A/N: Ok so yeah I waited a bit too long to update, so sue me!!! It took me
a while because well... THERE'S ONLY ONE MORE CHAPTER AFTER THIS ONE!!!! Then
it's done! It's finished! And that is why it took me so long to update... I
DON'T WANT IT TO BE DONE!! But the next chapter is the last one... sniff
but yeah, continue to review because I love it so!
Miss Mackin held the gun level to Elizabeth's head and prepared to fire.
"Bradford!" Will called through clenched teeth.
"What?!" Miss Mackin yelled as she whirled around and received a face full of Bradford's fist. She crumpled like a rag doll.
"I've become a bit more punctual since you last gave me instruction Miss Mackin." He said as he smiled at her unconscious form. He looked from Elizabeth to Will and back to Elizabeth again, an inquisitive look crossing his face. "Are you two ready to go? Or are you just going to stand there dumfounded for a while."
Elizabeth and Will were staring at Bradford with jaws dropped. Elizabeth believed him unconscious and Will thought he was a traitor, so the idea of him standing there, fully aware and having just saved them from a terrible fate came as a bit of a shock.
"Bradford, what are you doing here?" Elizabeth managed to yell out after a moment.
"What?" was all that Will could manage.
"First things, you really don't hit that hard Elizabeth I mean honestly, if you expected me to be knocked out after that than you really underestimate my physical strength, because, well no offence, but even with the hilt of a gun you hit like a girl." He sniggered as he went over to the General's desk and started playing with the computer. Elizabeth was about to respond, but he continued.
"Second, if you thought you were going to leave me out of this, you had another thing coming," he said as a click was heard and Will was suddenly freed. "Even if you stole my car keys."
"She didn't steal them," said Will beaming as he strode up to him, hand out held. "She merely borrowed them in order to aide in my escape, and I am sorry to have doubted you previously," he added sincerely, chastising himself for his previously violent thoughts.
Bradford stood and took his hand, before noticing the stirring form of Miss Mackin on the floor. "Let's give her a taste of her own medicine shall we?" Bradford said crossing back to the desk and pulling a small syringe out of a drawer.
"Let me guess, that's a little sedative not unlike the one you drugged us with?" Elizabeth said with a smile.
"The one and same," said Bradford. "Now Will if you could be so kind," Bradford said pointing to the slowly reviving form of Miss Mackin, as Elizabeth stifled a giggle.
"Very kind," said Will sitting on Miss Mackin with delight as Bradford injected the chemical into her arm and Elizabeth burst out in giggles, drawing interesting looks from both Will and Bradford.
"I swear you two should listen to yourselves sometimes, it's hilarious." She said as she helped Will to his feet and watched as Bradford lugged Miss Mackin over to the cage and placed her on the table, her face slack and expressionless.
"Well now that she's out of the way for a while, what say you to getting out of here and getting you back to your movie!" Bradford said, his face spilling more glee than he meant to.
That statement brought anything but glee to Elizabeth's face, and in fact sucked most of the glee right out of the room, it was finally time, she would finally send him back and he would be out of her life. She looked up at Will, at his sweet face, now marred by the sudden realization of Bradford's statement. And then he looked down at her, and their eyes met both with the brief sorrow and longing that only they could understand... Than Will took her hand and broke the stare, turning to Bradford.
"Let's go now before I change my mind," he said with a small sigh.
Elizabeth fought and won the battle with the tears in her eyes and turned to Bradford her face dry but grieving. "I know what you mean," as she squeezed Will's hand and smiled slightly. They followed Bradford out the door.
They passed through the winding halls of the agency with little difficulty, it really seemed as though the whole office had taken the weekend off. It was strange but, seeing as they were trying to escape and this was making it a whole lot easier, neither Will, Bradford or Elizabeth put much thought into it.
They came to the agency parking lot and Elizabeth realised that she still had Bradford's keys in her pocket. A tiny smile crept onto her face as she decided to have a little fun with him. They walked calmly up to it, but just before they reached it Elizabeth pushed the unlock button ran up and jumped into the front seat and started the car with a whirr, giggling like a madwoman.
