Last Resort

[Diana Latona]

She couldn't answer him, wouldn't. If she started to speak now it would just come pouring out in a torrential downpour that she really didn't feel like addressing in front of any sort of audience, even if it was just the horrified onlookers that watched them walk past. No, Diana waited until they were in the parking lot before holding it in seemed to be far more trouble than it was worth. Two more steps were taken just so they were in the clear of any parked cars before she rounded on him.

"What...the...fuck... Sol?" He opened his mouth to reply and she instantly cut him off. "Don't. Okay, just don't. You want to aggravate the shit out of Harriman and his pretty little broad that's one thing but 'slutting it up'? What kind of bushwa was that? Trying to make buddy buddy by calling me a whore doesn't help anything. And then you go mouthing off until the guy goes apeshit and what am I supposed to do? Just sit there and play stupid while he tries to kill you? For all we know they can leave tonight and this whole damn thing has gone tits up! And...and...seriously? Everything at your arsenal and you come at me? You aren't that damn drunk, Solomon Latona and we both fucking know it!"

She didn't care exactly what she was saying, Diana had never really been the one with the biting commentary that came quickly to mind but Solomon knew her damn well enough to know when he'd sliced into her and hit a nerve. Even if all he was going to do was pour some lemon juice and salt into that wound she had to say something.

"I'm not the fucking enemy, Sol..." Her voice faded, awaiting the inevitable backlash.

[Solomon Latona]

Sol had known it would be coming; it was a tactical gamble with consequences, and his mind had been preparing to explain that ever since the words had tumbled from his mouth. But now the time was here, he couldn't muster them. He sucked on his teeth; manifested an expression half way between a winced smile and a grimace; couldn't keep his eyes away from the concrete floor.

"No, Diana, you're not."

His voice was weirdly quiet; far too subdued to be normal for him.

"What you are," he continued, "Is a god damned paragon of virtue. You read the same profile as me; you read the same stuff about how Harriman's sister was an in. But how the hell am I supposed to bond with the guy over his needy whelp of a sibling when mine is so damned perfect, huh? What does that give me to work with?"

He managed to drag his eyes to her face; wished he hadn't; wished he didn't have to look at the anger in her eyes. His gaze retreated again. "So, I pretended you were me. Went through that little list of all the things you think ain't great about me. Acted like you were the same waste of blood and bone that I am most of the time. And then yeah -"

He tilted his chin defiantly.

"- I got the guy worked up, because I was doing our job. Objective One, make contact. Objective Two, earn their trust. Objective Three, feel out their powers if possible." He shrugged. "Don't know about you, but I walked outta there with a pretty good sense of what the deal with his powers is; and instead of blowing our cover, he just thinks I'm a drunken asshole. Better yet, he feels worse because I pushed enough buttons to make him overreact; so when you go and apologise for your idiot brother tomorrow, he's gonna apologise right back."

He probably should have left it there, but he didn't.

"See, that's the problem with that judgemental rod you shove up your ass whenever I'm around. You think so little of me that when I play it up, act the asshole, you buy it; all in. There's no way that dumbass Solomon could possibly have a plan. There's no benefit of the doubt. No faith."

The muscles in his jaw bunched.

"You've known me my whole life, and you still don't trust me one damn bit."

[Diana Latona]

Diana stood there, wearing what was probably the most stupid expression of complete dumbfoundness ever. At first she hadn't been quite sure if he was mocking her or not and then he'd just kept going. Yep, salted the wound, stitched it up and cut her a new one for the fuck of it. It was her own damn fault for opening the door to it and as much as she wanted to just brush it off and call it a night...

"Don't you fucking say that. Don't you ever..." Diana wanted to chalk it up to watching her brother get smashed into the floor or woman problems or something. There had to be some damn reason she was on the verge of tears during what should have been a routine bullshit task dolled out to them by the powers that be.

So she responded in the only way she knew how. Given time, Diana could make prose worthy of even the sappiest of Hallmark cards or hate filled ballad of the wronged, but in the here and now there was only one thing to do. It took some effort, what with her brother being nearly a foot taller than her but she suddenly lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"You're the only person I do trust, you idiot. It's just this fucking job... you try playing Sorority row completely sober with two nitwits all day and see if it isn't taxing." A small laugh left her before her hand suddenly found his side and she jammed her finger into his ribs, right where he'd always been ticklish. "Just let me in on the damn plan next time, okay? You know I hate surprises."

