It Could Be Worse (2nd Season)
Episode 15:
Seems Like
By Sulia Serafine
[A Protector of the Small fanfic set in an alternate universe; all credit goes to Tamora Pierce. I'm broke, so you can't sue me. Any other copyrighted things that don't belong to me in here in fact belong to other very businesslike people. Could you believe that? I guess that's why I'm broke.
BAD LANGUAGE (I. E. cursing, swearing…)! E-mail me at silverwlng@aol.com okay? And you know the drill: titles or subjects of emails are fanfiction.net, s.serafine, or icbw.
NEW! For those of you I left in the dark (so sorry, by the way), I have a new series: The Gift. It's the sequel to ICBW, but I'm running it parallel to its mother series so you, the wonderful reader, can get little tidbits of foreshadowing and the like. It only makes sense after you read episode 9 of season 2, so that's why I waited. For every three episodes of ICBW, an episode of The Gift will come out, so have fun reading! EPISODE 2 IS NOW POSTED!
I'm still accepting people into the mailing list. That means you'll be told when the next episode is posted, as well as other tidbits of information about the series whenever I put them online. ALSO: Every now and then, as a pledge, I'll send everyone bonus material, such as drawings of ICBW characters and little random facts about ICBW.
~~
Keladry returned to her humble home, looking no less perturbed than when she left. She had been doing nothing but deskwork before lunch, so if she called in and told her superiors that she'd finish it tomorrow, it would be an accepted alternative. Keladry obviously needed the day off to compose herself.
I refuse to be one of those soap opera, weeping emotional wrecks. My first boyfriend dumped me. It's just another regular experience that happens when you decide to become socially active. It's a stupid consequence.
She made her way up to her hallway, trying to look as normal as possible. Because Lady Luck's favorite person in the whole world happened to be Faleron King and not her, to her misfortune, her best friend Nealan Queenscove was on his way down the hall as well. He spotted her and jogged over.
"Hey! You wouldn't happen to have any leftovers from lunch, would you?"
"I didn't have lunch. I'm going to have some right now, so if you want, you could come in," she offered.
Neal frowned. He peered at her inquisitively. "Don't you have lunch with Liam during weekdays?"
They walked down the hall and entered her apartment. Keladry pretended as if she hadn't heard his question and started to prepare a microwave meal for her and her guest. He uneasily went around the kitchen, so he could put out the silverware and napkins. When he was done, he cleared his throat.
"Plates?"
"Over there," she told him. While they waited for the microwave to signal its finish, they sat down to silence.
"Kel, is something wrong?"
She gazed at him and forced a smile. "Nothing. Nothing at all."
Neal shook his head. "Don't give me that. I've known you since you were a scrawny pre-teen. Don't think I can't spot it when I see it."
Kel stood up. "Forgot the drinks. I have that health stuff if you want, with the fruit and vegetable concentrate."
He stared at her, trying to discern the weak spot. "No, thanks. I'd rather take vitamins than drink that stuff. Water will be fine." He stood up. "Darn it, stop changing the subject! You can tell me! Come on, Tough Stuff! There is nothing you need to hide from me."
He sent his heart out to her, just like he had when he first met her. Jokes and witty comments may have been absent this time, but Keladry could still feel his sincerity. She let out a deep shuddering breath.
"Liam broke up with me." She paused. "What's that thing you and Cleon say? No biggie?"
Neal gaped at her. "How can you say that?! Kel, this is a big deal!"
"No, it isn't. We're not dating anymore. End of story."
"I hate it when you do this. Okay, fine. When you're ready to talk I'll be down the hall."
He started for the door. Kel glanced at the microwave.
"Don't you want lunch?"
He looked back at her and sighed. "There you go, just ignoring the subject again. You only hear what your perfectionist self wants to hear. Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself."
She listened for the door to close behind him. Then she removed the food from the microwave and sat down to eat. It felt eerie being alone that day. She was accustomed to eating with Liam during the week and with her friends during the weekends. To wash away her insecurity, she turned on the Holoscreen and watched the news.
