Lost and found again
Title: Lost and Found again
Characters/Pairings: Dillinger, Flynn (Flynn/Alan is implied, briefly)
Wordcount: 965
Summary: In the wake of the Encom fiasco, Ed Dillinger loses just about everything, then discovers that he's still got what's most important.
When Edward Dillinger is fired from his job at Encom, he thinks that he's lost everything.
He's lost his position and his reputation. He is fined, and the government takes all that he has: his house, his savings, his posessions- His wife is forced to take their 2-year-old son and move in with her mother. Her mother, of all people, who already had it in for him.
Very soon after, he's sent to jail to serve a sentence that he knows he deserves. His wife visits the day after the bail hearing and tries not to mention that her mother has been driving at her to leave him- something she'd been doing since day one, but now, it seemed like she had a legitimate reason for doing it. He told her it would be all right, and that she could, if she'd wanted to; give her the chance to find someone who deserves her.
This moves her to tears, and she tells him in no uncertain terms that she won't be leaving, and they will find a way through this together. He feels a lump rise in his throat and he wishes so bad that he could be on the other side of the glass.
A week later, Dillinger receives a visit from Flynn. Neither of them smile; Flynn merely sits in front of the glass that separates them, hands steepled in front of him, and says “Tell me everything about what happened at Encom.”
After a long, tense moment of silence, Dillinger's lips pressing into a thin line and his Adam’s apple working up and down in his throat, he replies “I think that even you would have a hard time believing me.” He drops his head into both hands, rubbing at his face in one long, fatigued motion. When he looks up, he sees the look that Flynn is giving him and thinks that he might just believe him, and so he tells him.
And Flynn listens.
It's the day of his release from prison, two long years after the fiasco at Encom, and Dillinger is not welcome at his mother-in-law's house. He debates, for a long while about what to do- his wife puts him up at a hotel, claiming that she'll talk to her mother, she'll make it work- but he doubts her ability to soothe the bull-headed sea hag that is her mother, turning to drink.
There isn't particularly a point in the night where he stops. At 10, he's tipsy, at 12, he's regretting every major life decision he's made, at 2, he has to talk himself down from the hotel balcony, and at 2:30, he's hugging the porcelain prince and regretting every major life choice he'd made just that evening. The next morning (afternoon), he's hung over, and he's not surprised. What does surprise him is when his wife shows up at the hotel, bringing with her Kevin Flynn.
She didn't know who else to call, she explains, sounding as worn out as Dillinger feels. He's the only one who's ever understood, and the only one involved who's forgiven him. Dillinger does a double take and kind of feels like he needs to throw up again. When he looks at Flynn, the man is wearing that shit-eating-grin that he's practically famous for, like he's glad to see him or something, and Dillinger starts to doubt his sincerity.
It's not until he says that he's there to help that the doubt begins to fade from his mind. He says that living in your mother-in-law's basement is no way to be, even if your partner's mom is as awesome as Alan's is (the statement gives him pause, but he decides not to think on it anymore because his head hurts and this is Kevin Motherfucking Flynn), then says he can get him a job- something low-level at Encom.
He must have had a look on his face like he'd been whacked upside the head with a trout, because Flynn laughs. Dillinger wonders if maybe he's is kidding, but then, his wife laughs as well, sounding not as tired as she had before, and leans over to rest her forehead against Dillinger's shoulder, patting his chest with one hand.
“I'm not sure what you expect me to say,” He admits. “Well, 'thank you' would work just fine, I think.” Flynn says, so Dillinger thanks him, feeling relieved and embarrassed, but mostly relieved.
That night, the Dillingers are put up in Flynn's old apartment above the arcade. It still thrums with activity, but it is a place where they can be a family, and that's better than nothing at all. Ed Junior spends the majority of the evening talking to his father about everything forever, and practically doesn't stop until he passes out way past his bedtime.
Dillinger's wife is relieved and ecstatic, but she's tired and she has work in the morning- he tells her to go sleep, and he can take care of the dishes. He holds her tight, and then she, too, goes off to sleep.
The flashing lights aren't too subdued by the curtains- they'll have to find something a bit more suitable if they're to stay here for a while. He takes a seat at the couch, grunting a little bit as he does. The damn thing is too low to the floor, but he doesn't mind it. This place isn't what he had before, it isn't the comfort that his unscrupulous methods had gotten him, though...
He hears Ed Junior fussing about a bad dream, then his wife's voice as she sings hims softly back to sleep, and he smiles. It isn't what he had before, but it's enough to be happy, and he thinks that's better than what he had before.
