Author: LAMFan
Rating: PG
Summary: Spauldings and Coopers and Bauers, oh my!
The smell of mouthballs and sanitizing fluid hit Gus Aitoro like a brick as he entered his old hotel room and threw his bags carelessly on the bed. Harley stepped in behind him and flicked on the light, illuminating the cramped box Gus had been living in from the time he came to Springfield until he had moved in with her. That lasted a long time, Gus commented to himself sarcastically as Harley closed the door.
"You didn't have to do this, you know," Harley said, slipping the strap of a duffle bag off of her shoulder and lowering the bag slowly onto the floor near the doorway. "Phillip's a jerk, but he's bound to realize sooner or later that he was wrong about you. Don't let him win..."
Gus sighed and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, slipping it just past his parched, cracked lips. "And if he doesn't realize he's wrong? What if later rather than sooner is too late?" he asked, the cigarette barely clinging to his mouth. "I don't want you to lose your son because of me. You've lost enough people in your life, Coop, I'm not going to let you lose Zach if there's something that I can do about it."
Gus folded his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the dilapidated dresser by the window. Harley pressed her knee into the uncomfortably firm mattress of the bed, shaking her head. "If Phillip doesn't realize he's wrong, a judge will. Everyone in the world knows he's wrong except for his father, and even Phillip has to admit that having Alan behind you usually isn't a good sign."
"I don't want it to come down to a judge, Harley. Enough has gone on without some ridiculous custody battle..."
"The only thing ridiculous about this whole thing is Phillip. Even Beth isn't sure what he's doing is right... Either of her personalities."
"Look, even so, I know you want to show your family and everyone else that you believe in me, but you're going to do it at your own expense. And Zach's. Phillip dragging you into court won't be fun for the kid. Come on, let me just do this. At least until things settle down. You can tell just by looking at that guy and his tense, square jaw that he's a control freak. I'm surprised he hasn't threatened to sue for custody of Jude, too, while his girlfriend Rick is laid up in the hospital."
Harley crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Gus's neck. "I think I deserve to be happy."
"You do."
"And you make me happy... Living with you would make me happy. Happier than I've been in a long time."
"And how happy would you be if Zach couldn't be with you?"
Gus removed Harley's arms gently and walked to the bed, his back turned to her. Her smile faded. "That's not going to happen. I can have the both of you. And Jude."
"You're so sure of that. What if you can't have it both ways? We don't need to be around each other twentyfour-seven. But what the two of us know better than most people is that a child needs his parents. Both of them." Gus opened one of the garbage bags he was using as a suitcase and began to remove his belongings, tossing them onto the bed. "It's not like we're going to stop seeing each other completely. I'll be back at work soon, and we can still be together outside of the station. Phillip just wants me out of your house, so I won't stay at your house. It's that simple."
As Harley parted her lips to reply, a small electronic ring emanated from her purse. She pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. "Cooper," she answered. Gus stopped what he was doing and looked up, listening, his back still to Harley. "...I'll be right there," she finished with a sigh.
"Another Cooper family crisis?" Gus asked.
"No. Thankfully, it's a work-related crisis this time...You'll meet at Company later for dinner?"
"Yep." Gus walked Harley to the door, where she kissed him passionately before leaving. Gus watched her for a moment, then closed the door.
Returning to the pile of belongings on his bed, Gus grabbed one of the bags roughly and began fishing through it. After a few seconds of searching, he pulled out the item he had been looking for: the battered copy of his juvenile record that Harley had given to him. Gus studied it for a moment, turning it from one side to the other. He walked to the trash can and motioned his hands to crumple the item, but found that he didn't have it in him. Frustrated, he threw it onto the nightstand and rubbed his face with his hands, falling back onto the bed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A woman approached Company slowly, looking into the window with curiosity. Inside, the faces were equally as unfamiliar as the set-up. Pulling the sliding strap of her purse back onto her leather-clad shoulder, she glanced at the porch in front of her: even that was not as she had remembered it. The sign she was sure was new or, judging by the wear, had at least been added since she had last visited the restaurant, but the rest... As she considered which was the better option between having a faulty memory or coming home to something changed so completely, another figure moved behind her in the fading light.
"Boy," a graying Alan-Michael Spaulding commented to his wife as he wrapped his arms around her, "this place looks so different."
Lucy turned to Alan-Michael and leaned her arms against his chest as he held her at the waist. "No kidding," she replied. "If I didn't know any better, I would think we were at the wrong place." She turned back to face the window, pulling Alan-Michael's arms around her more tightly, and just watched the people inside. "Have we been away that long?"
Alan-Michael raised an eyebrow as he pressed the side of his head against Lucy's, following her line of vision. "Well, it's been a while," he said, brushing her hair behind her ear to plant a soft kiss at her left temple. "We're home" he sighed. Lucy looked at Alan-Michael apprehensively in response before exhaling and taking him by the hands, leading him inside.