[Solomon Latona]

Solomon wanted to wince at the pain in his ribs she inadvertently called - and the knee-jerk reflex to recoil away from her tickle attempts didn't help, either - but he forced himself not to; forced himself to do absolutely nothing except let his arms find their familiar place across her back, and stand there holding on to his sister.

"No surprises?" he said, his voice still uncharacteristically quiet. "Now where's the fun in that."

He pulled away, reluctantly, and adjusted his expression into a fake scorned frown. "And like hell you trust me. When was the last time you let me order a pizza without pre-screening my topic choices, huh? That right there -" He waved a finger at her for emphasis. "- proves it, undeniably."

He hesitated for a moment. "On a completely unrelated note, I read an article in the news-" He grimaced, correcting himself before he had a chance to. "- US Weekly about the, uh, medicinal merits of pizza." He mustered his most convincing deadpan. "Apparently it's fantastic for split lips, broken ribs, and bruised egos."

[Alice Kelly]

Her mind was a complete jumble of half thoughts and indecision. There were too many things going on, too many factors. Her immediate plan had been simple: get back to the room, get her stuff and get out. Of course, most of her possessions were still in California, but it was just stuff, right? And then there was that nagging little voice that was practically screaming to not go through with it and that was only backed up by the rational thought that Kat must still be in their room and having to dodge her questions was going to be practically impossible. So maybe she should just leave as-is... but she wasn't even dressed in her own clothing...

Wandering footsteps had led back to the hotel rooms anyway as if on auto pilot, only it wasn't the door to the room she was supposed to be sharing with Katrina that she found herself stopped in front of. It was the right thing to do, after all. If nothing else she couldn't just up and leave, not without some sort of explanation, some sort of apology to the guy who had shown her more kindness that Alice ever believed she deserved. There was enough guilt in her life without adding to the possibility that she hurt Tom to it all. Her thoughts backpedaled to the restaurant, to something Tom had said, something he probably hadn't meant to. He'd referred to her as someone he loved.It was a bittersweet concept at that moment and for a split second she thought about the fact she maybe deserved the guilt she wrought upon herself, maybe it would be best to just... go.

Shakily her hand raised as she traced the door's number with a fingertip before her hand clenched into a fist that gently knocked. Alice couldn't deny that she honestly was hoping he wasn't there. It would make things easier.

[Tom Harriman]

Staring at the ceiling didn't help, but it was the only thing that Tom could bring himself to do. The television in the background was just noise - noise interrupted by a nervous flutter of static, he half-noticed; lousy rip-off resort with it's cheap TVs - and the black and white movie playing across it was only making matters worse; there was only one thing in this world that could make stupid zombie movies even borderline tolerable, and she was long gone by now.

His eyes alternated between tracing the architrave patterns on the ceiling, and staring sorrowfully into the back of his own eyelids; he couldn't even muster one coherent emotion to cling on to, ambling slowly amongst an amorphous blob of mostly vague and entirely negative feelings. His fingers drummed absently on his bare stomach, not having bothered to get fully dressed again after the shower he foolishly thought might help make him feel better. There was no 'better' from this, though. As his eyes closed this time, Stop it! echoed through his mind.

Right now, Tom wasn't convinced he'd ever feel better again.

The knock on the door was dainty; Tom almost didn't answer. Probably some hotel employee here for an incident report, or to issue a bill for the damages, or whatever they wanted to do. He wished to every divinity around and listening that he wouldn't have to deal with that, not on top of everything else; but he'd have to face that consequence to his actions just the same as all the others.

He heaved his reluctant muscles out of the bed, and padded in jog pants and bare feet across to the door. The handle took far more effort to open than it should; he swung the door open a crack to see who stood outside.

He froze.

"Alice?"

[Alice Kelly]

"Hi."

