Sync- Ch 11: Crossmatch
Title: Sync
Fandom: FlashForward
Pairing: Bryce/Nicole (Nyce)
A/N: So we've now crossed Zero Hour & the show's finale, but the story hasn't ended for our couple. And I'm seriously hoping that the way the show ended hasn't killed their micro-fandom altogether, leaving me the only chica still caring about the pairing. Italic blocks are flashforward. Besos! xoxo
April 29, 10:14 PDT
She opens the door and he's there. She'd hoped he would be.
"I thought you had the late shift tonight." she says, smiling as he hands her a bouquet of white, lavender and orange roses.
"I switched at the last minute." he says.
"Why?" she knows, but she just wants to hear him say it.
"Because spending tonight with you is worth two weeks of overnights. Congratulations."
She grins. They kiss and she knows it's already a perfect night.
April 29, 10:16:30 PM PDT
Nicole opened her eyes and for a few seconds didn't know where she was. She was laying on the cold floor but that wasn't where she'd been. Her head hurt and something on the floor was wet. She closed her eyes and lifted her head to look around. She remembered where she was. Sanctuary. And seeing other people all around waking up, she knew it must have all happened again. They'd said it wouldn't happen again. That it couldn't. But it had.
She sat up and realized she was bleeding. She ran the back of her hand across her right eyebrow felt a jolt of pain. She wiped her hand her gown and decided to stand up. She groggily noticed a scattering of glass on the floor around her and wondered where it came from. People all around were coming to. Timothy was awake and calling to his congregation from his podium on the stage. Nicole's gaze finally settled on the baptistery. She could see Ed and another man pulling someone out of the water. Her heart sank when she realized it was Chelsea. She didn't look very good and from where Nicole stood she could see that Chelsea's lips were blue. She wondered just how long everyone had blacked out this time and she prayed that the young woman would be alright.
While watching the resuscitation effort, Nicole realized that what she feared would be her own fate had now become Chelsea's reality. And Chelsea had never seen it coming. Nauseated by that thought and the whole situation she staggered back and leaned on the wall. Stunned and guilt stricken, she tried to catch her bearings through a bout of dry heaves. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Everything that evening had been so hopeful and going so well. She'd found she'd misinterpreted her own flash and she'd been fine after all. Everything had worked out for her. Well, mostly everything. The thing with Bryce was still pretty well ruined. The memory of what she saw in her latest flash came back to her but it didn't bring her any comfort given the circumstances.
When she saw Chelsea's fixed stare as Ed and the other paramedic continued their effort to resuscitate her, Nicole decided she couldn't be there anymore.
Nicole found her clothes and got dressed. The cut over her eye was still bleeding but not as badly as before. She absently wiped away blood with her sleeve when she felt it trickle down. She found her handbag, opened it and stared at the contents for a minute trying to make sense of it. She picked up her phone and thought she should call home but couldn't remember the number or how to work her phone. She dropped it as she walked out of Sanctuary in a daze and into the Los Angeles night. She passed Chelsea's body on the way out. The resuscitation didn't work and they'd already covered her body.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Bryce opened his eyes and saw Keiko. He remembered his flash and sat up. Looking around it seemed the preemptive message had worked, most of the people in the restaurant seem to be awaking more or less okay. Keiko was fine though stunned and looked like she'd seen something totally unexpected as well.
A look passed between them and it was clear that what they saw in these new flashes wasn't each other. There was no reason to ask "What did you see?" and the perspective on their meeting was turned on its head. The actual experience of it had been different than the flash had foreshown but to realize the culmination of that six months of wonder and anticipation and then be thrust almost immediately into another flash was more than jarring.
Bryce thought about the day. He'd gone from happy with Nicole, to outraged and then worried about her, to then seeing her in this new flash. He'd gone from not even thinking about Keiko, to worried for her and then again resolved about not meeting her, only to have her show up right on first flash schedule. One circle closed. One still open. And the one that was open brought him right back around to the same woman he'd yelled at and left behind hours ago. It was more than he could sort out at the moment. And he hadn't time to sort it out anyway he had to go. And as he left the restaurant to make his way to the hospital all he could do was think of Nicole and hope she was safe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 30, 3:17 AM PDT
After wandering around aimlessly for hours Nicole reached the hospital. She stood on the periphery of the triage area set up in the parking lot and one of the nurses recognized her and sent her inside. Someone told her she'd need stitches for the gash but she wasn't really listening. Chelsea's face was all she could see & remember how happy she was just before everything blacked out.
Bryce was signing off on patient paperwork and glanced up to see Nicole standing in the corridor. He'd been worried about her for hours. Seeing her in his flash was a momentary solace but nothing near enough to assure him that she was really safe after the second blackout struck. It'd been hours since it happened and even more hours still since their last conversation. There was so much he wanted to say to her but all that mattered for the moment was that she was okay.
