dorsetgirl

The Survival series takes place in a universe where Gene and Sam had been secretly together for about six months, when Sam was kidnapped while on an investigation and held for several weeks. The series covers various points during the long course of his ordeal and recovery, and deals with the physical and emotional consequences for Gene and Sam. As such, the tone of the chapters varies from very bleak indeed (attempted suicide) to verging on fluffy. Ratings and appropriate warnings are given on each individual chapter.

The first piece I wrote for the series, Fighting to Survive, was originally intended as a one-off, but duckyone thought it felt like the setup chapter for a longer story, and saintvic was kind enough to list some of the questions the piece raised in her mind, so over time there have gradually been more chapters, posted as I’ve been lucky enough to get the ideas.

Because of this, the chapters have not necessarily been posted in chronological order, so it is my aim that each piece should be capable of standing alone. They are also not necessarily posted in the order they were started - some chapters fight harder than others!

After I had posted about nine stories in the series, dakfinv wrote an extremely angsty tale called Not the Dark. Describing Sam being captured and tortured, it seemed tailor-made to be part of the universe. Dak agreed to her story becoming part of Survival, and it now forms the opening chapter of the series.

Finally, in her comment to that very first chapter, ladyhawke2 said it reminded her of the first part of my Wine and Candles series, and that probably influenced my later decision to set Survival in the same universe as that series. Stories in the Wine and Survival universe are listed in full in my Masterlist, and events in the Survival series begin a few weeks after First Anniversary.

As the series is not yet finished (although I guarantee we’re heading towards a happy ending!), none of the posts are daisy-chained. All posted stories have links to previously-posted chapters, and as at February 2010 the most recently-posted chapter is Fantasy Lover.

I have also stories in my WIP folder covering later events, notably Sam’s return to work and the trial of his kidnappers.

Links (in chronological order):

[Not the Dark by dakfinv] / Body & Soul / Nightmare / Another Day / Watching / The Only One / Fantasy Lover / Hope / In The Eye Of The Beholder / Breaking Through / Still With Us / On The Road to Freedom / Not Just a Cry For Help (Red Cortina for attempted suicide) / Keep Taking the Tablets / Breaking Glass / Useless / Out to Lunch / Still Want You / Fighting to Survive / Into the Dark / Talk to Me