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hestia8This one, people, is not even a Spooks fic.
The Hour fic, set post episode 4, I think (disclaimer - I haven't rewatched the show in quite some time).
Title: I think it’s best you keep your distance
Summary: Lix knows what ambition can do
Disclaimer: not mine, nothing to do with me
Notes: a bit of a character thing, because Lix is awesome.
Title from Laura Marling’s Old Stone, seen on a Tumblr graphic here: reddenim.tumblr.com/post/17499283917 because I cannot think of my own titles.
Thanks to delgaserasca for the beta, which she did an embarrassingly long time ago.
--
Lix gets caught out one morning – paranoia is useful, but it’s difficult to keep up long-term – but it isn’t in quite the way she expects.
She knows they’re in desperate need of someone to replace Kish – of course she does, it’s her who’s dealing with the fallout - but she’d rather hoped there were a good few names on the list before they got to Lorna Trembath.
Whoever booked her either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about Lorna’s habits, because here she is in the corridor, chatting to Freddie, cheerful as can be. Lix takes a moment just to watch her before putting her game face on and walking through the doors.
Freddie turns as the doors open, sees her coming, and blushes. She’s going to have to have a word with him about that. He can’t go around wearing his heart on his sleeve all the time. It’s an excellent way to get it broken, she thinks, and then Lorna’s turning too, and she’s smiling at Lix. Lix remembers that smile and knows the kind of trouble it gets her into, but just for a moment it’s hard to remember why that matters.
“Lix! So lovely to see you again. Large as life and twice as glamorous.”
Don’t fall for this, Lix tells herself, don’t.
“Lorna,” Lix says, not acknowledging the compliment. “You’re here for the languages?”
“Oh, you know me,” Lorna says blithely. “I just follow the work.”
Oh, I know that, darling, Lix thinks, but outwardly she just smiles and tells Freddie she’ll take it from here. Part of her wants to send Lorna away, tell her this is mine and you can’t have it, but she’s better than that. Lorna will get bored soon enough, anyway.
--
Back when the world was young and even Clarence could only dream of running things his own way, Lix Storm went by the less exciting name of Elizabeth Shaw, and she was unhappy and dispirited in a well-known girls’ school famous for turning out excellent young ladies who went on to marry all sorts of important men.
The one bright spot in amongst all the disappointment was Lorna Trembath. They were best friends, inseparable, and never mind marrying the right sort of man, they were going to take over the world and they were going to do it together.
After leaving school with the best results in the year, they attended the same university, living together in a rickety old house where the pipes leaked and it was always cold. They both came out with Firsts and, in Lix’s case, an additional (and useful) knowledge of plumbing.
There followed a succession of badly-paid jobs and flats that were only bearable because the memories of their university digs were fresh in their minds. Even now, it sometimes seemed to Lix that the happiest time of her life had been when she barely had two pennies to rub together, but then, that was the time she was in love.
--
The problem wasn’t that Lorna didn’t return her feelings. After Lix confessed, she claimed that she did, but it quickly became obvious that it wasn’t going to work. Lorna was more interested in men, and Lix had never liked being second best.
They somehow went from friends to lovers and back to friends without too much trouble, but along the way Lix forgot about Lorna’s ambition, and that was the real problem. That’s how she knows what Bel needs to look out for.
Lorna has left her in the lurch not once, but twice, chasing the better deal, the higher profile, and now here she is again, now that The Hour’s doing well in the ratings. She was probably approached before, when they were starting up. She probably decided to wait and see how things went before taking any risk herself.
She’s not getting her claws in this time, Lix decides. She’s not going to get what she wants from The Hour and then walk away, taking half the crew with her on a promise. Lix warned Bel about Hector, and even if she’s usually excellent at ignoring her own advice, this time she’s going to take it.
The Hour fic, set post episode 4, I think (disclaimer - I haven't rewatched the show in quite some time).
Title: I think it’s best you keep your distance
Summary: Lix knows what ambition can do
Disclaimer: not mine, nothing to do with me
Notes: a bit of a character thing, because Lix is awesome.
Title from Laura Marling’s Old Stone, seen on a Tumblr graphic here: reddenim.tumblr.com/post/17499283917 because I cannot think of my own titles.
Thanks to delgaserasca for the beta, which she did an embarrassingly long time ago.
--
Lix gets caught out one morning – paranoia is useful, but it’s difficult to keep up long-term – but it isn’t in quite the way she expects.
She knows they’re in desperate need of someone to replace Kish – of course she does, it’s her who’s dealing with the fallout - but she’d rather hoped there were a good few names on the list before they got to Lorna Trembath.
Whoever booked her either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about Lorna’s habits, because here she is in the corridor, chatting to Freddie, cheerful as can be. Lix takes a moment just to watch her before putting her game face on and walking through the doors.
Freddie turns as the doors open, sees her coming, and blushes. She’s going to have to have a word with him about that. He can’t go around wearing his heart on his sleeve all the time. It’s an excellent way to get it broken, she thinks, and then Lorna’s turning too, and she’s smiling at Lix. Lix remembers that smile and knows the kind of trouble it gets her into, but just for a moment it’s hard to remember why that matters.
“Lix! So lovely to see you again. Large as life and twice as glamorous.”
Don’t fall for this, Lix tells herself, don’t.
“Lorna,” Lix says, not acknowledging the compliment. “You’re here for the languages?”
“Oh, you know me,” Lorna says blithely. “I just follow the work.”
Oh, I know that, darling, Lix thinks, but outwardly she just smiles and tells Freddie she’ll take it from here. Part of her wants to send Lorna away, tell her this is mine and you can’t have it, but she’s better than that. Lorna will get bored soon enough, anyway.
--
Back when the world was young and even Clarence could only dream of running things his own way, Lix Storm went by the less exciting name of Elizabeth Shaw, and she was unhappy and dispirited in a well-known girls’ school famous for turning out excellent young ladies who went on to marry all sorts of important men.
The one bright spot in amongst all the disappointment was Lorna Trembath. They were best friends, inseparable, and never mind marrying the right sort of man, they were going to take over the world and they were going to do it together.
After leaving school with the best results in the year, they attended the same university, living together in a rickety old house where the pipes leaked and it was always cold. They both came out with Firsts and, in Lix’s case, an additional (and useful) knowledge of plumbing.
There followed a succession of badly-paid jobs and flats that were only bearable because the memories of their university digs were fresh in their minds. Even now, it sometimes seemed to Lix that the happiest time of her life had been when she barely had two pennies to rub together, but then, that was the time she was in love.
--
The problem wasn’t that Lorna didn’t return her feelings. After Lix confessed, she claimed that she did, but it quickly became obvious that it wasn’t going to work. Lorna was more interested in men, and Lix had never liked being second best.
They somehow went from friends to lovers and back to friends without too much trouble, but along the way Lix forgot about Lorna’s ambition, and that was the real problem. That’s how she knows what Bel needs to look out for.
Lorna has left her in the lurch not once, but twice, chasing the better deal, the higher profile, and now here she is again, now that The Hour’s doing well in the ratings. She was probably approached before, when they were starting up. She probably decided to wait and see how things went before taking any risk herself.
She’s not getting her claws in this time, Lix decides. She’s not going to get what she wants from The Hour and then walk away, taking half the crew with her on a promise. Lix warned Bel about Hector, and even if she’s usually excellent at ignoring her own advice, this time she’s going to take it.
