#ron “call me later? :)” staedtler

[aitnes]

cardiac memory

"Maybe they’re memories from a past life,” Kai jokes, leaning back against the counter. He seems entertained by the very thought. “Some people do say that’s where dreams come from.” Martin laughs good-naturedly, but shakes his head and gets to sweeping. “Maybe so.” A past life. What an amusing idea.

Martin Higgins dreams of a woman with sharp eyes and a tired smile. He always wakes with a thundering heart and a wide, empty, aching chest.

(Or, the heart remembers what the mind forgets.)

read it on ao3!

[sixthfinger]

im listening to 36 questions for the billionth time and imAGINE LIKE. A REAGAN/STAEDTLER 36 QUESTIONS AU. very loosely based on the musical. THE GIST OF IT:

- reagan, a few years down the line, regrets leaving staedtler and goes to appleton to find martin higgins

- they meet!! and she Planned on telling him the truth but in the moment she panics and gives him a fake name and then just. commits to the bit.

- they date, fall in love again, get married, move in together. they live happily ever after...

-...until on their two year anniversary, someone from cognito inc shows up at their house. brett, maybe, idk. martin opens the door and its some guy he doesn't know, looking for someone named reagan?? who is reagan??

- reagan comes to the door.

- and brett is all like reagan!!! you're here!!!! while martin is just. confused.

- he eventually asks brett about who reagan is. brett answers honestly

- they send brett on his way.

- "was he telling the truth? did you really lie about who you are?"

- "...well, you seeeee..."

- she tells him everything.

- everything. her work, her past, her fake name, cognito inc, her parents, and...

- ron staedtler.

- at first, he's angry. he trusted her, and she lied about so much. he leaves, spends the night in a motel to cool off.

- but by morning, he's got a new sense of understanding. if she's telling the truth about this whole shadow government thing, then-- wow. that's a lot of pressure for one person to handle. and she may have lied about her name and her past, but it would be pretty hard to fake a personality for this long.

- he really does love her, so he returns home. she's waiting for him in the living room. there are tears in her eyes and an object he doesn't recognize in her hands.

- "i'm sorry," she says. "i can leave, if you'd like. i'm sorry i lied. i'm sorry i left you, all those years ago. i'm sorry about all of it. but... i love you, and i want you to know that. and it is because i love you that i want to leave you with this."

- she hands over the thing she's holding. a weapon, of some kind.

- "it's a memory eraser," she says. "you can--"

- "reagan!" he cries out, dropping the memory eraser and clutching her hands. she freezes, looking up at him with wide eyes.

- "i want to remember."

- they hold each other for a little while. they both cry. the next morning, they leave for washington dc.

- the team is shocked to see her. it's been years since they’ve heard from her, with the exception of brett who was sworn to secrecy before he left appleton. the team is even more shocked to see ron staedtler.

- reagan heads down to the basement, where all her things ended up when she left. she puts together something akin to the memory device from the end of pt1. it's a process, but a few long hours later, she thinks she may have succeeded in getting staedtler's memories back.

- she waits anxiously for him to wake up. when he does, she holds her breath.

- "reagan ridley," he calls out.

- she nods, hope bubbling in her chest.

- "you saved me from hell, once."

- relief fills her, along with love and excitement. she hadn't told him the details of that particular encounter, which means that...

- "you remember?"

- he nods. "i remember."

- they both smile.