Story 2 – Eliot Stewart
Part 3
Twenty.
"Well?" An almost smug looking brunette glared, slender hand out stretched, the wrinkle-less black jacket resting on his shoulders not moving an inch.
"You… You're serious?" The man's grip around his keys tightened, mouth contorted into a sneer, knuckles turning white.
"A bet is a bet." One of the four others in the smug man's group cooed, playfully.
"But… I have no other way to get home."
The brunette's annoyance seemed to deepen, "You should have thought about that beforehand." A rather tall and quiet Asian man stepped next to him, looking quite menacing. "Now, hand it over."
Squeezing the keys tighter until they dug into his skin, the male looked from the brunette to the Asian and back again. Raising his hand, he threw the key to his car into the man's hand with as much force as he could muster and stomped off.
The brunette merely stared at the key and offered an amused "Pleasure doing business with you" toward the retreating back of the angry soul.
"…Elliot, I don't think it's a good idea to aggravate the situation even more…" The blind Native American of the group advised, falling into step with everyone as they headed over to take a gander at the brunette's win.
"…Hm." He offered as a reply, eyes looking over his new car.
"So what do you plan to do with this, eh?" questioned the shorter male with the gravity defying hair.
Elliot snorted, "What I always do. Use the parts I like and sell the rest…" He quirked a brow. "What? Did you have your eye on it, Tony?"
It was Tony's turn to snort, "Don't be ridiculous, what would I need off this piece of junk? I bet Chelly's tires cost more than this thing's engine."
Which was true… probably. Despite living in that rundown neighborhood, Tony was actually from a well off family. He'd moved there to prove a point to his family and ended up staying even after he'd made up with them. Apparently the place had grown on him. Since Tony was actually really good with computers, despite being a bone head any other time, he did stuff for his father's company and was paid for it in return. As a result, while the outside of the garage was graffitied and grimy, the inside was anything but.
Ignoring him, the American turned to the large Asian man. "Hiro, feel like driving this back?" He was answered with a nod and tossed the keys over.
"I'll rid with him." The blind woman offered, letting Hiro help her into the passenger seat.
"Alright Iya, then I'll hitch a ride with Tony, since my dear cousin over there doesn't seem to like company." Anya teased, giving a playful grin as she headed over to Chelly.
"Step Cousin…. Ex – Step Cousin…." Elliot corrected her. She rolled her eyes.
"Ey, Elliot. Hiro." Tony smirked, nodding in their direction. "How about last one home treats everyone to some Chinese?"
The three exchanged glances. Elliot grunted smugly, Tony grinned, and Hiro raised an amused brow.
They stepped into their vehicles, and were off.
xXx
"Tony!" Anya growled, slamming the garage's side door. It was obvious through her voice that she was furious about something… Despite what others who didn't know her too well thought, Anya may have seemed cool and mature but really she was like a big kid that got angered easily. Really though, only a few people could get her extremely riffled up… and one of those people just happened to be Tony.
Said man tensed in his spot on the couch next to Hiro and seemed to shrink slightly. "…Yeah, Babe?" Only his cousin could make that over confident bighead lose his edge.
"Get your butt down here."
"Coming…"
"Now."
Tony let out a sigh and grumbled a few things under his breath as he got up. Elliot watched from his spot on the other side of Hiro as the male headed down stairs of the loft and into the garage. Turning back to the textbook in his lap, he caught Iya shaking her head from her usual spot on the floor leaning against Hiro's leg as she listened to the television.
Then the arguing began.
Elliot's eye twitched. Honestly, how was he supposed to read in these conditions? "What are they fighting about this time…?"
"The usual… probably…" Hiro answered calmly, not seeming to be affected by the loud commotion going on down stairs.
Elliot snorted. He didn't really get why those two were together. Relationships like that seemed troublesome. Now, Iya and Hiro he could understand… Their mellow demeanors just seemed to fit. Tony and Anya were like oil and water. He wouldn't want to be in a relationship like that. Too exhausting.
Down stairs there was a slam of the side door again. "Where are you going?!" Tony questioned following her out with another slam of the door.
The three left inside relaxed and let a nice silence settle in the room, the tv making the only sound.
Twenty – Two.
"No… way." Anya commented, trying to keep herself from freaking out.
"Shhh." Iya shushed, frown deepening. "Does that means it says….?"
"Mhm." Anya said a bit quieter and watched as the blind Native American sat on the edge of the tub. "What… are you going to do?"