Characters/Pairings: Dillinger, Flynn (Flynn/Alan is implied, briefly)
Wordcount: 965
Summary: In the wake of the Encom fiasco, Ed Dillinger loses just about everything, then discovers that he's still got what's most important.
When Edward Dillinger is fired from his job at Encom, he thinks that he's lost everything.
He's lost his position and his reputation. He is fined, and the government takes all that he has: his house, his savings, his posessions- His wife is forced to take their 2-year-old son and move in with her mother. Her mother, of all people, who already had it in for him.
Very soon after, he's sent to jail to serve a sentence that he knows he deserves. His wife visits the day after the bail hearing and tries not to mention that her mother has been driving at her to leave him- something she'd been doing since day one, but now, it seemed like she had a legitimate reason for doing it. He told her it would be all right, and that she could, if she'd wanted to; give her the chance to find someone who deserves her.
This moves her to tears, and she tells him in no uncertain terms that she won't be leaving, and they will find a way through this together. He feels a lump rise in his throat and he wishes so bad that he could be on the other side of the glass.
A week later, Dillinger receives a visit from Flynn. Neither of them smile; Flynn merely sits in front of the glass that separates them, hands steepled in front of him, and says “Tell me everything about what happened at Encom.”
After a long, tense moment of silence, Dillinger's lips pressing into a thin line and his Adam’s apple working up and down in his throat, he replies “I think that even you would have a hard time believing me.” He drops his head into both hands, rubbing at his face in one long, fatigued motion. When he looks up, he sees the look that Flynn is giving him and thinks that he might just believe him, and so he tells him.
And Flynn listens.
It's the day of his release from prison, two long years after the fiasco at Encom, and Dillinger is not welcome at his mother-in-law's house. He debates, for a long while about what to do- his wife puts him up at a hotel, claiming that she'll talk to her mother, she'll make it work- but he doubts her ability to soothe the bull-headed sea hag that is her mother, turning to drink.
There isn't particularly a point in the night where he stops. At 10, he's tipsy, at 12, he's regretting every major life decision he's made, at 2, he has to talk himself down from the hotel balcony, and at 2:30, he's hugging the porcelain prince and regretting every major life choice he'd made just that evening. The next morning (afternoon), he's hung over, and he's not surprised. What does surprise him is when his wife shows up at the hotel, bringing with her Kevin Flynn.
She didn't know who else to call, she explains, sounding as worn out as Dillinger feels. He's the only one who's ever understood, and the only one involved who's forgiven him. Dillinger does a double take and kind of feels like he needs to throw up again. When he looks at Flynn, the man is wearing that shit-eating-grin that he's practically famous for, like he's glad to see him or something, and Dillinger starts to doubt his sincerity.
It's not until he says that he's there to help that the doubt begins to fade from his mind. He says that living in your mother-in-law's basement is no way to be, even if your partner's mom is as awesome as Alan's is (the statement gives him pause, but he decides not to think on it anymore because his head hurts and this is Kevin Motherfucking Flynn), then says he can get him a job- something low-level at Encom.
He must have had a look on his face like he'd been whacked upside the head with a trout, because Flynn laughs. Dillinger wonders if maybe he's is kidding, but then, his wife laughs as well, sounding not as tired as she had before, and leans over to rest her forehead against Dillinger's shoulder, patting his chest with one hand.
“I'm not sure what you expect me to say,” He admits. “Well, 'thank you' would work just fine, I think.” Flynn says, so Dillinger thanks him, feeling relieved and embarrassed, but mostly relieved.
That night, the Dillingers are put up in Flynn's old apartment above the arcade. It still thrums with activity, but it is a place where they can be a family, and that's better than nothing at all. Ed Junior spends the majority of the evening talking to his father about everything forever, and practically doesn't stop until he passes out way past his bedtime.
Dillinger's wife is relieved and ecstatic, but she's tired and she has work in the morning- he tells her to go sleep, and he can take care of the dishes. He holds her tight, and then she, too, goes off to sleep.
The flashing lights aren't too subdued by the curtains- they'll have to find something a bit more suitable if they're to stay here for a while. He takes a seat at the couch, grunting a little bit as he does. The damn thing is too low to the floor, but he doesn't mind it. This place isn't what he had before, it isn't the comfort that his unscrupulous methods had gotten him, though...
He hears Ed Junior fussing about a bad dream, then his wife's voice as she sings hims softly back to sleep, and he smiles. It isn't what he had before, but it's enough to be happy, and he thinks that's better than what he had before.