Close to Home - epilogue

[iesika]

Close to Home

Epilogue

Justine finished reading the article out loud and folded up the paper. She tucked it under the edge of Alex's lunch tray. "Poor kids," she said, her pretty face twisting into a frown. "Conner's so sweet. He came to check on you, and he was such a mess. He was trying to reassure me, though."

"He's a good kid," Alex agreed. They all were, really. He turned his head as far as the neck brace would allow and looked at the row of cards and vases that stretched along the window ledge. Funny thing, you never knew how popular you were until everybody thought you were dying. "I can't believe he's dating a celebrity," he said, and chuckled. "Small town boy made good, I guess."

"Hasn't sent a card, yet," Justine said. Lorelei tugged at her pant-leg, so she bent and lifted her up onto the bed to sit between Alex's feet. "There's one from that woman - his aunt, you said? She sent jam or something, too. Something in a jar."

Alex made a face. "Why didn't you tell me that before I ate that awful meatloaf? I'd have sent you down for extra rolls, or something."

"Hey."

Alex looked down the bed at the girl who was, for all intents and purposes, his stepdaughter. Her mother had pulled her hair back in a ponytail today, and it shone like copper in the sunlight. "Yes, sweetie?"

"Can I eat your jello?"

Justine snorted and pulled the rolling tray-table toward her daughter. "Have at, kid," she said, sticking a spork in her hand.

Lorelei's little face lit up, and she dug into the quivering green mass with great delight.

"You know what that's made of?" Alex said, smirking.

"Cow feet and pig bones," she said, sounding bored. "You told me already. But it still tastes good."

Alex chuckled, wincing a little at the pain in his ribs. "I find your pragmatism most admirable, young lady," he said.

Lorelei slurped jello through her teeth at him.

Someone knocked on the door, and then one of the nurses poked her head in. Alex hoped it wasn't a bad sign that he couldn't remember her name. "You've had another delivery," she said.

Justine exhaled and looked around. "I don't think there's room for more flowers. You think they're expecting bonus points in return, or what?"

"It's not flowers," the nurse said. She stepped into the room with a small, flat, brown box. "Little package."

"Maybe it's more cookies!" Lorelei said excitedly.

"You've already got jello," Justine said absently as she took the box. It was stamped 'FRAGILE', so she refrained from shaking it. "Want me to open it?"

Alex held up his hands, which were still loosely bandaged over his burns. "I think you'd better."

"No, me," Lorelei, said, reaching, but her mother pulled it out of her grasp.

"Honey, it says ‘fragile’. That means there's something in it that could break." She slid her nail under the packing tape, and then stopped, looking down at the box with a sardonic expression. "Alex? Have you been sending off letters to supermodels?"

To..."What?" he asked.

"The return address says ‘Kory Anders’."

Kory Anders? What? Alex tried to sit up, only to be fussed at by both his girlfriend and the nurse. Justine helped him raise the bed a little, and held the box out in front of him as she opened it. Inside, there was a card with a picture of a cartoon scientist on it, and a small, framed photo of Anders in a bikini under a waterfall, signed and bearing a lipstick print. Alex was already grinning at the thought of the comments he'd get from his students with that on his desk.

"Oh, that's tasteful," Justine said, dryly, and pulled the photo out to shove it under a blanket before Lorelei could see. The box rattled, and Dalton looked down to see there had been two little vials under the picture.

Justine lifted them out for his inspection. One was full of thick, dark, vibrantly orange liquid, and the other contained a curl of reddish-brown hair.

"Oh my god," Alex said, his breath coming quick. "They're samples."

"What?" Justine asked. "Hold on!" she scolded as he fumbled for the card with his painfully swollen fingers. "I'll read it!"

The card didn't have a printed message in it. Instead, it bore a few lines of delicate, loopy script in purple ink.

"’Dear Alex’," Justine read out. "’I've heard an awful lot about you from a friend of mine, and I just wanted to express my wishes for your speedy recovery. My friend thought you might have enough flowers, so he asked me to send along something a little more personal, with his regards. Best of luck, Kory Anders. PS, I'd love a copy of the paper when you're done with these. You can pass it on to Conner.’ And then she kissed the paper. You'd think the picture would have been enough."

Alex's fingers twitched under the bandages. "Oh my god," he said again. He turned to the nurse quickly. "Was the package at the desk for long? I need to know how old that blood sample is." His heart sank. "The mail must have come hours ago."

"Didn't come with the mail," the nurse said, taking the card from Justine to look it over. "This kid delivered it to the station just now. I barely even saw him, he disappeared so fast."

