Sophinisba Solis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophinisba) wrote2008-06-07 02:24 pm
sophinisba) wrote2008-06-07 02:24 pm
Homecoming part 8 (Conclusion!)
Title: Homecoming (8/8 – Conclusion!!)
Fandom: The Faculty
Pairing: Casey/Zeke
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2248
Summary: Casey and Zeke go back to Herrington for their five year high school reunion.
Notes: Love to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
layne67.
Previous parts: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven.
Zeke's head knocks against something and he's surprised it doesn't split open. When he moves his mouth to swear he tastes blood. When he opens his eyes he's surprised to find himself in the back seat of a car. He hurt so much he thought he must be lying on hard concrete.
If Casey were sitting next to him he'd take his hand, try to say something reassuring. But Casey's in the front seat, arms wrapped around his chest, still shaking. Danielle is driving and Gabe is in the back seat with Zeke, watching him.
"Who hit me?" says Zeke.
"I did," Gabe answers.
No one seems to want to explain any more than that. Zeke closes his eyes.
When they get to the house Gabe has to help him out of the car. He starts toward the door leaning on Gabe, but Casey purposefully walks with them, lets Zeke put his other arm around him. Casey digs into Zeke's pants pocket for the house key and lets them in. Casey pulls the plastic off the living room couch and they help him lie down. Then there's some quiet arguing that Zeke doesn't really understand. He drifts for a few more minutes.
"Here," Casey says. Zeke doesn't open his eyes, but he guesses Casey's kneeling by the couch. He puts an ice pack in Zeke's hand and brings it up to his cheek and eye. "Hold it there."
"Are they gone yet?" Zeke asks.
"Who, the aliens?"
Zeke grimaces. "Gabe and what's-her-name."
"No, they're still here. You might have more of a chance of convincing them it's safe to leave than I could."
"Okay." He opens the eye that's not covered and sees them standing a few feet behind Casey. "Are you here to make sure I don't try to hurt Casey?"
"Yes," says Danielle.
Zeke doesn't know what to say. He could apologize to Casey and to them, could try promising that he's over it, that even if he did still think Casey was an alien he wouldn't be up to moving anymore. Instead he just says, "Thank you. Thanks for helping him out."
Casey turns his head to watch them, and Gabe whispers something in Danielle's ear. After a few more second she nods.
"You got our numbers?" Gabe asks Casey.
"Yeah."
"Okay. Anything at all, I mean it."
"Even if he's not doing anything, Casey," Danielle adds. "Even if it's just a bad feeling."
"Okay," says Casey. "I'll call you tomorrow anyway, just to check in. Thank you."
"Sure." Gabe turns around with a little shrug while Danielle keeps watching them, less sure about leaving. He tugs a little at her hand and they go.
"What was that about?" Zeke asks.
"Well, I spent half the evening convincing them you're actually fun to be around most of the time. Then I got to try to convince them you're not abusive."
"Abusive? Hey, who's the one with the black eye here?"
"Which might have been easier," Casey continues, as if Zeke hadn't said anything, "if I weren't raving myself."
"Nice of them to be concerned. Does Danielle know what Gabe used to do to you?"
Casey shrugs. "I think she has some idea, yeah."
"That doesn't scare her?"
"I don't think she gets scared easily. You'd have a better idea if you'd spent some more time with them tonight."
"Yeah." Zeke closes his eyes. "God, I'm so fucking embarrassed."
"Hey, look on the bright side."
"Yeah?"
"I think we managed to cause a scandal after all."
He'd like to open his eyes and see the grin he knows Casey's wearing, but it hurts too much.
"Mission accomplished then. I'm sorry, Case."
"Go to sleep, man. We'll talk about it later."
Zeke does his best. He imagines himself a mask for anesthesia and counts backward from a hundred in time to the pain pulsing in his head.
Zeke wakes himself up saying Casey's name, and Casey walks in from the bathroom, looking mostly like a black silhouette. The sun isn't up yet and the only light is coming from behind him, and Zeke's vision isn't the greatest.
