Not Goodbye Forever

Participants:

graeme2_icon.gif keira_icon.gif

Scene Title Not Goodbye Forever
Synopsis Keira comes to say goodbye to her brother, but with a promise that someday, she'll be back.
Date March 31, 2011

Upper West Side and Dorchester Towers


When Keira called her brother earlier today, she refused much of any details to him. She'd get to those, she said. She insisted on meeting him somewhere close to his house, though not at his actual home. No need to incriminate him at all. She kept it brief, as well. On the phone, meet me here, off the phone. Keira's a simple kind of girl, and she can't stand long phone conversations.

Now, the woman is standing just down the road from Dorchester Towers, in front of West Side Sushi. She's leaned up against the nice, shiny car that Graeme last saw her getting kidnapped in, smoking a cigarette with her arms crossed over her chest. The car's tinted windows hide anything that might be seen in her back seat.

It was lucky, really, that Graeme even had his phone with him, since it's not like he's been carrying it the past few days. But she requested to meet him, and he wasn't about to say no, so late morning sees him having made it back to the Upper West Side. He's dressed smartly, a simple sweater over a button down shirt and slacks, right arm firmly immobilised in a sling that's new since the last time she saw him, definitely, and new since the last time they spoke. But he doesn't look tired, or weary, and he makes his way over to her car at a slow but certain pace. "Hey Keira," he says, greeting soft once he's actually closer. "What's up?"

Keira is dressed nicely, all things considered. A pair of pinstripe slacks adorn her long legs, with high heeled boots peeking out from beneath. A black wool peacoat is worn to keep the cold out, which hides a majority of her tattoos. She even wears a pair of sunglasses, pushed up over the top of her head to keep her hair back and out of her face.

As Graeme approaches, brows raise. There's a moment of hesitation, before suddenly, Graeme's little sister has his arms around him in a rather tight hug, squeezing him tight. "I'm glad to see you…"

"Ooof, careful there," Graeme murmurs, though that doesn't stop him from wrapping his free arm around her shoulders and just holding onto her for a little, though he's managed to shift that she's not jostling his right side now. "Yeah," he murmurs. "Me too."

And for a long moment, Keira simply…stands there. And hugs her brother, resting her head against his shoulder. A small comfort before what's coming comes. Noting that he's keeping his right side away from her, she's certainly careful not to touch it. A soft sigh escapes her, and she slowly shakes her head against his chest. Then, slowly, she's pulling away.

Blue eyes find her brother's matching blue eyes. A family trait, though not so much from their mother. She had dark eyes. Maybe Graeme's dad had blue eyes too. Finally, after a moment, she speaks up. "I'm leaving."

Worry crosses his face. "Where are you going to go?" comes the question, his first response, and then there's a bit of a pause. "No, it would be better that you don't tell me that, really, even though…" He wants to know. There's a hint of pain in his voice, that he's about to possibly lose the family he's so recently found, that he hasn't gotten a chance to get to know her.

"I…like you said, it's probably better I don't tell you." She frowns quietly, turning her eyes down toward the ground. "I won't be gone forever. I'm— I'm going to keep an eye on things here in New York. Maybe one day, it'll be safer…" She shakes her head slowly, closing her eyes and leaning against the car again. Another cigarette is pulled out, lit.

"You'll have collateral, in any case. I promise…I'm not about to run away from you forever, Graeme." After a brief pause, she reaches over, opening the back door of the car.

With a bark, Odin scrambles out of his seat, greeting Graeme by putting those enormous paws on the man's chest and looming over him. The dog is taller than Graeme, that has to say something. A single slurp to the face, then Odin is trotting over to Keira, leaning against her. He knows something is up.

Graeme runs his hand along Odin's shoulder when he's greeted by the dog, and then looks at his sister. There's an intensity behind his eyes. "You'd better not run away forever," he says, softly. "You sure about this? You've thought it through and all, right?"

Graeme moves next to Keira, also leaning on her car. There's concern in his eyes. "Nowhere's safe, you know. Not New York, not anywhere. If you need somewhere to go, though, there's a guest house on the property I own, in New Mexico. It won't look weird for you to stay there, no one's there currently and I can copy the key for you and give you the address." There's a pause. "As a fall back."

Leaning down, Keira pats Odin on the shoulder, before outright kneeling down and wrapping her arms around the oversized dog's neck. She presses her forehead against Odin's shoulder, closing her eyes. "I'd…I'd really appreciate that, actually. It'd help a lot, t'have a place t'go if I need it."

After a moment, she sighs softly. "I'm going to be leaving Odin with you, if…if you'll have him. He's a big dog, he doesn't deserve to be cramped up in a little car while I'm running around all over god's creation." She turns large blue eyes up to his brother. "This is my best friend. The only son I may ever have, y'know? He's been with me for four years now, and until you came along, he was the only thing that ever really mattered." Her voice cracks a little as she speaks.

