Bringing The Sins Back

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the film Flatliners and I'm not making any money from this fic

Summary: Set after the events of the movie Flatliners. David takes Nelson to task

Warning(s): Spanking; spoilers for the whole of the film Flatliners; some mentions of violence and suicidal themes

Author's Note: I watched Flatliners again a few days ago and quite enjoyed it. It's a fairly old film about a group of medical students who want to see if there really is any life after death - and do so by chemically inducing death. A full synopsis of the film can be found on Wikipedia

As Nelson looked around his apartment, he couldn't help thinking that it seemed so threatening now. He knew that Billy was gone for good - finally gone now - but although he wouldn't admit it to anyone, what had happened still bothered him. Sure, he'd told his friends that he was absolutely fine and didn't need the company... but if he was completely honest with himself, he knew that his home wasn't a place of refuge any longer.

Nelson had turned on all the lights in his apartment, but there were still plenty of shadows inside which something could lurk. He knew that nothing would happen, but it was still difficult to deal with.

The knock on his front door made Nelson jump nearly out of his skin. He didn't know exactly what time it was, but he was sure it was fairly late. He thought about ignoring the knock, but it came louder and more insistently.

If Billy was back, he probably wouldn't be knocking. But then again, Billy wasn't the only danger.

Nelson picked up the metal pipe - not that it had done him much good against a ghost - and carried it to the front door. Taking a tighter grip on his makeshift weapon, he opened the front door - and then sighed before putting a fake smile on his face. "David. What a nice surprise."

"We thought you shouldn't be alone tonight."

"So you drew the short straw?" Nelson didn't want to admit it out loud, but he was relieved that David was there.

"Can I come in? Or would you rather I stayed outside and make sure nothing comes to get you?"

"Come in." Nelson stepped back from the door and closed it as David stepped into the apartment. "I haven't done much shopping lately, but there's probably something to eat or drink if you want some."

"I'm fine," David answered.

Nelson nodded. "Okay... good." He felt a bit awkward, especially after everything that had happened. Would he have felt better if it had been Rachel there instead? He suspected probably not.

"Why did you do it?"

Surprised by the question, Nelson took a moment or two to reply. "I shouldn't have dragged the rest of you into this - and I should have warned you all as soon as I knew something was happening. I feel like I've grown up a lot since this whole thing started," he added, barely able to believe how arrogant he'd been to begin with.

Apparently, facing your sins tended to bring one down a peg or two.

"That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean?" Nelson asked.

"You put yourself under without anyone there," David said. "What if we'd failed to get you back?"

"I made sure all of you would be absolved of any responsibility. No one could have said you let me die. After all, you did everything you could."

"You wanted to die."

"Billy wanted me to die," Nelson corrected. "I just gave him the means to accomplish that with." Though he knew better now. Billy had forced him to grow up and think of someone other than himself. If it hadn't been for the kid, he wouldn't have realised how close he'd come to killing his fellow doctors... his friends; though he wasn't sure they counted themselves as such.

"You should never have gone back in there - and not on your own." David stepped closer to Nelson.

Nelson didn't move, but he felt slightly uncomfortable. He stepped back, though, when David reached for his wrist. "What are you doing?" He put his hands behind his back.

"What your parents probably should have done when you were a kid." David grasped Nelson's arm, pulling him closer. "I'm going to show you exactly why you shouldn't have tried to kill yourself."

Nelson thought about trying to pull away. He imagined David was going to punch him - though he couldn't imagine David condoning punching a child. He was surprised, though, when David started in the direction of the living room. Nelson followed the other man, feeling very surreal, as if he was moving through a dream.

It wasn't until David reached the couch and took a seat that Nelson realised what was going through the other man's mind. He immediately tried to pull away, startled when he found David's grip hard and unyielding. "I'm not going to let you do this." He tried to sound firm and authoritative, but even he could hear the note of uncertainty in his voice.

David didn't make any response to that and pulled Nelson round and to his side, tugging him across his lap. Nelson immediately tried to get up, but David wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him against his stomach, effectively preventing Nelson from being able to get up.

Nelson squirmed uncomfortably, an action that stilled at the first hard smack that landed on the centre of his backside. Somehow, that first swat - although it only stung a bit by itself - made it clear exactly what was happening.

A second sharp smack landed directly on top of the first and Nelson winced. He then began squirming again as David's hand landed again and again, always in exactly the same spot. Nelson lost count of how many smacks landed, but by the time David paused, that single patch of skin felt like it was on fire.

Nelson couldn't stop the groan as David turned his attention to an unmarked area. It didn't matter what he did - no matter how much he twisted and writhed in David's hold, the other man's hand landed exactly where David wanted it to.

David continued like this, setting Nelson's entire backside blazing. Nelson couldn't stop the pained gasps escaping him as the sensitive skin of his sit spots and thighs were also burned unbearably. His legs jerked as he tried hard not to kick, not wanting to appear any more childish than he did already.

A slight whimper escaped Nelson as David started over from the top. The swats landing on skin that had already been spanked was more painful than he would have realised and he couldn't stop the exclamations of pain. What was even worse was the fact that he felt tears burning his eyes.

By the time David reached his thighs for the second time, Nelson was no longer squirming as much. He didn't want to cry in front of someone he considered his rival - even if said rival had saved his life - but when David began focusing on his tender sit spots and thighs, already sore enough, Nelson's breath hitched in the first sob. Then, as if that first sob allowed the floodgates to open, he buried his head in his arms and began crying quietly.

It took Nelson a little while to realise that David had stopped and he became aware of the other man gently rubbing his back. Embarrassed, Nelson wiped at his wet cheeks and then slowly pushed himself up. "I should really punch you for that."

"That's not your style," David answered.

Nelson gingerly sat on the couch next to David, unable to help the slight wince as he put weight on his sore backside. "I'm going to assume you enjoyed that."

"Not nearly as much as I thought I would - though I was tempted when I realised you'd been hiding things from us." David shook his head. "But I'm glad this is over."

"Apart from our fifteen minutes of fame." Nelson meant the words to sound flippant, but even to his own ears, he just sounded lost. Somehow, he had the feeling that everything had changed now.

The End