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fearlessfanI've been working on some non-fun RL stuff today that involves long hours with my word processing program, which naturally led me to poke around my hard drive. I generally save-as my stories as I write, which means that I end up with multiple versions of each story on my hard drive (usually at least six). I was going through the files for the Bourne fic I wrote, and found this completed scene that I cut halfway through, I think maybe after a comment from a beta. Or maybe I just thought it was self-indulgent. Maybe it is. I don't care! It's only 500ish words, but it can kind of stand on its own, so I'm posting it.
Title: Cairo
Fandom: The Bourne Identity/Supremacy, Jason/Marie
Spoilers: The Bourne Identity. Set pre-Supremacy.
Summary: Marie gets sick in Cairo.
Marie gets sick in Cairo. She sneezes for a few days, coughs a few days more, and comes home one day doing both with a building headache, her body slow and sleepy. She wakes up the next day with a chilled body, fevered skin, aching head, and Jason leaning over her. He lays a cool hand against her forehead.
"I'm fine," she says. "Just a little sick."
Jason nods. "I'll get you some water."
He brings her a tall glass of water and two aspirin, and watches while she drinks the water and swallows the pills. Her throat is so sore that her eyes water with each swallow, and after she finishes, she falls back against the pillow, relieved to be done. Her hair is damp against her neck and the side of her face, and she's thinking that she should push it off when she closes her eyes again. Sleeps.
When she opens them again the light in the room is different and Jason is whispering her name. "Marie," he says, and it's been a while since she's heard that. They mostly just talk to each other, names unnecessary, and pretend to be other people with everyone else.
He hands her another glass, this one filled with juice, and two aspirin. Marie swallows it down and it's just as unpleasant as the first time.
"It's so --" she says at the end, and sets off a coughing fit. Each cough feels like nails against the back of her throat, her tongue is too big for her mouth, and she's so hot and uncomfortable she wants to cry. She feels the kind of awful that makes her miss her mother. "Hot," she says when the coughing settles, kicking the covers off.
"All right," Jason says, and it's only when they're halfway to the bathroom, his arm around her waist, that she realizes he answered her in German. She doesn't mention it until she's lying in the bath he drew for her, the cool water making her teeth chatter but clearing her head.
"I sometimes forget that you speak German," she says. "You have a very good accent."
"I like yours, too." He tucks some hair behind her ear.
"Say something in German again."
She closes her eyes, leans her head back against the wall, and listens to his slow, winding, perfectly-expressed sentences about the weather, his day. He pauses after a minute or two and asks, in a hesitating way, "Do you need a doctor?"
She opens her eyes. He is sitting on the edge of the tub, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together. His face is calm but his eyes are nervous. She reaches for his hands. They feel warm to her fingers after spending so much time in the cool bathwater.
"I feel better," she says.
"Because we could –"
"I feel better," she says again, even though her head feels light and her chest feels heavy. He unclasps his hands to hold hers between them, and she does. "I'll be fine."
Title: Cairo
Fandom: The Bourne Identity/Supremacy, Jason/Marie
Spoilers: The Bourne Identity. Set pre-Supremacy.
Summary: Marie gets sick in Cairo.
Marie gets sick in Cairo. She sneezes for a few days, coughs a few days more, and comes home one day doing both with a building headache, her body slow and sleepy. She wakes up the next day with a chilled body, fevered skin, aching head, and Jason leaning over her. He lays a cool hand against her forehead.
"I'm fine," she says. "Just a little sick."
Jason nods. "I'll get you some water."
He brings her a tall glass of water and two aspirin, and watches while she drinks the water and swallows the pills. Her throat is so sore that her eyes water with each swallow, and after she finishes, she falls back against the pillow, relieved to be done. Her hair is damp against her neck and the side of her face, and she's thinking that she should push it off when she closes her eyes again. Sleeps.
When she opens them again the light in the room is different and Jason is whispering her name. "Marie," he says, and it's been a while since she's heard that. They mostly just talk to each other, names unnecessary, and pretend to be other people with everyone else.
He hands her another glass, this one filled with juice, and two aspirin. Marie swallows it down and it's just as unpleasant as the first time.
"It's so --" she says at the end, and sets off a coughing fit. Each cough feels like nails against the back of her throat, her tongue is too big for her mouth, and she's so hot and uncomfortable she wants to cry. She feels the kind of awful that makes her miss her mother. "Hot," she says when the coughing settles, kicking the covers off.
"All right," Jason says, and it's only when they're halfway to the bathroom, his arm around her waist, that she realizes he answered her in German. She doesn't mention it until she's lying in the bath he drew for her, the cool water making her teeth chatter but clearing her head.
"I sometimes forget that you speak German," she says. "You have a very good accent."
"I like yours, too." He tucks some hair behind her ear.
"Say something in German again."
She closes her eyes, leans her head back against the wall, and listens to his slow, winding, perfectly-expressed sentences about the weather, his day. He pauses after a minute or two and asks, in a hesitating way, "Do you need a doctor?"
She opens her eyes. He is sitting on the edge of the tub, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together. His face is calm but his eyes are nervous. She reaches for his hands. They feel warm to her fingers after spending so much time in the cool bathwater.
"I feel better," she says.
"Because we could –"
"I feel better," she says again, even though her head feels light and her chest feels heavy. He unclasps his hands to hold hers between them, and she does. "I'll be fine."
