A Road Not Taken…Divergence and Convergence (PG-13)

[librarian_7]

For Champagne Challenge #129. Sometimes, we take a different path, and while the journey varies, the destination may be much the same...

Two quick notes: I don't own much of anything. And, uh, this is a sad one.

A Road Not Taken…Divergence and Convergence

As Mick and Beth stood waiting, Josef slid open the doors to a spacious, well-appointed room, dominated by a large bed holding a still figure. He crossed over to the far side of the bed, looking down with haunted, sorrowing eyes at the woman sleeping there. All around the bed, medical equipment blinked and beeped, the soft whir of machines keeping her alive.

“Mick—Beth—this is Sarah. Sarah Whitley Fitzgerald,” he said, stroking the hair back from her forehead, gently.

Mick and Beth glanced at each other, astonished.

The woman lifted a withered hand, and laid it on Josef’s where he’d leaned over her on the bed.

“Charles?” she said, “Is that you?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, it’s me.”

“Is there someone with you?” She turned her head, sightless eyes searching in her blackness. “You never bring anyone here.” Her voice was almost inaudible, as though it was too much of an effort to speak.

“I brought a couple of friends. Mick St. John, and his—his friend, Beth Turner.”

Sarah smiled, her lined face lighting. “I’m so glad, Charles. Glad you have friends with you.” She directed her next comments to the newcomers. “Charles has told me so much about you, Mick, I feel as if I know you. You’re a good friend to him, I know. And Beth, I’m happy to meet you, too.”

Josef stroked her forehead again. “Sarah, you shouldn’t tire yourself out.”

“I’m all right.” She smiled up at him, even as her voice faded away. “I’m always all right when you’re here.”

“I want to talk to Mick for a minute; I’ll be right back, all right?” He signaled Beth to come closer. “Beth will stay with you.”

The old woman smiled, faintly, and murmured, “I love you, Charles.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

Beth thought she’d never heard his voice so gentle, or seen his face so alight.

Out in the hallway, Mick quirked an eyebrow at Josef. “Okay, what’s going on?”

“She’s my wife,” Josef replied flatly. “We married in 1955.”

Mick wiped a hand across his mouth, trying to process the information. “And you never told me about this?”

Josef smiled and shook his head. “We all have secrets, Mick.”

“Yeah, but—”

“I didn’t want her exposed to my world. She’s my haven, Mick. I knew, as soon as I met her, she was something special.” He looked up, unwilling for his friend to see what was in his eyes, but Mick could hear the pain in his voice. “I found out, before we’d been together six months, that she knew what I was—she knew, and she didn’t care.”

“Didn’t you—didn’t she—did you think about turning her?”

Josef smiled, and chuckled. “She begged me to do it. And I’ve got to say, I was tempted. But in the end, I—I couldn’t do it. She was so—human. And I didn’t want her to change.”

Mick nodded. “I know what you mean. It’s, uh, been on my mind lately.”

“Yeah, it would be, wouldn’t it?”

“She’s been in New York, all this time?”

Josef began to pace the hall. “No, of course not. We had to make sure her father never found us. And…after the apparent age difference started to show, she wouldn’t live with me.”

“That’s…rough.”

“Yeah, well. We were never really apart, for all that.” He seemed about to say more, but Beth appeared in the doorway.

“Josef—I think you need to come in here.”

He moved fast, coming again to the bedside of his beloved, taking in her white hair and lined face, the shallow rise and fall of her chest. He knew it was almost time, almost time for them to say a last goodbye. He cursed himself for the decision they’d made, long ago, to let her age, naturally, and come to this final end. She was right, she had been right, all those years ago. She could be, even now, the same vibrant young woman she had been in 1955. Maybe he was a coward. Maybe he should have taken the chance.

He fell to his knees by the bed, staring at her face. Her bright green eyes had faded into blindness several years before, and she’d teased him that she didn’t mind—she knew his face, his loved face, would never change. He clasped her hand, taking some comfort from the faint pressure of her hand on his.

“Sarah…”

Her chest rose, and fell, and did not rise again. She had slipped away, and left him, at last, behind. Josef stood, slowly, holding her hand in his. Mick and Beth were still, respecting his grief in these first moments of loss.