It was a stupid thing to say and as soon as it left her she lowered her eyes and pushed back the somewhat less than perfect curls that her hair had become as they fell in front of her vision. Truth was that Alice didn't really know what to say and she had the very sneaking suspicion that anything she tried would come out halfhearted and inadequate. Cliche phrases of can I come in? Can we talk? and similar almost pushed their way out but just couldn't find their way. She could feel a shudder working its way up her spine as everything threatened to fall apart. The last thing she wanted to do right now was become some sort of sobbing mess in front of him...

A breath was taken, betraying just how on the edge she was as it came uneasy. She finally forced herself to look up, to meet the eyes she knew all too well and still found herself completely absorbed by. Damn it all...

"I don't want to go. I don't want to start all over again somewhere else... I don't want to leave." Her shoulders slumped in resignation. There was no way back from it all now. "I love you. And I don't want that to go away."

[Tom Harriman]

Those three words, and everything changed. Tom's features rippled, shifting between confusion, surprise, and disbelief, a smile all too eager to push it's way through and take over. His mind abandoned it's racing, and left him stalled, dumbfounded, standing in the half-open doorway living a moment he'd daydreamed so many times and yet, despite practising what he'd say over and over again in his mind, found himself utterly at a loss for words.

No words then.

The door was abandoned, swinging open on it's own, out of hand and out of mind. He took one step, every micron closer to Alice making it feel as if his chest were collapsing into a black hole of nerves and anticipation. His fingertips traced the frame of her face, brushing aside a few loose locks of the hair she so often hid behind, his eyes committing every last detail to memory so that when he closed his eyes, he could spare himself from going another second without being able to see her eyes. His thumb brushed across her cheek, fingers gently shifting to cradle her head in his hands.

His eyes closed, and he kissed her, his heart feeling like it was flat-lining as his lips met hers, fully willing to die of happiness right then and there.

He let his forehead rest against hers; didn't dare open his eyes again just in case it turned out to not be real. "I love you to, Alice," he said, his voice barely louder than a breath. "And I don't ever want you to go."

[Alice Kelly]

Alice giggled, barely, but it happened anyway. She felt, not just that a weight had been lifted, but that she finally understood all those silly lines about floating or flying.

"Then... I won't go anywhere." Her voice was soft, still strangely timid.

Only seconds before had she felt like she was either going to explode or the world was going to fall down around her and now all that was washed away and all it left was him.

And her.

In the hallway.

Her eyes opened slowly to cast a wary glance to either side, suddenly finding the very real and present danger of prying eyes to be more than enough to pull her away from whatever reverie she had been experiencing.

"So, you going to invite me in or do I have to stand around and wait like one of those horrible vampires in your sister's awful books?"

[Tom Harriman]

The struggling smile blossomed in full force. Tom's hands had trailed down and captured Alice's, and much as he wanted to step back and invite her in, he was having a lot of trouble convincing himself to let go of her dainty fingers. He succeeded, eventually, and managed to step back far enough to let Alice into the room.

As the door clicked closed behind her, Tom suddenly became aware of his circumstances. Alice had seen him without a shirt before - he was notoriously bad at remembering to take such things with him into their apartment's shared bathroom, so the occasional glimpse of him wearing nothing but a towel wasn't all that remarkable. But this was different; or at least, it felt like it should be.

"Hang on," he half-muttered, eyes scanning the room for discarded clothes before deciding that grabbing something fresh from his suitcase was probably the smartest option, considering. "Let me grab a shirt."

[Alice Kelly]

It didn't seem to matter what had just been said, she still felt like herself. Which meant all the uncertainty and slight unease was still there, to some extent she probably figured it always would beuntil she could bring herself to find some way of not being so aware of herself, of what she was, of what she could do if things... well, if things happened like they had back in the restaurant. One step at a time.

Her eyes watched him as he moved about and came to rest on the television. That alone brought another smile. She knew he secretly hated the types of movies she found irresistible. He was too hard wired to look at things scientifically to simply let yes, the undead walk and they eat people sit without some sort of detailed explanation. The fact it was on was comforting somehow.

"Look... Tom... about what happened back there..." And the words failed again. Apparently one large thing she had been holding back on was her limit. Her fingertips wound around a strand of her hair as she forced herself to continue. "I'm not mad or anything. It was just... a bit too much for me."

[Tom Harriman]

Tom's shoulders fell.

