Eli Pride is Elizabeth Bennet (hybristic) wrote in musingslogs, @ 2011-06-09 02:55:00 |
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Entry tags: | elizabeth bennet, viola |
Who: Eli and Preston
What: Discussing Shiloh
Where: The car
When: Immediately after this
Warnings: None
Eli was quiet until he started the car, waiting for the motor to hum before he considered saying at all. He knew Preston well enough to know this subject was one that must be broached carefully. Preston loved his brother, and that was a key component of this conversation. Alternately, Eli now had little use for a man who could kill so many without showing an ounce of regard for anything but himself. Under normal circumstance, he would return home and contact Drake about putting a plan in motion. But these were not normal circumstances. This was Preston, and it was the same as dealing with Isobel or Julian; he was willing to make exceptions.
Eli pulled the car onto the highway, and he watched the museum fade into the distance. “Shall we discuss this?” he asked Preston, looking over at the other man for a moment as he switched lanes. “I understand he did not intend to cause this, love, but we would be remiss if we didn’t ensure it not happen again. And there must be some sort of retribution, though I’ve no idea what that would be.”
Preston didn’t say anything when Eli appropriated the keys and got behind the wheel. He slid into the passenger seat and avoided looking sideways, or anywhere except out his window. He had not intended that Eli should find anything out about the very foolish, damaging thing that Shiloh had done, and not because he was worried about Shiloh’s reputation. He knew what EIT did and he knew Eli’s passions about Creation abilities. He didn’t want to fight, but for Shiloh, he would fight.
“What are you going to do, put him in prison?” Preston said, sharper, oddly different from his normal retiring tones when he and Eli were in a confrontation.
“If I intended to imprison your brother,” Eli said, the same calm he displayed in the museum in his voice, “I would not be having this conversation with you. I would be silent, and then handle it without your interference. As it is, I wish to discuss options that would prove less extreme, but that would ensure this not happen again.” He was serious. This wasn’t anger, this wasn’t passion. This was him making a deliberate exception in honor of his feelings for Preston, and it was quite evident in the controlled manner of his speech.
Eli’s calm took some of the edge off Preston’s response, but not entirely. He turned in his seat to face Eli, eyes widening in a clear picture of panic, and it was not his usual panic, the kind that was all desperation and need. This was different, and it was accompanied by harsh anger. “You’re not going to handle my brother!”
“Did I not say that was not my intention?” Eli asked calmly. He expected this reaction, and so he didn’t rise to it, despite his strong feelings on the subject.
Preston breathed heavily for a moment, and then he said, “I know it doesn’t look like it, but he’s sorry. He’s fucked up about it. We said we would never--we would never do anything like that. He didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”
“I’ve seen him use that ability with perfect control in a very small space,” Eli said, shaking his head. “He was attempting to play God, Preston. He wanted to stop a plane, and hundreds of people died for it. And I saw little guilt in there. I saw a boy throwing a tantrum about his own pain, which I found quite wrong.” He sighed. “I am doing this for you, love. Ignoring what should be done for you, not out of any pity for him.”
“I know it doesn’t look like it,” Preston insisted, “and he’s acting like an ass, but this move with Poe, and hiding in the museum, that’s because he knows he fucked up and he doesn’t think he’s capable anymore.”
“Knowing he did something wrong and fearing the reaction of others, the retribution, that’s a child’s reaction to wrongdoing, Preston. It isn’t being truly sorry; it’s fear, a selfish, child’s fear.” Eli kept his voice steady, but his opinion of Shiloh had been cemented that evening. His expression softened, and he reached out a hand to Preston. “I know you love your brother, Preston. I do understand that. Isobel is maddening, but I love her all the same. And Lilly is probably stealing everything she can from Seattle, but she is family, and I would stand up for her as well.”
