Unlike Clockwork Part II
"Luke," Lorelai whispered shakily. Luke felt her grasp the side of his jacket.
"It's gonna be okay," he whispered back. He wished like hell he could guarantee it, but as the words came out of his mouth, he knew they were backed by absolutely nothing.
"Everybody get on the motherfucking floor!" The guy yelled louder. The woman with the 32 directly against her forehead dropped everything and hit the floor quickly. Everyone else lowered themselves down too, Luke and Lorelai included.
The man (late teens, early twenties) stepped over the woman and waved the gun in every direction, making it clear how inexperienced he was with the situation that he had so stupidly thrown himself into. He moved over toward the offices, screaming at the two people in their respective offices to get out to the main area. They scurried out and joined the others.
While the gunman's attention was elsewhere, a young woman, frightened with fresh tears flowing silently down her cheeks, stood up and moved slowly past the bodies on the floor before breaking out running toward the exit. "Wait," Luke called out quietly. He looked over to the gunman who was busy making sure all offices were empty. His eyes fell back to the girl, and he sent up a silent prayer that she would make it out. The gunman turned just in time to see her pushing the door open.
"Stop!" He yelled in a panicked tone. He pointed the gun and shot. Several screams rang out, and Luke's breath caught as he watched the girl fall on the sidewalk. Before he could fully react, the girl got up quickly and ran away unscathed. He'd missed.
Luke's attention went to the gun-wielding man, wishing that he could go over and beat him senseless.
"Don't look at me," he yelled noticing Luke's gaze. Luke still looked piercingly at the man. "Don't fucking look at me," he screeched pointing the gun at Luke.
"Oh my god, Luke, please..." Lorelai looked from the man to Luke as she grabbed his arm to get his attention. "Look at me," she whispered. Luke was very much willing to hold his glare. The man's gun did nothing but anger him beyond anything he'd ever experienced. Hearing the panicked, scared register of Lorelai's voice caused him to redirect his attention to her. Her eyes were filled with water, and she looked at him pleadingly.
His whole disposition changed when he regarded her. "Don't worry," he said softly, "we're going to get out of here, okay?" A smile came over his face and he stayed looking at her. If his looking at her would cause her to have some peace of mind, he would remain doing it.
Lorelai nodded quickly at his words. Her common sense was telling her that Luke had no clue as to how this would turn out, but that part of her played little role in the resulting feeling at hearing him speak those reassurances. She looked into his eyes, silently begging him not to even glance in the direction of the man. She knew she would never be able to take what the crazy man with the gun may do if it were to happen again. He'd already proved that he was willing to fire.
The man went over to the counter and bent over it to see the tellers on the floor. "Get up and...do the...get some money!" He yelled.
"Oh my god!" Luke said rolling his eyes. That was an involuntary sudden reaction at hearing the guy's shaky and unsure voice. He really had no idea what he was doing. He hadn't bothered trying to cover his face, his jeans hung halfway off of his ass, and his face glowed with a sheen of nervous sweat. Luke wondered briefly if he was just walking down the street, found a discarded gun somewhere and made a right into the bank door, thinking 'well, it looks cool on tv.'
The remark came out a little loud, and Lorelai closed her eyes, praying that Luke's comment would not be heard. She waited, and after a few moments of nothing happening, she released the breath that she was holding. She opened her eyes and looked to Luke, anger burning behind her pupils. She hit him hard in the side, and he retracted slightly at the hit not bothering to even act surprised or upset. She looked like she really wanted to hurt him, and even more, she looked like she was about ready to burst out in tears.
Luke just started to shake his head apologetically. 'I'm sorry', he mouthed. Her lip began to shake, and she looked away from him, turning her head in the opposite direction of where he lay. He allowed her to have a moment, feeling like he was doing little to help the situation.
"Uh, what do you want me to put the money in?" One of the women asked once she was standing.
The man tried to maintain authority in speaking, but it faltered in his own confusion. "Don't you have bags around here?" He asked her.
