Sunnydale AU: redux

[americas_son]

The day after Sherlock's phone call, Cal gets up early to stop by the Stark residence as promised.

He pulls into the driveway in the car Tony gave him - the only car he drives now - and sits there for a moment after he kills the engine. He takes a slow, steadying breath, hands still on the wheel.

He willingly volunteered for this, but he's not looking forward to it.

(Behind him, a security vehicle pulls into place. Peter doesn't usually send bodyguards with Cal to the Stark residence, but this morning he's sending a message, discreet but clear, that Cal is under protection at all times.)

After a couple moments, he gets out and heads for the door.

Comments

[toblameforit]

"Yep."

That is to say, since when does he carry anything to school?

"See you later, Obie. We can catch up when I get home tonight."

[poeticterms]

There is nothing more wrong with Obadiah's smile than usual.

That doesn't really help.

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Nor does the fact that he's still kind of standing in the doorway, at least enough to be in Cal's way from the angle he's at.

[poeticterms]

"Oh, am I in your way? Sorry about that."

Now there is something more wrong than usual. Just for the briefest of moments.

[toblameforit]

Tony rolls his eyes.

"Quit being a walking traffic jam," he says, but by the time he's finished speaking Obie has already stepped inside.

—And then he snaps his fingers.

"Dammit, Sherry's not here. I gotta clean up the science experiment in the kitchen. I'll be back in a sec."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"Okay," Cal says. "You know what, take your time, I'll go have a cigarette."

Never mind that he was suggesting they hurry a moment ago. That wasn't really for his own benefit.

Instead of going out front, where Connolly is, he cuts through the house to the back door. The initial lurch of seeing Stane for the first time since New York has faded; he has a feeling he won't be out there alone for long, and he'd like to set a couple ground rules.

Outside, he lights a cigarette and waits.

[poeticterms]

He is not, indeed, out there alone for long.

"I hope your bodyguard isn't worried."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal finishes drawing from his cigarette before he answers, smoke trickling from his mouth with each word.

"I don't see any reason why he should be."

[poeticterms]

"Oh, I know. To get any safer than Tony's house you'd have to visit Cheyenne Mountain. I don't know why I still worry about him."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"Neither do I," Cal says. "Like I said before, he can take care of himself."

He slips a pack of American Spirits from his pocket and holds it out.

"Want one?"

It's a deliberate gesture. This isn't like before, when he couldn't wait to get away. Now he doesn't care how long they're both here; cares so little, in fact, that he's even offering up an excuse for Stane to stick around.

He's not scared this time.

[poeticterms]

"No, thank you."

Out here, away from Tony, Obadiah is less cautious. He smiles politely and says, "Maybe it's not Tony I'm worried about."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal shrugs and puts the pack away.

"No?"

[poeticterms]

"Sherlock is such a troubled boy. It's good of you to be there for him."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Last time, the remarks about Sherlock, with their veiled threats and hidden implications about Cal and Sherlock, made his blood run cold.

Now, with that party a hundred years in the past, and Cal having dealt with so much worse -

(cool fingers on the pulse in his throat, for just a second)

- he laughs. It's not much more than a huff of air, but it's definitely a laugh, and the smile lingers as he raises the cigarette to his mouth again.

[poeticterms]

"Laughing at him behind his back? That's not very nice," he chides. "But I suppose the whole thing is a little ridiculous. Just between you and me."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"Yeah."

Cal exhales and looks Stane in the eye.

"This whole thing is a little ridiculous, isn't it?"

[poeticterms]

Obadiah smiles.

"You're right," he says. His voice is agreeable, but the smile is vicious. "Discussing him with you won't do any of us any good. I've known him longer than you have, after all."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

- okay, yeah, that's a bit more unnerving, and for a second or two, a small part of Cal wants to retreat.

The rest of him, though, is glad to have it a little further out in the open. It means he's forcing Stane to play by his rules, instead of the other way around.

"That doesn't seem to make much difference as far as he's concerned."

[poeticterms]

"Doesn't it?"

And now the smile says, I know something you don't know.

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal draws sharply on his cigarette, a show of impatience.

"Was there something you wanted?"

[poeticterms]

"Oh, no. Just passing the time. You know," he jokes, "it's lonely coming all the way out here just to sit around Tony's house while he's at school. Maybe I should turn around and go back to New York."

Where Sherlock is.

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"Maybe you should," Cal says, just because he knows it's the last thing Stane will expect him to say.

[poeticterms]

"I could never do that to Tony."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Cal just bets.

"Maybe a late-night walk, then," he suggests. "Sunnydale is beautiful at midnight."

[poeticterms]

Now it is Obadiah's turn to look impatient.