PROMPT POST PART III

Please see the most recent MOD NOTE

(updated 6 June)

Welcome everybody. How you got here I have no idea but thank you for coming and welcome again, nonetheless . As you may have gathered this is a Fic Prompting Meme dedicated solely to the hilarious and oh-so-addictive BBC Radio 4 sitcom - Cabin Pressure. I'm aiming for this to be pretty anything goes - but in order for everything to run smoothly, there are a few guidelines. Don't worry - they're not too restrictive.

FILLING GUIDELINES

As you probably all know - our meme now has it's very own database created and maintained by the great Enigel. It both catalogues each and every prompt that we post and provides links to fills. You can find it here: Google Spreadsheet

We also have a Pinboard archive which has been put in place by the lovely

oxfordtweed in the place of our late Delicious Archive. This Archive contains a list of all the prompts this meme has to offer - you can find it here: Pinboard Archive

This is a great step forward in making our meme just a little more organised (but not too organised of course. This is Cabin Pressure) which is always a good thing.

So in order to make things easier to archive - Please nest your fills.

This can be done by either posting each part as a reply to that part's immediate predecessor, OR by replying each time to Part I OR - well you get the idea :D

It makes it simpler for Enigel and myself to link fills in a clean and clear manner. Following these guildelines will be very much appreciated guys :D

REPROMPTING

Reprompting is allowed but please include the URL of the original prompt when you do so. It will make it infinitely more easy to Archive which would make both Enigel and I very happy :)

As for everything else

Be respectful to one another. Disagreements are fine, but not everything disagreeable is trolling. If you suspect someone of trolling, just ignore it. If you cannot respond to a comment without attacking or trolling someone else, keep it to yourself.

No bashing prompts. It might not be your cup of tea - but obviously someone wants it enough to go to the effort of requesting it. So just scroll past it.

Prompt away as much as you like guys - seriously, go wild - but please try to fill as well.

NEW - If your fill includes a major element that veers from the original prompt (crossovers, established universes, kinks, et cetera), please take a few moments to check with the OP that such additions are welcome. This has caused problems in the past and it only takes a few moments of your time.
Please no RPF. I'm not trying to oppress you RPF writers and enthusiasts, I would just really like to avoid any legal problems.

When you post a fill (or post a new part of a WIP) please go over to the Filled Prompts Post (if it is complete) or the WIP Post (if there are still more parts to come) and, following each post's guideline's, post a link to this fill or new part.

REALLY IMPORTANT ADDENDUM

According to numerous Child Safety laws it is illegal to provide pornographic material to minors. Seeing that the majority of the stuff we have here is rather adult in nature, this Meme is consequently an 18+ zone. Failing to comply to this rule could result in the Meme getting shut down. So if you're here and you're under 18 please back button now.

+ Please do not post anything regarding minors in a sexual situation. It really doesn't matter how tasteful or crass it is, there are laws that classify that sort of thing as child pornography and as such, I'm afraid we're going to have to go with the attitude that safe is better than sorry.

It really is VERY important that these rules are upheld as the consequences are severe.

Other than that - go crazy guys. Any problems please just message me and I'll try my best to work it out.

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Prompt Index

Current Prompt Post | Current Chatter Post | WIP Post | Filled Prompts Post | Searching Post | Orphan Post | Page-a-Mod Post | FAQ | Beta/Concrit Post

cabin_pressure | Cabin Pressure @ AO3 | IRC Chat @ irc.ecnet.org #FittonATC

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Re: Fill: Flying, Not falling 9b/?

sajaat
2012-06-07 12:09 am UTC (link)

Martin sat still as a statue, eyes closed, his fingers steepled in front of his mouth, clearly deep in thought. He’d said the bare minimum during take off and hadn’t spoken since. Suddenly he sucked in a deep breath through his nose and his eyes flew open.

“Oh... idiot...” He blinked a couple of times before looking over at Douglas, as if he’d forgotten he was there. “Is it alright if I just...” He looked over his shoulder at the cabin door. “I mean, I need to... well...”

“You don’t have to ask permission to use the facilities, Martin. I have control.”

“Right. Thanks.” Martin bolted from the cabin.

Douglas blinked in surprise when he heard him lock the flight deck door behind him. They hardly ever even shut the door, let alone locked it. He wondered what was going on.