"I don't know." She admitted, fiddling with her fingers worriedly.
The ravenette took a seat next to her. "Are you going to tell him?"
"Well, I have to."
Anya nodded, "Well that's true." She offered the girl an encouraging smile, "Don't worry everything is going to be fine."
"I hope so…"
xXx
"Ugh! Guys. Hurry up! By the time you're finished we'll have missed the fireworks and everything!" Anya grumbled, clapping her hands impatiently. Tony and Hiro exchanged tired looks. Where'd she get this energy from?
Her comment was an exaggeration of course… everyone else had wanted to go out a little later, but she'd insisted they had to see the whole festival. She also wasn't one to wait very long and honestly Tony wasn't any better… or at least he wouldn't have been… if it wasn't so damn early.
Tony, Anya, and Hiro were already ready to go. They were just waiting on Elliot, who'd slept in late… again, and Iya, who was actually usually one of the first ones ready. It was taking those two forever. Didn't they know how long it takes to get from Toronto to Parliament Hill? Four hours! Not including traffic. They should have left a half an hour ago.
"…You're so loud…" Elliot muttered tiredly, coming down the loft steps, scratching the back of his head as he yawned.
His dear cousin huffed. "Well then, get up when I tell you to!" Her eyes went back to her wrist watch, other hand going to her hip. "Where's Iya?"
"Bathroom." The American answered, slumping against the wall next to Hiro.
"Oh! That reminds me! Did everyone take a potty break?"
The boys gave her stares.
"What?" She scoffed, other hand going to her hip as she leaned forward slightly. "I'm serious. We're not going to be stopping!"
Anya was still getting stares as a slightly sickly looking Iya came down. "Sorry." She apologized, tending to a headache as discreetly as possible.
Hiro went over to her and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. He spoke a soft, "Are you alright?" to which he was given a delicate nod and skillfully forced smile.
Iya and Anya exchanged a look. Elliot was the only one who caught it.
Seeing everyone present, Anya flapped her arms impatiently toward her vehicle. "Come on. Come on. Let's get going. We're already late." She shoved the closest bodies, Elliot and Tony, toward her Jeep Wrangler. Both of which either growled or grumbled at the contact.
After piling into Anya's car—since she was the only one up for driving for four hours—the gang set out for parliament hill.
In the end, despite all her talk, it was Anya's fault they ended up taking a few stops on the way. First, she'd been thirsty and had bought a ridiculously large slushy due to that fact that "it was only a few cents more", then thirty minutes later she needed to stop to peed because of said slushy. Elliot had felt the need to point out how much of a hypocrite she was which resulted in an argument that got the girl so riffled up Tony had to quickly grab the wheel while she lectured her dear cousin. The delays continued when poor Iya wasn't feeling well which Anya seemed to all to quickly chalk up to car sickness. Which Elliot believed to be a load of bull, but this time he didn't voice his thoughts.
Some point after about the fourth or fifth time that they stopped, this time for gas, Elliot tuned out the voices in the car and fell into a deep sleep. He didn't wake up until Anya opened up the car door he'd been using as a head rest. Cranium snapping up before it fell fully forward, Elliot glared at her grinning mouth and speckled eyes.
"We're here. Get up!" She ordered, unbuckling his seatbelt as if he were a child and pulling him out of the car.
Apparently because he had never celebrated Canada day, Anya felt it was her duty to give him the full experience. One would say she had an extremely unnecessary love for Canada, for a technical American—well, for anyone really. Then again, Elliot was never one for patriotism of any kind. Whether it be Canada day or Fourth of July.
Rubbing a sore neck, Elliot followed behind the strange group he'd come to know with a sight grimace as he noticed the other hundreds of cars parked near the hill. He hated crowds, especially massively amped up ones. Elliot had a strong urge to go back into the car and curl up in the backseat for a nap, but he knew Anya would object to that and she was the one holding the keys.
The closer the quintet got to the hill, the stronger the stench of country pride seemed to get. People had their body parts painted in red and white and wore Canadian themed garments. In fact, everyone in his own group had some kind of symbol of the country on them. Tony and Hiro had matching t-shirts with the maple leaf on the front, Iya had on a white shirt with a red skirt and a maple leaf charm bracelet, and Anya's outfit was honestly ridiculous… He'd never seen so much red and white on a person before… not to mention maple leaves.
He realized he probably looked a bit out of place in his blue tee and black slacks.
