TITLE: Mercury
AUTHOR: Vicinity
SUMMARY: The idea of redemption leads Yves - and Jimmy - into the heart of something more dangerous than she could have imagined. Formerly titled "The Immortality Solution."
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, not mine.
SPOILERS: Takes place after "Jump the Shark." Makes reference to another one of my stories, "Madrigal."
AUTHOR's NOTES: For VesperRegina, Amy Jonas, and Evashin91, and perhaps for L., as well.
All apologies.
*****************************************************************************
She walks along the dark shore, Andre next to her. He is so young, so beautiful, and she knows he isn't real. None of it is. She wonders where this image came from, whether it is a simple dream or whether it was created for her. Andre looks out at the water, his eyes on something she cannot see, and when he speaks to her she is startled. He asks her why she is here, and she says that she doesn't know. He wants to know if she remembers, and she says she has never forgotten. He smiles at her, and touches her hand, and then he is cold, ash, gone, and only a faint horrible laughter reminds her he was there. And then she feels her body go numb, and she is marble, and she is lost.
She forces her eyes open before she can see where she was supposed to go, and she thinks that she has arrived. The room is white, clean, and he is waiting for her. "Daddy," she says, not knowing whether she is cursing or calling to him.
"Lois," he smiles. "Welcome." She thinks that she should hate him, that she should destroy him now, but she can't."
"You're still . . ." she doesn't finish her sentence.
"No," he says, "Not your actions. I can't do that."
She sighs. "But what are you doing?" And why am I not dead now, she wants to say, but she stops herself.
He laughs. "I thought you were brighter than that. I thought I'd taught you better than that."
"You've done it," she answers. "You've found your immortality."
"In a manner of speaking. To think, all of those years I was focussing on the extension of the flesh. Really," he says, "I wanted to extend my mind."
"Then why am I still here?" she asks. "Why do you want me here, like this?"
He smiles at her, a cold twist of his lips. "The same reason you wanted to find me, but I would like to think I am a little more eloquent about it. Secret contacts - was that your best?"
She is silent, not knowing what she can say. What will allow her to continue, to destroy him.
"This isn't the way I'd wanted it, Lois," he tells her, almost gently. "I never wanted you to run. I wanted you to work with me. I wanted to give you my world." She senses sincerity behind his words, and she remembers how much she loved him, a long time ago.
"I would never take it," she answers. "Your world is monstrous. You are a monster."
"So you have said," he looks at her with an expression she can't read. "So you have said. But Lois, what are you?"
A murderer. The word echoes in her mind, accompanied by a rush of memories. He watches her face and she has to fight to keep it blank.
"You don't have to say it," he tells her. "You don't have to say anything." He smiles at her again, and she shudders. He looks at her for a long moment, waiting, and she does not know what for. Finally he breaks the silence.
"Is this how you are going to save the world?" he asks. "How you are going to avenge your friends?"
"No," she says. "It's not."
They stand across from each other, neither saying a word.
She remembers her mother, beautiful and dark, surrounded by candles on the last night.
She remembers cool metal against her hand as she stared into the faces of the damned.
She remembers the hurt on his face when she told him not to touch her.
"This isn't real," she says softly. "And I know it."
He waits for her to continue, and then she pulls the gun from her jacket. "Bye, Daddy," she whispers.
The world is black, and there is no sound, and then she stumbles and her hands are bleeding. She looks up at her surroundings, the darkened warehouse where she'd first seen Matthew. She has the feeling that she would find him here, if she looks, but it won't matter. She looks at the small box across the room, at the wires trailing from it. There is no screen, and it doesn't matter. Her father is dead. She wonders what he would have done, how he would have kept her there. She wonders why he let her bring a weapon. She wonders what would have happened if she had aimed at him, instead. She wonders if that was how he defined love.
She walks outside, relishing the cool breeze when it moves her hair from her face. The rain has stopped, and the moon is out, and she feels tired.
When she gets back to the hotel, his room is empty. He has left a hand-written note atop her laptop. She looks at it for a minute, and then crumples it. She hoists her bag over her shoulder, and closes the door behind her.
