Just To Be With You (3/9)
Title: Just To Be With You (3/9)
Word Count: 4,021
Summary: Babe makes a big mistake that sends the one he loves into the arms of another. Now he has to chase him across the globe to tell him how he feels before it's too late. Seriously AU. Various pairings
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. I don’t own anything….so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
“How did I even get roped into this?”
Eugene Roe just smiled softly, “Well from what I can tell- YOU are the only one without a hangover. So naturally they’re just punishing you for your inability to have fun.”
Babe laughed, “I’m sure that’s what they’ll say if they ever wake up.”
Looking around at the trashed apartment Babe would have thought they were living in a war zone. Gene stepped over a passed out Luz and into the kitchen.
“Someone stapled a slice of pizza to your ceiling.”
Babe rushed over to him, being extra sure to step on top of Luz. “Man-are you serious?”
He stopped next to Gene who just nodded and pulled a chair underneath it. “Fraid so.”
As the shorter man went to pull it down Babe decided to stop him. “Nah Eugene, don’t do that. As a matter of fact you shouldn’t even be cleaning this mess. It was our party-we’ll clean it.”
“Yes but I’m sure I contributed my fair share of the mess so let me help.” That said Gene stepped up and pulled the pizza down and tossed it into the garbage bag clutched in his hand.
Babe just shook his head. “Define ‘fair share’ because I don’t recall you having even one drink.”
Gene hopped down and looked up at Babe with a smirk. His eyes roamed around the room for a moment before his hand shot out past Babe’s shoulder. “Aha!”
Moving around Babe, Gene walked over and pulled a beer bottle up off the ground. “This,” he said while wagging the bottle in Babe’s face, “is one of mine.” He tossed it into the bag.
“Bullshit!” Babe laughed. Two could play at this game. “In that case I think that all these,” he stopped and pointed to a pile of beer cans near the toaster, “are mine.” He reached an arm around and swept them into a garbage bag of his own.
“Please,” Gene scoffed and went over to steal the rest of the empty cans Babe was reaching for, “those were so mine. I’LL clean them up.”
Babe shot him a friendly glare, “The hell you will!”
The two of them went on like that-until most of the trash was gone. Each of them trying to claim more mess than the other and trying to talk each other out of helping. However one bottle that Babe had apparently drunk last night had somehow wound up broken.
“Goddamn it!” he swore clutching his hand.
“What happened?” Gene looked over from where he had been picking at a cold piece of leftover pizza. Seeing Babe’s pained face he dropped his trash bag and rushed over. This time he accidentally kicked Luz in the head.
Babe looked up at his concerned face, “Oh uh-I just cut my hand on this bottle. Serves me right for breaking it last night don’t it Eugene?”
Gene just smirked, “Edward for the last time you can call me Gene if you want.”
“Then for all that is Holy please do NOT call me Edward.” Babe sighed. The two had just met the night before so Gene didn’t know that he preferred being called Babe.
“I thought your name was Edward.” Gene seemed somewhat horrified that he might have gotten Babe’s name wrong. The look on his face was kind of cute.
“Well it is. But no one calls me that. Just call me Babe.” He wondered how weird that nickname must sound to someone who wasn’t used to it. Probably pretty freaking weird. However Gene just smiled.
“Okay…Babe. How bout you lemme look at that hand?” He asked reaching for Babe’s now rapidly bleeding hand.
“Why?” Babe wondered what Gene could do that he couldn’t.
“Just wanna see how bad it is.” Gene assured and softly grabbed Babe’s hand and pulled it toward him. Turning it over, he slowly pulled Babe’s fingers back so he could get a better look. Babe let out a small hiss of pain. Gene stopped and looked at him.
“Sorry,” He apologized to Babe who just shook his head. “Well it’s not too deep but it is bleeding pretty badly. You shouldn’t need stitches but if the blood don’t stop soon-I’d say you might wanna go see about getting some skin glue on there.”
“That the final verdict Doc?” Babe joked at him. He had suddenly remembered someone saying that Gene was a pre-med major.
“I’m nowhere near being a doctor just yet.” Gene assured him. “But we should definitely get that cut bandaged up. Do y’all have a first aid kit anywhere?”
Babe looked around, all too aware that Gene still had his hand. “Somewhere…we don’t...you know-really use it.”
That made Gene laugh, “I find that hard to believe. You guys probably need it more than most.”
Babe tried to act offended, “Now Doc you don’t even know me.”
Gene finally let go of his hand, “Not yet anyway.”
Babe had gotten his hand fixed up right after they discovered that the first aid kit was next to the fire extinguisher behind their TV. He was sure that Gene would make a kickass doctor one day.
Then, after they had finished cleaning up, Gene brought out a little plastic bag where he had apparently been collecting all the bottle caps they found.
“What are we going to do with those?” Babe asked.
“I was thinking we could throw them at our dumb friends until they wake up.”
Babe laughed, “I like it. You know I think I like you too Gene. You’re cool.”
