Alright guys, I know I shouldn't publish a new story, while "In Between" isn't done yet, and I'm working on that, but real life has kinda caught up to me. :( But this one was just too persistent in my head.
Set at the end of 1x06-Wake, sometime after Diana left Adam at the boathouse.
"What the hell," Adam barged into the backroom where his father was stretched out on the couch.
He sat up wearily and squinted at his son.
"What the hell did you tell Diana?" Adam asked getting into his face.
"I told her the truth. That you and Cassie are meant for each other," he replied slowly.
"What the -," he had to stop cursing, this was getting redundant. "She broke up with me," his voice was rising even more and he challengingly looked at the father he'd forgiven time and again, like this was something he would not get over.
"Good for her," Mr. Conant replied thoughtlessly.
"Do you have any idea? I love her," Adam was getting angrier. His dad wasn't even denying it.
"It wasn't gonna work, believe me," the older man looked at him intently. His son might be towering over him, but he was the one who knew from experience. "Do you really want to convince me that you don't feel what you do for Cassie?" he challenged. "Because I see it. Hell, everyone sees it! But I've been in your shoes and believe me, this is something you do not get over."
Adam was shaking his head stubbornly and opened his mouth to reply, but his father went on first, "I told Diana the longer you guys dragged this out the more it would hurt."
"You're crazy. You had no right to do that," Adam interjected, although this was what he'd figured.
"Maybe not, but I don't care," Mr. Conant replied matter-of-factly causing Adam's eyes to widen in irritation at that admission. At that moment, it was good that he did not have his individual powers anymore or he would probably have done something he'd regret later.
His father realized that perhaps he'd gone too far and took a different line of argument. "Well, think about this," the fighting was sobering him up; he was able to think more clearly. "Think carefully. If you had to make a decision at any point, who could you let die, Cassie or Diana? What would you do?" He saw Adam look at him like he'd grown a second head but also horrified. Each of them knew from their own perspective that it might very well come to this at some point.
Adam breathed in deeply to think of a diversion from this question, but his father insisted, "Think about it. – You could not let her die," he was clearly talking about Cassie. "Don't even try to tell yourself that. You'd rather die yourself."
Adam was floored. All the angry energy he'd felt before gave way to complete dejection at the thought of Cassie being gone.
"Look at me, son. Look really closely. And think if you wanna end up like this," the older man said matter-of-factly.
But years of dealing with his father being the way he was came bubbling up, "You're just making excuses," Adam was getting riled up again.
"Maybe," the older man admitted, "but that doesn't mean I'm not right. I know you're probably stronger than me, and might not end up like this. But I sure as hell don't want you to find out." I came down to one thing. "What do you want? Can you really tell me, that it's not being with Cassie?"
Defeated Adam threw himself on the couch next to his old man and stared up at the ceiling.
"I'm really sorry you're hurting, son, but that's what was going to happen at some point anyway. You cannot be in this situation and not get hurt. And everyone else, Diana and Cassie are hurting too," he hesitantly patted his shoulder. Living in a kinda challenged, all-men household, they'd never been exactly physically comforting.
"What do you want me to do?" Adam shot back, "Cassie's far to noble to even want to be with me. Diana is her fried," but he couldn't help being secretly thrilled at the thought of being with her. "She's probably gonna give me a piece of her mind tomorrow for messing this up." He laughed humourlessly at the thought of how adorable she was when she was trying to be angry.
"I can't tell you that. I never got to the point to do anything about that. But I just know is that this is going to be better for all of you in the long run," his dad said gently. "You can't deny it forever and neither can Cassie." As an afterthought he added, "Diana is going to find someone at some point too," but he saw the flash of hurt appear in his son's eyes. Apparently, all of this was still too fresh at the moment, "She's a good girl, one of the best, and you were lucky to have her, but it just doesn't compare."
Adam looked at him tiredly and morosely and held his face where Jake's bruise was still pounding, "All of this just sucks."
Mr. Conant snickered humorously "Yeah, well sorry to burst your bubble," they both knew that Adam had never been naïve, even as a child, "but that's life."
Adam rolled his eyes but let the obvious sarcasm go. Both men sat in silence for a minute or two, staring ahead, lost in their own thoughts.
"I'm going to bed. Come on, let's go home," Adam stood up and took the empty cup and glass from the table. With cracking joints his father stood up and silently followed him up the stairs, thinking maybe this generation wouldn't turn out quite as fucked-up as his.
If you have time, leave me a line or two to let me know if you liked this or not.