Story: "Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 16

[ysabetwordsmith]

This story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Hairpins," "Blended," "Am I Not," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Querencia," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," "Green Eggs and Hulk," and "kintsukuroi."

Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Nick Fury
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Minor character death. Bullying. Fighting. Suicide attempt (minor character).
Summary: This is the story of how a little boy named Flip grows up to save the world a lot.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. Accidents. Emotional whump. Disability. Sibling relationship. Nonsexual love. Parentification. Manipulation. Coping skills. Asking for help and getting it. Hope. Protection. Caregiving. Competence. Toys and games. Comic books. Fixing things. Martial arts. Gentleness. Trust. Role models. Military. BAMF Phil Coulson.

Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15. Skip to Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21.


"Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 16


For his tenth birthday, Flip asks for a human anatomy puzzle and a filing cabinet. The human puzzle will be fun to play with, but also useful for learning about bodies. Flip is studying anatomy in science class at school, and vulnerable points in karate. He likes the way that ideas from different lessons can fit together. The filing cabinet will be ideal for saving finished paperwork and extra blanks. He's building up such a big collection that he's running out of room for binders in his bookcase. This way, Flip can keep his just current favorites in a binder.

Mom laughs and says that a filing cabinet isn't a real present, and he should pick something else. She takes him to buy a filing cabinet anyway, though, at a thrift store. Flip finds the perfect one tucked into a dusty corner of the office section between two dilapidated desks. His filing cabinet is tall and black, marred by scratches that gleam silver against the obsidian surface. Every drawer locks with its own unique key, all fastened together on a metal ring.

"That's the one you want?" Mom asks, although Flip hasn't said anything out loud.

"That's the one," Flip says, and she gets it for him. Flip loves it instantly.

While they're at the store, Flip also spots a bicycle. It is a girl's bike and loud pink, with blue handles and a white seat. It needs a bit of work, but it's only ten bucks.

"Is a bike an okay birthday present?" Flip asks.

"It sure is," Mom says.

He gets the bike too.

He gets a broken arm falling off the bike a week later, but it's so worth it.

Alexa's present comes a little late, because she has found -- somehow -- six issues of classic Captain America & the Howling Commandos comics. Flip spends hours reading and rereading the comics, even though the pages are awkward to handle with one arm in a cast. Finally Alexa takes pity on him and holds the comics for him to read so that all he has to do is say, "Page, please," and she turns it for him.

Flip falls in love all over again when he discovers the team of misfits who save the day. Each of them has a different knack, and he can see how they work together. Dum Dum Dugan handles explosives. Jim Morita is silent and serious, adept at karate. James Montgomery Falsworth is something of a clown, but also a highly trained fighter. The jazz trumpeter Gabriel Jones speaks both German and French, which helps him connect with the Frenchman Jacques Dernier, who is adept in subterfuge and forgery. Flip likes the fact that some of the Commandos have subtler skills than just shooting the bad guys.

Then there is Bucky, Captain America's best friend. Flip knows that Cap needs somebody to watch his back, because he's always so busy watching everyone else's that he gets shot a lot. Unlike the other boys, Flip has never wanted to be Captain America. He knows that he's not a hero. Now he traces his finger over the shadowy figure of Bucky standing guard while Cap sleeps. Flip thinks, not for the first time, that it would be a grand adventure to be the guy who looks after the hero. Somebody has to do it.

* * *

Notes:

See the anatomy puzzle, filing cabinet, and pink bike that Flip gets for his birthday.

The Howling Commandos have appeared in many versions. I'm using the one from Captain America: The First Avenger. They're led by Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. Dum Dum Dugan is the explosives expert. Jim Morita knows karate. Montgomery Falsworth provides some comic relief. Gabriel Jones speaks foreign languages. Jacques Dernier handles subterfuge.

Leadership means taking care of your people. That way, when you need it, they'll take care of you. There are tips on how to be a good and caring leader. Know how to take care of other people and yourself.

Most heroes don't think of themselves as heroes. It's one of those titles, like shaman or master, that's meant to be bestowed by other people.  So don't argue. Just say thanks if you appreciate their work.


[To be continued in Part 17 ...]

Comments

Exellent progression!

[dialecticdreamer]

Flip riding a girls' bike in that era... even if he repainted it, I think he got some extra dodging and avoiding practice! But it's so very /him/, at least the way you've portrayed him, that it /works/.

Thanks for posting this.