“Well shucks.”
“I’m sorry what exactly did you say your name was young man?”
Babe snapped out of his memories to take in the question. Just like Speirs had predicted, the congressman was more than a little pissed at his sudden set of tag alongs. His wife had been making somewhat hostile attempts at small talk to get over the weirdness of the whole situation. Babe felt like he had totally hijacked their ride.
“He didn’t,” Nixon answered for him, coming out from the back of the jet where Babe could only assume he had been sleeping. He stopped and looked at the obviously infuriated woman. After a moment he held out his flask. “Want a drink?”
It had taken Nixon all of two seconds to find the alcohol. Babe was pretty sure he had some sort of built in radar for it. But for his part, Nixon really wasn’t drinking that much right now. Of course what had Babe really expected? The guy couldn’t possibly drink all the time. Most of the drinking he had done Babe had a feeling he was doing to goad the uptight couple.
“Aren’t you a little young to be drinking?” the woman shot back with a disgusted look.
Nixon just rolled his eyes, “Yeah cause you’d know.”
Babe looked between the two before standing up. “I’m gonna go take a nap…somewhere that isn’t here.”
Nix just nodded without looking at him, “Good idea man. You go do that.”
Yeah…sleep was nice. It was gonna be a seriously long flight to begin with. But now Babe had a feeling it was going to be a LOOONG flight.
“Gene? Are you okay in there?”
Eugene Roe was not okay. He’d been having a seriously fucked week. He’d manage to lose the only two people he’d ever loved in one day. One had gone back to her family and left him behind. The other…he just…didn’t want Eugene. It didn’t make sense because Gene had always felt like…maybe he had.
Gene gave himself a glance in the bathroom mirror. He looked pale and tired. Reaching down he turned the knobs on the sink and let the water fill it up. Then there was more knocking.
“Gene?” This time it wasn’t Dick. Gene reached over and unlocked the door. Lipton peeked in and met Gene’s gaze. “What are you doing in here?”
Gene cut off the faucet and leaned down to dip his face into the water. When he came up for air his head felt a little less crowded.
“I was jus’ thinking I guess.” He looked at his reflection again. The water on his cheeks was already starting to dry and it looked like he had been crying. Only he hadn’t been. “I look like Hell.”
“Well you’ve been having a tough run of it.” Lipton seemed cautious. Like he was afraid that Gene would lock him out again if he said the wrong thing. Gene sighed after he allowed a moment of silence to pass between them.
“Yeah-I’ve…just been wondering…about what went wrong.” Slowly he pulled himself on top of the bathroom counter and put his elbows on his knees. “Did I misread him or…what?”
Lipton stared at him for a second before coming all the way inside and closing the door. Gene had been totally unwilling to talk about Babe-until right now. Lipton sure as hell didn’t want to lose this opportunity to talk about whatever it was that his friend might be thinking.
Although why Gene was opening up to him instead of Dick, Lipton wasn’t sure.
“I don’t think so Gene. I think that maybe Babe just didn’t know what he was doing. The only way to know what happened would require you talking to him.” Lipton looked up to see what Eugene was doing. He had taken up one of his favorite pastimes. Opening and closing the box to Renee’s ring.
After a moment the snapping of the box got to be too much for Lip and he snatched it out of Gene’s hands. Gene just stared at his empty hands. “Maybe I should. Talk to him. It’s just that I’m…”
“You’re just what?” Lipton prodded a little. He was pretty sure he knew what Gene was going to say but it was good for them to talk about it aloud.
“I dunno-afraid of having to watch him throw up again? I think I let myself want Babe without thinking I’d ever really have him. I just-I messed up a great friendship. Hell he’s probably straight anyway right? ” Gene gave Lipton a small, sad smile.
Lipton couldn’t help but give him a smile back. Mostly at the sheer hilarity of what Gene was implying. Lipton wasn’t sure what sexuality Babe claimed, but the boy sure as hell wasn’t straight. Few of their friends were. Except for Bill, Don, and maybe Luz…Lipton wasn’t sure about that one.
Stepping forward he clapped a hand on Gene’s shoulder. “Eugene it’s only natural to be afraid of rejection. But I think your biggest problem is that you don’t know what, or perhaps who, you want. And I don’t think you’ll ever find out if you don’t give him another chance.”
“What about you?”
Lipton paused, he wasn’t sure he liked where this was headed. “What about me?”
“Do you wish you’d given him another chance?”
“Um…”
“I mean- you know how it feels to be disappointed by someone you care about.”
“Who says I care about him?”
“Oh please Lip. Besides….he was seriously fine.”
“Hey now. That just sounds weird coming from you. And aren’t you supposed to be too miserable to call people hot?”
“Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me….jerk.” Gene looked up again, “You’re still a little possessive I see.” He smiled at the disbelieving look on Lipton’s face. A second later the smile was gone again. “But do you? Wish you’d given him a second chance?”
Lipton sighed; he’d be a liar if he said he hadn’t thought about it, “He was just…too much trouble.”
