![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
last01standingTitle: All Us Heroes
Rating: Green Cortina
Word Count: 2000
Notes: Written for the Life on Mars Ficathon 2009. For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
valentineskid for the prompt; Crack, Superhero/police AU (kind of Watchmen-sque), Chris in a sticky situation
Summary: It’s Life on Mars. Only everyone has super powers.
All Us Heroes
They still talk of the superheroes of old.
An age where the public had not cracked down on the superheroes. A time before regulations and paperwork and procedure that had become policy. There were some who called it the dark age. Some who called it the golden age. Some who wanted it over, some who want it back.
Then there are the others. Those like Sam Tyler who did not know any other way. Those still in the phases before the powers manifested, devoted to rules and regulation, policing the superheroes.
***
They’re letting Raimes go.
“It means nothing,” Maya tells him.
“It means Colin Raimes is not our murderer.”
“It means Colin Raimes is an unstable class D super who for all you or I know could very much have it in his ability to kill people from afar.”
“He’s not got an ability registered.”
“Sam, you’ve not got a registered ability.”
Sam’s gut clenches.
“I can find him,” Maya says. “It’s what I do. We still have the diary. Get me a map and you know I can find him. We’ll tail him together and catch him before he has a chance.”
“It’s not him,” Sam repeats. “Even the class A killers need contact. We’ve got to reexamine the evidence.”
“What’s a matter with you, Sam?” she asks. “What happened to gut feeling and the feel of the chase?”
“I’m a class D, almost forty. My gut feeling doesn’t mean a damn thing.”
***
Three hours later, Maya is missing and Sam breaks down on the side of the road.
He sees the car just a split second before it plows through him.
He doesn’t feel it.
***
It takes him all of twenty seconds to realize this is not where he is supposed to be. That this is not where he was a minute ago. The car was playing the same song but not from his I-pod. Life on Mars reaches a crescendo and Sam Tyler is not dead.
It takes twenty-minutes to find confirmation of his location is still Manchester. The five minutes after that are in a state of denial.
Five minutes after that, he comes to the very logical conclusion.
Raimes. This is Colin Raimes’s doing. It has to be. That was the problem with dealing with class Ds. They’re unstable. Until their power finally settled, the unexplained wasn’t unexpected.
Such as Sam Tyler waking up in 1973.
***
The kid at the station who greets him is lightning quick in a way Sam just isn’t used to. He’s all puppy dog eyes and earnest smiles. “You’re the new guy, right? The help from Hyde we asked for.”
Sam blinks and says, “Sam Tyler.”
The kid’s eyes widen slightly at the given name and Sam could kick himself because he remembers this time period. This was before the Superhero’s Information act of 1985 and the databases of powers and the registry. This was a time where the superhero was a mystery and real human identities were all but unheard of.
“They call me Flash,” the kid tells him. He’s jittering just a little with a kind of nervous energy but it’s all moving so fast it looks like a poorly animated film. He lowers his voice and says, “It’s Chris really. Chris Skelton.”
He knows this. Knows these names. They’re not big ones but they’re heroes. And this is 1973, before it all went wrong.
He’s lost, drifting, half dazed and he blames Raimes for this. Blames Raimes for it all and he’s not aware this is actually coming out of his mouth until someone slams him into a wall.
***
“You need to get this through your thick skull. You’re my class B super. Not some sort of cop. Not some research monkey. Comprende?”
Sam blinks. “No.”
“Who do you think you are?”
“Sam Tyler,” he says, confused now.
The voices changes just a little bit, something shifting in the tone. “Sam Tyler, the class B super from transfer in Hyde?”
“No,” Sam says before he can stop himself. “Sam Tyler from the future.”
The pressure leaves his chest and Sam finds himself breathing normally until he gets a real look at the person in front of him. He knows this. Knows this profile. “You’re the Guv,” he says.
“In station it’s Gene Hunt,” he corrects. “And future or nutter, we need an extra body.”
***
“He’s not from Hyde?”
