A Quiet Road
folder
BtVS AU/AR › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
2
Views:
1,324
Reviews:
2
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
BtVS AU/AR › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
2
Views:
1,324
Reviews:
2
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
A Quiet Road
Prolog: All He's Got
Rating: PG
Category: Angst, Char. Study
Character(s): Riley Finn
Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't know. Don't sue.
Summary: It's all he's got and it's all he needs.
Notes: This is set two weeks after Riley leaves. It doesn't stick to canon so don't bother worrying about the particulars. Also, this sets it up for the coming story. It's just a way to give you some history on the boy.
Authors Notes: This is my attempt at making Riley more than just a pin-up boy or a complete bastard, which most of the stories I've read seem to do. He's a small town boy.
Riley tries his best not to be disappointed but he can't
stop from being it. Not even when Graham starts cracking stupid
jokes about that boys over in squadron five who couldn't even get a
containment area set up for a B3-24, Hostile #86. The disappointment
he's been trying to ignore for a full two weeks is pounding in his
chest and gnawing at his bones and he just doesn't know how much
more of it he can take.
He guesses he was a fool to think that someone -- Buffy,
maybe -- would come after him and try to make him see that he should
have stayed even though he knows that she didn't love him and, he's
starting to realize, he didn't love her. But, that wasn't really the
point, was it? He just wanted to feel like he belonged and for a few
precious minutes, he had.
At least, he thought he had. Now he thinks, he was probably
wrong. He hadn't fit in there even though his mind, body and soul
had assimilated so much that now he doesn't fit in here either. He
doesn't like doing this anymore. It's wrong.
For him, anyway.
He doesn't want to go back there, though, despite the
disappointment that is burning inside him. He doesn't think he can
face any of them knowing that none of them really cared that he
left. He can barely face Graham now and they've been friends from
the moment they joined the Corps.
He's the ranking officer and he can barely stand to look at
is 2IC. A part of him is disappointed in that too. Hadn't there been
a time, not long ago, where the sight of his friend, his men, would
have brought him some small measure of pride?
He doesn't have to answer that because he knows the answer.
It's branded to him. He was proud of them, just the way he was proud
when he was with Buffy.
He can't really stand the sight or thought of either of them
now. That's probably wrong but that's just the way it is. So, he
does the same thing he did before -- he packs up his bag and takes
off. But this time, he doesn't give notice. He doesn't let any of
them, not even Graham or his superiors, know that he's just going to
take off.
A part of him knows that for a while, they might try to look
for him. He knows too much about their operation but they also know
that he wouldn't give them away. He's loyal if he's anything.
That was something his mama taught him before she passed
on. "You gotta be loyal to the ones who take care of you. You owe `em
that much. They didn't have to take care of you but they did."
He's believed in that since the moment she told him. It
stuck to him, inside and out. His papa`s words did too:
"Being loyal hurts, son. It hurts a lot because the only
time you have to prove your loyal is when someone's trying to take
something away from you."
He learned that and he learned it well because it's not just
disappointment bouncing back in forth inside him, it's pain too.
It's pain because he wasn't good enough for Buffy to love. It's pain
because he can't bring himself to be the friend that he once was to
Graham. And, it's pain because no one seems to care except for the
open road he's driving on.
He's not sure where he'll go. Right now, he just turns where
he feels like turning and stops when he feels like stopping. There
isn't rhythm or reason to it and for the first time in a long time
it feels good.
So, right now, all he's got is what's in his bag, this piece
of junk car he bought at a used car lot , the open road and about
twenty bucks left before he has to wire more money to himself. This
isn't the way he was trained, it isn't even the way he grew up --
unprotected, unprepared -- but it's all he's got.
And now, it's all he needs
Rating: PG
Category: Angst, Char. Study
Character(s): Riley Finn
Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't know. Don't sue.
Summary: It's all he's got and it's all he needs.
Notes: This is set two weeks after Riley leaves. It doesn't stick to canon so don't bother worrying about the particulars. Also, this sets it up for the coming story. It's just a way to give you some history on the boy.
Authors Notes: This is my attempt at making Riley more than just a pin-up boy or a complete bastard, which most of the stories I've read seem to do. He's a small town boy.
Riley tries his best not to be disappointed but he can't
stop from being it. Not even when Graham starts cracking stupid
jokes about that boys over in squadron five who couldn't even get a
containment area set up for a B3-24, Hostile #86. The disappointment
he's been trying to ignore for a full two weeks is pounding in his
chest and gnawing at his bones and he just doesn't know how much
more of it he can take.
He guesses he was a fool to think that someone -- Buffy,
maybe -- would come after him and try to make him see that he should
have stayed even though he knows that she didn't love him and, he's
starting to realize, he didn't love her. But, that wasn't really the
point, was it? He just wanted to feel like he belonged and for a few
precious minutes, he had.
At least, he thought he had. Now he thinks, he was probably
wrong. He hadn't fit in there even though his mind, body and soul
had assimilated so much that now he doesn't fit in here either. He
doesn't like doing this anymore. It's wrong.
For him, anyway.
He doesn't want to go back there, though, despite the
disappointment that is burning inside him. He doesn't think he can
face any of them knowing that none of them really cared that he
left. He can barely face Graham now and they've been friends from
the moment they joined the Corps.
He's the ranking officer and he can barely stand to look at
is 2IC. A part of him is disappointed in that too. Hadn't there been
a time, not long ago, where the sight of his friend, his men, would
have brought him some small measure of pride?
He doesn't have to answer that because he knows the answer.
It's branded to him. He was proud of them, just the way he was proud
when he was with Buffy.
He can't really stand the sight or thought of either of them
now. That's probably wrong but that's just the way it is. So, he
does the same thing he did before -- he packs up his bag and takes
off. But this time, he doesn't give notice. He doesn't let any of
them, not even Graham or his superiors, know that he's just going to
take off.
A part of him knows that for a while, they might try to look
for him. He knows too much about their operation but they also know
that he wouldn't give them away. He's loyal if he's anything.
That was something his mama taught him before she passed
on. "You gotta be loyal to the ones who take care of you. You owe `em
that much. They didn't have to take care of you but they did."
He's believed in that since the moment she told him. It
stuck to him, inside and out. His papa`s words did too:
"Being loyal hurts, son. It hurts a lot because the only
time you have to prove your loyal is when someone's trying to take
something away from you."
He learned that and he learned it well because it's not just
disappointment bouncing back in forth inside him, it's pain too.
It's pain because he wasn't good enough for Buffy to love. It's pain
because he can't bring himself to be the friend that he once was to
Graham. And, it's pain because no one seems to care except for the
open road he's driving on.
He's not sure where he'll go. Right now, he just turns where
he feels like turning and stops when he feels like stopping. There
isn't rhythm or reason to it and for the first time in a long time
it feels good.
So, right now, all he's got is what's in his bag, this piece
of junk car he bought at a used car lot , the open road and about
twenty bucks left before he has to wire more money to himself. This
isn't the way he was trained, it isn't even the way he grew up --
unprotected, unprepared -- but it's all he's got.
And now, it's all he needs