Threads

[intheheart]

Title: Threads
Rating: PG-13 for naughty words.
Summary: How things might have been, and how they are.
AU: ALL OF THEM.
Notes: Here are snippets from most of my AUs, in roughly chronological order. Thanks to Sara for approving the Polyfaceted bits!



11. Church is close, but the road is slippery, pub is far, but the road is easy.
EPIC PIRATE AU, 1621

The deck is covered with pirates, some of them dancing, most of them laughing, and all of them drinking, when Gina gets back.

She stops dead at the top of the gangplank, sighs, and rolls her eyes. Really, some days she just wants to take a paddle to them all. No self-control whatsoever.

"Gina!" Danny calls, and reels towards her. "You're back! Whereya been?"

"Church," she answers, primly, stepping over an unconscious pirate. "It's Sunday."

Danny wrinkles her nose. "Church. Bah. We're having a lot more fun."

"I won't have a hangover," Gina points out, and goes to find Ivy.



13. Whether you hit an owl with a stump or a stump with an owl, it's the owl that suffers.
Arelie/Farid AU, 1981

Her sweet little daughter is crawling now, and standing, reaching always for the sky. Little Alice-in-Wonderland, Arelie calls her. Her beautiful little girl.

Farid doesn't delight in Alice as much as Arelie does, but then how can he? She knows that every time he looks at her, he thinks of his other daughters, the four dark-eyed girls whom he hasn't seen since he left their mother. She sees the regret, every time.

She can see it, but she can't fix it. She can see him going, but she can't stop him.

It breaks her heart, and so she watches Alice.



3. Teaching the fool is like healing the dead.
Regrets AU, 1999

Her adult students try to set her up on blind dates all the time. It's annoying, trying to find excuses that aren't lies, especially since none of them believe that she isn't interested.

She could, Gail supposes, tell them the truth-- that she's married, or as good as, that she's very happy with her partner. She would, if she didn't know that the next question would be "What's his name?"

She's not ashamed of Allison, or of being a lesbian. She's not ashamed of who she is.

It's just that she's tired, so tired, and she doesn't want the fight.



6. Lord, rescue me from friends, from enemies I can save myself.
Sunny AU, 2003

"Daddy," Olivia says, disdain is heavy in her voice. "Please. I'm seventeen! I can look after myself."

Hugh frowns at her and at the boy waiting awkwardly by his car. "It isn't that I don't trust you, sweetheart," he says. "It's that I don't trust him."

"Please," she says again. "Tim? I could take him with both hands tied behind my back. And anyway he's a perfect gentleman! Stop worrying, Daddy. It'll be fine."

He doesn't like it. Of course, he knows he doesn't have to. Olivia will do as she pleases, and always has.

He still doesn't like it.



8. When money talks, the truth stays silent.
Framed AU, 2006

They lie in the dark, side by side, staring at the dark ceiling. The few inches between them feel impassable.

Nathan knows Gail isn't sleeping, because her breath hitches every so often, like she's trying not to cry. He wants to help her. He wants to do something. He just... doesn't know what. So he lies awake in the dark with her, waiting.

"I don't know what to do now," she says, suddenly, and there is a sob in her voice. "What do I do now, Nathan?"

He doesn't know what to say.

Those few inches stretch out like miles.



12. Garlic and onions cure seven diseases.
Fairy AU, 2007

Summer is walking home alone today. Mama decided that would be fine, if she walked straight home and didn't talk to anyone. Summer doesn't like talking to strangers, so that isn't a hard promise to keep.

The other one's harder. It's not that she doesn't want to go straight home, but the faeries are running away from the safe, familiar streets. Summer watches them, wide-eyed. She'll get in trouble...

She walks home the dangerous way, trembling every moment.

Mama tells her later that there was a shooting, and that she can't walk home alone anymore.

Summer doesn't mind at all.



15. Even death is beautiful if you're not alone.
Creepy AU, 2009

This is what her mother doesn't know-- Olivia is still here. Yvonne is not a good enough magician to destroy the link between her body and soul. She's strong enough to steal Olivia's body; not strong enough to wipe her out.

Olivia almost wishes that she was. The look in Jake's eyes as he died... she thought, and wished, that it would kill her.

In a way, she thinks, it will. As soon as she gets her chance.

This is what her mother cannot guard against-- Olivia is still here, still waiting.

A moment of control is all she needs.


9. Don't fight the strong one, don't sue the rich one.
AU FULL OF LULZ, 2010

"He what?" Isabella demands, sitting bolt upright.

"It's nothing," Nathan says, soothingly, hoping she'll cuddle up to him again.

"I'm going to kill him. I am a grown fucking woman. Johnny doesn't get a say in who I date."