When Martin returned a few moments later he looked pale and flustered.

“Douglas. Do you trust me?” He asked quietly

“Of course.” The temptation to tease Martin was immense, but Douglas found he was too worried. “What’s going on.”

“I think...” He took a deep breath before starting again. “Those men are going to try to hijack Gerti.”

“What? Where on earth have you got that idea from?” Douglas wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that.

“I don’t know.” Martin raked his hands through his hair, obviously distressed. “I just... It’s obvious, but I don’t know why...”

“You are, of course, aware of how ridiculous this sounds?”

“Of course I am!” Martin rubbed his forehead, there was a sheen of sweat on his face and he looked more like his old self than he had in months. It wasn’t reassuring. “I went to talk to them just now. I wanted to check, but... I just... I don’t know...”

It did sound ridiculous, it truly did. But then, Martin had been displaying something of a knack for this sort of thing recently. Not on this scale, of course, but still. He couldn’t bring himself to dismiss his claims outright.

“Alright then, Martin.” Douglas said in his most soothing voice, trying to ground the younger man. “Explain it to me, like you did with the lady in the cafe. Start from the beginning.”

“This isn’t like finding someone’s dog, Douglas!”

“I know that, but I need you to explain it to me because I don’t understand.”

Martin gave Douglas an irritated look, but nodded and took a deep breath.

“Okay.” He said. “Well. They’re obviously second rate, violent criminals.”

“The beginning, Martin. All the details.”

“Their hands show that they don’t work in an office. Not soft enough for desk work, not calloused enough for manual labour.” Martin glanced ruefully at his own hands. “Their suits are new, but they’re they’re cheap; From ASDA. The shoes, on the other hand are old. Old shoes, that have been cleaned and carefully polished, but not worn that often.”

“So?” Douglas prompted gently. Martin was already visibly calmer, his confidence growing with every deduction.

“So someone’s chartered a jet to fly them to Switzerland for a meeting. That doesn’t usually happen to people who wear suits they bought from the supermarket and old shoes.”

“Maybe not,” Douglas had to agree. “But that doesn’t make them criminals.”

“It does explain all the facts, though. Our friends spend most of their time in jeans and trainers, and only wear suits on special occasions. But on this occasion where they need to dress smartly neither of them had a suit to wear. Neither of them had a suit in the wardrobe, despite the fact they both have shoes. They both had to buy new, and did it in the same shop at the same time. Unlikely, don’t you think?”

Martin’s eyes were alight as he explained. Douglas couldn’t remember ever seeing him look so animated, so alive.

“More likely is that they buy suits for the rare occasions that they need them, then get rid of them afterwards.” He continued. “But why? Why not simply put the suit back in the wardrobe with the shoes? Perhaps their suits get damaged, perhaps they get dirty. They don’t get them cleaned or repaired though. So, evidence of criminal activity, probably blood. The sort of thing dry cleaners tend to get squeamish about. But they haven’t thought about the shoes. There are probably traces of several different people’s blood in the stitching of their shoes. They think it’s enough to scrub and polish the shoes despite the fact that they’ve burned the suits. They’re idiots.” Martin concluded with a sniff.

“None of this means that they plan to hijack Gerti.” Douglas pointed out.

“When I was talking to them, they were both nervous, Eric especially. They’re going to do something they don’t normally do. It’s a last minute change of plan, something they’ve come up with themselves.”

“Right. Let us, for now, assume that all this adds up to a hijacking attempt. I’m not convinced that it does, but we can pretend for now. I have two questions. One, are our idiots armed idiots?”

Martin was suddenly very still. He bobbed his head in a tiny nod.

“Guns and knives.” He said. “Jackson has a holster on his back and a knife in his sock. Eric has a pistol in his jacket pocket.”

“Alright then.” Douglas felt a rising tide of anger; the thugs weren’t the only idiots on board. “Question two, and I want you to concentrate, Martin, because question two is the important one. Did you somehow arrange for that Air Cal pilot to be arrested so that Arthur wouldn’t be here?”

Martin nodded again, not meeting Douglas’ gaze.

“He was trafficking drugs. I simply pointed the police in the right direction.”

“That’s not the point, Martin. You knew they were criminals the moment they stepped into the office.”

“Yes, alright. I knew they were criminals when I saw them. I thought it was best if Arthur was out of the way.” Martin huffed. He sounded annoyed, and Douglas felt his temper snap.

