(no subject)
Fault Lines
Chase/Brainy, post-camp, not a joke fic. Um.
"I got a cracked engine block; both of us do."
Chase runs away.
It's not a revelation or anything; it's what he does. Everyone knows that. It's who he is. Even before everything happened with his parents, it was in him, something coiled.
Cowardice, that's what it's called. The technical term.
He tries, he really does. He and Brainy make some machine--Brainy has the science down, Chase has the manual labor, a knack for putting things together. He even gets some of the science, knows what makes it go, what makes it jump, how the circuits come together to make the impossible happen.
He tells Brainy to find Chloe first, and maybe he knew, even then, that it wasn't going to work out. They find a thousand Chloes, but never their Chloe, never Brainy's. He introduces himself over and over, and always there's no recognition; every time, she just wants to talk to Brainy because he's an alien, not because he's--he was--her boyfriend.
They go for Gert next, but Chase can never find a place where he isn't, and that's what he wants. He's a selfish guy and he knows it, he doesn't care about taking Gert away from everyone. But taking her away from himself is different; his selfishness gets mixed up. Somewhere, he thinks, there should be a Gert without a Chase, a Gert who went home and waited for him, so she could kick his ass.
"Stein," Brainy says, quiet, a little sad.
"Yeah, I know," he says. "Let's get out of here."
They hop a little, and Chase is glad that he talked Brainy into something like a Leapfrog, because it feels familiar.
They end up in Italy in some not-so-distant future where aliens are taken for granted, and Chase fucks up the their ride, making it look like an accident. He built it, he knows how to screw it over. Brainy swears a little, says he has to find parts, that it's going to be impossible here.
"So we'll find a place," says Chase. He makes it sound like he wants it to be temporary.
They get a little place with thin walls that let the sun in a little. They're on a dirt road near a tiny town, and Brainy doesn't grumble as much as he should; Chase thinks he's embracing his inner coward too. At noon, the clouds stretch across the sky and Chase looks up through his fingers at the blueness.
Somehow, it's comforting to be trapped again. To feel as if he isn't to blame for his being here.
He likes having an excuse to not look for other people.
Chase gets a job busing tables at a restaurant. The owner doesn't seem to care that much that he doesn't speak Italian as long as he can work, and Chase is surprised to discover he can. He gets a moped even though it's not nearly as badass as a motorcycle, because no one's judging him except for Brainy, and Brainy doesn't care how badass he is. And motorcycles are fucking expensive.
When they were looking for Gert, Chase stole seven seasons of Smallville DVDs. He gives them to Brainy only after they've been in Italy for a few months, unsure if he'll want them.
Brainy turns the boxes over in his hands, and Chase finds himself watching Brainy's fingers, the way they trace Chloe's face as it gets older and older.
He never found anything that would tell him about Gert, but he never looked that hard.
The woman at the supermarket speaks a little English, and every week she asks Chase how his young man is. Everyone, he's pretty sure, thinks the two of them are fucking.
With no one watching, no one to judge him, no one to prove himself to, he's really not sure why they're not.
Brainy gets a job at an auto shop, and Chase laughs his fucking ass off. It's nice to see him come home every day, covered in grease, his mouth curled in a sneer. Chase makes dinner--pasta, usually, because not even he can screw it up--and listens to Brainy rant about the inefficiency of automobile technology. He thinks they might end up fucking the time line, because Brainy keeps upgrading cars with shit that shouldn't even exist yet.
He doesn't really care if they do. It's not their world.
They're just resting here for a while.
He falls in love with Brainy without noticing. It's a little like standing in a puddle in the rain--he doesn't notice how deep he's gotten because it comes up slowly.
What happens is this: when he's not paying attention, he thinks of Brainy. His mind slips there, on autopilot.
"Fuck," he mutters, riding home one day. "It's like I'm fucking married."
Brainy doesn't say anything. Chase doesn't either.
The ship doesn't get repaired. In the spring, a few flowers are growing on it.
On May 23, Chase kisses Brainy as he leaves for work. It's quick and almost anticlimactic, just lips against lips.
"I'm busy, Stein," says Brainy, sighing. "Save your displays of affection for after work."
And that's pretty much that.
--
Okay, so. I really love Fault Lines by the Mountain Goats. The Mountain Goats are, in fact, kind of a Chase band for me. And I wanted to write fic for it. And I was going to do Chase/Victor post issue 24, but I've done that before. And it occurred to me that I've never actually...written serious fic for Chase/Brainy. Mostly because it's. Chase/Brainy. But I was kind of curious to see how it would be if I like. Actually treated it seriously.
So.
That happened.
