DISCLAIMER: Roses are red, violets are blue, lawyers can say I claim I own it, but it's not true ;)
WARNINGS: Mentions of slashy feelings.
CREDITS: L-Syllabub, among others who encouraged me to continue, despite the fact that I'd already finished a chapter of this sequel, with no intention of adding it to its predecessor. Kelly Clarkson, whose song Beautiful Disaster quite well describes what Buck would, I think, feel towards Nicolae.
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PART ONE
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The Decision
Sucking in a breath like a shipwrecked man about to dive into the cold northern waters of the Atlantic, Buck picked up the phone. And for what seemed like the umpteenth time in the few days that had passed since his decision to stay with Nicolae, he slammed the receiver back into its cradle before he could even punch the 'talk' button.
He felt like a coward. He could choose to remain at the U.N., tell the Antichrist he liked him in a way that made Buck feel sure God would never listen to his prayers again-- not that he'd been doing any of that since he'd told Nicolae how he felt. Buck had even decided he could accept that he was going to go to Hell. No way around that, now. Yet he couldn't even tell his wife he wasn't coming home.
Well, the little house in Mount Prospect wasn't home anymore. But that wasn't the point. He wasn't going back, and though he wanted a divorce now-- so Chloe could be free to find someone to love her and take care of her-- the journalist who was always so gutsy couldn't scrounge up the courage to tell his wife anything at all. It wasn't until the last half dozen times that he'd even been able to pick up the receiver.
Buck smacked his head on the counter the phone sat on. He glared at it. It looked so innocent, just a little white hunk of plastic with some wiring, a circuit board and maybe a chip or two inside it. Yet every time he thought about calling Chloe, the phone became like a giant monster, white-hot to the touch. The skin on his forehead was tugged awkwardly by the surface of the counter as he shook his head against it. As if phones can really conspire against me. Man, have I gotten paranoid! he thought.
"Still struggling?" asked a familiar masculine voice behind him.
Buck nodded, head still against the counter, letting it pull his forehead in a new direction.
"Perhaps if you speak to them in person. New Babylon is receiving its finishing touches as we speak. Since it is my pilot's daughter to whom you are married, it will be no problem. Already there is an apartment set aside for Captain Steele and his daughter. You will have time to speak to them there," Nicolae offered.
A shaky sigh escaped the journalist's lips. Confronting them there would be even more cowardly than doing it here, over the phone, because even though it would probably be a face-to-face in Iraq... Buck shut out the mental images of security cameras and small, well-hidden bugs. No way Chloe and Rayford would really get their say in, if Buck broke it to them in New Babylon. "I really should go see them in person. It's not like Ray'll beat me up. Chloe might, but..." He trailed off, grinning. Though Buck wasn't so attracted to Chloe as he'd originally made himself believe, he did like her, and her fiesty attitude.
Nicolae frowned. "Are you certain that is what you want, Buck? You have not even spoken to them."
Ouch. What a stab to my pride, Buck thought. "Yeah. It's the right thing to do. If I wait until we get to New Babylon, she might not even be there, and if she is she'll expect to move in with me and the whole nine yards." He shook his head. "Best to get it over with now."
Ignoring the nervousness in the other man's voice, Nicolae nodded. "I will have my secretary arrange your flight to Chicago immediately."
Relief swept through Buck, followed by a torrent of nervous thoughts. He'd finally made a concrete decision, but what if it didn't turn out for the best?
Thank you all for your patience in waiting for this and other fics. For those of you reading Tangled Webs, I'm sorry but that fic has been put on hold as I don't remember the rest of the movie and I like to make things fit loosely with canon. As for Numb and On Darker Wings, I will be continuing those stories as soon as time and fickle inspiration allow.