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Tweak says, "Hello Amanda"

Savannah Monroe (savannah_monroe) wrote in omega_reality,
@ 2013-01-05 15:21:00

Entry tags:

*complete, 2013 01, character: alexis castle, character: brian kinney, character: bud hammond, character: claudia donovan, character: derek reese, character: dominic vail, character: douglas hammond, character: elaine barrish hammond, character: john connor, character: margaret barrish, character: marty deeks, character: maura isles, character: nell jones, character: oliver queen, character: robert callen, character: savannah monroe, character: sean hanna, character: thomas hammond, character: tim riggins, character: tommy merlyn, character: travis marks, character: troy bolton, dead: jenna hanna, dead: leon vance, dead: mike renko, dead: nick green, dead: sheldon cooper

RP: Club Night
Who: Public (add your tags if your pups are there)
Where: Rec Center
When: Saturday, January 5, 2013
Summary: It's a new old tradition.

It was almost like they were going back in time, trying to recreate the unity that existed when they were running the club. Or maybe that unity had all been in Savannah's head. She wasn't sure. Now, with multiple families and groups, there were too many different agendas.

She didn't like it.

Hopefully, spending time together would help create a real group and not a bunch of people sticking around for necessity.

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Re: Elaine/TJ

hammond_tj
2013-01-06 12:29 am UTC (link)

"Protect us from what? How does not knowing our own father protect us?" TJ was honestly confused. It didn't make any sense to him. How had only letting him see the politician made anything better? How had keeping any of that helped? "Do you realize I've spent the last fifteen or twenty years of my life thinking I was never going to be good enough because I couldn't be like him? He spent most of that time pointing out how badly I was failing at doing anything he considered good enough. If there was a problem, it went away as soon as money or connections were thrown at it. But, all I ever wanted was one word of sincere encouragement, just to hear someone was proud of what I did because I did it, not because it was what they thought I should be doing. But, what I usually got instead was a listing of my failures. I mean, when I was trying to open The Dome, a simple no wasn't good enough. We had to go through how many schools I was kicked out of and how it wasn't what I should be doing and why couldn't I just play the piano."

Taking her hands as she pulled back, he smiled softly. "Mama, that's all I've ever wanted to hear."

Following her gaze to his brother, he pursed his lips. "You still sound a lot like him. Or, I suppose he sounds a lot like you." He turned back to her. "He's right, you know. I am selfish. I want them both in my life and I'm not ready to have to choose between them. I've only just found something with Travis that...I don't know how to describe it. But, he makes me a better person. And, Doug...Doug's a part of me like no one else ever can be." He smiled, thinking of the last three months. "We make a good team, the three of us, actually. It hasn't always been perfect, but it's been good."

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Re: Elaine/TJ

elaine_hammond
2013-01-06 12:53 am UTC (link)

"Because the politician is perfect, the man is not, and maybe we were just protecting ourselves, showing that part of us that we consider perfect and hiding our own faults. Your father isn't the only one who did that." Elaine sighed. "We're also perfectionists. You don't get where we did without taking care of every little detail, and every failure needs to be considered before you move forward. It's not because it's you, but because it's us. Don't you think that Doug went through the same thing? I... I treated you like I treated everyone else, because I was preparing you for our life, but neither you nor Doug had asked for that, and that's my fault. I'm not saying that next time something else, we won't do the same. We're not really good at changing."

She smiled back. "You are more than good enough."

Elaine sighed. "He does, doesn't he? I hope he can find what I can't, because he deserves it. You need to help him, Sweetheart, because I can't. I don't know how. I know it's not fair to ask you that, but I need you to do that for me, for him." She didn't know about Marks, but if he made things better for her boys, she wouldn't fight it. "If you are this serious, maybe you should ask him to join us for dinner on the weekends."

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Re: Elaine/TJ

hammond_tj
2013-01-06 01:26 am UTC (link)

"Perfection is a bitch to live up to, Mama." TJ shook his head. "No, I don't think he did because Doug...he really is just like you. He's as much a perfectionist as the two of you are. He's always tried to do everything you wanted and do it flawlessly. Maybe when we were kids. But, Doug wasn't the one screwing up every time you turned around. He was the one who traveled the world with you. Can I ask you something? Why did you send me away after Sidwell kicked me out? Everyone knew my grades were just an excuse because they didn't want to deal with the aftermath of my being outed. You could have found another school near D.C., but you sent me away from you, the family, away from Doug. Why?"