"You should be," he countered, pulling the t-shirt over his head. He couldn't bring himself to face her; stared at the wall for a few moments instead. It shouldn't have been difficult - if he could spent every waking second with his eyes on her, basking in how lucky he was to even know her, he would - but it was. Maybe he was just worried about seeing something disapproving in those beautiful eyes.

He risked it, turning to face her, brow furrowed with sadness. "I shouldn't have-, I mean-, I didn't -"

He sighed, eyes falling to the floor. "I've never done that before," he admitted. "Never lost control; never had my powers be so intense. I could have seriously hurt that, guy, and the only excuse I have -"

He stumbled over a breath; feeling gravity tugging at his tear ducts, he turned his eyes to the wall, ceiling, table, anything but her to blink them back under control. The breath that escaped him stuttered a little. "The only excuse I have for half-crushing a guy with the power of my mind is that it kills me to see you not smile, and he -"

He sighed. "He didn't deserve that. And what I did?"

He managed to meet Alice's gaze. "Honestly, Alice, I'm pretty damn terrified."

[Alice Kelly]

It was strange to hear her own fears coming from his lips, his every action echoing her own mental battle... even stranger perhaps was her reaction. A few slow but deliberate steps were taken until she was near Tom again, her hand reaching out to his arm before trailing down to intertwine her fingertips with his.

"Don't be. I know that's easier said than done, but you don't need to be. We all get a little out of hand occasionally and hell, that guy was seriously being a jerk. He knew he was pushing your buttons... For all we know he could have just been looking for a fight." A sigh left her as Alice looked for his eyes to meet hers. "I know that doesn't make things any better right now but the thing is... what you're feeling right now, that is what lets me know that things will be okay. Anyone with your abilities could have done that but the fact that you care, that it bothers you... That is what makes you... you."

Her free hand reached out as fingertips gently made contact with his cheek. "Accidents happen. All you can do is learn from them, you only have to be afraid if you can't do that."

[Tom Harriman]

Tom leaned his cheek into Alice's touch, all the tension, guilt, and negativity drawn out of him like poison from a wound. His hand gently traced up her arm to take hold of hers, keeping it in place as he planted a solitary kiss onto the heel of her palm; everything but her and him fell out of his mind, and at last everything felt right with the world.

He finally let her hand fall away, but only so that he could wrap his arms gently around her, marvelling at how the way her curves fit exactly with his proved just how perfect she was.

"I love you," he said softly, a smile teasing the corner of his mouth as he placed another single kiss atop her head this time. "You have no idea how much."

[Alice Kelly]

Whatever fluttery feelings inside that Tom used to cause her had suddenly seemed to be at least doubled every time he said those words. It made the moment all that much more bittersweet. Hearing that he actually genuinely felt the same as she did was more than she had ever hoped for... but at what cost? Were the colors around her radiating suddenly more vibrantly? Would every radio within a mile suddenly be unable to transmit anything but static? Or was it the far more terrifying unseen consequences? The really scary thing was at that exact moment she honestly wasn't sure if it wasn't worth it just to be as close to him as possible.

All the better was the fact he wasn't fighting her anymore on the incident, which meant that she at least had made some sort of sense to him. Which was great, because as far as she was concerned her words had been weak, just off the top of her head and she thought for sure they wouldn't work on any level.

"I have my guesses." Alice half mumbled the words as she leaned into his hold.

The illusion of safety was a welcome distraction, if only for a little while she could just be. There was a calmness to it all that she hadn't felt in a long time. Home. She'd muddled over the word earlier but now it seemed right. This was what that was supposed to feel like.

A small and sudden laugh left her as something other than her heart stirred inside of her. "So...You want to see what the local Chinese takeout is like? We never really did get to dinner."

[Tom Harriman]

"In a minute," Tom required quietly. "I'm not ready to stop holding you just yet."

He stood, arms around her, for as long as he felt he could get away with. It felt almost like time stood still and yet, even an eternity holding her didn't feel like it would be long enough. With a great amount of reluctance he let his arms fall away, but found himself sidetracked by the urge to just stand, stare, and smile at her.

"I'm down for Chinese, on the condition," he finally managed to force himself into saying, "That we double up on mini spring rolls. You always say you don't want any, and then you end up stealing mine... and just because I love you doesn't mean I'm going to let you get away with that sort of shenanigans."