"I've always wanted to do that," she said smiling lightly.
Bradford wasn't amused. "Haha very funny, get out," he said sardonically.
"What? I earned this! I mean come on, why do the agents always get the nice cars! Will you can hop in the front with me." Elizabeth said with a little grin, her melancholy at losing him being pushed aside for a moment of insanity.
But Bradford wasn't nearly as giddy. "Yes that's because agents are nice, and don't go around stealing other peoples car keys!" he said his patience wearing a little thin.
"Commandeering," Will corrected, as he moved to the front of the car.
"What?" a somewhat deflated and confused Bradford let out.
"It's 'Commandeering the keys', it's a nautical term," Will said matter-of- factly as he hopped into the front seat, causing Elizabeth to snicker even more.
"You two are really starting to bug me," Bradford said as he hopped into the back. With that Elizabeth squealed out of the parkade and took off into the busy city streets.
It was a half an hour until the movie started, and Elizabeth decided that it was best if Will go back to her apartment to change, she didn't want him sent back to the 18th century wearing his 21st century clothes... that might cause a bit of a stir, so she took them back to her apartment for a quick pit stop, and some food because neither her nor Will had eaten in three days and both were famished. They had eaten quickly and now Will was changing in the bathroom. Elizabeth chuckled to herself as she recalled Will's first, and now last, encounter with TV dinners.
"The whole meal... out of one box?" He had said, stunned.
"Yep, out of one, single box... it's kind of like magic isn't it?" she had said dramatically... stifling a giggle.
"And you stick it in that other box and it comes out warm?" he said pointing to the microwave.
"Yes isn't it wonderful what one can do with freeze dried food," Elizabeth had said almost as dryly as the food had been.
"It's amazing the advances that have happened in such a short time, I mean you've progressed farther in a couple hundred years than humanity has advanced in millennia!" His sincerity was what Elizabeth found most amusing, and entrancing, the fire that had burned in his eyes, his wonder and amazement... at something as mundane as a microwave.
Why couldn't everyone be like him?
Elizabeth's chuckling roused Bradford who had been napping on the bed.
"What's so funny?" He said through one cracked eye.
"Nothing," Elizabeth said quickly, and then she reconsidered. "Everything. I mean I have a Pirate dressing in my bathroom! A week ago I was a normal girl, I was shy I was a loner. I mean I had very little excitement in my life and in the past week I have done things that people only dream of. I never wanted another adventure, and now. I mean I've harboured a government experiment, I've beaten up thugs, I've cracked a government conspiracy. I've..." her chuckling became more emotional as the events of the past week, the past hour finally caught up with her.
"I've faced my parents killer..." She suddenly stopped chuckling as if shocked by her own statement. "I found out why they died, I stood up to the person responsible. I didn't back down, I wasn't scared! I mean I could have died, you could have died, Will could have died." Elizabeth was becoming hysterical, torn whether to be scared or proud.
"But they still, I mean it was so close, a moment longer and... what was I thinking," her head was spinning and she could barely recognize her own thoughts as self doubt started to overwhelm her once more.
"But you beat them," Bradford interjected suddenly, standing up and moving toward Elizabeth. "You stood and you beat her and you didn't back down and you weren't scared, and you were stronger than she thought and you are stronger than you think." He said seriously. There wasn't any of his usual sarcasm in the statement, not even a hint, and Elizabeth realised for the first time, just how much Bradford cared about her.
"But if you hadn't shown up when you did, the outcome could have been very different," Elizabeth said sullenly.
"But I did show up," Bradford said with a smile.
"Yeah you did, just like you did those years ago." Elizabeth said quietly.
"Oh, that," Bradford's face suddenly flushed. "Yeah, like I said my timing has improved much since."
The depth of Bradford's care and devotion to her was slowly dawning on Elizabeth... and maybe just maybe, more tender feelings were starting to show.
"Thank you Bradford, for being there to save me," she said as she stood and kissed him on the cheek. "And for continuing to save me." She ruffled his hair playfully and smiled at him warmly.
