Jed Bailey (jokerandthief) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-02-01 22:14:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 04, holland sharpe, jacklyn baker, jed bailey, | holly and jed, | jack and jed |
Week Four - Tuesday
Characters: Jed, Jack, and Holly.
Location: Nevada State Museum.
Summary: After PJ's death, Holly decides he'd rather be one in the group than an outsider. After consideration, Jed accepts him.
Rating: Light PG-13.
Holly had arrived at the Nevada State Museum around 10 AM Monday morning to find no one there. Half of him had been afraid the meetings weren't going on anymore before he caught sight of a clock out of the corner of his eye and realized it was too early. After wandering around the museum for a while, looking at the old exhibits, Holly returned to the foyer and parked himself just inside the front doors, leaning against a wall as he sat on the floor. It was with great conflict brewing inside of his chest that he kept still, knowing he still had time to run off before anyone got there to see him. This was, after all, the same organization he'd gone to great lengths to discourage, and he probably would have thought up another way to rip them apart had something traumatic not happened in his own life. Now, all he cared about was being safe, and if he had to join some gang in order to do that then so be it.
While waiting, Holly pulled his knees to his chest and folded his arms atop them, completing the picture of despair by resting his forehead atop his arms. His mostly bare legs were dirty because he'd been kneeling on Penny's fresh grave earlier, and his hair was hanging down his back in two long pigtails that had some blood streaks in them, though they weren't very noticeable. His sneakers were probably the worst off, covered in dirt, and the rubber bottoms and sides were stained with red. The worst of it was yet to be uncovered, however, because of how curled up he was in his position.
After what felt like an eternity, he heard the slam of a car door and approaching voices. It wasn't long before the door next to him opened, letting in a puddle of light. There was a pause, and then a familiar voice.
"Looks good," Jed said, walking into the foyer, Jack trailing not far behind. "I'm gonna go get the gear from the bathroom. Why don't you start sweepin' up?"
Jack grumbled about having to do chores but looked around for a good place to stash her backpack. If she had to sweep, she might as well dig out her ipod so she could have some music. It was only because she was looking around that she spotted the figure by the door. Somebody was sitting all scrunched up. Easy to miss, too, because you looked ahead when you walked in a door and not to the side. Still, it was a person.
"Jed!" she called sharply.
Holly's head jerked up at the sound of Jack's voice, his eyebrows lifting up in surprise. He'd probably gone into a state of half-consciousness because he'd thought the footsteps and voices were part of a dream until the louder call. Once he realized that he wasn't alone anymore, he unfolded his body and pushed himself up to stand, revealing his orange shirt was covered in dried blood.
"You're here," he said, sounding relieved. "You have to help me!"
The tone of Jack's voice had Jed lifting his rifle as he turned around, and the first thing he saw over the barrel was the blood. Then he saw the face; it only took him a second to recognize the woman-- man, he corrected himself, he'd caught painting over their signs. His grip relaxed some on the gun, but he didn't lower it. In two quick steps, he put himself between Jack and the newcomer.
"Yeah, I'm here. Didn't think I'd see you here," he said, his eyes taking in the state of him. Despite the blood, he didn't look injured, which meant it was someone else's blood.
The gun made Holly tense, especially as Jed came closer. Okay, okay, he'd totally screwed up coming the the museum. Even though Jed had been nice to him at the first sign, his encounter with Alice probably had gotten back to the others in the museum gang and they probably all hated him. Enough to kill him? That was debatable, but Holly's eyes were on that gun.
He lifted his hands in front of him slowly, not going to grab for his own gun even though he really wanted to. "I -- something happened, and...." Holly's eyes glanced between the gun Jed was holding and the kid behind him. Jack didn't look incredibly young, nor did Holly think it was possible for her to have never seen or heard of death, but seeing her there still gave him pause.
"PJ's dead." He decided to tell all; the kid had probably heard worse. "My friend was murdered. I don't know by who. It was yesterday, and I can't go back there! Who knows if they're still out there? I got a lot of shit, they're going to come after me!"
Jed's stomach gave a painful twist. PJ, dead. He hardly knew her, but it meant one less person out there he felt he could trust. First Alice, now this. Things were getting worse. He lowered the gun, recognizing the kid's rising panic. He almost moved forward to comfort, before remembering the kid was a man. It was too easy to forget that. He scowled uncomfortably but kept the gun down.
"So before you wanted us to fuck off, but now you want our help? How are we supposed to trust you?"
