crack_van | Shoot the Lights Out by Anna S.

Fandom: SPORTS NIGHT
Pairing: Dana/Casey
Author on LJ:

themoonbar
Author Website: none
Why this must be read:

I've got a couple of dysfunctional Dana/Casey recs today, this being the shorter of the two. Dana and Casey had this chemistry that gets overlooked, I think, in the fandom; it's definitely not as popular as Dan/Casey, but Dana and Casey didn't have a vanilla relationship, for all that. It's dark and it's twisty and it's got a lot of history.

This story has Dana and Casey falling drunkenly into bed after the show, the night SportsNight is picked up by Quo Vadimus. As with most stories about falling drunkenly into bed, the morning after isn't pretty, and neither are the following weeks.

What makes this story stand out is the characterization of Dana as someone who's a little bit crazy, has a lot of faults and a lot of self-doubt, but still manages to succeed as a woman working in sports. Basically, it's Dana as she was on the show, and that's difficult to find in fanfic.

Casey pulls her aside after the show to ask her if she’s okay. "Everyone keeps treating me like I broke your heart," he confides. But where there should be sympathy, she only sees cockiness.

"Do I look like you broke my heart?" she asks.

"No."

"Then let’s go ahead and assume you didn’t."

Shoot the Lights Out