"Sure, and they have big dollar signs on it just like the cartoons ," she said, obviously forgetting about the true nature of the situation.
"Bitch," He said strongly, bringing the gun up and pointing it at her. "Don't make me kill you because I won't lose any fucking sleep when I do."
The woman held up her hands and apologized profusely. He lowered the gun slightly as he looked around for an acceptable transport. "There," he said waving the gun over in a corner. "Use that." The woman followed his direction with her eyes.
"The trashcan?"
"No, dumbass, the trashbag . Empty that shit out and get the bag." She hesitated as she looked at him strangely. "Hurry up! Move!" He yelled causing her to jump into action.
She dumped papers and wrappers all over the floor before snatching the bag out and making her way back over to the cash drawers. She moved quickly, opening drawers and cabinets and throwing money into the black Hefty.
"Come on," he urged. The woman finished emptying out one area. Her hands shook violently as she worked, and as she closed one drawer back, it bumped the bag causing the contents to go spilling to the floor. "What the fu--pick it up!" He cried out. "Hurry up--pick it up--faster!"
"I'm sorry," she said over and over as she scooped the money back into the bag.
"Shut up, and just pick it up!" She finally got most of it back into the bag, and she stood up, readying the bag for more monetary weight. "Just give it to me," he said impatiently. She reached it out, and he snatched it, running over toward the door. "Nobody say anything, okay?" He said to all the people, sounding more like a young boy who'd lost his mother's pearl necklace.
Everyone nodded quickly, feeling juvenile and relieved at the same time. All the act was missing was a palm with spittle and a solidifying hand shake.
The guy turned toward the door and froze.
"Shit!" He yelled, stepping away. "Who the fuck called the goddamn police? Dammit!" He stood to the side of the door, reaching up and knocking himself angrily in the head with the gun. He started walking back toward everyone. "Did somebody hit an alarm or something?" He asked seriously like hands were about to go up and confess. "Shit...dammit...stupid, stupid," he said hitting himself again.
Luke had to seriously suppress the urge to just haul off and thoroughly tell the guy about himself--how completely stupid he was and how he must've been the true inspiration behind 'America's Dumbest Criminals' --and how he should do himself a favor and just pull the trigger while he was repeatedly knocking himself in the head with his gun. But Luke knew he had Lorelai to consider, and the urge drifted away quietly. She had calmed down, and the tears in her eyes had managed to stay in place, so he wasn't about to jeopardize that. He had reached over and tightly squeezed her hand, and eventually she squeezed back, giving him a look that told him that she needed him to control himself a little more. She needed him to not get himself hurt. Because he would not be the only one affected. Not by a long shot.
They lay holding each other's hand tightly, both looking at the guy as he paced.
Lorelai turned and looked at Luke, and he at her. He shrugged, and they both turned back. The guy looked like a ticking time bomb.
Looking out of the bank's glass door, Lorelai saw two police cars that sat in front of the bank. The officers stood talking to one another behind the safety of their vehicles as they continually tossed glances toward the bank. From her position, that's all she could see, but she was sure that there was a lot more commotion going on out there.
The man suddenly rushed over to the counter and hopped on top of it. "I want everybody out here!" He yelled to the tellers. The two inside tellers and the one for the drive-through service rushed out to the lobby area. He instructed one of them to go back and draw the blinds. Once everyone was in the same area, he hopped down and looked to each of them.
"Which one of you hit an alarm?" He asked pointing the gun from teller to teller. Several women had started to cry. But other than that, it was silence. "Who the fuck was it?" He screamed. He leaned down closer to the only teller who was crying. He put the gun directly in front of her face. "Was it you?" He asked. She cried louder. "Answer me!"
"Hey!" Luke yelled. Another involuntary spasm in his vocal chords. Lorelai looked at him, her expression wide. Luke looked back at her, giving her a look that told her he had no choice and it would be okay. He turned back to the guy, who had stopped and looked at him, not bothering to take his weapon out of the woman's face. Luke tried to keep his tone even. "Don't you think that the girl that got out of here may have had something to do with that?" The comment was sarcasm at its best, but Luke's presentation of the words caused the gunman to take his gun back and consider his words.