Even though the urge to answer immediately as to why Jed could trust him was definitely there, Holly had no answer. All he knew was that he needed protection, because if Penny could be taken down than he definitely could be with the utmost ease. Not only that, but there was someone out there who wasn't against shooting a pretty blonde (like him) for her stuff. Even if he did hole himself up in the condo, it might not matter. The intruder had broken into Penny's house.
"What do you want me to do?" he finally asked. There were other gangs he could go to (actual real ones), but Jed had been nice to him at first so, despite his hatred of their signs before, he quickly realized it might be in his best interest to avoid the other ones with big men, big guns and mean smiles. There were no kids in those gangs.
Jed let out a breath, considering him a moment. He wished Alice was here. She'd know if they should trust him. Or at least then she wouldn't get mad at him for whatever decision he made, 'cause he could see that happening either way.
On the one hand, he was a man (albeit something of a strange one) who'd threatened Jed before. On the other, he was scared, alone, and the skinniest twig of a person. Whatever he might have said before, Jed couldn't feel threatened by this guy, which made it easy to take a chance.
"Alright," he finally said. "You trust me, I'll trust you. Set that gun down and slide this way, and we're square."
That's about the time Holly's heart started hammering in his chest. Out of all of the possible ways he thought Jed might make him prove his trustworthiness, he hadn't yet gotten to the one where Jed made him give up his gun. It was probably the last thing Holly wanted to do, even though Jed had lowered his gun even before asking for his. Holly knew he could refuse and leave, although that might make Jed shoot him, or he could slide his gun over and surrender. Jed might shoot him anyway, though.
You're so stupid for coming here, he thought to himself as he scrunched his face up and closed his eyes tightly, needing to make a quick decision but not knowing what to do.
It took another couple moments for Holly to go with his gut and reach for his gun slowly, lowering himself to the ground equally as slowly with it in his hand so he could place it on the floor and slide it toward Jed. Something in his mind had told him to come to the museum after Penny's death, so he decided to just go through with it. "I trust you," he whispered, the last word almost inaudible as a lump soared into his throat and made it difficult for him to speak.
Stopping the gun with his foot, Jed bent over. Instead of picking it up, though, he set his rifle right next to it. He nodded at Holly as he stood. "I'm Jed," he said. Normally he'd walk over and hold his fist out in welcome, but there was only so far he was willing to go with a man dressed like a woman. He jerked his head back over his shoulder. "That's Jack. She's one of the kids I told you about before."
"I'm Holly," he said, after gaining back a little composure. His eyes lingered on Jed for a moment, as if looking for some kind of direction, before he looked to Jack. If Jed hadn't used 'she' to refer to Jack, Holly probably would have thought her a little boy (well, he had at first, but only for the one second he'd been thinking about Jack). "Does everyone live together?"
Jack had kept close to Jed the whole time, made nervous about what was obviously blood all over Holly. It was scary what happened to her friend; it seemed to Jack that more and more bad things were happening. "I stay with Jed," she explained, emerging from behind the man. She didn't know if she was allowed to say anything about everyone moving to stay together, so she didn't. "Are you okay? We've got water and I've got some food you can have if you want." Jack usually kept snacks in her backpack and she didn't mind sharing. It must be awful to lose a friend and Jack worried for a moment about making sure Searle and Jed stayed safe.
"No," Holly said sorrowfully as Jack asked if he was okay, "I'm not. It'd be like if Jed here got killed by some mystery person while you were gone and you had no one left in the world." Holly glanced at Jed, frowning at him in a way he hoped was cute and sad. For the moment, he was pretty sure Jed thought he was a woman. "I really need a place to stay. Water would be nice too," he added to Jack, "thanks, sweetie."
As Jack went for the water, Jed frowned in thought. "Holly... That your real name?" he asked. Alice had said he was a man, but maybe she'd been wrong. Sure she didn't have a chest, but he's seen plenty of flat-chested women.
"What do you mean?" The 'cute and sad' frown became a real one at that question, especially because Jed had asked it instead of saying 'yes, of course you can stay with us.'
Good god, why did Alice pick this week to get herself stabbed? "Juss somethin' Alice said, 'bout meeting you. Makes me think you got a diff'rent name," he said cautiously. If he was a woman, he sure as hell didn't want to outright ask. "If you're gonna be comin' with us, we gotta know the whole truth. That's what trust means."
Holly tried to keep as straight a face as possible. Alice had to be the only other museum-affiliated person he'd met with, the tough woman who had put an end to his derogatory graffiti. They hadn't exchanged names, but if Alice was saying things that made Jed question his name, Holly could only guess Alice was a sharp one. "My name's Holly. I know I have a deep voice and I'm flat, but I'm a woman. It's okay, I get it all the time." The decision to lie was risky and he knew it, but he was pretty sure Jed would be warmer to him if he perceived him as female.
