- A New Day Wakes
By Camilla Sandman
Disclaimer: Yadda, yadda, yadda, so they’re not my property, but Hal McElroy and Channel 9’s – the Australian one that is. But in a parallel universe they might be mine.. Just think of the possibilities! They sail of together, and in this parallel universe I also have lots and lots of money (since it’s a big success, ya know), and my boyfriend’s the biggest hunk in the world, and he and I…. Umm, yeah, let’s get back to reality shall we?
Lyrics from Foo Fighter’s Walking After You.
Summary: Frank’s back, but a devastating loss might ruin what he came back for.
~~~~~~~~~~
Soon I’m single-minded
Thinking of clouds, Dreaming allowed
Things just won’t do without you, Matter of fact
I'm on your back I'm on your back
I'm on your back
If you’d accept surrender, Give up some more
Weren’t you at all?
I cannot be without you, Matter of fact
I'm on your back
If you walk out on me I’m walking after you
If you walk out on me I’m walking after you
Another heart is cracked, Give yourself..
I'm on your back
I cannot be without you, Matter of fact
I'm on your back I'm on your back
I'm on your back
~~~~~~~~~~
The sun was about to get up over the horizon. A thin line of red, and range of orange on the sky promised that a new day was about to start. The moon was paling, soon it would wade away in the day-light and wait for the night to rule again. It was full, and around it one by one star dropped out of view.
Not yet morning, and no longer night. Twilight.
The ocean was coloured by the upcoming sun too, seeming to be on fire.
And there she sat, waiting for the first ray of sunrise.
Waiting for.. a new day to wake.
~~~~~~~~~~
Wind in his sails, in his hair, Frank Holloway was racing the sunrise. A part of him was telling him to stop the silliness, there was no way to beat a sunrise, but he kept going, grinning madly as he went.
Goddamn, he felt alive! He could smell the ocean, feel the drops of water on his face
And there it was, the pier and his destination. Grinning madly, he once again looked at the simple letter in his pocket. No signature, just three simple words: “She needs you.”
What more was there?
~~~~~~~~~~
Finally admitting to herself that he wasn’t coming today either, Rachel Goldstein, “Goldie” to her friends, got up slowly, like she had done these 3 weeks since being forced to take a leave from work. The first sight of the sun blinded her, and she stood for a second, basking in the first sunlight as she always did, before turning around. And once again, like always, she stopped, and had one last look behind her.
And then she saw him, him and his bloody boat. She knew it was him, even though she couldn’t see the boat clearly, she could feel…
“Frank,” she whispered. And it seemed to echo through her body in sync with her heartbeats.
Frank. Frank. Frank. Frank…
“Fraaaaaaaaaank, YOU BASTARD!!!”
~~~~~~~~~~
He heard her before he saw her.
“Aaaaaaank, YOU BASTARD!” came carried with the wind, and the sound of her made him grin even wider. She was alive, and healthy, and angry at him.
The world was right again.
And now he could see her too, standing dead still on the pier, glaring at him with a look of… Anger? Happiness? Shock? A little bit of all three, and something else, something he’d seen enough in her to recognise, but didn’t expect to see now.
Profound sadness.
And finally, he was there, jumping onto the pier with a thud, tying up the boat. She was still just staring at him.
“Ah, you didn’t have to come all this way to greet me, Rachel,” he teased.
She glared at him for another second, then anger won over the other emotions.
“You… I’m gonna… Oh, you.. You…”
“I think the word you’re looking for is bastard,” he offered.
“Shut up!” she snapped.
“You shut up,” he said, trying to hide a grin.
“No, you shut up!” A smile were forming on her lips too, despite her best efforts to stay mad.
“Missed me have ya?”
“Kinda.”
“Kinda?” he said, hurt.
“You don’t deserve to be missed the way you just sailed off and left me, ya know.”
“I know. But ya missed me anyway, didn’t ya?”
“Yeah..”
And suddenly she was in his arms, sniffing a bit into his shoulder. She was thinner, he realised, but it was very much his Rachel, in his arms.
He grinned.
“If I’d know this was all it took to get you in my arms, I woulda sailed off a long time ago,” he joked.
She broke out of his embrace
“You...”
“Bastard,” he once again offered. She stared at him in mock anger for a second, then she took a swing at him.
He dodged it by taking a step forward, unfortunately, there was nothing to take a step on.
