Brothers And Heroes part 17
12/12/05 10:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
roxyParts Before
My dears, I’m posting this bit now and the next part later. I am the queen of fuzzy in this part, Vaseline on the lens kind of thing. I did not research judo—I asked a few questions and looked at some pics and said ‘alas, this will have to do.’ I’m feeling guilty yes but I need to move along. Actually, I feel terrible about it but I know I can rely on ya’ll to be kind.
Anyhoo, let’s hope I’m back on track with this, we had a little accident with the choo-choo.
Brothers And Heroes
“Judo? Like that Green Hornet guy? What for, Bruce?”
“Pop, it’s good for fitness, and for health, and it’s good for your self confidence and…stuff…”
Jonathan looked at Bruce with a smile. “And the girls think it’s cool, too?”
“Po—op!” Bruce groaned. “No! I mean, I don’t think so…” he thought about Sean, and how cocky and kind of cool he’d seemed, girls probably fell all over him. Bruce grinned. “Maybe a little,” he confessed.
Jonathan laughed. “All right. But I’ll still need you here at work. Can you do this judo thing and still keep your grades up at school, and put in your hours here?” Jonathan leaned his elbows on the desk and gave Bruce the ‘serious dad’ look. Bruce nodded.
“I know I can, Pop. You don’t have to worry about that. And I’m going to pay for the classes out of my own money.”
"All right.” Jon stood with Bruce, and they headed out to the plant floor. “You bring me the papers and I’ll sign them.” He shook his head. “Judo. Are you going to start wearing a mask and driving around town looking for bad guys?”
Bruce groaned and shook his head. “Corny, Pop, very corny!”
His pop raised an eyebrow. “Hey, hey, now! No belittling the corn—it pays the bills you know.”
******
The classes were an introduction to a new world for Bruce. He threw himself into them wholeheartedly. He enjoyed them as much as he enjoyed working in the greenhouses. Here the mystery he was beginning to unravel was himself. Learning about his limits, his strengths, becoming more aware of himself.
Mr. Mackenzie, their instructor was the most unique individual that Bruce had ever met. Mac, as Sean called him, was a former sergeant in the army, retired after a tour of duty in a country Bruce was just beginning to hear a lot of in the news, and a newcomer to the area.
Mac was broad, tall and black, with a deep voice and a reserved manner. Everything about him seemed low-key, unemotional, but he inspired a deep loyalty in his students— the class hung on his every word, and the slightest sign of approval from him would light up a students face. Bruce thought of Mr. Mackenzie as…there. Completely totally there--aware of everything, all the time, all around him. Bruce couldn’t really explain what he meant; he just felt it from him. Bruce thought Mac was like a deep still lake, ripples rising infrequently to the surface. He felt that Mac knew him better than anyone ever had, that he had a sense about people that went deeper than the ordinary person’s.
He worked out almost daily, learning the holds, and the throws, he learned to listen to himself, and became more comfortable in his body, helped by Mac’s teaching and his example of dedication.
One afternoon, he stayed after class, putting the mats away as usual, helping Mac and Sean clean up. He was pushing a mop around when Sean came to tell him he was leaving, asked if he’d mind if he came over that evening, and Bruce agreed. Sean was fun to hang around with, and it was flattering that the older boy treated him like an equal.
He was just putting away the bucket and the mop when Mr. Mac asked him to come to his office. He was instantly on alert. Had he done something wrong in class?
Mac shut his office door and went to a small table in the corner of his office. He turned on a hotplate sitting on the tabletop and filled a pan with water, set it on to boil. “Sit down,” he said. “Would you like some tea?”
Bruce nodded and relaxed in the chair. If he was getting tea, than he probably wasn’t in trouble.
Mr. Mac looked him over intensely, his lips quirking in the brief flicker that passed for his smile.
“You’re not in trouble.” His eyes crinkled at Bruce’s astonishment. “And I’m not a mind-reader, it’s obvious what was on your mind. You tensed when I asked you into my office, you relaxed when I offered you tea…it’s a simple matter of paying attention, not a lot of people do.”
Bruce nodded and watched Mac set out cups and measure tea into a waiting pot, wondering what he wanted to speak to him about.
“I’m very pleased with your progress. You’re one of the most talented students I have. You’re the kind of student every teacher hopes for, hard working, eager to learn, and not afraid to ask for help. It’s a privilege to teach you.
