So, C.B. Cook has a blog tour going on right now (I'm scheduled to do a post on Saturday), and with it a fanfic/art contest!
My fanfic features Finch and Eva in another encounter (idk why but I love these two so much). Originally, I had wanted this to be slightly happier, with the both of them breaking out into song on an ice rink, but it just didn't work out that way... :P
From the kitchen a room away, Finch’s phone blasted metal songs over a set of speakers. He wouldn’t call it “music”, but the lyrics were what he was after right now. He watched the rain spatter against the window, then totally obscure the view of the alley. There was another window, with a view of a small park, but he wanted to brood.
I listen to the words you're saying
Words I'm fighting to believe
It's like I'm living from a distance
When you're out of reach.
I wanna feel it,
When I mean it,
When I say it,
Can you hear me at all?
His apartment was in the ramshackle state of being packed up. He couldn’t even remember where he’d been planning to move, or why. Data, the head of IDIA, had said she would take care of it. Had let him know that he could start unpacking until they figured things out.
He’d started, hoping the sight of favored items would bring a sense of familiarity to the place. The knick-knacks and models and books only served to frustrate him.
His parents had offered to have him move in with them. He couldn’t stand the thought of waking to a house he’d grown up in, to face the constant “oh you used to” and “do you remember”s.
The song finished, and another began playing.
I'm a soldier: wounded so I must give up the fight
There's nothing more for me, lead me away...
Or leave me lying here
He mouthed the last line, closed his eyes, and pressed his head against the cold window pane. Despite the passing of time, the amnesia wasn’t getting any easier to live with.
The next verse of the song began to play.
Without a light I fear that I will stumble in the dark
Lay right down. Decide not to go on
The music began to swell into a hopeful refrain.
With a sigh, Finch rose and made his way through the maze of boxes.
Then from on high somewhere in the distance
There's a voice that calls, "Remember who you are."
He hovered his finger over the pause button.
"If you lose yourself your courage soon will follow.
So be strong tonight. Remember who you are."
He pressed stop.
A knock at the door.
Finch hadn’t thought he’d been on edge, but the soft sound made him jump. A precarious stack of boxes leaning against the island counter teetered.
Eva’s voice came through the door, muffled. “Mathis? Can I come in?”
He’d forgotten he’d agreed to meet with her. Thus far she’d been the most understanding. Willing to simply talk. Let him decide things, discover things. “Coming.”
He opened the door.
Eva’s dark eyes widened at the sight of him. “Have you slept or eaten recently?”
“No.” Finch shuffled aside to let her come in. “I haven’t been hungry.” The food in the freezer didn’t appeal to him, and he didn’t want to eat out. “And I don’t want to sleep.” He wanted to dream.
Eva picked her way across the entryway to the relatively cleared living room area. After shifting aside the DVD cases of several "Fast and Furious" movies, she sat on the couch.
Finch took suit, coming down heavily and leaning his head back. “Sorry for the mess. I haven’t been able to work up the energy to clean.”
Eva laid a hand on his lap. “Have you thought about what I said?”
That was part of what had kept him up the night before. He nodded, doubtfully. “I still don’t believe you.”
“Then I’ll say it again. I don’t care if we have to start this whole dance at the beginning; I love you.”
Finch smiled. “Is that how you see this? A dance?”
“Yes.”
I'm trying to hold my breath
Let it stay this way
Can't let this moment end
You set off a dream with me
Finch shot a curious glance towards the kitchen. An IDIA agent?
Take my hand
Will you share this with me?
Eva laughed, stood and pulled him up with her. Twined her fingers into his, laid her other hand on his shoulder. “We can start here.”
She walked him through several waltz steps, humming all the while.
Towers of gold are still too little
These hands could hold the world but it'll
Never be enough
Never be enough
As they went, Finch felt a small thrill. Instinct moved him a half step ahead of his mind; he remembered how to dance, after a fashion.
A wave of relief washed over him. He started shaking. “Stop,” he gasped.
Eva, alarm plain on her face, helped him back onto the couch. She laid a tentative hand on his arm. “Is it…are you…”
He wanted to spin her in the air and kiss her. Instead, he clasped his hands together and leaned forward.
“Muscle memory,” he managed to say. He swiped his tears away with his thumb. “I didn’t think I’d be this relieved.” Finch licked his lips. “Before…all this…what would I have done? What would I do now?”
Part of him couldn’t believe he was asking. Questions like that were a majority of the reason he was holed up the way he was. Another part trusted Eva. She knew him.
Eva shed tears of her own, darkened the sleeve of her jacket brushing them away. “Sing.”
Never Enough had stopped playing. What could he sing? What song…
At a loss, Finch met Eva’s eyes. There was still a bit of fear, from that first meeting, when he hadn’t remembered her.
With an unsteady warble, he began.
“You could turn a hundred years and never empty all you fears,
“They're pouring out like broken words and broken bones…”
He felt as if he were singing for both Eva and himself. Finishing the verse, he scooted closer, pressed his forehead against hers.
“Hold on love, don't give up,
“Don't close your eyes;
“The light is breaking through the night…”