“He’s from the future. We’ve had transfers from stranger. What’s the story on that stiff?”
“Strangling down by Satchmore Road.”
“Satchmore Road,” Sam whispers. “Maya.”
“It’s Suzy Tripper. The bird who went missing a couple of nights back.”
Sam presses his hands to his head. “Someone should go checkout the crime scene. It looks like rain. It could be compromised.”
“Good idea, boss,” Chris says and when Sam looks up, he winks. “Back in a flash.”
“That’s taken care of,” Hunt says. “What do you say, pub?”
***
There are at least fifteen supers in the room. Most of them are drunk. Sam is on edge. This kind of interaction isn’t allowed in the present. There are rules, limits to how many supers can be in one place at one time outside of government sanctioned business. The legislation was a result of an alcohol fueled fight between two class As that leveled an entire city block.
He sticks to his corner and tries not to notice the bartender with the Jamaican accent who is very clearly trying to read his mind. Hunt tracks him down halfway through the night. “What’s your story?”
“I’m sorry?”
“You’re not a Class B from Hyde which means you’ve definitely got a story. Now the only question is are you going to tell me about it or am I going to pick it out of you.”
There’s something flinty in his eyes and Sam suddenly knows why this man is the leader. Knows why he’d risen to the top instead of some class A killer. Hunt could rip the truth out of someone easy as breathing.
“I don’t know how I got here,” Sam says. “I was in 2006 following up a lead on a case and—”
“You’ve got to have some sort of idea,” Hunt grunts. “Come on, Tyler. Tell me what your gut says.”
My gut feeling doesn’t mean a damn thing.
“I think Raimes did it. The super I was tailing back in 2006. He’s a class D, unregistered.”
“And you think the power he’s packing is time travel?”
“How else could I be here?”
“You could just be some nutter from Hyde.”
“I can’t lie to you.”
“Not unless you’re lying to yourself.”
***
Ten AM and hung over and Chris isn’t back. It’s Ray who notices. The surly class A who could plow through a wall with his fist without even breaking a sweat. He’s Chris’s friend but a complete arse and Sam hates that he wasn’t the one to notice first.
The station is in uproar ten minutes later calls back and forth and Sam finds himself sitting as the world blows by him, paralyzed by his first and only instinct to call in a finder, to call in Maya.
He is thirty-seven years old. A class D stuck in his own past and there is nothing he can do to help Chris Skelton now. He sits there until Hunt grabs him by his shoulders and snaps, “It’s the same bloke who did up Suzy Tripper and my gut says it’s got something to do with you and why you’re here. What do you know?”
“Satchmore Road,” Sam mutters.
“I already bleeding know about Satchmore Road and Collin Raimes. I need something else. Where can I find him? Do you remember anything? Has he gone after supers before?”
“Maya,” Sam mutters. “He got to Maya.”
“Who’s Maya?”
“My girlfriend,” Sam presses his eyes together. “We work together. She’s a finder?”
“A finder?”
“Yeah, like a blood hound. You give her a photo and she can find anyone in the world. But she’s missing.”
“That’s in the future,” Gene says. “Not 1973.”
“Find her now?” Sam blinks because that’s a thought that hasn’t even crossed his mind. He’s too used to thinking linearly. “No, that’s won’t work she’s not been born yet.” He stops. “Maya’s mum.”
“It runs in the family then?”
“Yes,” Sam sputters. “But what if she doesn’t want to help? The Guv’s not exactly Manchester’s most lovable super.”
“Everyone’s hiding something, Sammy-boy. I ask them what it is and they will tell me. It’s my gift.”
“That doesn’t seem terribly ethical.”
“One of your own is missing, Tyler,” Gene hisses. Sam stands up to grab his coat.
***
He doesn’t do much outside of listen when they find Maya’s mum. Gene uses and abuses his power. He blackmails and coerces and it’s everything Sam was trained to hate in a super but he can’t help but be impressed when they walk out the door with Chris Skeleton’s exact location.