"Nicole!"
She blankly turned her head in his direction at the sound of her name as he ran up & hugged her.
"Bryce."
"You're here! Are you okay?" he said and pulled back to look at her. "What happened?" he asked looking at the gash over her eye and the blood smeared on her face and shirt. He wondered where she'd been.
"I fell down." she answered staring off into the distance.
He looked her over and was glad she hadn't any other visible signs of serious injury. Given the situation, emotional trauma was more than understandable. Everything was chaotic so he took her to the physician's lounge. It was the only place he could count on being relatively quiet and she could use that.
"Okay, let's go this way. How about we get that cut cleaned up and closed?" He gently took her hand.
"Okay." She let him lead her away.
The lounge was empty though someone had left the television on. The reporter was saying that another global blackout had been confirmed but responsibility and reason were still unknown. Then they started in on estimated deaths. Bryce found the remote and turned it off.
He deposited Nicole on the sofa and even in her current state, he was just grateful to have her back. He didn't know if she'd not received the preemptive blackout message wherever she'd been or fallen sometime in the hours after. He told himself that all that mattered was that she hadn't drowned. Then he remembered asking if she'd told the truth about her flash before storming off. Whatever had happened in the interval from then to now, hadn't proved fatal but she was definitely injured and altered. As he cleaned the blood off her hands and talked her through changing into one of his tee shirts, he couldn't help but feel responsible.
She sat quietly, still in a daze as he cleaned off her face and pulled the shards of glass out of her wound. She remained the same as he cleaned and sutured the gash in her eyebrow closed. She didn't really hear the words he said to her as he worked, just his tone. She wondered if the reason he was so calm was because he didn't know something so terrible had happened.
"All done." Bryce said pulling off his gloves, once he was finished and sat back to look at the job he'd done.
He remembered seeing her in his flash, she had a scar that cut through her eyebrow. The one he'd just stitched. He wanted to ask her about what she saw but in her current state there was really no point. She needed to rest.
"I have to go for a little while but I want you to stay here and rest. I'll be back. Okay?"
"Okay."
He kissed her on her forehead and got up to go.
"Is all this really happening?" she asked.
"Yeah. But everything's going to be alright." he said and came over to hug her.
She didn't reply or hug him back but she was sure that things couldn't possibly ever be alright again.
Fandom: FlashForward
Pairing: Bryce/Nicole (Nyce)
A/N: So we've now crossed Zero Hour & the show's finale, but the story hasn't ended for our couple. And I'm seriously hoping that the way the show ended hasn't killed their micro-fandom altogether, leaving me the only chica still caring about the pairing. Italic blocks are flashforward. Besos! xoxo
April 29, 10:14 PDT
She opens the door and he's there. She'd hoped he would be.
"I thought you had the late shift tonight." she says, smiling as he hands her a bouquet of white, lavender and orange roses.
"I switched at the last minute." he says.
"Why?" she knows, but she just wants to hear him say it.
"Because spending tonight with you is worth two weeks of overnights. Congratulations."
She grins. They kiss and she knows it's already a perfect night.
April 29, 10:16:30 PM PDT
Nicole opened her eyes and for a few seconds didn't know where she was. She was laying on the cold floor but that wasn't where she'd been. Her head hurt and something on the floor was wet. She closed her eyes and lifted her head to look around. She remembered where she was. Sanctuary. And seeing other people all around waking up, she knew it must have all happened again. They'd said it wouldn't happen again. That it couldn't. But it had.
She sat up and realized she was bleeding. She ran the back of her hand across her right eyebrow felt a jolt of pain. She wiped her hand her gown and decided to stand up. She groggily noticed a scattering of glass on the floor around her and wondered where it came from. People all around were coming to. Timothy was awake and calling to his congregation from his podium on the stage. Nicole's gaze finally settled on the baptistery. She could see Ed and another man pulling someone out of the water. Her heart sank when she realized it was Chelsea. She didn't look very good and from where Nicole stood she could see that Chelsea's lips were blue. She wondered just how long everyone had blacked out this time and she prayed that the young woman would be alright.
While watching the resuscitation effort, Nicole realized that what she feared would be her own fate had now become Chelsea's reality. And Chelsea had never seen it coming. Nauseated by that thought and the whole situation she staggered back and leaned on the wall. Stunned and guilt stricken, she tried to catch her bearings through a bout of dry heaves. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Everything that evening had been so hopeful and going so well. She'd found she'd misinterpreted her own flash and she'd been fine after all. Everything had worked out for her. Well, mostly everything. The thing with Bryce was still pretty well ruined. The memory of what she saw in her latest flash came back to her but it didn't bring her any comfort given the circumstances.