"I looked through the medicine cabinet," Casey says. "There's Advil and Aleve, and you're mom's got a prescription bottle of Vicodin."
Zeke shakes he head. "I don't think I deserve to feel better."
"Oh, shut up."
"Any anti-psychotic drugs in my mom's collection?"
"I think we just have to wait for the other one to wear off." He paces a couple times around the living room. "Don't tell the others, but, earlier? After you made me take the hit and you were trying to grab me again? I'm pretty sure I saw you with tentacles."
Zeke closes his eyes and sighs quietly. "Who'm I gonna tell?"
"Good point. Here." Casey hands him a glass of water and two pills – Zeke isn't sure which. He swallows them. "Drink the rest of that too, and then go back to sleep." Casey says, and heads back to the bathroom.
As Zeke's drinking the water he realizes he has to piss, which is a shame, because he'd rather not get up ever again. He hears the toilet flush and the urge to use it himself gets stronger. Zeke groans as he makes himself sit up on the couch. Weird that Casey didn't shut the door.
It takes Zeke a minute to get across the room without falling over. When he makes it to the bathroom, blinking in the brighter light, he finds Casey sitting on the floor, calmly emptying tubes full of white powder into the toilet.
"What are you doing?"
Casey just rolls his eyes and goes on with his task. Yeah, okay, pretty stupid question, considering.
"Casey, stop it."
Casey ignores him and Zeke has an urge to stop him physically, which he thinks he could still do, even in the shape he's in. But he's done pushing Casey around.
"I have to piss," Zeke says.
"Fine, I'm almost finished." And he is. Zeke watches him dispose of the last of it. Last hope, last defense, whatever. Zeke just watches.
When he comes out Casey's sitting on the couch. Zeke goes to sit next to him.
"I'm thinking," Casey says, "when we get back to New York, we get rid of the stuff we have there too. Those things are more trouble than they're worth. Carrying them around just keeps us scared."
Zeke shakes his head. "It didn't work out the way it was supposed to this time, and maybe I need to make new stuff, but you never know –"
"The aliens aren't coming back, Zeke. You know how all this time we've been carrying pens around, for your peace of mind? I figured out last night that was really not the best thing for your peace of mind. We need to stop thinking about it all the time."
"Next thing I know you'll be saying it never happened in the first place. That it was just the drugs."
"No," Casey said simply. The adults in Casey's life had started with that explanation while the invasion was still happening and they'd never stopped, but Casey had never gone along, never given in. "No I won't."
Zeke thinks he'd do better at this conversation if he weren't exhausted and in pain and on several drugs that he doesn't know a lot about. On the other hand, it doesn't seem right to back away. And he's feeling wired again, knows he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep if he tried.
"How come you didn't believe me?"
"What?"
"In the middle of it, when I told you I saw them, you were so sure I was crazy or on drugs or something."
"Well, you were."
"Right, I know, but I'm asking –"
"Um, I didn't think about it so much at the time, but…two things, I guess. One of them is that I killed it, the other time. And I still get scared, yeah, when I'm asleep or when I'm not thinking straight. But I killed her and I felt it. I know Marybeth's not coming back."
Zeke doesn't shrug because he doesn't want to seem uncaring and he doesn't want to move, but he's not convinced. He was the one who killed Furlong the first time, so how he was scared of him tonight?
"What else?"
"Um, well, like I said, not a lot of time to think about it then, but…when you said you'd stick it in my eye if I didn't cooperate?"
"That was just to scare you," Zeke says quickly, his face flushing hot with the shame of the memory.
"Right, but. Just taking it like I did, if I'd been…if you'd been right, that would have killed me. I don't think you would have taken that chance if you were thinking straight.
Zeke thinks about that for a while and then nods. "That's what I told her," he says.
"Who?"
"Marybeth." Zeke realizes he still hasn't explained exactly what happened and he takes the time to do so now, being sure to include all the times when he recognized for himself it must not be real. As if that'll win him back some points.