Now, it seemed to her that the friendly feelings she was having toward him could have lead to a potentially awkward moment... but Will was done and as he stepped back into the living room all of Elizabeth's thoughts were turned back to him. His constantly mussed curls, his sweet, sincere smile, his uncertain laugh and his deep brown eyes. Her heart raced as she saw him, back in pirate gear, sword at his side, and all romantic thoughts of Bradford were pushed aside as she remembered and relived all of the moments her and Will had spent together.
From the first meeting in her car on that fateful stormy night, to the revelation of the computer and the government's betrayal she remembered every detail fondly. She remembered his chivalrous rescue in the alleyway, and their awkward moments in those days that had passed when neither one knew what the other was thinking or feeling. The sword and dance lessons and their trip to the mall, and their kiss in the middle of the dance floor, then the kiss at the side of the dance floor and then in her kitchen, and back to the one in the living room and the one at the bathroom door... she wished now that there could have been more. She wished she could have stored up a lifetime of Will's kisses in order to recall them in the times of loneliness that she realised now were inevitably ahead. But she shook her head, what was she doing to herself? Why was she torturing herself with these memories when she knew that the end of them was so near, when Will's leaving was so close? What craziness drove her to act this way!?
Unknown at that moment, even to her, she had done something else that week. She had fallen deeply in love, and whether she wanted it to or not, it wasn't going anywhere quick no matter how much she tried to push it away.
Will broke the silence first. "Did I miss something?" he said as he looked at Bradford and Elizabeth, who were a LOT closer than they had been when he had entered the bathroom.
Elizabeth jumped, which didn't help her case, but that didn't matter at the moment, she'd been thinking of Will anyway so it's not like she had a guilty conscience, she was just startled out of her reverie rather abruptly. "No, not much, just a reconciliation of sorts, we had better be going," she said.
"Yeah we really should," Bradford added quickly, his conscience was a lot more guilty and the look of Will's sword did a lot more to frighten him.
"I suppose you're right," Will said as he shrugged, took Elizabeth's hand and lead her out the door, shooting a 'hands off' look to Bradford, who was happy to hang back.
At the car Bradford moved ahead and prepared to take the back like he had before, but Elizabeth surprised him.
"Wait Bradford, you can take your keys back, I'm sorry I took them from you." She said a little sheepishly.
"What? You're admitting you were wrong!" Bradford said sarcastically.
"Nah, I just wanted to sit in the back with Will," she said as she looked up at Will a small smile on her face, which was mirrored and then doubled by Will.
Bradford was slightly deflated by that but he shrugged and hopped into the front. "Ok, I mean it is the last time you're going to see him... ever," He took comfort in that statement, even though it tore at Will and Elizabeth.
Will, ever the gentleman, helped Elizabeth into the back and then hopped in himself, both wondered what they might say to each other but neither could think of the right words and so both snuggled into one another and stayed silent throughout the trip.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and breathed in his scent and memorized the feeling of his body against hers, while Will looked down at her in an attempt to burn every image of her appearance into his mind. He looked at her peaceful expression as she snuggled her head closer into his shoulder and sighed. He wanted nothing more than to stop the car and steal her away forever... but he had promised to follow her wishes, and he was a man of his word.
The ride to the theatre was too short for both of them.
They stood in front of the theatre, hand in hand, and prepared to enter and say goodbye to one another for the final time. It was a very dramatic moment and many people commented to each other after they had seen it. Two people full of sadness, full of longing, looking like they could both curl up and die any minute, stride slowly into the movie theatre. They commented on how horrible it must be for two people, so young and attractive as they, to live in such sadness.
The inside of the theatre couldn't be more opposite than it had been the week before, no lines of fans, no screaming girls or bustling boys. It was quiet, almost to the point where Elizabeth and Bradford questioned whether this was in fact the right theatre. But they both knew that it was and so walked through the unguarded doors and into a trap.
