FIC: Broken English - Part 4 (Ethan/Giles) - R

[estepheia]

My Ethan-ficathon story finally continues...
Only a very short update today, more a teaser than an actual chapter, but I wanted to let you know that I haven't abandoned this story, even if I posted a Spander fic yesterday.... Anyway, the next chapter is almost finished. If only I could stop tinkering... Hee.

Ethan-ficathon Masterlist

TITLE: Broken English Part 4
PAIRING: Giles/Ethan
RATING: will eventually be R
SPOILERS: Set after 8x04 The Long Way Home (comics); set in Germany, btw
PROMPT: a vacation or roadtrip, magic, slash
WRITTEN FOR: spikendru

PREVIOUS PARTS: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

“I didn’t. Cheat. Death.” The words come out like pistol shots. “Your Slayer was too late. I took a bullet to the head. I died Rupert.”

Giles would have sworn that his hands are rock-steady, but with a violent swerve the BMW proves him wrong.

Part 4

Slow motion is for movies, not for real life accidents. When the car skids to the right it happens faster than fast, leaving Ethan no time to congratulate himself on the crack in Rupert’s composure. 

He catches a glimpse of Giles's frantic attempts to regain control. At the same time, Ethan senses a sudden surge of power. Pure chaos. Wound up tight like a clockwork, but unraveling fast.

Bugger.

Spinning madly, the BMW skates over the slippery mix of ice, rain and sleet, reducing its passengers to helpless crash-test dummies. Its headlights hack and slice through the dark, outlining the crash barrier a fraction of a second before the heavy limousine punches through it.

The loud bang and explosive chime of safety glass turning opaque register later, almost like an afterthought. The car tilts. For a fleeting, spine-tingling moment gravity relinquishes its power over the car and the two men inside. Chaos takes a deep breath...

...Ethan gropes around for the lashing tendrils of power...

...and then the car nosedives. It hits the ground with devastating force, bounces, rolls over, and over and over,  tossing its two passengers around like rag dolls in a tumble dryer... Dark shapes leap at the gaping hole where the windshield used to be. Ethan jerks up his arms to shield his face. Hears the staccato of splintering timber, feels a small stab of pain as the bright spark of a nearby life force is snuffed out, and then...

Silence.

TBC

*chuckles.* I know, it's evil to stop there. But you shouldn't have to wait long for the next update. I have four hours of writing scheduled for tomorrow morning. :-)

Comments

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Ack! You are evil! Will our heroes make it out in more or less one piece?
Btw, Ethan gropes around for the lashinig tendrils of power should be "lashing".

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Ack! You are evil!
I knoooow. Heee.
Sorry, I couldn't resist posting this cliffhanger. *cackles*

Thank you for the pimp in your LJ and for leaving feedback. *smooch*

[philips.livejournal.com]

Aaargh!
But that wreck was incredibly well written. The motion of it all really captured me.
Thank you for promising more though.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Thank you.
Tomorrow hubby will take the kids to dance practice. And I will finish that chapter. *looks determined*

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

And ouch again.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

*cackles evilly*

[spikendru.livejournal.com]

Oooo! Love the cliffhanger! And it's even more exciting stopping here with more to come than if this was a whole chapter. The wreck is just . . . so visceral and immediate; the reader is grabbed and shaken and feels every moment of the experience. Well done!

But, ohmigod! The ending! [Ethan]feels a small stab of pain as the bright spark of a nearby life force is snuffed out, and then... Please tell me they hit a deer or something! Giles is not dead! Ethan is not dead! Neither Giles or Ethan are dead! La la la. EthanandGilesandSnapearenotdead. La la la.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Bwaahaaa, your feedback is adorable. YOU are adorable.
*smooches you*
Would Estepheia kill off a character you care for in a fic written for you? Would she do that to you? Well?

Heee.

[antennapedia.livejournal.com]

Aaaaaaaaah!

Love the writing of the accident-- it's the sort of thing that present tense really works for, all rushy and immediate and ooooof. And I'm with spikendru-- no no no no no none of these people are dead.

Glad you're continuing soon!

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Heee.
Dead? Well, we'll soon see, won't we. *cackles*
Thank you for reading and commenting.

[shapinglight]

Catching up on this story now and - eek!

Also, that it a terrifying and all too realistic description of a car crash.

[hello-spikey.livejournal.com]

You. Are. EVIL.

Thank god I'm reading these after they are all posted, or I might have to call upon the forces of chaos to wedgie you!

(FYI - Looooove the image of chaos causing power and grasping for the tendrils of it. Hope Ethan was able to grab enough to keep Rupes in the oxegen-carbon exchanging club!)

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

You're keeping me very entertained with your feedback!!! Thank you so much.

I'm not prolific anymore, so this chapter-by-chapter feedback is a real treat!!!