Free Will

Participants:

kaylee3_icon.gif luther_icon.gif

Featuring:

carl_icon.gif

Scene Title Free Will?
Synopsis Kaylee reaches out to Luther after the nightmare inducing vision they both witnessed.
Date December 31, 2019

Tears trace hot down cold cheeks as Kaylee pulls out of the fog of the dream. Head coming up from where it had been resting back on the couch cushion. As the last cobwebs of sleep melt away and events replay in her head, an unsolicited choked noise erupts from the in the back of her throat along with the taste of bile. The soft familiar hiss and the feather light touch of the flickering tongue. The next sound out of her, is muffled behind a hand.

Even though she can’t see past the sea of tears, the telepath stumbled to her feet.

“Mommy?”

The sleepy voice comes from behind her, reminding Kaylee that Carl had joined her for the New Year. They had been watching a movie waiting for the time to tick over… but they had gotten sleepy. Her sudden jolt, jostled the boy from where he had been curled up against his mother.

Swallowing hard against the rising nausea, Kaylee manages a calm, “It’s okay, baby. Go back to sleep,” turning to tuck the blanket around her son and place the dragons under his arm. “It’s okay.”

Only then does she hurry for the bathroom. There is no time to ensure the door latches, only slapping at it in a vague attempt to close it, before the telepath finds herself bent over the toilet throwing up.

She could still hear it, even if it was only a memory. The silken tone of its voice, brushing over her skin.

Once her stomach is emptied of its contents, Kaylee drops to sit on the cold tile floor with her back against the wall and just manages a shuddering breath.

All her memories of being under the sway of the snake hit her at once.

The snake lies, she tries to remind herself, The snake manipulates.

But had it been there all this time?

That thought alone terrified her. Again making her doubt her choices. Joseph and the kids, leaving Raytech to become a cop. Knees draw up one at a time so that she can curl her arms around them. Hugging them tight, she allows the tears to flow, stifling her sobs into the soft worn denim.

A face surfaces in her mind’s eye.

Luther.

As soon as she thinking of him, she remembers that he had been in the dream. Rushing to get to them. Loosening her hold on her legs, the telepath straightens a leg so she can tug out her phone. It trembles in her hands and she almost dropping it in the process. Still she manages to clutch it in both hands and huddle over the lit screen and punches in an inquiry.

Luther?

Please be awake.

Did you dream, too?

The world blurs again and Kaylee is forced to stop texting long enough to scrub at her eyes with the back of a hand, clearing away the tears that threaten to spill over again.

She knows dreams. This one was one of the special ones, it didn’t fade like a real dream.

Please be awake.

Kaylee softly whines, “I need you, big guy.” Resting her forehead against the phone like she could will him to answer her. Eyes close, weary and tear filled. Waiting for the one person who always made her feel safest.


Kansas City, Missouri


Luther has been lying on his back, awake and staring at the dark ceiling above but with an unfocused stare. The nightmare had been different this go around, even if the set dressing was the same, the theme was different. The voice though. Even as the depths of the dream starts to fade from immediate consciousness, the feelings of disturbance linger as he tries to shift himself physically. He pulls away from the tangle of dark hair on the pillow beside him, slipping off sheets but tucking them around the sleeping form of his companion to keep the warmth.

It’s around that moment, the softest buzz of his phone vibrates from his jeans pocket on chair nearby. No hesitation stays him as he crosses to it, taking out the phone and taps the screen awake. The blue-white glow lights his faintly frowning expression at the third message down.

Yes. I’m here. Yes I did.

Wasn’t normal.

Need to call Eve.

There’s a pause to think, the dots of typing in progress flashing slowly on Kaylee’s end. Then the next bubble comes.

How are you doing?


NYC Safe Zone


Scared.

No reason for Kaylee to hide that fact. Even though she presses her lips tightly together, the lower one trembles.

You saw it. The snake.

I

A bump against her leg, startles Kaylee and causes her to hit enter early. Oops. Sorry, Luther. Willy gives a guttural sound and bumps against her arm this time, nipping at her wrist. He was either demanding attention or food, but she wasn't a dealing telepath… So who knows.

Kaylee does the only thing she can at the moment and scratches gently under the old cats chin, briefly so that she could finish her thought.

I’m scared that my free will was a lie.

Had she just been fooling herself into believing that the snake was gone? That her choices were hers? So much doubt swirled around her decisions since New Mexico.

I'm scared of what we saw. We know the entity lies, but what if inaction is what it wants?

It was the type of game her father would have played. And how could they really know if they were following the will of the Entity or not? What was the right answer? They would never know until it does or doesn't happen.

I'm scared for everyone I love. The future is so fragile.


Kansas City, Missouri


Luther crosses the doorway into the hall, continuing to read the messages sent. The reassurance of a warm body nearby fades as he finds a seat on Jane’s sofa. His eyes reread the latest messages, brow furrowing as he composes himself and his reply.

