Fic: "Winds of Fortune" (for wordclaim50)
Nov. 13th, 2005 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardTitle: "Winds of Fortune"
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bedlamsbard
Fandom and Pairing: CSI: NY, no pairing
Rating: PG
Prompt: 001: AU, family
Warnings: Nothing in this story is meant to offend anybody; I am merely attempting to capture the attitude of this time period.
Notes: A Western AU set in the fictional Arizona town of Sterling, circa 1870.
Summary: Old friends and past fortunes, strangers and dark tidings.
Even Danny raises his head and tips his hat as Mac passes by. There's a kicked look to the bouncer's face as usual, but Mac knows well enough that kicked isn't beaten and beaten isn't down and down isn't dead. There's more to this stray of Stella's than he'll ever know, the eyes of a man who has his secrets and keeps them close to his chest.
As his shoulder, Lindsay shivers and looks away as Danny glances toward her. Her gaze falls on Zao, and while the halfbreed's expression isn't friendly, it's not hostile either. He's been too much an outcast all his natural life to hate another of his kind. Lindsay may be all-white, but she's as much a strangers now as Zao has always been.
Stella's behind the bar, polishing the worn wood with an equally worn cloth. "Sheriff Taylor," she says as he approaches. "What can I do for you?"
Mac puts his hand on Lindsay's shoulder, and she flinches slightly. "I've brought you another stray, Miss Bonasera," he says, and hopes his voice betrays nothing. "Lindsay Monroe, Stella Bonasera, proprietor of La Bella Vita. Miss Monroe's fallen on some hard times. I was hoping you could take care of her until she's back on her feet."
Stella gives Lindsay a long look. There's consideration in her eyes, as well as cold calculation. Unnerved, Mac glances aside, to the table where Zao and Danny deal out cards and watch them with unashamed curiosity.
"Of course," Stella says. She sets down the rag and steps out from behind the bar to take Lindsay's arm. "When have I ever said no, Mac? You know me. We're all family here."
Mac glances around again as Stella calls Danny over. There's new wood on the stairs and part of the floor has been refinished since the last time he was here. A good half the tables are new, and while the piano is old and clearly well-used, it's also unfamiliar. "You've done nice things with the place, Miss Bonasera."
Stella quirks her eyebrows in irritation. "Well, I couldn't leave it the way it was after you left."
Mac flushes. "Nevertheless, it's an - an improvement on the previous decor."
"That's not exactly hard," Stella says. But she's smiling now, genuine and friendly, and Mac starts to smile tentatively back just as the sound of pounding hoofbeats reaches their ears.
"Sheriff Taylor!"
He knows that voice. Aiden Burn, though she and Flack aren't due back in Sterling for at least another week at the earliest estimate. He and Stella glance toward each other, and Zao stands up.
"Sheriff Taylor!" Aiden yells again. "Are you there? Stella!"
"We're both here, Aiden!" Mac shouts back.
There's a moment where all he hears is the jingling of reins, then the door's thrown open and sunlight floods the room, cut by a dark shadow. "Bad news," Aiden says, and her eyes flick toward Danny at the top of the stairs. "Gavin Moran's been murdered in Yuma, and there's plague on the road."
The table.
Author:
bedlamsbardFandom and Pairing: CSI: NY, no pairing
Rating: PG
Prompt: 001: AU, family
Warnings: Nothing in this story is meant to offend anybody; I am merely attempting to capture the attitude of this time period.
Notes: A Western AU set in the fictional Arizona town of Sterling, circa 1870.
Summary: Old friends and past fortunes, strangers and dark tidings.
Even Danny raises his head and tips his hat as Mac passes by. There's a kicked look to the bouncer's face as usual, but Mac knows well enough that kicked isn't beaten and beaten isn't down and down isn't dead. There's more to this stray of Stella's than he'll ever know, the eyes of a man who has his secrets and keeps them close to his chest.
As his shoulder, Lindsay shivers and looks away as Danny glances toward her. Her gaze falls on Zao, and while the halfbreed's expression isn't friendly, it's not hostile either. He's been too much an outcast all his natural life to hate another of his kind. Lindsay may be all-white, but she's as much a strangers now as Zao has always been.
Stella's behind the bar, polishing the worn wood with an equally worn cloth. "Sheriff Taylor," she says as he approaches. "What can I do for you?"
Mac puts his hand on Lindsay's shoulder, and she flinches slightly. "I've brought you another stray, Miss Bonasera," he says, and hopes his voice betrays nothing. "Lindsay Monroe, Stella Bonasera, proprietor of La Bella Vita. Miss Monroe's fallen on some hard times. I was hoping you could take care of her until she's back on her feet."
Stella gives Lindsay a long look. There's consideration in her eyes, as well as cold calculation. Unnerved, Mac glances aside, to the table where Zao and Danny deal out cards and watch them with unashamed curiosity.
"Of course," Stella says. She sets down the rag and steps out from behind the bar to take Lindsay's arm. "When have I ever said no, Mac? You know me. We're all family here."
Mac glances around again as Stella calls Danny over. There's new wood on the stairs and part of the floor has been refinished since the last time he was here. A good half the tables are new, and while the piano is old and clearly well-used, it's also unfamiliar. "You've done nice things with the place, Miss Bonasera."
Stella quirks her eyebrows in irritation. "Well, I couldn't leave it the way it was after you left."
Mac flushes. "Nevertheless, it's an - an improvement on the previous decor."
"That's not exactly hard," Stella says. But she's smiling now, genuine and friendly, and Mac starts to smile tentatively back just as the sound of pounding hoofbeats reaches their ears.
"Sheriff Taylor!"
He knows that voice. Aiden Burn, though she and Flack aren't due back in Sterling for at least another week at the earliest estimate. He and Stella glance toward each other, and Zao stands up.
"Sheriff Taylor!" Aiden yells again. "Are you there? Stella!"
"We're both here, Aiden!" Mac shouts back.
There's a moment where all he hears is the jingling of reins, then the door's thrown open and sunlight floods the room, cut by a dark shadow. "Bad news," Aiden says, and her eyes flick toward Danny at the top of the stairs. "Gavin Moran's been murdered in Yuma, and there's plague on the road."
The table.