It takes an hour to get the raid together and Sam can’t do much but watch at this point. Ray tears the locked door open like it was paper. One of the others marched straight inside, straight through imposing gunfire and snatched a rifle from the perp’s hands.
A second later, he keels over unconscious and Gene puts it together within seconds. “No skin on skin, gents. He’s got the knock-out touch.”
They adjust immediately. They cover his hands and wear gloves and they take him out without any problems
And it’s perfect and it works in a way 2006 just hadn’t.
When they’re walking him out, Sam sidles over and demands, “Send me back home.”
The look in the man’s eyes shows no recognition and all of a sudden, Sam knows.
***
He stands on the edge of the headquarter’s roof and stares out at Manchester. A different Manchester then the one he’s used. He tries to map out the future skyline in his head, tracing the buildings he knows and the freeway where he will be hit by a speeding car.
“Sam Tyler,” a voice says from behind him.
He turns around to see a girl with dark hair and big eyes, her face a mask of worry. “Who are you then?”
“Annie,” the girl says. “Annie Cartwright. Guv said the future boy was up on the roof, ready to jump. He sent me up here to talk you down.”
“Let me guess,” Sam mutters. “Telekinetic. If I won’t come down you’ll take me down yourself.”
“Close but not quite. Coercion. I can make you do anything I ask.”
“Fantastic.”
“I’m not going to ask you to do anything though,” Annie says. “I just want to know why you’re on this roof.”
Sam sighs. “I figured it out. Why I’m here I mean. It wasn’t Raimes because Raimes is just a kid here and it wasn’t the guy who took Chris because that man’s never seen me before. Which means it was me.” He thumps his hand against his chest. “It has to be me. I’ve been a class D my whole life and the only, the only time I managed to work to this power I have is when I was almost hit by a car.” He laughs dryly. “I can bend time Annie, but it’s like the only time I can access it my life is in danger.” He turns to look at her. “Tell me what to do, Annie.”
She stares out over the city. “I’ll see you when you come back, Sam.” She squeezes his hand. “I think you should jump, Sam.”
So Sam does.
(end)
Rating: Green Cortina
Word Count: 2000
Notes: Written for the Life on Mars Ficathon 2009. For
valentineskid for the prompt; Crack, Superhero/police AU (kind of Watchmen-sque), Chris in a sticky situationSummary: It’s Life on Mars. Only everyone has super powers.
An age where the public had not cracked down on the superheroes. A time before regulations and paperwork and procedure that had become policy. There were some who called it the dark age. Some who called it the golden age. Some who wanted it over, some who want it back.
Then there are the others. Those like Sam Tyler who did not know any other way. Those still in the phases before the powers manifested, devoted to rules and regulation, policing the superheroes.
They’re letting Raimes go.
“It means nothing,” Maya tells him.
“It means Colin Raimes is not our murderer.”
“It means Colin Raimes is an unstable class D super who for all you or I know could very much have it in his ability to kill people from afar.”
“He’s not got an ability registered.”
“Sam, you’ve not got a registered ability.”
Sam’s gut clenches.
“I can find him,” Maya says. “It’s what I do. We still have the diary. Get me a map and you know I can find him. We’ll tail him together and catch him before he has a chance.”
“It’s not him,” Sam repeats. “Even the class A killers need contact. We’ve got to reexamine the evidence.”
“What’s a matter with you, Sam?” she asks. “What happened to gut feeling and the feel of the chase?”
“I’m a class D, almost forty. My gut feeling doesn’t mean a damn thing.”
Three hours later, Maya is missing and Sam breaks down on the side of the road.
He sees the car just a split second before it plows through him.
He doesn’t feel it.
It takes him all of twenty seconds to realize this is not where he is supposed to be. That this is not where he was a minute ago. The car was playing the same song but not from his I-pod. Life on Mars reaches a crescendo and Sam Tyler is not dead.
It takes twenty-minutes to find confirmation of his location is still Manchester. The five minutes after that are in a state of denial.
Five minutes after that, he comes to the very logical conclusion.