"Stupid bitch," he finally muttered, assuming she was the true reason for the police. He walked away from the woman, biting the nails on the hand that held the gun.
Luke, satisfied that the woman was out of immediate danger, turned back to Lorelai. "You okay?" He asked her. She nodded, remaining silent.
Luke knew that she wasn't. She was scared, and she had every reason in the world to be. He moved a little closer to her and wrapped his other hand around the both of theirs. He wanted to let her know that he was there for her, no matter what.
-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
Three hours had gone by, and everyone in there was beyond tired. The gunman, by then identified as Parker, was still pacing back and forth across the floor. The police had closed off the entire area surrounding the bank. He knew this because when they called the bank's phone line, Parker had been given that information. He had even volunteered his name in an effort to show some cooperation.
When he'd gotten on the phone, he tried to sound confident and sure of himself, but whatever was said to him caused a bit of that to crumble. He started admitting how he hadn't meant for anything to happen and as long as everyone did as he asked, no one would get hurt.
Everyone had chosen to sit up, leaning against the wooden counter. Everyone sat close together, but none as close as Luke and Lorelai. Both their legs lay crossed in front of them, and Lorelai's head lay on Luke's shoulder as he softly spoke to her.
"...and she would always want to hang out with me. Everywhere I went, Liz would ask me if she could tag along, and if I said no, she'd ask my dad, and he'd make me take her." Lorelai gave a light chuckle. "All the time. Apparently, she thought I was cool or something. And, then I'd spend the whole time making sure she was happy and not feeling neglected, which defeated the purpose of going out and having a good time in the first place."
Lorelai smiled as she pictured a teenage Luke having to babysit a younger sister, outwardly hating every minute of it while still treating her like a little princess.
He continued on. He had been telling her stories about his childhood for over an hour, and before that, he was asking her about various stages of Rory's childhood, her experiences raising her, etc. He already knew lots of it, but he still inquired. He tried to ask the tough questions. Ones where she had to think. Ones where her mind would be forced to go elsewhere, if only temporarily. Lorelai spoke openly, her head filling with distant images from her and Rory's youth. After all, they had overlapped in a way.
Once the subject was exhausted, Luke paused, thinking of somewhere else he could take the conversation.
"I have to use the restroom," Lorelai said calmly, her head sill laying comfortably against him.
Luke turned toward her. "Can you hold it?" He asked.
"I have been. My bladder's gonna start a revolt in a minute," she replied lightly.
Luke sighed, turning to look at Parker. He still paced, biting his nails, which was probably down to the nubs at that point.
"Excuse me," Luke called. Parker turned to him.
"Yeah," he said, almost pleasantly.
"Um, can we get some bathroom or food breaks in here?" He asked.
He looked around at all the people. "I have some hamburgers coming in here in a little bit because I'm hungry too," he said. He paused and looked around again. "Who needs to go the bathroom?" Several hands went up. "Okay, then," he said simply.
One gentleman got up to go, and Lorelai stood up slowly too, her muscles a bit cramped from sitting for so long. Parker rushed over to her, looking panicked. He pushed her slightly against the counter. "No, one person at a time," he spit out.
Lorelai stumbled back, and Luke was on his feet in the next instant. "Do not touch her," he said through clenched teeth. His hands balled into fists at his sides.
"Luke," Lorelai said calmly. She placed her hand on his chest. "It's okay. Sit down," she said. Parker had placed the gun in the back of his pants a while ago since no one was posing a threat, but he reached back and took it out at that moment. He cocked it and held it by his side.
"Yeah, Luke , sit your ass the fuck down before I sit you down" he said now that his piece of courage was being held tightly in his fingers.
