A/N: The idea for this story came to me when I was re-watching the episode from the second series where George realises he's given Nina the curse. They are in the hospital, Nina is stood up over George and George is sobbing on the floor. In stereotypical relationships (Annie and Mitchell's for example), it would have been Nina sobbing with George holding it together to comfort her, no matter how guilty he felt. However, it seems in George and Nina's relationship, Nina has always been the stronger one. She's the one telling George everything's going to be okay while George is an emotional wreck, quivering in a corner.
So I wondered, what would happen if the tables were turned? What if, George was forced to be the strong one for once? When Nina's baby is born dead she is in pieces. George must find a way to hold it together and pull both of them through this.
Set after series three except Herrick never came back setting off the chain of events that lead to Mitchell's death. Nina's about five months pregnant, but accounting for the weird werewolf gestation period that's almost full term in size for a human.
Pairings are George/Nina and Mitchell/Annie. Also friendship pairings are Mitchell/George and Annie/Nina.
There are some disturbing themes, sensitive topics and a few quite horrific descriptions towards the end that people may find upsetting so I'm really really sorry if I upset anyone. It's not supposed to be a happy little jolly so if that's what you want that's not really what you're going to get. There's some jokey bits in this first chapter but that's about it. This has taken me ages though so I really really hope you like it. I know lots of people don't like Nina but actually I find her very interesting, and even if you don't like her this story isn't just about her. I have snippets of Annie and Mitchell because I seriously love them and there's quite a lot of George too.
Thanks to the BBC for making Being Human, I don't own it.
Enjoyxxx
Nina sat in the armchair, her knees pulled up close to her chest. Her arms were wound around them to form a cradle in the gap between. In that cradle rested a tiny bundle, wrapped in white, blood smeared sheets.
Nina's face was the picture of perfect grief. Tears stained her cheeks but her expression was blank. She just stared straight ahead, eyes dead. Her dark blonde hair was scraped back off her face in a messy ponytail. Blood matted the strands that had fallen loose and her fingers were stained red. Her body was wrapped tightly in blankets yet she shivered violently. Multiple cups of tea and coffee were sat on the table beside her, untouched and long since cold. Annie stood behind the chair. Her hand fluttered by Nina's shoulder, trying to think of something, anything, she could say to comfort the tormented woman.
Nina's eyes flickered for a second as she flashed back to the night before. She smiled briefly, immersed in the memory.
"Well er... I guess I better be off then..." George dithered about by the door with his bag slung over his shoulder. Nina couldn't help but laugh at him.
"What?" George asked defiantly.
"Nothing," Nina rolled her eyes, trying to conceal her smile. "See you tomorrow."
He gave her a quick peck on the lips and opened the door slightly. He paused, "You will be alright, won't you?" His voice rose slightly, shaking.
Nina smiled and rolled her eyes again. "Of course I will. We've only done this about half a million times."
"But what about..."
"If anything was going to happen, it would've by now," she cut him off, her hand fluttering gently to her large bump. "Now go! It's full moon in an hour."
"I love you," George smiled.
"And I love you too. Now go!" Nina replied, exasperated. Eventually, the door closed and George was gone.
"At last!" Annie cried from the sofa where she was sat, Mitchell's arm casually wound round her shoulder.
"I thought he was never going to leave!" Mitchell grinned.
"If he's not careful he's going to end up changing in the middle of the living room one of these days" Nina said with a smile.
"Wouldn't want that again..." Annie said wistfully, thinking back to their house in Bristol. "Never did get rid of those scratch marks on the skirting board..."
"Well, if you ask me," Mitchell began, a cheeky glint in his eye, "I think he wants you two to transform together again. I heard last time it was... Interesting..."
"Mitchell!" Annie scolded, slapping the back of his hand playfully.
"Ugh..." Nina mock shivered and pulled a face, "Please, Mitchell. Never bring that up ever again. I'm trying my best to erase the whole experience from my mind... I do love George but that… That was just kind of weird."
Suddenly, Annie leapt up, grinning like a child on Christmas morning. "Nina, I've bought something for you," she announced proudly.
"You bought something?" Mitchell asked. "Isn't that kind of hard with... You know? The whole... Ghost thing?"
Annie slapped him lightly on the arm and gave him her best evil glare. "Stop being so deadist! I left the money on the till. But that's not the point! I was going to save it for another time when we were all together but I can't wait anymore!" Annie beamed and promptly vanished. A couple of seconds later they heard her rummaging around her bedroom and within minutes she was back downstairs clutching a yellow plastic bag tightly in her hand.
"Open it! Open it! Open it!" Annie squealed, practically bursting with excitement.
"I could always leave it until tomorrow when George gets back..." Nina teased. "Wouldn't want him missing the surprise..."
"No!" Annie shouted adamantly. "Open it, now!"
"Go on then, Nina," Mitchell sighed. "Before our living room gets covered in exploded ghost."
Annie thrust the bag into Nina's lap. Nina opened it slowly, peering inside through the gap in the top so no one else could see.
