Flames of Foresight
Disclaimer - Don't own just borrowing. Story for fun, nor profit. You know the routine.
A/N: it was not easy for me to sleep last night. Hopefully this little one shot will put to rest the part of my mind that had Daniel and Kate interrogating me in my dreams. This is my first "Perception story and the first thing I've posted in a long time. Please be kind as I don't have much experience writing these characters. Reviews are encouraged and appreciated.
He'd been thrown several yards by the explosion. His back had smashed into something hard. All around him flames licked at the remains of the house. There was an intense pain in his left leg. He tried to move and discovered his leg was trapped. Acrid smoke filled his lungs as he tried to breathe.
His grip on consciousness waned with each choking gasp and shuttering cough. He wasn't sure but he thought he could hear Kate calling his name in the distance. With what remained of his strength he mustered a hacking "Over hear!" then darkness descended.
He was afraid as bright light flooded his senses. Was he dead? Was this what death was, constant fear? The only good thing was that the intense pain that had been coursing through his body had vanished. But that too was terrifying. Suddenly he became aware of voices. These voices were different than those he usually heard. Small hands gripped his own and fear was replaced by confusion. Faces came into focus.
The faces of children hovered above him. Two dark haired and one fair headed. They looked concerned as they watched him. He just stared up at them as a sense of wonder filled him. He was sure he was hallucinating so maybe he wasn't dead just yet.
"Daddy," the one who appeared to be the oldest, said "You have to go back now."
Through the haze of wonderment Daniel felt sudden shock. The boy had just called him Daddy. But Daniel had no children. Clearly his brain was shutting down from lack of oxygen and couldn't conjure a coherent hallucination. He looked at the children more closely nonetheless. They all seemed to resemble him.
"Don't be scared Daddy," the fair haired one, a girl, told him "You gotta breathe."
"Wake up Daddy," the dark haired girl pleaded "You're making Mommy cry."
At that moment Daniel became vaguely aware of pressure on his chest and the sensation of air being forced into his lungs. The faces of the children began to fade from his vision. As they bid their fair wells another voice was becoming audible.
"Come on Daniel," it was Kate, she sounded desperate "Don't die, please don't die..."
The sensation of air being forced into his lungs again but this time he was also keenly aware of lips clamped down over his mouth. His eyes popped open as he began to cough. Pain returned, proving to him that he was still alive.
Kate's face, filled with worry but sporting a tiny relieved smile, swam into focus above him. He was lying on the lawn of the destroyed house. In the distance sirens blared. He attempted to get up but found himself being gently pinned to the ground by Kate.
"Take it easy," she soothed in a voice that was meant to sound calming but was clouded by a dozen other emotions at once and came out sounding breathless "The abulance'll be here soon."
As he relaxed under her touch he noticed the tears in her eyes. His immediate instinct was to reach out and wipe them away but yet again when he tried to move she stopped him.
"Stay still," she instructed "You got pretty banged up in there. Thought I lost you for a second there," she tried to laugh off the terrifying notion.
He wanted to say something to her but just as he opened his mouth the ambulance arrived and there was a cluster of paramedics separating them. As they fitted him with an oxygen mask and loaded him onto a stretcher the moment passed. But as they loaded him into the ambulance he kept his eyes on her.
At the back of his mind he couldn't help thinking that those kids from his near death hallucination that had looked so much like him, looked a lot like her too.
A/N: Sorry it's short. I may write a multi chapter follow up if this isn't universally panned by my readers. Hope my first foray into this fandom was successful. I can't believe we have to wait until February. Only "Perception" could make me look forward to one of the dreariest times of year.
Also there seems to be some concern over wheat her there will be a season four. So I urge people to tweet #SavePerception and tell people why this show is awesome.