[Alice Kelly]

"Oh, I see, so I got away with it before but now that I've said that I love you and you've kissed me I don't get to? Where's the fairness in that?"

Alice wanted to be sarcastic, maybe pretend to be serious for a moment just to be playful, but the silly smile on her lips just refused to leave and it colored each word. Her hands had found his again despite the constant worry in the back of her mind, but even that was having a hard time keeping up with the dizzy thoughts that touching him caused. Part of her still felt like this was some sort of odd dream, that maybe she had come completely undone in the restaurant and this was where her mind had trapped her there. Maybe that was why she just couldn't seem to pull away from him fully, contact was the only thing keeping her aware of the fact it was real.

It took her a few moments to realize she'd just stopped and had been lost in the entire moment again. Get a grip, Alice... sheesh. It hasn't really changed anything, has it?

"Fine fine, if you insist. It's not like you can ever really have too much of good thing. At least not where spring rolls are concerned." Or other things...

Tempting fate she found the heel of one of her feet lifting a she gained just enough height to be able to bring her lips to his again, placing a soft, barely-there kiss before caution forced it to end all too quickly.

"I'll... see if I can find the telephone book."

[Tom Harriman]

You don't need to take things from me. Just ask. I'll give you everything.

That thought floated through his mind, but thankfully he kept it away from his vocal chords. The panic that she might run away from the L-word had passed, but his chest still clung on to a few strands of residual anxiety, paranoid that this new situation was too delicate and fragile to be anything but hyper-careful.

And then she changed everything. She kissed him.

On paper, it probably didn't seem that different. Two willing parties; mouths touching; follow-up smiles all round. But what mattered was that it was Alice's choice; her initiative, her decision. She wasn't getting swept up, overwhelmed by his emotions and just along for the ride. It stopped being just words at that moment; stopped being a spoken 'I love you', and started feeling true.

His heart shimmered away like an alien abduction. He didn't need it in his chest any more: she'd stolen it, and he never wanted her to give it back.

"Menu is, uh -" He mustered a sheepish smile. "- by the phone."

A pang of sorrow flickered in the cavity where his heart didn't need to be any more. "I was gonna order, since -" His eyes fell. "Since I didn't think you'd ever want to see me again."

[Alice Kelly]

"Tom, you really think you could chase me off so easily?" Alice couldn't keep the hint of concern out of her voice, it thankfully masked the fact that her words were lacking in conviction.

It wasn't that they weren't true, there was very little that came to mind that Tom could do to force Alice away from him. In this case as in many she was her own worst enemy. Every time Tom brought up what could have happened if this were some alternate reality where she found her fear outweighed her genuine attachment to him...

A low sigh left her. "You worry so much...just, relax, okay? I'm not going anywhere. Not now."

[Tom Harriman]

Yeah, I kinda do.

It wasn't a judgement on Alice; quite the opposite, in fact. Sure, she was nervous at times, and from what Tom knew about her history - which she hadn't shared too much of, and Tom had been too respectful to pry - he knew that she had the entirely understandable habit of retreating when things got bad. That wasn't something that Tom judged in the slightest: with the military, with New York, he'd done the exact same thing. Sometimes, it was just the smart thing to do.

And yet, for the entire time that Tom had known her, he couldn't think of a more caring, dedicated, and loyal soul. She could have run to avoid the sadness when his father had died. She could have run from the awkwardness when his sister had moved in. She could have run from the legal ramifications when she'd found out about his vigilante activities. She hadn't. She should have, but she hadn't.

That was the problem, that should. He could spend a week writing out the reasons that I love you had been wanting to burst out of him and he still wouldn't get them all; but he couldn't think of a single reason for why Alice had said it back. It felt like borrowed time; some cosmic accident that would correct itself and screw him over.

Forlorn still written all over his body language, Tom eased himself onto the edge of the bed, digging around in his pocked for his cell phone. "Here, use my -" he started saying, pressing down on the unlock button, but the phone stubbornly refused to react. He frowned at it, tried powering off and on, but nothing but a black screen reacted.

"Huh," he muttered, suddenly distracted by the minor mystery. "Guess the battery died."