[fic] [100 women] Standoff - Before The Storm

[calleigh_j]

Title: Before The Storm
Fandom: Standoff
Author: calleigh_j
Rating: PG
Warnings/Spoilers: Set in the first few minutes of 'Man Of Steele'
Pairings: None
Word Count: 382
Disclaimer: Don't own; making no money
Summary: She lives for the storm
Author's Note: written for 100_women prompt 079 – Red, and the character of Emily Lehman from Standoff. Unbeta-ed; written to stave off boredom and post-holiday blues



The red lights go on on all the phones in the room, and it's back to business. The few moments of laughter and discussion end the minute Cheryl picks up the receiver and says the magic words: Crisis Negotiation.

There's silence in the room as Cheryl listens to the voice on the other end of the line, and Emily breathes it in, knowing that there'll be nothing but chaos once the call is over.

She cherishes this time; the calm before the proverbial storm. It gives her a chance to remind herself of what she has to do, of everything she's ever learnt about hostage situations, or at least the Cliff Notes. She knows it all, start to finish, but it's how she prepares; her little ritual.

She's the only one though: the only one who sees the silence as a good thing. Leah sits at her computer, staring intently at Cheryl, and Emily can see her friend's fingers twitching as they hover over the keyboard, just waiting for something to happen. By her side, Matt's struggling to keep still, energy surging through him as he wills time to pass faster and Cheryl to get off the phone. Even Cheryl herself is impatient for action, her hand clenched tightly around the receiver.

All too soon the call ends, and Cheryl's barking out instructions to every person in the room, and a good few people not even present. Emily herself has three tasks before she's out the door, and the chaos is all around them. She thrives on the responsibility placed upon her and the adrenaline rush of the negotiation, but she couldn't get through it without those moments beforehand.

She lives for the storm, but it's the calm that keeps her safe, that keeps her talking and thinking and standing when the stress might otherwise overwhelm her. She lives for the storm, but it's the calm that gives her time to get ready for whatever's going to happen. She lives for the storm, but when it all comes down to it, you can't get the storm without the calm, so she'll use it and make it work, and she'll come through the other side. She...

“Emily? Are you coming?” She grins, and follows Matt out of the door and into the storm.

Comments

[speckleberry.livejournal.com]

This is the first Standoff fic i've read. I love it, this was really good!

I've been thinking of joining 100_women but i don't know, you think i should?

[calleigh-j.livejournal.com]

Thank you! There's some awesome Standoff fic out there, there really is.

Yes - join! Join!

[cnnjunky.livejournal.com]

There is?! Then why is most that I've read so bad? *pouts* Any recs? *makes puppy eyes*

[calleigh-j.livejournal.com]

There is, though there's some really bad stuff out there as well. I'll try and dig out some links in the morning.

[cnnjunky.livejournal.com]

*happy dance* Thank you. I might just have to go to bed now anyways ;)

[calleigh-j.livejournal.com]

Yeah - bed is good. Recs hopefully in the morning, or else sometime during the day, if work's not too busy.

[speckleberry.livejournal.com]

I joined....*wibbles*

[calleigh-j.livejournal.com]

*grins* Yay! And you posted already - that's pretty impressive. I have three other fics for the comm on the go, and I just can't them done - I keep getting to where I want the last line to be, and can't write it, so they get longer and longer.

[cnnjunky.livejournal.com]

Adores it. That's some nice inside you're giving there *beamsÜ

[calleigh-j.livejournal.com]

Yay, glad you liked it!

[sarahsoph.livejournal.com]

Wow! That was awesome! I have to agree that there really aren't that many good fics around the place for Standoff, but this is definitely one of them.

And I've seen the episode it's about!