"Can you get me some ice? Dry ice, I mean. And an insulated box. You've got to have them in the phlebotomy and histology labs-"

"Mr. Dalton," the nurse said suddenly. "Calm down. You're sending your monitor haywire."

Alex took a deep breath and forced himself back against the pillows. "But can you get the ice?"

"I've got a friend downstairs," she said. She stepped forward and adjusted his IV. "I'll go call him, but you've got to stay calm, okay?"

"Right," Alex said, trying very hard to control his breathing. "Calm. Okay. Honey, can you call Charles? Tell him he can co-author if he'll let me use his lab. Oh, fuck. I can't even use my hands."

"Alex!" Justine snapped, clapping her hands over her daughter's ears.

He fell silent, feeling suddenly sheepish.

Justine sighed and gave him a fondly exasperated look. "They won't let you out of here if you give yourself a heart attack. I'll call Charles. Just calm down, okay?"

"Yes, dear," Alex said, but his mind was racing.

Alien DNA. Alex grinned. Oh, that was much better than another potted mum. What a thoughtful boy!

Index

Comments

[the-inkslinger.livejournal.com]

Wow, this story is amazing. I'm sorry if this seems out of the blue-- I stumbled across the link from titans_together... oh my gosh and it has had me hooked. The characterization is just... just--it blew my mind. I love it, I love it so much. I love Kon's earnest and sometimes naive and sometimes even insecure character. He seems so real. And TIM. Oh, Tim. The darkness and hard edges and sadness around him... and then with the real Tim, who is a gem, beneath it all. Oh, it is wonderful. And the CLASSMATES. I love them too. And Dalton and-- just, yes, the characters are so incredibly fabulous. There's such an incredible sense of realism to them, I feel like they really do exist somewhere...

I really hope there will be more of this story verse. There are some substantial unresolved ahh issues, especially between Kon/Tim (and Cassie) that I think would make GREAT sequel material-- and also would be awesome to read about. I know I definitely would like to read more, but that might be greedy...

In any case, thank you for writing this wonderful story. I have really, really enjoyed it.

[ookami-aya.livejournal.com]

I don't actually have anything of substance to say, but this comment is filled with love and squee.

[larsinger29.livejournal.com]

I've had this saved and have been meaning to read it for so long now. I knew that when I did start it, I'd read it start to finish--which I did in a matter of one evening! This story promised to be riveting and captivating, and it certainly lived up to that!

Let me start of by saying this was truly fantastic! I loved the story you told here, your interweaving of politics, social issues, feelings, detective work, and characters. You did a remarkable job bringing new characters to life and giving them unique, distinctive personalities. At the same time, I really enjoyed your characterizations of the characters we've all come to know and love. Your Tim was spot on in my book, and I enjoyed the way you tackled Kon and had him grow and develop as a character. I also really enjoyed your interactions between characters: Kon and Clark's relationship had friction and growth; the loving relationship between Ma and her boys was so real and beautiful; and Kon and Tim's deepening relationship was awesomely realistic.

Aside from characterization, you tackled some very powerful issues and did so with grace and skill. I appreciated the way you handled the harassment of gays and lesbians in this. You did a great job covering so much of the spectrum, and really captured the essence of a small town as they deal with this. Having grown up in a small town, I could see so many of the characters and their reactions as real people (both for good and for bad). As an ally I've seen the hurt and dehumanization that can be inflicted on others, and you captured not only that but the strength that comes when groups and friends band together. I applaud your decision to tackle these issues, and the research you must have done into some of the technical areas involved here.

One final note, I would love to see more of this verse. I want to find out what happens to Jake, and Lilah and Clarence. I'd love to see more of the fall out and developing relationship between Kon and Clark. And, of course, I want to watch and see what happens between Tim and Kon! And what happens when Dick, Bruce, and the whole bat-clan find out about this all! I'm really excited to see comments that you intend to continue this verse, and I look forward to reading and following wherever you take us!

[snowrose.livejournal.com]

This was excellent! Loved it! <3

[dela-sonrisa.livejournal.com]

The pining! Jake was adorable, and so were Tim and Kon's fumbled attempts at a relationship. But Kon totally deserves all of Tim Wayne's personality directed at him for the crap he's put Cassie through. Loved the fic!

[turnonmyheels.livejournal.com]

This is fantastic fic. I loved every single bit of it and I'm making a point to read you other work.

[omens.livejournal.com]

Amazing fic! I cackled madly when Tim showed up as Tim Wayne... :D :D Your Kon is just lovely, and I really liked Jake. The story really holds up well to re-reads, too. <3<3<3

[snake-easing.livejournal.com]

You know, I hadn't expected him to survive.

I appreciate the art there.