“He’s not afraid of your retribution,” Preston said angrily. “He doesn’t want to hurt Poe again. That’s different, Eli.” He didn’t think Eli’s problems were similar. None of his family had just committed mass murder, accident or no, and Eli had more than one person in his life that cared about him unequivocally.
Eli didn’t try to explain himself again. Preston wasn’t listening, and he suspected he would never see the flaws he’d just noted in Shiloh. He switched tactics, and moved on to the pressing logistics. “Can you assure me he won’t use his ability again?” he asked.
When Eli did not argue, and instead kept asking logical questions, Preston’s anger defused, and he was back to confusion. “No one can be certain of that, Eli, but I am sure he’ll agree.”
“Very well,” Eli said, willing to leave it at that, the implication clear. “As for retribution, have you any thoughts?” He was distant again, pulling his hand back and putting it on the steering wheel again.
“I don’t believe in retribution.” Preston turned his head away again.
“I mean doing something for the families of those injured or killed, Preston,” Eli clarified. “Not retribution in a physical way, but something Shiloh can do to right the wrong, a moral punishment, if not a physical one.”
“Oh... I asked--Anton said he would help. I think there’s a foundation already in place. That will help.” It didn’t seem to occur to Preston that he had done this thing already, nor did he care or think to ask if Shiloh had done anything like.
“No, Preston. Shiloh has to do something. He caused this, and it is for him to set it right,” Eli insisted.
“He can’t bring them back to life, Eli,” Preston said, not angry, this time, but agonized, fingers pressing into his eyes.
“No, but he must do something. He should be the one creating a foundation, or reaching out to the victims in a way that does not implicate him. He must make amends for this, Preston.” Eli was more adamant about this than he was about Shiloh not using his ability in the future. It was, he was quite certain, the only thing that would ensure Shiloh did not do this again.
“I’ll talk to him.” Preston scraped a hand down his forehead, took in a breath, and let it out. “I’ll talk to him, alright? Since I’m doing such a good job of it so far.”
Eli’s expression said he was not certain any talking would work, but he was willing to give Preston an opportunity to talk to his brother without an outsider present. “Your nephew. You were right to insist there,” he said, glancing over. He did not remember Preston’s family, but he’d heard enough to know it would be a terrible place for young, gay boy.
“Yes... I know.” There was a short pause, a quiet intake of breath. “But he’s... he’s right. I don’t know what they’re like now. Maybe they’re different...” Preston didn’t really think that, but the doubt was there. It never really went away.
“It hardly matters, love. Even if they claim to have changed, Shiloh knows what you suffered at their hands. It should not be his first choice. And if they were so changed, why have they not reached out to you?” Eli asked, anger for Preston in his voice.
Preston gave a little shrug of one shoulder. “Perhaps. It’s not important.”
“It is important,” Eli said, force behind the statement. There was no shrug there, nothing casual. He felt quite strongly about family, and he felt quite strongly that Preston’s parents had failed both of their sons - given his new realizations regarding Shiloh. “And it hardly matters. The boy should be permitted to choose. He did not have Shiloh in his life until recently, and his father has incapacitated him.” It was a harsh truth, but it was the truth.
Preston stared off into the quiet dark rushing past and did not reply. Preston’s perspective, up until a few months ago, would have been for Shiloh alone. He told himself that the silence was protecting Poe as well as Shiloh. If Poe was so angry that he pushed Shiloh away, then Poe would be alone, and that would be even worse--but perhaps the boy would still listen to Preston, or accept assistance from him. Preston tried to separate his own motivations from what was best for Shiloh, and then what was best for Poe.
When Preston fell quiet, Eli did as well. He cracked the window, and he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and tapped them on the dash to pack them. He was angry, despite all the calmness, and he hit the dash a bit too hard to hide that fact. In his mind, he was thinking of all the people lost on that plane, all the lives over, children without parents, spouses never to return home. It was the reason he’d joined EIT, to ensure occurrences such as this one did not go unaddressed. The cost of their presence in humanity was simply too great, and this did nothing but cement that belief.