The Undone and the Divine

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Looper or its characters, those belong to Rian Johnson. Chapter title courtesy of Paramore. Pleeeaaasseee look up the lyrics. Please? :)


Chapter One: Turn It Off


THEN

Joe Simmons sat up, brushing dirt off of him. He had a pounding headache, and his limbs were sore and stiff. He stared at the half-loaded Gat in his hand, and chucked it to his left. Cid and Sara were nowhere in sight, and he intended to keep it that way, to leave them alone.

"Fuck." He muttered, staring at his surroundings. Wobbling slightly, he stood and stretched his arms. In the distance, where his older self should've been lying dead after he shot him, was nowhere. Joe rolled his eyes, and bent down, picking up his blunderbuss. He hiked his it onto his shoulder and headed in the opposite direction of Sara's farm.


NOW-THREE YEARS LATER:

Kansas

Sara rolled over from her dream, smiling at her new husband. "Morning," She smiled.

"Good morning." David muttered, pushing a strand of hair from her eyes.

She grinned again before sliding off the bed and padding down the hall to Cid's room. Sara pushed the door open a crack, listening to her eight-year-old son snore. After three years, she still quickly scanned the room, hoping to see Joe standing guard at the foot of the little bed. She knew it was absurd, but a girl could dream, right? David came up behind her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. She grinned slightly, wanly, before shutting the door.


Cid Harrison rolled over and cracked an eye open, making sure that his mother had really closed the door. He pushed back the covers and grabbed an object from his bedside table. It was a little frog toy that he had made a few years back. It had a small red light inside of it, and he crawled to the window, peeking through the curtains. He pressed the top of the frog, causing the light to flash. Cid waited breathlessly for movement beyond the fence that David had put up around the farm last year, but nothing happened. He sighed and replaced the object on the stand, crawling back under the sheets.


Outskirts of Boston, M.A.

Ariel Lerner stood, waiting patiently inside the abandoned warehouse, counting down the seconds. At exactly 9:30, she lifted her shotgun, anticipating the arrival of her mark. When they appeared before her, she pulled the trigger without hesitation, and blew a head-sized, gaping hole into their torso. The mark fell limp onto their back, and she trotted over to them, rolled them over, and kneeled beside them. She cut open their coat, and she pulled out a package of twelve silver bars. She breathed a sigh of relief, thanking God that she hadn't found gold bars, and that the mark hadn't been a woman.

Ariel's brow furrowed as she dragged the mark to a furnace, pushing him into it. Ariel sighed and wiped her brow. Disposing of them was always the hardest part. She swung her shotgun onto her shoulder and walked off toward her red 2013 Chevy Camaro.

Her parents had named her Ariel, after the Little Mermaid, because she had been born with red hair, an event that was extremely rare. They had thought of her as that Ariel; sweet, kind. But growing up, she'd been more like Ariel Moore from Footloose; rebellious, headstrong. And so, Ariel had chosen to become a looper so that she could live the 'good life', though everyone lived the 'good life' those days. But loopers lived the 'good life'… Higher. Drunker. Sexier.

To Ariel, life could only get better from here on out.


Boston, M.A.

Joe Simmons pounded another shot and grimaced. His friend, Shane Walker, was ten times drunker than he was. He stared at his friend in disgust, remembering his days of living the 'looper high life'. But ever since he'd murdered his older self at Sara's farm, he'd lost his lust for drinking and cool cars and slutty girlfriends. All he wanted was to go back to Kansas, back to his apartment. Joe wouldn't go back to Suzie, though. He was over the stereotypical skanks that loopers usually screwed. If he still had his silver, he'd go to France. Definitely to France.

As Shane basically fell off his chair, a group of six girls burst through the bar door, all drunkenly laughing and tripping over one another and making a scene. Joe glanced at them, rolled his eyes, and then did a double-take. Five of them were dressed in hot pink or neon green, but the sixth was dressed in black ripped jeans, a lacy white tank-top, a black armored vest, and ankle-high studded boots. Black and red earrings dangled from her ears, and a red choker necklace was wound around her throat. Her dark red hair was pulled into a messy side braid.

"Shit, she's hot," Shane slurred, also watching the girls. But his eye was on the blond next to her.

"Yeah." Joe muttered.

The six came and assembled by them, stealing the last empty seats in the swarming bar. One, dressed in a hot pink mini-dress, sat by Shane, and he turned to her.

"Hey." He smirked. "I'm Jason." He lied. Loopers almost never gave their real names for protection purposes.

"Natalie." The blonde spoke, sipping a beer.

"Cool." Shane burped.

Natalie scoffed. "Charming." She turned away, obviously trying to ignore him.

"I'm a looper." He added. She faced him again. The red-head sat next to her, eavesdropping on the conversation and nursing a beer. Joe's eyes kept flicking to her.

"Really?" her friend asked, suddenly interested. The red-head tapped her shoulder, mouthing, 'What the fuck are you doing'. Natalie shook her head and spun back to Shane.

"Yeah. Closeml-loop t-today." Shane nodded, signaling for another shot, still slurring his words.

"Impressive." Natalie rubbed his hand. "What'd you look like?" She asked.

"I dunno. I didn't l-look." Shane blinked multiple times. The red-head and a brunette started singing along to a pop song that was blasting over the speakers.

"Mm. Shame." Natalie twisted back to her friends, and the red-head stood. She whispered something to the brunette, who nodded, and she sauntered off. She glanced at Joe as she strolled by him.


Joe watched Shane strike out with girl after girl. He rolled his eyes at his friend and caught himself looking at the red-head. He wished he knew what her name was. She danced with another blonde, but not Natalie. But the other four walked up to them and they started talking.

"Hey, man, let's go. Bar scene sucks tonight." Shane grabbed at his shoulder.

Joe shook his head absentmindedly and watched the girls start to exit the building.

"Dude, let's go." Shane pleaded. Joe stood and jogged after the girls. Red-head lagged behind, digging through a little hand bag, probably looking for keys or something.

"Hey," He said to her.

She looked up, surprised. "Uh, hi." She raised a brow.

"Ariel, hurry up! It's fucking cold out here." Natalie yelled from outside.

"Hold on! God." She turned back to Joe. "See ya." she shrugged and started to walk away.

"Wait." He called.

"Yeah?" she stopped and looked at him.

"I'm Joe." He replied simply, stepping forward. He extended his hand for her to shake.

"Good for you." She tossed her red hair over her shoulder and shrugged, turning back to her posse.

"You didn't tell me your name." He yelled after her.

"Nope. Don't suppose I did." She shook her head, running off toward an old 2013 Chevy Camaro. Shane appeared beside him, pulling him back into the bar.

"Dude, you'll never guess who I found. She says she knows you." She muttered.


A/N: My first fanfic! Hope you liked it. Please review! :)