Lucky Number Slevin, PG-13

[morphinelovexx.livejournal.com]

 Title: Four Times Henry Fell in Love (and one time he could have)
Fandom: Lucky Number S7evin
Pairing: Henry/OC's, Henry/Goodkat, Henry/Lindsey
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything other than the DVD and a laptop on which to write my pathetic fanfic.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Character Death, my writing, numerical and artistic liberties
Author's Notes: Interesting things happen when I'm left all alone with fic idea. I think this is the first time I've ever actually finished a 'five times' thing, so I hope everything was up to par. The last time on here was taken from the alternate ending of the movie, so I'd watch that or it's probably not gonna make any sense. As usual, the lovely and loquatious napalmiris played the part of my beta. Seriously, folks, if she didn't force me to post you'd never see me again. Enjoy!

 

Melissa Goldblum lived in the apartment next to theirs and had a loud, drunk father. Sometimes Melissa would come over because her father got too loud and abusive, and it would be like a sleep over. On his seventh birthday, Melissa stayed over because it was easier than going home, and in his room under a fort of chairs and blankets, she kissed him. "I love you, Henry." They blushed hot red and giggled. Henry took her face in his hand and grinned. "I love you too, Melissa. And I always will."

A week later Melissa's mother left her father and took Melissa with her. Henry didn't cry like she did - he just watched her leave with a frown.

 

*

When Henry was seven-and-three-quarters, he watched his first baseball game with his dad and fell instantly in love with the sport. Henry bought a glove and ball the very next day, and there were a lot of half-games of catch on the asphalt in front of the apartments with his dad. Henry absorbed everything about baseball; he could name entire teams by heart and give better stats than any card. When Henry's dad promises him that they'll go to a real game after the race track, he takes it to heart. He sees the whole day in his head, what game and who's playing, going to the stadium with his dad, maybe mom would even tag along.

After his dad is dead, Henry doesn't think he'll ever see a game until Mr. Goodkat surprises him with tickets to a Met's game on his eleventh birthday.

*

When Henry is fifteen, Mr. Goodkat tells him to get lost for a few hours while he takes care of business. They're in Venice, so there are plenty of sights to see, but Henry is feeling just a little melancholy because he thought Mr. Goodkat was done leaving him out of these things. So Henry stumbles into a bar and grille, and the bartender serves Henry drinks without asking questions because with a face like his there must be a good reason he's drinking alone. It's here that he meets Marietta, a beautiful girl with dark hair and eyes and a smile that entices Henry to buy her a drink. He follows her back to her place and when Henry wakes up in the morning she's making breakfast. She kisses him over the stove and asks why he’s in Italy. Henry doesn't answer.

They spend a month together before Henry questions Mr. Goodkat's reason for staying so long. When he says he can't find his mark because they've been lying low, Henry gets a sinking feeling. He goes to Marietta's apartment, but she isn't there. She left him a note about getting groceries. When Henry gets back to the room Mr. Goodkat rented, they're both packed.

In the newspaper that week there's the story of a young woman who was murdered while walking home from the store. There were no leads.

*

When Henry turns twenty three, he makes his first move on Mr. Goodkat. It's a little weird, kissing his surrogate father, but the thought leaves him when Mr. Goodkat kisses back. For everything they've been through together, the transition from semi-partners to semi-lovers isn't so hard. They spend days with silencers and maps, meeting clients and collecting money, and at night they share a bed instead of renting a room with two. It's comfortable, it's familiar. Soon, Henry forgets how they met and what he'd planned to do because just being with Mr. Goodkat seems like enough. Melting into him at night, dipping forward to steal kisses before a shower in the morning and wrenching moans from his mentor at night with well-placed kisses and hard thrusts.

Then one day Mr. Goodkat tells him to pick a new name and start thinking of a back story; they're going to New York to settle business. In that moment, Henry loves him just a little.

*

Lindsey was beautiful. She was smart and she knew all about James Bond. She was perfect-the girl that Henry had dreamt of when he was young and idealistic. She had a cute freckle on her hip and some of the softest lips that Henry had ever kissed. When they lay in bed and talked it was the most comfortable and easy conversation that Henry ever had. Her hair was perfect to twine his fingers in, her body fit to his like they were made for one another. Adam and Eve. When this was all over, her and Henry could have a happily ever after. The problem with this theory, is that it's based on the fact that Henry is a real person.

Slevin Kelevra came here to bury Henry, along with his troubled past. A past that now included Lindsey. He hesitated when he stepped into the morgue and watched her back for several heartbeats. When she turned he looked her in the eye. "I'll always remember you as the woman with the deceptively tall knock." He pulled the trigger twice and watched her fall. When it was over, Slevin swallowed past the lump in his throat and lowered his gun.

It could have been, but it wasn't. Shame.

Comments

[angstbunny.livejournal.com]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh, I've wanted fic for this movie, like, SO. FUCKING. BAD. If I let out the full force of my flail, I'd probably freak you out. :/// I've secretly 'shipped Slevin/Goodkat, so this fic is like AHHHHHHHH.

Anyway, actual feedback: I love Five Things. It's all about possibilities and filling between the lines. The first section is innocence, and it's sad in an "awww" sort of way, but I like how you set up the loss right from that first part. Henry seems to be always losing things and people, but Goodkat, in a bizarre way, gives things back to him, like in the second section with the baseball.

The third part broke my heart. 'Cause that's Goodkat taking something away from him. And the fact that Henry seems almost kinda resigned about it is even sadder. That's the life he leads now. Nomadic and alone.

Fourth part, um, made me kinda flip, 'cause as I said, I've wanted Slevin/Goodkat SO BAD, and nobody has written it. I LOVE the idea that Henry/Slevin is willing to settle for good enough, but Goodkat is the one who remembers and never forgets and prods him back on the path toward vengeance, which is equal parts "awww" and fucked up, especially when that is what makes Henry love Goodkat just a little bit.

And the last bit. Oh man. Good look at the emotion behind the alternate ending. I've always been kinda torn about that ending, because it would've been the incredibly brutal, balls-out, no-sympathy ending, which would've matched more with what was set up, that Slevin spent his WHOLE LIFE setting up his revenge. That's a cold mofo right there. But I can understand why they couldn't have gone with it, and I understand that sometimes going too harsh is not necessarily a good thing. But I like your exploration of that alternative. How Slevin is there to bury Henry, I love that line. He's there to put all that to rest, fulfill his life's goal, and then he'll move on, and he can't move on with somebody who is even remotely entangled in his revenge. So yeah. Shame. :(

Thank you so so SO much for writing this and for posting it.