Equillibrium - Ficlet - See Myself
Title: See myself
Fandom: Equilibrium
Pairing: Partridge/Preston (implied)
Summary: "Regardless of this introspection/I found myself in your reflection" - Cruxshadows, 'Untrue'.
Mary had not been ready for the Clericks. Not once the door splintered inwards. Not when the armoured police poured in behind them.
She knew Preston immediately.
Errol had been careful to keep them apart but once she'd figured out the truth, she had made elaborate arrangements to spy on them through the other Resistance members; she had even made a visit to an unwitting citzen who shared a building with one of the sense offenders Errol had not been able to protect on the day that Errol and his partner raided it. She had not truly believed any of Errol's careful, comprehensive explanation about why their relationship would never be more than friendship and sex. One look at the two Clericks as they strode in through the broken door and she knew.
Clerick John Preston might not see the truth in those dark green eyes but Mary did. How many times had she looked up into that handsome face to search for that look? A hundred? A thousand? A hundred thousand? She felt as if she had been slapped in the face as she watched Errol glance at his partner and she felt the knot of jealousy.
The words are formality. She knows the Clericks and their rights; their power over mere 'citizens'. But she needs some distraction as shock fades. Preston is different, wilder...feeling? She isn't certain, can't take the risk in front of the other Clerick with his smug smile and the enforcers insulated in their thick armour. So she watches as he strides through her home.
The attack is reflex - emotions are not the evil Father preached, but that doesn't make them safe. She wanted to die. A clean death at this man who had taken her dreams before she could even hope for them. But he is too fast and spins her away before she connects.
They both freeze staring into the mirror and some dark, bitter part of Mary's heart rejoices. She can see the knowledge in Preston's eyes. He doesn't know everything, not yet. But the smell of Errol lingers in the apartment and she sees the recognition in his eyes. Deeper, darker, there is something else. Something she has lived with for months that passed like years. And despite everything Errol and Jurgen taught her about mercy, compassion and forgiveness, she is glad.
This time, it is Preston who is jealous.
Fandom: Equilibrium
Pairing: Partridge/Preston (implied)
Summary: "Regardless of this introspection/I found myself in your reflection" - Cruxshadows, 'Untrue'.
Mary had not been ready for the Clericks. Not once the door splintered inwards. Not when the armoured police poured in behind them.
She knew Preston immediately.
Errol had been careful to keep them apart but once she'd figured out the truth, she had made elaborate arrangements to spy on them through the other Resistance members; she had even made a visit to an unwitting citzen who shared a building with one of the sense offenders Errol had not been able to protect on the day that Errol and his partner raided it. She had not truly believed any of Errol's careful, comprehensive explanation about why their relationship would never be more than friendship and sex. One look at the two Clericks as they strode in through the broken door and she knew.
Clerick John Preston might not see the truth in those dark green eyes but Mary did. How many times had she looked up into that handsome face to search for that look? A hundred? A thousand? A hundred thousand? She felt as if she had been slapped in the face as she watched Errol glance at his partner and she felt the knot of jealousy.
The words are formality. She knows the Clericks and their rights; their power over mere 'citizens'. But she needs some distraction as shock fades. Preston is different, wilder...feeling? She isn't certain, can't take the risk in front of the other Clerick with his smug smile and the enforcers insulated in their thick armour. So she watches as he strides through her home.
The attack is reflex - emotions are not the evil Father preached, but that doesn't make them safe. She wanted to die. A clean death at this man who had taken her dreams before she could even hope for them. But he is too fast and spins her away before she connects.
They both freeze staring into the mirror and some dark, bitter part of Mary's heart rejoices. She can see the knowledge in Preston's eyes. He doesn't know everything, not yet. But the smell of Errol lingers in the apartment and she sees the recognition in his eyes. Deeper, darker, there is something else. Something she has lived with for months that passed like years. And despite everything Errol and Jurgen taught her about mercy, compassion and forgiveness, she is glad.
This time, it is Preston who is jealous.