Casey listens when Zeke tells him how Marybeth tried to get him to turn against him, groans ("Like I haven't heard that one before!") on the line about his eyes being alien, laughs out loud over Zeke saying he'd trust Casey Connor if aliens took over the rest of the world.
"You could've gotten her sooner if you hadn't taken the time to defend my honor."
"Yeah," Zeke says, and his mouth feels dry, "I think I've had enough could'ves and should'ves for tonight."
Casey laughs again. "It's morning now," he says, nodding toward the window and the cool pale light, "but I agree with the sentiment." He squeezes Zeke's hand and gets up to make breakfast.
Later he talks to Gabe and Danielle on the phone, thanks them for their help last night and calmly assures them that everything's fine, yes, and they're still leaving this afternoon. No, no reason to come back and check on them. He calls Stan and then his mom and makes similar reassurances, and Zeke's feeling a little lonely on the couch, wondering if Casey's going to call Delilah next or maybe try to track down Stokely in Portland, but he finally quits them and comes back to sit with him again.
"About could'ves and should'ves…" Zeke says.
"Yeah?"
"I think even if I stay away from the scat, Marybeth and Furlong and a bunch of other ghosts are gonna keep hounding me until I…"
"What?"
"I'm sorry."
"Okay. You should be, but I get it. You were on drugs and –"
"I'm sorry about before. I'm sorry about when we were in school, before the aliens, and I liked you, even if I didn't really understand it that way then, and people were hurting you, and I could have helped you, lots of times, and I didn't. And that really, really sucks, and I'm sorry."
Casey stares at him for what feels like an hour and then says, "You don't think I forgave you for that a long time ago?"
"I guess you must have, to be willing to hang out with me. But I never really said, so. There."
"'So there,'" Casey repeats, smirking. "Not the best conclusion for an apology I've ever heard."
"Yeah, well, I'm sort of new at this."
Casey nods. "It's a really good start. I know you mean it and…I meant what I said too. You're already forgiven, but it means a lot to hear you say it. Thank you."
Zeke doesn't know what to say to that, so he nods, and his head hurts. He has the urge to kiss Casey but isn't sure if he's that completely forgiven that it's up to him right now.
"I hope that means the ghosts will leave you alone from now on," Casey says. "But we're still getting rid of the rest of the scat."
"Yeah, well, we can talk about that when we get back to New York."
"I guess we still have a lot to talk about."
It's more serious conversation than Zeke's had for a long time and Zeke thinks he should try to cut it off at this point, but something in Casey's tone brings back yet another horrible thought and he blurts out, "You don't wanna have kids, do you?"
"What?"
"Okay, thanks. Just something that occurred to me last night. Never mind."
"Are you – is that what put you in such a bad mood? Should I avoid playing with babies if I don't want you to attack me from now on?"
"I said never mind!"
But Casey's laughing hysterically, overcome and unembarrassed and laughing as only Casey can (he'd be acting exactly the same if they were surrounded by strangers or former classmates) and then Zeke forgets to worry about how many points he's gained or lost, just reaches for the guy and pulls him into a kiss, and somehow Casey's kissing back and still laughing at the same time, and it's everything Zeke wants. Even though his face still hurts.
"We don't have to talk about that when we get back to New York," Casey says finally. "Not for a long, long time, anyway."
"Okay," says Zeke.
"No babies, no ghosts, no aliens, no bio teachers, no football players…"
"Just you and me."
"Please."
"Okay."
series tag | fic index
Fandom: The Faculty
Pairing: Casey/Zeke
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2248
Summary: Casey and Zeke go back to Herrington for their five year high school reunion.
Notes: Love to
layne67.Previous parts: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven.
Zeke's head knocks against something and he's surprised it doesn't split open. When he moves his mouth to swear he tastes blood. When he opens his eyes he's surprised to find himself in the back seat of a car. He hurt so much he thought he must be lying on hard concrete.
If Casey were sitting next to him he'd take his hand, try to say something reassuring. But Casey's in the front seat, arms wrapped around his chest, still shaking. Danielle is driving and Gabe is in the back seat with Zeke, watching him.
"Who hit me?" says Zeke.
"I did," Gabe answers.