Luke's eyes narrowed, and he took a step forward. Parker's eyes shifted nervously and he held up his chin in an effort to show his lack of intimidation. He swallowed hard, his adam's apple disappearing briefly.
"If you ever touch her again, you better be ready to use that thing." Luke looked at him menacingly, venom dripping out of every word that he spoke.
Parker looked at Luke, then at Lorelai. He swallowed again. Lorelai held her breath. And Luke remained looking at the man, daring him to test his words.
Parker's eyes fell back to Lorelai. "Just go use the bathroom," he said like it was no big deal.
"Luke--"
"It's okay. Go ahead," Luke said still looking intensely to Parker. Her instincts told her to stay and forget about the whole bathroom thing. Stay by Luke's side and make sure he didn't do anything crazy, but her bladder told her that at any moment she would be presented with a situation.
"Luke, please--"
"Everything is fine. Go to the bathroom, Lorelai." He turned to her, looking her square in the eyes. She released a heavy breath before giving up and jogging toward the Ladies room. Luke turned back to Parker, making sure he was clear on everything. After a few seconds, he took a step back and sat back down on the floor.
Parker looked down to him before taking the gun and placing it back in his pants. "You know you could have just been killed, don't you?" Luke balled and unballed his fists, but he said nothing. "But I didn't want to embarrass you," he said, covering up his true cowardice. "Is that your woman, man?" Luke looked past him, his jaw clenching tightly. 'This guy can not be serious,' Luke thought. Parker looked in the direction that Lorelai had left in. "I probably won't ever have a girlfriend like that," he said woefully.
Luke looked up to him suddenly. "Yes, you will," he said quickly. Parker looked at him, shocked that he'd even spoken to him.
"You think so, man?" He asked.
"Yeah," Luke looked at him, fire returning to his pupils, "I'm pretty sure whatever prison you end up in will have plenty of girlfriends for you to choose from." Parker's gullible expression left instantly. "Unless, of course...you become the girl," Luke finished.
Seeing Parker's angered look caused a little of Luke's rage to melt away. He almost felt proud of himself. "Man, fuck you!" He almost screamed. His bottom lip trembled as he leaned in at his words. "I'm not going to jail! Fuck you!"
Luke reared back slightly. He'd done a better job than he had thought. He nearly smiled at his outburst. Instead, he lifted an eyebrow showing an indifference and looked away.
Parker continued to look down at him. "Why would you say that?" He asked, obviously shaken.
Luke rolled his eyes. "Take a look around you." He paused. "These are people--people with families--and news flash, what you're doing here is illegal," he said bitingly. "And the longer you drag this out, the worse it's gonna be."
Parker looked around briefly. "I didn't do anything. I didn't hurt anybody. So, I can still get off," he said moreso to convince himself.
"Didn't you shoot at somebody earlier?" Luke asked with attitude.
"But did I hit her?" He asked smartly. "I still have a chance."
"Whatever you say," Luke said with little care.
He looked around again to see if everyone's face agreed with Luke. "You don't think so?" Parker asked Luke, his voice betraying every ounce of confidence that he'd exhibited.
Luke snapped. "Do I look like your damn buddy? Your pal? Stop talking to me."
"Fuck you!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "Fuck you and fuck everybody else in here!" He spun around pointing at various people. "Fuck you--fuck you--fuck every-damn-body!" Luckily the gun stayed tucked firmly in the back of his pants as he went about his little temper-tantrum.
Truth be told, he had made up his mind that he wouldn't use the gun at all. The officer he'd spoken to had convinced him that one drop of blood from anyone in the building would guarantee him a life sentence. As he waited for his requested escape vehicle, a Ferarri 360 spider, he knew that all he had to do was keep his head, and everything would work out. With no one's blood on his hands, he figured he'd have a free pass to get out of the country. In a ferarri.
He continued to express his anger. "When the food gets here, nobody is getting shit," he stressed harshly. He stormed over to the far wall. Luke just rolled his eyes. The man was an excellent example of petulance. It was like a babysitting gone awry.
