A/N: No, I don't own any of the Left Behind characters, nor do I own the song 'Hanging by a Moment' by Lifehouse. I just thought that this collaboration would be cool, so that's it. Enjoy! Oh, and I changed a couple of the scenes around, just so you avid Left Behind readers know.
Desperate for a changing, starving for truth....
Cameron "Buck" Williams sat at the table of a quite large tavern near Heathrow airport. He was sitting across his interview subject, Mr. Rayford Steele, pilot of one of the planes that was up in the air at the time of the disappearances. There were so many ideas of what might have happened on that fateful day it was hard to distinguish truth from the absolute extreme, as this was the absolute extreme. A small tape recording machine sat in the middle of the table as Captain Steele went on explaining what he said was "the truth". His belief was that Christ had come and taken all of his believers to heaven, and everybody else was left to fend for themselves.
Captain Steele's daughter was with him. She sat next to father, while a flight attendant named Hattie Durham sat next to Buck. She was quite attractive, being a tall, bucksome blonde and Buck didn't mind this arrangement one bit, except his attention was diverted by the woman next to him, but diagonal from him. Steele's daughter, Chloe, had shoulder length hair and startling brown eyes. He couldn't help but let his attention slip from what Steele was saying to his lovely daughter at his side. Several times he tried to catch her gaze, but she was constantly looking around, obviously annoyed at why she had to be there. She looked like she could be in her early twenties, ten years his junior. He suddenly felt very old, a feeling he hardly ever felt. It was strange. He had never felt so drawn to one woman, being a bachelor most of his life.
Rayford continued to drone on, saying how Christ had every reason to do this, that the world was quite evil, and all that high and righteous crap that Christians and bible-beaters were always going on about. Buck struggled not to roll his eyes. Not out of respect for the aged pilot, but because he didn't want to embarrass the daughter.
I'm closer where I started, chasing after you. I'm falling even more in love with you, letting go of all I've held on to....
Chloe stood around at the airport with her father, not quite sure what to do. After meeting Buck at the dinner, she had never gotten a real chance to actually talk to him. He had seemed quite absorbed in what her dad had to say. She suspected he might have drifted off in a couple places, but she hadn't really been watching. There were far more interesting things in the restaurant. A guy was continually hitting on one woman, and even though she could barely here what they were saying, she found it entertaining.
Now she sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs at one of the gates, waiting for her dad. He was coming back from a recent trip, and then would head down to Dallas to update his training on the '57's. She figured she may as well go, as there was nothing else to do. College had been cancelled due to well, the disappearing of half of the students, so she didn't have to go to school.
But suddenly, moving through the crowd, she saw a familiar face. Squinting to see better, she saw it was Mr. Williams. She wasn't sure if she should smile, or not. She had been wanting to see him more than anything, but it was an awkward situation. He was way older than her it seemed, but somehow she had seemed a bit attracted to him. She shook herself mentally. It was just one of those weird things.
Her father came out of the gate. She grinned and ran to give him a hug.
"How's my girl?" he asked, patting her hair.
"I'm fine, daddy. But I think Cameron Williams is here."
Her dad craned his neck and then smiled. "So he is!" He waved his hands in the air to attract his attention. Cameron smiled at then, and then made his way over.
"Captain Steele, how are you?" He said, walking over and shaking hands with him. He bobbed his head at Chloe. "Hey, Chloe." She felt herself burn. He said his name differently than everyone, drawing it out and making it sound beautiful. She had never known another Chloe, and thought the name stupid, but when he said it, she liked it.
A flight attendant came over from the desk. "Captain, if you'd like to go up front now, you can." Rayford nodded. "I'm going to go now, you two. I'll see you later, Chlo'. Nice seeing you again, Mr. Williams."
"Please, call me Buck." Cameron insisted.
"All right then, Buck. I should go. See you later!" He waved, and then walked off.
Chloe now felt a bit uncomfortable. They had been subconsciously thrown together.
"You, uh, wanna go for a walk?" Buck asked, looking hopeful.
"Sure." She replied, not sure what else to do.
They walked around the airport, mostly in silence. Neither knew what to say. They passed by a cookie stand. Buck stopped. "Want a cookie?" he asked.
Chloe shrugged. "Okay."
I'm standing here until you make me move, hanging by a moment here with you...
Buck bought the cookies, handing one to her, and keeping one for himself. He took a bite of his, her a bite of her own.
"Mmm, they're good. Nice and warm and chewy." She said through a small mouthful. A small chunk of chocolate stayed in the corner of her mouth. Buck kept touching that corner of his mouth, but she wasn't getting the message. He finally reached out with his hand, wiping the small chunk off saying "You have something..." Now a small almost chewed chunk was left on his thumb. Not knowing what else to do, he stuck it in his mouth.
"Eww!" Chloe exclaimed. "What if I had some kind of cooties or something?"
"Well, now we both have it." Buck replied, feeling his face burn slightly.
Forgetting all I'm lacking, completely incomplete. I'll take your invitation, you'd say your lovely....
Buck came in half an hour later than when Chloe would arrive. He looked for the woman named 'Lindsey' who would find him a good place. Rayford had already talked to her, knowing her from Amanda. He searched through the many sales racks, checking every ring-up counter until he finally found a redheaded woman with short hair and thick glasses. She smiled a toothy smile at him. "Can I help you?" She asked, her voice full of expectation of him spending hundreds of dollars on merchandise.
"Yes, I believe you spoke to a Rayford Steele?" He asked smoothly.
Her smile wavered, but regained it just as quickly. Now it was those annoying, superior smiles that really made him mad.
"He's in the offices at the back. You can go in and talk to him for a little bit if you want. Of course, you don't have much time!" She giggled, and Buck rolled his eyes.
"Thanks." He said, walking off.
Getting to the very end of the store, he checked two of the offices at the end. The one second to the end was empty. 'That must be mine,' he thought. Then, checking the next room, he saw Rayford already there. Sitting in the chair, his hands were laced together and he was twiddling his thumbs. He looked a nervous wreck.
"Hey, Rayf. Feeling confident?"
He nodded. "How about you, Buck? Think it's going to go okay?"
He also nodded, a half smile playing at his lips. "Can I see it?" He asked, moving closer to the desk and sitting in the chair before Rayford.
Rayford nodded, reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out a small velvet box. Placing it on the desk, he lifted it. Inside was a golden ring encrusted with many sparkling diamonds. Buck whistled. "That's quite a ring. Amanda'll love it."
He closed the box and repocketed it. Minutes passed in silent. Both were nervous wrecks but determined not to show it. Finally, Buck checked his Rolex.
"I should go. We only have five minutes left." Buck stood up and extended his hand. "Good luck." Rayford shook it, looking even more nervous.
Leaving the room, Buck went next door and sat in the high-backed chair, the lights off. Turning around so his back is to the door, he waited in silence.
