Fic: (Never) Neverland (Sanctuary)
Mar. 15th, 2011 01:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_ityAN: Okay, so Peter Pan wasn’t published until 1911, which doesn’t work well with the Sanctuary Timeline for about a million reasons. However, I still really want to write this, so we shall assume that Barrie came up with the story a LONG time before he wrote it (which is probably true anyway), and that he came to Gregory in the mid 1880s (I went with fall of ’86, Barrie would have been 26) to talk about fairies for…research. Anyway, the prompt is Gregory Magnus, James Barrie. Neverland, and I got it from the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sfa_history battle.
Spoilers: Let's just say "the story so far" and let it go at that.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Rating: Teen.
Characters: Gregory Magnus, Helen Magnus, J.M. Barrie (historical)
Summary: Did you ever consider letting Wendy go back?
+++
(Never) Neverland
“Did you ever consider letting Wendy go back?” Gregory asked, pouring the brandy.
“To Neverland?” Barrie asked. The young man sounded surprised at the question.
“Of course,” Gregory said. “It was very nearly a paradise for her.”
“I suppose,” Barrie said thoughtfully. Gregory rather thought it sounded like he disagreed.
“But you never did think on it.” This time, it wasn’t a question.
“No,” Barrie said. “I never did.”
+++
Gregory thought there was something different about his daughter the moment he saw her at breakfast. At first he though John had proposed the night before, but given that Gregory had heard all four gentlemen leave together, he rather doubted it. John was bold, but not that bold. And yet, there was something about Helen, something that had not been there when he had left for Argentina and had somehow missed last night in his tired greetings. Something wonderfully, terribly alive. And he couldn’t for the life of him think what it might be.
The changes were small, at first. Strange noises in the house he couldn’t place, and conversations with Watson that left him feeling like he was missing something that should be desperately obvious. Whatever they were doing, they were being exceptionally secretive, even for them, and for the first time, Gregory was a little bit afraid of his daughter and her coterie.
+++
“I do not imagine Wendy would have liked Neverland as a grown woman,” Barrie said, turning the glass of brandy in his hand. He was such a different man from the one who had come by to shyly ask Gregory his opinion of fairies. Whatever else this story was doing to him, it was making him sure in himself.
“But why did she have to grow up?” Gregory said. “Why did you make Peter so careless?”
“You don’t notice time in paradise,” Barrie said. “Particularly not when it’s your paradise. It would be easy to forget that someone else is waiting for you if there’s nothing to indicate she’s getting older.”
+++
He caught them because of Tesla, or rather, because of their attempts to help him. Gregory was used to Dr. Watson spending all hours of the night in the lab with Helen, but when Mr. Griffin joined them, he began to wonder what they were about. A few artless questions were met with tight eyes and a very poor cover story. In the end, he demanded to know what was happening, and only then had Helen relented and shown him where John was keeping Tesla to prevent him from injuring too many people.
Gregory was incensed, and very dearly demanded the lot of them be banished from the house forever. All his work, all his careful preparation and guidance, years spent ensuring that Helen do something useful with her life, and she had thrown it away for the monsters. He had to let them stay, though, at least until they came up with a practical solution for Dr. Tesla.
+++
“What I think it comes to,” Barrie said, “Is what Wendy would have chosen.”
“How do you mean?” Gregory asked. For all that this had started innocently some months ago as a conversation about fairies, Barrie's story was needling him in ways he couldn’t explain. He needed to know.
“Would she have chosen to play forever in someone else’s world, or would she have chosen to build her own?”
Gregory couldn’t help but wonder when everyone had gotten so insufferably wise.
+++
“How could you do this to yourself?” he had yelled at her when they were finally alone. He’d never so much as raised his voice to her in his entire life, and she didn’t flinch that he did it now. “How you let them talk you into this?”
“It was my idea, father,” she all but spat at him. “My idea, my experiment. You made me to think for myself, to seek to be more than the world had made me. How can you take such offense at this?”
“Because now you are…” he trailed off.
“Because now I’m one of them?” Helen said acidly. “Because now I’m an abnormal, and I didn’t have the good grace to grow fins or a tail in order to make myself more interesting to you?”
“Helen,” he began, and stopped. Because she didn’t understand. Couldn’t understand. He had never told her about the paradise beneath her feet, the one he’d been carefully shepherding her towards since he realized how brilliant and capable she was. He sighed, defeated, and she softened in response.
“I expect you shall take the Blood away?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “But I shall arrange for it to be accessible to you. All five of you, and only if you act in concert.”
“That seems fair.”
It wasn’t until days later when he was well on his way to India that he realized neither of them had apologized.
+++
“It’s not so much about growing up as it is about growing into,” Barrie said. “John the scholar, Michael the adventurer, and Wendy…whatever she became. None of them could have done it as children.”
“None of them would have wanted to,” Gregory mused, barely loud enough to be heard.
“Indeed,” said Barrie. “I think that should have been a problem. Children should not be forced to grow up, but they should be allowed to.”
“I find myself feeling sorry for Peter,” Gregory said.
“Of course you do,” Barrie said. “You’re English. The desire to colonize and improve is ingrained.”
