FIC: We've Always Had This

[paulacas]

Title: We’ve Always Had This
Author: Paula H
Fandom: Kane RPS
Pairing: Christian/Steve
Rating: FRA
Summary: Prompt – reincarnation, they knew each other in a past life
Disclaimer: I don't own them. They belong only to themselves. This is a figment of my imagination and a work of fiction. I'm not making any money. Any goofs are mine. 

 

 

The last hammer stroke landed on the golden spike that joined the railroads at Promontory, Utah. Abe Wheeler turned his back on the festivities, gave his farewells to his Chinese friends, collected his pay, his gear, and headed west following the freshly laid tracks. 

He had no destination in mind he was simply walking back into the world he understood and away from that which constantly confused and angered him. He had his mother’s open heart, but life as a half-breed had built a hardened shell around that heart until only his anger at people’s prejudices remained. 

So he walked. The lessons of his youth insured his survival. A rancher with a bay mare he couldn’t tame provided him with transportation and companionship. 

A chill in the air caused him to turn the mare’s head south for warmer weather, but an early snow in the high country stranded him at a trading post a week’s ride west of Flagstaff. 

The elderly owner, George Carson, offered him room and board in exchange for help around the place until his grandson returned from a supply run. 

He readily agreed, and after bedding down his horse, he took care of the other animals then started hauling wood for the fires. 

Three days later a snow covered bundle staggered through the door. Mumbled words about mules and supplies had Abe donning his cold weather gear and braving the storm to unload and care for the mules shivering in the thickly falling snow. 

When Abe came back inside, George was unpacking supplies while quizzing the young man sitting on the hearth. He was wrapped in a wool blanket warming his hands around a mug of coffee. 

A shiver passed over Abe when he met the man’s bright green eyes. 

When a question went unanswered, George looked up. 

“Oh. Paul this is Abe Wheeler. I offered him a place to stay if he helped out ‘til you got back. Abe this is my grandson, Paul Carson.” 

When their hands touched, the shock that ran between the two men was such that… 

He sat up suddenly, body soaked in sweat as he tried to catch his breath. 

A sleepy inquiry had him looking at his bed mate. Dark red hair, emerald green eyes chiseled cheekbones overlay the true face of his lover. 

He scrubbed his hands over his face and shoved his sweat soaked hair out of his eyes. 

“Chris?” Steve snapped awake when Chris didn’t answer. 

A warm hand rubbing his back gave him something to focus on besides his dream. Helped center him back in this world. 

“Chris?” More worry crept into the sleep roughened voice. 

When he looked again, the only face he saw was the one he loved every day. 

“’M okay.” He mumbled. 

“Chris, who’s Paul?” 

“Hmm. Don’t know anyone named Paul.” 

“It’s what you shouted when you woke up.” Steve reached up and pulled Chris down against his chest. 

“Strangest dream. I was a guy named Abe Wheeler. He was Lakota, he worked for George Carson. He introduced Abe to his grandson, Paul Carson. When they shook hands there was this electric shock, and I woke up.” 

Steve’s hands stopped their soothing strokes. 

“Did you say Paul Carson?” 

“Yeah. Dark red hair, bright green eyes, cheekbones that’d make Jenny jealous.” Chris answered, starting to relax.

“What about Abe Wheeler?” 

“Don’t know. I mean he looked like me ‘cept with brown eyes. I played an ‘Abe Wheeler’ in a mini-series. Made me wear colored contacts—hated ‘em. It was just a weird dream—don’t mean nothin’.” 

His words slurred as exhaustion pulled him back into sleep. 

Steve rested his face against the dark head as thoughts whirled through his head. 

Steve was gone when Chris woke the next morning. He didn’t return until after supper. Without a word he carried a box into the room they’d converted into an office/music room and shut the door. 

