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    Ashes, ashes… Chapter 7

    Story written on November 13, 2005 by fanficchick.
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    26 votes, average: 4.31 out of 526 votes, average: 4.31 out of 526 votes, average: 4.31 out of 526 votes, average: 4.31 out of 526 votes, average: 4.31 out of 5 (26 votes, average: 4.31 out of 5)
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    Character(s): N/A
    Number of Comments: 30
    Words: 3251
    Story Shortlink: https://www.assertive-maroon-jellyfish.104-250-143-187.cpanel.site/?p=57618
    Author Notes:

    .

    Helena was speed dialing Lily before she’d even started her car.

     

    “Peabody Foundation, Helena Peabody’s office, this is Lily,” came the clipped, efficient tones that Helena knew so well.

     

    “Good morning, Lily.  Splendid day, isn’t it?”

     

    “Ms. Peabody.  You’ve missed your 8 and 9:30 meetings.  And Harold Fine called to–”

     

    “Lily.  I’ve only had one cup of coffee and that’s not nearly enough for me to definitively respond to this torrent of my failures.  Could you grab your pen, please?  I have a few things I need you to do.”

     

    Helena heard the weary sigh from the other end of the phone and disguised her chuckle by clearing her throat.

     

    “Yes, Ms. Peabody,” Lily finally replied.

     

    “I’ve had something come up rather suddenly.  Something of a personal nature,” Helena said, checking her reflection in the rearview mirror and noticing, with dismay, her disheveled appearance.

     

    “All right,” Lily said cautiously.

     

    “As a result, I’m afraid I’m going to need you to do some juggling with my schedule.  And you should probably start with the trip to Japan next week.”

     

    “But Ms. Peabody, we’ve been planning that trip for weeks!  The board is going to–”

     

    “Yes, I’m sure the board is going to do exactly that, and possibly a great deal more,” Helena interrupted.  “But it can’t be helped.  Tell Martin that he’ll be filling in on my behalf.  Erica has been preparing a detailed briefing book and she can get him caught up.”

     

    “Very well.”

     

    “I know there are other things looming, so what I need you to do is put together a comprehensive daily bulletin for me.  Synthesize my calendar, the list of grants I need to review, all my correspondence.  Everything.  I’ll be in and out of the office but it’s imperative that I remain on top of my schedule.  Understood?”

     

    “Of course.”

     

    “There’s one more thing, Lily.  I’d like you to speak with David Greer in research and have him put together a packet of information for me about post-traumatic stress.”

     

    “Post-traumatic stress?”

     

    “Yes.  One of the…proposals I’m reviewing references it, and I’d like to learn as much as I can as quickly as possible,” Helena said, starting her car. 

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    Comments

    3. Well thank god Helena seems to have made it her mission to help Tina. I hope that she can also help both Bette and Tina find their way back to each other. Fantastic FFC….thanks

    7. Love both chapters ffc!! Helena is slowly winning me over!! As you said in the last chapter, some people learn from their mistakes, others don’t!! The proof is in the pudding!! Helena is doing it, by her actions, putting Tina’s needs ahead of her own, as well as, being her daily care-taker~ without caring what’s in it for her~ it’s truly beautiful….her ability to empathize with Tina’s situation is proof, to me, that she has changed for the better….this is just what Tina needs right now!! Thanks FFC!!

    8. Nice job humanizing Helena, something that’s rarely done in fanfic. Now, if B and T can potentially move into each other’s orbits without a serious implosion or explosion on a galactic scale.

    10. Nice to have you back ffc, reading your writing is always a pleasure. Even when confronted with this intense new storyline you have concocted. I have to say from pass experience with your writing that you seem to particulary focus on Tina, at least that was the case in Comfort Enough and a few other stories I have read that you wrote, so I would expect that if and when you decide to have Bette make an re-entrance it would only benefit Tina. I have to say I can totally sympathize with the emotions shared by some that Helena has learned from her mistakes, but I have to also say that Helena did not loose her child Bette and Tina did. So if we are all quick to say Bette didn’t learn from her mistakes why aren’t we saying Tina hasn’t either. Is it becuase in the back of our minds Bette isn’t and wasn’t Angelica’s birth mother so her grief pales in comparison to Tina’s? Well I would like to say I’m happy that Tina has someone to guide her back to a place where she can begin to find some peace, but if this was real life we would be looking at two people who are truely grieving in their own separate ways, and possibly just can not provide the support that they both would need from each other. A fact that is certainly in accordance with the world we inhabit.