“Yeah most good dates don’t wind up with the two of you in jail.”
“Thanks man.”
“Anytime Lip.”
“Sleeping on the floor sucks.” Luz groaned as he strapped a seatbelt on. They were going to be landing soon, which was actually kinda nerve wracking because he couldn’t understand how people even flew, much less landed, aircrafts when it was so dark out.
“Yeah well, this jet isn’t meant for this many people and sleeping on the floor is just part of the fabulous experience. When you’re jonesing for an Advil later just remember to thank barf boy over here.” Nixon grumbled jerking a thumb at Babe who simply flicked him off. Luz was proud to see that his rude tendencies were rubbing off onto what had once been a much too nice boy.
“Whatever. Shouldn’t we wake them up?” He asked nodding over to the politician and his wife. Both of whom had woken up at least two hours ago to start talking about how much trouble the were all going to be in when they finally touched down and don’t you know I’m a congressman blah blah blah.
Luz had been grateful when they inexplicably dozed off all of a sudden. He had been contemplating making a jump out of the jet.
Nixon stared at the two for a moment. “I suppose you could try. Not that it’d do you any good.”
Babe, who had been slipping back into his ‘I Dream of Gene’ mode, suddenly took an interest in the conversation. “Why’s that?”
“I slipped them some roofies early. We’re just gonna leave them on the jet while we make our exit. They’ll be fine. I’m sure they’re smart enough to figure out how to open a door. And put down the ladder…thingy.” Nixon said nodding to himself, obviously realizing that he didn’t really remember how it was they had gotten into the jet themselves.
Luz opened his mouth. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Nixon was full of surprises.
“First of all,” He began, “I don’t feel that it’s necessary to point out how creepy, yet awesome, of an idea that is, or remind you that we’re not really building up good karma. But I do wanna know this. What the HELL do you need roofies for?”
Nixon shrugged. “You know how Dick is. He’s not going to want to leave unless everything gets resolved. I don’t really have time for that shit so I just brought them in case I had to drug him and drag him back home with me.”
Babe’s eyes had gotten increasingly wider the more Nixon talked. “You scare me,” he whispered.
Luz silently agreed. In fact he wasn’t sure how Nixon and Dick ever really got together. On the other hand, you never really knew when Nixon’s particular batch of crazy would come in handy.
Take for instance the situation at hand.
But then again they already had Speirs ……………..they were so boned.
Babe felt surprisingly okay with leaving the congressman and his wife onboard the jet as they walked across the airstrip and towards the airport. However his back was fucking killing him. And to make matters worse-
“Uh is it just me or do those guys look like cops?” Luz pointed over to where two men in uniform were leaning against an official looking vehicle.
“What the-” Bill started to curse but was drowned out by Speirs as he boldly walked up to the two men.
“Hello. Is there something wrong officers?” He asked tamely. Babe shot Bill a confused look as words were exchanged quickly and one of the men peered over Speirs’ shoulder to look at them. He put his hand up and got in the car to leave. The second officer stayed behind.
“Um does anyone have any idea what the fuck is going on?” Bill growled.
Nixon shrugged, “Nothing good.”
Speirs made a motion with his hand to something behind the officer’s head and the man turned to look. Which was a big mistake. Because the moment he took his eyes off Speirs there was an elbow coming down into his upper spine and he was falling face forward. As he started going down Speirs brought a knee up into the guy’s face and he was out on the ground.
“WHAT the FUCK!?” Luz shouted as they all looked down at the unconscious man in shock.
Speirs turned on his heel to face them, “We need to go…NOW!”
“What the hell are you-”
“I said NOW.” He shouted and took off in a sprint towards the airport. The others took off after him. Well except for Babe, who couldn’t take his eyes off the unconscious man lying in the middle of the airway.
Luz jogged back and jerked on his arm, “Trying not to get arrested here Babe. Let’s go.”
After they were amongst the people bustling to and fro in the airport Babe had decided that he’d had enough running. Rushing forward he grabbed the elbow of their troubles.
“I want to know what’s going on! Who were those guys? What did they want? And why the FUCK did you DO that? I am SERIOUSLY too tired for this SHIT!” He screamed.
They all just stared at him for a moment. He swallowed hard as he felt his face get hot. Speirs shrugged his hand off and scanned the area. “I swear I’ll tell you all about it. First we need some things.”
“Like what asshole?” Bill looked ready to murder him. Babe could relate. He was confused, stressed, tired and he needed to get to Gene. Man what he wouldn’t give to see Gene right then.
“Like a car dipshit.” Speirs shot back. As he started to walk he began to strip off his jacket and un-tuck his shirt, “And I suggest you take off anything that makes you look like a pilot. When that officer gets back and finds his buddy, he’s going to be looking for us. Along with some of his friends. Put that in a bag will ya?” He asked tossing his hat and jacket back to them. Babe caught the hat and shoved it into his bag as Nixon fussed with the jacket and Bill hurriedly shoved his own things away.
