FIC - Force of Nature (1/?)
Title: Force of Nature (1/?)
Author: Wheelie47
Rating: R - NC17 for whole story
Pairing: Luke and OC, Luke and Noah.
Word count: 2,048
Disclaimer: Don’t own characters, am not associated in any way with ATWT, Van and Jake. No offence intended.
Summary: Noah is a Professor at the California Institute of Seismic Research and Luke is a freelance investigative reporter...
Professor Noah Mayer pushed his chair back from his paper cluttered desk, removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping to ease the tension he could feel building behind his eyes. He sighed in frustration as he stretched his long arms above his head; the sigh turned into a groan as he felt the toned muscles in his shoulders and torso flex with the movement.
‘Damn it!’ he exclaimed as he banged his fists down suddenly on the desk; the sudden noise echoing around the office. He looked around sheepishly; slightly embarrassed at the uncharacteristic display, hoping that he hadn’t disturbed anyone else. But he needn’t have worried because there was nobody else here; nobody else dedicated or mad enough to be here at … he sneaked a look at the wall clock… 12.05am. He should be at home, curled up in bed… but instead he was here banging his fists on the desk in frustration.
He picked up the discarded file and flipped it open to the first chart again, hoping that something would stand out this time. He knew… just instinctively knew… that he was missing something. Something that would give him a clue… a pattern to the increasingly regular but small earth tremors that the Southland area was experiencing. He knew there was some link there but according to the sensor readings the peaks when the tremors hit were scattered and random.
Perhaps there was something wrong with the sensors… or more likely he was just too tired to see straight anymore.
Straight! Noah couldn’t help but smirk and chuckle lightly at his own choice of words… straight was something he definitely wasn’t. His father would have been so proud! Noah thought to himself wryly. He blinked and shook his head, hoping to dispel that particular train of thought from his mind… there was no way he was going back over that painful episode of his life again.
‘This is getting me nowhere!’ he sighed loudly as he pushed the chair further back and stood up from the desk, the muscles in his long legs screaming at him for the sudden movement after being still for so long. ‘Time to get outta here’ he huffed, pocketing his glasses and closing the file, ‘this can wait ‘til tomorrow!’ He shook his head and smirked at himself as it hit him that here he was talking to himself in an empty office in the middle of the night! He really… really… needed to get a life!
Just as he reached for his jacket from the back of the chair he felt the office begin to shake; starting slowly at first with the gentle almost rhythmic sound of the pencils in the mug on his desk clinking together… building in strength… making the mug move jerkingly across the desk, rattling the wall clock and sending vibrations up through Noah’s legs where he stood braced, holding the chair back.
It was over before it started and Noah stood stock still for a moment, bracing himself for further shocks but there was nothing but a kind of eerie silence.He looked down at his jacket… up to the clock… then back to the file on his desk and sighed before he sat back down and pulled the file back in front of him, more determined now than ever to find that missing link. Looks like it’s going to be another long night he thought to himself as he shrugged his shoulders… well… it’s better than going home… back to his apartment and an empty bed…
…
Luke’s eyes flicked open as he found himself pulled suddenly from a deep sleep. He looked blearily around the darkened bedroom, struggling to realise what had woken him so abruptly.
‘Jon?’ he called out uncertainly as he reached behind him to gently shake his husband’s hip. The movement made him shift slightly and he grimaced at the burn he felt; reminding him of the roughness of last night’s lovemaking… Jon was always so full of nervous energy before he had any kind of important meeting the next day and it always resulted in a rough and wild kind of night for Luke… so much so that he was glad their son’s bedroom was all the way down the hall.
Jon grumbled and muttered under his breath, pulling Luke closer to him and tangling their legs together, stubbornly refusing to wake up any further.
Luke was just about to try again; his hand hovering over Jon’s hip, when he heard the telltale shuffle of little feet outside the bedroom door and watched as the door handle turned slowly to reveal their son, Mikey, stood there in his favourite Barney PJs and clutching his battered teddy bear; his blonde hair in disarray and tears rolling down his cheeks.