Re: Exellent progression!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Flip riding a girls' bike in that era... even if he repainted it, I think he got some extra dodging and avoiding practice! <<

Yep. It's a dilemma presented to many impoverished boys -- whether to ride a girl's bike, or have no bike at all. Which they choose can tell you a lot about their personality.

Flip doesn't see anything wrong with a girl's bike, even though it's not what he would've chosen new. The fact that bullies pick on him for it, well, they're already doing that anyhow and Flip already thinks they're dumb jerks. Not much change.

>> But it's so very /him/, at least the way you've portrayed him, that it /works/. <<

Yay! I'm glad this resonates for you. In the movies, Phil seems like a very soft-spoken man who is not obsessed about machisimo. So I wanted to explore that, because it's a rare trait in America generally but unheard of for marines and spies and other BAMFs.

Re: Exellent progression!

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Even though a girl's bike would lead to fewer scrotal injuries.

As a kid one of my 'tricks' was swinging to side saddle on my 'boy' bike.

Re: Exellent progression!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Even though a girl's bike would lead to fewer scrotal injuries. <<

Very astute point. I have to admit one of the nice things about having a female body is no long having that vulnerability -- and being able to ride a girl bike without anyone staring.

>> As a kid one of my 'tricks' was swinging to side saddle on my 'boy' bike. <<

I've done that. I was far more inclined to ride without using the handlebars though. It always reminded me of flying, to be able to turn the bike without using my hands, only shifting my weight to bank.

[yamx]

The funny thing is, I know (and have seen riding around) a lot of guys who ride "girls' bikes" (not pink, but without the extra piece of frame) because they argue, quite reasonably, that all it achieves is giving you something to hit your crown jewels against if you have to stop suddenly. In fact, my "bike guy" tells me girls' bikes are more likely to get stolen these days because they are much easier to resell due to higher demand. Maybe eventually, "girls' bikes" will just be "bikes" and the ones with the extra strut will die out... Not that that would help Flip back in the day.

Flip thinks, not for the first time, that it would be a grand adventure to be the guy who looks after the hero. Somebody has to do it.
Well, isn't it nice to know he'll grow up to fulfill his dream? :)

[heatherbelles.livejournal.com]

That style of frame is known as a step-through, and although is traditionally seen as a female bike, it didn't start off that way, and back in the day when bikes were used by various shop-boys for delivery, most of them had a 'step through' frame as it made getting on and off quicker. They became associated with female riders, as you couldn't ride a bike with a top strut in a long skirt and jacket. (Maybe if you were wearing Rationals, but that was daring enough without riding the wrong type!)


IRRC The rationale behind the 'boys' frame used to be that building it that way made for a lighter bike, but I've always thought it was asking for a painful 'bike meets bits' accident.

Can you tell I've just finished curating an exhibition on the blasted things?

(There was a rather large bike race this weekend in the county I work in, and part of the route ran by the site I manage. Summer exhibition this year was therefore on historical cycling...)

I am now officially cycled out.

Back to Flip though - I love his pragmatic approach and willingness to work to get what he wants.

[yamx]

Oh, thank you for telling me this! I find stuff like that really interesting, and it makes perfect sense! :)

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I love it when the audience crosstalk adds to the appeal of what I'm writing.

[heatherbelles.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome! I can give you a list of some of the stuff I read when researching the exhibition as well if you'd like. Some of which, like HG Wells, and Conan Doyle will be available via Project Gutenberg.

Was pretty interesting to research, as I am distinctly not a cyclist myself.

Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> That style of frame is known as a step-through, and although is traditionally seen as a female bike, it didn't start off that way, and back in the day when bikes were used by various shop-boys for delivery, most of them had a 'step through' frame as it made getting on and off quicker. <<

That makes sense.

>> They became associated with female riders, as you couldn't ride a bike with a top strut in a long skirt and jacket. (Maybe if you were wearing Rationals, but that was daring enough without riding the wrong type!) <<

Oddly enough I've seen people cope with a long skirt just by bunching and wrapping it around their legs. What won't work is a narrow skirt over a straight bar.

>> IRRC The rationale behind the 'boys' frame used to be that building it that way made for a lighter bike, but I've always thought it was asking for a painful 'bike meets bits' accident. <<

Yeah, it's not safe with a bar there. People can get really injured, boys more than girls.

>> Can you tell I've just finished curating an exhibition on the blasted things? <<

Ah, that explains it. But thanks for sharing! This was fun to read.

>> Back to Flip though - I love his pragmatic approach and willingness to work to get what he wants. <<

Yay! Those things are so much a part of his character, I figure they must have grown in early.

