And If Tomorrow Never Comes

Participants:

f_elisabeth_icon.gif trask_icon.gif

Scene Title And If Tomorrow Never Comes
Synopsis … then we'll make the best of today.
Date May 14, 2019

Elisabeth's Apartment


It's only a few hours before they leave and Trask has one stop to make before he heads to Pinehearst, and maybe destroys the world. He pats the letter in his pocket and knocks on the door, he wears his commando outfit he arrived in, fully armored, though the ski mask is in his pocket, and his gund are in the car.

It doesn't feel so odd to Elisabeth, being left out of this mission. She's a government agent, and in spite of it all…. she doesn't think what she can do will be much of a help to getting them home. Much like the Moab raid ten years ago, some of us have to remain behind… to cover tracks as necessary, to be the gatekeepers in case the world doesn't end and people need help. And Cat was eminently practical about it, too — if the world *doesn't* end, Cameron will need his mother to NOT be in jail. If it *does* end, she should spend whatever remains of it with her child. And Elisabeth couldn't find the heart to argue with the logic of it all.

The knock on the door is not entirely unexpected. Cameron's in his room playing his guitar right now, kept out of school today by his mother. Much like his godmother, he seeks his solace in music when he doesn't know what else to do. Elisabeth opens the door and it takes all that she has not to lose her composure at the sight of him. She has known since the moment he arrived that it was not permanent, but that doesn't make the punch to the gut any easier to bear. "Norton," she murmurs quietly, stepping back to allow him entry.

Trask steps in, lets the door close behind him, "I debated not coming…but…" He sighs and smiles at her, "I wanted to see you again, one more time…I'm sorry…if I shouldn't have." He listens to the guitar playing in the other room a moment, but doesn't make any move to head that way. Instead he just looks you over, taking you in a few moments.

Shaking her head slowly, Elisabeth's blue eyes take in his face. He still looks young, and she wonders how much her son will ultimately resemble his father. "If you can keep the bomb at Columbia from killing everyone, I think this future will still play out as it should. Just… if you have the option of helping set up security, you know what you're looking for now." After all, Columbia just made them martyrs… it wasn't what ultimately changed everything. Stepping close to him, reaching up to trace the lines on his face, she murmurs, "I'll be waiting. Don't forget your promise." It's the last thing she said to him before Moab, but there is a wealth of knowledge in those blue eyes now — knowledge of the hazards to come in his future if he makes it there, knowledge of his death to come, knowledge that Norton himself now knows things he shouldn't. Things the past her won't have a clue about.

Trask nods slowly and kisses her, tenderly, softly. "Liz…I…can't promise I'll come back this time." His voice catches for a moment. He looks away and sighs softly, "I know I told you I would always come back, but this time…this is going to be our last goodbye I'm afraid."

There's a faint smile and she kisses him tenderly, her hand cradling his cheek. "You'll never come back to *me*," she says quietly, her eyes closed as she rests her forehead against his cheek. No matter what happens, she will be gone. "But if I didn't hope you'd get home, Norton…. I couldn't let you go," she tells him, looking up.

Trask nods, "I have a promise to keep…to you….I am going to keep it, I am going to make it back…no matter the price…" He looks toward the music, "I am just hoping and praying that by doing so, I can save all of you, and not be the instrument of your destruction."

Elisabeth steps back, forcing down her tears. She'll cry later… after being strong for her son, after he's gone to bed…. she'll cry on Felix's shoulder and let Leland pamper her with comfort food. Assuming, of course, they all still exist. "Would you like to see him before you go?" She hesitates. "I told him that you were leaving today. He recorded something for you and put his picture in it, but…. I wasn't sure you'd want to try to take it with you."

Trask nods he swallows again, "I wrote him a letter…just in case … he wasn't here…or didn't want to see me…or…." He sighs, "Part of me is afraid to say good bye…."

Elisabeth nods slightly. "I think he is too… he's very… somber today. We've been talking this morning about time travel and the consequences of you staying. He's smart," she says quietly. "He's grown up in a world where it's not although time trave is pretty unusual, unusual things are more the norm, you know? It doesn't mean he's not hurting, but… we tried to make sure he understood from the start that this was only a very very special visit. I think it will give him closure if you go in and say good-bye."

Trask nods and kisses your forehead, before releasing you, he wipes away the tears forming, can't let Cam see those, and walks to the door of his room, listening to the playing a moment, before knocking on the door quietly.

The guitar stops and the door opens, the boy looking up at his father with a smile of welcome that fades to a more solemn expression. "It's time?" he asks quietly.

Trask nods slowly, somberly, taking in the sight of his son, drinking him in a few moments, at a completely loss for words. Not wanting to say goodbye.

Cameron stares up at Norton and then throws his arms around the taller man. The several weeks of time they've spent have given them time to become friends, and Elisabeth has to bite her lip to keep the her own sob caught in her throat when her son tearfully exclaims, "I don't want you to go!" into Norton's belly.

Trask takes a knee, hugging Cameron tightly, he takes several moments of just holding him to be able to fight to speak, "I don't want to go either…but sometimes…we have to do things we don't want to do…for the good of everyone. Sometimes we have to make tought choices…to bring about the world we want." He takes a deep sigh, "If I don't go back…who will be there for your mom before she had you?"

The child cries against the shoulder, and holds on for a long time. When he steps reluctantly back, he's trying to be manly about it. "I'm gonna miss you," he says in a choked voice.

Elisabeth moves forward then to put her hand on her son, drawing him back a little into the comfort of her body. "I'm going to send your CD with Norton, okay?"

The boy looks up and nods to his mother. And then he tears out of her hands and runs into his room, slamming the door so he doesn't have to see Norton leave. It's going to be a rough few weeks for Liz; Cameron's going to take out his rage and grief on her and she knows it. But she looks up at the man who gave her son life and says quietly, "He'll be okay."

Trask takes a envelope from his pocket, "It's got some pictures of me and Cameron down at Coney from a picture taking booth…I kept one or two..but I thought you and he might want the others…there is a letter in there for him to…but …I would like him to read it after I leave….

Elisabeth's jaw clenches and he can see the crumple begin in her face. She reaches to take the envelope and her hand trembles. "All right. I'll hold it for him," she tells him quietly. And then she sucks in a breath and kisses him. Heatedly. Passionately. Tenderly. The taste of tears invades the kiss just as she steps back, but Elisabeth says softly, "You will always have my heart. Now go."

Trask nods, kisses back, then turns, without another word, he knows better then to argue the point, because if he doesn't leave now they are both going to collapse, and well….that won't help anyone…and will cause him to miss his "flight." In body armor and black commando gear he cuts a pretty beefy shape as he walks out of her apartment for the last time ever.

When she finally coaxes her son out, Elisabeth takes him to Felix and Leland's house. It helps to have them around as she waits for word on the fight. She doesn't open her son's letter, but she keeps it with her so that he can have it when it's time. Once she finally settles the child into the room that belongs to him at their place, only then does Elisabeth finally break down, curling into Felix's arms and crying for what seems like forever, Leland doing his version of fussing and pampering when she'll let him. Where better to spend what may be the end of everything than in the arms of your family?

Cam, I am so proud of you, you are more then I could ever dream of. I need you to be strong and take care of your mom for me, I know you always will. I also need you to remember that I will always love you, no matter where ..or when I am. You will be in my thoughts, and I hope a little of me will always be in yours. I know I can never be a real father to you, and I regret that, just know I will always be watching over you. Never give up on doing what you know in your heart is right, and you will never disappoint me.

—Norton Simon Trask, Proud Father


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