Shouts like "Viva la Canada!" and howls could be heard from groups of men who were just a little bit too tipsy, which of course Anya replied with her own hoop and holler. Elliot decided he'd keep an eye out for a nice looking tree he could sit under before he developed the splitting headache he felt coming on.
"What's with the scowl?" Anya complained, looking over the arm Tony had draped over her shoulder. "Come on this is going to be fun, smile for once in your life."
"I don't see the fun in this." It's too crowded, he added mentally.
"It's not that bad…" Tony commented, "It's easier just to get caught up in the celebration that to fight it." He added, sending the American a playful smirk, knowing full well Elliot was more likely to eat a pile of hay then act merry.
"Hn," was the brunette's reply.
A few minutes later the gang was sitting down at a recently cleared picnic table as Anya looked over the program.
"So… We missed the Carillion Concert, Flag Raising Ceremony, and Changing of the Guard Ceremony… but the noon show is starting soon, so we should hurry up to go and catch that… and then we could head to the Annual Chicken Barbeque at Major's Hill, there's always something good to eat there and I'm sure everyone's hungry right?"
"As long as we get to stop by Jacques-Cartier Park at some point, I don't really care what we do…" Tony commented laying his head on crossed arms. Despite his personality, the slightly short man liked to play soccer with some of the kids. It was something he used to do as a kid… back then the man didn't get to be a kid often as so it was a fond memory, apparently.
"It sounds like a plan." Iya confirmed and Hiro nodded in agreement.
Elliot just stared off boredly, not paying much attention.
"Elliot." Anya frowned, "Sound good?"
She was ignored.
She didn't like being ignored.
Closing her program, the American-Canadian stood up and stomped over to her cousin. "That's it, get up, I'm going to make you have a good time even if it kills me."
"Shall I prepare a coffi—" Elliot's smartass retort was cut off as he choked, getting pulled away from the table by the collar. He grunted in protest, bending forward a bit so that she wouldn't strangle him with his own shirt.
Aya ignored him this time.
The others followed behind at a slight distance.
A few hours later and Anya was giving Elliot a creepy wide grin as they sat on the shuttle back to Major Hill for the umpteenth time…. It was a good thing that the rides were free on Canada Day.
"What?" He glared, his face contorting into the expression one gets when they've got a bad taste in their mouth.
"You're having fun right ~ ?"
"No." He answered immediately and turned away from her, pulling the rim of the red and white cap she'd made him wear.
Her grin faltered. "Liar." She humphed and copied his action. Even though he wouldn't admit it, Anya knew he had to be enjoying himself. She'd seen that ghost of a smile he'd had when Tony got hit in the face with an airborne soccer ball. Well, she had one more thing up her sleeve, probably the best thing of the whole event. If he didn't admit to liking that then he was just impossible. Her grin returned.
When the shuttle stopped, Anya sped off it like a child who'd just woken up to snow on Christmas. The others barely kept sight of her as she weaved through the gathering crowd, stopping every so often to tap her foot and shout "Come on!" repeatedly to the slowpokes following behind her.
By the time she'd halted long enough for them to catch up, they'd gone away from where a crowd was gathering into a more quieter part of Major Hill. It was hard to see around in the dark.
"Why here?" Tony asked, brows furrowing. The other times, when it'd just been a quartet, they'd visited parliament hill and never picked this spot.
"Less people, better view." Anya explained, plopping down on the grass. "Aunt Fey told me about it."
Hiro took a moment to glance down at his watch. "It's going to start soon…" He told them softly and took a seat on the grass with Iya, who leaned on him.
Tony got comfortable and laid his head down on Anya's lap.
Elliot opted to sit against a nearby tree.
A few moments of silence passed between them before the first stream of light entered the sky and burst with color, followed by more and more, each bursting into different shapes before disappearing like dust.
"Was today any fun, seriously?" Anya asked her cousin curiously in a light voice as she glanced in his direction.
He didn't answer right away though, choosing to keep his eyes up to the sky. Turning back to the fireworks, she almost gave a dejected sigh until she heard, "Today… wasn't that bad…"
Anya looked back at him in surprise to find him looking at her with an almost sincere look.
She smiled.
xXx
"What's this?" Tony called walking out of the bathroom, face going a bit pale. In his hand was a white stick, the screen reading '+'.
Elliot and Hiro paused in working on taking apart an impressive looking Buick that the American had won from his latest bet.