Bruce blushed and tried to thank him but Mac shook his head. He passed Bruce a cup of tea, and sat before continuing. “No, that is not a compliment, it’s a statement of fact, and also a warning. I plan to be harder on you than the others. I’ll make you hurt, and wish you never met me. You will excel.”
Bruce swallowed and slowly nodded. He wanted that, he wanted to be better than…he wanted to be excellent.
“You’re an exceptional young man. You have enormous potential in you.” He turned his attention to his tea for a moment sipping unhurriedly before looking at Bruce again. “Most people in this world are no more than here. Eating, breathing, dying. Some people…some are much more than that. For good or ill, some people have a greater purpose. I feel it’s true of you. You have work to do, young man.”
Bruce looked at him puzzled. “Mr. Mackenzie, I work hard at everything I do.”
Mac shook his head, and said, “Let me tell you a short version of a long story. A few years ago, I was in a position that I thought was impossible to survive. I remember sitting in the dark, scared to death and waiting to die....”
Bruce watched Mac; his eyes were looking out on some distant place.
“I thought I was going to die, hell, I *knew* I was going to die. And this feeling of—peace, acceptance, came over me. Suddenly, I wasn’t afraid, I was content in the moment. Ready to go.” He looked at Bruce and his eyes crinkled, his lips quirked. “Of course, at that point I hadn’t actually looked Death in the face, it was still somewhat of an abstract concept. I was a virgin, I was armed with a crapload of theory and no practicals-- In the next few moments when bullets were tearing over our heads and we were sucking dirt—I thought the hell with being ready. It was as if something took me by the gonads and said, ‘not fucking yet Mac, you’ve got something important to do.’” Mac coughed, came back to himself and Bruce swore he blushed under the dark hue of his skin. “Sorry about that, young man. Soldiers talk rough some time.”
Bruce stared down into his cup, trying desperately to cover his smile.
Mac went on. “When I came back to the world, I kicked around for a while, then this found me, and I knew it was what I was meant to do. And now, I know why.” He stood and reached out for Bruce’s cup. “I know you have something to do too Bruce, something to make right.”
******
Bruce waited outside for Pop to pick him up and thought about what Mac had said, found himself thinking about Mom and Dad. Mac reminded him of his dad, made him miss his dad. He used to think he survived that night for a reason, but as time went by, he figured it was just a toss of the dice, stupid luck. As for having some grand purpose in this life, Bruce doubted that. He shook his head. If he had a purpose, it was to protect Clark, who still believed what Bruce had told him—that Clark was the one who had a mission in life.
All he knew about himself was that he wanted to be a botanist…if what Mac was suggesting—that he’d survived a firefight to come to Smallville and teach him judo, so that he could be…a butt-kicking scientist? He giggled. Like what--Doc Strange?
He was still grinning when a car pulled up to the curb and Sean leaned over and shouted. “ Bruce, get in!”
Bruce was surprised but he slid into the car. “Where’s Pop?”
“I told him I’d pick you up, save him the drive.”
Bruce grinned. “I know Pop liked saving the gas. So how did you get the car from your folks?”
Sean grinned wickedly. Dad got tired of listening to me whine. So—back to your place or do you maybe want to do something?”
Bruce frowned, thinking about a paper he had to get started on, and he was supposed to take Clark to the library, but… “You know, yeah, lets do something—the movies?”
“Cool!” Sean beamed at him and Bruce wanted to ask about Serena, when she’d be home again. Bruce coughed a little and instead he said, “Hey, Mac was talking to me after you left. He seems to think I’m doing pretty good.” He blushed a little and went on. “Actually, he said real good.”
Sean looked at him. “Yeah? Hey, don’t be modest, you are doing great. You got something special, Bruce.”
Bruce felt pleased and grinned. “Oh. You think…I’m that good?”
Sean laughed. “I’m still better than you, but—yeah. That good.”
They drove on to the theater, stopping at a gas station on the way so Bruce could call home, and stuff their pockets with cheap candy. They got to the theater a little early, laughed and joked as they waited on line. Sean flirted with every girl waiting on line with them, even got Bruce to flirt a little, before they went on inside the movies. Bruce expected Sean to sit them with one of the girls he’d been flirting shamelessly with, but he sat them far in the back, away from everyone. The movie was half full, and they had the back rows to themselves.
“I like to talk to the screen,” Sean explained and Bruce grinned.
