A/N: Takes place before Finny discovers that Gene jiggled the branch, obviously.
Of Cigars and Broken Bones
And there is no war, because Phineas doesn't want there to be one, and he's the only one that matters, after all. Let all the fat men sit in their tailored suits with their cigars and discuss bombs and drafts – there is no war!
Gene believes him, anyway.
What Finny doesn't see is that the war is all around him, everywhere. The war is in the air and the trees and the words everyone speaks and in Gene's eyes when he looks at him. And Gene's the only one that he can trust – he needs Gene. He needs Gene in his dream-world, where the only competition is between athletes and not even then. He needs Gene to believe, so he can believe. Because, after all, the hate is too, too much for Phineas. Too much.
Such a sweet boy.
And this non-war outside may end tomorrow, but it will continue indefinitely in Phineas' head. There will always be fighting and screaming and praying and hoping and the sound of cracking bones after falling from the trees. Phineas is damaged.
He wonders vaguely if Gene even cares.
The End