The three men stood in silence for a moment, until Elliot uttered an "I wouldn't touch that part…"
Frowning in realization, Tony tossed the stick into the trash and went to wash his hands. "Does this mean that one of them is…?" He questioned over the sound of running water.
"It's not 100 percent. Those things are wrong sometimes…" Elliot answered and shot a curious glance at a paler than usual Hiro.
Tony came back into view and started pacing. "Why haven't they said anything?"
"Waiting for the right time?" Elliot offered as an explanation and sat down on a nearby stool in slight disinterest. It wasn't like he hand anything to worry about after all.
"I… think we should wait until they decide to tell us…" Hiro stated maturely, finally snapping out of his inner thoughts.
"Like hell! I want to know now." The shorter man stated in obvious frustration, "I can't be a daddy."
Elliot snorted. The girls had gone out for the day so it wasn't like he'd get to know right away… Since he doubted they'd want to talk about something like that over the phone.
Annoyed with Tony's pacing and worrying, Elliot excused himself and let the autumn breeze hit him as he headed outside. Closing his eyes, he leaned against the building and took in the silence. This part of town was pretty barren around this time, except for the occasional car or passerby.
The quiet, however, was broken by the sound of his cellphone ringing impatiently. With a sigh, Elliot reached into his pocket and pulled it out. Accepting the call, he greeted with a halfassed "Hello?"
"Hello…?" The caller echoed, seeming a little unsure.
His eyes widened a small fraction in surprise. "…Mother…?"
"Oh! Elliot? Wow. You sound different."
"How'd you get this number?"
She chuckled into the receiver. "Your Uncle, of course." Elliot frowned at this piece of information. He had specifically told that man not to give it to her… He knew she'd been calling frequently now. "You're terrible, you know that? After you moved out of your Greg's apartment it's been difficult to get in touch with you! To think that all this time you had a cellphone."
"I haven't had it for that long… I would have given you my number eventually…" He told her.
"Mhm." She humphed, unconvinced.
xXx
"Oh, what a nice surprise. Good morning, Charlie." The old woman cooed from her spot in her rather comfy floral printed chair. Placing a good mark on the page she'd left off in her book, she closed it and gave her visitor full attention.
"It's Elliot, Aunt Fey, and it's nearly seven in the evening." The young man sighed, kneeling down to the side of her chair. "Uncle Gregory wanted me to check on you… He'll be back late. Do you need anything?"
The woman let out a sigh of her own. "I've told Greggy many times that I don't need a babysitter. Honestly. He didn't have to move in with me…" She shook her head in disapproval and set her novel down on a side table. "How are you dearly? How's living with Anya and her friends?"
"Fine," was all he said, the same answer he always gave. He never elaborated much. "Do you need anything?" He repeated, she hadn't answered the first time.
"Oh, water would be nice." Fey told him and wrapped her shawl around he shoulders a bit tighter.
Nodding, Elliot stood up and headed out of the room. Somehow, he'd grown accustomed to taking care of his great aunt. The only other ones that Fey had to rely on were him, Gregory, and Anya. He was used to being depended on, so the feeling wasn't anything new and though he probably wouldn't ever admit it, the old bat had grown on him.
It was a shame though. Aunt Fey's memory was dwindling every day. He was used to her saying his name wrong… but now she wasn't even thinking in the 'E' range anymore and usually the names varied, but lately it's just been "Charlie". It was getting dangerous to leave her by herself anymore, because she'd often forget what day it was or what she'd been doing just moments before… and since Aunt Fey was a cooker she may forget about a pie or turkey she'd left in the oven and the last thing anyone needed was a fire burning down the house.
Heading into the kitchen, Elliot grabbed a glass and dropped a few ice cubes in it before filling it up. He couldn't help but wonder how long it'd be for his aunt's memory got too bad. Soon she'd have to be placed somewhere that she could be watched around the clock. Medicine wouldn't help her.
With glass in hand, the American made his way back into the sitting area where he found Aunt Fey sitting in the same place where he'd left her, nose back in her book. At the sound of his footsteps the woman looked up and flashed him a smile, "Oh, what a nice surprise. Good morning, Charlie."
Setting the cup down on the side table, Elliot sighed closing his eyes. "Good morning."
Perhaps it would be best to just go with it.
xXx
"Race me, Stewart." A bald man ordered, stepping out of a black jaguar. The man looked new and slightly out of place in extremely formal attire.
