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[cmk418]

drsquidlove threw out the idea of Harrison Beecher/Claire Howell fic in the probably no-longer-slashy ozslash community the other day and I took it and ran with it.

Thanks, trillingstar for the nightstick.

It's pretty tame. Harrison's POV. Season Five.



Don’t think of him as… that. Think of him as just another defendant. You cannot let him get to you the way he got to Tobias, Harrison thought as he walked down the corridor.

A loud clattering noise shook him out of his thoughts. He glanced over at the female prison guard, who bent down to retrieve the nightstick that had tumbled out of her hand.

“Whoops,” she said, looking over her shoulder at him. He noticed how the fabric of her pants pulled tight, accenting the curve of her very pleasantly shaped rear end.

She took her time straightening up. Harrison had the impression that she may have been flirting with him, which seemed a little preposterous. No one had flirted with him in years. Not since Karen, the temporary secretary that his office had hired when Jeanine was out on maternity leave. Karen’s motivations had been easy to see through – she’d wanted a permanent position in the firm and was willing to use any means necessary to get it.

This woman with the long hair in front of him, tied back in a ponytail that he could grip while she… well, there was nothing that she could possibly want from him, was there? She had a job to do, escort him through the building where he came every week, only this time through unfamiliar corridors to face the man that his son loved. He’d only seen Keller once before, several years ago, during a visitation with his son. He could see the way Tobias’ eyes lit up as he caught sight of the dark haired man through the window, the way his focus shifted from his children, and Harrison’s focus had shifted for a moment as well.

He felt her fingers curve around his arm. “Wait,” she said, stalling his movements as she stepped forward to enter a code into a keypad that would open the door.

As he followed her down the corridor, he could still feel the slight pressure of her grip. He could imagine her using that same grip on a prisoner that she wrestled into submission. He wondered how many times she had to do that, how many times had she pressed a knee into someone’s back as she forced the prisoner into handcuffs.

“We’re here,” she said, arresting his attention once again.

He looked at the man sitting alone at the table. Keller looked from Harrison to the female guard and then smiled. It was as if Keller could read Harrison’s thoughts and for a moment, Harrison felt like he was the one who had committed a crime.

Comments

[vanillalime]

Wow, this was great. It's amazing how you took such a (seemingly) ridiculous pairing and made something believable out of it. (drsquidlove has a magical knack for planting these seeds.)

He wondered how many times she had to do that, how many times had she pressed a knee into someone’s back as she forced the prisoner into handcuffs.

Oh, I thought how deliciously ironic it would be if Claire had done exactly that to Toby at some point. But I've racked my brain, and for all the times Toby was manhandled by guards, I don't think she was one of them. But still... I love that Harrison doesn't make the connection that Toby could very well have been one of those prisoners. That look of shock he had during Gary's kidnapping when Toby flips out and needs to be restrained-- so heartbreaking, he realizes he doesn't know his own son anymore.

Gah, the more I think about this and what you've done, the more I love it. I'm friending you, in hopes that you have additional Harrison/Claire (or other rare pairing goodies) in the future. :) (also, McManus/Murphy!)

[cmk418]

Thank you so much! I got such a kick out of writing this and it seems to have given me the writing bug again which is always good.

Interesting that you brought up that Toby could have been one of those prisoners manhandled by Claire - it was honestly something that didn't cross my mind when writing it. I think that Harrison knows that Toby is in prison, but he doesn't see Toby as one of "those" prisoners.

There will probably be more of this in the future - it'll get a little hand-wavey toward canon eventually, but there's something about them that is just a lot of fun to write.

I can't believe I haven't friended you yet. (That has been rectified, by the way). And yes, there might be a little McManus/Murphy in these pages. ;)

[vanillalime]

ZOMG, I just started looking through that list of McManus fic that you compiled, and I'm so excited! It looks like there's some excellent Murphy stuff there! I can't wait to dig in, thanks for putting that together and maintaining it.

I can't believe I haven't friended you yet. (That has been rectified, by the way).

Hmm, just to let you know, if you meant to friend me, something must have gone wrong, because I don't think it happened.

[cmk418]

Hmmm. I did it through messages, but I guess it didn't take. I've redone it properly now.

BTW, if you've written anything with McManus as a primary character and it's not on the list, let me know and I'll add it. I usually go through HT100 and the drabble trees every so often, but if there's anything else out there, I might not have caught it.

[vanillalime]

Well, there was my McManus hockey tournament story from last summer's Prompt-A-Thon, A Goal with an Assist. Also, if you're including drabbles, I wrote a McManus/Murphy drabble for each of the last two drabble trees, here and here.

[cmk418]

Thank you for the links - I updated the list. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to re-check the Prompt-a-thon because I even failed to post my own fic to the list until I was updating the other day.

Gave me another chance to be tickled by the McManus hockey story you wrote for my prompt.