Half the story...
Mar. 15th, 2006 12:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
governmentninjaLeon sat on his couch, staring at the display on his cell phone. He had dialed a number, and his thumb hovered over 'send', and had been there for a minute or so. He continued to stare at the number for some time, his expression unreadable. Finally, he hit 'clear' instead then shut his phone, and put it aside on the couch. This was about the 4th time today he was about to make the call, but changed his mind. Ever since his late night talk with Claire some time ago, he knew he had to make this call.
He glanced at his phone and shook his head. Any other problem he'd run head first into without even blinking, but this? One simple phone call, he couldn't make.
Finally, even if mostly out of sheer pride, he picked up his phone and dialed the number again, this time hitting 'send'. He put his phone to his ear and listened as it rang. When someone on the other end finally answered, Leon paused for a second, then spoke. "...uh, hi. Can I speak to Erin, please? Tell her-- ...tell her it's 'Laddie' calling."
The was another pause, then his face suddenly split into a wide grin. Without hesitating, he excitedly said "Top o'de monrin' t'ye, Lass!", in an Irish brogue so over-the-top and mind-numbingly bad that he wouldn't be shocked if, out there in the nexus, members of the Clan Cassidy suddenly dropped dead out of pure shame. He didn't seem to care if he looked stupid as he laughed a bit, then scoffed in mock offense. "What, 'Lass'? Your baby brother can't call just to say hi?"
Yep, Erin just happened to be one of Leon's older sisters. The second oldest, actually, and the one he had gotten along best with, and one of the few people in his family who didn't immediately give him the cold shoulder or want to dive into a heated argument within a few sentences. She had taken to calling him 'Laddie', and he'd call her 'Lass', though she'd call him 'boyo' when she was annoyed with him.
"So how's things? ...Good. Good. I'm alright, still breathing and all of that. So how's Jarod treating you? Good? ...He better be, if he's not... yeah, yeah, don't give me that crap. Seriously, is he treating you well? Just say the word and I'll look into him. ...yeah, ok. You sure? ...Good.
"I'm sure he's a good guy, you were never dumb with men." He listened for a moment with a bit of a grin, then his expression suddenly turned sour. "You let him watch that show? How could you let that play in your home? ...I don't care if he's a fan, it's... it's...
"It's CSI:Miami!, the worst police drama on tv since fuckin' Cop Rock! ...Yes, it sucks that bad. CSI stands for Caruso Sucks Immensely. ...He does suck! The whole show sucks, but Caruso as Batman as Lieutenant Horatio Kane especially sucks. It's almost painful to watch sometimes. ...Yes, the show sucks. You know how real cops work, why are you even arguing this with me?
"Oh, he does so ape Batman. You could probably make a case for the whole show being about 'the Bat Family', but Caruso is playing Batman. Next time you watch that trash, watch Caruso. He always speaks in that low tone of voice. He always enters a room without anyone ever noticing; some character will be doing something, then the camera pans slightly to the left and *gasp!* There's Horatio! or someone will remove an object in the foreground, and behind that object in the background was Kane, and no one knows how long he was standing there. He always on top of everything, and has all the answers before the lab tests are even done. Do I even have to mention the sunglasses?
"You could just as easily make a case for those Champagne Hummers and the multi-billion crime lab being analogues for the Batmobile and Bat-Cave respectively."
He listened a bit more, then rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever, you know I'm right.
"So how're all five of the kids? ...yes, I said 'all five'. I know you had twins a few months ago. I may not have talked to anyone in over a year or so, but I still keep tabs on everyone.
"...I have my sources. So how are they? ...That's good to hear. How're you handling being a parent? I'm sure five has to be a real handful. ...Well, it's good you have Kayleigh and Meg around to help. They both have three kids of their own, right?
"...she's pregnant? How-- 4 months. wow. So that means that by the time this year is out, I'll be an uncle 12 times over..." He felt a stab of guilt as he realized that he hadn't even seen half of his nieces and nephews, while the other probably wouldn't even remember him.
"...huh? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about something. ...No, no kids here, and don't expect any anytime soon. ...nah, that's not the issue, I just have a lot of other stuff on my plate at the moment. ...well, yeah, one day, I just know that day won't be in the immediate future for me, not as long as I'm still doing this..."
There was a long stretch of silence, the sound of neither one of them discussing something, for the moment. He finally broke the silence between them. "I do wish I could come home again..." There was more silence, followed by a rueful chuckle from him.
"Like that'll happen. It's been a huge source of tension ever since Dad died, but after Raccoon...", he just sighed and shook his head. "Every visit has been the same. There's the initial 'Leon's here! And he's still alive and healthy!', but when the excitement wears off after a few hours, all the old arguments start up again. You remember how out of control everything got the last time I was there. And speaking of which, did Ralph's jaw heal properly?"
There was a slightly dismissive smirk from him. "Yeah, well, I never liked Ralph anyway. I'll never know what Aunt Kate saw in the bastard. He's a drunk, he smokes, he doesn't know when to shut the fuck up." Truth was, Leon always thought that Ralph was abusing his family in other ways, but he had no proof, so he kept that out of the conversation.
Unfortunately, that didn't keep things from escalating as something Erin said set Leon off. "You were there! You heard what he said! He should be thankful I didn't kick his fucking head off his shoulders!" Leon slowly paced around a bit, his anger radiating off of him as he muttered "over reacted my ass...
"He comes in drunk, has the nerve to tell me that my father, our father died for nothing, that I'm also throwing my life away, that I'm a selfish brat who doesn't give a shit about his family or the pain he causes them." He paced around some more, then heard something that made his jaw set at first, then he exploded with, "You have got to be shitting me! You know I'd do anything for you guys!
"..." Leon's anger suddenly left him, and was replaced with... nothing. He felt drained, and sat on his couch, leaning forward, his head in his hand. "...yeah, anything but quit my job." He sighed tiredly.
"It always comes back to that, doesn't it?" He sighed "Yeah, I know how much it hurts mom, she made it a point to remind me every time we fought about it. But what do you expect me to do about it? ...This isn't 'just a job', Erin, not to me. This is who I am. I can't just stop being my father's son." Though, briefly, the thought of 'Nexus LOL' ran through his head. That place was really beginning to corrupt him.
There was another period of silence on both ends of the phone. Finally Leon shook his head a little. "Sounds like your kids need you ...Nah, go, take care of your family ...I'll write you, or something, soon, give you a full update." He smirked slightly, "...yeah, tell them I said 'hi', watch them sneer." He chuckled bitterly and shook his head, "You'd think that if I was going to be the black sheep of the family that I should at least be on drugs.
"...Yeah, yeah ...Love you too. Take care of yourself, ok? ...I always do. Bye."
He closed his phone and sat there for a while, trying to clear his head.
He glanced at his phone and shook his head. Any other problem he'd run head first into without even blinking, but this? One simple phone call, he couldn't make.
Finally, even if mostly out of sheer pride, he picked up his phone and dialed the number again, this time hitting 'send'. He put his phone to his ear and listened as it rang. When someone on the other end finally answered, Leon paused for a second, then spoke. "...uh, hi. Can I speak to Erin, please? Tell her-- ...tell her it's 'Laddie' calling."
The was another pause, then his face suddenly split into a wide grin. Without hesitating, he excitedly said "Top o'de monrin' t'ye, Lass!", in an Irish brogue so over-the-top and mind-numbingly bad that he wouldn't be shocked if, out there in the nexus, members of the Clan Cassidy suddenly dropped dead out of pure shame. He didn't seem to care if he looked stupid as he laughed a bit, then scoffed in mock offense. "What, 'Lass'? Your baby brother can't call just to say hi?"
Yep, Erin just happened to be one of Leon's older sisters. The second oldest, actually, and the one he had gotten along best with, and one of the few people in his family who didn't immediately give him the cold shoulder or want to dive into a heated argument within a few sentences. She had taken to calling him 'Laddie', and he'd call her 'Lass', though she'd call him 'boyo' when she was annoyed with him.
"So how's things? ...Good. Good. I'm alright, still breathing and all of that. So how's Jarod treating you? Good? ...He better be, if he's not... yeah, yeah, don't give me that crap. Seriously, is he treating you well? Just say the word and I'll look into him. ...yeah, ok. You sure? ...Good.
"I'm sure he's a good guy, you were never dumb with men." He listened for a moment with a bit of a grin, then his expression suddenly turned sour. "You let him watch that show? How could you let that play in your home? ...I don't care if he's a fan, it's... it's...
"It's CSI:Miami!, the worst police drama on tv since fuckin' Cop Rock! ...Yes, it sucks that bad. CSI stands for Caruso Sucks Immensely. ...He does suck! The whole show sucks, but Caruso as Batman as Lieutenant Horatio Kane especially sucks. It's almost painful to watch sometimes. ...Yes, the show sucks. You know how real cops work, why are you even arguing this with me?
"Oh, he does so ape Batman. You could probably make a case for the whole show being about 'the Bat Family', but Caruso is playing Batman. Next time you watch that trash, watch Caruso. He always speaks in that low tone of voice. He always enters a room without anyone ever noticing; some character will be doing something, then the camera pans slightly to the left and *gasp!* There's Horatio! or someone will remove an object in the foreground, and behind that object in the background was Kane, and no one knows how long he was standing there. He always on top of everything, and has all the answers before the lab tests are even done. Do I even have to mention the sunglasses?
"You could just as easily make a case for those Champagne Hummers and the multi-billion crime lab being analogues for the Batmobile and Bat-Cave respectively."
He listened a bit more, then rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever, you know I'm right.
"So how're all five of the kids? ...yes, I said 'all five'. I know you had twins a few months ago. I may not have talked to anyone in over a year or so, but I still keep tabs on everyone.
"...I have my sources. So how are they? ...That's good to hear. How're you handling being a parent? I'm sure five has to be a real handful. ...Well, it's good you have Kayleigh and Meg around to help. They both have three kids of their own, right?
"...she's pregnant? How-- 4 months. wow. So that means that by the time this year is out, I'll be an uncle 12 times over..." He felt a stab of guilt as he realized that he hadn't even seen half of his nieces and nephews, while the other probably wouldn't even remember him.
"...huh? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about something. ...No, no kids here, and don't expect any anytime soon. ...nah, that's not the issue, I just have a lot of other stuff on my plate at the moment. ...well, yeah, one day, I just know that day won't be in the immediate future for me, not as long as I'm still doing this..."
There was a long stretch of silence, the sound of neither one of them discussing something, for the moment. He finally broke the silence between them. "I do wish I could come home again..." There was more silence, followed by a rueful chuckle from him.
"Like that'll happen. It's been a huge source of tension ever since Dad died, but after Raccoon...", he just sighed and shook his head. "Every visit has been the same. There's the initial 'Leon's here! And he's still alive and healthy!', but when the excitement wears off after a few hours, all the old arguments start up again. You remember how out of control everything got the last time I was there. And speaking of which, did Ralph's jaw heal properly?"
There was a slightly dismissive smirk from him. "Yeah, well, I never liked Ralph anyway. I'll never know what Aunt Kate saw in the bastard. He's a drunk, he smokes, he doesn't know when to shut the fuck up." Truth was, Leon always thought that Ralph was abusing his family in other ways, but he had no proof, so he kept that out of the conversation.
Unfortunately, that didn't keep things from escalating as something Erin said set Leon off. "You were there! You heard what he said! He should be thankful I didn't kick his fucking head off his shoulders!" Leon slowly paced around a bit, his anger radiating off of him as he muttered "over reacted my ass...
"He comes in drunk, has the nerve to tell me that my father, our father died for nothing, that I'm also throwing my life away, that I'm a selfish brat who doesn't give a shit about his family or the pain he causes them." He paced around some more, then heard something that made his jaw set at first, then he exploded with, "You have got to be shitting me! You know I'd do anything for you guys!
"..." Leon's anger suddenly left him, and was replaced with... nothing. He felt drained, and sat on his couch, leaning forward, his head in his hand. "...yeah, anything but quit my job." He sighed tiredly.
"It always comes back to that, doesn't it?" He sighed "Yeah, I know how much it hurts mom, she made it a point to remind me every time we fought about it. But what do you expect me to do about it? ...This isn't 'just a job', Erin, not to me. This is who I am. I can't just stop being my father's son." Though, briefly, the thought of 'Nexus LOL' ran through his head. That place was really beginning to corrupt him.
There was another period of silence on both ends of the phone. Finally Leon shook his head a little. "Sounds like your kids need you ...Nah, go, take care of your family ...I'll write you, or something, soon, give you a full update." He smirked slightly, "...yeah, tell them I said 'hi', watch them sneer." He chuckled bitterly and shook his head, "You'd think that if I was going to be the black sheep of the family that I should at least be on drugs.
"...Yeah, yeah ...Love you too. Take care of yourself, ok? ...I always do. Bye."
He closed his phone and sat there for a while, trying to clear his head.