For as soon as they entered they saw that not only was this the right theatre, but Hen was there, ready with the computer and surrounded by about twenty agents all brandishing wicked looking guns and fierce scowls. And General Grippa, at the head of it all, smiling like some sort of idiot schoolboy.
"Why hello Elizabeth, so nice of you and Will to join us."
Miss Mackin held the gun level to Elizabeth's head and prepared to fire.
"Bradford!" Will called through clenched teeth.
"What?!" Miss Mackin yelled as she whirled around and received a face full of Bradford's fist. She crumpled like a rag doll.
"I've become a bit more punctual since you last gave me instruction Miss Mackin." He said as he smiled at her unconscious form. He looked from Elizabeth to Will and back to Elizabeth again, an inquisitive look crossing his face. "Are you two ready to go? Or are you just going to stand there dumfounded for a while."
Elizabeth and Will were staring at Bradford with jaws dropped. Elizabeth believed him unconscious and Will thought he was a traitor, so the idea of him standing there, fully aware and having just saved them from a terrible fate came as a bit of a shock.
"Bradford, what are you doing here?" Elizabeth managed to yell out after a moment.
"What?" was all that Will could manage.
"First things, you really don't hit that hard Elizabeth I mean honestly, if you expected me to be knocked out after that than you really underestimate my physical strength, because, well no offence, but even with the hilt of a gun you hit like a girl." He sniggered as he went over to the General's desk and started playing with the computer. Elizabeth was about to respond, but he continued.
"Second, if you thought you were going to leave me out of this, you had another thing coming," he said as a click was heard and Will was suddenly freed. "Even if you stole my car keys."
"She didn't steal them," said Will beaming as he strode up to him, hand out held. "She merely borrowed them in order to aide in my escape, and I am sorry to have doubted you previously," he added sincerely, chastising himself for his previously violent thoughts.
Bradford stood and took his hand, before noticing the stirring form of Miss Mackin on the floor. "Let's give her a taste of her own medicine shall we?" Bradford said crossing back to the desk and pulling a small syringe out of a drawer.
"Let me guess, that's a little sedative not unlike the one you drugged us with?" Elizabeth said with a smile.
"The one and same," said Bradford. "Now Will if you could be so kind," Bradford said pointing to the slowly reviving form of Miss Mackin, as Elizabeth stifled a giggle.
"Very kind," said Will sitting on Miss Mackin with delight as Bradford injected the chemical into her arm and Elizabeth burst out in giggles, drawing interesting looks from both Will and Bradford.
"I swear you two should listen to yourselves sometimes, it's hilarious." She said as she helped Will to his feet and watched as Bradford lugged Miss Mackin over to the cage and placed her on the table, her face slack and expressionless.
"Well now that she's out of the way for a while, what say you to getting out of here and getting you back to your movie!" Bradford said, his face spilling more glee than he meant to.
That statement brought anything but glee to Elizabeth's face, and in fact sucked most of the glee right out of the room, it was finally time, she would finally send him back and he would be out of her life. She looked up at Will, at his sweet face, now marred by the sudden realization of Bradford's statement. And then he looked down at her, and their eyes met both with the brief sorrow and longing that only they could understand... Than Will took her hand and broke the stare, turning to Bradford.
"Let's go now before I change my mind," he said with a small sigh.
Elizabeth fought and won the battle with the tears in her eyes and turned to Bradford her face dry but grieving. "I know what you mean," as she squeezed Will's hand and smiled slightly. They followed Bradford out the door.
They passed through the winding halls of the agency with little difficulty, it really seemed as though the whole office had taken the weekend off. It was strange but, seeing as they were trying to escape and this was making it a whole lot easier, neither Will, Bradford or Elizabeth put much thought into it.
They came to the agency parking lot and Elizabeth realised that she still had Bradford's keys in her pocket. A tiny smile crept onto her face as she decided to have a little fun with him. They walked calmly up to it, but just before they reached it Elizabeth pushed the unlock button ran up and jumped into the front seat and started the car with a whirr, giggling like a madwoman.
"I've always wanted to do that," she said smiling lightly.
Bradford wasn't amused. "Haha very funny, get out," he said sardonically.
