crack_van | Skip Trace: Fractured by Charlotte C Hill with Maygra and Megan Kent (PG-13)

Fandom: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN ~ Modern Day AU
Pairing: Chris/Buck
Author on LJ:

charlottechill
Author Website: The World In Fiction by Charlotte C Hill
Why this must be read:

Fractured is the launching pad for the Skip Trace universe but it stands on its own as a thoughtful and very moving study of exactly how two men fall in love. It does not mumble over or flinch away from the fact that Chris was in a loving marriage or that Buck thoroughly enjoys women - plural. It begins a breath after Chris loses Sarah and Adam to a car explosion with Buck stepping seamlessly in to protect Chris from the press and then later on from himself. Charlotte does not rush Chris and Buck through their long journey but instead gives them day to day detail with no crashing revelations until all involved are at the inevitable conclusion.

It took a few weeks to realize that Chris was better off actually fighting, so Buck left him to it if it seemed reasonably fair, and dragged the victors off each other before either combatant got too injured. He left Chris to work it out how he would, and bided his time, trusting as Chris couldn't just yet that friendship and solid support would get him through this. Buck felt weirdly like some kind of satellite, a moon in careful orbit around Chris's despair, never jerking away and flinging himself out into the world, but never letting himself be dragged too far in, either.

Skip Trace: Fractured