Hi all. I watched Looper last night and got this idea. I've been trying to figure out how to do this crossover for a while now, and I've finally got it. For the purpose of this story, the Gat Men are able to travel back to the future too.
This story will contain potentially triggering stuff in it. You've been warned.
2011
Arthur Bishop was on his way to freedom. He had taken care of Steve and Dean. There were no more loose ends. He was on his way to a place where he hoped to disappear forever. After all, the world thought he was dead. He kind of liked it that way.
But things don't always work out the way we want them to.
2074
He stood looking out the window, his arms crossed behind him. His men stood behind him, waiting. He didn't call them friends. He didn't call them acquaintances. He just called them when he needed them, and right now, he needed them.
"Find him," he said. The men bowed their heads and disappeared. He needed the best, and he had heard great things about the person they'd be searching for. He needed a the perfect right hand man, and this person was going to be just that.
2011
Arthur stopped to gas up his truck. He came out of the convenience store chewing on some kind of dried meat he favored when he noticed something amiss. He stopped, looking at the man standing in front of him and wondering just what the hell he was wearing. His vibe was that this person was up to no good. The black trench coat kind of gave it away. Arthur didn't know what to make of the weird, wide brimmed hat on his head.
"Arthur Bishop," he said.
"He's dead," Arthur replied. He noticed too late the flick of the man's eyes, and he turned only to find himself tasered and knocked to the ground. Everything else was a blur. He did notice the original man standing over him and holding some odd looking contraption in his hand. He blacked out before he could see what was going to happen next.
2074
Arthur groaned and rubbed his head as he sat up. He had no idea where he was. The room was small, but there was another chair across from the couch he was laying on.
"Sleep well?" a voice asked. He whipped his head to see someone standing in the doorway in the shadows.
"Who are you?" Arthur demanded. The shadow stepped forward to reveal a man with a beard and shaggy hair. He smiled.
"The name's Abe," he said.
"And what am I doing here? Where am I?" Arthur asked, feeling angry now.
"Well," Abe chuckled. "It's a little hard to explain. It's better if you see it."
"See what?"
Abe went over to the window and yanked back the curtain. Arthur was momentarily blinded by the brightness, but his eyes soon adjusted, and he walked over to look out. What he saw was making his head hurt. Nothing looked familiar. Everything looked...advanced.
"What is this?" Arthur asked. He felt like he had been placed in some kind of futuristic video game that was so life-like you were convinced it was real.
"This is the year 2074," Abe replied, beginning to pace, arms behind his back. Arthur blinked.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I think I misheard you."
"You didn't," Abe said simply.
"20...2074?" Arthur repeated.
"That's right."
Arthur gripped his head, feeling sick. What was happening? How did he get there? What did Abe want?
"I know it's hard to take in," Abe said sympathetically. "But it's really kind of neat, if you think about it."
"How so?"
"If you had stayed on the timeline you were in, you'd be dead right now."
This hit Arthur hard because Abe was right.
"Why did you bring me to 2074?" Arthur asked, for he realized now he had been kidnapped and brought to the future. It was making his head spin.
"I'm not keeping you here," Abe explained. "I just wanted to talk to you before I started this whole journey."
"What journey?"
"We are creating such a thing called Loopers," Abe answered. "You see, in this day and age, you can't dispose of a dead body as easily as you can back in the good old days. It's easier for us to send the body back to that time and have someone else dispose of it for us. The Looper."
Arthur felt like he was hearing gibberish. He was still trying to process the fact that he was in the year 2074.
"I have heard great things about you, especially your work with Max Adams."
"Who?" Arthur asked, confused.
"Oh, right," Abe chuckled. "You didn't get there yet."
"What?"
"I wanted you in your prime and before you got nailed down by some woman."
Arthur had never felt more confused in his life.
"What woman?" he asked.
"Right," Abe sighed again. He kept forgetting Arthur hadn't lived that part of his life yet. Now, he never would. "Anyway, I know you're older than my desired age for a Looper, but your skills exceed your age. I need you to help me get it going."
"And if I refuse?" Arthur asked.
"Why would you refuse? You have faked your death, and you have nothing waiting for you back in your time. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and it's right up your alley," Abe finished.
Arthur hated that he was right. He had nothing waiting for him. He chewed on his lip, thinking.
"All right," he agreed. "I'll help you with this Looper thing."
"Good man," Abe grinned, reaching to shake his hand. "Your talent will be much appreciated."
Arthur couldn't help but have a feeling there was more to this than he was being shown or told about, but he didn't care. After all, he had nothing and no one.
2038
Arthur was weary. It had been a very long day, and he was ready to call it, but a drink was calling him first. He went into a bar and ordered a beer. He was still old school that way. He wasn't into the whole eye drop shit.
"Long day again?" she asked.
Arthur smiled. The woman standing in front of him was the best part of his day.
"You could say that," he answered.