Graeme nods, swallows once. "Yeah," he says, affirmation. "I will." There's a bit of a pause. "He's gon' miss you something terrible." The words come out in a drawl. "But I'll do what I can." Graeme's thoughtful, for a moment.

"So, we'll go and get a key made, today, and I'll write down the address and all, for you. And the house phone, at my apartment." There's a pause and he crouches down a bit, resting his hand on Keira's shoulder, tone of voice so that she can hear, but not any passersby. "My cell may not reach me so well for a while." Because it's going to be left at home, charging, or even destroyed, depending on what happens.

The woman nods slowly, closing her eyes as she hugs her dog. The dog that she is going to leaving with her brother soon. She's doing her best to hide it, but that doesn't stop the fact that she's suddenly crying softly against the canine, her eyes closed. "I'm gonna miss him." She shakes her head slowly, wiping her tears against Odin's coarse black fur.

As Graeme crouches down, Keira's arm reaches out, snagging around his waist and pulling him close for another hug, nodding slowly. "I'll be back. I promise. One day, I'll be back. I'll be keepin' an eye on this place. Don't you fuckin' get yourself killed, and don't let anything happen to my dog." Her voice cracks as she speaks, the girl sniffling a bit.

"Let's go…I got Odin's bed and food and toys in th'car." She sniffles against her brother.

Graeme wraps his arm gently around Keira's shoulders and he reaches to scratch behind Odin's ears, gently. "Alright." There's a pause as Graeme moves to go around to the passenger's side. "I live over at Dorchester. We can go take things there, and then we go get you a key and the information for my place in New Mexico." The working of his jaw is visible as he swallows. He's not going to cry, though part of him wants to.

For a moment, Keira quietly holds tight to her dog. She'll miss Odin something fierce. Then, she finally lets go of the obedient canine, motioning for him to hop back into the back seat. Then, she's slipping into the driver's seat, eyes puffy and red from tears that keep threatening, despite her efforts to fight them off from pouring down her cheeks.

"Th-thanks for watchin' Odin." She sniffs, once in the security of her own vehicle. "I jus'…gotta get away from this shit. I fuckin' love Walsh like a dad, but…I can't follow those people. Not…not since you came into th'picture." She wipes at her nose, looking down at her lap as she hesitates to put the key in the ignition. That's just another step toward leaving.

The passenger side door shuts behind Graeme, and he shifts in the seat, pulling his seat belt on, but first, there's another nondescript black handkerchief offered out to his sister, the same styling as the one he'd offered her once before. "If it means anything," he says, "it's th' right choice. Along … with if there's anything you know that can help us stop them, though I ain' going to ask you to betray them." There's an interesting tone, almost surprise when Graeme finds himself using us in that way, and he reaches to rest his hand on her shoulder, gentle.

The black handkerchief is taken, Keira unfolding it and looking down at it. Then, she's dabbing at her face, blotting away tears that keep wanting to well up and make her eyes moister than they should be. However, it doesn't take much at all for the woman to lose her control over those tears. As Graeme speaks those words, words that will remain with her far more than anything that anyone else could say, the tears begin to fall, absorbed by the black handkerchief.

"Th-thanks," she mumbles around little gasps of breath that betray her tears. After a moment, she draws a picture from her coat, holding it out for her brother. "This— this is Uncle Ben Ryans." Indeed, it's a picture of her uncle. "He's m'uncle. Got two daughters. I don't know how to find him, but…if you ever see him, tell him…don't tell him why I've skipped town. Just…tell him that I still owe him a beer."

There's a twinge at Graeme's memory, that he's heard the name 'Ryans' before and he can't just quite place it. The picture is studied for a moment before it's handed back, face and name both committed to memory. "No clue how t' get a hold of him, at all?" The question is gentle. "I can do the finding part, at some point." But it would help if he had a cell phone number, a regular haunt, anything to help him track down Ryans with more than sheer dumb luck. And there's a slight moment of realisation as he links the name to the name that Elisabeth had mentioned before. For the moment, when the picture is handed back, his free hand rests on Keira's shoulder.

"I have a cell phone, but I don't think it's current. He used to— he used to live at Gun Hill, I think. I haven't seen him in months." She frowns down at the handkerchief, managing to calm herself. For now. Taking the picture, she tucks it back into her coat, still dabbing at her eyes with the handkerchief. Then, last but not least…she pulls out a plastic baggie, offering it to Graeme.

Blue eyes peer up at his matching blue eyes. "You look too much like me." The bag happens to contains a few strands of hair, and a cotton swab. "Mom didn't have blue eyes, but yours are like mine. Like Uncle Ben's." She tilts her head to one side. "Could just be a coincidence…but I want to know for sure." A pause, and she's lowering the handkerchief back into her lap and starting the ignition of the car. "Get a DNA test and email me th'results."