Speirs seemed to be out of sorts because he was bumping into people left and right and kept looking over his shoulder. “Alright let’s go.”
“Go where?” Luz asked. Speirs turned around and tossed him what looked to be a set of keys and a wallet.
“To find our new car of course.” He looked at a yellow stub in his hand. “It’s on the first floor of the parking garage.”
“What just happened? Where did you get this?” Luz looked from the keys to Speirs and then back at the rest of them as they kept walking behind their pilot.
Babe felt like he was in middle school again. Where he was following his teacher to the principal’s office. While everyone he passed was watching him and wondering what it was he’d done wrong. Man…he was going to get arrested. He fucking knew it.
“It’s called pick pocketing, Luz. Ever heard of it?” Speirs was looking around. Having taken the keys back from Luz he was tentatively clicking the locking mechanism. Finally he heard a beep and took off in what was supposedly the right direction. “That driver’s license should look enough like you.”
“Why do I have to drive?” Luz grumbled as they approached the car. It was a sleek, black SUV type of deal. Babe wanted to crawl in and sleep forever.
“First one that came to mind.” That said Speirs unlocked the car and tossed his bag into the back, everyone stared. “Well the sooner you get in the sooner I tell you why we’re running. “
That got them all moving. They got in, Bill, Nix and Babe in the back. Speirs rode shotgun while Luz tried to adjust to the inner workings of a very foreign car. After a moment he figured it out and pulled out of the lot.
“Alright, now what the fuck?” Nixon asked as he slouched down in the back and leant his head against the window.
“That was the local law enforcement. Someone must have called them in or else we probably would only have had to deal with the airport security. They said that they had reports that my father’s jet had been stolen. Which, while true, is not something we wanna own up to doing. I told them they were mistaken and that I was transporting you guys to some bullshit seminar thing and while #1 went to check it out I realized I was going to have to drop #2 if we wanted to make it out of there. Now they’ll probably be looking for us. Fortunately for us, they don’t really have a lot to go on. We should find a hotel and lay low for a day.”
“Wait. You had a conversation with them. So did they speak English?” Babe asked, just now realizing. Maybe Speirs would come in handy. He hadn’t known that he could speak French.
Speirs shot him a look, “Yes they did. A lot of people tend to speak English quite regularly in Amsterdam.”
“What the FU-”
“Are you kidding me?”
“What kind of politician vacations in Amsterdam?”
Nixon looked over at Luz, “Really? That’s the FIRST thing that comes to your mind? Really?”
Luz shrugged.
“Damn it Speirs. You knew we needed to get to Paris! You’ve been nothing but trouble this entire time. And now we could be getting fucking arrested!” Bill shouted.
Thank God someone else was thinking on the same wavelength. Now they had to get to Paris! And also to Gene. Like….soon Babe hoped.
Speirs seemed to have had it as well because he turned around and jabbed a finger into Bill’s chest.
“What did I say when I agreed to do this? HUH? I said that it was highly ILLEGAL and DANGEROUS. And I’m also pretty sure that I SAID that this plane was going to EUROPE and I DON’T believe that I SPECIFIED! So you’re fucking WELCOME!” He jabbed him one more time in the shoulder.
“Don’t fucking touch me asshole!”
“Watch me you inconsiderate shit! Do you have any idea how much trouble I’ve gone through for the all of you?”
“For us? Please! You just want to see Lipton. Who’s never gonna take you back by the way. And who can fucking BLAME HIM- you no good, PSYCHO criminal?!”
Oh…………..shit.
Speirs lunged into the back seat and clipped him in the jaw. Bill grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt and jerked him backwards causing him to bump into Luz, who nearly ran off the road.
“SHIT! Guys stop it! I can hardly drive as it is!”
“Fuck! Just pull over or something!”
Luz inhaled from his cigarette as he leant next to Nixon against the car. He looked over at Babe who was pacing and chewing on his thumbnail. He elbowed Nixon who was draped over the hood of the car, sunglasses on, dead to the world.
“What?”
Luz caught his eye and jerked his thumb down towards the ditch they’d pulled up next to. “How long they gonna keep this up?”
Nixon sat up and looked over as Speirs stood and kicked Bill in the stomach, right after which Bill grabbed his foot and pushed him face first into a muddy puddle.
“That,” Nixon paused, “is an excellent question.”
They turned to watch. Luz nudged Nixon again, “$20 on Speirs?”
“No bet.”
“So are you going to do it?”
Gene looked at himself in the mirror. He looked good. He looked…ready. He could do this. He WANTED to do this. He slipped his hands into his jacket pocket and closed his fingers tightly around the velvet box.
He loved Renee. And he knew she loved him. That was all that mattered. He got that now. He knew what he wanted.
“Yes I am.”
Dick sighed, “I wish you wouldn’t.”
“I’ve made up my mind Dick. I’ve gotta go.” He walked to the door and stopped with his hand on the knob. “This is the right decision.”