Smiling again, TJ nodded. "I'm trying to, Mama. I'm not very good at it, yet. But, I'm trying to help him, be there the way he's always been there for me. You don't have to ask. I'd do it anyway because it's Doug. There isn't much I wouldn't do for my brother." Chuckling, he shook his head again. This serious? God, what did TJ know about serious? "If by this serious, you mean I'm in love with him, heart-stoppingly crazy about him? Then, yeah, I am. And I'll ask him. Maybe not every dinner, though. I love you, but he's going to be busy as Deeks' second and I'd like him to myself occasionally," he added with a grin.

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Re: Elaine/TJ

elaine_hammond
2013-01-06 01:50 am UTC (link)

"Come on, let's sit down. I'm getting old." Elaine smiled, but this discussion wasn't an easy one. She walked to the nearest empty couch and waited for TJ to sit down with her. "I always knew that we had screwed up with you. No matter how much we tried, we never seemed to know what the right thing to say and do was, but I was so sure we'd done everything right with Doug. Just look at him. Harvard, youngest Chief at State, youngest campaign manager of a successful presidential run, he would have been youngest Chief of Staff. What was that your father said? The perfect child."

She looked at Doug again and sighed. "He leaked about my campaign run while I was still serving under Garcetti. When he told me about it, I was so angry with him. I did treat him like I'd treat any other employee. I told him to leave, that he was done." She looked at TJ, trying to smile, but failing. "He told me that his biggest fear was to disappoint me. That's where we're different. Your father and I worry about not disappointing ourselves. Doug was worrying about me. I didn't have to judge him, because he did it himself, and he was probably even harsher than I'd have been."

Elaine covered TJ's hand. "Oh baby, you don't know how difficult that decision was. We didn't want to, but most of the schools around DC are so conservative, but worse, you'd have had the press always around. You were too much of a story for them to let you go. Boarding school put a distance. Anything you experienced would have been a thousand times worse in DC."

Considering how badly they had failed, she couldn't ask for more than that. "As long as you try. If anyone has a chance to get through to him is you." She chuckled. "Heart-stoppingly crazy? And he is good to you?" She knew what he'd said, but then TJ had claimed to be in love with Sean Reeves, so she felt justified in double checking. "Having dinner with us means that you spend less time cooking and cleaning. You can leave after dinner, and it's only two days a week. You get the pleasure of eating with everyone every other day.

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Re: Elaine/TJ

hammond_tj
2013-01-06 05:25 am UTC (link)

TJ followed his mother to the couch, sitting close in a way they hadn't talked in a long time. He knew about the leak, of course, Doug had told him shortly after they got to Pittsburgh. But, wondered how his mother could have only just then been seeing how Doug always cared most about disappointing her. It was the one trait he and Doug absolutely shared: they both wanted to please their parents. Doug was just better at pretending than TJ was.

"You and Dad are a tough act to follow, Mama. But, Doug's been trying to follow in your footsteps for years. And he's really, really good at it. No one can be you and Dad, but he's come pretty damn close. But, it's always been about making you proud. As close as he and I have always been, you have an amazing amount of influence on him and he looks up to you." TJ never had. He wanted to make his parents proud, but he had never had the same drive for it Doug had. He'd fought it more often than not when it looked impossible to do.

TJ sighed, taking her hand again. "I can see that, I suppose." Protecting him from the press seemed to be the family pastime ever since. And, yet, the press was still always there, always watching everything. "But, it wasn't what I felt at fourteen. I was by myself trying to deal with everything that had happened. I didn't even have Doug to talk to." He'd been so lonely, especially that first semester, before he got used to being on his own. "Remember how at dinner I said something should have changed in the last three months? I changed. I changed then. Every time I was sent back to school, I came back changed. And I've changed, I'm still changing, since leaving everyone in Vermont."

Pursing his lips, he glanced at his brother. He really hoped that was true. "I'm not giving up on him, Mama." As the topic switched back to Travis, he grinned. "Heart-stoppingly crazy." TJ's grin softened to a smile. "He's too good to me. Travis isn't Sean. He loves me. And he wants TJ, not Thomas Hammond. He's a good man, Mama, a really good man." Laughing, he shook his head. "Well, if there's less cooking and cleaning involved...I'll talk to him. Deeks' wife wants us to come over some weekend, too, which we should probably do, since Travis is his second."

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Re: Elaine/TJ

elaine_hammond
2013-01-06 05:49 am UTC (link)

"He is good." She didn't hide the pride, because Doug had done the impossible, running a campaign, a successful one at such young age was a great accomplishment. "I hope that part of the drive came from his own desires, though, and not just to make me happy." She looked at Bud and smiled. "We are pretty good, aren't we?" Maybe in all this insanity, the one thing she had gotten back was Bud, not that she was saying it aloud, because Mother would hate it, but it was easier with no girls to hold his interest, because she had no illusions about that. Bud would always look and sometimes he'd do more.