Elliot merely blinked at him, pausing in his conversation with Iya. He was a bit grateful for it though, for some reason the woman had wanted to know his opinion for baby names and for some reason she'd waited until they'd gone to a car rally to ask. Hn. Women.
Sighing, the American ran a hand through his hair boredly. "Name your price."
The man snorted, "What do you want?"
Honestly, what was it with people? Couldn't they just put up something themselves? He could care less what it was he won… just as long as he won.
Brown eyes flickered over to the black jag behind baldy. It seemed in good enough condition… it's parts could probably sell for a good price. "Fine. Your car then."
"My car?"
Elliot resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was common for either money or cars to be put up in a rally bet, no? "Your car." He echoed, not really liking the fact he had to repeat himself. "I'll put up mine to. That's more than fair."
The man glanced at Elliot's ride trying to mull things over. He nodded, finally, and stuck out his hand. "Alright, not like I'm planning on loosing anyway."
The American's eyes shone deviously, "Well, that's a problem because I don't plan to either." He replied, taking the man's hand.
Iya ended up being starter. Usually Anya did it for Elliot's races, but the woman was off with Tony at some dinner event his father made him go to. He wasn't too sure about how Hiro would feel about that. The Asian man had to work tonight so Elliot was put in charge of 'babysitting' Iya for him. After finding out about the pregnancy the man was way more protective of her.
Iya may have been a blind pregnant woman, but she could take care of herself. Besides, he hadn't even asked her… she'd volunteered to do it.
"3…" Iya's voice rang out over the roar of the engines as a hand went over to her growing belly. "2… 1…" She waved her raised arm downward to signal the beginning of the race and the two vehicles sped off.
The blind woman was then lead off the road by one of the crowd members, as the two cars continued down the old road of the old industrial park.
For a good few seconds the fight for the lead kept teetering by inches, one car slightly edging higher up the road than the other. Elliot paid no attention to the driver trying to one up him. His eyes stayed trained to his surroundings, taking in everything. After his accident with Benjamin he'd tried to stay away from driving over the speed limit… but once Anya reasoned with him and got him back into racing, Elliot hadn't realized how much he missed it.
Here on the road he felt the most in control. There was no father to judge him or accident to feel guilty about, there was just him and the road. The other racer didn't even matter. When Elliot raced he didn't see them. They didn't matter. He was it his own little world.
With this mind set, Elliot soon found himself burning the competition leaving a nice long gap in between the cars. The makeshift finish line was coming into view at this point and, forming the faintest smile with his lips, the young man crossed over it with a long skid mark painting the asphalt.
Baldy passed over the line seconds afterward and stepping out with a slightly defeated look, surprisingly he looked a bit cool about the fact that he'd just lost his car.
Elliot met the strange man somewhere in the middle of the road.
"Looks like I lost." Baldy sighed lightly and tossed the keys over a bit too quickly.
Something didn't feel right about this guy.
Twenty – three.
Elliot was kind of at a loss as he started at the child being thrust into his line vision, behind it a grinning Anya giggled. "Thank you for watching him."
"…What?" He frowned.
"I'm sorry, Elliot, I told her you wouldn't want to. We can just take him." Iya apologized from somewhere behind him.
His cousin snorted, "He already agreed to it. Besides, I'm taking you out for a break from the baby, you can't bring him."
Elliot furrowed his brow, "When did I agree?"
"This morning. I knocked on the door and asked. You said 'Yeah, sure, whatever'… remember?"
For a moment he didn't but soon recollection hit and he grimace slightly. He'd been barely awake when she'd asked and he hadn't even heard her clearly, he had just wanted her to go away so he could have a few more minutes of sleep.
"So anyway, you agreed and can't back out now." The toddler was placed into his lap.
Supporting the child's back with his hand so it wouldn't fall, Elliot sighed, "Why me?"
"Hiro at work and Tony's in The Hub, so don't bother him." Anya warned. The Hub was everyone's fancy way of naming the room where Tony kept all his computers. If he was in there it meant he was working on something for his father, or doing some side project… either way when he was in there he didn't like to be bothered. "You can just call us if you need anything, we'll keep our cells on."
"…Whatever." Elliot sighed, which Anya took as a sign of defeat.
"Alright, Iya, let's go!" The annoyance sang over her shoulder as she trotted down the steps toward the garage.
"Coming!" The Native American called after the woman and turned her attention to Elliot. "Are you sure it's alright?"