And he left.
Word Count: 4,021
Summary: Babe makes a big mistake that sends the one he loves into the arms of another. Now he has to chase him across the globe to tell him how he feels before it's too late. Seriously AU. Various pairings
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. I don’t own anything….so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
“How did I even get roped into this?”
Eugene Roe just smiled softly, “Well from what I can tell- YOU are the only one without a hangover. So naturally they’re just punishing you for your inability to have fun.”
Babe laughed, “I’m sure that’s what they’ll say if they ever wake up.”
Looking around at the trashed apartment Babe would have thought they were living in a war zone. Gene stepped over a passed out Luz and into the kitchen.
“Someone stapled a slice of pizza to your ceiling.”
Babe rushed over to him, being extra sure to step on top of Luz. “Man-are you serious?”
He stopped next to Gene who just nodded and pulled a chair underneath it. “Fraid so.”
As the shorter man went to pull it down Babe decided to stop him. “Nah Eugene, don’t do that. As a matter of fact you shouldn’t even be cleaning this mess. It was our party-we’ll clean it.”
“Yes but I’m sure I contributed my fair share of the mess so let me help.” That said Gene stepped up and pulled the pizza down and tossed it into the garbage bag clutched in his hand.
Babe just shook his head. “Define ‘fair share’ because I don’t recall you having even one drink.”
Gene hopped down and looked up at Babe with a smirk. His eyes roamed around the room for a moment before his hand shot out past Babe’s shoulder. “Aha!”
Moving around Babe, Gene walked over and pulled a beer bottle up off the ground. “This,” he said while wagging the bottle in Babe’s face, “is one of mine.” He tossed it into the bag.
“Bullshit!” Babe laughed. Two could play at this game. “In that case I think that all these,” he stopped and pointed to a pile of beer cans near the toaster, “are mine.” He reached an arm around and swept them into a garbage bag of his own.
“Please,” Gene scoffed and went over to steal the rest of the empty cans Babe was reaching for, “those were so mine. I’LL clean them up.”
Babe shot him a friendly glare, “The hell you will!”
The two of them went on like that-until most of the trash was gone. Each of them trying to claim more mess than the other and trying to talk each other out of helping. However one bottle that Babe had apparently drunk last night had somehow wound up broken.
“Goddamn it!” he swore clutching his hand.
“What happened?” Gene looked over from where he had been picking at a cold piece of leftover pizza. Seeing Babe’s pained face he dropped his trash bag and rushed over. This time he accidentally kicked Luz in the head.
Babe looked up at his concerned face, “Oh uh-I just cut my hand on this bottle. Serves me right for breaking it last night don’t it Eugene?”
Gene just smirked, “Edward for the last time you can call me Gene if you want.”
“Then for all that is Holy please do NOT call me Edward.” Babe sighed. The two had just met the night before so Gene didn’t know that he preferred being called Babe.
“I thought your name was Edward.” Gene seemed somewhat horrified that he might have gotten Babe’s name wrong. The look on his face was kind of cute.
“Well it is. But no one calls me that. Just call me Babe.” He wondered how weird that nickname must sound to someone who wasn’t used to it. Probably pretty freaking weird. However Gene just smiled.
“Okay…Babe. How bout you lemme look at that hand?” He asked reaching for Babe’s now rapidly bleeding hand.
“Why?” Babe wondered what Gene could do that he couldn’t.
“Just wanna see how bad it is.” Gene assured and softly grabbed Babe’s hand and pulled it toward him. Turning it over, he slowly pulled Babe’s fingers back so he could get a better look. Babe let out a small hiss of pain. Gene stopped and looked at him.
“Sorry,” He apologized to Babe who just shook his head. “Well it’s not too deep but it is bleeding pretty badly. You shouldn’t need stitches but if the blood don’t stop soon-I’d say you might wanna go see about getting some skin glue on there.”
“That the final verdict Doc?” Babe joked at him. He had suddenly remembered someone saying that Gene was a pre-med major.
“I’m nowhere near being a doctor just yet.” Gene assured him. “But we should definitely get that cut bandaged up. Do y’all have a first aid kit anywhere?”
Babe looked around, all too aware that Gene still had his hand. “Somewhere…we don’t...you know-really use it.”
That made Gene laugh, “I find that hard to believe. You guys probably need it more than most.”
Babe tried to act offended, “Now Doc you don’t even know me.”
Gene finally let go of his hand, “Not yet anyway.”
Babe had gotten his hand fixed up right after they discovered that the first aid kit was next to the fire extinguisher behind their TV. He was sure that Gene would make a kickass doctor one day.
Then, after they had finished cleaning up, Gene brought out a little plastic bag where he had apparently been collecting all the bottle caps they found.
“What are we going to do with those?” Babe asked.
“I was thinking we could throw them at our dumb friends until they wake up.”
Babe laughed, “I like it. You know I think I like you too Gene. You’re cool.”
“Well shucks.”