No one seems to want to explain any more than that. Zeke closes his eyes.
When they get to the house Gabe has to help him out of the car. He starts toward the door leaning on Gabe, but Casey purposefully walks with them, lets Zeke put his other arm around him. Casey digs into Zeke's pants pocket for the house key and lets them in. Casey pulls the plastic off the living room couch and they help him lie down. Then there's some quiet arguing that Zeke doesn't really understand. He drifts for a few more minutes.
"Here," Casey says. Zeke doesn't open his eyes, but he guesses Casey's kneeling by the couch. He puts an ice pack in Zeke's hand and brings it up to his cheek and eye. "Hold it there."
"Are they gone yet?" Zeke asks.
"Who, the aliens?"
Zeke grimaces. "Gabe and what's-her-name."
"No, they're still here. You might have more of a chance of convincing them it's safe to leave than I could."
"Okay." He opens the eye that's not covered and sees them standing a few feet behind Casey. "Are you here to make sure I don't try to hurt Casey?"
"Yes," says Danielle.
Zeke doesn't know what to say. He could apologize to Casey and to them, could try promising that he's over it, that even if he did still think Casey was an alien he wouldn't be up to moving anymore. Instead he just says, "Thank you. Thanks for helping him out."
Casey turns his head to watch them, and Gabe whispers something in Danielle's ear. After a few more second she nods.
"You got our numbers?" Gabe asks Casey.
"Yeah."
"Okay. Anything at all, I mean it."
"Even if he's not doing anything, Casey," Danielle adds. "Even if it's just a bad feeling."
"Okay," says Casey. "I'll call you tomorrow anyway, just to check in. Thank you."
"Sure." Gabe turns around with a little shrug while Danielle keeps watching them, less sure about leaving. He tugs a little at her hand and they go.
"What was that about?" Zeke asks.
"Well, I spent half the evening convincing them you're actually fun to be around most of the time. Then I got to try to convince them you're not abusive."
"Abusive? Hey, who's the one with the black eye here?"
"Which might have been easier," Casey continues, as if Zeke hadn't said anything, "if I weren't raving myself."
"Nice of them to be concerned. Does Danielle know what Gabe used to do to you?"
Casey shrugs. "I think she has some idea, yeah."
"That doesn't scare her?"
"I don't think she gets scared easily. You'd have a better idea if you'd spent some more time with them tonight."
"Yeah." Zeke closes his eyes. "God, I'm so fucking embarrassed."
"Hey, look on the bright side."
"Yeah?"
"I think we managed to cause a scandal after all."
He'd like to open his eyes and see the grin he knows Casey's wearing, but it hurts too much.
"Mission accomplished then. I'm sorry, Case."
"Go to sleep, man. We'll talk about it later."
Zeke does his best. He imagines himself a mask for anesthesia and counts backward from a hundred in time to the pain pulsing in his head.
Zeke wakes himself up saying Casey's name, and Casey walks in from the bathroom, looking mostly like a black silhouette. The sun isn't up yet and the only light is coming from behind him, and Zeke's vision isn't the greatest.
"I looked through the medicine cabinet," Casey says. "There's Advil and Aleve, and you're mom's got a prescription bottle of Vicodin."
Zeke shakes he head. "I don't think I deserve to feel better."
"Oh, shut up."
"Any anti-psychotic drugs in my mom's collection?"
"I think we just have to wait for the other one to wear off." He paces a couple times around the living room. "Don't tell the others, but, earlier? After you made me take the hit and you were trying to grab me again? I'm pretty sure I saw you with tentacles."
Zeke closes his eyes and sighs quietly. "Who'm I gonna tell?"
"Good point. Here." Casey hands him a glass of water and two pills – Zeke isn't sure which. He swallows them. "Drink the rest of that too, and then go back to sleep." Casey says, and heads back to the bathroom.
As Zeke's drinking the water he realizes he has to piss, which is a shame, because he'd rather not get up ever again. He hears the toilet flush and the urge to use it himself gets stronger. Zeke groans as he makes himself sit up on the couch. Weird that Casey didn't shut the door.