"Well, I could help with that," she teased, reaching to touch his arm. Arthur took her hand and pressed the palm of it into his lips.
"I think maybe you could," he agreed. She tilted her head with a smile, and he pulled her into his lap and kissed her. Soft, at first, and then harder and faster. She pulled back, and he stood up, sliding her off, taking her hands in his, and walking out the bar with her to his apartment.
"We never go someplace nice," she noted afterwards, her fingers laced with his and their feet intertwined together. Arthur laughed.
"Are you insulting my apartment?" he asked.
"A little."
"It's not that bad."
"It could be better," she insisted, but she smiled. Then she reached for her cigarette lighter.
"Do you have to?" he asked.
"It calms me down," she answered, finding a cigarette and lighting it.
"It will also kill you," he pointed out.
"Better this way than with a bag over my head and shot in the heart by some damn Looper," she commented. Arthur pressed his lips together. He knew she didn't exactly approve of his job, but she didn't ask him to quit either.
He watched her exhale and look up at the ceiling, her other hand idly making the lighter float around and do flips. Arthur was still getting used to people having telekinetic powers. Whatever happened to someone pulling a quarter out from your ear?
"I..." he started.
"Don't," she cut him off. "You promised this was nothing serious."
"I think I lied."
"Arthur," she said fiercely. "I don't want you to love me. I enjoy this for what it is. Don't make it something it's not."
He didn't say anything, but he did take away her cigarette, put it out, and moved in to kiss her again. She could say it all she wanted, but he knew she felt the same way and was just too afraid to admit it.
He lay there looking at her as she slept the next morning. He had to get to work, but he cherished these small moments where life seemed somewhat normal. But like all moments, they ended too soon.
He bent to kiss her head and smooth her hair before he left for work. He said the same thing every time, not that she ever knew. He didn't care if she couldn't hear it. Her subconscious would.
"I love you, Sara," he said whispered. Then he picked up his blunderbuss and went to work.
...
Starting the Loopers had been easy. Arthur had quickly caught on to how things worked and took the lead. Abe was always impressed with his work and skills, and he always had Arthur train the newbies. He didn't need to train Joe, though. That boy was a natural.
"Where's your head at?" Joe asked him now as they sat at a diner together for breakfast.
"Nowhere," Arthur answered. If he was honest, it was thinking about Sara. He had met her six months earlier, and it was an instant attraction for him. It wasn't the first time a woman named Sarah had caught his attention, but this Sara was different. She was not one to be pushed around and definitely put him in his place when it was needed. He loved that about her, not to mention the fact she could wield a gun. It needed some work, but she at least held it right. Her aim wasn't bad either.
"You gonna pop the question to her?" Joe asked. He didn't even know the woman's name, but she was clearly an influence on Arthur, whose eyes gave away the answer.
"She'd kill me if I did," Arthur answered. It had been agreed to in the beginning that it was just casual, but he wanted more than that now. He wished she felt the same or at least admitted she was scared to want the same thing.
"You have a ring, though, don't you?" Joe inquired, smirking.
Arthur said nothing as he sipped his coffee, but there was a smile on his lips.
Perhaps.
...
Sara awoke to find Arthur gone. She felt dizzy as she sat up. Nauseous too. She hadn't told him. She wasn't sure why she wasn't telling him. There was just something holding her back. She got up and got dressed. She rummaged through his drawers for a hoodie when she found it. She touched it, like it was a bomb about to go off. She gasped when she popped the lid and saw the ring. It was beautiful.
Then she realized what it meant.
"Shit," she breathed. "Shit, shit, shit." He was going to propose to her. After them agreeing to this being casual and meaning nothing, he was going to ask her to marry him. She couldn't do it. She hurried to grab her things and fled out the front door.
Pregnant or not, she had to walk away. She was not ready to be a wife. She was not ready to be a mother. She knew it wasn't fair to him, not telling him about the baby, but she had no choice. If she told him, he'd definitely want to marry her.
She wanted to want it, she really did. But it just wasn't there. She could only imagine the hurt on his face when he realized she had fled. She was going to her sister's. She would stay there until the baby was born. Then, she'd let her sister raise her child. Her sister always wanted to be a mother anyway. Arthur would never know. It was hard to think about her child not knowing their father, but it was something she'd have to deal with farther down the road, or her sister would.
It was the coward's way out, but it was easier than facing her fears.
...
Arthur found the note beside the ring box on his table saying she couldn't do it, when he got home. His heart sank. She had found it and freaked out. He tried calling her, but she didn't answer. He felt numb at first and then angry. He threw some things around before resting his hands on the bathroom vanity and looked at himself in the mirror.
He should have known better than to think he could have someone to love. He should have known that someone like him didn't deserve that kind of ending. He killed people, and that was his legacy. He would die alone. He would never try this again, being vulnerable. He would harden himself into the assassin he was.
It didn't stop his heart from feeling the pain of the loss, though.