"…It's fine." He told her, though his voice didn't sound completely fine with it. "Go have fun or whatever..."
Iya smiled, "Thank you." Using her hands as guidance she made her way over toward him, "Where is he?" She questioned, looking for her son.
Taking her hands, Elliot brought them to the toddler on his lap, "Here."
The woman's smile widened slightly as she ran her hands over the child's face and planted a kiss on his forehead. "Kikawaapamin mino*, Bamidii." She said in her native tongue. Ruffling the child's hair softly, she stood straight and addressed Elliot. "We shouldn't be too long."
He nodded in reply, forgetting for a moment that she couldn't see the action. Correcting himself he added an, "Alright."
Iya left after an exchange of goodbyes and Elliot was left with the quiet one year old sitting in his lap.
The two of them eyes each other for a moment, the smaller of them cocking his head slightly in order to see Elliot out of his only good eye. He was blind in the other.
Bamidii soon got bored with the starting contest and turned his attention to the stuffed panda in his chubby little fingers, which he munched on with what little teeth he had. The little one, Elliot had grown to notice, was a nice balance of both his mother and his father. Bamidii was quiet like Hiro, but he had his mother's good nature and independence. The kid was a bit on the shy side though, which neither of his parents really were, but that was fine. He was more tolerable that way in Elliot's opinion.
For a moment, the man's mind flashed back to Benjamin who used to be anything but quiet. His younger brother didn't know the meaning of the words "Sit still." Elliot could still remember the boy's antics and how he'd always ask to be taken places. Elliot used to give into the boy's pleads every now and then, but he wished he would have done a little more, given him a few more good memories.
Elliot's musings were interrupted when Bamidii's hand clamped around the American's nose. The tot stood up on his lap and was trying to keep his balance. Bamidii's brown eye scanned Elliot's face as the man's gently removed the boy's hand and held it to hold him steady. The boy's eye brows scrunched together and his free hand went to the man's mouth.
For a moment, Elliot was confused with the gesture, but eventually recognized it. It was how he communicated with Iya. "Hungry?" He questioned, to be sure he was right.
Bamidii nodded.
Grabbing the kid under his arms, Elliot hoisted the tike up and stood. Letting the little one rest at his hip, the two headed over to the kitchenette. Pausing, Elliot scanned the shelves. What was it that babies liked to eat? He couldn't remember and it wasn't like he usually paid much attention to Bamidii anyway. In fact, this was probably the first time they'd been left alone together. Elliot tried to stay clear of children if he could help it. Most reminded him of his brother which in turn reminded him of the accident and how it'd been his fault.
Frowning, Elliot tried not to keep on that train of thought. Usually he didn't really think about Ben much (well, he did but it was easy to suppress) but the coma patient had been on his mind recently because his mother hadn't stopped in her prodding of wanting him to come back, at least to visit. She'd held off for a few years because she understood he needed time to pull himself together, but the woman was tired of waiting.
Elliot knew he'd have to go back to Florida eventually… but the thought unnerved him.
Brown orbs soon landed on a corner portion of the shelf cleared out specifically for Bamidii's food and shuffled through the choices. He ended up picking a box of baby cookies, since he didn't feel like feeding the kid that messy mushy baby slop.
Heading back to the couch, Elliot sat down and placed Bamidii right next to him. Opening the box, he watched in slight amusement as the boy's eyes widened slightly and his hands made grabbing motions in the air. Handing the kid a cookie for each hand, he eyed him as the boy ate for a moment before turning his attention back to the television to do a little more channel surfing.
When Iya and Anya came back later that day, they'd find both boys on the couch fast asleep, Bamidii curled under Elliot's chin.
xXx
He hadn't told Anya or the others where he was going, just that he may be away for a week… possibly two. Elliot never liked other people knowing his plans, it wasn't really any of their business anyway. Not even Greg knew… but the man probably had an idea. There was really only one place someone as lazy as Elliot would go away to for that long. Elliot could only hope that his uncle kept his big mouth shut.
He didn't want his parents to know he was coming just yet.
Taking in a deep breath, Elliot looked around the terminal. The place looked pretty much the same since he'd left Florida years ago.
Heading out, Elliot hailed a cab and set out for the place he felt he needed to visit first. Part of him wanted to save it for last though.
It took longer than he'd have liked for the driver to get him to his destination, but eventually he made it and paid the man his money. Heading into the building, Elliot made his way to the front desk to ask for directions just in case the rooms had shifted—which they had.