I am so fucking dumped.
Chase/Brainy, post-camp, not a joke fic. Um.
"I got a cracked engine block; both of us do."
Chase runs away.
It's not a revelation or anything; it's what he does. Everyone knows that. It's who he is. Even before everything happened with his parents, it was in him, something coiled.
Cowardice, that's what it's called. The technical term.
He tries, he really does. He and Brainy make some machine--Brainy has the science down, Chase has the manual labor, a knack for putting things together. He even gets some of the science, knows what makes it go, what makes it jump, how the circuits come together to make the impossible happen.
He tells Brainy to find Chloe first, and maybe he knew, even then, that it wasn't going to work out. They find a thousand Chloes, but never their Chloe, never Brainy's. He introduces himself over and over, and always there's no recognition; every time, she just wants to talk to Brainy because he's an alien, not because he's--he was--her boyfriend.
They go for Gert next, but Chase can never find a place where he isn't, and that's what he wants. He's a selfish guy and he knows it, he doesn't care about taking Gert away from everyone. But taking her away from himself is different; his selfishness gets mixed up. Somewhere, he thinks, there should be a Gert without a Chase, a Gert who went home and waited for him, so she could kick his ass.
"Stein," Brainy says, quiet, a little sad.
"Yeah, I know," he says. "Let's get out of here."
They hop a little, and Chase is glad that he talked Brainy into something like a Leapfrog, because it feels familiar.
They end up in Italy in some not-so-distant future where aliens are taken for granted, and Chase fucks up the their ride, making it look like an accident. He built it, he knows how to screw it over. Brainy swears a little, says he has to find parts, that it's going to be impossible here.
"So we'll find a place," says Chase. He makes it sound like he wants it to be temporary.
They get a little place with thin walls that let the sun in a little. They're on a dirt road near a tiny town, and Brainy doesn't grumble as much as he should; Chase thinks he's embracing his inner coward too. At noon, the clouds stretch across the sky and Chase looks up through his fingers at the blueness.
Somehow, it's comforting to be trapped again. To feel as if he isn't to blame for his being here.
He likes having an excuse to not look for other people.
Chase gets a job busing tables at a restaurant. The owner doesn't seem to care that much that he doesn't speak Italian as long as he can work, and Chase is surprised to discover he can. He gets a moped even though it's not nearly as badass as a motorcycle, because no one's judging him except for Brainy, and Brainy doesn't care how badass he is. And motorcycles are fucking expensive.
When they were looking for Gert, Chase stole seven seasons of Smallville DVDs. He gives them to Brainy only after they've been in Italy for a few months, unsure if he'll want them.
Brainy turns the boxes over in his hands, and Chase finds himself watching Brainy's fingers, the way they trace Chloe's face as it gets older and older.
He never found anything that would tell him about Gert, but he never looked that hard.
The woman at the supermarket speaks a little English, and every week she asks Chase how his young man is. Everyone, he's pretty sure, thinks the two of them are fucking.
With no one watching, no one to judge him, no one to prove himself to, he's really not sure why they're not.
Brainy gets a job at an auto shop, and Chase laughs his fucking ass off. It's nice to see him come home every day, covered in grease, his mouth curled in a sneer. Chase makes dinner--pasta, usually, because not even he can screw it up--and listens to Brainy rant about the inefficiency of automobile technology. He thinks they might end up fucking the time line, because Brainy keeps upgrading cars with shit that shouldn't even exist yet.
He doesn't really care if they do. It's not their world.
They're just resting here for a while.
He falls in love with Brainy without noticing. It's a little like standing in a puddle in the rain--he doesn't notice how deep he's gotten because it comes up slowly.
What happens is this: when he's not paying attention, he thinks of Brainy. His mind slips there, on autopilot.
"Fuck," he mutters, riding home one day. "It's like I'm fucking married."
Brainy doesn't say anything. Chase doesn't either.
The ship doesn't get repaired. In the spring, a few flowers are growing on it.
On May 23, Chase kisses Brainy as he leaves for work. It's quick and almost anticlimactic, just lips against lips.
"I'm busy, Stein," says Brainy, sighing. "Save your displays of affection for after work."
And that's pretty much that.
--
Okay, so. I really love Fault Lines by the Mountain Goats. The Mountain Goats are, in fact, kind of a Chase band for me. And I wanted to write fic for it. And I was going to do Chase/Victor post issue 24, but I've done that before. And it occurred to me that I've never actually...written serious fic for Chase/Brainy. Mostly because it's. Chase/Brainy. But I was kind of curious to see how it would be if I like. Actually treated it seriously.
So.
That happened.
I am so fucking dumped.