Raimes. This is Colin Raimes’s doing. It has to be. That was the problem with dealing with class Ds. They’re unstable. Until their power finally settled, the unexplained wasn’t unexpected.
Such as Sam Tyler waking up in 1973.
The kid at the station who greets him is lightning quick in a way Sam just isn’t used to. He’s all puppy dog eyes and earnest smiles. “You’re the new guy, right? The help from Hyde we asked for.”
Sam blinks and says, “Sam Tyler.”
The kid’s eyes widen slightly at the given name and Sam could kick himself because he remembers this time period. This was before the Superhero’s Information act of 1985 and the databases of powers and the registry. This was a time where the superhero was a mystery and real human identities were all but unheard of.
“They call me Flash,” the kid tells him. He’s jittering just a little with a kind of nervous energy but it’s all moving so fast it looks like a poorly animated film. He lowers his voice and says, “It’s Chris really. Chris Skelton.”
He knows this. Knows these names. They’re not big ones but they’re heroes. And this is 1973, before it all went wrong.
He’s lost, drifting, half dazed and he blames Raimes for this. Blames Raimes for it all and he’s not aware this is actually coming out of his mouth until someone slams him into a wall.
“You need to get this through your thick skull. You’re my class B super. Not some sort of cop. Not some research monkey. Comprende?”
Sam blinks. “No.”
“Who do you think you are?”
“Sam Tyler,” he says, confused now.
The voices changes just a little bit, something shifting in the tone. “Sam Tyler, the class B super from transfer in Hyde?”
“No,” Sam says before he can stop himself. “Sam Tyler from the future.”
The pressure leaves his chest and Sam finds himself breathing normally until he gets a real look at the person in front of him. He knows this. Knows this profile. “You’re the Guv,” he says.
“In station it’s Gene Hunt,” he corrects. “And future or nutter, we need an extra body.”
“He’s not from Hyde?”
“He’s from the future. We’ve had transfers from stranger. What’s the story on that stiff?”
“Strangling down by Satchmore Road.”
“Satchmore Road,” Sam whispers. “Maya.”
“It’s Suzy Tripper. The bird who went missing a couple of nights back.”
Sam presses his hands to his head. “Someone should go checkout the crime scene. It looks like rain. It could be compromised.”
“Good idea, boss,” Chris says and when Sam looks up, he winks. “Back in a flash.”
“That’s taken care of,” Hunt says. “What do you say, pub?”
There are at least fifteen supers in the room. Most of them are drunk. Sam is on edge. This kind of interaction isn’t allowed in the present. There are rules, limits to how many supers can be in one place at one time outside of government sanctioned business. The legislation was a result of an alcohol fueled fight between two class As that leveled an entire city block.
He sticks to his corner and tries not to notice the bartender with the Jamaican accent who is very clearly trying to read his mind. Hunt tracks him down halfway through the night. “What’s your story?”
“I’m sorry?”
“You’re not a Class B from Hyde which means you’ve definitely got a story. Now the only question is are you going to tell me about it or am I going to pick it out of you.”
There’s something flinty in his eyes and Sam suddenly knows why this man is the leader. Knows why he’d risen to the top instead of some class A killer. Hunt could rip the truth out of someone easy as breathing.
“I don’t know how I got here,” Sam says. “I was in 2006 following up a lead on a case and—”
“You’ve got to have some sort of idea,” Hunt grunts. “Come on, Tyler. Tell me what your gut says.”
My gut feeling doesn’t mean a damn thing.
“I think Raimes did it. The super I was tailing back in 2006. He’s a class D, unregistered.”
“And you think the power he’s packing is time travel?”
“How else could I be here?”
“You could just be some nutter from Hyde.”
“I can’t lie to you.”
“Not unless you’re lying to yourself.”
Ten AM and hung over and Chris isn’t back. It’s Ray who notices. The surly class A who could plow through a wall with his fist without even breaking a sweat. He’s Chris’s friend but a complete arse and Sam hates that he wasn’t the one to notice first.
