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Tweak says, "SUGAR RUSH!!!"

_eliot_spencer (_eliot_spencer) wrote in omega_reality,
@ 2013-02-04 09:22:00

Entry tags:

*complete, 2013 02, character: april kepner, character: eliot spencer, dead: nathan ford

RP: Eliot/April/Nate
Who: Eliot/April/Nate
When: Monday 2-4-13
Where: The apartment
Summary: Right after Vance departs.

Eliot was angry. Angry at Vance. Angry at himself. Angry with Nate and April. Once Vance and the others had left, Eliot lashed out in his anger at his family. "Let's hunt a serial killer. Let's call Vance," he said snidely. "All I try to do is protect you both, and what do I get for it? Threatened with death, kicked out of my home, and completely failing in safeguarding you. I wanted to give us a life and freedom, and blew it."

He ground his teeth. He needed to go outside and cool off. But first, there were things to attend. "April, call work tomorrow and tell them the doctor put you on bed rest, so you have to resign. Tell them I'll pick up your final paycheck as soon as it's ready. You can tell our friends that we're in witness protection and being relocated, or tell them nothing. It doesn't really matter.

"Nate, get out of your job however you want. I'm not going to leave John and Billie high and dry, so I'll give notice and stick around longer if need be. We have to get out of our lease, get our deposit back, get a moving truck, sell the car, and sterilize the house. We're also going to take advantage of these IDs while we still got them and amass some quick cash. Nate and I will take care of that, and Nate, you'll have to set up a P.O. Box outside the area for it. Use the rental ID for the moving truck. We'll buy a new car with the new ID whenever we get to wherever we're going. April, you get to handle picking our new location."

Eliot snapped for Cody. "I'm taking the dog out in the yard. I'll be back in as soon as I stop wanting to kill someone."

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nate_ford
2013-02-04 06:57 pm UTC (link)

Nate felt incredibly guilty, he knew this was all his fault, his desire to do something to be something. He had almost, almost, asked to come back with Vance and the others. In a way it was easier. He'd be busy, he'd have a purpose - even if it was one he wasn't too fond of - but one where he felt in some way needed. There was also the chance of returning to the dimension which held the one person in the world, in any world, who could help him cope. However, even if they did find the right dimension to return to, chances were high he'd never see Sophie again. In a way he knew he wouldn't. When they returned it would be the same life, the same prison, as they had here - and returning meant never seeing Eliot again, never being in contact with him again.

He was too selfish a man to give up the one family he did have, even if their predicament were caused by his restlessness.

"Don't be angry with April," Nate said. "She's done nothing to deserve it. If we'd done what she told us to in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess. I got both of you into this, and all three of us know it."

He didn't worry too much about his job, he truly didn't care about it. He disliked this life with a passion, and the only reason he stayed was Eliot. He now knew that wasn't an option either. He'd help them get to wherever they decided and help them get settled and prepare for Eve's birth, but once that was done, he needed to find his own way - and more importantly, to stay out of theirs.

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april_kepner
2013-02-04 07:40 pm UTC (link)

"I could have kept saying no," April said, though her mind was on another part of their meeting.

It had been so easy to say no, to refuse to return, but she was also the only one of the three of them who truly understood the choice they'd just made. To never have access to medical treatment, ever, if they needed it, if Eve needed it. It was a gamble she couldn't help but to question. Were they too selfish? Were they gambling with Eve's life and welfare? She would have needed time, time to think, time to discuss the full implication of what they were doing - but Vance had never been one to give people time to think and discuss and the threatening situation and the people involved had been more than enough to push her into a decision.

Now was not the time for doubts however. The decision was made and doubts would only make their situation worse. Right now she needed to help her husband cope, and make sure Nate was given something to focus on until they were safely away.

She put a hand on Nate's arm. "Help me organize the packing," she said, before going to Eliot. "Take your time, try not beating up any trees," she told him softly, trying to give him the calm she didn't truly feel herself. She knew her husband, knew what he needed, but what she wanted was for him to tell her everything was going to be okay. For now though, her needs would have to wait. Talking wouldn't help when Eliot was this upset.