When she saw Chelsea's fixed stare as Ed and the other paramedic continued their effort to resuscitate her, Nicole decided she couldn't be there anymore.
Nicole found her clothes and got dressed. The cut over her eye was still bleeding but not as badly as before. She absently wiped away blood with her sleeve when she felt it trickle down. She found her handbag, opened it and stared at the contents for a minute trying to make sense of it. She picked up her phone and thought she should call home but couldn't remember the number or how to work her phone. She dropped it as she walked out of Sanctuary in a daze and into the Los Angeles night. She passed Chelsea's body on the way out. The resuscitation didn't work and they'd already covered her body.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Bryce opened his eyes and saw Keiko. He remembered his flash and sat up. Looking around it seemed the preemptive message had worked, most of the people in the restaurant seem to be awaking more or less okay. Keiko was fine though stunned and looked like she'd seen something totally unexpected as well.
A look passed between them and it was clear that what they saw in these new flashes wasn't each other. There was no reason to ask "What did you see?" and the perspective on their meeting was turned on its head. The actual experience of it had been different than the flash had foreshown but to realize the culmination of that six months of wonder and anticipation and then be thrust almost immediately into another flash was more than jarring.
Bryce thought about the day. He'd gone from happy with Nicole, to outraged and then worried about her, to then seeing her in this new flash. He'd gone from not even thinking about Keiko, to worried for her and then again resolved about not meeting her, only to have her show up right on first flash schedule. One circle closed. One still open. And the one that was open brought him right back around to the same woman he'd yelled at and left behind hours ago. It was more than he could sort out at the moment. And he hadn't time to sort it out anyway he had to go. And as he left the restaurant to make his way to the hospital all he could do was think of Nicole and hope she was safe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 30, 3:17 AM PDT
After wandering around aimlessly for hours Nicole reached the hospital. She stood on the periphery of the triage area set up in the parking lot and one of the nurses recognized her and sent her inside. Someone told her she'd need stitches for the gash but she wasn't really listening. Chelsea's face was all she could see & remember how happy she was just before everything blacked out.
Bryce was signing off on patient paperwork and glanced up to see Nicole standing in the corridor. He'd been worried about her for hours. Seeing her in his flash was a momentary solace but nothing near enough to assure him that she was really safe after the second blackout struck. It'd been hours since it happened and even more hours still since their last conversation. There was so much he wanted to say to her but all that mattered for the moment was that she was okay.
"Nicole!"
She blankly turned her head in his direction at the sound of her name as he ran up & hugged her.
"Bryce."
"You're here! Are you okay?" he said and pulled back to look at her. "What happened?" he asked looking at the gash over her eye and the blood smeared on her face and shirt. He wondered where she'd been.
"I fell down." she answered staring off into the distance.
He looked her over and was glad she hadn't any other visible signs of serious injury. Given the situation, emotional trauma was more than understandable. Everything was chaotic so he took her to the physician's lounge. It was the only place he could count on being relatively quiet and she could use that.
"Okay, let's go this way. How about we get that cut cleaned up and closed?" He gently took her hand.
"Okay." She let him lead her away.
The lounge was empty though someone had left the television on. The reporter was saying that another global blackout had been confirmed but responsibility and reason were still unknown. Then they started in on estimated deaths. Bryce found the remote and turned it off.
He deposited Nicole on the sofa and even in her current state, he was just grateful to have her back. He didn't know if she'd not received the preemptive blackout message wherever she'd been or fallen sometime in the hours after. He told himself that all that mattered was that she hadn't drowned. Then he remembered asking if she'd told the truth about her flash before storming off. Whatever had happened in the interval from then to now, hadn't proved fatal but she was definitely injured and altered. As he cleaned the blood off her hands and talked her through changing into one of his tee shirts, he couldn't help but feel responsible.
She sat quietly, still in a daze as he cleaned off her face and pulled the shards of glass out of her wound. She remained the same as he cleaned and sutured the gash in her eyebrow closed. She didn't really hear the words he said to her as he worked, just his tone. She wondered if the reason he was so calm was because he didn't know something so terrible had happened.
"All done." Bryce said pulling off his gloves, once he was finished and sat back to look at the job he'd done.
He remembered seeing her in his flash, she had a scar that cut through her eyebrow. The one he'd just stitched. He wanted to ask her about what she saw but in her current state there was really no point. She needed to rest.
"I have to go for a little while but I want you to stay here and rest. I'll be back. Okay?"
"Okay."
He kissed her on her forehead and got up to go.
"Is all this really happening?" she asked.
"Yeah. But everything's going to be alright." he said and came over to hug her.
She didn't reply or hug him back but she was sure that things couldn't possibly ever be alright again.