"What? I earned this! I mean come on, why do the agents always get the nice cars! Will you can hop in the front with me." Elizabeth said with a little grin, her melancholy at losing him being pushed aside for a moment of insanity.
But Bradford wasn't nearly as giddy. "Yes that's because agents are nice, and don't go around stealing other peoples car keys!" he said his patience wearing a little thin.
"Commandeering," Will corrected, as he moved to the front of the car.
"What?" a somewhat deflated and confused Bradford let out.
"It's 'Commandeering the keys', it's a nautical term," Will said matter-of- factly as he hopped into the front seat, causing Elizabeth to snicker even more.
"You two are really starting to bug me," Bradford said as he hopped into the back. With that Elizabeth squealed out of the parkade and took off into the busy city streets.
It was a half an hour until the movie started, and Elizabeth decided that it was best if Will go back to her apartment to change, she didn't want him sent back to the 18th century wearing his 21st century clothes... that might cause a bit of a stir, so she took them back to her apartment for a quick pit stop, and some food because neither her nor Will had eaten in three days and both were famished. They had eaten quickly and now Will was changing in the bathroom. Elizabeth chuckled to herself as she recalled Will's first, and now last, encounter with TV dinners.
"The whole meal... out of one box?" He had said, stunned.
"Yep, out of one, single box... it's kind of like magic isn't it?" she had said dramatically... stifling a giggle.
"And you stick it in that other box and it comes out warm?" he said pointing to the microwave.
"Yes isn't it wonderful what one can do with freeze dried food," Elizabeth had said almost as dryly as the food had been.
"It's amazing the advances that have happened in such a short time, I mean you've progressed farther in a couple hundred years than humanity has advanced in millennia!" His sincerity was what Elizabeth found most amusing, and entrancing, the fire that had burned in his eyes, his wonder and amazement... at something as mundane as a microwave.
Why couldn't everyone be like him?
Elizabeth's chuckling roused Bradford who had been napping on the bed.
"What's so funny?" He said through one cracked eye.
"Nothing," Elizabeth said quickly, and then she reconsidered. "Everything. I mean I have a Pirate dressing in my bathroom! A week ago I was a normal girl, I was shy I was a loner. I mean I had very little excitement in my life and in the past week I have done things that people only dream of. I never wanted another adventure, and now. I mean I've harboured a government experiment, I've beaten up thugs, I've cracked a government conspiracy. I've..." her chuckling became more emotional as the events of the past week, the past hour finally caught up with her.
"I've faced my parents killer..." She suddenly stopped chuckling as if shocked by her own statement. "I found out why they died, I stood up to the person responsible. I didn't back down, I wasn't scared! I mean I could have died, you could have died, Will could have died." Elizabeth was becoming hysterical, torn whether to be scared or proud.
"But they still, I mean it was so close, a moment longer and... what was I thinking," her head was spinning and she could barely recognize her own thoughts as self doubt started to overwhelm her once more.
"But you beat them," Bradford interjected suddenly, standing up and moving toward Elizabeth. "You stood and you beat her and you didn't back down and you weren't scared, and you were stronger than she thought and you are stronger than you think." He said seriously. There wasn't any of his usual sarcasm in the statement, not even a hint, and Elizabeth realised for the first time, just how much Bradford cared about her.
"But if you hadn't shown up when you did, the outcome could have been very different," Elizabeth said sullenly.
"But I did show up," Bradford said with a smile.
"Yeah you did, just like you did those years ago." Elizabeth said quietly.
"Oh, that," Bradford's face suddenly flushed. "Yeah, like I said my timing has improved much since."
The depth of Bradford's care and devotion to her was slowly dawning on Elizabeth... and maybe just maybe, more tender feelings were starting to show.
"Thank you Bradford, for being there to save me," she said as she stood and kissed him on the cheek. "And for continuing to save me." She ruffled his hair playfully and smiled at him warmly.