He looked down. "I'm sorry I caused you guys so much trouble. I'm scared of what's out there now, but I'll be loyal to you," he said, looking up at Jed hopefully. If he didn't get accepted into this group, he didn't know what he'd do.
"It's okay," Jack told her, handing Holly a bottle of water from the cooler. "Jed always says stuff like that. He asked me the same thing about my name being Jack. You should cut your hair like me; it's easier not being a girl sometimes."
Jed's face was quickly approaching scarlet at this point, but he tried to shrug it off. But boy did he have an 'I told you so' for Alice; and here she'd thought it was funny he thought Holly was a girl. At least Jack seemed to know how to smooth things over. He picked up the guns, handing Holly hers back. "We still got a couple hours here, but you can come back with us. We're stayin' at a hotel right now, but we're movin' to a new one soon. Gettin' everyone centralized," he said, happy he had something official-sounding to say. Looking at Holly, he thought it probably wasn't a good idea for to hang out in a blood-covered shirt all day. "I don't got an extra shirt or nothin', but you could have mine. Ain't like it's chilly out anyway."
Holly was still smiling at Jack telling him he should cut his hair to appear like a boy as she did when Jed invited him to go back to their home base after they remained at the museum for a couple hours. That made Holly brighten even more as he stepped forward to take back his gun, putting it where it belonged in his holster. So Jed just wanted him to surrender temporarily; it seemed he'd made the right chance to come to the museum, after all. It made him feel better to know he was probably in very good hands now, but his heart ached at the same time as he thought of Penny, the cause of his new adventure.
"Really?" Holly asked as Jed volunteered his shirt. He had tons of clothes in the car he'd driven over but just hadn't been in the state of mind to change, but something about the thought of showing up in Jed's shirt when they arrived back at their place made him feel very satisfied. Hopefully Alice also lived there so she could see it. "Thanks, that's nice of you." He offered Jed a smile, then looked over to Jack, gesturing with the same hand in which he held the bottle of water she'd given him. "Want to come with me to the ladies' room?" It wasn't like he was going to change right there in the foyer.
While Jed was alright with handing over his shirt, letting Jack go somewhere with a complete stranger was something else completely. "We got some cleanin' up to do in here," he said, taking his shirt off and handing it over. "But you go ahead and take yer time. There's good sinks in there."
Holly took the hint that Jack wasn't allowed to go with him, and he guessed he should have foreseen it. That 'trust' Jed spoke of wasn't complete, not on Jed's side and not on Holly's, either, but he was warming up to Jed quickly anyway. He took the shirt and folded it over his arm, keeping it away from the one he was wearing even though the blood wouldn't transfer. Holly felt dirty, and honestly, he knew he probably looked like crap. "Be right back," he said, disappearing into the women's bathroom.
Jack watched Holly walk away, then turned to Jed. "Be nice, Jed," she told him, finding the idea that he was going to have no shirt on all day a little weird. "She lost her friend." Holly saying that finding her friend dead was like Jack finding Jed the same way had unnerved her more than a little.
Raising an eyebrow, Jed's mouth quirked in an amused smile. "I am bein' nice. Gave her the shirt off my back; that's as nice as they come." He reached out, giving her arm a squeeze. He'd considered a one-armed hug, but Jack wasn't the only one a little uncomfortable with him going shirtless around her. "That ain't gonna happen to us, alright? We watch out for each other. We're safe."
The thing about Jed being shirtless was that he was taller than her so when she looked up at him, chest was all she could see. Jack tried to ignore it. "Good," she said, raising her chin in her tough expression. "'Cause if something bad happens to you, I'll never speak to you again. I promise I won't."
Jed grinned. "Well, I dunno, the quiet might be nice," he teased, turning her around. "Now go on an' get sweepin'. Don't want Alice comin' back to find out we done the job half-assed."
Holly came out of the bathroom several minutes later to find Jed and Jack hard at work. He was wearing Jed's shirt and his old orange one was nowhere in sight, and he'd also combed through his hair as best he could and gathered it into a low side ponytail. The ends were wet, where he'd scrubbed out the blood, and his legs were free of dirt. Though tired and heavyhearted, Holly did feel refreshed. "What can I do to help?" he asked, watching Jack sweep.
The offer made Jed smile, and it helped that Holly was looking a bit better, if dwarfed by his shirt. "Well, I'm gonna take care of the water and ice, but if you wanna set up a few chairs, that'd be a big help."