It was not long before Elliot found himself standing in front of the hospital room door. He stood there for a long while, not sure if he was ready to go in just yet… but he figured he'd probably never be truly ready to see his brother's face—comma or not.
So, pushing open the door, Elliot stepped inside the dim room. He found Benjamin looking much older than he remembered. How old was he supposed to be now? Nineteen? Twenty? Stepping closer, the young man raised a hand to brush his brother's bangs out of his face. The boy's hair had gotten considerably longer, even if one could tell that it had been cut recently. The corner of Elliot's mouth twitched at the thought. Benjamin never liked getting his hair cut.
Pulling up a chair closer to the bed, Elliot took a seat and took a good long stare at his endlessly sleeping brother. He couldn't get over the fact at how much older he looked after six years. Six years that he'd slept through because of his big brother's carelessness. The older Ben got, the worse it would be for him to catch up with life when he woke up… if he ever woke up.
"…You've got to get up soon, Benjamin…" Elliot caught himself saying lowly, knowing the boy wouldn't be able to hear him. "…You're got to wake up soon."
Elliot sat himself up and took Benjamin's hand into his own. This was his fault.
"I'm sorry…" He hid his glazed over eyes behind his bangs and squeezed the boy's hand. His throat burned from raw emotion. "I'm so sorry…" Waiting this long to say those words still didn't make them any easier to get out.
He stayed like that for a moment, just repeating those words over and over again, low and quiet. Elliot only stopped when the door popped open and a bag hit the floor in surprise. He didn't have to turn around to know it was his mother and he soon found her familiar arms wrapping around his from behind. "Took you long enough," she sniffed.
Elliot just leaned back into her embrace and let his head fall into the crock of her neck. He'd only just realized how much he'd missed her… much, much more than he'd originally thought he had.
How strange.
xXx
It was interesting how some things hadn't changed while other things were completely different.
The things in his room were pretty much in the same place he'd left them… Well, all the things that hadn't been littering the floor. Benjamin's room hadn't been touched much either. The living room, however, was completely switched around, but that wasn't a surprise since his mother liked to rearrange it when she had the time and since she now had a lot time when she wasn't at the hospital with Benjamin the placed looked almost completely different.
Walking down the steps, Elliot took a moment to glance at the picture frames hanging on the wall. They'd been moved around, but she still recognized them all. Closing his eyes for a moment, he scratched the back of his head and headed into the kitchen for something to eat.
"Still sleeping till the afternoon, I see…" a deep and all too familiar voice commented making Elliot pause awkwardly at the Kitchen's entrance. His father sat at the kitchen table, laptop set out in front of him and a cup of coffee in reach. From what Elliot could tell the man looked pretty much the same… it was surprising, though, to see him working in the kitchen instead of his study. That was usually the place he spent most of his time when he wasn't at work.
Elliot's mouth pressed into a thin line, not sure on what to say. After getting home the day before, he'd eaten dinner with his mother (he cooking hadn't gotten any better) and then he'd gone to bed a bit early, the plane ride had tired him out a bit. Mr. Stewart had been working late, again, and so this was the first time he was seeing his father in years.
Taking a sip of his coffee, he father went back to typing while Elliot headed toward the refrigerator. The returnee had decided on making a sandwich when his father spoke again. "How is Toronto?"
Pausing, Elliot glanced at the older man's direction and their eyes met. Retrieving the mayonnaise and cheese from the fridge he shrugged, "Cold."
"And Gregory?"
"Well." Elliot told him with a grunt as he twisted the lid off the mayonnaise jar. There was a short silence before he added, "He moved in with Aunt Fey to take care of her."
Mr. Stewart's eyebrows shot up slightly, "You've met that woman?" He questioned and glanced down at his coffee mug. "How is she?"
"She's got a bad form of Alzheimer's."
"Oh?" Was the man's comment as he lifted the mug to his lips.
"She often forgets my name… sometimes Uncle Greg's too." Elliot explained, eyeing him from the corner of his eye. "She calls me Charlie."
"Charlie…?" The name seemed to hold some significance to him. He regarded Elliot for a moment. "…You do like him… just a bit."
"…He's a person?"
His father nodded, "Her brother—your grandfather. He's dead now though… died before you were born."
Elliot raised a brow at this but didn't say anything. It was the first he'd heard of it. Biting into his sandwich, he took a seat across from his father, eyes glancing out the window.