‘Daddy?’ Mikey asked in a scared little voice that made Luke want to hold his son to his chest and never let go.
‘Mikey?! What’s the matter baby?!’ Luke asked tenderly as he slid out from under the duvet; making sure to keep Jon’s naked body covered up and silently gave thanks that a least one of them had had the where with all to slip his boxer briefs back on before sinking into a sated sleep last night. He paused to pull on his sweat pants before scooping his young son up into his arms.
‘Daddy… my… bed… shaking’ Mikey managed to get out in between small sobbing gasps against Luke’s chest.
Luke immediately understood and embraced his son a little tighter. Another earth tremor had woken Mikey up; for some reason his son seemed to be able to sense them better than either Jon or himself.
‘It’s ok…it’s ok baby’ Luke soothed as he kissed the top of Mikey’s head, ‘it’s stopped now… let’s go check everything’s ok’ he continued, slipping quietly out of their bedroom and padding barefoot down the hall to his son’s room.
‘See…everything’s alright now’ Luke said gently as he walked over to Mikey’s car shaped bed, tenderly placing his son down on the covers after walking with him all around the room to show him it was ok.
Luke smiled reassuringly as he gently combed his fingers through Mikey’s hair after he had settled him back down under the covers. His breath caught in his throat as his son looked up at him with eyes that were still wet with tears and doubt.
‘Do you want me to stay with you a little bit?’ Luke murmured, barely able to keep the emotion from his voice at seeing his son so upset.
Mikey sniffed a little and nodded, the corners of his mouth rising in a small smile.
‘Ok… well scoot over’ Luke smiled back as he gently squeezed into the bed, next to the small body of his son. He felt rather than heard Mikey sigh with relief as he snuggled up to his chest…
…
Luke rolled his shoulders, trying to ease away the ache of muscles forced to sleep in a cramped position. He yawned as he waited for the coffee machine to finish working its magic on the life saving liquid that he desperately needed to make him feel half human. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep in Mikey’s bed; he’d only meant to comfort his son until he had fallen asleep and now his body was paying for it.
‘Dadddy! Dadddy! Breakfast!’ Mikey came bounding into the kitchen at full pelt.
Luke turned to face his son, ‘Hey… hey… slow it down… we’re inside remember’, shaking his head in disbelief at his child’s ability to recover so quickly… god he was getting old… at least he felt like he was this morning!
‘Ok… little guy what do you want for breakfast?’ Luke asked with a smile.
‘Cheese!’ Mikey said decisively.
‘Cheese?! Mikey you can’t have cheese for your breakfast!’ Luke sighed and tried to keep the frustration out of his voice; it was a running battle to get Mikey to eat anything remotely healthy at the minute.
‘Cheese!’ Mikey said again, crossing his arms ready for a standoff.
Luke tried not to smile at the sight of his son; god he could be just as stubborn as him sometimes.
‘How about some toast?’ Luke suggested with what was probably unrealistic hope.
‘And Nutella?’ his son asked eagerly.
Luke had to bite his lip to stop from laughing as he loaded the toaster and reached up into the cupboard; oh well at least it was slightly healthier than cheese for breakfast.
‘How are my two favourite boys this morning?’ Jon asked, stepping into the kitchen and striding over to Mikey to place a kiss to the top of his head before turning to press a quick kiss to Luke’s lips.
‘What happened to you?’ Jon asked as he took in the dark circles under Luke’s eyes.
‘There was another earthquake last night… it woke Mikey up. I ended up falling asleep with him’ Luke replied, slightly pissed that his husband hadn’t noticed he didn’t come back to bed last night and that it seemed he was the only one who didn’t get a good nights sleep.
‘Really? I didn’t notice’ Jon replied, stretching round Luke to reach for the coffee.
‘Obviously!’ Luke retorted, annoyed that Jon didn’t ask if Mikey was ok now.
