(no subject)

[shanaqui]

Title: No News Is Good News
Author: twilightsrain/edenbound (ficjournal)
Summary: Regan and Gabriel wait for news of their children.
Rating: G
Characters: Gabriel, Regan, mentions of Simon and River, very vague mention of Jubal Early
Pairing: Sort of Gabriel/Regan
Warning: Angst
Spoilers/Timeline: Around Objects in Space
Disclaimer: Joss is boss.
Author's Note: For the Back to Firefly challenge.


Regan has been waiting for news. She's not sure if she really wants any -- she's not sure if she wants to know what problems her son and daughter have caused for the Alliance now, and she's not sure she wants to know what the Alliance has been doing to try and capture them, the dangers they've been put in... and she's certain she doesn't want the small conflict of loyalty, the tug on the phantom umbilical cord, that makes her flare up with anger at the government for their treatment of her children.

Gabriel's face is stony and grim when he comes home, a letter in his hand, and Regan isn't sure whether she's relieved that there is news of them or annoyed that the news dare intrude upon the façade of peace that has finally been re-established in the Tam household.

"Gabriel?"

"I don't want to know anymore, Regan," he says, quietly, in that tone that has always let her know that there is no arguing. "They've both disappointed me horribly, Simon most of all. And Simon made it clear he didn't want to be a member of this family anymore anyway."

"Gabriel -- "

He takes the letter in both hands and rips it, cleanly, neatly, right down the middle. Then again, and again, and then he flings it into the bin, his expression mild but his eyes as hard as chips of flint. "He made his choice. I've already jeopardised our respectability by inquiring into the matter as far as I have. I think it's time to give up, Regan. They won't want to come home even if they're found and I doubt the Alliance will allow them to anyway."

"Surely..."

"They're criminals, Regan. Fugitives. That's what our children became, what they wanted to become, it seems," Gabriel's face is clouded with anger now, and Regan knows she really should drop it. "We did our best with them, and, well -- "

"Don't say it!"

"Say what? That I'm sick of the sound of their names? That I can't be proud of anything they did because they're both selfish and unthinking?"

They've never raised their voices at each other quite like this before. It was always a quiet sort of family. Vaguely and distantly affectionate. Proud. Respectable. Now she wants to shout at him like a common dockworker's wife. She takes a deep breath and turns away from him. One second. Two. Ten, and she thinks she can speak without shouting.

"They are our children!"

"You'd probably be better not thinking of them like that anymore!"

Regan lets that pass. It's not worth fighting over, especially when it's a moot point. They will never see Simon and River again, and the Alliance will keep chasing them until it finally catches them -- and catch them it will. She has already lost her children and there is no point in losing husband and respectability along with it.

She fishes the pieces out of the bin when he isn't looking anyway. The only words she catches before she lets the scraps fall again are simple enough and worrying beyond any other news they've had so far -- bounty hunter.

Comments

[browncoatrebel.livejournal.com]

Well written--heartbreaking.

[anxiety-junkie.livejournal.com]

Oh, very well done! The resignation in Regan is so poignant.

She has already lost her children and there is no point in losing husband and respectability along with it. Lovely!

[coralia13.livejournal.com]

This is wonderful. You do a great job of making Gabriel and Regan both sympathetic and infuriating. The dramatic irony behind "That's what our children became, what they wanted to become, it seems" is so sharp as to be almost painful, and all Gabriel's comments make me want to strangle him. You have their voices so perfectly, both in their dialogue and Regan's thoughts. I think your characterization of the Tam family as "Vaguely and distantly affectionate. Proud. Respectable." is spot on, and I love the line "Now she wants to shout at him like a common dockworker's wife." Great work! This is a very affecting story.

[melodyunity.livejournal.com]

I like this. You've really made these two characters feel very human and real. Nice.