It takes Zeke a minute to get across the room without falling over. When he makes it to the bathroom, blinking in the brighter light, he finds Casey sitting on the floor, calmly emptying tubes full of white powder into the toilet.
"What are you doing?"
Casey just rolls his eyes and goes on with his task. Yeah, okay, pretty stupid question, considering.
"Casey, stop it."
Casey ignores him and Zeke has an urge to stop him physically, which he thinks he could still do, even in the shape he's in. But he's done pushing Casey around.
"I have to piss," Zeke says.
"Fine, I'm almost finished." And he is. Zeke watches him dispose of the last of it. Last hope, last defense, whatever. Zeke just watches.
When he comes out Casey's sitting on the couch. Zeke goes to sit next to him.
"I'm thinking," Casey says, "when we get back to New York, we get rid of the stuff we have there too. Those things are more trouble than they're worth. Carrying them around just keeps us scared."
Zeke shakes his head. "It didn't work out the way it was supposed to this time, and maybe I need to make new stuff, but you never know –"
"The aliens aren't coming back, Zeke. You know how all this time we've been carrying pens around, for your peace of mind? I figured out last night that was really not the best thing for your peace of mind. We need to stop thinking about it all the time."
"Next thing I know you'll be saying it never happened in the first place. That it was just the drugs."
"No," Casey said simply. The adults in Casey's life had started with that explanation while the invasion was still happening and they'd never stopped, but Casey had never gone along, never given in. "No I won't."
Zeke thinks he'd do better at this conversation if he weren't exhausted and in pain and on several drugs that he doesn't know a lot about. On the other hand, it doesn't seem right to back away. And he's feeling wired again, knows he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep if he tried.
"How come you didn't believe me?"
"What?"
"In the middle of it, when I told you I saw them, you were so sure I was crazy or on drugs or something."
"Well, you were."
"Right, I know, but I'm asking –"
"Um, I didn't think about it so much at the time, but…two things, I guess. One of them is that I killed it, the other time. And I still get scared, yeah, when I'm asleep or when I'm not thinking straight. But I killed her and I felt it. I know Marybeth's not coming back."
Zeke doesn't shrug because he doesn't want to seem uncaring and he doesn't want to move, but he's not convinced. He was the one who killed Furlong the first time, so how he was scared of him tonight?
"What else?"
"Um, well, like I said, not a lot of time to think about it then, but…when you said you'd stick it in my eye if I didn't cooperate?"
"That was just to scare you," Zeke says quickly, his face flushing hot with the shame of the memory.
"Right, but. Just taking it like I did, if I'd been…if you'd been right, that would have killed me. I don't think you would have taken that chance if you were thinking straight.
Zeke thinks about that for a while and then nods. "That's what I told her," he says.
"Who?"
"Marybeth." Zeke realizes he still hasn't explained exactly what happened and he takes the time to do so now, being sure to include all the times when he recognized for himself it must not be real. As if that'll win him back some points.
Casey listens when Zeke tells him how Marybeth tried to get him to turn against him, groans ("Like I haven't heard that one before!") on the line about his eyes being alien, laughs out loud over Zeke saying he'd trust Casey Connor if aliens took over the rest of the world.
"You could've gotten her sooner if you hadn't taken the time to defend my honor."
"Yeah," Zeke says, and his mouth feels dry, "I think I've had enough could'ves and should'ves for tonight."
Casey laughs again. "It's morning now," he says, nodding toward the window and the cool pale light, "but I agree with the sentiment." He squeezes Zeke's hand and gets up to make breakfast.
Later he talks to Gabe and Danielle on the phone, thanks them for their help last night and calmly assures them that everything's fine, yes, and they're still leaving this afternoon. No, no reason to come back and check on them. He calls Stan and then his mom and makes similar reassurances, and Zeke's feeling a little lonely on the couch, wondering if Casey's going to call Delilah next or maybe try to track down Stokely in Portland, but he finally quits them and comes back to sit with him again.
"About could'ves and should'ves…" Zeke says.
