Help Haiti FIC: "Daybreakers" -- "Into the Sun"

[matrixrefugee]

Written for ficangel who got the winning bid on my auction for help_haiti, and one of two fics based on the two prompts for this fandom which she sent me. There's still a little bit of time left on the Lightning Round, so don't hesitate to take a look, make a donation and toss me a prompt or two.

"Into the Sun"

by "Matrix Refugee"

Author's Note: Inspired by "In the Sun", one of the cuts on the "Daybreakers" soundtrack and one of the most soaring pieces of music in the film score.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Daybreakers", it's characters, concepts or other indicia, which are the property of Michael and Peter Spierig and Lionsgate.

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First steps...

The first steps of my new life -- my old life, given back to me. A resurrection. I'm certainly not a god or a mythic hero -- I'm just a man of science -- but as I stepped out of the shadowed interior of the winery's main building into the direct light of the sun, with Audrey at my side, I thought of the myths and legends of rebirth, of people (however broadly one defined the term) who had passed through the underworld and come out stronger or wiser for it: Inanna of Babylonian myth, Izanagi, Persephone after a winter in the realm of Hades, Jesus of Nazareth. The virus that had eaten away at my humanity, had itself been burned away by the very sunlight which now shone warm and soft on my skin, and washed away by water. I'm hardly a man of faith, but I thought of several rites of purification: the Mikvah of Judaism, Hindus bathing in the waters of the Ganges River, Christian baptism and the use of holy water -- one of the traditional weapons used against vampires of lore.

For the first time in years, I could walk into the sunlight without the fear of burning to a cinder. For once, I could stand in the sun and feel the blessed warmth of its light carress my skin. I looked at the skin on my arms, the vampiric pallor already shifting to a healthy color.

I thought of the day when I had had my car retro-fitted with a daylight driving system, Frankie making a sick joke about a coffin on wheels. Too bad I had scrapped the convertible which I'd kept for the days when I would go for long, meditative drives in the hills, the sun warm on my face and neck. I certainly hadn't foreseen this day coming. I had never foreseen it turning out like this. I'd come to a reluctant acceptance of my condition after Frankie had turned me, and I had done so like a prisoner accepting a death sentence, even though in my case, that death sentence never came to an end.

But now it had. Rebirth had been as painful as an execution, but the pain had passed and I remained standing. I could live again as a human being.

I turned to Audrey, seeing the faint smile playing about her lips, her brown skin golden in the late afternoon sunlight. I wanted to kiss her and thank her for bringing me here, for convincing me to test Elvis's wild discovery and find a practical -- and safe -- application of it. There would be time enough for that later: we had work to do, we had to bring the cure to the public attention, we had to bring change to a world that was consuming itself. I'm certainly no Messiah, but I felt how Jesus of Nazareth must have felt when he set forth into a darkened world to offer it a new way of life....

Comments

[ficangel.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! *glees* I love this; I think that you did fantastically by the obvious sense of wonder that Edward had on his face during that scene.

[matrixrefugee.livejournal.com]

:: Bows:: Thanks! That moment was just plain magical, between the way it was filmed and lit, Ethan Hawke's acting and the music. The film is full of moments that haunt you, but that one just hovers in your mind, filling you with hope...

[profshallowness.livejournal.com]

Good to see Daybreakers fic. I thought these thoughts were really in character - he would see and wonder at the juxtapositions of the situation: Rebirth had been as painful as an execution, but the pain had passed and I remained standing. Yes! This was definitely the feeling that I got from Edward at this point and at the end of the film.