“But you didn’t think it would be best to call the police in Fitton? Of course not! You thought it would be best to welcome them onto Gerti. You thought it would be best to take to the skies with hijackers on board. What the hell were you thinking?”

“I didn’t have any proof!" Martin exclaimed. "I still don’t. Can you imagine what Carolyn would have done to me if I’d called the police? I just knew they were up to something. At first I thought it was smuggling; flying out to bring something back on the return journey, probably technology given the luggage they had with them. I thought we’d be okay, Douglas, but they’ve changed their plans. I’m sorry. I didn’t work it out until we were in the air.”

Douglas took a deep breath and blew it out, forcing himself to calm down. Martin was right, there was very little he could have done without proof, and arguing about it would get them nowhere. He was still frustrated, though.

“You could have told me.” Douglas pointed out, quietly.

“What good would it have done?” Martin sighed. “It would have made no difference, and you were keeping them distracted by annoying Carolyn. I couldn’t have kept Arthur safe without that.”

“Alright.” Douglas conceded. “We can’t do anything about it now anyway. What I still don’t understand is why would anyone want to hijack Gerti”

Martin hesitated a moment.

“Me.” He said. “I know this sounds stupid, but Jackson changed his mind when he saw me.”

“You?” Douglas could feel his eyebrows climbing in disbelief. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but why would they want to kidnap you?”

“I don’t know. But... did you see Jackson looking at me in the office?”

“I just thought he fancied you!” Douglas took in Martin’s blank expression. “What? For goodness sake, Martin! You’ve surely noticed that you’ve been getting a certain amount of attention recently?”

“No... I... Really?” Martin frowned at him. “That’s umm... well...”

“Martin.” Douglas interrupted, worried that they were drifting in entirely the wrong direction. “Why are they doing this? What could they possibly want with you?”

“No idea, Douglas.” Martin shrugged “He must have mistaken me for someone else, I can’t think of any other explanation.”

“And you have no proof of any of this?”

“None. It’s probably a bad idea to sit here waiting for them to make their move, though.”

“So basically, what you’re saying is, we have hijackers on board and you need me to think of something clever in order to get them to show their hand?”

“Exactly.” Martin looked at him hopefully.

“Sounds like fun.” Douglas smiled.

In the end, it had been almost embarrassingly easy to overthrow the two men. Martin had been spot on with all of his deductions, including the one about their intelligence levels. The plan hadn’t been one of Douglas’ most clever; it hadn’t needed to be. Still, at least he now had a good story to tell about the time he foiled a hijack attempt with nothing more than a roll of sellotape, a bowl of leftover surprising rice, and a smartphone.

Douglas let out a shaky breath. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and the reality of what they’d done was sinking in. It was one thing to freeze Gordon to Gerti, or steal enough fuel to drive an aeroplane to a nearby airstrip by road. It was quite another to intentionally antagonise armed men. Things had gone rather well though, and had all been over surprisingly quickly. And it had been fun in a way. It wasn’t an experience he planned to repeat any time soon though.

Martin, on the other hand, seemed to thrive on the whole experience. He had been a bit panicky initially, but once Douglas had talked him down he’d behaved as though he dealt with violent criminals on a daily basis. He had restrained the men with alarming efficiency, then herded them off towards one of the maintenance huts on the airfield for ‘a little chat’ as soon as they’d landed back at Fitton.

Douglas had been left alone to do all the post-landing checks. He hoped Martin didn’t expect him to do the paperwork as well. He decided to find him and tell him as much.

The airfield was still and quiet. The ground crew appeared to have abandoned their posts the moment Gerti was safely landed. They were probably sheltering from the cold in the Hose and Hydrant. Douglas pulled his coat around himself and walked quietly over to the maintenance hut. Jackson and Eric were sat on the floor back to back, tied together. There was no sign of Martin. Douglas pressed himself against the wall and worked his way closer to the open window until he could hear as well as see them.

“I told you it weren’t ‘im.” Eric moaned at his friend.

“Wasn’t him.” Martin stepped from the shadows.

“What?” Eric looked confused.

“I told you it wasn’t him. Which begs the question; who did you think I was?” Martin asked.

“No-one.” Jackson said. “We just thought... well, Eric here’s got a terrible memory for faces. It were a mistake.”