The station is in uproar ten minutes later calls back and forth and Sam finds himself sitting as the world blows by him, paralyzed by his first and only instinct to call in a finder, to call in Maya.
He is thirty-seven years old. A class D stuck in his own past and there is nothing he can do to help Chris Skelton now. He sits there until Hunt grabs him by his shoulders and snaps, “It’s the same bloke who did up Suzy Tripper and my gut says it’s got something to do with you and why you’re here. What do you know?”
“Satchmore Road,” Sam mutters.
“I already bleeding know about Satchmore Road and Collin Raimes. I need something else. Where can I find him? Do you remember anything? Has he gone after supers before?”
“Maya,” Sam mutters. “He got to Maya.”
“Who’s Maya?”
“My girlfriend,” Sam presses his eyes together. “We work together. She’s a finder?”
“A finder?”
“Yeah, like a blood hound. You give her a photo and she can find anyone in the world. But she’s missing.”
“That’s in the future,” Gene says. “Not 1973.”
“Find her now?” Sam blinks because that’s a thought that hasn’t even crossed his mind. He’s too used to thinking linearly. “No, that’s won’t work she’s not been born yet.” He stops. “Maya’s mum.”
“It runs in the family then?”
“Yes,” Sam sputters. “But what if she doesn’t want to help? The Guv’s not exactly Manchester’s most lovable super.”
“Everyone’s hiding something, Sammy-boy. I ask them what it is and they will tell me. It’s my gift.”
“That doesn’t seem terribly ethical.”
“One of your own is missing, Tyler,” Gene hisses. Sam stands up to grab his coat.
He doesn’t do much outside of listen when they find Maya’s mum. Gene uses and abuses his power. He blackmails and coerces and it’s everything Sam was trained to hate in a super but he can’t help but be impressed when they walk out the door with Chris Skeleton’s exact location.
It takes an hour to get the raid together and Sam can’t do much but watch at this point. Ray tears the locked door open like it was paper. One of the others marched straight inside, straight through imposing gunfire and snatched a rifle from the perp’s hands.
A second later, he keels over unconscious and Gene puts it together within seconds. “No skin on skin, gents. He’s got the knock-out touch.”
They adjust immediately. They cover his hands and wear gloves and they take him out without any problems
And it’s perfect and it works in a way 2006 just hadn’t.
When they’re walking him out, Sam sidles over and demands, “Send me back home.”
The look in the man’s eyes shows no recognition and all of a sudden, Sam knows.
He stands on the edge of the headquarter’s roof and stares out at Manchester. A different Manchester then the one he’s used. He tries to map out the future skyline in his head, tracing the buildings he knows and the freeway where he will be hit by a speeding car.
“Sam Tyler,” a voice says from behind him.
He turns around to see a girl with dark hair and big eyes, her face a mask of worry. “Who are you then?”
“Annie,” the girl says. “Annie Cartwright. Guv said the future boy was up on the roof, ready to jump. He sent me up here to talk you down.”
“Let me guess,” Sam mutters. “Telekinetic. If I won’t come down you’ll take me down yourself.”
“Close but not quite. Coercion. I can make you do anything I ask.”
“Fantastic.”
“I’m not going to ask you to do anything though,” Annie says. “I just want to know why you’re on this roof.”
Sam sighs. “I figured it out. Why I’m here I mean. It wasn’t Raimes because Raimes is just a kid here and it wasn’t the guy who took Chris because that man’s never seen me before. Which means it was me.” He thumps his hand against his chest. “It has to be me. I’ve been a class D my whole life and the only, the only time I managed to work to this power I have is when I was almost hit by a car.” He laughs dryly. “I can bend time Annie, but it’s like the only time I can access it my life is in danger.” He turns to look at her. “Tell me what to do, Annie.”
She stares out over the city. “I’ll see you when you come back, Sam.” She squeezes his hand. “I think you should jump, Sam.”
So Sam does.
(end)
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
25/10/09 16:13 (UTC)(no subject)
25/10/09 19:49 (UTC)(no subject)
25/10/09 16:14 (UTC)(no subject)
25/10/09 19:50 (UTC)(no subject)
25/10/09 16:39 (UTC)And it’s prefect and it works in a way 2006 just hadn’t.
