Paved with Good Intentions
Summary: Set post-movie. Mama Odie makes a deal to resurrect Facilier and rescue him from the clutches of his "friends." But why would she do that? Well, read to find out.
He felt … cold.
That was his first clue that things had changed, because since his "friends" had dragged him kicking and screaming into their realm, he hadn't been able to feel much of anything. Oh, he could certainly feel pain, of a sort, and the sheer terror was constant – but the simple, tangible, human sensations of being hot or cold or even breathing had eluded him. Before, when he was still alive and kickin', being cold might have annoyed him.
Now, the sensation was like a cool drink of sweet water for a man who'd been dying of thirst.
Dr. Facilier, otherwise known as the Shadow Man, gasped, and breathed, and lived again.
He glanced behind him, relieved to see his shadow, who was also shivering in gleeful relief. However he had been brought back, he wouldn't have put it past his "friends" to keep his shadow – if only out of pure spite, because he couldn't imagine them having much use for the poor creature. And his shadow was the only real friend he had, the only being on this earth that actually cared about him –
"That's not true."
He froze. Even if he hadn't recognized her unmistakable voice, only one person could read his thoughts like that. Slowly, he turned from his shadow. It couldn't be …
But it was.
The plump, wizened old woman stood before him. It had been a long time since he'd seen her, and age seemed to have shrunk her down even smaller than he remembered her being. Normally, she'd always been bursting with a vitality that he'd often found annoying. Now, she was strangely quiet, and solemn.
"You?" He gasped. "You brought me back?"
For just a moment, he wanted to grab her and hug her. He promptly hated himself for the impulse.
"You – you hypocrite!" He spat out venomously, but she didn't even flinch.
"My child, you need to listen –"
"Don't tell me what I need, Odie!" He snapped. "Y'all think I'm gonna put up with your self-righteous prattle?"
"Facilier –"
"You made a deal with them!" He shouting, pointing a shaky finger at her. "You wouldn't do it then, not even to save his life, and you wouldn't let me do it, but now … now suddenly, it's alright?!"
"This is different."
He scoffed. "Oh, of course it is. 'Cause you never do anything wrong, do you, old woman? It's only me that's the sinner, ain't it?"
"No," she said softly. "No, child, you ain't the only one that's made mistakes." Her wounded look made it harder to hold on the bitterness and anger, but he'd carried those feelings towards her for years, and he wasn't about to give them up now. After all, what else did they have left between them?
"I didn't do right by you," Odie continued. "I tried to get you to see what you needed, but y'all could only ever see what you wanted. Maybe it's my fault."
Facilier swallowed. "There's only one thing I blame you for," he said, more gently than I meant to. "And you know what that is. "I ain't gonna lay my sins down at anyone's feet but my own. Not even yours."
Odie sighed. "But you ain't even sorry for all the evil you done, is you?" He shrugged, looking away from her and working hard to maintain his air of indifference. "You break my heart, son."
"Yeah well, you broke my heart when you let daddy die," he said, unable to keep the quaver out of his voice. "So I guess we even, then."
The silence hung between them for a long moment, thick and suffocating. His shadow slumped to the ground, as if bearing the oppressive weight of all the pain between mother and son.
After a moment, he finally turned back to her. "So," he said, "What did you offer my 'friends' to bring me back? How many poor, noble souls are on the hook in exchange for my sorry one?"
"Just one."
It took him a moment to realize, but when he did … his shadow let out a silent scream, but he could only gasp out a single word. "No."
"It don't matter how disappointed I am in you, Facilier. You're still my son. I couldn't let –"
"Damn you old woman, you had no right!" He shouted, his voice shaking. "It was my debt, not yours!"
Her face took on an all-too-familiar look of grim determination. "Well, it's my debt now, and I'll be paying it…"
Her voice trailed off, and the wild, terrifying music of his "friends" took over. Shadows and masks and demons all came to life. "Are you ready?" They sang at Mama Odie, in their demonic melody.
She lifted up her arm, as if in surrender. "Yes, I'm ready for y'all. Let's get this deal done." For the first time, he heard her voice crack. She was afraid, he realized in shock. He'd never seen her afraid in his life, not once …
"No, no!" He screamed. "This ain't fair, it was my debt, it was always my debt, not hers! Don't take her, take me back instead!"
"It's too late, shadow man. The pact is made," said a deep, inhuman voice.
"Do me one favor, my precious boy," Mama Odie whispered, as the dark forces began to pull her away. "This time round, live a better, kinder life than you did before."
"No!" He clutched at her, but he couldn't reach. "No, mama, mama!"
There was nothing he could do. In a flash of magic, she was gone.
The room was empty now, except for himself and his shadow. He had not shed a tear, not a single one since his father died, but now, he broke down completely, sobbing in rage and grief, just as he had back then.
"Damn you, mama," he whispered. "I never would have asked you to …"
After a time, he rose up, shakily. His mama had told him to live a better life, but he have never been very good at minding her, even back when they still got along. So he wasn't going to focus his energy on repentance, or charity.
No. He was going to focus it all on getting her back. He … he wouldn't let her have the damn satisfaction of sacrificing her life for him, as if that single act would somehow make up for her turning her back on him for all those years. He was just as stubborn as she was, and just as determined to be "right."
Besides which, he'd already lost one parent, and he wasn't going to lose the other one. Not now, and not like this.
"Mama, I promise, I'll bring you back."
*Author's Note: According to what I've read on the Disney wiki site, in the original draft of the script, Mama Odie and Dr. Facilier were indeed going to be mother and son. Frankly, I thought it was a fabulous idea, and I was disappointed that they wound up discarding it … and thus, this fic was born. A one-shot for now, but I may expand it into a full-length story if there's enough interest.