The bag is taken, peered at, frowned at briefly, then tucked into Graeme's pocket, carefully. "That gives me somewhere to start," he says, more sure that the uncle his sister is mentioning is in fact the same person that he's heard mentioned, now. "And I'll write the cell number down and try it when I get the chance, anyway, I guess."

Graeme leans back in his seat. "I'll do that. Though, once things settle down, more?" There's a pause. "There's no father listed on my birth certificate, at all." And he'd therefore assumed, that with the age difference, with everything, the father was different. "But I'll do it."

"There's none on mine, either. I only found out about my real dad from Uncle Ben. It's…a long, and complicated story, but to put it shortly, mom had me convinced that Uncle Ben was my dad, even if she knew he wasn't. Too fucked up to care, I guess." She shakes her head slowly. Then, she's pulling the car into drive, directing it toward Dorchester Towers.

The more time she spends in the car with him, the more she prolongs the moment, the more painful it gets.

Graeme nods, the look of quiet sympathy showing on his face less than he perhaps meant for it to, but there's a lot that's being pushed and locked behind the emotional and mental endurance granted to him by his ability. "Yeah. LIke I said, when things settle for me, again, I'll see about doing it. Better to know." There's a faint smile. "I admit I'd like to know."

"I'd like t'know, too." Keira spares a brief glance to her brother, then a much sadder look to the dog in her rearview mirror. "Thanks…just, yeah. Email it to me or somethin'. Might be the only way to get in touch with me for a while…" She turns her eyes back to the road, frowning. "I'm sorry for leavin'…I know you were lookin' for me, but…I don't want you t'be in danger. Not on my account."

"Ain't on your account," Graeme says, speaking up enough that his words are not lost to the noise of traffic. On whose account it is is much, much more than he thinks that his sister needs to know right now, but she, and her affiliations, are very possibly the least of his worries even were she to stay. Which she isn't doing. "And your leavin' isn't going to go and make most of this any better, but I understand."

"It could be on my account. S'what I want to avoid. You gettin' hurt because I made stupid mistakes. That's th'last thing I want." Keira sighs softly, turning to peer at Graeme, while one hand reaches back to scratch at Odin's ears. She'll miss her dog most of all. It'll feel kind of naked without him. But he deserves better than being squished into a car.

Blue eyes turn toward Graeme, frowning. One hand reaches out, touching his cheek. "But hopefully, me leavin' is gonna keep them away from you. You're jus' some guy, watchin' my dog, s'far as they're concerned. If any authority asks…we've never met. You don't know me." She pulls up to Dorchester Towers, a frown of dread on her face.

Graeme sighs softly, his own hand reaching up to touch his sister's, briefly. Like maybe it could make her decide to stay, though he knows it's a vain hope, something entirely not even worth hoping for at this point. "Keira, I've been on the other side of this all since before I knew you," he says, quietly. "That's danger 'nough as it is." And there's a grin on his face. Sure, he's had chances to say no, chances to live a normal life and not put himself in danger, but there's a daredevil, encouraged by his ability, that lives for risk and the subsequent reward.

"If any authority asks, you're my sister I didn't know I had, and I'm tryin' a be a good brother and so I'm taking care of Odin while you stretched your legs and wanted to see th' world because this damn city's too small for you." The unspoken message behind the drawling words is that he's sure as hell not going to be volunteering information any time soon. And there's a small, tiny hint that he's afraid that there's a reason he might soon be talking to the authorities. "Better to give them the answer that hides things plain in front of their face." Graeme reaches over to set his hand on her shoulder as he directs her into the parking garage with a nod to the attendant, into the second of the reserved parking spaces, the first being taken up by Remi's vehicle.

Keira pulls into the directed spot, her frown growing as they slow. By the time they pull up next to the BMW, she looks outright on the verge of tears. Again. She's keeping the handkerchief, dammit. She sits, quiet, for a moment, staring at the sign indicating the parking space numbers. Then, she reaches out, gently hugging Graeme around the waist.

"Thanks. I — I care about you, Graeme." She sighs softly, before suddenly twisting about and wrapping her arms around Odin's neck, the dog's tail offering a depressed wag. He knows what's happening.

The hug is returned, gentle, the expression on Graeme's face less than a frown, not disappointed, but at this point simply sad as Keira's car is turned off. "Yeah," Graeme says, voice soft. "C'mon then, let's go up and get stuff up to the apartment." He rests his hand on Keira's shoulder. "And then you're going to let me cook you lunch, before you go. Though you might have to help a bit with some of the cooking, th' arm and all."

There's no room left for argument, and Graeme's out of the passenger side, moving around to open the driver's side door for Keira, and before they go up to his apartment, to give her a hug. "I'm gonna miss you." The tight embrace is held for a bit, letting Keira rest against his good shoulder, before finally, Graeme pulls back to let her open the door for Odin.


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License