Re: Wow!

[heatherbelles.livejournal.com]

Bunching the skirt nowadays, would be acceptable. Victorian/Edwardian period, safe to say not!

There were skirt protectors designed to stop it catching in wheels/chains.

Rationals and bloomers were the next step in cycling wear, but only the young and daring women wore them. We have a pair on display, they're rather lovely things. No real signs of wear, so we think they were robably just worn the once, and then put aside as bit too daring....

It's actually been a pretty fun exhibition to work on - there was a cycling cafe based out the building in the 1900s so we could tell that story. I had an excuse to read a lot of literature that features cycling. (Three Men on a Bummel, couple of Sherlock Holmes stories amongst other things)

For instance, although everyone associats HG Wells nowadays with science fiction, he was a keen cyclist and wrote a whole novel about a drapers assistant on a cycling holiday. And War of the Worlds has a whole segment where a cycle comes in handy.

Turn of the century, cycles were seen as the vehicles of the future. And of course, they were far more accessible to those of limited means, and they freed women to be allowed to chose where *they* wanted to go.

I'm glad you liked the information I shared, its nice to be able to pass it on again!

[chanter1944]

Darnit, now I want to read all the things about Gabriel and Dernier, especially since I've previously been tipped to the fact that Dernier is Resistance. ... I have a type.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That would be a sweet pairing, I agree. I like French men, or French-Canadian ones. I've written several.

In some of the later stories, Steve and Bucky have recovered enough to talk about the Howling Commandos more. They need ways of closing the gap, connecting past to present, and that's one place where talking helps -- once they're far enough along that they can tolerate it, and they have a new support network in place.

Re: Yes...

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Commando kin. We need some grand or great-grands.

[thnidu]

"the Frenchman Jacques Dernier, who is adept in subterfuge and forgery"...
and who OF COURSE is listed last :-)

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

To be fair, I was going on the list that I found online. But it did make sense to put Jacques last.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Home advantage always goes last?

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That makes sense.

[thnidu]

"Dernier" means "last, final" in French.

[mdlbear]

I think a filing cabinet makes a *great* present! So does the anatomy "puzzle" -- great teaching tool. The only problem with those is that there's empty space where the muscles ought to be; I'm finally learning the names of a few of them, more than half a century after learning all the bones in 9th grade biology.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I think a filing cabinet makes a *great* present! <<

I think so too. However, some families have a rule about not giving presents that are too practical. In my family, clothes are acceptable if A) it's something the person has asked for and/or B) it's nicer than what they usually get. But some people don't like clothes as presents because they have a practical aspect. Matter of taste and culture. Notice that Flip is habitually picking one thing for fun and one with a practical use.

>> So does the anatomy "puzzle" -- great teaching tool. The only problem with those is that there's empty space where the muscles ought to be; I'm finally learning the names of a few of them, more than half a century after learning all the bones in 9th grade biology. <<

True. It's harder to find the more complete puzzles and they are usually for subsets of body, like a hand, rather than the whole thing. Scale issue.

Re: Yes...

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

My dad liked to put oranges and socks in my stocking, as well as walnuts.

He'd not known a man, so the large quantities of bananas of his own childhood were never revisited.

From: The Tadpole

[(Anonymous)]

This puts the thing into words! I get really excited when fics I'm reading have at least a head-nod towards the moment when you realize that it would be great to get to be the person who backs up the hero and keeps an eye on them. I don't want to be socially important to a large group of people. I would, however, like to support the person who is.

Re: From: The Tadpole

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> This puts the thing into words! <<

Yay, I'm glad you liked it!

>> I get really excited when fics I'm reading have at least a head-nod towards the moment when you realize that it would be great to get to be the person who backs up the hero and keeps an eye on them. <<

Sooth. Most heroes need backup. It's something I try to pay attention to in my writing. So much of the mainstream has this loner thing going, it's neither pleasing nor impossible when that's the rule rather than the exception.

>> I don't want to be socially important to a large group of people. I would, however, like to support the person who is. <<

Then you are very valuable. Followship is a vital skill but not much respected these days.

Me, I'd get lost at an event without my minions. (The title is their idea. They have buttons, which they bought themselves.)

Re: From: The Tadpole

[tadpoleacorn]

Thank you. I have noticed that there's a lot of emphasis on leadership in just about every aspect of life. While I can lead and even enjoy it in some settings, I enjoy making myself useful to whoever is leading more. It's not a skill I've seen emphasized as something that should be learned.