Some Days Are Longer Than Others (Honorverse, T, M/M)

[extrapenguin]

Title: Some Days Are Longer Than Others
Pairing: Thomas Theisman / Denis LePic
Rating: T for Terrorist
Wordcount: 1007
Synopsis: One day, there is a terrorist in Theisman's office. Wearing a security guard's uniform. Whoops.

“You should've just accepted your fate. Then I wouldn't have to be here, pointing a gun at your head.”

Thomas Theisman stared back at the person in his office. He idly wondered whether he could use the large pile of minicomps and mempads to shield himself from the flechettes. “Accepted my fate when?” Probably not, though.

Then gun-toting woman paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “The Committee of Public Security was the best thing to ever happen to this nation. You and McQueen made martyrs of them. Bloody naval officers”, she muttered, waving her flechette gun for emphasis. “And now, you're making Haven into a complete clone of Manticore, a capitalist dictatorship of the privileged few to the downtrodden masses!”

She was almost yelling. Good, maybe actual security would come running. Unless the whole building had been taken over by this woman's ilk in their faux security uniforms…? No, he'd have been led to some large room with the others in that case.

Better keep her talking. “Actually, no. We're not. My thoughts on aristocracies can be summed up as ‘Who the hell thought this was a good idea, and why?’ so I'm not going to set up one.”

“No, of course you wouldn't go for anything so … overt. It would be just like the Legislaturalists all over again. Who knows, maybe this time we commoners might actually get to pick whether the President was the scion of the Theisman clan or the scion of the Pritchart clan. Talk about choices”, she spat out.

“No, never like that. Now, since we're on the subject of Manticore, I must mention that I vehemently hate the fact that they only give the vote to people who pay more taxes than what they get from benefits – it's terribly unfair to the poor and powerless, being robbed of their essential citizen's right. A democracy can only function if its citizens exercise their right to vote, so they invite collapse by categorically denying the right from a segment of their populace.”

“Of course. You managed to conceal your true colors from the Committee of Public Security until it was too late; of course you're a good actor. You played the apolitical Admiral, deceiving everyone till the bloody end. – I was a Dolist, raised by an orphanage, just like you. Yet I have retained my morals. Why? Was it the military that planted the seed of corruption? Or were you born with it?” She paused to ponder. “It must have been the military. You started under the Legislaturalists, correct? You began to emulate them, since to your young, deluded mind, it was the only way to succeed. Poor thing. Maybe you should be sent to therapy instea- no. There are no therapists that subscribe to the True Cause. And meanwhile, you trod down on us poor Dolists-”

“But I'm in favor of progressive income tax!” Theisman interjected.

“-and prop up the rich and militarily connected. I do not care that you're not the only one. I do not care that you are not the worst one by any measure. What I do care about is that you brought this state of affairs into being. I will not kill you, because that won't bring back Pierre, Ransom or Saint-Just. No. I will make you a member of our cause, and have you launch a second revolution of the People, with a new reign of liberty, equality and friendship. I will not have the duly elected scum of the Republic piss upon the People's Dream. And, since Admiral Thomas Edward Theisman seems content to let them do so, that means death to him”, she concluded.

A pause. “…So, are you going to kill me or not?” Theisman cautiously inquired.

“Not in the sense you mean it”, the revolutionary said. She smiled. “We do need your face, after all.” The smile fell. “What we do not need is your personality.”

She dug into her back pocket and came up with a hypospray. “This drug here will merely make you extremely agreeable to my suggestions. If you resist, I'll shoot you nonlethally. The medical staff is also in on the Revolution. They'll patch you up and send you to our headquarters. I am merely a foot soldier, I am expendable and willing to give my life up for the cause. Goodbye, Admiral.” She smiled and took half a step forwards. “Oh, one more thing, Admiral. How did you bribe Citizen Commissioner LePic to keep his mouth shut?”

“Good sex”, Denis LePic replied, flanked by eight combat-armed guards standing in Theisman's doorway, which had just opened.

Theisman placed his face in his hands.

The revolutionary woman gaped, the muzzle of her flechette gun dropping. A guard grabbed her and disarmed her. She was frog-marched off.

LePic turned to Theisman. “Sorry we had to wait so long, we wanted to hear her babble about her cause. You all right, Tom?” He walked over to Theisman's desk.

Theisman removed his hands from his face and sighed. “Why does everyone assume that I'm a fan of the Manticoran system of governance just because I think Harrington is an honorable opponent?” He was not in the least bit whiny. No, never. Not Thomas Theisman.

LePic responded only by running his hand through Theisman's hair. The strands were well over five centimeters in length and would have to be cut soon. Meanwhile, LePic was perfectly content to muss whatever order Theisman hoped they possessed.

“Want to go home?” LePic asked. Theisman nodded mutely, then stood up. LePic put his hand under Theisman's jaw and tilted it up. They kissed.

 

“Actually, Denis, I'd rather you didn't broadcast our relationship to everyone”, Theisman asked once they were home.

“The way I see it, I'm a target in my own right, you're a target in your own right, we might as well be happy targets together instead of less happy targets apart.” LePic shrugged. “However, since you ask so nicely, I'll refrain from having public sex with you even if my libido disagrees.”

Theisman groaned.