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intheheartTitle: Fairies
Rating: PG.
Summary: Summer sees fairies.
AU: Fairies
Notes: I... don't know where this came from. Well, yes I do, it was a quote plus a migraine. But I don't know why. Ah well. Subtle spoilers herein.
Summer sees fairies. It is her great secret.
She sees them as little sparks of light, ribboned confetti of color dancing against the trees, shards of stained glass scattered against the sky. She has seen them all her life.
She used to tell her mama about them when she was small, point them out where they glittered in the sky, and her mama would look, and laugh, and agree that they were beautiful. Then she got to school, and everyone looked at her funny when she told them she saw fairies.
She knows, now, that she mustn't tell anyone. Ever.
--
"What are you looking at?"
Summer starts, looks up at the teacher and the fairies haloing her concerned face. "Nothing, ma'am," she mumbles, ducks her head.
The teacher turns, looks out the window. Fairies are deserting a building down the block in droves. Summer had been wondering if she dared try to find out why. "Are you sure?"
Her teacher has fairies, she reminds herself. "I saw some people go in there," she lies, pointing at the building. "Bad people."
"Ah," the teacher says, frowning. "Okay. Just... stay here."
The police say later there was a murder. Summer says nothing.
--
For all they are a secret, the fairies help her. It's a subtle kind of helping, but as Summer gets older and learns to read the patterns, she understands more and more. They flock to people who are good-- Lars swarms with them; so does her family-- and flee the ones who are bad. They form lovely shapes-- stars, hearts, winding spirals-- over places she can go, and go sharp red over the bad places. When people are hurt, they hover over the injuries, trying to fix them.
She is the fastest diagnostician in her class. No one knows why.
--
She told someone once. A boy, in college, the first boy who really liked her. The first boy she thought might love her. She thought him a man then, of course, but now she knows he was only a boy.
"I see fairies," she told him, one day. Now she knows she should not have.
He stared at her. "You what?"
"I see fairies," she repeated. Hadn't he heard her?
He had. He made his excuses. And the next time she went to class, everyone stared at her, and whispered.
He was only a boy.
And she shouldn't have told.
--
She knows that she can trust Officer Ryan, because he sees fairies too.
When she thinks about it, Summer is not quite sure why she is sure of this. She knows that Felipe sees them because he told her straight out. "You look straight at them," he told her. "It wasn't hard to guess." But Officer Ryan is not nearly so obvious. He looks sidelong, skeptical, as if he doesn't believe what he's doing.
But he knows Jason Dacre is wrong. He saves her before she knows she's in danger.
She knows in her soul that he sees them too.
--
"Mama," Summer says. "Do you remember how I used to tell you I saw fairies?"
"Yes," her mother says. "Why? Did you stop seeing them?"
"No, I..." Summer understands suddenly, and says, accusingly, "You see them too!"
Gail raises an eyebrow. "Of course. My whole family does. It's in your blood."
Summer tries to assimilate this sudden knowledge, the first insight of her life. "Does Papa see them?" is all she can think to ask, thinking of her own men.
"No," her mother says, and smiles, wide and lovely. "But he believes that I do. That's all you really need."
--
Her little boy sees them. How can he not? Thomas grabs at them happily and claps his hands as they dance above his crib. They guard him, as they have guarded her all her life. They'll keep him safe.
Of course, Summer thinks practically, anyone after Thomas will have to go through two policemen and a doctor, not to mention the entirety of the DC force. Policemen look after their own. Still, it's a comfort to know her son has those extra guardians.
She picks him up, and the fairies follow him, swarming in their hundreds, glittering sparks of light.
Rating: PG.
Summary: Summer sees fairies.
AU: Fairies
Notes: I... don't know where this came from. Well, yes I do, it was a quote plus a migraine. But I don't know why. Ah well. Subtle spoilers herein.
Summer sees fairies. It is her great secret.
She sees them as little sparks of light, ribboned confetti of color dancing against the trees, shards of stained glass scattered against the sky. She has seen them all her life.
She used to tell her mama about them when she was small, point them out where they glittered in the sky, and her mama would look, and laugh, and agree that they were beautiful. Then she got to school, and everyone looked at her funny when she told them she saw fairies.
She knows, now, that she mustn't tell anyone. Ever.
--
"What are you looking at?"
Summer starts, looks up at the teacher and the fairies haloing her concerned face. "Nothing, ma'am," she mumbles, ducks her head.
The teacher turns, looks out the window. Fairies are deserting a building down the block in droves. Summer had been wondering if she dared try to find out why. "Are you sure?"
Her teacher has fairies, she reminds herself. "I saw some people go in there," she lies, pointing at the building. "Bad people."
"Ah," the teacher says, frowning. "Okay. Just... stay here."
The police say later there was a murder. Summer says nothing.
--
For all they are a secret, the fairies help her. It's a subtle kind of helping, but as Summer gets older and learns to read the patterns, she understands more and more. They flock to people who are good-- Lars swarms with them; so does her family-- and flee the ones who are bad. They form lovely shapes-- stars, hearts, winding spirals-- over places she can go, and go sharp red over the bad places. When people are hurt, they hover over the injuries, trying to fix them.
She is the fastest diagnostician in her class. No one knows why.
--
She told someone once. A boy, in college, the first boy who really liked her. The first boy she thought might love her. She thought him a man then, of course, but now she knows he was only a boy.
"I see fairies," she told him, one day. Now she knows she should not have.
He stared at her. "You what?"
"I see fairies," she repeated. Hadn't he heard her?
He had. He made his excuses. And the next time she went to class, everyone stared at her, and whispered.
He was only a boy.
And she shouldn't have told.
--
She knows that she can trust Officer Ryan, because he sees fairies too.
When she thinks about it, Summer is not quite sure why she is sure of this. She knows that Felipe sees them because he told her straight out. "You look straight at them," he told her. "It wasn't hard to guess." But Officer Ryan is not nearly so obvious. He looks sidelong, skeptical, as if he doesn't believe what he's doing.
But he knows Jason Dacre is wrong. He saves her before she knows she's in danger.
She knows in her soul that he sees them too.
--
"Mama," Summer says. "Do you remember how I used to tell you I saw fairies?"
"Yes," her mother says. "Why? Did you stop seeing them?"
"No, I..." Summer understands suddenly, and says, accusingly, "You see them too!"
Gail raises an eyebrow. "Of course. My whole family does. It's in your blood."
Summer tries to assimilate this sudden knowledge, the first insight of her life. "Does Papa see them?" is all she can think to ask, thinking of her own men.
"No," her mother says, and smiles, wide and lovely. "But he believes that I do. That's all you really need."
--
Her little boy sees them. How can he not? Thomas grabs at them happily and claps his hands as they dance above his crib. They guard him, as they have guarded her all her life. They'll keep him safe.
Of course, Summer thinks practically, anyone after Thomas will have to go through two policemen and a doctor, not to mention the entirety of the DC force. Policemen look after their own. Still, it's a comfort to know her son has those extra guardians.
She picks him up, and the fairies follow him, swarming in their hundreds, glittering sparks of light.