"Yeah?"
"I think even if I stay away from the scat, Marybeth and Furlong and a bunch of other ghosts are gonna keep hounding me until I…"
"What?"
"I'm sorry."
"Okay. You should be, but I get it. You were on drugs and –"
"I'm sorry about before. I'm sorry about when we were in school, before the aliens, and I liked you, even if I didn't really understand it that way then, and people were hurting you, and I could have helped you, lots of times, and I didn't. And that really, really sucks, and I'm sorry."
Casey stares at him for what feels like an hour and then says, "You don't think I forgave you for that a long time ago?"
"I guess you must have, to be willing to hang out with me. But I never really said, so. There."
"'So there,'" Casey repeats, smirking. "Not the best conclusion for an apology I've ever heard."
"Yeah, well, I'm sort of new at this."
Casey nods. "It's a really good start. I know you mean it and…I meant what I said too. You're already forgiven, but it means a lot to hear you say it. Thank you."
Zeke doesn't know what to say to that, so he nods, and his head hurts. He has the urge to kiss Casey but isn't sure if he's that completely forgiven that it's up to him right now.
"I hope that means the ghosts will leave you alone from now on," Casey says. "But we're still getting rid of the rest of the scat."
"Yeah, well, we can talk about that when we get back to New York."
"I guess we still have a lot to talk about."
It's more serious conversation than Zeke's had for a long time and Zeke thinks he should try to cut it off at this point, but something in Casey's tone brings back yet another horrible thought and he blurts out, "You don't wanna have kids, do you?"
"What?"
"Okay, thanks. Just something that occurred to me last night. Never mind."
"Are you – is that what put you in such a bad mood? Should I avoid playing with babies if I don't want you to attack me from now on?"
"I said never mind!"
But Casey's laughing hysterically, overcome and unembarrassed and laughing as only Casey can (he'd be acting exactly the same if they were surrounded by strangers or former classmates) and then Zeke forgets to worry about how many points he's gained or lost, just reaches for the guy and pulls him into a kiss, and somehow Casey's kissing back and still laughing at the same time, and it's everything Zeke wants. Even though his face still hurts.
"We don't have to talk about that when we get back to New York," Casey says finally. "Not for a long, long time, anyway."
"Okay," says Zeke.
"No babies, no ghosts, no aliens, no bio teachers, no football players…"
"Just you and me."
"Please."
"Okay."
series tag | fic index
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And of course Casey forgives him - again. But what an intense time you put them through. Phew!
So glad you decided to write some more. *hugs*
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This was a really interesting journey of discovery for both of them and a good study of the kind of lingering fears and paranoia left after a traumatic experience (or school experience or upbringing). How fitting that it's Casey who puts it all in perspective and 'saves the day'. Zeke's a great champion but it's clear-eyed Casey who always sees what's really going on.
I enjoyed all the parts of this. Thank you very much!
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I'm so glad I was able to read it all in one go - it was so much like a good book that I couldn't put down and you threw in some really interesting twists that had me on the edge of my seat!! And what a wonderful ending - from the darkness into the light. And what a light Casey is!! I'm so glad Zeke came through that with Casey's help - and I love how Casey laughing and kissing him is just what he needs.
This is absolutely wonderful!!
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Thank you for the best ending ever. I was half-afraid that you're going to leave us with a twist or something, like Zeke himself was an alien, or Casey. When Zeke went to the bathroom to piss and Casey was there, I was like, oh no, he was going to find Casey in there drinking and drinking from the tap water.
This had been awesomely written, Sophi, and I really, really love reading it. It's perfect ♥
ps though I really don't mind if they were to adopt a baby some time in the future ...
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Zeke needs forgiveness ... sweet Casey. Of course he forgives him.
Just perfect, hon. You did a great job! Thank you for sharing!
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I just finished reading this all in one sitting. It was not at all what I was expecting from the way it began, I love the effect the scat had on the guys. You really had me going, wondering just what would happen. There for a minute I really thought it was possible for Casey to be an alien!
I'm glad they were both able to put their ghosts to rest. Great story.
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