tigriswolf | drabbles: WC/myth, BBC Sherlock, Inception (Reply)

Title: secrets
Fandom: White Collar/mythology
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 165
Point of view: third
Prompt: Greek

part 1
part 2

Peter knows that Neal has secrets, things he'll never tell Peter if he has any choice in the matter. Most of Neal's past is a mystery. Peter still doesn't know who 'Herman' is, beyond some part of Neal's past that he still likes. They look enough alike to be brothers and Neal obviously gave him a fake name.

Peter knows 'Neal Caffrey' is an alias, albeit one Neal likes. If he ever figures out Neal's birth name, whoever he was as a child, he'll get Agent of the Year.

Neal speaks five languages fluently, including English. At least, five that Peter knows about. He'll need to update the list to include Greek. In his free time since Herman's visit, Peter has phonetically written out what he remembers from their conversation, trying to determine what dialect it is. He's had no success at all.

He could ask Neal. But Neal had been so happy...

Peter sighs and deletes all his research on the mystery dialect.

Title: possession
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: AU
Pairings: John/Sherlock
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 95
Point of view: third
Prompt: Sherlock

Lestrade looks horrified. He also looks angry, betrayed, and John has no moment to spare. He liked Lestrade, but—well. He likes Sherlock more. Sherlock is bright in a world of drab, and John wants to keep him. Lestrade is too clever for his own good. He’s caught on and won’t look the other way, so John smiles at him, shushes him, and stabs him in the gut.

Lestrade will simply be another victim of Moriarty, and Scotland Yard’s best man is gone.

Sherlock is not quite safe yet, but it’s a step closer.

Title: the other side of silence
Fandom: Inception
Disclaimer: only Aunt Maddy is mine
Warnings: mostly pre-movie; implied child abuse
Pairings: pre-Arthur/Eames
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 560
Point of view: third
Prompt: stutter

The boy Arthur used to be had a stutter once. It was just after Mama died and Dad left. Aunt Maddy took him in and told him everything would be alright and didn’t let Dad see him, no matter how loudly Dad yelled. He felt safe with Aunt Maddy.

When he told her he didn’t like his name, she asked what he wanted instead.

Mama used to tell him about a king and a round table full of equals, so he told Aunt Maddy that he wanted to be Arthur from now on.

Aunt Maddy smiled at him and he was Arthur forever after.

He went back to school two months after he became Arthur, a week later than the other fourth graders. He discovered that he hated to be the center of attention, loved math because it made perfect sense, and couldn’t say a complete sentence without his tongue tumbling all over itself.

By his third week at school, Arthur only spoke when asked a direct question. He ignored his fellow students and most of his teachers. In return, the kids mocked him and the teachers thought he had home problems.

Aunt Maddy set them straight, of course, but she also asked him what was wrong. He talked just fine at home, she said, so why was it such a big deal at school?

Arthur had no idea, and he was embarrassed, and he knew if he didn’t overcome it, Aunt Maddy would send him away.

(Looking back, he knows Aunt Maddy would’ve kept him no matter what. But as the little boy he used to be, he knew only that people left, whether or not he wanted them go.)

Aunt Maddy took Arthur places to see if he could talk there. They discovered quickly that he could speak with no problems only to her.

He felt embarrassed, and young, and like such a failure, the ten-year-old with no parents who could barely talk.

But Aunt Maddy simply kissed his forehead and told him firmly that everything would be alright.

A month after that, on the way to dinner to celebrate a presentation he made with only a few stumbles, their car was hit by a truck that jumped the median. Aunt Maddy died immediately. Arthur had four broken ribs, a leg broke in two places, and an arm broke in three. He was awake for the whole thing and didn’t talk for over a year.

When he finally did speak again, he didn’t stutter once.

o0o

They train in Arthur’s mind because his subconscious security is nearly impossible to beat. This one time, Eames sneaks under while Cobb dies and Ariadne tries to bluff her way out. At the center of the maze, he finds a cheerful yellow house and a dark-haired woman who offers him tea. She introduces him to her nephew, a bright-eyed boy with dimples who chatters at Eames until it’s time to wake up.

“Well done, Mr. Eames,” Arthur says when he opens his eyes.

Eames will never tell anyone what he discovered. Eventually, he’ll ask Arthur and Arthur will look at him quietly for a long moment, refill their drinks, and say, “Her name was Maddy. When we met, I wasn’t Arthur yet.”

Eames will listen and once Arthur falls silent, he’ll take him to bed and never let him go.