The movie was about some boy’s school in England, it was weird and kind of unsettling. Bruce really couldn’t focus on it all that well, because Sean was doing…things. Or he wasn’t doing things but it felt like he could. His knee brushed up against Bruce’s, his elbow nudged him, it was just an elbow in the ribs but it felt…on the screen there was a close-up of a boy’s face, his eyes were closed and nothing was happening but it made an electric jolt go through Bruce, and he gasped a little at the intensity of it.
Sean looked and Bruce said, “Excuse me,” and held up his coke.
Sean smiled and went back to the screen, and his foot hit Bruce’s, stayed there. Bruce could barely hear the dialogue, some weird trick of the acoustics made him hear Sean breathing; he couldn’t seem to block it out. Sean dropped his hand to his thigh and his knuckles grazed Bruce’s and to his horror, he started to get a little hard. He felt a tingling rise and wanted to pull back but since he didn’t know how to do it without being obvious, he sat there with Sean’s knuckles burning his leg….
He was deeply grateful when the movie ended and if he’d had to take a test on the damn thing, he’d fail miserably.
Sean drove him back to the farm in complete silence; he seemed to be deep in thought about something and his own thoughts chased around in his head, slippery as grape seeds.
Finally they were home, and Bruce invited him up to the barn out of knee-jerk politeness. Sean took him up on his invitation and threw him completely off balance.
Now what?
******
My dears, I’m posting this bit now and the next part later. I am the queen of fuzzy in this part, Vaseline on the lens kind of thing. I did not research judo—I asked a few questions and looked at some pics and said ‘alas, this will have to do.’ I’m feeling guilty yes but I need to move along. Actually, I feel terrible about it but I know I can rely on ya’ll to be kind.
Anyhoo, let’s hope I’m back on track with this, we had a little accident with the choo-choo.
Brothers And Heroes
“Judo? Like that Green Hornet guy? What for, Bruce?”
“Pop, it’s good for fitness, and for health, and it’s good for your self confidence and…stuff…”
Jonathan looked at Bruce with a smile. “And the girls think it’s cool, too?”
“Po—op!” Bruce groaned. “No! I mean, I don’t think so…” he thought about Sean, and how cocky and kind of cool he’d seemed, girls probably fell all over him. Bruce grinned. “Maybe a little,” he confessed.
Jonathan laughed. “All right. But I’ll still need you here at work. Can you do this judo thing and still keep your grades up at school, and put in your hours here?” Jonathan leaned his elbows on the desk and gave Bruce the ‘serious dad’ look. Bruce nodded.
“I know I can, Pop. You don’t have to worry about that. And I’m going to pay for the classes out of my own money.”
"All right.” Jon stood with Bruce, and they headed out to the plant floor. “You bring me the papers and I’ll sign them.” He shook his head. “Judo. Are you going to start wearing a mask and driving around town looking for bad guys?”
Bruce groaned and shook his head. “Corny, Pop, very corny!”
His pop raised an eyebrow. “Hey, hey, now! No belittling the corn—it pays the bills you know.”
******
The classes were an introduction to a new world for Bruce. He threw himself into them wholeheartedly. He enjoyed them as much as he enjoyed working in the greenhouses. Here the mystery he was beginning to unravel was himself. Learning about his limits, his strengths, becoming more aware of himself.
Mr. Mackenzie, their instructor was the most unique individual that Bruce had ever met. Mac, as Sean called him, was a former sergeant in the army, retired after a tour of duty in a country Bruce was just beginning to hear a lot of in the news, and a newcomer to the area.
Mac was broad, tall and black, with a deep voice and a reserved manner. Everything about him seemed low-key, unemotional, but he inspired a deep loyalty in his students— the class hung on his every word, and the slightest sign of approval from him would light up a students face. Bruce thought of Mr. Mackenzie as…there. Completely totally there--aware of everything, all the time, all around him. Bruce couldn’t really explain what he meant; he just felt it from him. Bruce thought Mac was like a deep still lake, ripples rising infrequently to the surface. He felt that Mac knew him better than anyone ever had, that he had a sense about people that went deeper than the ordinary person’s.
He worked out almost daily, learning the holds, and the throws, he learned to listen to himself, and became more comfortable in his body, helped by Mac’s teaching and his example of dedication.
