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mtxref_ficAuthor's Note: Written for Torchwood: Miracle Day, Esther, Hebrew mythology says that Queen Esther saved all the Jews in Persia, but Esther Drummond saved everyone in the world Remixed version of This Drabble
In the dingy hotel room, somewhere in the wilds of north-western Massachusetts -- their latest in a series of hiding places, dodging the long arm of the CIA and the gaze of the Three Families -- there was only book: the Gideon Bible in the nightstand. On returning from a run to the closest convenience store for supplies, Esther found Jack propped up on the pillows of the one bed, reading it.
"I thought you snarked at religion," she said, surprised by the sight. She'd pored over the Psalms, reading them to clear her head, and he'd taken the chance to point out certain lines in Leviticus, which had lead to a discussion on whether or not those even applied under the new law of Christianity... and lead to Jack telling a brain-bending yarn about meeting an itinerant carpenter from a backwater town in Palestine, the kind of tale that Esther wasn't sure was an outrageous lie or an even more outrageous truth.
"Had to pass the time somehow, and you keep harping that I need to stay off my feet. Ordering out didn't count, either, after the last session you walked in on," Jack said. Esther turned her attention to the bag of groceries on the dresser, hiding the sunset hue crossing her face. In the mirror before her, she could see Jack lowering the open book to the bedcovers and sliding it across toward her. "Found one story named after you, maybe something to inspire you: it's all about a woman dealing with powers beyond her control and the near-destruction of her race."
She looked up from unpacking the bag of groceries and medical supplies, the bandages and the IV bags she was getting under the table, thanks to the strings Rex had managed to pull, even from afar. "Mom named me after her great-aunt, as far as I know. One of those old-fashioned names, used to embarrass me when I was a kid."
He tapped the page. "It's also the name of a queen, a brave woman living in exile, who put her life on the line to save her people."
"I'm just trying to do what's right: I'm just a regular woman, not a queen," she argued, more embarrassed now than she'd felt a moment ago.
Jack sat up carefully, minding the gunshot wound, his pale eyes looking into hers. "And that's how she saw herself: an ordinary woman who recognized that something was horribly wrong in her world, something that the powers that be were aware of, but were trying to minimize, just to protect the status quo. Much like what you're doing now, only instead of saving just one tribe, you're trying to save the whole human race."
"But you and Gwen and Rex, you're stronger, smarter, I'm just the research expert --"
He shook his head. "No, don't say that: No one is ever just *something*. You're smart and strong, in your own way: you care about people. You've got a heart. You look out for others, at the risk of getting yourself hurt in the most vulnerable spot. You ask me, that's the greatest strength a person can show." Then with a wry smirk, he added, "The kind of strength I've always had a little trouble with, least until I'd met a Doctor who made me better."
"That Doctor you've mentioned before?" she asked.
He nodded, his gaze turning distant for a moment. "Oh yeah, he got me looking out for more than just number one."
"We could use him about now," she said, sighing soundlessly.
"But then you'd miss your chance to shine, Esther," he said. "You know what the name means?"
"It's the name of a queen, you said."
"Comes from the name Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love and war, who descended into the underworld to save Tammuz, her husband, the god of the harvest."
"So how did a Hebrew girl wind up with the name of a pagan goddess?" Esther asked.
"Same way that Sarah Silberstein became Sadelle Silverstone when she left her no-name village in the Ukraine to emigrate to Brooklyn: all a matter of survival, to keep going," he said, and something in his voice suggested he had had to do the same, just to keep going, something she would have to learn to do...
In the dingy hotel room, somewhere in the wilds of north-western Massachusetts -- their latest in a series of hiding places, dodging the long arm of the CIA and the gaze of the Three Families -- there was only book: the Gideon Bible in the nightstand. On returning from a run to the closest convenience store for supplies, Esther found Jack propped up on the pillows of the one bed, reading it.
"I thought you snarked at religion," she said, surprised by the sight. She'd pored over the Psalms, reading them to clear her head, and he'd taken the chance to point out certain lines in Leviticus, which had lead to a discussion on whether or not those even applied under the new law of Christianity... and lead to Jack telling a brain-bending yarn about meeting an itinerant carpenter from a backwater town in Palestine, the kind of tale that Esther wasn't sure was an outrageous lie or an even more outrageous truth.
"Had to pass the time somehow, and you keep harping that I need to stay off my feet. Ordering out didn't count, either, after the last session you walked in on," Jack said. Esther turned her attention to the bag of groceries on the dresser, hiding the sunset hue crossing her face. In the mirror before her, she could see Jack lowering the open book to the bedcovers and sliding it across toward her. "Found one story named after you, maybe something to inspire you: it's all about a woman dealing with powers beyond her control and the near-destruction of her race."
She looked up from unpacking the bag of groceries and medical supplies, the bandages and the IV bags she was getting under the table, thanks to the strings Rex had managed to pull, even from afar. "Mom named me after her great-aunt, as far as I know. One of those old-fashioned names, used to embarrass me when I was a kid."
He tapped the page. "It's also the name of a queen, a brave woman living in exile, who put her life on the line to save her people."
"I'm just trying to do what's right: I'm just a regular woman, not a queen," she argued, more embarrassed now than she'd felt a moment ago.
Jack sat up carefully, minding the gunshot wound, his pale eyes looking into hers. "And that's how she saw herself: an ordinary woman who recognized that something was horribly wrong in her world, something that the powers that be were aware of, but were trying to minimize, just to protect the status quo. Much like what you're doing now, only instead of saving just one tribe, you're trying to save the whole human race."
"But you and Gwen and Rex, you're stronger, smarter, I'm just the research expert --"
He shook his head. "No, don't say that: No one is ever just *something*. You're smart and strong, in your own way: you care about people. You've got a heart. You look out for others, at the risk of getting yourself hurt in the most vulnerable spot. You ask me, that's the greatest strength a person can show." Then with a wry smirk, he added, "The kind of strength I've always had a little trouble with, least until I'd met a Doctor who made me better."
"That Doctor you've mentioned before?" she asked.
He nodded, his gaze turning distant for a moment. "Oh yeah, he got me looking out for more than just number one."
"We could use him about now," she said, sighing soundlessly.
"But then you'd miss your chance to shine, Esther," he said. "You know what the name means?"
"It's the name of a queen, you said."
"Comes from the name Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love and war, who descended into the underworld to save Tammuz, her husband, the god of the harvest."
"So how did a Hebrew girl wind up with the name of a pagan goddess?" Esther asked.
"Same way that Sarah Silberstein became Sadelle Silverstone when she left her no-name village in the Ukraine to emigrate to Brooklyn: all a matter of survival, to keep going," he said, and something in his voice suggested he had had to do the same, just to keep going, something she would have to learn to do...
