A/N: In this chapter, Eddie finds out about Sally getting married and reacts exactly how one would expect: violence. Not against her, thankfully, but he does really kick some poor someone's ass this chapter. And then there's...fluff? In a story about Eddie? Fuck, I am ruining this.
Not long after Sally retired, she made it into the papers again, but it wasn't due to a movie contract or a modeling job or anything that Eddie would have expected from the next time he saw her in the papers. No, she made it into the news because she had gotten married.
To Larry.
Of all fucking people, Sally had married Larry. Of all the men in the world, of all the men that she and Eddie mutually knew, and she had chosen to marry Laurence Schexnayder. As if finding out that she was married wasn't bad enough, there was the knowledge that he had won. Jealous, slimy, conniving Larry had won Sally and Eddie had never even had the chance to try and fix things.
He should have gone to see her sooner. He knew damn well that he should have gone to see her instead of waiting around for all these years and pretending that he didn't care about her anymore and trying not to think about her. If he had just tried they probably wouldn't be in this situation at all! She probably wasn't even mad at him anymore, especially not now that he was a war hero. She probably would have fallen all over him if he'd gone to visit after he had returned.
But now here he was, finding out that Larry- of all goddamn people- had made his move and Sally had fucking fallen for it. What the hell could she even see in a guy like? If that was her type, did Eddie ever stand a chance in the first place? The amount of questions and the lack of answers made him angry, and he didn't have any work, and he needed something to take it out on, soon.
So, even though it was still early afternoon, he put on his costume and took to the streets, hoping that he wouldn't be stopped by some bunch of kids looking for autographs. He really didn't know if his patience would hold out for something like that, or for anything, really.
But it seemed that at least something was going his way that day, for it did not take long for him to discover a bank robbery in progress with none of the few remaining Minutemen in sight, and he hadn't been stopped by a single eager fan on the way. It was just him and the robber- and a few police officers, but they stepped aside when they saw the Comedian.
The robber was, of course, holding the tellers hostage and giving out ridiculous demands and much too distracted to notice Eddie, with all his government-sponsored stealth training- sneaking up on him. He never even noticed the masked man until it was much too late and Eddie was upon him, tackling him to the ground and disarming him.
And that should have been all there was to it, but he was in a bad mood and he wanted to make this man suffer because he could not hurt the man that he really wanted to. The cops were outside and wouldn't have to know the truth; the tellers were hiding behind the counter, too scared to look and too scared to talk about it even if they did.
Eddie punched himself in the jaw, wincing at the power in his own hit. He let out an exaggerated cry of pain before saying, "You bastard, did you just fuckin' punch me? You're gonna pay for that one!" The robber looked appropriately confused as Eddie threw another punch to his own face, this time splitting his lip.
"Fuck!" he snarled. "That's it, don't say I didn't warn ya!" Then he finally turned his fists to the bank robber, pounding into the man's face without mercy until his nose was broken and he had lost quite a few teeth. His attention then shifted to the man's stomach, until the man was dry heaving, and to finish out the job, he took the man's right arm and snapped it without much effort.
"Good luck holdin' a gun now, huh, buddy?" he said with a laugh. He stood up and kicked the man one last time for good measure before staggering outside, pretending to be much more hurt than he was.
"He's all yours!" he said to the cops and headed back home, feeling better, but only slightly.
~X~
It was not enough to satisfy him, and neither was taking out an entire gang later that night. Nothing could take his mind off of Sally and he felt that the only thing that would help was getting answers somehow. He just had to know what she had been thinking, what had happened to make her marry him. And if he had the chance to punch Larry in the face, so much the better for himself.
So he decided that he would have to pay the happy couple a visit. Larry couldn't make him leave this time, couldn't intimidate him into leaving Sally alone anymore. Eddie was a man now and he was somebody; he was a government agent and he was an American hero. Larry was nothing.
It didn't take much work to find out their address and he made the trip to their house, a brownstone in the Upper East Side. There were no cars outside when he arrived, however, and he let out a disappointed sigh. He had been so prepared for the confrontation that he had not even entertained the possibility of the couple not being home.
He could feel himself deflating and he shook his head. No point in heading home now, after he had put the effort into coming out here. Even knowing that there would likely be no answer, he decided to knock on the door, and then wait outside until somebody came back.
But after only two harsh knocks, the door opened and there stood Sally Jupiter, seven years older but not a bit less beautiful than he remembered, and for a moment, he was sixteen again and he almost blushed.
"Hi, Sal," he said, grinning at her.
"Eddie?" she asked, her eyes widening. "What are you..."
"Thought I'd stop by and say hello," he replied before she finished her question. "Where's the mister?"
Her eyes flashed and she snarled, "He isn't here. And you shouldn't be."
"Huh?" He blinked. "Sally, is something wrong?"
"Are you- did you honestly- you're not seriously-!" she sputtered, raising her voice more with each word. Suddenly she stopped, looking around self-consciously, though there was no one else on the street. Still, she seemed afraid of being overheard and muttered, "Come inside."
He was pleased that she was inviting him in, but this was overshadowed by his confusion at her apparent anger and a nearly unfamiliar- at this point- sadness at the fear he saw in her eyes. Could it be that, after all this time, she was still upset? There was no way, it had been too long and it had only been one time, and she must have understood that he hadn't meant it, right?
