Fic: Hard Truth (The Newsroom; Maggie Jordan, Lisa Lambert)
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Maggie Jordan, Lisa Lambert
Spoilers: 2x09 Election Night (Part 2)
Genre: angst, friendship, episode related
Word Count: 560
Warnings: mentions of what happened in Uganda
Summary: Lisa says something that turns everything around for Maggie.
She looks at where Jim is pointing and sees Lisa standing just outside the newsroom. When their eyes lock she gestures for Maggie to reach her. Maggie hesitates for a split second but then goes.
"What happened in Africa?" Lisa asks with the same toneless voice she uses to remind her that rent's due by the end of the week.
Maggie is a bit blindsided but she can feel the words bubbling up in her, like a waterfall trying to break a dam. She opens her mouth to protest, to deny that it's of any importance, to say anything that will make Lisa go back to ignoring her because that's what Maggie deserves. She's learned her lesson.
"Tell me." Lisa says, because even after ignoring her for a year she still reads Maggie perfectly. At least when she's looking.
So she does, because she isn't in a position to deny Lisa anything and because she's wanted to tell her - needed to - for a long time. While she's speaking her eyes get wet but she doesn't cry, she reaches up for the ghost of her hair and then twists her hands nervously as if punishing them for the aborted gesture.
Lisa watches her and a remote part of Maggie notices the small changes in her cold exterior as if she's watching the scene from outside her body. Lisa's eyes widen slightly, she pales when Maggie explains about the cattle raiders and swallows hard at the end of the story. There's a twitch in Lisa's hands like she's debating whether to move or not.
"It wasn't your fault." Lisa says and Maggie nods hollowly. She's heard it many times and it still doesn't mean anything to her.
"He was safer under the bed." She whispers, echoing her conversation with Jim.
"Bullshit." Lisa says just like Jim did, but then she adds, "He would have died alone."
It hits Maggie as if she's been slapped. The raiders hadn't followed the bus, which means they probably checked the school for anything they could steal. In her head the image of them finding Daniel, alone and scared, makes her heart clench painfully.
"I'm sure he felt safer in your arms than he did under the bed." Lisa continues, unaware of the horror she just conjured up in Maggie's head.
"He wasn't in my arms. If he had been, I'd be dead now and he'd be alive."
Lisa looks like someone just punched her in the stomach, "Well, I'm glad you're alive." She says with a slight tremble to her voice that betrays her sincerity.
Maggie licks her lips and swallows around the lump in her throat, looking everywhere but at Lisa. When their eyes meet again a tear slips out. Lisa reaches a hand out to her and Maggie takes it gratefully. It's not a hug and there's still reserve on Lisa's part but it's a more meaningful contact than she's had in a while and it warms her. Maggie takes a deep breath and is weirdly aware of it, like it's the first time she remembers to do it when in fact the mere fact that she was breathing and Daniel wasn't anymore was the problem all along. Lisa keeps watching her and doesn't let go of her hand.
"He's dead and I'm alive."
"That's what I'd keep in mind."
She thinks maybe now she gets it.
Characters/Pairings: Maggie Jordan, Lisa Lambert
Spoilers: 2x09 Election Night (Part 2)
Genre: angst, friendship, episode related
Word Count: 560
Warnings: mentions of what happened in Uganda
Summary: Lisa says something that turns everything around for Maggie.
She looks at where Jim is pointing and sees Lisa standing just outside the newsroom. When their eyes lock she gestures for Maggie to reach her. Maggie hesitates for a split second but then goes.
"What happened in Africa?" Lisa asks with the same toneless voice she uses to remind her that rent's due by the end of the week.
Maggie is a bit blindsided but she can feel the words bubbling up in her, like a waterfall trying to break a dam. She opens her mouth to protest, to deny that it's of any importance, to say anything that will make Lisa go back to ignoring her because that's what Maggie deserves. She's learned her lesson.
"Tell me." Lisa says, because even after ignoring her for a year she still reads Maggie perfectly. At least when she's looking.
So she does, because she isn't in a position to deny Lisa anything and because she's wanted to tell her - needed to - for a long time. While she's speaking her eyes get wet but she doesn't cry, she reaches up for the ghost of her hair and then twists her hands nervously as if punishing them for the aborted gesture.
Lisa watches her and a remote part of Maggie notices the small changes in her cold exterior as if she's watching the scene from outside her body. Lisa's eyes widen slightly, she pales when Maggie explains about the cattle raiders and swallows hard at the end of the story. There's a twitch in Lisa's hands like she's debating whether to move or not.
"It wasn't your fault." Lisa says and Maggie nods hollowly. She's heard it many times and it still doesn't mean anything to her.
"He was safer under the bed." She whispers, echoing her conversation with Jim.
"Bullshit." Lisa says just like Jim did, but then she adds, "He would have died alone."
It hits Maggie as if she's been slapped. The raiders hadn't followed the bus, which means they probably checked the school for anything they could steal. In her head the image of them finding Daniel, alone and scared, makes her heart clench painfully.
"I'm sure he felt safer in your arms than he did under the bed." Lisa continues, unaware of the horror she just conjured up in Maggie's head.
"He wasn't in my arms. If he had been, I'd be dead now and he'd be alive."
Lisa looks like someone just punched her in the stomach, "Well, I'm glad you're alive." She says with a slight tremble to her voice that betrays her sincerity.
Maggie licks her lips and swallows around the lump in her throat, looking everywhere but at Lisa. When their eyes meet again a tear slips out. Lisa reaches a hand out to her and Maggie takes it gratefully. It's not a hug and there's still reserve on Lisa's part but it's a more meaningful contact than she's had in a while and it warms her. Maggie takes a deep breath and is weirdly aware of it, like it's the first time she remembers to do it when in fact the mere fact that she was breathing and Daniel wasn't anymore was the problem all along. Lisa keeps watching her and doesn't let go of her hand.
"He's dead and I'm alive."
"That's what I'd keep in mind."
She thinks maybe now she gets it.