    11. SN~ Sorry bout that~I didn’t mean to imply that because Bette isn’t the birth mother she isn’t grieving in her own way or her emotions are “less” important than Tina’s~ I am simply responding to what was written in the previous chapter, “After Bette’s Herculean efforts to win Tina back, what sense did it possibly make for her to walk away now, when they needed each other most? Hadn’t they learned anything about their own responses to tragedy from all that they’d been through together? Was Bette still so surprised that Tina wanted someone who could remain emotionally open and available to her, especially during the hardest times? ” That’s all…They (B & T ~ the couple) didn’t learn that they have to communicate their feelings openly and honestly to each other…not bottle them up ….its what lead to their breakup in the first place…that’s why i believe they didn’t learn from their mistakes …and helena has…hope that clarifies…peace…

    12. I admit it; it’s hard for me to like Helena, but since she is doing something so selfless; gotta admire that. Will she (you) surprise us and even be nice to Bette and guide Tina back to Bette because even she feels they belong together? Or is this a strictly Tina/Helena storyline?Great story – very sad when a child dies before their parents.Thanks for sharing your story.

    14. even though helena seems sincere i don’t understand why tina find it so easy to talk to her and not to bette…but maybe helena will help bette and tina get back together…what is your intentions?

    15. Thanks for another great chapter so quickly. What a treat! I’m not convinced that Helena’s actions are entirely selfless and Tina needs professional help.Where oh where is the one Tina needs the most.

    16. heythere: my post was no more a personal response to your post or anybody else’s in particular. It was made in general reference to the overall responses I have read both from ppl that feel that Bette needs to be involved and those like yourself that feel Helena really is what Tina needs at this point and of course to the story. But I think we can all agree that those questions although very accurate were voiced by Helena and the mere fact that she said, hadn’t they which means Bette & Tina learned anything from they past experiences, leads me to believe that Bette should not be Tina’s saviour at this point, they should be each others saviour. From what I have read they tried, they both did and it just didn’t work. They both gave up on each other not Bette more than Tina or Tina more than Bette. I know we would all like to see Tina as the damsel in distress waiting for the knight(female version of course) to ride up on stallion and save her and I guess maybe that scenario fits with our idea of Bette & Tina or Helena & Tina for that matter. For me personally Helena will never be that impartial when it comes to Bette & Tina and we will never stop thinking that Bette should burden everything instead of them doing it together, ultimately the way it should be. Helena might have learned from her mistakes which I can surely see but like I said she wasn’t the one that lost her child. You would be surprised to see how all sense of being quickly disappears when tragedy such as this strikes. There was no need for a clarification I did not take your post or any other made for that matter personally, like I said in my prior post I am fully aware of ffc mo and am willingly coming along for the ride. It’s a shame that this site offers such a one dimenstional form of communication, at least I think I have personally never gone further than the fanfic page, it would have been nice to be able to discuss some of the situations we are confronted with in la la land (fanfic). and like you put it peace……..

    18. I, for one am glad that Helena is there and it doesnt seem like she has any moives other than to help Tina. I may be in the minority, but I never felt that Tina needed any “knight in shining armor”. I always felt that she was the strongest in the B&T relationship. I, for one am glad that there is a story where the focus is on Tina, because even on the show, the B&T relationsip is mostly about Bette. Of Course Bette is grieving too but I’m glad that this particular story is about Tina, so far.

    21. You’re really redeeming Helena. She’s a true ally, assisting a friend in need who cannot care for herself at the present moment. Helena is taking center stage in a positive way. This is the Helena we saw at the beach in the show, whose sincere love for her children influenced Tina to call Bette and include her in Angelica’s life. This must be the Helena that Tina saw most often. Tina wouldn’t have spent time with a complete harridan, not even to spite Bette. Fanficchick, we can count on you to spin the canon, giving us a richer version, ala ‘Comfort Enough’. Scriptwriting 101, if anyone over at Showtime is listening. Thank you!

    22. Wow, this is a great story, something I particularly like is Helena and her involvement in the story. Now I know that lots of people out there did not like Helena in Season 2, but I have to say, given the storylines of S2, at least Helena always brought some excitement to the scene. I also, although most of my friends disagree with me, think that she really cared for Tina, so I can totally see this storyline. The problem with Bette is that she is so self absorbed and although I really do want to like her, sometimes it is just so hard. Recently, I was watching some of season one and I said thank god that they got Jennifer Beals, perky Alex from Flashdance, to play the role of Bette, because otherwise, I think Bette could have easily come off as a not very likeable character. The fact that most people, myself certainly included, want to like JB makes us want to like Bette.

    24. Forgive me for not commenting sooner, but I was away from the site for a few days and voila! 7 chapters. Your enviable production is surpassed only by your skill at storytelling and dialogue. I’m thrilled to have you writing a new story for us, but the subject matter took me by surprise. Recently, I attended a funeral for a four month old baby and Tina’s line, “She went to sleep and she didn’t wake up.” was particularly poignant to me.I think Seahurst is correct, though, there is no one better to guide us through this material.Thanks for writing.

    25. Wow Helena’s really changed a lot. It’s extremely generous of her to take it upon herself to take care of Tina and nurse her back to health. Shane really is Yoda.

    28. i dont know what to think but it seems that Helena have a heart..and i hope she think that the only way to help Tina is try to make her and Bette talk again..post soon thanks

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