Word Count:
526
Rating:
PG.
Category:
Angst.
Story Status:
Complete
Summary:
Heavy Blair angst with optimistic ending.
Spoilers: Epilogue
to Sweet Science.
Beta:
Thank you to Jayne Perry for the beta-reading.
Another Friend Lost
By Leesa Perrie
Rain.
Cold and wet.
Blair stands by the open balcony door, sheltered from the rain, but
feeling the cold and hearing the splatter of raindrops. It
suits
his mood, to watch the rain like this.
Roy. An old friend, lost. Gone. Snuffed out like a
flame.
For what? Some lousy counterfeiters. He damns them
all. Their deaths were too good for them. They took away his
friend. Yet another friend lost, because of crime.
He hates
them all. He knows hate is wrong, that it will only hurt him.
That it’s bad for his karma. Bad for his
soul. But he
can’t help it. They, criminals, had taken his
friend.
His friends.
Janet. Poor Janet. If he hadn’t got her
involved. If he hadn’t asked her to do some looking
around
at Cyclops. Maybe she would have found out at some stage
anyway,
what was going on there. But maybe she wouldn’t
have died.
And Professor Buckner. Why did he have to be involved in
something illegal? Why did he have to die for it?
Buckner
had been good to him. Looked out for him and helped him to
fit
into university life. Had been like a mentor, maybe even a
little
bit of a father figure, like Eli. It is hard for him to
accept
that Buckner was involved in something illegal. Even harder
to
come to terms with his death.
How many more friends will he lose? Is it
coincidence? Or is it him? Is it too dangerous to be his
friend?
Why hadn’t Roy gone straight to the police? Why did
he try
to handle it himself? Damn him too, for getting himself
killed.
And damn himself for letting two years go by without seeing
Roy.
Taking time for granted. Getting too busy in his own life to
go
see an old friend.
The rain is still falling. Cascading. This city is
obviously named for the rain.
The view becomes blurred, as wetness slips from Blair’s
eyes. A sob, quiet and forlorn, escapes.
The anger abates. Grief fills the void it leaves
behind.
Grief, pure and simple. If grief can ever be pure and simple.
A key in the door. Blair closes his eyes, wiping the tears
away, as Jim enters their home.
“Hey, Chief. You okay?”
A shrug of the shoulders. Jim comes over, placing the blanket
from the couch around those shoulders.
“Looking a bit cold there, Chief.”
“Thanks,” the mumbled reply.
“You know, if you want to talk about it, I’m all
ears.”
Blair raises a small smile at the old joke.
“Not right now, Jim.”
“Hey, that’s okay. You know where I am if
you want
me. I’ll get started on dinner, spaghetti
okay?”
“Sure.”
Sounds of pans being pulled out and food being prepared fill the loft.
Blair closes the balcony doors. Outside it is still raining
hard,
overcast and cold. But inside, a tiny sliver of sunlight
breaks
through the storm. Blair walks to the couch and sits
down.
He will be okay. He will get through this darkness.
But not
alone. Never alone. The tiny sliver of sunlight has
a
name. And that name in Jim.
Digital art by
Leesa Perrie. Photo of city from the royalty free site