“I’m sorry what exactly did you say your name was young man?”
Babe snapped out of his memories to take in the question. Just like Speirs had predicted, the congressman was more than a little pissed at his sudden set of tag alongs. His wife had been making somewhat hostile attempts at small talk to get over the weirdness of the whole situation. Babe felt like he had totally hijacked their ride.
“He didn’t,” Nixon answered for him, coming out from the back of the jet where Babe could only assume he had been sleeping. He stopped and looked at the obviously infuriated woman. After a moment he held out his flask. “Want a drink?”
It had taken Nixon all of two seconds to find the alcohol. Babe was pretty sure he had some sort of built in radar for it. But for his part, Nixon really wasn’t drinking that much right now. Of course what had Babe really expected? The guy couldn’t possibly drink all the time. Most of the drinking he had done Babe had a feeling he was doing to goad the uptight couple.
“Aren’t you a little young to be drinking?” the woman shot back with a disgusted look.
Nixon just rolled his eyes, “Yeah cause you’d know.”
Babe looked between the two before standing up. “I’m gonna go take a nap…somewhere that isn’t here.”
Nix just nodded without looking at him, “Good idea man. You go do that.”
Yeah…sleep was nice. It was gonna be a seriously long flight to begin with. But now Babe had a feeling it was going to be a LOOONG flight.
“Gene? Are you okay in there?”
Eugene Roe was not okay. He’d been having a seriously fucked week. He’d manage to lose the only two people he’d ever loved in one day. One had gone back to her family and left him behind. The other…he just…didn’t want Eugene. It didn’t make sense because Gene had always felt like…maybe he had.
Gene gave himself a glance in the bathroom mirror. He looked pale and tired. Reaching down he turned the knobs on the sink and let the water fill it up. Then there was more knocking.
“Gene?” This time it wasn’t Dick. Gene reached over and unlocked the door. Lipton peeked in and met Gene’s gaze. “What are you doing in here?”
Gene cut off the faucet and leaned down to dip his face into the water. When he came up for air his head felt a little less crowded.
“I was jus’ thinking I guess.” He looked at his reflection again. The water on his cheeks was already starting to dry and it looked like he had been crying. Only he hadn’t been. “I look like Hell.”
“Well you’ve been having a tough run of it.” Lipton seemed cautious. Like he was afraid that Gene would lock him out again if he said the wrong thing. Gene sighed after he allowed a moment of silence to pass between them.
“Yeah-I’ve…just been wondering…about what went wrong.” Slowly he pulled himself on top of the bathroom counter and put his elbows on his knees. “Did I misread him or…what?”
Lipton stared at him for a second before coming all the way inside and closing the door. Gene had been totally unwilling to talk about Babe-until right now. Lipton sure as hell didn’t want to lose this opportunity to talk about whatever it was that his friend might be thinking.
Although why Gene was opening up to him instead of Dick, Lipton wasn’t sure.
“I don’t think so Gene. I think that maybe Babe just didn’t know what he was doing. The only way to know what happened would require you talking to him.” Lipton looked up to see what Eugene was doing. He had taken up one of his favorite pastimes. Opening and closing the box to Renee’s ring.
After a moment the snapping of the box got to be too much for Lip and he snatched it out of Gene’s hands. Gene just stared at his empty hands. “Maybe I should. Talk to him. It’s just that I’m…”
“You’re just what?” Lipton prodded a little. He was pretty sure he knew what Gene was going to say but it was good for them to talk about it aloud.
“I dunno-afraid of having to watch him throw up again? I think I let myself want Babe without thinking I’d ever really have him. I just-I messed up a great friendship. Hell he’s probably straight anyway right? ” Gene gave Lipton a small, sad smile.
Lipton couldn’t help but give him a smile back. Mostly at the sheer hilarity of what Gene was implying. Lipton wasn’t sure what sexuality Babe claimed, but the boy sure as hell wasn’t straight. Few of their friends were. Except for Bill, Don, and maybe Luz…Lipton wasn’t sure about that one.
Stepping forward he clapped a hand on Gene’s shoulder. “Eugene it’s only natural to be afraid of rejection. But I think your biggest problem is that you don’t know what, or perhaps who, you want. And I don’t think you’ll ever find out if you don’t give him another chance.”
“What about you?”
Lipton paused, he wasn’t sure he liked where this was headed. “What about me?”
“Do you wish you’d given him another chance?”
“Um…”
“I mean- you know how it feels to be disappointed by someone you care about.”
“Who says I care about him?”
“Oh please Lip. Besides….he was seriously fine.”
“Hey now. That just sounds weird coming from you. And aren’t you supposed to be too miserable to call people hot?”
“Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me….jerk.” Gene looked up again, “You’re still a little possessive I see.” He smiled at the disbelieving look on Lipton’s face. A second later the smile was gone again. “But do you? Wish you’d given him a second chance?”
Lipton sighed; he’d be a liar if he said he hadn’t thought about it, “He was just…too much trouble.”