But the snake is gone. You don’t feel it now, do you?
Your life is not a lie. It’s your life.

He frowns at his own message, too late to take it back even if he has a moment’s misgiving and doubt.

In Japan, Monroe said… the Company messed with what he knew, or something like that. Think this is one of those things? Someone messing with us?

Head shaking, Luther huffs out a breath, eyes closing for a moment as he wills his composure to stillness. Fingers hovering over his phone, he slowly taps out a reassurance both for himself and the telepath.

Anyway. It’s ok to be scared for them.
But you’re right… inaction… isn’t acceptable.

We do what we can.

We protect them the best we can.

Looking away from the screen back toward the bedroom, Luther ponders on the impact of the words, still freshly lingering. This world wasn’t meant for human kind. It was meant for our kind.

And what kind was that? He grimaces again.

Also means there’s still work to do. Look back over the notes you had, the other dreams. If they were dreams. Visions.
Sorry… not too good with this sort of thing.


NYC Safe Zone


I don’t feel it, but I didn’t until something dislodged it. Maybe it’s hidden again after NM.

Even as Kaylee sends those words, she realizes how they may sound. A desperate attempt to make sense of it all. Still, how would she even know.

Reading the rest of the texts, while Willy bumps her arm and gives a gravely purr, Kaylee’s lips purse. Protect them the best she can.

Easier said than done, big guy. I know what you are saying tho

Kaylee lets out a deep breath and thumps her head against the walls, making the cat jump. “Fuck,” she breaths out. How do you protect people that seem against it or that she burned bridges with. What would Joseph say if she told him about what they saw. Would he believe her?

Maybe.

It wasn’t a bad idea, the new notebook was tucked in her nightstand, but did she trust what was in it.

I can’t let Carl grow up in that world.
I can’t let any of that happen again. That other world we saw.

A world perpetually at war. It was almost this one if her father hadn’t intervened..

I just don’t know who or what to trust anymore.

The cat pushes his way under an arm and forces himself into her lap, before bumping under her chin and continuing that nails on chalkboard purr.

I’m not great at this either.
Wish you were here.


Kansas City, Missouri


Luther hunches over his phone, the bright screen casting long shadows in his tired features. He rubs at his face, scratches at the sides of his beard as he considers her message. A look up from the screen into the darkened room finds a decanter and two glasses catching what little light comes through from the windows. His weight shifts forward, the start of giving in to temptation, to habits. But another look at his phone screen stops his pitch.

“Fuck,” he utters under his breath, the urges pushed down and his body pulled back. He sinks into the sofa, eyes stuck on the texts.

You’re right.

And for a while that is all he’s responded with, almost as though he’d fallen back asleep for a minute. But he hasn’t. A few texts are sent off to others, though whether or not he expects replies right away doesn’t matter in the moment.

Thought I was going to stay here awhile longer.
But, given what’s happened, I’ll come back by tonight.
You’ll be okay.

It’s not a question, but a statement. An insertion of faith. Suddenly restless, he pushes back up from the sofa and takes a step away from it, turning back to the hall, but then detouring towards the kitchen. It’s to fill a different type of glass. Some water.

The man’s next text comes even more belated, full of a certain simple tone of the man’s wry humor.

Trust Willy.


NYC Safe Zone


“Mommy?”

The sleepy voice at the door forcing Kaylee to look up from the phone, where she waits for more texts. She finds Carl leaning against the door with messy hair looking confused. Willy gives a chirped meow, slinking off the telepath’s lap to brush around the boy’s legs.

Kaylee sends the phone down on the tile next to her and opens her arms. At the invite, Carl moves to take the cat’s place, leaning sleepily on his mom a hand tucked under his cheek. “Why are you sitting in the bathroom?”

“Something I ate didn’t agree with me,” Kaylee murmurs against his hair, fingers combing through it affectionately.

“Oh,” Carl says. She can’t see it, but Kaylee can imagine the wrinkle of his nose.

The phone next to her buzzes, which gets Carl to shift to look at it. “Who you talking too?” He tips his head back to look up at her. “Is it Mr. Bellamy.” Kaylee picks up the phone and shows him the name. “I knew it!”

“You sure did,” Kaylee comments with a chuckle, looking at the texts coming in. Shifting her son off her arm, she starts working on a return text. Whatever she was going to say is stopped by the next text. For whatever reason, it brings tears to her eyes. Yet, she still looks at the cat who has decided to let Carl, drag him up in his lap.

What a sight they must be.

“Hey,” Kaylee leans over a little, angling her head to look down at her son. “You want to send Mr. Bellamy a picture?” The boy brightens and nods his head, the act messing up his hair more. “Okay, hold on to Willy.” It will take a few tries for a snapshot of a bed-headed and sleepy mother and son… and an annoyed cat.

In fact, Luther might be crawling into bed by time one more text comes through.

Please stay safe. We’ll see you soon.
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