One afternoon, he stayed after class, putting the mats away as usual, helping Mac and Sean clean up. He was pushing a mop around when Sean came to tell him he was leaving, asked if he’d mind if he came over that evening, and Bruce agreed. Sean was fun to hang around with, and it was flattering that the older boy treated him like an equal.
He was just putting away the bucket and the mop when Mr. Mac asked him to come to his office. He was instantly on alert. Had he done something wrong in class?
Mac shut his office door and went to a small table in the corner of his office. He turned on a hotplate sitting on the tabletop and filled a pan with water, set it on to boil. “Sit down,” he said. “Would you like some tea?”
Bruce nodded and relaxed in the chair. If he was getting tea, than he probably wasn’t in trouble.
Mr. Mac looked him over intensely, his lips quirking in the brief flicker that passed for his smile.
“You’re not in trouble.” His eyes crinkled at Bruce’s astonishment. “And I’m not a mind-reader, it’s obvious what was on your mind. You tensed when I asked you into my office, you relaxed when I offered you tea…it’s a simple matter of paying attention, not a lot of people do.”
Bruce nodded and watched Mac set out cups and measure tea into a waiting pot, wondering what he wanted to speak to him about.
“I’m very pleased with your progress. You’re one of the most talented students I have. You’re the kind of student every teacher hopes for, hard working, eager to learn, and not afraid to ask for help. It’s a privilege to teach you.
Bruce blushed and tried to thank him but Mac shook his head. He passed Bruce a cup of tea, and sat before continuing. “No, that is not a compliment, it’s a statement of fact, and also a warning. I plan to be harder on you than the others. I’ll make you hurt, and wish you never met me. You will excel.”
Bruce swallowed and slowly nodded. He wanted that, he wanted to be better than…he wanted to be excellent.
“You’re an exceptional young man. You have enormous potential in you.” He turned his attention to his tea for a moment sipping unhurriedly before looking at Bruce again. “Most people in this world are no more than here. Eating, breathing, dying. Some people…some are much more than that. For good or ill, some people have a greater purpose. I feel it’s true of you. You have work to do, young man.”
Bruce looked at him puzzled. “Mr. Mackenzie, I work hard at everything I do.”
Mac shook his head, and said, “Let me tell you a short version of a long story. A few years ago, I was in a position that I thought was impossible to survive. I remember sitting in the dark, scared to death and waiting to die....”
Bruce watched Mac; his eyes were looking out on some distant place.
“I thought I was going to die, hell, I *knew* I was going to die. And this feeling of—peace, acceptance, came over me. Suddenly, I wasn’t afraid, I was content in the moment. Ready to go.” He looked at Bruce and his eyes crinkled, his lips quirked. “Of course, at that point I hadn’t actually looked Death in the face, it was still somewhat of an abstract concept. I was a virgin, I was armed with a crapload of theory and no practicals-- In the next few moments when bullets were tearing over our heads and we were sucking dirt—I thought the hell with being ready. It was as if something took me by the gonads and said, ‘not fucking yet Mac, you’ve got something important to do.’” Mac coughed, came back to himself and Bruce swore he blushed under the dark hue of his skin. “Sorry about that, young man. Soldiers talk rough some time.”
Bruce stared down into his cup, trying desperately to cover his smile.
Mac went on. “When I came back to the world, I kicked around for a while, then this found me, and I knew it was what I was meant to do. And now, I know why.” He stood and reached out for Bruce’s cup. “I know you have something to do too Bruce, something to make right.”
******
Bruce waited outside for Pop to pick him up and thought about what Mac had said, found himself thinking about Mom and Dad. Mac reminded him of his dad, made him miss his dad. He used to think he survived that night for a reason, but as time went by, he figured it was just a toss of the dice, stupid luck. As for having some grand purpose in this life, Bruce doubted that. He shook his head. If he had a purpose, it was to protect Clark, who still believed what Bruce had told him—that Clark was the one who had a mission in life.
All he knew about himself was that he wanted to be a botanist…if what Mac was suggesting—that he’d survived a firefight to come to Smallville and teach him judo, so that he could be…a butt-kicking scientist? He giggled. Like what--Doc Strange?
He was still grinning when a car pulled up to the curb and Sean leaned over and shouted. “ Bruce, get in!”
Bruce was surprised but he slid into the car. “Where’s Pop?”
“I told him I’d pick you up, save him the drive.”