Cuddles off the menu, Nathan sits up himself. "I can't blame him. If Aaron was dating someone my age, I'd be worried too. And he didn't hurt me." Though he threatened.

"You're Aaron's father," she points out. "Johnny is not mine."

She does have a point. "Just leave me out of it," he says.

"Oh, don't worry. This is between us."



7. It may be insane to live in a dream, but it's madness to live without one.
AU George, 2010

Joanna curls next to him, her head against his shoulder, his arm around her stomach. Occasionally the baby shifts, a tiny little flutter of movement under his fingertips. It's incredible-- Yvonne never let him this close to her during her pregnancy. He never felt Olivia like this...

As if she's read his mind, Joanna asks, drowsily, "What do you think Olivia will think of her brother?"

He's silent for a moment, lost under that old, terrible grief. "I don't think she'll ever know."

Joanna sits up at that. "Hugh. Of course she will. Now what do you think she'll think?"



4. If you feel an urge to work--take a nap, and it will pass.
Crack AU, 2012

"I feel like I should be somewhere," Ivy said, thoughtfully.

"Yes, you should," Gina agreed drowsily. "You should be right here."

"Well, obviously," Ivy said, and then, "No, somewhere else. Like I've got an appointment to keep or something."

Gina yawned, then pushed at the wall with her foot, making the hammock rock. "Don't you have a secretary to keep track for you?"

Ivy considered that. "I think I fired the last one."

"Fair enough," Gina said. "Whatever, you rule the world. I think you can skip an appointment once in a while."

"Mmkay," Ivy said, and closed her eyes.



14. The sooner you get in jail, the sooner you get out.
Crossover AU, 2014

"Um, thanks for this," Ivy says.

Isabella laughs. "No problem. What's bail between friends?"

"I will pay you back," Ivy says. "And he totally deserved it."

"Out of curiosity," Is asks, as they walk out onto the street, "what'd he do to deserve punching?"

"Harassed some poor little coed," Ivy says, scowling. "I told him to fuck off, he called us both sluts, so I hit him."

"Can't blame you," Is says. She smiles, sharp and white-toothed. "What say we go impress on him that pressing charges would be a bad life choice?"

Ivy grins. "I hoped you'd say that."



5. When you are given something, take it, when you are beaten, run away.
Sisters AU, 2014

"The problem with you, Jake," Lauren says, "is that you don't know when to give up."

Jake snorts. "Giving up is for losers," he says, and sticks a stamp to the card. It's Olivia's birthday, and he doesn't care if they've been broken up for almost a year.

And yes, he's still in love with her. And yes, maybe that's pathetic.

He doesn't really care.

"She broke up with you," Lauren says, oblivious.

"I'm not trying to get back together," he says. "I just... want to make her smile."

"You're secretly a masochist," Lauren says. "Gotta be."

But she's smiling.


1. Don't blame the mirror if your face is crooked.
Straight AU, 2017

Grant comes to see her in the hospital after Catherine is born, his expression twisted and ugly.

"Another damn kid," he spits at her, while she nurses her daughter and keeps her head down. "Another damn girl, Gina! If you had to get pregnant, why couldn't it have been a damn boy?"

"It wasn't my chromosome," she says quietly, keeping her gaze on Caty's tiny face and trusting eyes.

"Oh, fuck that," he snaps. "You could take some responsibility for once, instead of always blaming others."

The hypocrisy is breathtaking. She'd laugh, if she didn't want so badly to cry.



2. God is up high, the Tsar is far away.
Sociopathic Co-Parents AU, 2022

He is holding a tiny baby in a tiny pink blanket.

Aaron coos over it, making all the expected noises because there are people around, but every chance he gets he makes a confused face at Maria. What did she do this for?

"Before you ask," she says, when they're alone, "Torey found out."

Which explains why she didn't abort. Aaron looks back down at the baby. "This is not a good world, small human," he tells it. "This will be hard."

Maria smirks. "Yes, well, we're not good people, and we're on her side."

That does even the odds.



10. Although there's nothing to eat, life is fun.
Canon, date irrelevant

"What're we gonna do today?" Ivy asks. "Clubbing?"

Aaron shakes his head. "I'm broke."

"Me too," Lars says.

"We bought necessities," Olivia says.

Jake grins. "And music."

"Music is a necessity."

"Am I the only one not broke?" Danny demands.

"Don't fight, children," Gina says, absently.

Ivy ignores them. "This is New York City. There's gotta be something."

"I know," Summer says, brightly. "Let's go to the park and play tag."

Silence falls, and she flushes.

"You know what?" Lars asks, suddenly. "Why the fuck not?"

So they go to the park and play tag, because why the fuck not.