When Chris tried the door to ask what was going on, he’d been shocked to his core to find the door locked. Steve had never locked him out of any part of his life. Worry was full blown, and Steve’s uncharacteristic behavior caused the worry to change to fear and chased him into the back yard to brood. 

Brooding led to every worst case scenario his over-active imagination could conjure. By the time Steve came looking for him, his mood was darker than the night sky. 

“Chris?” Steve’s voice was tentative. 

He knew he should have left a note, called or talked to Chris as soon as he got home, but he’d been having a freak out ever since Chris told him about his dream. 

“Christian?” He his tone worried. 

Chris was never shy about expressing himself, so the silence was unnerving. 

“You locked me out.” Came quietly out of the dark. 

Steve shivered at the lack of emotion in his lover’s voice. He looked toward the voice. Pale eyes glittered eerily in the dark. 

“Come inside and let me explain. I was kinda freaking out I didn’t realize…Come inside…please? I have something you really need to see.” The words came out in a rush. 

The singer saw the hesitation, saw the wary look in the red rimmed eyes. He reached a hand out and sighed when Chris flinched away. He grabbed his wrist anyway and gave a tug to get his attention. 

“Everything’s in the living room. I’m going to make coffee.” 

Snatching his arm back, Chris nodded and moved toward the house. 

Handing his sullen lover his coffee, Steve sat on the coffee table so he was facing Chris. He grabbed his chin and lifted his head. 

“First off—I’m sorry. I should have told you what was going on instead of just taking off. We’re okay, Chris—it’s me. I was on a major head trip after you told me about your dream last night.” 

The shuttered expression on the rugged face turned to relief. 

“It was just a dream. Why the freak out?” 

The blond took a long drink of coffee to gather his thoughts. 

“Not long after we became lovers, I had a dream like yours—except I was Paul Carson. It sorta spooked me so I did some research.” 

He handed Chris an accordion folder. Inside were pictures, pages printed off the internet about the men who ran a trading post on what was now called East Rim Drive of Grand Canyon National Game Preserve. 

The men’s names were Paul Carson and Abe Wheeler.

Comments

[luminous-mortal.livejournal.com]

OH..MY..GOD!!!

Honey, this is absolutely the coolest concept ever...and told so beautifully...I was completely enraptured and didn't want it to end!!!...

*drags out her "Into the West" CD's to watch 'Abe Wheeler'*

[badfalcon.livejournal.com]

*shivers*
wow. that was.. wow...

[yanzadracan.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I never liked the way Abe just disappeared. They told everyone's story but his. This just sort of fit in with 'what happened to Abe' obsession.

[yanzadracan.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it. It was one of those pieces that wrote itself, refused to be altered, and knocked on the inside of my head until it had my attention.

[honeyjojames.livejournal.com]

Ooooh. Oooh. Wow, that was amazing! Such a wonderful idea!

[yanzadracan.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. My muse beat me about the head and shoulders until I got if finished. I did a Snoopy dance in the bed of my delivery truck when the idea hit. Luckily I was by myself. *G*

[elebridith]

Oh. OH. WOW. Seriously, that's... WOW. *speechless* Fantastic. They are just meant to be, are they? *applauds*

[yanzadracan.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Glad to have you back. I was rolling the prompt around my brain when Into the West popped into my head, and Speilberg just sort of left Abe hanging out there for your imagination.

[deluweil.livejournal.com]

So COOL!! Love it!!

[yanzadracan.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'd recently watched Into The West for the first time, and was at work when the idea popped in my head. Good thing no one was around at the time to see my reaction. LOL

[cachemccall.livejournal.com]

Thank you for finally ending Abe Wheelers story. Every time I watch Into the West, it bugs the heck out of me. The next time I watch it, I will think of this. Beautifully done.

[yanzadracan.livejournal.com]

WOW! Me too. The first time I watched it I kept waiting to some more about Abe, but he just walked away and we never heard from him again. Hated that. When I saw the prompt, it was the perfect opportunity to give him an ending.

Thank you for your kind words.