‘Oh by the way’ Jon continued, ignoring Luke’s curt remark, ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to pick Mikey up from play group this afternoon… I’ve got a feeling the presentation might run over’
‘Jon… you promised! I need to go to the Press Conference at the Institute…I’ve got to cover the press release about the earthquakes… we talked about this!’ the exasperation was clear in Luke’s voice. He loved that Jon had his own successful web design business but sometimes it seemed that his own career, Mikey and their family life played second fiddle.
‘Come on Luke! Don’t be like that. I can hardly walk out of a presentation in front of prospective clients. At least you can get one of your newspaper buddies to fill you in… pass you some notes or something.’ Jon replied, his own voice rising in frustration.
‘Jon, you know…’ Luke stopped abruptly as he was on the verge of snapping out a retort about Jon knowing full well things didn’t work like that when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Mikey staring at them, open mouthed with his toast untouched in front of him.
Luke sighed and just nodded; he didn’t want to upset Mikey with another one of their arguments… this could wait until later when their son was in bed.
‘Great!’ Jon smiled his thanks and passed Luke his tie. ‘Now can you help me with this thing? You know I’m hopeless at tying them!’ his smile turned into a lopsided grin as Luke took the tie and stepped forward to reach around his husband’s neck.
‘Aw baby… don’t pout. I promise I’ll make it up to you tonight!’ Jon whispered as he stepped closer and snaked his arms round Luke’s slim waist, pulling him into a deep kiss, tongue flicking out to dart between the full and supple lips.
‘Love you’ Jon breathed out as he pulled back and smoothed down his tie and suit jacket.
He stepped over to Mikey and pressed another kiss to the top of his head, deftly managing to avoid sticky fingers on his clean shirt. ‘Later little guy!’ he smiled before grabbing his briefcase and heading for the door.
‘Well… looks like it’s just you and me buddy’ Luke gave a small wistful smile as he sat down next to Mikey. He bit his lip to stop him adding ‘again’ as he looked over at the door after Jon had left; hoping that the Press Conference at the Institute wouldn’t overrun so he could stay to the end before leaving to pick up Mikey…
Chapter 2
Link back to fic master post
Author: Wheelie47
Rating: R - NC17 for whole story
Pairing: Luke and OC, Luke and Noah.
Word count: 2,048
Disclaimer: Don’t own characters, am not associated in any way with ATWT, Van and Jake. No offence intended.
Summary: Noah is a Professor at the California Institute of Seismic Research and Luke is a freelance investigative reporter...
Professor Noah Mayer pushed his chair back from his paper cluttered desk, removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping to ease the tension he could feel building behind his eyes. He sighed in frustration as he stretched his long arms above his head; the sigh turned into a groan as he felt the toned muscles in his shoulders and torso flex with the movement.
‘Damn it!’ he exclaimed as he banged his fists down suddenly on the desk; the sudden noise echoing around the office. He looked around sheepishly; slightly embarrassed at the uncharacteristic display, hoping that he hadn’t disturbed anyone else. But he needn’t have worried because there was nobody else here; nobody else dedicated or mad enough to be here at … he sneaked a look at the wall clock… 12.05am. He should be at home, curled up in bed… but instead he was here banging his fists on the desk in frustration.
He picked up the discarded file and flipped it open to the first chart again, hoping that something would stand out this time. He knew… just instinctively knew… that he was missing something. Something that would give him a clue… a pattern to the increasingly regular but small earth tremors that the Southland area was experiencing. He knew there was some link there but according to the sensor readings the peaks when the tremors hit were scattered and random.
Perhaps there was something wrong with the sensors… or more likely he was just too tired to see straight anymore.
Straight! Noah couldn’t help but smirk and chuckle lightly at his own choice of words… straight was something he definitely wasn’t. His father would have been so proud! Noah thought to himself wryly. He blinked and shook his head, hoping to dispel that particular train of thought from his mind… there was no way he was going back over that painful episode of his life again.