Good job on the story! The plot's developed well.

[alexiel-neesan.livejournal.com]

I read everything in one go - could barely let go of it. You had me hooked, and invested into the characters (the original characters are fantastic) and laughing out loud (many, many times) and facepalming a bit at Kon's obliviousness and oh. It's just brilliant.

[glammetalkitten.livejournal.com]

I've had this open in a tab for the longest time waiting for the right moment to read it, and have done so today in (pretty much) one sitting. And I loved. Your Kon was fabulous, and I loved seeing his relationship with Martha, and seeing him just hanging out with the other Titans. Will there be more? I feel like there are some issues which need working out!

[lishel_fracrium.livejournal.com]

OMG!! yes!! this was so awesome!! *adds to memories* please write more in this verse please?

[japanimecrazed.livejournal.com]

I love this. I'm so excited their will be sequels!

[shinigrace.livejournal.com]

OMG. I know I'm a bit late getting on the love train but I just swung by to read this after catching up with my sammage art back on DA. I love this so much. I can't thank you enough it's been so long since I've read a great fic! Am I right to hear there's going to be a squeal? I can't wait for that/waits on the edge of her seat/. Between this and waiting for Red Robin 10 to come out my brain may explode. Great writing! Fantastic Characterization! Best Tim Wayne ever! I seriously died everytime he said Darling. oh and your Ma Kent = so much love <3

[chalcopyrite.livejournal.com]

I really really liked this. Mr. Dalton sort of stole the show for me -- my mom teaches bio, and pretty much every year she gets one or two kid who'll get all up in arms about "We're not animals! How can you say that!" (She tells them fine, if they insist, they can be slime molds instead.) So that was kind of awesome.

But apart from that -- the plot! The tension! The extreme Timness (how Bats show love, omg)! It was really fun and absorbing to read, and I predict many rereads (and am looking at your comment about "more in this verse" and possibly making very small eeping noises).

Thank you!

[amalthia]

I could not stop reading your story once I started! I loved the plot, the character voices, and the details were top notch. :)

[coffeebased.livejournal.com]

I love this fic so much. The continuity nods... the excellent Kon voice. Thank you so much!

[intemerata.livejournal.com]

THIS WAS SO GOOD. SO. GOOD.

I don't have the clearest head right now, because it's four in the morning and I need to go to sleep, like, yesterday, but I really, really, really wanted to say this one thing--BRILLIANT STORY.

Am going to leave a more thoughtful comment tomorrow! I promise! BUT IN THE MEANTIME: BRILLIANT.

[qable.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed the dynamic between Martha and Kon, along with her grumping over Clark not giving the boy a middle name for her to yell. Details like that really help bring a family atmosphere to life.

Lois and Tim getting along made my day, along with Clark and Kon having to stop them from having a political feud over breakfast. It's so rare to see Lois and Tim interact in fic, and I loved that you included that.

[meanheans]

I loved this, SO MUCH. Kon's love and his protectiveness and his intelligence... I could've rolled around in that all day, but then you added TIM.

I don't even know what to say, other than I loved every word of this. The picture you painted of Smallville and farmer boy Conner were lovely and vivid.

[leia-black.livejournal.com]

I found this fic, I don't even know how, and just finished reading it all and I just want to say that I flipping adore it. All the characters are so perfect and Kon and Tim are just... I spent the whole time wanting to hug both them and this story. Thank you for this, it's totally brightened up my day. :)

[myhiddeneyes.livejournal.com]

I stayed up until past 4:30 in the morning to read this.

It was so...fucking amazing. With Kon and Jake and Tim, ohmygod Tim. Seriously, this is one of the best fanfics I've read and I'm certainly going to recommend it to others.

[captanddeastar.livejournal.com]

This story is massively awesome, and I appreciate you taking the time to develop it so gradually and beautifully! I was worried for a bit in the middle when it looked like Tim had disappeared from the story, but then there he was, back at center stage and SO VERY TIM.

I love how you handled all of the OCs, their complexity and depth, and I thought the balance of humor and seriousness was right on, perfectly appropriate to the story. Thank you for sharing this!

[skund.livejournal.com]

This is one of the most beautifully constructed stories I've ever read. I can't describe how much I adored it! You had me squeeing like a mad thing. :D

I really liked all your OCs, especially the kids in the club. And Kon's insistence that he's still irresponsible even though he almost ran himself into the ground looking after those most vulnerable. And Tim being so cryptic and batty no one know's what he's up to, because they're too busy secondguessing their secondguesses. *hugs them all*

[snowishness.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that was really nice.

[lishel_fracrium.livejournal.com]

OMG!!!! more please?