Sunnydale AU: don't go into the - never mind.

[americas_son]

Some students, when they hear the final bell ring, head to class right away.

Sometimes Cal is one of them, but not today. He was outside having a cigarette when the bell sounded, and he was too deep in thought to pay it much attention.

So he's slipping inside now, a few minutes late. The halls are already quiet, and he's keeping an eye out for any faculty members authorized to give detention as he makes his way toward his English class.

Comments

[toblameforit]

...Really, Cal?

Really?

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Did he just - ?

Yes.

He did.

The horrified realization shows even more clearly than his reaction of a moment ago.

"Fuck, uh, I didn't, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to - sometimes my brain doesn't . . . I'm sorry."

[toblameforit]

Tony makes a face and laughs, shaking his head. It's not the greatest laugh, but it's a laugh.

"It's okay."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal exhales in relief.

(His face is still a little hot, though.)

"Okay. Uh, so - on the desk?"

[toblameforit]

"Yeah. Sounds good." He sets down his own stack and contemplates them for a moment.

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal puts his stack down, too, and stands quietly next to Tony.

[poeticterms]

"Sherlock is back in his hotel room," Jarvis announces into the silence. "I'll put him on."

[if_inconvenient]

"Tony."

His voice comes through very clearly. Pity he doesn't know what to do with it.

[toblameforit]

"Sherry," he says, closing his eyes and gripping the edge of the desk with both hands. "What the hell were you doing out there anyway? Get your ass back in town. I need you."

[if_inconvenient]

There is no realistic way to soften this news, so he just delivers it unadorned.

"Your parents were murdered."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"Not the time, Sherlock," Cal says, a bit loudly, as if he can belatedly cover Sherlock's voice up with his.

Seriously. Even Sherlock has to understand this.

(Your gets put away for later; he doesn't even fully register it right now.)

[toblameforit]

"God fucking dammit. That's what you were after out there? Fine. Great. Just..."

Tony shakes his head, looking exhausted all of a sudden.

[if_inconvenient]

Gently: "I'll be there on the next flight."

[toblameforit]

"I love you, man."

[if_inconvenient]

"I love you too."

Click.

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal runs his hand through his hair, not really noticing the strands that tug at the fresh papercut, and looks at Tony with apprehension.

[toblameforit]

"Sorry we kind of ignored you there," he says, sounding a little distant and apparently addressing the stacks of paperwork on the desk. "Sherry's probably out the door of his hotel room and on the way to the airport by now. Really doesn't like wasting time, that guy."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"That's fine," Cal says immediately. "Don't worry about me."

Are you okay? is a stupid question. He doesn't ask it. Instead, he reaches over to put a tentative hand on Tony's shoulder.

(Murdered, he thinks. That's a pretty shitty club, too.)

[toblameforit]

Very, very quietly:

"Thanks."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal's answer is equally quiet.

"Any time."

[toblameforit]

He smiles wryly. At the desk.

"Y'know, in case you were wondering, it doesn't get any easier the second time around."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I - didn't think it would."

Cal isn't sure what the second time in question is here - Stane's death, after losing his parents? Finding out what really happened to them and living it over again? - but he's not about to ask for clarification.

(The reflection that wasn't there, the burst of heat against his face - does that count as losing his father twice?)

[toblameforit]

Tony lets go of the desk and straightens.

"Jarvis, why haven't I heard back from what's-her-name yet?"

[poeticterms]

"Since I am not aware of her position on supernatural matters, I left her a message dictating the official story. She has yet to return my call."

[toblameforit]

"Great. Then until that happens or Sherry gets back, I guess I'm reading Obie's paperwork."

He pulls out the chair and sits down, but doesn't immediately pick up a page.