Title : Family
Author :
Geraldine
Email : lazy.gege@ibelgique.com
Category :
Drama, ESF, angst
Characters :
Sam, of course, Josh, and Toby
Rating : PG
Summary : Josh made a promise…
Spoilers : to
be safe, seasons 1 to 3
Disclaimer :
They belong to Aaron Sorkin, John Wells Productions, NBC, Warner Brothers, and
I hope I haven't forgotten anyone. So obviously, they don't belong to me. I'm
not making money from this story, I just have too much free time on my hands.
So I'm begging : don't sue.
Feed back
appreciated.
Note : Sequel
to The fourth night.
Acknowledgements
: My eternal gratitude to Jen , who beta'd this story and keeps encouraging me
to write more, and to Ann for her help on the medical matters. Also, many
thanks to everyone who asked if I was still writing, and especially to
coupdepam, Ann, Elaine and Jen – for their kind words, and for the fic
discussions. I'm having a lot of fun, chatting with you all!
"You lied to me."
"Sam…"
"You lied to me."
"I couldn't tell you, you know that. I had orders, and it wasn't my place to tell you."
"Yeah."
"Sam, look…""I'm going home."
"Sam…"
"Later, Josh."
*****
"You lied to me."
The words kept echoing in his head, repeating themselves over and over again, each time his feet hit the ground. He was running as fast as he could, in the rain, in the dark, refusing to see the darkness as a metaphor for his life. Or the future. Or whatever.
He didn't want to think about symbolism, or trust, or lies.
He didn't want to think about disappointments, illusions, belief.
He wanted to forget everything. He wanted to forget the conversation he had had with Josh earlier this evening – the same conversation they had had for weeks. The words hanging between them, stilted, contrived.
It always came back to this simple truth.
"You lied to me."
Reaching a crossing, he paused to catch his breath, realizing he had ceased feeling the rain long ago.
He wished he could stop feeling many things, right now.
He wished…
"I wish I had never followed Josh," he thought.
Then he realized that he didn't even mean that, and made a disgusted grimace. Josh had saved him from a boring life, back then, a life where everything had been written in advance.
He knew where he was going then.
He was going to be made a partner, marry Lisa, enjoy their married life for a year, maybe two, have a kid, buy a house, have another kid, raise the kids, grow old, retire from corporate law, give lectures to occupy his last years.
So easy.
So predictable.
He had stopped being able to predict what his life would hold after he had joined the campaign, but until two months ago, it hadn't been a problem. It had been challenging, energizing.
Now, it was scary.
Sam shivered, and began running back to his place.
The unknown should have been challenging, not frightening.
Maybe it would have been if –
He sighed. He didn't like to think about the senior staff. They had drifted apart after The Announcement, as Sam had come to think of it. Each of them had had his own way of dealing with it, none of them had wanted to carry the other's burden on top of his own. And now, they were all alone.
Even when they were all together in a room, the sense of camaraderie, of family, was gone.
"You lied to me."
Sam picked up his pace, focusing only on the present.
When he saw the car from the corner of his eyes, he instantly knew it was too late to get out of its way. He tried anyway, and had the time to think, "Stupid to run in this weather."
Then there was a screeching noise, a loud bump, and everything turned to black.
End part 1