“It’s more than that,” Gregory said.
“I know,” Barrie said. “He will never know what it is he’s missing. He’ll only look in at the window and fly off into the cold.”
In his mind, Gregory was already on the road to Mecca, a path now even more forbidden to Helen.
+++
“There’s a young man to see you, Dr. Magnus,” the housekeeper said. “Says he’s a writer and has come to talk to you with regard to your opinions on fairies.”
The housekeeper’s tone left nothing to doubt about how she felt on the matter. What went on in the basement was none of her concern, but it didn’t seem like the work of a gentleman, even if that gentleman spent just as much time out of the basement curing ills as in it.
“Thank you, please show him in.” Gregory had been warned by a fellow at the club that the writer would probably call on him. Having a reputation did have its drawbacks. But with all the business with Helen, he found himself welcoming the distraction. Fairies and an aspiring Scottish author should do nicely.
And that was how it began.
+++
“I suppose I’m just sad that Wendy never again had the chance to fly.”
“What makes you think she didn’t?”
+++
fin
Note: I did tell![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
vickysg1 there was a story in this. I just, you know, didn't except to write it.
Gravity_Not_Included, March 15, 2011
sfa_history battle.Spoilers: Let's just say "the story so far" and let it go at that.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Rating: Teen.
Characters: Gregory Magnus, Helen Magnus, J.M. Barrie (historical)
Summary: Did you ever consider letting Wendy go back?
+++
(Never) Neverland
“Did you ever consider letting Wendy go back?” Gregory asked, pouring the brandy.
“To Neverland?” Barrie asked. The young man sounded surprised at the question.
“Of course,” Gregory said. “It was very nearly a paradise for her.”
“I suppose,” Barrie said thoughtfully. Gregory rather thought it sounded like he disagreed.
“But you never did think on it.” This time, it wasn’t a question.
“No,” Barrie said. “I never did.”
+++
Gregory thought there was something different about his daughter the moment he saw her at breakfast. At first he though John had proposed the night before, but given that Gregory had heard all four gentlemen leave together, he rather doubted it. John was bold, but not that bold. And yet, there was something about Helen, something that had not been there when he had left for Argentina and had somehow missed last night in his tired greetings. Something wonderfully, terribly alive. And he couldn’t for the life of him think what it might be.
The changes were small, at first. Strange noises in the house he couldn’t place, and conversations with Watson that left him feeling like he was missing something that should be desperately obvious. Whatever they were doing, they were being exceptionally secretive, even for them, and for the first time, Gregory was a little bit afraid of his daughter and her coterie.
+++
“I do not imagine Wendy would have liked Neverland as a grown woman,” Barrie said, turning the glass of brandy in his hand. He was such a different man from the one who had come by to shyly ask Gregory his opinion of fairies. Whatever else this story was doing to him, it was making him sure in himself.
“But why did she have to grow up?” Gregory said. “Why did you make Peter so careless?”
“You don’t notice time in paradise,” Barrie said. “Particularly not when it’s your paradise. It would be easy to forget that someone else is waiting for you if there’s nothing to indicate she’s getting older.”
+++
He caught them because of Tesla, or rather, because of their attempts to help him. Gregory was used to Dr. Watson spending all hours of the night in the lab with Helen, but when Mr. Griffin joined them, he began to wonder what they were about. A few artless questions were met with tight eyes and a very poor cover story. In the end, he demanded to know what was happening, and only then had Helen relented and shown him where John was keeping Tesla to prevent him from injuring too many people.
Gregory was incensed, and very dearly demanded the lot of them be banished from the house forever. All his work, all his careful preparation and guidance, years spent ensuring that Helen do something useful with her life, and she had thrown it away for the monsters. He had to let them stay, though, at least until they came up with a practical solution for Dr. Tesla.
+++
“What I think it comes to,” Barrie said, “Is what Wendy would have chosen.”
“How do you mean?” Gregory asked. For all that this had started innocently some months ago as a conversation about fairies, Barrie's story was needling him in ways he couldn’t explain. He needed to know.
“Would she have chosen to play forever in someone else’s world, or would she have chosen to build her own?”
Gregory couldn’t help but wonder when everyone had gotten so insufferably wise.
+++
“How could you do this to yourself?” he had yelled at her when they were finally alone. He’d never so much as raised his voice to her in his entire life, and she didn’t flinch that he did it now. “How you let them talk you into this?”
“It was my idea, father,” she all but spat at him. “My idea, my experiment. You made me to think for myself, to seek to be more than the world had made me. How can you take such offense at this?”
“Because now you are…” he trailed off.
“Because now I’m one of them?” Helen said acidly. “Because now I’m an abnormal, and I didn’t have the good grace to grow fins or a tail in order to make myself more interesting to you?”
“Helen,” he began, and stopped. Because she didn’t understand. Couldn’t understand. He had never told her about the paradise beneath her feet, the one he’d been carefully shepherding her towards since he realized how brilliant and capable she was. He sighed, defeated, and she softened in response.
“I expect you shall take the Blood away?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “But I shall arrange for it to be accessible to you. All five of you, and only if you act in concert.”