They were still standing in a silent tableau, when the window exploded inward…

[eris]

So sad, and yet, perhaps even a stronger visual for the guy who thinks turning someone is a bad idea. Seeing the cost at the end of a human life rather than the idealized "keeping" of the person the way they're "meant to be".

[cassysj]

This is so powerful. Josef will regret losing Sarah because he doesn't know how he "would" have lost her. And that ending gives me chills.

[librarian_7]

Yes, I decided Josef would be as "guilty" as the rest of us, to thinking, "if I'd only done this instead of that, everything would have turned out better" --when often, it probably would have turned out worse!

And by the way, I do want to give a special nod to my beta, Lilly. She (on no notice whatsoever) really helped me tighten up and improve this. Her suggestions are, always, invaluable.

Lucky

[darkstarrising]

Wonderful story, Lucky, and gives yet another basis for Josef's sentiment that it never ends well in a human vampire relationship.

[allegrita]

What a wonderful alternate view. You've done a great job of weaving it seamlessly into the fabric of the episode, but having the story be so very different. Somehow, I think that the person who will be most sobered by THIS meeting with Sarah will be Mick, not Beth. Mick will have to think long and hard about what would happen if he declared his love to Beth when he is so unwilling to consider turning anyone. Does he want to go through this? Watching the woman he loves grow old and wither and die?

Whereas I think Beth would be caught up in the sad romance of it all... and, being our Beth, would think to herself that she wouldn't let Mick make that same decision...

In some ways, this story is happier than Sleeping Beauty was. Because, sad as it is, this story has a resolution. But poor Josef is left in limbo with his Sleeping Beauty at the end of the episode as it was filmed...

[jen]

Lucky

This is wonderful.

This one alteration to the way Sleeping Beauty played out entirely changes the dynamics of the situation. In the episode we watched, Sara remains asleep at Waverly Place in New York, and Josef watches over his love.

In your version Josef at least has closure, and while they had some good years together he is left pondering what might have been. Beth was faced with the possibilties of a failed Turning and here, Mick sees up close and personal what his future with Beth could be if he doesn't turn her.

Brilliant

[librarian_7]

It does make a difference, I think, to what Mick and Beth both take away from their visit to Waverly Place.

And yet, for Josef, the universe seems to still be against him finding happiness...

Lucky

[wpgrace]

So sad, and yet, perhaps even a stronger visual for the guy who thinks turning someone is a bad idea. Seeing the cost at the end of a human life rather than the idealized "keeping" of the person the way they're "meant to be".

ok, gotta love this comment.

I loved this story, Lucky. It reminds me of your Either/Or. In the end, even for immortals, there is no perfect. There is a price for everything. But there is value in every relationship, too. Whatever the outcome.

[librarian_7]

Have I told you lately that I love you, grace?

Well, I do.

Lucky

[francis]

I love this version a little bit more than the original version of the show. Because here, Josef gets closure, the way it is with humans. There's no waiting around eternally. On the other hand, Mick and Beth will both take some thoughts from this, maybe even the same they took from seeing Sarah in eternal sleep, just the other way around. Mick would perhaps think that turning Beth wouldn't be such a bad thing. Beth would think that ending up like this after a lifetime of love wouldn't be such a bad thing. It's romantic.
Thank you so much for this story!

[NightAir]

A different choice, a different outcome. How would this path have changed the relationships of all those involved?
Although if Josef knew the alternative, I think he might be comforted that he got the time with Sarah that he did. But in the end, he is still left alone.

Thanks, Lucky! This has got me mulling over the ramifications.

[jenstc2003]

*Silently wipes a tear* That was AMAZING, Lucky. There are SO many things that point to what "could've been" in that episode... for everyone involved. This would have been an even MORE powerful twist, if that's possible.

[librarian_7]

Thanks, francis, nightair, and jenstc. Yes, this is sort of a mixed blessing. Josef isn't stuck in that never-never land with Sarah, but he can't help but regret his choice, not knowing how it would have turned out. I always hate the idea that he's living with this eternal pain of failure, and hope, and hopelessness. It's a wonder it hasn't driven him crazy.

Lucky

[AussieJo]

Great alternate story, and very believable. It left me wondering though about what Beth and Sarah might talk about.....