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_eliot_spencer
2013-02-04 09:03 pm UTC (link)

Cody had a blast romping in the snow while Eliot cooled down, both figuratively and literally. It was freezing outside. Eliot's nose and cheeks were ruddy from the cold when he came back inside. He toweled off Cody before setting him free in the house and then went upstairs to visit Nate after checking for his location.

"Hey," Eliot said, not paying mind to the bottle Nate had near him. Eliot was going to kill off a few beers before the night was out. "I'll forward you our information for the credit card scam. Get as many as you can online and get them delivered to that P.O. Box when you set it up. We'll spread around to get the cash available within two months after we get them and then drop them.

"I also wanted us to go to Merrillville on Wednesday. We'll hit the jewelry stores and big box electronic stores to get merchandize on credit that we can sell later. We'll need a separate hauling truck for it. For the electronics, we can use setting up a new office as the con."

Eliot went on. "I'm going to try to get April to do a furniture run on credit, also. May as well get the good stuff. I don't think we could hit up a loan at the bank in enough time, but if you can finagle it safely, do it. I still have to work tomorrow until two, so I'll rely on you to get things in the works. I want you and April gone by Thursday evening no matter what; I'll sleep in the second truck if I need to stick around through the weekend."

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nate_ford
2013-02-04 09:26 pm UTC (link)

Having helped April for a while, Nate took his refuge to the bottle upstairs. He knew it was probably a bad idea, but right now he didn't care. He was already well and truly drunk when Eliot arrived, but didn't even try to hide it. He'd always managed to think while drunk, however, and this was no exception.

When Eliot stopped talking, he took his time tasting his whiskey before he spoke. "What happened to the honest life and not endangering Eve and April?" he then asked, leaning forwards and putting his elbows on his knees. "The other day, you were done. Out of it. Now you want to run a credit scam and steal everything from jewellery to electronics in order to haul and sell for cash, while knowing that April wouldn't approve and Vance might possibly kill you if he finds out?"

"Why? I mean cash, fine, but you have enough to get by, so why?"

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_eliot_spencer
2013-02-04 09:40 pm UTC (link)

"Because if Vance going to make us startover again, I'm going to get us the cash we need to buy that ranch, or better, to get our own documents. It'll be six to eight months before collections even gets involved and even then its all letters and lawsuits and eventual write offs. There aren't any face-to-face type things involved," Eliot said. "I'm sick of Vance playing God with our lives."

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nate_ford
2013-02-04 10:05 pm UTC (link)

Nate shook his head. "Even disregarding the part where you steal from normal, hard working people just trying to make a living, knowing that their insurance companies will most likely to anything to stop the claims, I still don't think you've thought this trough enough."

"First, if you suddenly have enough money to buy that farm, April will be asking questions. She's not stupid, and you know she'll disapprove, more than disapprove. She nearly kicked you out for going to Chicago, what do you think she'll do if you start stealing?"

"Second, you know Vance will be keeping an eye on us from now on and the threat he made was real. If he was ready to force us back, or even kill us, for finding a serial killer, what do you think he'll do if he even remotely suspects that we've become the criminals? New papers won't stop him from finding us, he has our photos - or he wouldn't have been able to create those papers for us in advance. Unless you want to live off radar, on the run, never stopping, never getting that ranch, never using a photo id again, I wouldn't even think about it."

He sighed, forcing himself to get up from the sofa. "I know this was my mess, and if I could do it over I would. I'm not a man to apologise, but for this, I truly am sorry. If I'd thought it would make any difference, I would have offered to go back with Vance. I almost did, but then I realised it wouldn't have changed anything. He had made up his mind before getting here, the fact that he had the papers already made up is proof of that."

"April can't live on the run, she's not happy unless she has a community and yesterday, neither was you. Go back down, talk to your wife, calm down and get started on moving."

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_eliot_spencer
2013-02-04 10:15 pm UTC (link)

"Fine. Don't bother with anything. I'll see myself out." Eliot was pissed off again. Vance had threatened to kill them ever since they arrived in this dimension. Money would get them out from under his thumb permanently and nothing else.

Eliot slammed the door shut behind him and returned to the downstairs apartment. He left his wet boots by the door and got himself a beer. He drank most of it down before finding April. "Don't tire yourself out. We don't have to go until Thursday."