"We did what we thought was best for you. It was never a punishment and we were never trying to hide you because we were ashamed. We wanted to give you some peace." She nodded. "Okay, but it's hard for me to understand, because I live in a world where people only pretend to change. It's how we can predict what people will do so well. They never change."

Elaine smiled again. "Good, then I know you'll get through to him, because you're our dreamer. You're the one who needs to give him some of our faith." She chuckled at the change. "I'm really glad that he's not Reeves. I didn't like him much." She hated him, his politics, his hypocrisy and what he'd done to her son. All in all, she was being very polite about it. "As long as he loves you, then I'm happy for you." She smiled even more as he want own. TJ was the social butterfly of the family when politics weren't involved, but only if he wanted to. "Savannah is a good person to be friends with. There's nothing that happens around here without her knowing, directly or indirectly. When we moved, she came here ahead of time to prepare the island, Vance told everyone that she'd been killed. There wasn't anyone that wasn't affected. Now with Callen and Sam missing, she'll make sure to know what's going on. She loves your grandmother, although she seems to love most people. She's a hugger. Your father enjoys it," she said a little coldly. "You'll want to be friends with her, because while she has information she doesn't share as easily as it looks looks like when you first talk to her."

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Re: Elaine/TJ

hammond_tj
2013-01-06 07:32 am UTC (link)

TJ laughed. "Some of it is. He's not brainwashed. He wants it for himself. But, he wants it for you, too. And yes, you are pretty good. It's pretty damn daunting to be your kids, sometimes." He leaned over to kiss her cheek. "You're still an amazing woman, Mom. It's why we try so hard to please you."

Sighing, he squeezed her hand. "I believe you. But, I was fourteen and betrayed and sent away from my family. It's what it felt like at the time." TJ shrugged. "Maybe that's why I've always felt different, out of place. I change, I like change in the world around me. New parties, new people, new business ventures."

TJ wasn't as certain as his mother sounded. But, he nodded anyway. He was going to find a way through to his brother. Although, the idea that he was the one with faith made him laugh inwardly. "I know you didn't. And I've come to see the problems in that relationship now, how unhealthy it was. But, I was in love with him. It wasn't like it is with Travis, though. Travis isn't anything like him. I don't think he's even capable of thinking of doing what Sean did, not to someone he cares for...and he does care for me, as much as I care for him."

He couldn't help snorting at the jealousy in his mother's voice. "It's Dad, of course he enjoys it. It is, however, a trait I remember from watching her before we left in October." An annoying one, he recalled. "And everyone loves Nana. Except maybe Dad, but that's because she won't let him bullshit her. But, I can play nice when I want to."

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Re: Elaine/TJ

elaine_hammond
2013-01-06 05:19 pm UTC (link)

She looked at him for a moment and put her hands on his face, much like she had done when he was a young happy. "I never wanted you to feel that, but the opposite, and be happy. That will please me. That's all I'm asking from both of you. Try to be happy."

Letting go, she took his hand again. "As I said, that's very good, because if he were... well, life is very dangerous here. Really, a Republican? That should have been enough of a warning," she said, not entirely joking. "I'd like to get to know this man that cares for you as much as you care for him."

Elaine chuckled, because TJ reminded her that it was Bud. "Yes, he is and he won't change now." She leaned closer and lowered her voice. "You know people and I know politics. As you said, her husband is in charge and Travis is his second. If anything ever happens and you need anything, information, help, anything for you or him, you need more than play nice. You need her as a friend. If your father can pretend with Vance, I know you can do it too. Something to thing about, okay?"

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Re: Elaine/TJ

hammond_tj
2013-01-06 08:05 pm UTC (link)

TJ leaned over to hug his motherly tightly. "I love you, Mama." Smiling, he pulled back. "Even when I'm annoyed. But, I'm working on that happiness. It's why I had to leave the way I did. I needed to figure out what would make me happy on my own."

He chuckled and shook his head. "I wasn't exactly thinking long-term when I first hit on Sean. That just sort of...happened. So, party affiliation wasn't really a consideration. But, no, Travis is a much better man and I'd like you to know him too." TJ smirked and bumped her shoulder lightly with his. "Just go easy on him."

While he personally thought her naive and annoying, especially with her 'family' talk as if he was a stray needing adopting, TJ wasn't going to do anything that would jeopardize things for Travis. So, he simply nodded and kissed his mother's cheek. "I don't really do her kind of friends well. But, I'll think about it. Thanks, Mama."

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