They sat the rest of the time in silence.
xXx
Elliot woke up to the sound of the strange sound of the smoke detector and the smell of smoke. Sitting up on the couch he turned to the direction of the kitchen and sighed as he listened to the frustrated grumblings of his mother.
Maybe it wasn't Aunt Fey that they had to worry about burning down a house.
Getting up, he headed over to find the woman stand on her tippy toes to try and reach the button on the smoke detector, a tray of burnt lumps on the counter next to her.
Walking over, Elliot reached up and turned the beeping off for her. The woman smiled at him, "Did I wake you?"
Not feeling like answering a question that held an obvious answer, he turned his attention over toward the tray of unidentifiable objects. "What is that?"
"It was supposed to be garlic bread…" She told him pursing her lips in annoyance with her own skills.
Elliot tapped one of them with his nail to find then rock solid. Exhaling he gave her a look. "Just order out."
"That's horrible! You don't think I can cook do you?" She humphed in mock offense, removing her apron.
"Do you?" He deadpanned.
She cracked a grin, "Touché."
xXx
The beach hadn't changed much, Elliot decided as he walked along the shore. It was a bit windy out because of fall so there wasn't too many people enjoying the surf, but it was still a bit crowded for his liking.
Elliot's eyes drifted over to the incoming waves in thought. The beach was probably one of the things he'd missed living in Toronto. He remembered spending lots of time reading wherever he could hear the seagulls and waves. Then there were the times when he took Benjamin, who liked trying to jump the waves and make big sand fortresses.
Closing his eyes, Elliot slid his hands into his pockets. Part of him wanted to just stay in Miami… maybe go the local college and get his master's like his father wanted. He'd already gained his associates in both Sociology and Business at one of the community colleges in Toronto. It'd been a spur of the moment thing, really, he'd been bored and his source of income was the money he racked in at rallies (and selling the parts of cars he won there too) so his days were free. Though, he wasn't sure why he wanted to stay… He supposed if he had to guess it might have been due to his mother's pestering. He figured she was probably lonely since his father was always at work and Benjamin was hospitalized. It was also pretty obvious she wasn't looking forward to when he'd be heading back to Canada.
He didn't really want to stay, though. He'd made a comfortable life in Toronto… (even if he roomated with a spontaneous cousin, a computer genius with a napoleon complex, a blind Indian, a silent Asian, and a half blind baby that was barely learning to walk). Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't continue his education in Canada… and his mother… well, he supposed he could actually give her a ring every now and then. Even if he didn't like using his phone much.
It was sort of funny how the first time he'd left for Canada he hadn't wanted to go… and now he was actually anticipating the trip back.
Just slightly though.
xXx
Exhausted.
That was how Elliot felt as he drove—for the lack of a better word—home. The flight back to Toronto had been hell. The person he'd sat next to decided to chat him up most of the way, not seeming to care much that Elliot didn't stay very engaged in the one-sided conversation. Parking for a brief moment, Elliot got out to open the garage door.
"Hey." A voice called to him, making him pause.
Turning Elliot saw the familiar face of a certain baldy coming toward him. After their race, he saw a lot more of the man around the industrial park. No one knew his name but he came almost every week. The only race he'd partaken in was the one with himself, so no one was really sure what he was doing there… even Anya and that woman had dirt on everyone.
Elliot paused, letting the man walk up to him. "What do you want?" Or better yet, how did he find him?
"Your friends said you'd be back today… I've come to give you something." Baldy explained, reaching in his inner coat pocket. The American watched as he pulled out a crimson envelope and held it out.
Taking it, Elliot looked at the gold letters engraved on the front. "Split/Second…?" He read out loud and looked up to see that baldy had left. Frowning, he opened the envelope.
Story Two – Elliot Stewart, END. Path Set
A/N: Mn. I probably should have worded the last note better. When I said you didn't have to worry about guessing, I just meant that I wouldn't leave you hanging on who's who and such… I like reading who you guys think is which racer. I expect there to be guessing, I just wanted you guys to know I will tell you who is who toward/at the end.
So anyways, Elliot's story was a pain to write in the end It turned out pretty well though. Hopefully, anyway. Sorry it took so long.
Oh, Kikawaapamin mino means "see you later" in Ojibwe/Ojibwa/Chippewa which is Iya's nationality. I hope I got that right. Heh.
Also, I drew a picture for this fanfiction's Image space. Like it?
So anyways thanks again for reading/reviewing, you guys are awesome!