You want "perfect" I think.
(no subject)
25/10/09 19:51 (UTC)Damnit, I knew there was a reason I don't usually wait until the night before to finish these ficathons. Usually I managed to catch those. Thanks for pointing it out. Fixed now.
(no subject)
25/10/09 20:24 (UTC)(no subject)
26/10/09 22:37 (UTC)woah.
26/10/09 18:22 (UTC)This was just perfect. I'm in love with how you written Chris' character.
And you even got the Watchmen-sque vibe about the story that I wanted with the whole switching between the modern and old world. I love how you've managed to intertwine the real events with a degree of fiction. Brilliant.
Thank you so much! ♥♥
Re: woah.
26/10/09 22:39 (UTC)So since this is the Watchmen-type vibe, I'm guessing this makes Sam John? I kind of want to say the Comedian is Gene but I don't like those implications... =)
Re: woah.
27/10/09 00:55 (UTC)But anyway, srsly thank you. I know it was a difficult prompt and you managed to pull it off so well. ♥
Re: woah.
27/10/09 02:06 (UTC)I can so see Gene as Rorschach. But I could also see Ray there too. Annie could very easily be Veidt... so who's Dan and Laurie?
Re: woah.
27/10/09 02:39 (UTC)Dan + Laurie, I'm going to have to go with Vic and Ruth probably?
Idk why, but I have a soft spot for the Comedian. I think it's because of Supernatural and the whole him playing Papa Winchester.
Umm, I'll shut up now.
Re: woah.
27/10/09 03:26 (UTC)Oh, I second you there. The SPN fandom is kind of my main haunt. I miss my JDM on that show like whoa.
(no subject)
26/10/09 21:48 (UTC)(no subject)
26/10/09 22:42 (UTC)There's kind of a fine line with AUs for me. There are a lot of them where it's too foreign to still feel like the characters but there are others that make it work perfectly. It's hard to walk the line sometimes and I'm happy to hear I managed to do it.
(no subject)
30/10/09 03:44 (UTC)(no subject)
11/11/09 05:10 (UTC)But I'm happy this worked for you =)
(no subject)
30/10/09 11:43 (UTC)(no subject)
11/11/09 05:10 (UTC)(no subject)
30/10/09 11:51 (UTC)(no subject)
11/11/09 05:11 (UTC)(no subject)
31/10/09 20:34 (UTC)(no subject)
11/11/09 05:12 (UTC)(no subject)
4/11/09 14:16 (UTC)(no subject)
11/11/09 05:13 (UTC)Thanks for reading@
(no subject)
9/11/09 05:13 (UTC)This is really nicely done. I like the way you took your AU request and really weaved it in to the fabric of the LoM plotline.
Thanks. :D
(no subject)
11/11/09 05:13 (UTC)(no subject)
28/12/09 17:04 (UTC)(no subject)
30/12/09 17:43 (UTC)(no subject)
4/6/11 08:25 (UTC)(no subject)
11/6/11 02:39 (UTC)(no subject)
4/6/11 17:25 (UTC)This is an amazing AU, you've kept everyone just as they are but with that one twist and it's a perfect one. And the repercussions it has on the scenes that happened in canon... just perfect. Thank you for this fic!
(no subject)
11/6/11 02:40 (UTC)(no subject)
4/6/11 19:21 (UTC)This is brilliant; the weaving of superhero powers with canon plot, the characters so in-character in so few words, and then my god, what a finale! And it doesn't really matter, does it, if Sam ends up back in the future or some other time entirely - his world has been turned upside down.
Coercive!Annie is a stroke of brilliance.
(no subject)
11/6/11 02:41 (UTC)(no subject)
6/6/11 00:27 (UTC)(no subject)
11/6/11 02:41 (UTC)(no subject)
7/6/11 06:20 (UTC)(no subject)
11/6/11 02:41 (UTC)