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bantha_foddertitle: i get by (with a little help from my friends)
author: pen
fandom: space: above and beyond
summary: Shane Vansen, and the things that get her through.
i do not own
cancelling Space: Above and Beyond was the first time fox broke my heart. clearly it was not the last, though.
with thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zeplum and stars_like_dust.
*
Nathan leans against the wall, book level with his nose. "The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close," he reads, "and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming-"
"Not this shit again," interrupts Paul. "What are we reading children's books for? I'm sure I asked for something with more action. And maybe some sex."
"You really want West to read to you about heaving bosoms and erect dicks?" asks Cooper, and both men grimace.
"You're right," Paul corrects himself hurriedly.
"Quiet, both of you," says Vanessa. "I like it. It's different. Quieter."
"Not here," says Shane, and they all fall silent.
They fall asleep soon after that.
*
In the darkness, she hears a click. I believe in you. She covers her eyes with her hand and tries not to speak.
She'd think it pathetic if she hadn't been there herself.
*
Shane dreams of AIs and blood. The drop of bodies to the floor and the flash of lights. She dreams of bullets shredding Cooper's body; of Nathan lost in the mists of Kylen's memories. Behind her eyes she sees Vanessa paralysed by fear and toxins; and in the dark she hears Paul eaten alive by bugs the size of his head.
When the lights switch on and the alarms blare, she doesn't tell them about the blood running down Cooper's face; doesn't tell them about the gap where West used to be. They don't have that sort of time.
*
"There are no heroes," intones McQueen, and Shane remembers Paul, back straight and arms still, leading them into battle against leaky faucets.
She tries not to laugh, but when McQueen announces the code name for the mission is Shower Cap, she starts to giggle, and her friends follow her into the madness.
Just like always.
"So watch your six," McQueen says, and ignores the laughter.
*
Cooper splashes his face with water. Stares into the mirror. "I'm gonna drop," he says, and his voice croaks.
Shane hits him on the back as she strides past. Squeezes his shoulder and moves on.
"Take it like a marine, Coop," she says, drops her towel and steps into the shower.
She meets Cooper's eyes in the mirror, and draws the curtain.
*
Shane wanders into the bunk room, towel wrapped around her body and tucked under her arms. "You still watching?" This directed at Paul, still reclining on the couch, where he was when she left.
"The football!" he says. His eyes never leave the screen as he speaks. Paul leans forward, and then throws his arms up into the air and cheers with the crowd. "Hoorah!"
"We're shipping out in fifteen mikes," Shane replies, as she drops the towel and glances at the clock. "And we're not waiting for you." She pulls her underwear on, and rummages around for her tanks.
"It's not even at half time! Game doesn't end for another forty two minutes. I want to be left behind."
Vanessa presses buttons on the screen and flips to the History Channel, before settling herself in on the couch, whilst Paul protests. "I wanted to watch this thing on zebras anyway," she says, and pushes Paul to the floor. "Get ready to ship out," she says to Paul, and dismisses him.
"Hey," Paul says, and reaches for Vanessa's arm. "What have I ever done to hurt you?"
Shane looks over, and catches the moment of silence between Vanessa and Paul. Catches the way Paul's hand tightens on Vanessa's arm. Wonders if they're fucking.
Looks away, and pulls her shirts over her head.
Doesn't matter if they are, and she doesn't need to know.
*
On planet, the radio futzes and they get rained on. Paul falls into a river, and Nathan gets bitten by a bug.
They're out there fifteen hours longer than expected, and as they're lifting out of atmo, Shane falls out of her harness and stubs her toe.
It fucking hurts, but it's another mission over and they're still breathing.
Still marines.
*
As Cooper and Shane stagger down the corridor from debriefing to bunk room, heads down and backs weary, they hear voices drifting through an open hatchway.
"Man, the Five-Eight are always getting lost," bitches some guy from the flight crew. "How much fuel have we wasted looking for them?"
Shane shoves a hand out and wraps it around Cooper's arm. She knows what he's thinking. "Save it, Coop," she says, and he meets her even gaze with a glare, but lets her tug him away.
Later, she beats the guys from the flight crew at cards, and leaves them sitting around the table with nothing but the shirts on their backs. It's not what Cooper wants; there's no blood and blackened eyes and an evening spent in hack, but when she meets his eyes he smiles, and she knows he understands.
*
The sirens blare, and she reaches out for the people around her.
"Let's go, marines!" she yells, before she opens her eyes.