But she looked so angry to see him and she looked afraid, and that image didn't fit what he had expected. Eddie stepped into her home, and as soon as the door had closed behind them, she turned on him, her rage barely eclipsing her fear.
"You have a lot of nerve, coming around here!" she said, keeping her distance as she glared at him. "I mean, honestly! As if it weren't enough what you did to me, you have to come back and taunt me after I'm married?"
"Sal...are you really still mad about all that?"
"Am I really still mad?!" she shouted, looking as if she didn't quite believe what she was hearing. "Of course I'm still mad, Eddie! What you did to me was...was...what the fuck is wrong with you, that I have to sit here and explain this?!"
"I just thought you'd be over it by now, is all," he muttered, and again, he felt sixteen again, like she was the adult and he was the child, and he was being scolded even though he really didn't know why.
"Are you joking?" she asked.
"Baby, if I was joking, you'd know," he replied with a smirk, and she groaned, throwing up her hands in frustration.
"I give up on you," Sally said. "I do. I'm not over it, and the fact that you don't even understand why-"
"I'm sorry," he interrupted, smirk fading. "Alright? I mean...look, I did some shitty things and I know that, and I'm sorry. I guess it was stupid to think that you wouldn't be mad, but it's been seven years and I thought...fuck." He laughed nervously. "Ya know, I'm really terrible at this, right?"
She didn't answer, but she also wasn't yelling at him anymore, and that was a start. "Back then, I was crazy about ya. I don't know if you just how much it meant to me, but it meant a lot. I didn't really have any other friends, and I dunno...I wanted ya like crazy and I thought you felt the same so when you didn't, I just lost it. Ya know? It was wrong and it was awful and ya didn't deserve that and I can't take it back but...I'm sorry."
"You're apologizing?" she said at last. Her face had softened quite a bit.
"Yeah, I'm apologizin'. I never wanted things to get out of hand like that, and I wanted to apologize back then, but they wouldn't let me. Again, it's stupid of me, but I thought ya might have gotten over it since then, but I'm apologizin' now. I'm sorry, Sally, and I really mean that." He was never one to apologize or admit that he was wrong, but he had spent years regretting this and then avoiding this, and now he had the chance to at least gain her forgiveness. And if that was all he got, he swore it would be enough.
"Eddie...oh, Eddie, you always have been so stupid," she said, but she was laughing and closing the distance between them. She laid a hand on his arm, just like she always used to and his heart leaped, just like it always used to. "But I've never heard you sound so goddamn sincere and...I forgive you. I realize I may have...made you think there was more between us than there was, back then."
"Yeah, well, that's in the past," he said, not eager to discuss what might not have been. He preferred to believe that there had at least been a little something between them. "I really wanna know more about the present!" They went to sit on her couch as he asked, "So, Larry made an honest woman out of ya?"
"Me? An honest woman?" Sally snickered. "Never!" They had a good laugh at that, but when her laughter trailed off, there was a new sadness in her eyes. "No, it's not really...I mean, our marriage is...I'm not sure how to explain it, really."
"Are things...bad or somethin'?" Eddie didn't even need to ask; the answer was written all over face.
She shrugged. "I don't...how can someone really judge the status of a marriage that's just for convenience? I married him because he said if I did, I didn't have to keep fighting crime while I waited to get more work. He would deal with other work and hold down the house until I could land a movie. He's always gone on business, which is why he's not here now..."
"So he doesn't pay attention to ya."
"No, but...like I said, we didn't marry for love," she replied. "I have no reason to expect anything more from him."
"That's bullshit, Sal. You should expect the world from him and he should give it to ya. How could he marry a girl like you and not realize what a catch you are? You deserve a hell of a lot more than this."
"Oh, Eddie, cut that flattery out," she said with a giggle, but it was hollow. After a pause, she said, "Who knows what I really deserve? Lately, I feel like this is all I'm getting. I sometimes think I'm getting too old, and maybe that's why I'm not getting acting jobs and why my own husband won't touch me." She said the last part bitterly and did not seem to care about the personal nature of the statement.
"I don't see why he wouldn't. I don't see why he does any of the shit he does. He got the most beautiful gal in the whole world here, and he just takes it for granted." Eddie knew he was saying too much, that he was being a bit too friendly, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't stand seeing Sally so sad over a creep like Larry. "If I were him...well, I wouldn't treat ya like that, I guarantee it. And if I was a director, I'd let ya star in all my movies! You're beautiful, Sally. Don't let anybody tell ya otherwise."
She looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears. "Eddie...do you really..."
"I mean every word," he replied sincerely. "These past seven years, it's been real hard for me to forget-"
But then her lips were on his and he didn't get the chance to say anything more. Sally kissed him long and hard, not breaking it even as she climbed on top of him. She straddled him on the couch while they lost themselves in the kiss, and then he was sixteen again, realizing that this was his big chance, that Sally wanted him to make his move.
And this time, he wasn't wrong.
A/N: Sorry, guys, but we're entering one of my favorite story arcs: the affair! I know it's been a week since I updated and things have slowed down, but I'm hoping they can pick back up again.