Bruce grinned. “I know Pop liked saving the gas. So how did you get the car from your folks?”
Sean grinned wickedly. Dad got tired of listening to me whine. So—back to your place or do you maybe want to do something?”
Bruce frowned, thinking about a paper he had to get started on, and he was supposed to take Clark to the library, but… “You know, yeah, lets do something—the movies?”
“Cool!” Sean beamed at him and Bruce wanted to ask about Serena, when she’d be home again. Bruce coughed a little and instead he said, “Hey, Mac was talking to me after you left. He seems to think I’m doing pretty good.” He blushed a little and went on. “Actually, he said real good.”
Sean looked at him. “Yeah? Hey, don’t be modest, you are doing great. You got something special, Bruce.”
Bruce felt pleased and grinned. “Oh. You think…I’m that good?”
Sean laughed. “I’m still better than you, but—yeah. That good.”
They drove on to the theater, stopping at a gas station on the way so Bruce could call home, and stuff their pockets with cheap candy. They got to the theater a little early, laughed and joked as they waited on line. Sean flirted with every girl waiting on line with them, even got Bruce to flirt a little, before they went on inside the movies. Bruce expected Sean to sit them with one of the girls he’d been flirting shamelessly with, but he sat them far in the back, away from everyone. The movie was half full, and they had the back rows to themselves.
“I like to talk to the screen,” Sean explained and Bruce grinned.
The movie was about some boy’s school in England, it was weird and kind of unsettling. Bruce really couldn’t focus on it all that well, because Sean was doing…things. Or he wasn’t doing things but it felt like he could. His knee brushed up against Bruce’s, his elbow nudged him, it was just an elbow in the ribs but it felt…on the screen there was a close-up of a boy’s face, his eyes were closed and nothing was happening but it made an electric jolt go through Bruce, and he gasped a little at the intensity of it.
Sean looked and Bruce said, “Excuse me,” and held up his coke.
Sean smiled and went back to the screen, and his foot hit Bruce’s, stayed there. Bruce could barely hear the dialogue, some weird trick of the acoustics made him hear Sean breathing; he couldn’t seem to block it out. Sean dropped his hand to his thigh and his knuckles grazed Bruce’s and to his horror, he started to get a little hard. He felt a tingling rise and wanted to pull back but since he didn’t know how to do it without being obvious, he sat there with Sean’s knuckles burning his leg….
He was deeply grateful when the movie ended and if he’d had to take a test on the damn thing, he’d fail miserably.
Sean drove him back to the farm in complete silence; he seemed to be deep in thought about something and his own thoughts chased around in his head, slippery as grape seeds.
Finally they were home, and Bruce invited him up to the barn out of knee-jerk politeness. Sean took him up on his invitation and threw him completely off balance.
Now what?
******
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
12/12/05 06:07 pm (UTC)*bounce*
I like!
(no subject)
12/13/05 02:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
12/12/05 06:38 pm (UTC)oops, did I say that outloud?
(no subject)
12/13/05 02:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
12/13/05 03:29 pm (UTC)http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=11327
(no subject)
12/13/05 04:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
12/12/05 07:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
12/13/05 02:52 pm (UTC)ooooo! thank you for the lovely card and the way cool surprises!!! *kisskisskiss* Such loud squealing you never heard! *grin*
(no subject)
12/12/05 08:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
12/13/05 02:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
12/12/05 11:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
12/13/05 02:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
12/12/05 11:48 pm (UTC)Now he needs to go give Lex some smooches!!
;D
(no subject)
12/13/05 02:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
12/13/05 02:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
12/13/05 02:55 pm (UTC)There's more coming soon, though I did have to kick Bruce a little. >:(
(no subject)
12/13/05 10:54 pm (UTC)And yeah, Bruce can be a stubborn little bastard sometimes. I've had problems with him, too.
(no subject)
12/13/05 04:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
12/13/05 02:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
12/13/05 07:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
12/13/05 02:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
8/28/06 01:20 am (UTC)And then there's Sean and the movies. Eeeeee. Sean. Eeee! Oh my goodness. :)
Now What? I can't wait to see. ;)
B&H 17
7/28/08 03:43 pm (UTC)The scene between Sean and Bruce at the movie's was great. Poor Bruce is so confused. Hopefully that will be cleared up for him in the next section.
(no subject)
11/9/12 09:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
11/10/12 05:18 pm (UTC)