The dead boy that Liam had mentioned in the graveyard was in the news. The DJPF had still not found the hit-and-run driver who recklessly killed him.
"How sad," she murmured, a little more emotionless than she'd intended. Keladry blinked rapidly and concentrated on her food again.
After she finished lunch and set her dishes in the automatic dishwasher, she entered her living room and planned on a whole afternoon of watching news reports. She passed her answering machine, which had a blinking red light in the corner of it. Keladry frowned and pressed the button.
"Hello, Miss Mindelan? This is Alanna Trebond. I'm calling in regards to recent information given to me by Daine Sarrasri, who said she saw you with a man by the name of Liam Irons. I must warn you—he is not a safe man. I'm begging you to break off contact with him as soon as possible, but in a very peaceful non-threatening way. His employer is an alleged mafia boss and as a First Class DJPF officer, you must distance yourself from him and coordinate with your superiors as to what you will do next."
Here Alanna paused. Keladry could hear the older woman coughing. "On a more personal note, I spent five years of my life chasing down Liam Irons, who was a wanted murderer in the Yamanis, before escaping to Mithros. I shot him five miles out from Tusaine. He was dead. I don't know how he managed to survive a fatal wound as the one I inflicted, but I wouldn't consider him fallible to the same type of injury again." Her voice became more pleading. "If it were at all possible for me to do so in the middle-aged body, I would hunt him down as passionately as I did back then. But I have my family to think about. I'm not going to risk my life like I used to. I don't want you to risk it either. I hear you have quite a number of friends, who would miss you. Good bye, Officer Mindelan."
The message ended. Keladry tapped the button that would erase the message without any hope of retrieval. Then, she listlessly exited her apartment. Her feet automatically took her to the one person she felt she could talk to at that particular bewildering moment.
Joren's door slid open, to reveal that he had already retreated from it to his couch. Keladry walked in and heard the door shut behind her. She forced herself to remain unfeeling while she approached him.
"What the hell do you want now?" he muttered as he stared at the Holoscreen.
Keladry rested her hands on the top of his couch, squeezing the material until her knuckles turned white. Her face, however, was a mask of blankness. It was cold like ice.
"You were right."
He glanced briefly at her from the corner of his eyes. "I was? About what?"
"About Liam. He works for the Tusaine mafia. I just received a message from the Presidential Advisor herself, who says she killed him when she was an officer," Keladry informed in a droning, dead voice. Her gaze lowered to her hands. She released the couch from her grip and stepped back.
Joren sat up, his hair mussed from the way he had lain. "Killed? The bastard was dead?" A glint appeared in his brilliant blue eyes. "What else did she say about his death?"
Keladry let out a deep breath. "He shouldn't have survived."
Her blond partner turned off the Holoscreen with the remote. "End the relationship now."
"Too late. He dumped me an hour ago."
His eyes narrowed. "Why?"
Keladry rolled her eyes up toward the ceiling, shaking her head. "Oh, I don't know." Despite all her efforts to remain unfeeling, tears were starting to form. "He just did."
Joren turned his head away from her. "So that's what he meant," he whispered. "Mindelan, are you sure he didn't say anything el—" He stopped. "Don't tell me you're going to cry."
"So what if I am? It's normal," she forced out. Keladry was the one to turn her back on him this time.
"Well, go to your own apartment and do it. This is my place," he grated heartlessly.
Keladry wiped furiously at her eyes with the back of her sleeve and whirled around angrily. "Give me a break, Stone! Every damn time you were weak and started bawling about your sad life, did I stop you from talking and yell at you to go away? No!" She sniffled. "I let you speak your mind and I tried comforting you—even when you used me to get your damn kicks! Why can't you just be here when I need you for a change, huh? All I'm asking is for you to listen to me!"
Joren stood up. He sneered. "Oh, no. Don't even go there," he hissed. "From the very first night you met him at that damn pool hall on your birthday, I warned you not to get involved with him, but you brushed me off." He counted on his fingers. "Time after time, I continued to warn you not to date him—even though I didn't have to. You still did. That morning after the winter freaking holiday, you told me you believed me when I said he was working for bad people! You still chose to date him, so it's no skin off my ass if you happen to be crying your fucking eyes out!"
