Sunday Snippet: Fits and Starts

WooHoo! The Walking Dead is back tonight! So excited to see what happens next.

In other TV news, Arrow and Bitten continue to eat my brain, so much so, I've decided to dust off my Universes Altered blog and start recapping the episodes. Hopefully if I do weekly brain dumps, I'll have more space in my head. :D

What else? Almost Human, Lost Girl, and Helix are still must see. And Banshee, gotta take a moment to mention Friday's episode. I loved it. Usually, there's so much going on it's hard to keep up—I love that, don't get me wrong—but I seriously enjoyed having a tight focus on Lucas and Carrie/Ana this week. I don't know, for such an almost quiet episode, some big shifts occurred. Important ones, I think. But I'm really excited to see the next episode when shit goes sideways and everything is back to normal. J

Tonight's post is from Fits and Starts, a novella where my main female character gets her life back on track by fits and starts. So far, it's been a rough ride, but I'm loving how Pru makes slow progress.

Here's the tagline:

After escaping from a madman's clutches, Pru Stark can't quite find her footing again. She pushes her man, Dane Callaway, away and refuses to see the little girl she saved. Dane can give her space, but he won't stay on the sidelines, not when Pru needs him the most, even if she can't quite admit it. 

And a snippety peek...

Pru burst through Dane's open door, waving her fitrep back and forth. "What the hell is this, Dane." She held the report in front of her. "Request for active status, denied." She pinned him with her gaze. "Why are keeping me from work?"

Dane closed the file on his desk and leaned back in his seat. "Did you read your psych eval, Pru? Doc says you're not ready, and I’m not gonna argue with her." He nodded toward the extra chair. "Have a seat and we'll talk about what needs to happen before you're cleared for work."

She threw the fitrep on the cluttered surface. "I don't want to 'talk'. I've done every damned thing you and your creeptastic team of medical professionals asked."

He shook his head. "Except the one thing you need to do."

Damn the man. She whirled around, pacing back and forth. No one would make her do something against her will again. Or convince her she had to do what they said because she needed some stupid form of closure. Maybe if Dane's group of gurus had their entire life rewritten through drugs and mind games, she'd credit them with having a clue. Until then… they could kiss her ass.

And so could Dane.

She stopped and spun to face him. "You know what, Dane? That fitrep is bullshit." She dropped down into the chair. "They don't have the right to keep me from working. And neither do you."

Dane leaned forward, placing his forearms on the desk. "I sign the paychecks, Pru. Pretty much gives me the right to do whatever I feel is necessary to keep my people safe." He held her gaze. "Sending you out in the field before you're ready isn't going to help anyone." He held up a hand. "And yes, what happened to you is playing a big role in why I'm not taking any more chances."

Pru rolled her eyes. "What happened to me? You have no idea what I went through, Dane. What they made me believe." He only knew what she wanted him to know.

Dane's mouth twisted in a sad smile. "You'd be surprised, Pru. It doesn't take a genius to put the pieces together." He sighed. "But you're right. I don't everything. And that's how you want it." He settled back again. "But you're missing a piece of your soul right now and that little kid has it. You either get it back, by seeing that she's okay and happy with her family, or you walk around with a sucking flesh wound for the rest of your natural life." He met her gaze. "It's your choice."

She hated him so much. She'd happily punch him in the face—except it would give him a reason to send her back to the therapist's office.

She hopped up and paced the confines of the room. "I can't. I just can't be around her right now."

Dane shook his head. "No, Pru, you won't. There's a difference. Nothing's stopping you, but you." He waited a beat. "She misses you. Her pretty angel."

Tears sprang and Pru fought hard to keep them from falling. "I'm not an angel and you know it." Her resolve hardened. "And she'll get over it. She'll forget me soon enough and move on with her happy life."

Dane countered. "A life you could be part of, if you'd stop being so damned scared. She's got room in her heart for you." He softened his tone. "You saved her life, Pru. She's not going to forget that, regardless of how young she is."

Pru snorted. "Jesus, do you hear yourself?" She scoffed. "Since when did you become an expert?"

Dane shrugged. "I'm not. You know I’m not. But I can read and do research."

Pru's eyes widened. "Why would you do that?"

Dane heaved a sigh. "Because I love you and you're a giant ball of pain. Anything I can do to ease how badly you're suffering, I'll try. Knowing how one little girl turned you inside out seemed like the best place to start."

Pru shook her head. "She's not the one who turned everything sideways. The group who had her did the damage." She sank back onto the chair. "And I am afraid. I'm afraid seeing her will take me right back to that fucking place and I'll lose it again." She blew out a harsh breath. "It's not her fault, but I don't want to ever blame that little girl… and we know I could. I won't take a chance and possibly hurt her." She met Dane's gaze. "Because then they win, and I'm not okay with that."

Dane nodded, a satisfied gleam in his eye. "And there we have it… progress."

This story is in the infant stages, but I'm really excited to see how all comes together. J

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin