beyondtheline | I sure like the feeling of an endless road

Fuck yeah, we are!

[Snickering at her desperate need for his lighter now, he lets her grab it, then backs off a few steps to look around. What else here can burn? A lot of the shelving is old rusted metal, not wood. They're going to need to get more than a phone book going here.

But there are boxes, and in a back room a few pallets. He gathers up what he can into a pile by one of the walls and gestures her to bring that flaming book over.]

Here, right in the middle. That'll catch quick. Might take a minute for it to get past this pile a' shit but by the time it does it'll be real hungry for the rest of the building!

Okay!

[She's been twirling and dancing with the phone book on fire, and tosses him his lighter so she can have both hands free to carry the book over to his pile. There's no way to hide the ear to ear grin that's on her face as she crouches down to try and light one of the boxes, and gasps as it catches so easily. The book is charring and flames are heading down to her hands, so she tosses it onto the pallet and steps back to admire their handiwork.

Since she's in such a good mood she steps back until she bumps into him, and her fingers brush against his before she takes hold of his hand and pulls him into an impromptu little dance.]

Do you wanna stick around and watch it all burn? Or should we get back on the road soon and keep going?

Seems a shame to light somethin' on fire an' not enjoy the afterglow, huh?

[Or the... glow. Of the fire. But their afterglow is good too. Fuck it, he'll keep dancing here a moment, pulling her along until the smoke starts to get annoying.

At which point he leads her outside, and waves for her to join him on the bike.]

I just wanna clear out a little more in case there's still gas left in the tanks under there somehow, y'know? Would be a real shame to get caught up in the fireworks. 'Course, there probably isn't? But I got too much to do to blow up here.

[They don't have to go far, just a little way down the road before he pulls over and turns the radio on while they watch. Unfortunately, it seems in this time and place, all he can pick up is static - except a faint rhythmic clicking on one station, all the way at the far left of the dial. Weird.]

[The strange clicking almost seems like it's sounding off in time to the movement of the flames as they slowly consume the gas station. That's a silly thought, but it's constant enough that her attention shifts off the fire and onto the radio. Her eyes close for a few seconds as the sound of static overtakes her senses, and it takes focusing on the faint clicking to pull herself back to reality.]

It's too bad it hasn't blown up. But it's really pretty, isn't it?

[She loves that fire is their calling card. Well, fire and monsters. But she's not in the mood to pull in any of those, and there's no need to do that. The fire is perfect, and makes her all kinds of happy.]

Fire bandits make another crappy little place bite the dust!

[And that's worth giving him a squeeze as she giggles and nuzzles up close to him.]

Yeah! Fire bandits, time bandits, fuck. We're bandits of everything we touch!

[He leans back a little, comfortable in her hold. But eventually he gets bored of the fire. It could go a while and he has no intention of sitting here for hours until it's nothing left but ash.

So after a minute or two more, he leans back and turns to give her a quick kiss, then pulls his goggles on. Mostly just for effect.]

An' speakin' of bandits, let's get goin'. See if I can find that turn or if we gotta ride all the way up the back side of the hills. It'll be a nice time, either way about it. Would be even better if the radio worked, though!

[Enough clicking, enough sitting. He revs the engine and takes off, heading north and looking for a rusted, broken sign - or maybe if they're really lucky, an intact one. Maybe the roads just changed over the decades or centuries or whatever. Wouldn't be that weird.]

[It doesn't take long for their surroundings to shift, and it's disorienting because they go from being the only ones on the road to nearly crashing right into an 18 wheeler. Johnnie's able to navigate them away from becoming a pancake against the back of the truck, and they're left laughing as they zoom on ahead. There's definitely plenty of road signs in this time period, and she glances over and takes note that the glow that was previously off in the distance now looks more like actual lights instead of an all consuming fire.

The radio shifts from static to some jazz sounding station, and it feels like they've snapped back into normalcy. She points to one of the signs they're approaching, signaling the distance to other freeways and several exits.]

Is one of those the right one? Or are we far enough I should try pulling us somewhere else?

[Somewhere else meaning his dad. She knows he doesn't seem eager to do that, but she wants to leave the option there to see if she can do it.]

[There's no terror here - that near-disaster floods him with adrenaline as he swerves the bike way at the last second, cheering and laughing at his victory. It's enough to make him sweat though, hell. He needed that.

And he takes note of those signs as they hurtle toward the indicated exits.]

Del Puerto Canyon?

[What the hell is that place? Fuck it, time to find out. With a mad grin, Johnnie decides last minute to just take that exit rather than passing it up.]

Fuck if I know where this is, but we're gonna go find out!

[It's going the right direction, so it can't be that bad. Definitely better than getting dumped in his Papa's driveway, fuck that guy.

This is for sure not the fastest route, he sees that immediately. Rather than a nice big straight highway toward the bay, this quickly becomes some narrow, winding little road full of switchbacks as it takes them deeper and deeper into the hills heading west. Canyon is right - these hills are steep, jagged, almost mountains in their own right except for their height. It would probably be cool to see them by daylight but at night, they're offered a narrow view of one snake of a road between miles of thick black darkness, with the hills blotting out the stars and cutting off the radio signals.]

Hope you don't get carsick, this is kinda nuts. Whoo!

[He's enjoying it, clearly, as he takes yet another sharp bend in the road much too quickly.]

Have I ever gotten carsick on you, babe?

[She laughs, the sound cut off with a loud whee as they continue along. It's a little scary not really being able to see much, but Johnnie has it handled and they're having fun. That's all that matters in the end, isn't it? Having lots of fun.]

It's the curviest road we've ever been on, huh?

[Both of her hands go up into the air like she's on a rollercoaster, and she lets out a howl as they continue along. It feels like she could reach out and pull down some of those stars to better light their way, and at one point she swears she very nearly does. A few seconds later she realizes it's a shooting star or a comet or something, and she gasps as the radio goes from static to a blaring alarm.

Her hands go straight to cover her ears, and she gasps as even trying to reach around Johnnie to turn off the radio doesn't quiet the sounding alarm. It's a national broadcast alert warning of an incoming and unavoidable cosmic storm.]

[She's right, she always loves these winding roads as much as he does and he knows it, it just felt like the -

Oh, shit.

His eyes look upward, catching that unusually bright glow cresting the tops of the hills, lighting them in the night so they really can see all those contours. That shouldn't happen, it's fucking 2 am or something, and just then the winds start to pick up too, grabbing leaves, rocks, branches and whipping them to a frenzy over the hills.

They're in a canyon and if they don't fucking get out immediately it's going to turn into a wind tunnel, full of debris and them in the middle of it.

Johnnie's first instinct is to try and outrun it, of course. No point going deeper down this road, they need out to open ground. He pulls a U-turn and guns it, making the bike shudder around curves as he pushes their speed as much as he reasonably can. But the road won't keep him from going as fast as he wants, and he shouts in surprise as a shower of scree comes pouring down the hillside, whipping gravel right past his cheek.]

What the fuck! Okay fuck it, fine, Chrissy, what do I gotta do for you to get us outta here?

[Their last experience in one of these storms was a little more whimsical. She can remember being so afraid, but she had fun too. This time, she only feels fear. It's really coming down and they're completely exposed. So when he shouts out to her, she grabs at whatever mental straws she can to save them.

Her eyes close and she tries to focus, even with gravel and wind hitting her in the face. They share such a close bond that it's like they can share thoughts, and she knows for a fact she was able to talk with Rigo in her head back in that place the Ender brought them to. She can sense teh Ender, even here. But she's not going to pull them to him. Not unless there's no other choice.

As the storm swarms over them, she can feel so much power and darkness. It nearly consumes her thoughts. In a desperate attempt to focus she presses her hand to his temple and tries to create some sort of mental bond. It doesn't work, not how she wants it to. But she's able to pick up on something that's him without being directly him. It could be Alex or his mother maybe, but as large hail starts falling and lightning strikes the ground around them, she doesn't care.

They need to get out of here. Now.

Whoever that essence of Johnnie belongs to, she grasps hold of it and tugs hard. Her free hand lets go of him and claws at the sky until a sharp tear in reality forms. She had to drag her hand down, fingernails creating jagged marks that further open a lifeline to somewhere else.

Johnnie drives through it right as it starts to close, and she ducks her head to press her face against his back and hang on tight. Wherever they're going, it feels like the storm is trying to follow them through.]

[The last person related to him that Johnnie was thinking of was, of course, the nearest. Not his much-loved brothers or his dear Mama, but the fucking asshole whose existence leaves him fuming.

But he's an exit. Right now, he recognizes that. He expected some sort of instruction from Chrissy but evidently that isn't necessary - whatever has to happen, it has to happen fast. And so it is that one moment they're in the canyon, and the next, they're in a quiet neighborhood in Oakland.

In a lot of ways, it doesn't look all that different from the area of Los Angeles she's become used to - but it's cooler here at night at this time of year. A deep fog has settled in off the bay, leaving distant lights blurred.

The panic, the last-second nature of their transportation, means that rather being set nicely in the driveway or something like that, the bike rockets toward the house in motion and it takes every ounce of Johnnie's singular brain cell to brake in time and skid to a stop. They thunk gently against the side of the house, and he lets out a sigh.

The house was dark, but a light turns on, undoubtedly at the sound. Johnnie's ears are ringing, and he shakes his head like it'll help to clear it.]

Holy shit, that was fuckin' wild. I swear, another second or two longer we woulda been blown right down the canyon!

[She's trying to laugh, but she's trembling and unable to open her mouth to speak right away. All she can do at first is rub at her ears and slowly nod. Her eyes are focused on the window nearby that definitely has a light on now, and her head swivels to the side as the back door opens and she can hear footsteps. A second later the gate swings open and she gasps.]

Johnnie -

[Trying to get his attention is pointless, because a second later someone's shining a big old flashlight at them. She squints as she turns to face it and holds up both hands like he's a cop.]

You've got two seconds to tell me who the hell you are and what you're doing hitting my house at three in the fucking morning.

[Does he have a gun or something? That's a pretty big threat for a guy carrying a flashlight.]

[Johnnie raises a hand to block the light and keep himself from squinting nearly so much. He'd love to also be casually annoyed verbally, hit him with a quick and witty reply, but it's not so easy. They haven't spoken in years, long enough where Johnnie almost could have forgotten the sound of the man's voice, but it comes back too quickly on hearing it again.

Maybe his Papa won't recognize him. That'd be fine. They could just go on like this is some mistake and they'll be gone and never have to deal with anything more than one stupid brief interaction.]

Calm the fuck down, man. Ain't like I wanted to hit your house. We'll just -

[Oh, the light is wavering. The dude's hand is fucking shaking. Anger? Fear?]

Johnnie.

[So much for not being recognized. Even older, in the dark, with his face all scarred up and his hand in front of half of it. And he can't imagine it's some kind of parental bullshit because when was this guy ever really a parent to him anyway?]

Yeah. Look, forget it, we weren't even supposed to be here, it just kinda happened. I'm not here to stick around an' chat. Go back to bed, old man, an' take your fuckin' light with you. Gonna fuckin' blind me.

[It's too hard in the dark with the light in his eyes to make out how the man's face has changed, and Johnnie doesn't really care to know anyway. He can tell that light is being held in his left hand - that makes sense. Would be hard to grip anything with his right thumb missing all these years.]

[Holy Shit.]

I did it.

[She fucking pulled them out of a cosmic storm and dropped them right into his dad's house. She's the strongest person alive and she's going to rule the world one day. She's so taken by how powerful she's becoming that she completely misses out on the emotional aspect of the reunion taking place in front of her. It's with a grin that she hops off the bike and stretches her arms out over her head, and finally remembers Johnnie's dad is right there yelling at them or something.

Lame.

The flashlight is lowered and then turned off, and Chrissy finally can see through the spots in her vision to get a good look at the guy. He's just...a regular dad looking dude. Nothing special. Then again, most every dad she's ever met looks like that. Just a grown man realizing how much he's fucked up his kid. She can only hope her own dad had a look this uncertain and guilty at her funeral.]

I'm not going back to bed. Come inside for a minute. Your -

[He hesitates as he looks over to Chrissy, and it's obvious he's trying to figure out who she is to Johnnie.]

She looks like she needs a break from the bike.

What the hell do you know about what she needs, huh?

[There, that retort comes quickly, along with the rush of heat and anger that accompanies still being here, still dealing with this guy. At least he's not being blinded though, that's great. That makes it easier for them to fucking leave.

He kicks along the ground to get the bike to at least move a few inches away from the house and point it in the direction of the road, then takes a breath and looks back at Chrissy. Does she need a break?

Not here. Please, fucking, not here.]

Her nose is bleeding.

[He knows he can't force Johnnie to stay. But it's weird as hell that the kid just shows up at this time of night after so many years. There's no way it's an accident. He must need something and is just too prideful to say. There's no way alcohol is involved. If it was, he'd be able to smell it reeking off the both of them.

Chrissy's shocked to hear that she's bleeding, and reaches up to touch at her nose. Sure enough, she feels wet warmth there and her jaw drops a little as she looks down at her fingers.]

We can stop somewhere else.

[That's said to Johnnie directly, because she can feel the anger and upset radiating off of him and doesn't want to make it worse. She pinches at her nose and goes to hop on the back of the bike, just so he can drive off if he really needs to.]

Now wait a minute.

[A booming, stern voice sounds out and Chrissy flinches as she shrinks back behind Johnnie on the bike. She's better around loud things now, but strange men shouting still scares the hell out of her.]

He do something to you, girl?

[Her instant response is a shake of her head, and his dad's response is a drawn out sigh like she's testing his patience.]

Oh, you fuck right off with that kinda bullshit. Who the hell do you think you are? Accusing me of that kinda shit? You think I grew up to be like you? Fuck off. Chrissy, we're leaving.

[Honestly, it's taking every shred of decency he has to not fly off the bike right now to punch his Papa's lights out at an insult like that.

Yeah, he feels bad for Chrissy's nosebleed but that's something they can sort out somewhere else. They don't have to go far. They can find themselves somewhere to pull over out of this asshole's sight. Fuck. He starts the engine, and the sound roars over his father's protests.]

Johnnie, come on. Bring her inside, she can get cleaned up, then you can go. That's all I'm asking.

[But Johnnie barely gives him the time to finish his sentence. He's leaving, Chrissy is coming along, fuck that guy for pretending to care now, suddenly, too many years too late. He served his purpose getting them out of the storm but anything more and Johnnie won't be able to contain the fight in him. Chrissy doesn't need to see him beat on a pathetic fucked up drunk asshole anyway. He huffs an angry breath, then gets the bike rocketing down the street, going who knows where.]

[Chrissy looks back over her shoulder as they speed off, wondering how that could have gone differently. Maybe she should've insisted they go inside, but that would've made Johnnie more upset. This is for the best, she can sense that he's seething and she doesn't want him to do something he'd regret later on.]

I'm sorry.

[She isn't sure what else to say. There's a lot she's feeling apologetic for, but she can't put any of them to actual name right now.]

He's not what I was expecting.

[And she has no idea of that's a good thing or not.]

Well, I don't know what you were expecting.

[That came out more acidic than he'd meant it to. She's not the one he's mad at. With a sigh, he reaches back to squeeze her knee, and lets that show of gentleness help diffuse some of the anger boiling at the surface.

They ride just a short distance until they come across a tiny little park with a picnic bench and a streetlight, and weirdly to Johnnie, nobody here pushing anything. But it's three in the morning and maybe everyone, local dealers included, have called it a night.

Johnnie parks beside the picnic table and hops off after Chrissy.]

He's not a good dude. Alex an' Dale kicked him out for a reason, told him never to show his fucking face around us again. Every once in a while he used to get all guilty, prob'ly when he was extra fuckin' drunk, an' might call on someone's birthday but that's about it. We didn't wanna talk to him then either.

[He's pacing, he knows it, but pauses and pulls out a clean handkerchief and offers it to Chrissy to dab at her nose.]

[After being snapped at she stays quiet, letting him have his space to feel all that anger that's boiling inside him. He doesn't do well with not having an outlet to take those emotions out on, so she's surprised when they get to the park and he opens up at length with an explanation. She takes the offered handkerchief and uses it to clean her nose, figuring it'll do until they can get to someplace with a bathroom and water.]

I just sensed something that felt like you that wasn't you and pulled us to it. I didn't know for sure it would be him. But I am sorry it was. I hate seeing you so upset.

[It's just a part of life that some things make them this way though, and they have to deal with that. He needs to pace and get that out of his system, so she hops off the table she's sitting on and goes over to try and look at her reflection in the mirrors on his bike. It's too dark to see a damn thing.]

I guess I was expecting to see someone that looked...I don't know. Not some old guy you could beat up if you wanted to.

[She pauses, turning so she can step in a little closer to him.]

He just looked like any other asshole dad, I guess. Just like mine would if you ever met him.

Yeah, well. I guess some monsters just look like people.

[That came out... more profound than he meant it to. He still really wants to fucking hit something but instead he'll settle for a cigarette if only to spare his fists the splinters they'd get from smacking that table.]

Worthless piece of shit, I can't believe he just fucking said that! I can't figure out what Mama ever saw in him. Not that I care.

[Yeah yeah yeah he was different before the war fuck off. Anyway it's not like she defends him either. Fuck. Dude's lucky he hasn't swiped a bottle of hard liquor from one of their stops yet, that house would be up in flames so fucking fast.

Which wouldn't solve anything and might not even make him feel better but it's just about the best idea he can come up with.]

You know, we could go back and beat him up if it makes you feel better. Set his house on fire. Blow up his car?

[Great minds must think alike, because now violence and fire are her first thoughts when it comes to taking care of something that bothers her. It can't bother her anymore if it's dead or burnt to nothing. In this case maybe both need to happen.]

If you didn't want to because it's your dad, I could go take care of it. You could wait here, and I'd do it for you because I love y-

[She goes quiet as the sound of tires on the road draw her attention to the parking lot. A cop car pulls up to the closest point of the lot and turns on their lights. There's no siren, thankfully, but just seeing the car with the lights is enough to put her on edge.

Two men get out and linger by their car, watching them and talking quietly to one another.]

Is your name Johnnie, boy? Your daddy put in a call to bring you back home. Said you had a girl with you in rough shape that needed some help.

[The flashlight gets turned on then, and it's shone over on Chrissy. Their light is so much brighter than his dad's stupid flashlight that she's left squinting and trying to shift so she's hiding behind Johnnie just to block out the light.]

You okay, honey? It's alright. We're here to help.

Motherfucker.

[Seems a reasonable response to cops pulling up. Johnnie feels a prickle of heat rise up the back of his neck and race down into his fingers. What the fuck do these guys want, all the way up north here?

But of course it's because his fucking asshole father called them. Of course.]

Hey, man, we're fine. Just havin' a late night.

[Fucking lights, what is with people? He squints, turning his face aside just to try not to be blinded again. That's a cop tactic for sure though, trying to make it so he can't see shit. Assholes.]

Well, why don't you come on over, we'll bring you on back home.