She never sees him again.
AUTHOR: Vicinity
SUMMARY: The idea of redemption leads Yves - and Jimmy - into the heart of something more dangerous than she could have imagined. Formerly titled "The Immortality Solution."
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, not mine.
SPOILERS: Takes place after "Jump the Shark." Makes reference to another one of my stories, "Madrigal."
AUTHOR's NOTES: For VesperRegina, Amy Jonas, and Evashin91, and perhaps for L., as well.
All apologies.
*****************************************************************************
She walks along the dark shore, Andre next to her. He is so young, so beautiful, and she knows he isn't real. None of it is. She wonders where this image came from, whether it is a simple dream or whether it was created for her. Andre looks out at the water, his eyes on something she cannot see, and when he speaks to her she is startled. He asks her why she is here, and she says that she doesn't know. He wants to know if she remembers, and she says she has never forgotten. He smiles at her, and touches her hand, and then he is cold, ash, gone, and only a faint horrible laughter reminds her he was there. And then she feels her body go numb, and she is marble, and she is lost.
She forces her eyes open before she can see where she was supposed to go, and she thinks that she has arrived. The room is white, clean, and he is waiting for her. "Daddy," she says, not knowing whether she is cursing or calling to him.
"Lois," he smiles. "Welcome." She thinks that she should hate him, that she should destroy him now, but she can't."
"You're still . . ." she doesn't finish her sentence.
"No," he says, "Not your actions. I can't do that."
She sighs. "But what are you doing?" And why am I not dead now, she wants to say, but she stops herself.
He laughs. "I thought you were brighter than that. I thought I'd taught you better than that."
"You've done it," she answers. "You've found your immortality."
"In a manner of speaking. To think, all of those years I was focussing on the extension of the flesh. Really," he says, "I wanted to extend my mind."
"Then why am I still here?" she asks. "Why do you want me here, like this?"
He smiles at her, a cold twist of his lips. "The same reason you wanted to find me, but I would like to think I am a little more eloquent about it. Secret contacts - was that your best?"
She is silent, not knowing what she can say. What will allow her to continue, to destroy him.
"This isn't the way I'd wanted it, Lois," he tells her, almost gently. "I never wanted you to run. I wanted you to work with me. I wanted to give you my world." She senses sincerity behind his words, and she remembers how much she loved him, a long time ago.
"I would never take it," she answers. "Your world is monstrous. You are a monster."
"So you have said," he looks at her with an expression she can't read. "So you have said. But Lois, what are you?"
A murderer. The word echoes in her mind, accompanied by a rush of memories. He watches her face and she has to fight to keep it blank.
"You don't have to say it," he tells her. "You don't have to say anything." He smiles at her again, and she shudders. He looks at her for a long moment, waiting, and she does not know what for. Finally he breaks the silence.
"Is this how you are going to save the world?" he asks. "How you are going to avenge your friends?"
"No," she says. "It's not."
They stand across from each other, neither saying a word.
She remembers her mother, beautiful and dark, surrounded by candles on the last night.
She remembers cool metal against her hand as she stared into the faces of the damned.
She remembers the hurt on his face when she told him not to touch her.
"This isn't real," she says softly. "And I know it."
He waits for her to continue, and then she pulls the gun from her jacket. "Bye, Daddy," she whispers.
The world is black, and there is no sound, and then she stumbles and her hands are bleeding. She looks up at her surroundings, the darkened warehouse where she'd first seen Matthew. She has the feeling that she would find him here, if she looks, but it won't matter. She looks at the small box across the room, at the wires trailing from it. There is no screen, and it doesn't matter. Her father is dead. She wonders what he would have done, how he would have kept her there. She wonders why he let her bring a weapon. She wonders what would have happened if she had aimed at him, instead. She wonders if that was how he defined love.
She walks outside, relishing the cool breeze when it moves her hair from her face. The rain has stopped, and the moon is out, and she feels tired.
When she gets back to the hotel, his room is empty. He has left a hand-written note atop her laptop. She looks at it for a minute, and then crumples it. She hoists her bag over her shoulder, and closes the door behind her.
She never sees him again.