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april_kepner
2013-02-05 08:39 pm UTC (link)

If Eliot had been pissed off when he went upstairs, things were worse when he returned. Even when he left Nate's she could hear from the sound of his feet and the slamming of the door that things hadn't gone well, but when he returned to their apartment she waited, knowing better than to push.

"I'm not," she said, looking up from where she sat packing. "I know it's not what we wanted, but we'll make it through this. We always knew this could happen." Well maybe not this as much as them leaving.

"Help me up?" she said, reaching for him. Once up, she took his hand and brought him over to the couch. "I was thinking about Kentucky," she said, gesturing towards the screen on the computer where the pictures of a beautiful horse ranch were opened. "It's a out of our price range now, but not by all that much. It's not that far off."

"We'll still have our dream, Eliot. It just won't be here." She might hate this, but right now, her husband needed some hope back.

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_eliot_spencer
2013-02-05 09:11 pm UTC (link)

Eliot snorted. "It won't be anywhere with Vance pulling the strings, and since Nate decided that we can't make our own way we're stuck as that man's marionettes."

He leaned closer to the computer, taking another swig of beer as he looked at the sites. "We should get out of the states. No US government to worry about, clinics instead of hospitals, better chance for isolation. Mexico's easy to get into and stay." They could even live under their own real married names. Sure, they couldn't get back with nothing more than drivers licenses, but why would they want to return?

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april_kepner
2013-02-05 09:20 pm UTC (link)

She took Eliot's face in her hands, making her look at her. "He left us alone this long, didn't he? It was what we did that brought him here, and now he'd said flat out that he wants nothing more to do with us as long as we don't do something like that again. We live the way we did, the way we want to live - the way you told me the other day that you want to live, then he won't bother us again."

"Besides, I don't speak Spanish, remember?" she added with a small smile. "I want to live somewhere I can make myself understood. Somewhere I can be a part of a community. Not have Eve at some clinic with doctors speaking a language I don't know with medical training I have no clue about."

"We can't go to the hospital, but we can manage her birth at home. It will be safer anyway. We don't know what she might do when born."

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	_eliot_spencer 2013-02-05 09:26 pm UTC (link)
	"I speak Spanish," Eliot grumbled, though she was right about the questionableness of the doctors in some of the more remote locations. Vance upending their lives was really eating up Eliot, more so than it should considering they could have to leave at any moment because of an attack. He told April the same, adding, "I don't know why, but I hate it." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

april_kepner
2013-02-05 09:36 pm UTC (link)

"Because you never liked him and you thought you were free of him," she said. "Because you haven't been happy or felt appreciated or in control since arriving in this dimension until now. Because on some level you blame him and the other leads for not allowing you to protect Parker and Hardison. Because for the first time you were running your own life, in stead of following orders. Because for the first time you were doing what you wanted to do, living the life you wanted to live, being the person you wanted to be. You feel he's taken all of that from you, but he hasn't. He can't. He can drive us away from here, but he can't change who you are. He can't change who you want to be. Only you can do that."

She smiled at him. "Knowing you might have to leave, and actually being forced to, they're two different things. You might have known it here," she said brushing his hair from his face, before moving her hand down to his chest. "But you didn't know it here. You have settled into this community as much as I have, and we might call it covers, but we both know that's not entirely true."

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	_eliot_spencer 2013-02-05 09:42 pm UTC (link)
	Eliot grunted at her. She could read and interpret him so well it was scary. It was a good thing he married her. "So... Kentucky? Nate's gonna hate it. They have some dry counties there." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

april_kepner
2013-02-05 09:54 pm UTC (link)

"Kentucky," she confirmed. "And I'm sure we can pick one of those dry counties too. It will be good for him whether he likes it or not." And them. She liked Nate, she really did. He was caring and smart and intellectual - at least when he was sober. His drinking, his melancholy and his restlessness wasn't just hard to cope with but put hem in danger. In her mind the less Nate was able to drink, the better off they all were.

"Come on, help me find one of those dry counties, and we can start looking for rentals and jobs. And I know we don't need to be out of here before Thursday, but the sooner we can leave the better. We'll start over, and this time we won't make the same mistake."

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