April 2006

"The Season Opener is today for Schemee's team. Let's go after work?" Schemer suggested to his team. Billy, Becky, Kara, and Kit were all working around the Station lobby.

"Sure, should we ask Dan as well?" Becky asked. Dan also lived in town but had a career as an accountant. He was frequently in the Station as a regular passenger between Shining Time and the city that he worked.

"Absolutely. I'd love some company in that box after seeing so many games alone." He gave a small smile.

"Should we let Schemee know that we're going to be there so that he knows to come find us afterwards?" Kara asked carefully. "Or will that make him less likely to show?"

"Kara!" Becky hissed at her.

Schemer shrugged. "Go ahead and tell him. He'll probably be happy to catch up with all of you." Kara brought up a good point. The fact remained that Schemee still maintained minimal contact with Schemer. If he wanted to see him, he would. But Schemer still co-owned the box and if he wanted to watch the game, there was nothing wrong with that. It was better than nothing, he thought sadly.

They enjoyed the game immensely. Schemer found himself having a much more relaxed time with some company, versus being much more serious when he was alone and analyzing the game. He remembered that the last time he was in the box was when Becky, Kara, and Dan were also there, and he was having an awful day dealing with the unfortunate side effects of cancer treatments. But today, he felt much better. Physically he had recovered, and his hair had grown back. Mentally, he was still facing the Stacy shaped hole in his heart, but when he had company the pain was lessened. Sometimes he even found himself forgetting about her, to his immense guilt.

They were talking and laughing after the game had ended, and the door opened to reveal a familiar face. Schemer had been right about Schemee coming to visit, and he felt that it mostly had to do with the other members of his company.

Schemee looked over Schemer with a thoughtful, yet carefully neutral, expression that seemed to go unnoticed by anyone else. He quickly recovered and greeted the other occupants.

"Hey Schemee." Schemer said softly. He didn't want to appear over eager, but he also didn't want to come across as nervous.

"You had a good game today." Becky carefully complimented him. "We thought we'd come by and see it."

Schemer looked at her and concealed his shock. He felt oddly prideful, by taking some credit for coming to the game she was taking a bit of the pressure off Schemer.

"Thanks, we're hoping for a good season." He sat down and stretched himself out in a lounge chair, Schemer felt a little better that he was settling in instead of trying to escape.

"How's training been going?" Schemer cautiously asked.

Schemee shrugged, "It's going, they're trying to avoid overworking me right now to prevent any muscle injuries."

That was probably the most number of words Schemer had gotten out of him in a long while. Schemee continued to chat amicably with his friends.

"So, how's the Station going?" He asked carefully.

"It's been great! Your Uncle has done an amazing job getting it back up and running." Billy answered. Schemer smiled slightly at the praise.

Schemee looked unsurprised but didn't say anything.

"I haven't been able to find any of the old arcade machines." Schemer admitted, hoping it would bring some sort of nostalgia to Schemee.

"There was a lot going on, it might be hard to track them down." He replied, giving no sign of emotional attachment.

"I just remembered, there's something urgent at the Station!" Becky jumped up after they had been chatting for awhile. "Come on Billy, Kara, Kit, Dan. It's alright Schemer, no need to stress!" She exclaimed before ushering the others out of the room. Schemer and Schemee both were unsurprised. They knew what she was trying to do.

After they were alone Schemer asked carefully, while gathering up some nerve, "How have you been?"

Schemee met his gaze, and Schemer hated the way the distance between them shown through his eyes. "I've been good, you?" He said politely.

"Good, good." Schemer replied. "Look, is there anything I can say to you? Anything?" He asked, annoyed that he could hear the slight plea hanging in his voice.

Schemee looked away and stared out over the green. "Uncle… I just… I know why you did it. I know your motivations. I get it, I really do." He looked down at his hands.

"Then why can you barely look at me?" Schemer asked, feeling braver.

"Because I don't know how to handle you anymore." Schemee said simply.

Schemer was taken aback. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning, you've been through too much to even know how to handle yourself." Schemee finally admitted. "You've changed, but you're still trying to pretend everything is the exact same."

Schemer frowned. "Schemee, look, I know what I did and I know how big of a mistake it was. I broke your trust, and I am truly sorry. But I'm not sure I'm following what you're saying."

Schemee looked at him. "The mistake? It's not just about that anymore. You think everything can just go back to normal as it was before the cancer. Before Stacy died. Even before you left Shining Time all those years ago. You think I'll be able to understand that you lied because it was a part of one of your good ol' fashioned schemes. I'm not a kid anymore, I can't just follow you blindly anymore. Look what you're doing with the Station, with Billy, Becky, Kara, and Kit. They're not Stacy, and I don't want to see any of them become a replacement for what you think your life should have been."

Schemer stood up horrified. "You think that's what it's about? You think that's it?" He frowned angrily. "I'm not replacing Stacy, I would never do that to her. Furthermore, these are my friends! I understand that they're your friends too but if you think I'm so one-dimensional that I can't make friends without them filling specific gaps in my life then I'm extremely disappointed. And you know what, if the one time you manage to talk to me is just to insult me, than I don't want you to bother." He whipped around to leave.

"I just want you to start learning to cope with your problems. I'm not going to stick around to watch history repeat itself." Schemee called after him.

"Good! You won't have to, I won't bother talking to you about it." Schemer snarled over his shoulder.

"Okay Uncle, good luck." Schemee said casually.

Schemee's nonchalant attitude annoyed Schemer to no end, and he stormed out of the stadium.