“That seems fair.”
It wasn’t until days later when he was well on his way to India that he realized neither of them had apologized.
+++
“It’s not so much about growing up as it is about growing into,” Barrie said. “John the scholar, Michael the adventurer, and Wendy…whatever she became. None of them could have done it as children.”
“None of them would have wanted to,” Gregory mused, barely loud enough to be heard.
“Indeed,” said Barrie. “I think that should have been a problem. Children should not be forced to grow up, but they should be allowed to.”
“I find myself feeling sorry for Peter,” Gregory said.
“Of course you do,” Barrie said. “You’re English. The desire to colonize and improve is ingrained.”
“It’s more than that,” Gregory said.
“I know,” Barrie said. “He will never know what it is he’s missing. He’ll only look in at the window and fly off into the cold.”
In his mind, Gregory was already on the road to Mecca, a path now even more forbidden to Helen.
+++
“There’s a young man to see you, Dr. Magnus,” the housekeeper said. “Says he’s a writer and has come to talk to you with regard to your opinions on fairies.”
The housekeeper’s tone left nothing to doubt about how she felt on the matter. What went on in the basement was none of her concern, but it didn’t seem like the work of a gentleman, even if that gentleman spent just as much time out of the basement curing ills as in it.
“Thank you, please show him in.” Gregory had been warned by a fellow at the club that the writer would probably call on him. Having a reputation did have its drawbacks. But with all the business with Helen, he found himself welcoming the distraction. Fairies and an aspiring Scottish author should do nicely.
And that was how it began.
+++
“I suppose I’m just sad that Wendy never again had the chance to fly.”
“What makes you think she didn’t?”
+++
fin
Note: I did tell
vickysg1 there was a story in this. I just, you know, didn't except to write it.Gravity_Not_Included, March 15, 2011
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 08:24 pm (UTC)Really enjoyed this.
MSam
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 08:35 pm (UTC)And Wendy is ever so much more than twenty....
*draws hearts around it*
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 08:40 pm (UTC)Peter Pan has its dark side too; everything does. Have you ever read 'The Child Thief' by Brum? That is a very dark interesting retelling of the story. It made me think of Telsa after reading this.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 08:56 pm (UTC)Yes, this so much.
Nice one, very melancholy. I love the scene between Helen and her father.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 09:17 pm (UTC)This. Oh, ouch. But Gregory ... you really should have seen that coming. This is Helen.
“Of course you do,” Barrie said. “You’re English. The desire to colonize and improve is ingrained.”
*very carefully refrains from commenting* This? Is an awesome observation. *nods nods*
Wonderful fic!
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 09:18 pm (UTC)And brave. Taking the experiments further, writing a story about fairies. True genius and wisdom with a touch of madness.
I'm so glad you wrote this. Its more than I could have hope for.
There is something about the story of Peter Pan/Barrie that resonates well in the world of Sanctuary. Seeing the unseen and believing in it, despite its darkness and dangers.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 09:59 pm (UTC)Glad you liked!
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 10:04 pm (UTC)I remember when I was little thinking that was just the oddest thing to say, and even though I understand it now, it still makes me laugh a bit.
I'm usually creeped out by any performance of the play that uses the same actress for Jane as used for Wendy (Hook and Mr. Darling, of course, I complain about if they're not played by the same actor...except for the Dustin Hoffman "Hook", but that movie breaks a lot of rules anyway), but also that might be the point? Peter really doesn't care who his Wendy-Lady is, so long as he has one.
(Also the whole "spring cleaning" thing bugged me too. I didn't understand why he couldn't do his own cleaning.)
Of course, then I got into Greek and discovered who Pan was, and now I never know what to think!
I do love Wendy though, and I love her because she grew up.
Um...this ended up being a lot more complicated than I'd planned! But still fun.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 10:05 pm (UTC)Originally, it was just Barrie and Gregory talking, and Gregory remembering...but I like the flashbacks better, I think.
Thanks for the review!
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 10:07 pm (UTC)That's what I was going for! ;)
This? Is an awesome observation.
Thank goodness Barrie is a Scot, eh?
Thanks for the review!
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 10:08 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for the review.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 10:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 10:18 pm (UTC)In my personal canon (between this and "The Platypus Test", as well as hints in my Mary Kelly stuff), I think Gregory really dwells on the non-humanoid abnormals, and still thinks of them as monsters...things to be kept in cages and vivisected to further understanding. And Helen has shades of that, but I also think she is closer to viewing abnormals (mostly all of them) as people.
I also think he was definitely absent a lot, and inspired her just enough to set her on her own path...though I doubt how well he actually new her. Helen's willingness to just throw everything aside and focus on the map in season three annoyed me a bit (well, as much as anything that require frequent flash backs can annoy me...), but now that she calls him "Gregory" every once in a while, I'm starting to feel better about it. I don't like the idea of her having been manipulated by him, or finding her "true purpose" now that he's back in the picture.
My nerves are a little frazzled by the Cage Match, clearly. I can't be succinct about anything today.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-16 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-16 02:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-16 04:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-16 01:49 pm (UTC)