Eric turned as far as he could and tried to glare at Jackson, clearly unhappy at being saddled with the blame.

“Was a mistake.” Martin corrected again. “I’m going to ask you once more. Who did you mistake me for?” He towered over them, eyes cold and threatening. “The police aren’t even aware that you are in here. There are a couple of ways this could go for you. One involves the two of you walking out of here free men. The other...” He paused for a moment to glance over at the oxy-acetylene welding kit in the corner. “Doesn’t. Now. For the last time. Who?”

“No-one. Not really. We thought you was... were... that detective fella, but he’s dead.” Eric spoke up, sounding nervous. “I told you it couldn’t be him.” He hissed over his shoulder at Jackson.

“Does he have a name, this ‘detective fella’?” Martin asked.

“Something Holmes. It were... was... an odd name... I can’t remember...”

“Try harder.” Martin pulled on a pair of welding gauntlets, and moved toward the corner.

“I can’t remember, I swear it.” Eric snivelled.

Martin must have believed him because he took off the gloves and crossed the floor to face Eric, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“You were going to hijack an aeroplane because you mistook me for a dead man, whose name you can’t remember. You’re bigger idiots than I thought. Who were you going to deliver me to?”

“We thought Mr Troy might be interested. The boss, Mr Jefferson, says Mr Troy thinks he’s still alive.”

“Mr Troy?”

“Amir Troy. Some new investor. Started putting money into the firm about six months ago. Lots of money, that’s how the boss could afford to charter a flight. I think I preferred it before.” Eric sounded genuinely regretful.

“And where might I find this Amir Troy?”

“Don’t know. Even the boss hasn’t met him. Don’t know anyone who has.”

“Well. Thank you for the chat gentlemen, you’ve been most helpful.” Martin smiled and stepped back, suddenly Martin again. “Thank you for flying MJN air.” He turned on his heel and strode towards the door.

Douglas took a couple of moments to collect himself. Martin had been terrifying - even Douglas wasn’t certain that he wouldn’t harm the prisoners in order to gain the information he wanted. The old fear that all was not right with his friend settled on him, and he wondered what he could do about it.

“Douglas.”

The voice in his ear made Douglas jump, and his already hammering heart seemed to leap into his throat.

“Jesus, Martin!” He whispered. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Why are you whispering?” The corner of Martin’s mouth quirked up in a half smile.

“I don’t know.” Douglas whispered before realising what he was doing and trying again. “I don’t know. I’m not exactly up on the etiquette of how to behave when I find my Captain about to torture two hijackers in a shed!”

“I was acting, Douglas.” Martin nudged him with his elbow. “Come on. The police are on their way, and I’m starving. Gino owes me a free pizza.”

Douglas doesn’t want to know what Martin’s done to earn that. All he wants is to go home, have a cup of tea and pretend that today never happened. God, he feels old. Martin’s positively bouncing though.

“Why are you so happy?” Douglas asked, not even attempting to keep the concern from his voice. “They were going to hijack an aeroplane in order to kidnap you. Doesn’t that worry you at all?”

“Of course it does. It’s something interesting to think about though.” Martin shrugged. “It might even keep me off Twitter for a while.”

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	Re: Fill: Flying, Not falling 9b/? (Anonymous) 2012-06-07 08:41 pm UTC (link)
	Oh my god, I love it. His deductions, his enthusiasm, his behavior becoming more and more like Sherlock. Absolutely brilliant. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	Re: Fill: Flying, Not falling 9b/? sajaat 2012-06-07 10:27 pm UTC (link)
	Thank you so much! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	Re: Fill: Flying, Not falling 9b/? (Anonymous) 2012-06-11 07:59 am UTC (link)
	THIS WAS SO AWESOME. I love your characterization of Martin here, he's definitely displaying more and more Sherlock-like behaviour but at the same time he's still very Martin-y :) Can't wait for more! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	Re: Fill: Flying, Not falling 9b/? sajaat 2012-06-12 05:34 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm working on the next part now, but real life's a bit busy at the moment so it may be a while... (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	Re: Fill: Flying, Not falling 9b/? (Anonymous) 2012-06-12 11:33 pm UTC (link)
	I LOVE YOU AND I LOVE THIS (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	Re: Fill: Flying, Not falling 9b/? sajaat 2012-06-15 09:57 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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