“Aaaaaw, shit,” he exclaimed and grabbed Rachel for support.
Unfortunately his aim was off, and he grabbed another part of her than her arm.
“Oops, sorry,” he said, but the tone of voice clearly stated that he wasn’t sorry at all.
She took another swing at him. She shouldn’t have. With a sickening realisation she felt herself go off balance and fall….
Into the water.
They both hit it with a giant splash. She emerged first, looking around her. The ocean was still.
“Frank? Where are ya, stop kidding will ya? Frank? Frank?? Francis Holloway, stop kidding with me!!”
Nothing. Only the still water. One breath, and then she went under, scouting, but seeing nothing. Horror filled her, and she emerged to the surface to take another breath.
“Looking for something?”
She would have jumped from the shock, but being in the water made that impossible, instead she almost swallowed a gallon of water. And there he was, a little to the left of her, treading the water.
“Damn you Frank, I thought you’d drowned!”
“Would ya give me mouth-to-mouth if I had?”
“Damnit, I…”
And suddenly the tears were there, unstoppable, tickling down her cheeks. Without a sound, she turned from a confused Frank and swam to shore, cursing him inside.
Damn him, damn him for leaving, and damn him for coming back and damn him for not being there when.. when…
“Rachel! Rachel, come on, I’m sorry! Come on, you know me, I was just teasing ya. Rachel!”
Finally reaching land, she ran off with his cries of her name ringing in her ears, begging her to stop. They were too much like Jack’s final words to her comfort.
And so she ran and ran, tears streaking her face.
~~~~~~~~~~
He found her half an hour later in his kitchen. He wasn’t sure what made him look there.. instinct perhaps. But surely, there she was, changed, no longer wet, but with black rings under her eyes. He briefly wondered why he hadn’t noticed them before, and realised it was probably the joy of seeing her again.
“Rachel…” he said softly, and she looked up at him.
“There’s nothing to drink here,” she stated simply.
“Umm.. no, ya know, when I left, I didn’t wanna leave good booze behind, so…”
“Yeah.”
She didn’t seem to be angry anymore, just… sad.
“What’s happened Rach? I know ya got every reason to be angry at me probably, but could ya at least tell me why? Ya know, so I can charm my way out of it again.”
She didn’t even blink at his attempt at humour.
“He died, Frank. Jack, I mean, he was stabbed.. he died in my arms…”
“Aaaaah, Rach, I’m sorry..”
“I loved him, Frank.”
He froze for a second, feeling hurt beyond reason even without really having a reason for it. He HAD left, he pointed out to himself. He had really no right to..
What Holloway, act like a jealous lover? You are ya know, even if ya never told her. You came back cos you loved her. Time to admit it.
Aaaah, shut up!!! another part of his brain screamed.
Rachel plunged on, seeming to not notice his silence.
“I’d just got over you leaving, and I’d finally admitted it to myself.. and then he died, you know, and whadda ya think my first thought was? Eh? It was you, damnit! I wanted you there so desperately I even said your name, and that was probably the last thing he heard… I wanted to tell him, and you ruined that too. And for 2 months now I’ve grieved, and waited…”
“Rachel, I’m…”
“I hate you!”
“No, you don’t.” She looked up at him again, waving between yelling at him, and admitting he was right.
“No I don’t,” she finally admitted.
“Not for the lack of trying, though,” she added.
“Geeez, thanks ever so much. “
“Frank?”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up, will ya, so I can kiss ya.”
He just stared at her.
“What? Ya just…”
A mock stare finally shut his mouth, and suddenly she was there beside him, leaning in to kiss him.
It was just a light brush of her lips against his, then she pulled back, to rest her head on his shoulder. And he held her, for an eternity, or just a second, he wasn’t sure, before she lifted her head to look him in the eyes.
“Want a beer, Holloway?” she asked simply.
Relief poured through him. She was gonna be alright, it was all gonna be alright. They’d get through this, like they’d got through countless other tragedies.
You and me, Rachel. Just ya wait and see.
“Thought you’d never ask,” he grinned, and she let her head rest on his shoulder again, but this time with a slight smile on her face.
And outside the sun was up over the horizon, a new day waking.
~~~~~~~~~~
If you walk out on me I’m walking after you
If you walk out on me I’m walking after you
If you walk out on me I’m walking after you
~~~~~~~~~~
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