Lorelai came from the back and took her seat close to Luke. She released a breath and looked at him. "I am so going to kick your ass when we get out of this thing," she said seriously. She was referring to Luke's testosterone-driven show which could have gone very differently than it had. Luke looked down.
Parker looked at Lorelai. "Where the hell is that other guy?" He asked her. "The guy that went with you."
Lorelai looked at him and shook her head nervously. "I don't...know."
"You don't know?" He asked. He pointed to another lady. "You--go see where the hell he is, and if you don't come back here in thirty seconds, I'm going to blow this lady's head off," he said pulling out the gun and pointing it briefly at the lady who'd initially been presented with the weapon.
The woman took off running toward the men's room. She came back in under fifteen seconds. "He's not in there," she said catching her breath.
"What?! What, did he just disa-fuckin-ppear?"
"The...uh, window is open," she added feebly.
"Oh, I can't believe this shit," He said, walking and standing to the side of the door. He peered out like he expected the man to be outside just waving at him. He walked back over to where he had been. "Who the hell puts big ass windows in bathrooms? What is the fucking purpose of that?" He exclaimed. Everyone remained silent. "Well, whoever else has to go just lost that chance. Nobody else is leaving this room, goddamn it!"
Everybody watched the show that Parker was so thoroughly putting on for them with his multiple tirades.
Luke turned and looked at Lorelai. She could feel him looking at her, but she was more concerned with wondering exactly what kind of robber they had been given. She finally tore her eyes away from him and looked back to Luke. "What?" She whispered. He continued to look at her. "What?" She asked again. He looked upset.
"Lorelai, was there a window in the bathroom?"
She shrugged. "There may have been a window."
"Lorelai."
"Yes, Luke," She admitted with exasperation. "There was a window."
He gave her an obvious look. "Why..." It came out quietly, and he couldn't even finish it, he was so mad.
"What?" She urged, suddenly meeting his anger head on. She still spoke low. "Why didn't I pop the window open, crawl out, and leave you here? Is that what you want to know?" She looked at him expectantly for a few seconds before shaking her head and looking away. "I don't care how angry you get with me, I would never do that. I don't care if the whole damn wall was missing," she said stubbornly.
Luke's jaw tightened. "Lorelai," he began, "you have Rory to consider," he said, his voice strained.
Lorelai looked down and considered his words. He definitely had a point. She looked back at him, tears filling her eyes. "Well, I have you, too," she said quietly in an unsteady voice.
Luke was furious. Mainly because he felt it was his fault she was even in the situation. If it wasn't for him, she would have driven her own car to the antique shop and would have been back in Stars Hollow at that point. He also was aware of how he had all but dragged her into the bank. She was supposed to have been in the car. Safe and sound. His mind wouldn't let up.
She had had an opportunity to get herself out of the situation, and she hadn't taken it. But her reasoning was substantial. She didn't want to leave him, and he knew that he couldn't fault her openly for doing that. Not when he would have done the same for her. But to him, his selflessness wasn't a big deal, but he couldn't just accept altruism when he was on the other end. That was a whole different ballgame.
They stared at each other, neither willing to give in on their points.
He finally just sighed, deciding that they could do nothing to change what had happened. "This is great. Now, we're both still stuck here," he said.
"Me and you," she said with finality.
Luke nodded while still looking intensely into her still damp eyes. A moment of silence passed between them before he spoke. "If you're presented with something like that again, take it. I mean it," he said sternly.
A determined look crossed her face. "Not in these heels. They're not made for window-climbing."
"Then, take 'em off and leave them ," he said.
"If they stay, then so do I. Period." She crossed her arms defiantly and turned her attention elsewhere.
Luke rolled his eyes. He knew at that point that even if he picked her up and threw her out the window, she'd find a way to scramble back in. 'Sometimes you win, and sometimes you have no choice but to accept defeat," he thought. 'And when dealing with Lorelai, more often than not, it'll be the latter. Period.'
TBC...