“Yeah most good dates don’t wind up with the two of you in jail.”
“Thanks man.”
“Anytime Lip.”
“Sleeping on the floor sucks.” Luz groaned as he strapped a seatbelt on. They were going to be landing soon, which was actually kinda nerve wracking because he couldn’t understand how people even flew, much less landed, aircrafts when it was so dark out.
“Yeah well, this jet isn’t meant for this many people and sleeping on the floor is just part of the fabulous experience. When you’re jonesing for an Advil later just remember to thank barf boy over here.” Nixon grumbled jerking a thumb at Babe who simply flicked him off. Luz was proud to see that his rude tendencies were rubbing off onto what had once been a much too nice boy.
“Whatever. Shouldn’t we wake them up?” He asked nodding over to the politician and his wife. Both of whom had woken up at least two hours ago to start talking about how much trouble the were all going to be in when they finally touched down and don’t you know I’m a congressman blah blah blah.
Luz had been grateful when they inexplicably dozed off all of a sudden. He had been contemplating making a jump out of the jet.
Nixon stared at the two for a moment. “I suppose you could try. Not that it’d do you any good.”
Babe, who had been slipping back into his ‘I Dream of Gene’ mode, suddenly took an interest in the conversation. “Why’s that?”
“I slipped them some roofies early. We’re just gonna leave them on the jet while we make our exit. They’ll be fine. I’m sure they’re smart enough to figure out how to open a door. And put down the ladder…thingy.” Nixon said nodding to himself, obviously realizing that he didn’t really remember how it was they had gotten into the jet themselves.
Luz opened his mouth. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Nixon was full of surprises.
“First of all,” He began, “I don’t feel that it’s necessary to point out how creepy, yet awesome, of an idea that is, or remind you that we’re not really building up good karma. But I do wanna know this. What the HELL do you need roofies for?”
Nixon shrugged. “You know how Dick is. He’s not going to want to leave unless everything gets resolved. I don’t really have time for that shit so I just brought them in case I had to drug him and drag him back home with me.”
Babe’s eyes had gotten increasingly wider the more Nixon talked. “You scare me,” he whispered.
Luz silently agreed. In fact he wasn’t sure how Nixon and Dick ever really got together. On the other hand, you never really knew when Nixon’s particular batch of crazy would come in handy.
Take for instance the situation at hand.
But then again they already had Speirs ……………..they were so boned.
Babe felt surprisingly okay with leaving the congressman and his wife onboard the jet as they walked across the airstrip and towards the airport. However his back was fucking killing him. And to make matters worse-
“Uh is it just me or do those guys look like cops?” Luz pointed over to where two men in uniform were leaning against an official looking vehicle.
“What the-” Bill started to curse but was drowned out by Speirs as he boldly walked up to the two men.
“Hello. Is there something wrong officers?” He asked tamely. Babe shot Bill a confused look as words were exchanged quickly and one of the men peered over Speirs’ shoulder to look at them. He put his hand up and got in the car to leave. The second officer stayed behind.
“Um does anyone have any idea what the fuck is going on?” Bill growled.
Nixon shrugged, “Nothing good.”
Speirs made a motion with his hand to something behind the officer’s head and the man turned to look. Which was a big mistake. Because the moment he took his eyes off Speirs there was an elbow coming down into his upper spine and he was falling face forward. As he started going down Speirs brought a knee up into the guy’s face and he was out on the ground.
“WHAT the FUCK!?” Luz shouted as they all looked down at the unconscious man in shock.
Speirs turned on his heel to face them, “We need to go…NOW!”
“What the hell are you-”
“I said NOW.” He shouted and took off in a sprint towards the airport. The others took off after him. Well except for Babe, who couldn’t take his eyes off the unconscious man lying in the middle of the airway.
Luz jogged back and jerked on his arm, “Trying not to get arrested here Babe. Let’s go.”
After they were amongst the people bustling to and fro in the airport Babe had decided that he’d had enough running. Rushing forward he grabbed the elbow of their troubles.
“I want to know what’s going on! Who were those guys? What did they want? And why the FUCK did you DO that? I am SERIOUSLY too tired for this SHIT!” He screamed.
They all just stared at him for a moment. He swallowed hard as he felt his face get hot. Speirs shrugged his hand off and scanned the area. “I swear I’ll tell you all about it. First we need some things.”
“Like what asshole?” Bill looked ready to murder him. Babe could relate. He was confused, stressed, tired and he needed to get to Gene. Man what he wouldn’t give to see Gene right then.
“Like a car dipshit.” Speirs shot back. As he started to walk he began to strip off his jacket and un-tuck his shirt, “And I suggest you take off anything that makes you look like a pilot. When that officer gets back and finds his buddy, he’s going to be looking for us. Along with some of his friends. Put that in a bag will ya?” He asked tossing his hat and jacket back to them. Babe caught the hat and shoved it into his bag as Nixon fussed with the jacket and Bill hurriedly shoved his own things away.