‘This is getting me nowhere!’ he sighed loudly as he pushed the chair further back and stood up from the desk, the muscles in his long legs screaming at him for the sudden movement after being still for so long. ‘Time to get outta here’ he huffed, pocketing his glasses and closing the file, ‘this can wait ‘til tomorrow!’ He shook his head and smirked at himself as it hit him that here he was talking to himself in an empty office in the middle of the night! He really… really… needed to get a life!
Just as he reached for his jacket from the back of the chair he felt the office begin to shake; starting slowly at first with the gentle almost rhythmic sound of the pencils in the mug on his desk clinking together… building in strength… making the mug move jerkingly across the desk, rattling the wall clock and sending vibrations up through Noah’s legs where he stood braced, holding the chair back.
It was over before it started and Noah stood stock still for a moment, bracing himself for further shocks but there was nothing but a kind of eerie silence.He looked down at his jacket… up to the clock… then back to the file on his desk and sighed before he sat back down and pulled the file back in front of him, more determined now than ever to find that missing link. Looks like it’s going to be another long night he thought to himself as he shrugged his shoulders… well… it’s better than going home… back to his apartment and an empty bed…
…
Luke’s eyes flicked open as he found himself pulled suddenly from a deep sleep. He looked blearily around the darkened bedroom, struggling to realise what had woken him so abruptly.
‘Jon?’ he called out uncertainly as he reached behind him to gently shake his husband’s hip. The movement made him shift slightly and he grimaced at the burn he felt; reminding him of the roughness of last night’s lovemaking… Jon was always so full of nervous energy before he had any kind of important meeting the next day and it always resulted in a rough and wild kind of night for Luke… so much so that he was glad their son’s bedroom was all the way down the hall.
Jon grumbled and muttered under his breath, pulling Luke closer to him and tangling their legs together, stubbornly refusing to wake up any further.
Luke was just about to try again; his hand hovering over Jon’s hip, when he heard the telltale shuffle of little feet outside the bedroom door and watched as the door handle turned slowly to reveal their son, Mikey, stood there in his favourite Barney PJs and clutching his battered teddy bear; his blonde hair in disarray and tears rolling down his cheeks.
‘Daddy?’ Mikey asked in a scared little voice that made Luke want to hold his son to his chest and never let go.
‘Mikey?! What’s the matter baby?!’ Luke asked tenderly as he slid out from under the duvet; making sure to keep Jon’s naked body covered up and silently gave thanks that a least one of them had had the where with all to slip his boxer briefs back on before sinking into a sated sleep last night. He paused to pull on his sweat pants before scooping his young son up into his arms.
‘Daddy… my… bed… shaking’ Mikey managed to get out in between small sobbing gasps against Luke’s chest.
Luke immediately understood and embraced his son a little tighter. Another earth tremor had woken Mikey up; for some reason his son seemed to be able to sense them better than either Jon or himself.
‘It’s ok…it’s ok baby’ Luke soothed as he kissed the top of Mikey’s head, ‘it’s stopped now… let’s go check everything’s ok’ he continued, slipping quietly out of their bedroom and padding barefoot down the hall to his son’s room.
‘See…everything’s alright now’ Luke said gently as he walked over to Mikey’s car shaped bed, tenderly placing his son down on the covers after walking with him all around the room to show him it was ok.
Luke smiled reassuringly as he gently combed his fingers through Mikey’s hair after he had settled him back down under the covers. His breath caught in his throat as his son looked up at him with eyes that were still wet with tears and doubt.
‘Do you want me to stay with you a little bit?’ Luke murmured, barely able to keep the emotion from his voice at seeing his son so upset.
Mikey sniffed a little and nodded, the corners of his mouth rising in a small smile.
‘Ok… well scoot over’ Luke smiled back as he gently squeezed into the bed, next to the small body of his son. He felt rather than heard Mikey sigh with relief as he snuggled up to his chest…
…
Luke rolled his shoulders, trying to ease away the ache of muscles forced to sleep in a cramped position. He yawned as he waited for the coffee machine to finish working its magic on the life saving liquid that he desperately needed to make him feel half human. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep in Mikey’s bed; he’d only meant to comfort his son until he had fallen asleep and now his body was paying for it.
