Chapter Seven: Roadtripping

Notes: Aha. Fun things in this one. Slash, if you're not interested. If so, read on. -grins-

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"Get over. I'm driving."

"You drove last time."

"And you were fuckin' out of it. Now move over."

With a growl, The Fear relented, scooting into the middle of the truck once more for Fury to take the wheel. The Sorrow shoved the bookbag into the legspace of the passenger seat. "You do know where we're going, right?"

Fear grinned at him, which Sorrow took to be a rather bad omen. "Of course! We go straight to the nearest gas station and get a map!"

Fury eased the truck out of the garage. "Screw that. You said it's just in the next town, right?"

"No, I said the next city."

He frowned. "What difference does it make?"

Fear laid back, arms folded behind his head. "About six hours."

"What the hell?"

Sorrow leaned up against the window. "Wouldn't it be easier to start tomorrow morning? It's pretty late in the evening. We'd have to stop somewhere."

The mercenary frowned, as if he hadn't thought of this. After a moment's deliberation, he shook his head. "I don't think it's a good idea to stay in that house for another night. Whatever these things are, they know we're there. and I don't want another repeat of last night." His hand went to his side subconciously.

Fury sighed, heading for the freeway. "I guess that makes sense."

"We'll get there fairly early in the night, sleep somewhere, and then start out in the morning. Besides," he grinned mischieviously, and the other two were reminded that this was indeed the same Fear they'd known, "It's a roadtrip."

Fury raised an eyebrow. "And that means what, exactly?"

Fear's grin grew even wider, leaning closer to the brunette. "I think you know exactly what that means."

Sorrow, who had his gaze out the window, now turned to him as well. "You're not going to do something stupid, are you?"

He matched the stare, a slight wink before he replied. "Define stupid."

Sorrow didn't know what to make of that.

Fury, who could pretty much guess what was going on by hearing half the conversation--he was getting quite good at it, actually--laughed suddenly. "Anything you'd do, I'd consider a good definition."

"Oh?" the orange-eyed Cobra turned on him. "You didn't know that roadtrips are made for doing regrettable things?"

Fury brushed him off a bit awkwardly. "Psh. Quit bein' a moron..."

Sorrow suddenly found himself feeling a bit upset, and he didn't know why. "As long as you remember why we're going."

Fear noticed the medium's change in tone. he put a hand on the other's shoulder. "Hey, no worries. I'm totally mission-oriented. Haven't I always followed through?"

"I guess so..." Sorrow immediately regretted his sullen demeanour. "You're right...I'm sorry."

"So do you mean to tell me that you're gonna be in a big city and not do anything impulsive?" Fury asked, bemused.

Grinning slyly, Fear closed his eyes. "I never said anything like that..."

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The first two hours of the trip were in relative silence. The Fear had fallen asleep, and the other two couldn't talk to each other. And they probably wouldn't have gotten very far if they had the ability anyway. Fury and Sorrow never had very much to say to each other.

So, Sorrow took out one of the books he'd chosen to bring, and Fury concentrated on driving. Most of the sounds in the truck cab were pages turning, Fury swearing at other motorists, and Fear occasionally muttering something unintelligible in his sleep.

He woke up sometime later, when they parked at a rest stop. Fury went off in search of something to drink, while Fear scooted outside the truck to stretch tiredly. He leaned against the passenger door, looking up at the night sky.

"Do you think he'll know anything?" Sorrow asked suddenly, resting his chin on the rolled down window.

"I suppose we won't know until we find him."

"I mean, if we don't even know where she's at, why would The Pain know?"

"Yeah, you know how much Joy loves her classified information," he grinned.

The Joy was blocking him out. She didn't know it, but wherever she was, she wsa refusing to aknowledge the bond they'd had. Sorrow had noticed it a few days before he'd met up with The Fear. She was probably doing it to cope, but for some reason it left him unable to directly transport to her. This worried him, and was the main reason of trying so desperately to find her now.

"It'll be okay," Fear spoke up, and Sorrow realized he'd retreated into hsi thoughts again. "We'll find her. You two were in love, right? That's the kinda thing that makes anything possible."

There was something in his voice that Sorrow was shocked to recognize: sadness. He usually never saw Fear so open. Everyone knew he had some kind of feelings for Joy back then, but just how deep or fleeting they were had never been discussed. That had to be what his tone was about.

Fury came back before the ghost could reply, tossing Fear a bottle of something. The black-haired man smiled homourlessly at Sorrow before rounding the truck and climbing back in. By the time Fury got behind the wheel again, the look was gone, replaced by his usual lazy smile.

Sorrow felt guilty for some reason.

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They made it into town earlier than expected, since there were very few people on the road at that point of the night. They found a motel willing to check them in this late, although they wouldn't brag about the quality. But a bed was a bed, and they had important work to do the next day.

Fear was only minimally surprised to find The Sorrow sharing the edge of his bed again the next morning. He wasn't asleep, but he was curled up with his back to Fear, above the blankets. Fear could hear pages being turned, which meant he had probably spent the rest of the night reading.

"What time is it?" he muttered, not bothering to sit up.

"About ten-fifteen," Sorrow replied, turning onto his back and resting the book on his chest. "It's not that late yet, you can go back to sleep if you want."

He mumbled something about getting up, but a few seconds later, he heard his breath even out once more falling back to sleep.

Realizing they probably weren't going anywhere for awhile, he decided to join him.

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Sorrow arched his back with a gasp.

Warm hands trailed down his sides. A pair of lips attatched themselves to his throat, occasionally stopping to nip at his pale skin. He panted, wrapping his arms tightly around the shoulders of the body on top of him.

Black hair and an intoxicating scent he couldn't place.

A hand slid up his neck, grabbing the back of his head gently through his hair. He clenched his teeth as the mouth moved down his chest.

He hadn't realized he was making noises until he heard himself; small whimpers coming from the back of his throat.

The mouth returned to his, crushing his lips with a blazing urgent intensity. There was a pressure burning...

And then a very loud noise.

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"SON OF A FUCKING BITCH!"

Sorrow shot bolt upright in the bed as Fury swore, laying on the floor.

Fear, who had nearly jumped out of the bed himself, now started laughing uncontrollably. "You fell out?"

Well, everyone was awake now at any rate.

Sorrow frowned, mental images taking their sweet time to fade. "Just what I needed...a twist in the game..."