She smiles.
END
author: pen
fandom: space: above and beyond
summary: Shane Vansen, and the things that get her through.
i do not own
cancelling Space: Above and Beyond was the first time fox broke my heart. clearly it was not the last, though.
with thanks to
zeplum and stars_like_dust.*
Nathan leans against the wall, book level with his nose. "The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close," he reads, "and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming-"
"Not this shit again," interrupts Paul. "What are we reading children's books for? I'm sure I asked for something with more action. And maybe some sex."
"You really want West to read to you about heaving bosoms and erect dicks?" asks Cooper, and both men grimace.
"You're right," Paul corrects himself hurriedly.
"Quiet, both of you," says Vanessa. "I like it. It's different. Quieter."
"Not here," says Shane, and they all fall silent.
They fall asleep soon after that.
*
In the darkness, she hears a click. I believe in you. She covers her eyes with her hand and tries not to speak.
She'd think it pathetic if she hadn't been there herself.
*
Shane dreams of AIs and blood. The drop of bodies to the floor and the flash of lights. She dreams of bullets shredding Cooper's body; of Nathan lost in the mists of Kylen's memories. Behind her eyes she sees Vanessa paralysed by fear and toxins; and in the dark she hears Paul eaten alive by bugs the size of his head.
When the lights switch on and the alarms blare, she doesn't tell them about the blood running down Cooper's face; doesn't tell them about the gap where West used to be. They don't have that sort of time.
*
"There are no heroes," intones McQueen, and Shane remembers Paul, back straight and arms still, leading them into battle against leaky faucets.
She tries not to laugh, but when McQueen announces the code name for the mission is Shower Cap, she starts to giggle, and her friends follow her into the madness.
Just like always.
"So watch your six," McQueen says, and ignores the laughter.
*
Cooper splashes his face with water. Stares into the mirror. "I'm gonna drop," he says, and his voice croaks.
Shane hits him on the back as she strides past. Squeezes his shoulder and moves on.
"Take it like a marine, Coop," she says, drops her towel and steps into the shower.
She meets Cooper's eyes in the mirror, and draws the curtain.
*
Shane wanders into the bunk room, towel wrapped around her body and tucked under her arms. "You still watching?" This directed at Paul, still reclining on the couch, where he was when she left.
"The football!" he says. His eyes never leave the screen as he speaks. Paul leans forward, and then throws his arms up into the air and cheers with the crowd. "Hoorah!"
"We're shipping out in fifteen mikes," Shane replies, as she drops the towel and glances at the clock. "And we're not waiting for you." She pulls her underwear on, and rummages around for her tanks.
"It's not even at half time! Game doesn't end for another forty two minutes. I want to be left behind."
Vanessa presses buttons on the screen and flips to the History Channel, before settling herself in on the couch, whilst Paul protests. "I wanted to watch this thing on zebras anyway," she says, and pushes Paul to the floor. "Get ready to ship out," she says to Paul, and dismisses him.
"Hey," Paul says, and reaches for Vanessa's arm. "What have I ever done to hurt you?"
Shane looks over, and catches the moment of silence between Vanessa and Paul. Catches the way Paul's hand tightens on Vanessa's arm. Wonders if they're fucking.
Looks away, and pulls her shirts over her head.
Doesn't matter if they are, and she doesn't need to know.
*
On planet, the radio futzes and they get rained on. Paul falls into a river, and Nathan gets bitten by a bug.
They're out there fifteen hours longer than expected, and as they're lifting out of atmo, Shane falls out of her harness and stubs her toe.
It fucking hurts, but it's another mission over and they're still breathing.
Still marines.
*
As Cooper and Shane stagger down the corridor from debriefing to bunk room, heads down and backs weary, they hear voices drifting through an open hatchway.
"Man, the Five-Eight are always getting lost," bitches some guy from the flight crew. "How much fuel have we wasted looking for them?"
Shane shoves a hand out and wraps it around Cooper's arm. She knows what he's thinking. "Save it, Coop," she says, and he meets her even gaze with a glare, but lets her tug him away.
Later, she beats the guys from the flight crew at cards, and leaves them sitting around the table with nothing but the shirts on their backs. It's not what Cooper wants; there's no blood and blackened eyes and an evening spent in hack, but when she meets his eyes he smiles, and she knows he understands.
*
The sirens blare, and she reaches out for the people around her.
"Let's go, marines!" she yells, before she opens her eyes.
She smiles.
END