"Shut up, you asshole!" she cried. "After all the times, you asshole—"
"Me?" he yelled back. "Yeah right! When I went to you, it was about something that I had no control over." His voice increased by many decibels. "I had no control over the fact that my parents died! I had no control over the fact that bastards get away with their crimes against my family! I definitely had no control over the fact that the man I hate most in the world ordered the death of my best friend! And I have no fucking control over the fact that I'm never going to see my son!"
When his rant had ended, silence followed. It was like the momentary peace in the eye of a storm as it passed by. Keladry had one hand over her mouth, staring at her blond partner while tears streaked her face. Joren himself seemed shocked at his own words. He stepped back, his shoulders trembling with unspoken pain.
She ran at once from his apartment, trying to muffle her own teary hiccups and cries with the hand still over her mouth. Keladry ran down the hall and back to her apartment, code locking the sliding door to her apartment and the one to her bedroom as she collapsed onto her bed facedown, drowned with sorrow.
Minutes after she had fled, Joren sank back down onto his couch, head cradled in his hands. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. Even something as simple as comforting someone he owed turned out to be impossible. All he was capable of doing was thinking of his own pain. Of parents and friends he'd never see again… of a son who might as well be considered dead. He squeezed his eyes shut even more as his sobs wracked his weary body.
~~
"Seems like this is a dream that never ends," Neal said aloud, though no one else was in his apartment with him. He sighed and rummaged through his food pantry. He came up with peanut butter and crackers.
He rubbed his eyes and sat down with his meager meal. He snorted. "I might as well go leech off someone else who actually does their grocery shopping."
There I go, talking out loud to myself again. What's wrong with me?
The officer got up and went over to his new COMscreen, dialing a number he knew by heart. Seconds later, a familiar face greeted him.
"Hey, Dom. Want to go for Yamani?"
"Good idea! I feel like having some spicy noodles. Do you think they'll have enough?" his God-brother asked while grinning.
"They should. Come on, let's go. My treat."
"You're on!"
"You're driving. Meet you in the garage." Neal smiled and ended the transmission. He picked up his jacket and whistled a random tune as he left his apartment.
On his way down the hall, he remembered his earlier argument with his best friend. Overcome with guilt, he stood in front of her door and rang the intercom. When no one answered, he entered the password into the keypad that Keladry told him to use in emergencies. He considered his friend's mental and emotional stability a grave emergency.
The password didn't work. The only reason Neal could think of as to why it didn't was because Kel had purposed locked the code out from within the apartment. He sighed and trudged the rest of the way to the elevator. He would try again later.
After all, that's what friends were for.
~~
"Seems like that woman had a bigger effect on you than you thought," Enishi said while sorting through his computer files. He idly drummed his fingers on the large desk.
Liam didn't respond.
"What do you feel?" the white haired man asked, his eyes boring into Liam like drills.
"I don't know. Mostly nothing," he said aloud. He hoped the answer pleased his master.
Enishi's gaze softened. "You don't have to lie to me. If she actually struck a nerve with you, then I'll let you off on easier tasks until your poor mortal heart has healed."
"Mortal heart. Funny you should say that," Liam murmured. "It's not exactly mortal anymore, thanks to your charity."
Enishi resumed his file sorting. He regarded the screen carefully through his shaded circular spectacles. "Exactly. That's why I keep you around."
"That and I'm the stand-in for blondie," Liam growled bitterly. He kicked at his chair leg with his heel. He kicked it even harder the second time and bit on his knuckle to relieve his tension.
"Now, now. Don't act like a spoiled brat. You'll like having him for an adopted brother as soon as he comes around. An Anubis like him always does, sooner or later," Enishi smiled.
~~
Author's note: This must be the shortest thing I've ever posted since season 2 began. Wow. Well, what can I say? When I originally planned out this season months ago, the summaries I made for this section of episodes was really… short. I hope you liked it anyway! This is the last thing I'll be able to post for a while, considering school starts on August 7! *screams*
Take care and tell me what you think via email or review! :D
-Sulia Serafine