[Says one of the officers, while the other stays silent, trying to keep his eye on Chrissy. She hasn't said she's fine yet, after all, and she's with this real rough-looking guy.]

[She doesn't know why she's afraid of cops. She could kill them in an instant if she wanted to. But she can't control the way she freezes up and goes timid in front of them, can't stop her fingers from curling into the back of Johnnie's jacket. Cops are bad news, especially ones that have been called specifically to find them.]

I -

[Her voice shakes a little, and she figures that goes along just fine with how she's trembling.]

I'm okay. Johnnie's my boyfriend. We were just stopping before heading back home.

[The light stays focused on the both of them, and the cops look to each other before slowly making their way in toward them.]

Why don't you come with us, honey, and we'll get you looked over. Johnnie can follow us to the hospital.

[That makes her panic rise up even more, and she shakes her head. It's becoming hard to control her emotions, and she has to try so she doesn't accidentally blow these guys up and cause a lot of trouble.]

No! I don't want to go to a hospital. I just want to go home.

[One of the cops makes a sympathetic sound and moves in close enough that he can reach out to grab Chrissy by the arm and gently pull her into the open. She stumbles along but does give a little tug to try and pry her arm free. He doesn't relent his hold on her, not even when he notices her shaking like a leaf. His partner keeps his flashlight on Johnnie as she's looked over.]

Come on, then. Let's get you back to Ed before you two worry him sick.

[Ed? They're on a nickname basis with the guy? Gross. Chrissy gives a harder tug of her arm as the cop that's holding her starts walking. She goes along with him for now, but glances back at Johnnie with a look that's asking how he wants to handle this. The method these two are clearly using is separating them to try and get a resolution.

As soon as he notices his partner forcibly escorting Chrissy over to the car, the other cop looks Johnnie up and down.]

Your daddy said you crashed your bike right into his house. Got that girl's nose busted up somehow. Her parents are probably up worried sick about her. Want to tell me what you're doing with her out at this hour, son?

[The smart thing to do would be to play along, to go with them. Easier to get away from his dad again than the cops.

But "smart" doesn't describe how Johnnie is feeling right now as his anger boils up at the cop manhandling Chrissy like that. She's fucking terrified and she's probably seconds away from snapping and sending these two bastards into a fucking black hole where they deserve to be - but he doesn't want to make her do that, she already pulled them here, and who knows how much it puts her through to do this shit. A nosebleed is just a nosebleed, but there's stuff under the surface he bets neither of them see.

So he catches her glance back at him, but it's just a fleeting look. He doesn't have the patience to plan or any big ideas here. He has a loaded gun tucked away in his jeans that's definitely illegally acquired, a whole lot of stolen jewelry in the bike, and zero desire to get in a cop car. They don't play nice and give free rides, they'll search his shit, he knows this. He's already some kind of suspect for some stupid bullshit crime they've made up in their heads and they'll pin it on him whether they have evidence or not because it's what cops do.]

She didn't do nothing. Let her go.

[Cops play by dumb rules that they make up on the fly but he's pretty sure they can't force her to go with them if she's not under arrest. Johnnie, meanwhile, he plants his feet and doesn't budge. He's not answering that question.

The cop facing him sighs and he feels so fucking patronized by it, but he keeps his hands steady, rather than clocking the guy square in the jaw.]

You come with us back to your daddy's place, or you come with me to the station, son, those are your choices. I'm asking nicely, here, I don't mean to be unreasonable. Come on, now.

[He beckons, takes a half-step back like Johnnie might just be talked into coming to the car if he's nice enough. It's that or the handcuffs. There's enough that's fishy here where he sees plenty of reason to break those out if it comes to it.]

No. He's the one who hit her.

[Now that's a blatant lie, but Johnnie says it with absolute conviction. If nothing else maybe it'll confuse these two bastards for long enough that they slip up. Fuck it, if they have to fight these two off and bail, he's ready for it. He's itching for it.]

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