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apachefirecatTitle: Loyal
Fandom: X-Men (Excalibur)
Author: Apache Firecat
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 500
Characters/Pairings: Brian/Meggan
Warnings: References domestic violence
Summary: Brian fell off again.
She's been literally buzzing circles in her bedroom since she awoke this morning. Last night had been hard, and she knows she isn't helping matters. She needs to clear her mind. She needs to somehow let go of the past, but she doesn't know how to do that. All her beliefs, even, have always been based in the past, all but one.
She looks at her husband, now sleeping so peacefully. Brian Braddock is an entirely different man when he drinks. She knows he's been trying not to, but no matter how hard a soul tries, sometimes there are certain things to which they still fall victim. She's come to hate the man he becomes when he drinks -- well, perhaps not to hate him, but certainly to fear him --, and her reactions when he's lifting that bottle to his lips do not help.
He tried to talk to her last night, just talk about the way the team is going and how responsible he feels for everything. She knows he's a weight he neither needs or deserves, but she also doesn't know how to lift it from his shoulders. There's so much she doesn't know, and she was, after all, not much more than a child when Brian first met her. She thought that was the luckiest, most blessed time in her life. She still does... again, when he's not drinking.
He tried to apologize to her last night. He even proposed again, and she accepted though not without a great deal of uncertainty on her part. He apologized for ever hurting her. He apologized for drinking, even as he took another sip from his bottle. She shivers now, just thinking about last night, but how can she accept any of those hackneyed excuses or apologies when he's still drinking?
She knows there are reasons why he drinks. She knows he's afraid, and she knows he hurts. He hurts with pain that no mere mortal can begin to understand. He takes everything so seriously, blames himself for every life he fails to save, and then there are his memories from the war...
Meggan shudders and bursts out of their window, barely taking enough time to open the latch. Yet once outside, she thinks of how greatly upset when he comes to, how he'll believe she's at last left him, and how his heart will break... She zips back inside and offers over his sleeping form. She brushes the blonde bangs out of his eyes, dips in the cool, Autumn hair, and kisses his forehead. "I'll be back," she whispers, and even the thought of the Terminator cannot make her smile this morn.
She zips back outside, circles the facility a few times, and then heads for the forest. She needs to commune. She needs guidance. She needs help, help that only the Goddess can grant them. Yet she's been praying so long and so fervently now, and still Brian drinks. Still they suffer. When will her loyal prayers be answered?
The End
Fandom: X-Men (Excalibur)
Author: Apache Firecat
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 500
Characters/Pairings: Brian/Meggan
Warnings: References domestic violence
Summary: Brian fell off again.
She's been literally buzzing circles in her bedroom since she awoke this morning. Last night had been hard, and she knows she isn't helping matters. She needs to clear her mind. She needs to somehow let go of the past, but she doesn't know how to do that. All her beliefs, even, have always been based in the past, all but one.
She looks at her husband, now sleeping so peacefully. Brian Braddock is an entirely different man when he drinks. She knows he's been trying not to, but no matter how hard a soul tries, sometimes there are certain things to which they still fall victim. She's come to hate the man he becomes when he drinks -- well, perhaps not to hate him, but certainly to fear him --, and her reactions when he's lifting that bottle to his lips do not help.
He tried to talk to her last night, just talk about the way the team is going and how responsible he feels for everything. She knows he's a weight he neither needs or deserves, but she also doesn't know how to lift it from his shoulders. There's so much she doesn't know, and she was, after all, not much more than a child when Brian first met her. She thought that was the luckiest, most blessed time in her life. She still does... again, when he's not drinking.
He tried to apologize to her last night. He even proposed again, and she accepted though not without a great deal of uncertainty on her part. He apologized for ever hurting her. He apologized for drinking, even as he took another sip from his bottle. She shivers now, just thinking about last night, but how can she accept any of those hackneyed excuses or apologies when he's still drinking?
She knows there are reasons why he drinks. She knows he's afraid, and she knows he hurts. He hurts with pain that no mere mortal can begin to understand. He takes everything so seriously, blames himself for every life he fails to save, and then there are his memories from the war...
Meggan shudders and bursts out of their window, barely taking enough time to open the latch. Yet once outside, she thinks of how greatly upset when he comes to, how he'll believe she's at last left him, and how his heart will break... She zips back inside and offers over his sleeping form. She brushes the blonde bangs out of his eyes, dips in the cool, Autumn hair, and kisses his forehead. "I'll be back," she whispers, and even the thought of the Terminator cannot make her smile this morn.
She zips back outside, circles the facility a few times, and then heads for the forest. She needs to commune. She needs guidance. She needs help, help that only the Goddess can grant them. Yet she's been praying so long and so fervently now, and still Brian drinks. Still they suffer. When will her loyal prayers be answered?
The End
