Still a little bewildered, Joey shrugged, "I just remember moving really fast, and the next
thing I knew I was here, being carried by-Dawson?"
Joey's eyes widened as she realized who had saved her life. The question was, -how-?
Turning to face Dawson, she touched his hair lightly - it was completely dry, even
though they had -all- been caught in the rain and everyone else (including her) was still
drenched. Touching various parts of his clothing, Joey could tell that the only parts of
Dawson's clothes that were still wet were the parts that had been in direct contact with
her. The rest of his clothes were not only dry, they seemed almost warm at the edges -
like they had just come out of a dryer. Barely able to find her voice, Joey asked,
"Dawson? Do -you- know what happened just now?"
Stumbling for a minute to try and find his balance, Dawson looked back out at the tree,
then over at Joey. He was just as shocked as she was. "Joey, the last thing I remember
was seeing that part of the tree coming toward you. I just knew I couldn't watch you
die."
Hearing the terror in his voice, Joey came up and wrapped her arms around Dawson,
pulling him into a tight embrace. Pacey and Andie also stood at the edge of the shelter,
looking out to the old maple tree which the lighting had split down the middle. As the
wind and rain continued to swirl around them, the four friends thoughts were as one:
Joey should have been dead, but she wasn't. So what had just happened here?
*****
The storm finally broke an hour later, allowing the four friends to head home, but only
after the young couple profusely thanked Joey for helping them find their son and
Dawson for making sure that everyone made it back in one piece.
As the group walked along the muddy road, everyone's thoughts were on how close they
had come to seeing one of their friends die. The -only- thing that any of them were sure
of was that Dawson had saved Joey's life. But how? The only thing that Dawson could
tell them was, "I can't explain it either. I saw that the tree was about to hit Joey, so I
started running..."
Andie was the first to come up with a theory. "Maybe it was an adrenaline rush or
something like that..."
Pacey looked over at Andie, confused. "An adrenaline rush?"
"Yeah," she replied, "I heard about something like this happening once on one of those
emergency rescue shows on TV. This woman's son had been pinned when her car
flipped over, and she was so scared that he was going to die, that she flipped the car over
by herself. The doctors said it was because the fear had produced so much adrenaline in
her system."
It sounded like a possible explanation to Pacey, except for one thing. "I'd buy that,
except that Dawson was running -so- fast I couldn't even -see- him! A really strong guy
could lift a car, so I could see someone being able to do it in a situation like that. But
this..."
Andie started to open her mouth, then closed it again quickly. She couldn't explain it
either.
Dawson and Joey were not listening to their friends' discussion. Instead, they walked a
few steps behind Pacey and Andie, gravitating, as always, to each other for the comfort
they so desperately needed. Especially now. Joey shivered as she thought again about
what had almost happened to her in that storm. She could have died today. She almost
-did- die today. Heck, she -should- have died today. It was humanly impossible for
Dawson to have done the things he did to save her life.
And yet he did.
Andie's explanation of 'adrenaline rushes' broke through Joey's profound thoughts, and
she latched onto the idea, pondering it. "Dawson?"
Dawson shook his head slightly, as if Joey's quiet words had shaken him out of his own
deep thinking. "Yeah, Jo?"
"Do you think what happened today was just a freak one-time thing?"
Dawson shrugged. In truth, he had started to pass it off as a once-in-a-lifetime thing,
except for the fact that he...felt different, somehow. That was the only way to explain it.
"Only one way to find out, I guess."
Joey looked over at her old friend with a mixture of fear and wary skepticism. What was
he thinking of -doing-? "Dawson..."
Before she could completely voice her protest, he was gone.
And before Joey could tell Pacey and Andie what had happened, Dawson had returned
with the stuffed shark from his bedroom in his hands and a completely stunned
expression on his face. He had been more than willing to shrug the storm off as a freak
incident and just be grateful that Joey had gotten out of that mess okay. But the gray
shark he now held in his hands was an indication that there was something else going
on here. Something very, very weird. Dawson handed the shark to an equally stunned
Joey and sat down, completely oblivious to the soaking wet grass beneath him. What in
God's name was happening to him?
*****
The criss-crossing blast of wind was enough of an indication to Pacey that something
had just happened again. He turned around to find Joey trying to comfort a very stunned
Dawson, who was sitting on the ground a couple of yards behind him. Tapping Andie
on the shoulder to get her attention, the pair quickly jogged back to where their friends
were sitting. Pacey asked Joey, "What happened?"
Her hand never leaving Dawson's shoulder, she explained. "Dawson wanted to see if
what happened back at the park was just a freak thing. So he ran home...and came back
with this less than a minute ago."
Taking the shark from Joey's hand, Pacey's eyes widened in amazement. Dawson's
home was over a mile away from where they were... Chuckling, Pacey commented,
"Man, wait until the track team gets a load of you now..."
"No!" The vehemence in Dawson's voice surprised everyone. Lowering his eyes,
Dawson insisted, "No one hears about what happened this afternoon, all right? I feel
like a big enough -freak- right now as it is..."
The concern for Dawson was evident in Joey's eyes. Rubbing her hand reassuringly
along Dawson's back, she agreed. "You're absolutely right, Dawson." Looking up to
face the equally concerned faces of her friends, Joey continued, "Guys, what do you
think our lives would end up like if word got out about something like this?"
Two heads nodded in agreement. It was obvious to everyone what would happen to
Dawson if this wasn't kept under wraps. Joey turned back to tend to her friend, when a
thought occurred to her. "Dawson, maybe you -should- have a doctor check you out,
though..."
Dawson looked up at her with a bewildered expression on his face. "Jo, are you crazy?
Didn't we just agree-?"
Joey cut him off before he could finish the argument. "I know we just agreed to keep
this a secret, but what if this means that something else is going on? That you're getting
sick or something?"
Andie nodded her head in agreement. "Jo's right, Dawson. This has -got- to be
affecting your body somehow. Maybe you should see a doctor."
Pacey chimed in, "And a doctor would have to keep this a secret anyway. You know,
that whole doctor-patient confidentiality kind of thing."
Dawson sighed. His friends were right, and even he was starting to think that it might
be good to have a doctor's reassurances that nothing was -physically- wrong with him.
One question, though, did come to mind. "There's just one problem, though. I can't
make the appointment myself without raising some sort of red flag with them calling my
mom. How do I get in to -see- a doctor?"
To everyone's surprise, Andie simply smiled. Patting Dawson on the ankle, she assured
him, "You just leave that to me, Dawson. I'll take care of it."
Pacey raised a surprised eyebrow at the devious little glint in Andie's eye. "Andie,
Andie, Andie," he teased, "What am I ever going to do with you?"
Andie simply grinned in response. "Hey, I can't be spending so much time around the
master without picking up a few tricks, now can I?"
The group allowed themselves to chuckle in response, easing the tension enough that
they were able to get up and start off again in a relaxed frame of mind, unaware of the
figure lurking in the shadows, watching as Dawson headed home.