Speirs seemed to be out of sorts because he was bumping into people left and right and kept looking over his shoulder. “Alright let’s go.”
“Go where?” Luz asked. Speirs turned around and tossed him what looked to be a set of keys and a wallet.
“To find our new car of course.” He looked at a yellow stub in his hand. “It’s on the first floor of the parking garage.”
“What just happened? Where did you get this?” Luz looked from the keys to Speirs and then back at the rest of them as they kept walking behind their pilot.
Babe felt like he was in middle school again. Where he was following his teacher to the principal’s office. While everyone he passed was watching him and wondering what it was he’d done wrong. Man…he was going to get arrested. He fucking knew it.
“It’s called pick pocketing, Luz. Ever heard of it?” Speirs was looking around. Having taken the keys back from Luz he was tentatively clicking the locking mechanism. Finally he heard a beep and took off in what was supposedly the right direction. “That driver’s license should look enough like you.”
“Why do I have to drive?” Luz grumbled as they approached the car. It was a sleek, black SUV type of deal. Babe wanted to crawl in and sleep forever.
“First one that came to mind.” That said Speirs unlocked the car and tossed his bag into the back, everyone stared. “Well the sooner you get in the sooner I tell you why we’re running. “
That got them all moving. They got in, Bill, Nix and Babe in the back. Speirs rode shotgun while Luz tried to adjust to the inner workings of a very foreign car. After a moment he figured it out and pulled out of the lot.
“Alright, now what the fuck?” Nixon asked as he slouched down in the back and leant his head against the window.
“That was the local law enforcement. Someone must have called them in or else we probably would only have had to deal with the airport security. They said that they had reports that my father’s jet had been stolen. Which, while true, is not something we wanna own up to doing. I told them they were mistaken and that I was transporting you guys to some bullshit seminar thing and while #1 went to check it out I realized I was going to have to drop #2 if we wanted to make it out of there. Now they’ll probably be looking for us. Fortunately for us, they don’t really have a lot to go on. We should find a hotel and lay low for a day.”
“Wait. You had a conversation with them. So did they speak English?” Babe asked, just now realizing. Maybe Speirs would come in handy. He hadn’t known that he could speak French.
Speirs shot him a look, “Yes they did. A lot of people tend to speak English quite regularly in Amsterdam.”
“What the FU-”
“Are you kidding me?”
“What kind of politician vacations in Amsterdam?”
Nixon looked over at Luz, “Really? That’s the FIRST thing that comes to your mind? Really?”
Luz shrugged.
“Damn it Speirs. You knew we needed to get to Paris! You’ve been nothing but trouble this entire time. And now we could be getting fucking arrested!” Bill shouted.
Thank God someone else was thinking on the same wavelength. Now they had to get to Paris! And also to Gene. Like….soon Babe hoped.
Speirs seemed to have had it as well because he turned around and jabbed a finger into Bill’s chest.
“What did I say when I agreed to do this? HUH? I said that it was highly ILLEGAL and DANGEROUS. And I’m also pretty sure that I SAID that this plane was going to EUROPE and I DON’T believe that I SPECIFIED! So you’re fucking WELCOME!” He jabbed him one more time in the shoulder.
“Don’t fucking touch me asshole!”
“Watch me you inconsiderate shit! Do you have any idea how much trouble I’ve gone through for the all of you?”
“For us? Please! You just want to see Lipton. Who’s never gonna take you back by the way. And who can fucking BLAME HIM- you no good, PSYCHO criminal?!”
Oh…………..shit.
Speirs lunged into the back seat and clipped him in the jaw. Bill grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt and jerked him backwards causing him to bump into Luz, who nearly ran off the road.
“SHIT! Guys stop it! I can hardly drive as it is!”
“Fuck! Just pull over or something!”
Luz inhaled from his cigarette as he leant next to Nixon against the car. He looked over at Babe who was pacing and chewing on his thumbnail. He elbowed Nixon who was draped over the hood of the car, sunglasses on, dead to the world.
“What?”
Luz caught his eye and jerked his thumb down towards the ditch they’d pulled up next to. “How long they gonna keep this up?”
Nixon sat up and looked over as Speirs stood and kicked Bill in the stomach, right after which Bill grabbed his foot and pushed him face first into a muddy puddle.
“That,” Nixon paused, “is an excellent question.”
They turned to watch. Luz nudged Nixon again, “$20 on Speirs?”
“No bet.”
“So are you going to do it?”
Gene looked at himself in the mirror. He looked good. He looked…ready. He could do this. He WANTED to do this. He slipped his hands into his jacket pocket and closed his fingers tightly around the velvet box.
He loved Renee. And he knew she loved him. That was all that mattered. He got that now. He knew what he wanted.
“Yes I am.”
Dick sighed, “I wish you wouldn’t.”
“I’ve made up my mind Dick. I’ve gotta go.” He walked to the door and stopped with his hand on the knob. “This is the right decision.”
And he left.