For: Language, adult content, and sexualness
Pairings: 1x2, 3x4
Warnings: yaoi, angst, cross-dressing, psychological disorders, more angst, and just general uncoolness of government figures. Oh, and Substance abuse. Can't forget about that one.
Disclaimer: you know what? I'm not even gonna go there. You know better by now. You just know better.
A/N: The angsty ending. Thanks for tuning in.
Epilogue- The Point of No Return
Lela crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the chair in the courtroom, sighing heavily. Her eyes were dry from the tears she hadn't cried. She hadn't slept in days. She watched as a fly on the wall, under the heavy eyes of the law. She watched with dead eyes as the CHAPS defense attorney stared back at her. The social worker representing Julian glared at her hatefully, as another agent with the service took Julian away.
"Take Case 41627 to the Third Safe Home." The woman tried to speak in code, the tongues of the agents, so that Lela wouldn't understand.
Lela stared at her, a small icy fired growing behind her eyes. "That case is my son. He's not a number. His name is Julian."
"He's not your son. He's the ward of the state because you could not care for him."
"I was taking care of him."
"I've reviewed your case quite thoroughly, Miss Donnelly. If you call his hospitalization for two weeks taking care of him, according to CHAPS regulations you are sincerely mistaken."
"People get sick."
"He had a congenital heart defect. I'm surprised he didn't die in his first weeks. Before that even occurred, the boy was in trouble. You were living with two ex-pilots, homosexual, unmarried lovers, I might add. One of them was a cross-dressing alcoholic; the other suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was not seeking treatment. Don't even get me started on your history. In the bluntest sense of the word, you were fucked from the start."
The agent walked out and Lela sat there in her little wooden chair. Her attorney shook his head sadly and patted her shoulder before exiting. Duo came up beside her slowly, careful to avoid her eyes. One of his hands touched her shoulder, and looked at her hair with sadness filling the purple gems set against his pale skin. "You okay?"
"That bitch just took my baby like a repo man, like he belonged to her. She acted like he was hers, that I didn't create him. The only part of my life that meant anything was just whisked out of the door by those bastards. I'm pretty fucking far from okay."
He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her close against him. His fingers tangled in her hair and he stared up at the judge's bench that had so easily decided her fate. She was so much smaller right then, so tiny in comparison to her usual strong self that he almost didn't want to tell her. He didn't want to add to the tragic instances of the last several days and weeks. He didn't want to make things any worse than they had to be, didn't want to add anymore negativity to this series of not-so-good days. He did anyway.
"I'm going to rehab."
She turned to look at him, freeing herself from his hold. "You're… you're what?"
"I have a problem. So far, the only one that hasn't been just about killed by it is me. It's time to stop for real."
"Well… I…" She looked away then, not willing to face him, and hiding the tears the lingered on the brims of her eyes but refused to spill. "I guess I'm glad to hear it." She tried a smile, but it didn't work in her favor.
"You can keep staying at the apartment, if you want. I mean, Heero's still around, but he's not that noticeable."
She looked down, bowing her head to hide from him. "I just don't know what to do with myself anymore."
"Just be good until I get back, okay?"
"Okay," she whispered. He kissed her forehead and hugged her close, and he left that night. She watched the bus drive away, and merely refused to weep. As she was walking home, she decided that the best thing for her to do would be to eliminate his temptation, in order to allow him to remain sober upon his return. She spent most of her doing just that, laying on the couch or in her room and crying the alcohol-filled days away over the next week. She finally polished it off the following Saturday night when she was home all alone.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18.
A final arrest was mad on the kidnapping reported Sunday, December 15th. Julian Moss was kidnapped from his foster home at approximately 3:45 A.M. His foster mother discovered his disappearance at 6:03 A.M. that day, and called the authorities. After a rigorous investigation, Lela Cartwright was taken into custody at Hotel Paradiso at 7:52 P.M. She had Julian with her, unharmed an asleep, when she was arrested.
Lela Cartwright was the mother of seven-month-old Julian and had recently lost a custody hearing (see CHAPS v. Lela Cartwright, December 1st- December 7th) which caused her son to be placed into foster care. Upon her arrest, Ms. Cartwright had .03 blood/alcohol content, and a makeshift tourniquet on her shoulder. Officials say she cut it on a shard of broken glass from the window she had shattered. While no trial date has been set, officials say that she has confessed and will be sentenced within the week.
Duo folded the newspaper onto his lap. He almost wished her hadn't read that article. He almost wished he hadn't read that article. He'd been looking for an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in the area. He hadn't looked too hard after reading Lela's snippet in the paper. He stared out the window and sighed.
Their days of make-believe were at an end.
The train stopped at West Egg and the doors slid open. Duo stepped out, bleary-eyed with combat boots on. He walked all the way home with that newspaper tucked under his arm.
When he got there, Heero wasn't waiting for him.