Recovery
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Listing Series
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Nobody got to live happy ever after. by The_Passion_of_the_Angst
Fandoms: Slough House - Mick Herron
18 Feb 2025
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Summary
He was dying. He was actually dying. This is how the world ends, on my goddamn kitchen floor. Well, he remembered, he had just read an article about Britain’s recent surge in deaths occurring at home. I’m a statistic, he thought. He wondered if he’d somehow unintentionally traded his life for Sid’s. Sid, he tried to cry out a second time, but all that came out was wasted air.
The morning after the climax of book 7, River returns home after a quick grocery run, but his unparalleled bad luck strikes again, and he begins to feel very sick. Spoilers for book 7.
Series
- Part 1 of Recovery
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Someone Could Get Hurt by The_Passion_of_the_Angst
Fandoms: Slow Horses (TV), Slough House - Mick Herron
26 Jan 2025
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Summary
River had long been Lamb’s wannabe action hero, always dashing off on his own to follow some hunch without letting Lamb or the rest of the team in on the plan. Suffice it to say, River Cartwright was a thorn in his side—no, the thorn in his side. But even Lamb had to admit, River had for once pulled out some genuinely solid tradecraft. How very on-brand that he’d immediately followed it up by accidentally touching a poisoned doorknob and landing himself on life support, like some bizarro Sleeping Beauty.
Lamb frowned, then stiffly reached out and gave River’s calf a brief squeeze.
River's life hangs in the balance. Some of his colleagues gather at the hospital to learn his fate.
Book-canon compliant, but characterization closer to the show.
Series
- Part 2 of Recovery
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Somebody's either dead or they're not. by The_Passion_of_the_Angst
Fandoms: Slow Horses (TV), Slough House - Mick Herron
11 May 2025
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Summary
She stifled a sob in her hands, and, leaning close to him, pressed her damp cheek against his. Her mouth by his ear, she whispered, “Please hang on. Please, I love you. Please be okay.” Louisa's throat felt tight. She kissed his forehead, then sat back in the chair, enough to prop her chin on his bed rail. She watched the steady rise and fall of his chest for a few seconds, the alien breaths the machine across from her provided him. Then, with a glance at his restful face, she reached a hand out and ran her fingers lightly through his hair. “You just hang in there, mate,” she told him again softly. “It’ll be okay.”
It’ll be okay, she repeated to herself, and tried her hardest to believe it.
The following day, River’s condition deteriorates while Louisa and Sid are both visiting him in the ICU. In spite of some awkwardness, Louisa ends up leaning on her estranged colleague for support.
Series
- Part 3 of Recovery
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Don't Die by The_Passion_of_the_Angst
Fandoms: Slow Horses (TV), Slough House - Mick Herron
13 May 2025
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Summary
“Conscious for a few minutes? What's he want, a medal? Just celebrate the bare minimum now, do we? Most of us spend entire days conscious. Even Standish has worked her way up to it.”
You could perhaps say Louisa’s elation was diminished. Ignoring the crack at Catherine, she replied in a clipped voice, “Right, well, most of us haven’t been in a coma for the past six days, Lamb.”
He wagged his finger at her, “Ah-ah-ah, Standish has assured me that it’s not a real coma, it’s drug-induced.” At this, he nodded to Shirley. “You’d probably know all about that.”
She rolled her eyes. “More of a stimulants person.”
“The point is, no one’s interested in hearing updates about Cartwright’s fraud coma.” Louisa looked at the ceiling for strength, but the moldy watermark overhead didn’t inspire much.
Surprisingly, it was Lech who spoke up. “If you don’t care, then why do you open every meeting by asking Louisa if Cartwright’s dead yet?”
In the days/weeks/months that follow his poisoning, River wakes from his coma and starts down the long road to recovery.
Series
- Part 4 of Recovery
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Sick Leave by The_Passion_of_the_Angst
Fandoms: Slow Horses (TV), Slough House - Mick Herron
19 Feb 2025
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Summary
“Yeah, no, feeling better, thanks for asking.”
Lamb squinted at him, bemused. “Cartwright, if I gave a damn about your feelings, I’d have offed myself in solidarity years ago.”
Lech’s voice was wistful as he murmured, “If only.”
Lamb flicked his dead cigarette onto the pavement and nodded to River. “I saw you in there peeking out the window like some kind of pervy uncle.”
“Sure you’d know all about that,” River countered.
“Well, you’d be mistaken there,” the platonic ideal of a pervy uncle sneered back at him. “I’m an only child.”
Despite being on sick leave, River cannot escape Slough House, as he and Sid are forced to take in a hostage on the run for her life, who may or may not be a Russian spy.
Because I love River and Sid and wish they had appeared in book 8. Bad Actors but Sophie de Greer is sent to stay with Sid and River. Occurs earlier in the year than Bad Actors and I’m completely ignoring the existence of the COVID pandemic.
Characterization is a blend of book and show.
Series
- Part 5 of Recovery