Now, it seemed to her that the friendly feelings she was having toward him could have lead to a potentially awkward moment... but Will was done and as he stepped back into the living room all of Elizabeth's thoughts were turned back to him. His constantly mussed curls, his sweet, sincere smile, his uncertain laugh and his deep brown eyes. Her heart raced as she saw him, back in pirate gear, sword at his side, and all romantic thoughts of Bradford were pushed aside as she remembered and relived all of the moments her and Will had spent together.
From the first meeting in her car on that fateful stormy night, to the revelation of the computer and the government's betrayal she remembered every detail fondly. She remembered his chivalrous rescue in the alleyway, and their awkward moments in those days that had passed when neither one knew what the other was thinking or feeling. The sword and dance lessons and their trip to the mall, and their kiss in the middle of the dance floor, then the kiss at the side of the dance floor and then in her kitchen, and back to the one in the living room and the one at the bathroom door... she wished now that there could have been more. She wished she could have stored up a lifetime of Will's kisses in order to recall them in the times of loneliness that she realised now were inevitably ahead. But she shook her head, what was she doing to herself? Why was she torturing herself with these memories when she knew that the end of them was so near, when Will's leaving was so close? What craziness drove her to act this way!?
Unknown at that moment, even to her, she had done something else that week. She had fallen deeply in love, and whether she wanted it to or not, it wasn't going anywhere quick no matter how much she tried to push it away.
Will broke the silence first. "Did I miss something?" he said as he looked at Bradford and Elizabeth, who were a LOT closer than they had been when he had entered the bathroom.
Elizabeth jumped, which didn't help her case, but that didn't matter at the moment, she'd been thinking of Will anyway so it's not like she had a guilty conscience, she was just startled out of her reverie rather abruptly. "No, not much, just a reconciliation of sorts, we had better be going," she said.
"Yeah we really should," Bradford added quickly, his conscience was a lot more guilty and the look of Will's sword did a lot more to frighten him.
"I suppose you're right," Will said as he shrugged, took Elizabeth's hand and lead her out the door, shooting a 'hands off' look to Bradford, who was happy to hang back.
At the car Bradford moved ahead and prepared to take the back like he had before, but Elizabeth surprised him.
"Wait Bradford, you can take your keys back, I'm sorry I took them from you." She said a little sheepishly.
"What? You're admitting you were wrong!" Bradford said sarcastically.
"Nah, I just wanted to sit in the back with Will," she said as she looked up at Will a small smile on her face, which was mirrored and then doubled by Will.
Bradford was slightly deflated by that but he shrugged and hopped into the front. "Ok, I mean it is the last time you're going to see him... ever," He took comfort in that statement, even though it tore at Will and Elizabeth.
Will, ever the gentleman, helped Elizabeth into the back and then hopped in himself, both wondered what they might say to each other but neither could think of the right words and so both snuggled into one another and stayed silent throughout the trip.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and breathed in his scent and memorized the feeling of his body against hers, while Will looked down at her in an attempt to burn every image of her appearance into his mind. He looked at her peaceful expression as she snuggled her head closer into his shoulder and sighed. He wanted nothing more than to stop the car and steal her away forever... but he had promised to follow her wishes, and he was a man of his word.
The ride to the theatre was too short for both of them.
They stood in front of the theatre, hand in hand, and prepared to enter and say goodbye to one another for the final time. It was a very dramatic moment and many people commented to each other after they had seen it. Two people full of sadness, full of longing, looking like they could both curl up and die any minute, stride slowly into the movie theatre. They commented on how horrible it must be for two people, so young and attractive as they, to live in such sadness.
The inside of the theatre couldn't be more opposite than it had been the week before, no lines of fans, no screaming girls or bustling boys. It was quiet, almost to the point where Elizabeth and Bradford questioned whether this was in fact the right theatre. But they both knew that it was and so walked through the unguarded doors and into a trap.
For as soon as they entered they saw that not only was this the right theatre, but Hen was there, ready with the computer and surrounded by about twenty agents all brandishing wicked looking guns and fierce scowls. And General Grippa, at the head of it all, smiling like some sort of idiot schoolboy.
"Why hello Elizabeth, so nice of you and Will to join us."