"Oh, Annie," she pulled a beautiful white baby grow from the bag and laid it out gently on her lap, smoothing the creases.
"If you don't like it I can take it back or change it for a different colour. Obviously I didn't know if you were having a boy or a girl so I got it in white because I thought a boy or a girl could wear white. I thought maybe the yellow but it had a picture of a cat on the front and that just seemed sort of..." Annie was wittering, flapping her hands about to help explain.
"No, Annie. It's lovely; really thoughtful. I love it and I'm sure George will too," Nina paused before finishing softly, "It's the first thing anyone's bought us for our baby…"
There was a beat of silence before Annie and Nina began an animated conversation about baby names while Mitchell sighed, rolled his eyes and switched on The Real Hustle.
"Nina?" Mitchell said about twenty minutes later, nodding towards the clock.
"Oh," Nina said a little sadly. "Well I suppose I'll see you in the morning. Night Annie, Mitchell."
She folded the baby grow and replaced it in the bag, "Annie, could you look after this for me?"
Annie nodded and smiled encouragingly, "Good luck."
"Thanks," and with that, Nina stood up, handed the bag to Annie, gave them a little wave and left the room.
She descended the stairs to the basement, flicking the light on. She locked the door tightly behind her, stripped off and stood in the middle of the room, shivering.
"We should really get some central heating down here," Nina said out loud, trying to fill the silence around her.
She took a deep breath, trying to prepare herself. No matter how many times she changed, Nina knew she would never get used to the unbearable pain that ripped through her body in a transformation.
Mitchell had tried to explain it to her once, what was happening to her. How her heart stopped and shrunk, all her internal organs shut down. Apparently she should've been dead in thirty seconds but something stopped it. But during those thirty seconds the pain was so terrible she ended up wishing she was dead anyway. Apparently, it's a miracle, her body ripping and shredding to reform as The Wolf. Apparently, knowing all this was meant to make Nina feel better. It never did. To her it was still the excruciating agony it had always been; fire, ripping through her body, tearing her apart. The only thing that seemed to offer her any comfort in it all was the knowledge that somewhere, George was feeling the exact same thing. Not that she took pleasure in George's pain, but that they were both united in the transition. Their movements identical. It was nature, bonding them across any distance.
Nina closed her eyes. She could feel it in every fibre of her body. Then the first wave hit her. She dropped to her knees, crying out in pain.
Mitchell hovered by the front door nervously. He glanced over at Annie, meeting her eyes. Sympathetic tears dappled her face. Mitchell forced a smile which she returned with a weak one of her own.
"Annie," Mitchell said in a low murmur. He took a step towards the door to the stairs and indicated to her to follow him.
Annie moved to the front of the chair and crouched down in front of Nina, desperately trying not to look at the tiny bundle in her arms. Her voice trembled violently, "I'll be one minute. I'm just out there if you need me..."
Annie searched Nina's eyes for any sign the woman had heard her. Nina's face remained blank. Annie sighed a little and stood up, following Mitchell out.
As soon as they were out of hearing distance of Nina, Mitchell enveloped Annie in a hug. He felt her body go limp in his arms, shaking with tiny little sobs. Annie had never been strong; it didn't take much to hurt her. Mitchell knew that better than most people. She was so affected by the emotions and situations of people around her.
"Mitchell..." Annie whimpered. "What about George? How're we going to tell him?"
"Annie," Mitchell soothed, "I think we have to leave that to Nina."
"But she's not even speaking!" Annie said desperately, she looked up to meet his eyes.
"She's in shock. She's going to be fine. As soon as George gets here he'll know exactly what to do," Mitchell replied, trying to sound confident.
"But George will just make it worse! He'll never be able to hold it together..." Annie said worriedly.
"I'll talk to him... It'll be fine," Mitchell said, hoping what he said was true.
At last Annie nodded, "We should really try and... Clean her up..." She paused. "Mitchell, I think we should her to hospital."
"No," Mitchell shot back, "Absolutely not."
"But her baby's dead, Mitchell! We don't even know what happened! We should at least check she's going to be okay…"
"Annie, no. We'd be putting every werewolf on this planet in danger. I know what they're like at hospitals, they'll do tests and take samples and then when they realise she's not the same, they'll hurt her. You saw what they did to Sasha and her friends..." Mitchell and Annie shivered at the memory.
"I still think we should at least..." Annie began. But she was cut off by Mitchell.
"What was that noise?"
"What noise?"
Mitchell listened for a second, "It's George. He's back."
As if on cue, the front door swung open and a cheerful voice rung through the house, "Hello!"
A/N: So what did you think? Please review, I've worked for ages on this and I'd love to know what you think. I've already written nearly all the chapters for this, I've just got to write the last bit of the last chapter and the epilogue (if I do one, I think I will) and then it's finished. So I can post the next one whenever I want. But I'll only post it if you like it. Because obviously… No point if you didn't, so get reviewing!