‘Dadddy! Dadddy! Breakfast!’ Mikey came bounding into the kitchen at full pelt.
Luke turned to face his son, ‘Hey… hey… slow it down… we’re inside remember’, shaking his head in disbelief at his child’s ability to recover so quickly… god he was getting old… at least he felt like he was this morning!
‘Ok… little guy what do you want for breakfast?’ Luke asked with a smile.
‘Cheese!’ Mikey said decisively.
‘Cheese?! Mikey you can’t have cheese for your breakfast!’ Luke sighed and tried to keep the frustration out of his voice; it was a running battle to get Mikey to eat anything remotely healthy at the minute.
‘Cheese!’ Mikey said again, crossing his arms ready for a standoff.
Luke tried not to smile at the sight of his son; god he could be just as stubborn as him sometimes.
‘How about some toast?’ Luke suggested with what was probably unrealistic hope.
‘And Nutella?’ his son asked eagerly.
Luke had to bite his lip to stop from laughing as he loaded the toaster and reached up into the cupboard; oh well at least it was slightly healthier than cheese for breakfast.
‘How are my two favourite boys this morning?’ Jon asked, stepping into the kitchen and striding over to Mikey to place a kiss to the top of his head before turning to press a quick kiss to Luke’s lips.
‘What happened to you?’ Jon asked as he took in the dark circles under Luke’s eyes.
‘There was another earthquake last night… it woke Mikey up. I ended up falling asleep with him’ Luke replied, slightly pissed that his husband hadn’t noticed he didn’t come back to bed last night and that it seemed he was the only one who didn’t get a good nights sleep.
‘Really? I didn’t notice’ Jon replied, stretching round Luke to reach for the coffee.
‘Obviously!’ Luke retorted, annoyed that Jon didn’t ask if Mikey was ok now.
‘Oh by the way’ Jon continued, ignoring Luke’s curt remark, ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to pick Mikey up from play group this afternoon… I’ve got a feeling the presentation might run over’
‘Jon… you promised! I need to go to the Press Conference at the Institute…I’ve got to cover the press release about the earthquakes… we talked about this!’ the exasperation was clear in Luke’s voice. He loved that Jon had his own successful web design business but sometimes it seemed that his own career, Mikey and their family life played second fiddle.
‘Come on Luke! Don’t be like that. I can hardly walk out of a presentation in front of prospective clients. At least you can get one of your newspaper buddies to fill you in… pass you some notes or something.’ Jon replied, his own voice rising in frustration.
‘Jon, you know…’ Luke stopped abruptly as he was on the verge of snapping out a retort about Jon knowing full well things didn’t work like that when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Mikey staring at them, open mouthed with his toast untouched in front of him.
Luke sighed and just nodded; he didn’t want to upset Mikey with another one of their arguments… this could wait until later when their son was in bed.
‘Great!’ Jon smiled his thanks and passed Luke his tie. ‘Now can you help me with this thing? You know I’m hopeless at tying them!’ his smile turned into a lopsided grin as Luke took the tie and stepped forward to reach around his husband’s neck.
‘Aw baby… don’t pout. I promise I’ll make it up to you tonight!’ Jon whispered as he stepped closer and snaked his arms round Luke’s slim waist, pulling him into a deep kiss, tongue flicking out to dart between the full and supple lips.
‘Love you’ Jon breathed out as he pulled back and smoothed down his tie and suit jacket.
He stepped over to Mikey and pressed another kiss to the top of his head, deftly managing to avoid sticky fingers on his clean shirt. ‘Later little guy!’ he smiled before grabbing his briefcase and heading for the door.
‘Well… looks like it’s just you and me buddy’ Luke gave a small wistful smile as he sat down next to Mikey. He bit his lip to stop him adding ‘again’ as he looked over at the door after Jon had left; hoping that the Press Conference at the Institute wouldn’t overrun so he could stay to the end before leaving to pick up Mikey…
Chapter 2
Link back to fic master post