makingthisupasigo | And the stars look very different today...

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And the stars look very different today...

It was a way out. But it wasn't home.

Truthfully, after Norfinbury, anything would be better than that place, but the cold truth was--there was no way to find his own universe out of the endless multiverse, even if Norfinbury's busted technology had worked properly. He was stuck, here, with a megalomaniac Flynn--granted, a Flynn that managed to open up a portal out of there. Maybe that's what it took to get out of Norfinbury.

Or, Peter thought sometimes on bad days, Norfinbury only released you once you became the twisted version of yourself it wanted you to be. A specially-designed virus inflicted on countless worlds.

Besides, he ought to know something about that.

He didn't stay long on earth, he couldn't. Maybe it had something to do with the mystery of how they were revived in Norfinbury, their bodies recreated or cloned or healed, or maybe it was something that was gonna happen to him anyway, but he could feel the Light burning inside him, inside his head almost as soon as he landed. A desperate need to take to the stars. He'd managed to create a ship and took off.

Time passes, and scientists notice something odd about several exoplanets they're monitoring, especially ones marked as 'earth-like' or other planets in zones that could make them potentially habitable. Bright bursts of light and changes in the composition of the atmosphere or surface, it was inexplicable. Possible evidence of intelligent life? If they didn't know any better, especially with the rocky planets that now somehow boasted extreme changes, it was like something was terraforming them.

There was cause for alarm when Mars suddenly turned blue and green a few months later.

Meanwhile, a small blue-and-orange ship that looked suspiciously like a slightly more organic-looking Milano was racing towards the earth.

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Freedom and his hands. That's the price of what he's done.

If Ezekiel thought working for Flynn had sucked before, well. He actually has to admit he was sorely mistaken because before doesn't even compare anymore.

He's working on the UFO today, trying to stall without being obvious. He really isn't in a hurry here, knows what's in store as soon as the UFO is fixed. Ezekiel scowls and briefly rubs at his hands, temporarily fixed by Flynn's magic until either Stone will crush them again or Flynn revokes the spell ("Just a safety precaution in case you try to run away or do something while Stone isn't around.").

But Stone is around a lot, watching him, working with him, only he's so different and whatever Flynn has done to him sends a seething bitter rage through Ezekiel. He doesn't know if Stone is aware of what's going on. He hopes not.

He's also doing his best to ignore the awful little voice that tries to say but what if he actually means it because no. Ezekiel will NEVER believe it, he won't give Flynn the satisfaction. He knows how badly the tattoos had affected Stone. Whatever this magic was? Must be his personal nightmare.

And Ezekiel has every intention of waking him up.

The situation is hopeless and horrible and amidst of it all Ezekiel finds a quiet, angry resolve that he hasn't felt in a long time. If Flynn thinks that beatings or a few broken fingers are enough to break his spirit he's sorely mistaken because Ezekiel can do this. He knows he can do this. This isn't worse than touching a several hundred degrees hot steam pipe or getting torn limb from limb again and again and again.

No, they have a looong time before they get even close to those numbers. And Ezekiel won't let it get to those numbers. He's going to save Stone long before that and then Stone is going to kick Flynn's ass and then they are going out for pizza and beer. It's a good plan, solid. It has all the steps, now he just has to figure out the tiny details in between.

One of those details is downloading the UFO's data into his smartphone and creating a program simulating the communications environment. Which, theoretically, should allow him to reach other spaceships out there. He's also implementing a speech-to-text feature because who knows when he can use his hands the next time. While the bar on the screen fills up, he puts the smartphone down face down and carefully leans to the side to peek out behind the panel, checking where Stone is at.

Wondering if he should risk trying to reach him again. If only to distract him from the phone.

He was outside, on a ladder, trying to buff out some scratches, but it was some kind of fancy space alloy and his usual tricks weren't working. He's muttering to himself, working at the scratches with some filler and sandpaper, for once not paying much attention to Jones.

He's not sure what to feel about Jones lately.

On one hand, he was an awful traitor who deserved everything he got. Stone had no problem breaking his hands, no problem with anything he's done--after all, Jones worked with the enemy. He's lucky they didn't just kill him.

It still burns that he didn't tell him about the tattoos. That he kept that a secret. It was proof that he had been planning to betray them all along.

He was trying to save you.

He can't quite forget what he said.

Sure, he would do anything to save himself. Say anything. There was no reason at all to believe him.

And some part of him, deep down in his heart of hearts wouldn't let go of the 'what if.'

As much as he hated Jones, he still thought that maybe...maybe there was a chance they could get over this. Like with Cassie. He had a problem trusting folks after they'd betrayed him but then...look what happened with Cassie.

Still, he wouldn't leave Jones alone, mostly out of suspicion he was up to something, but also because he wanted to now why.

Why he'd done it.

Why he would betray his friends.

Ezekiel watches him for a while, how he works and mutters to himself and wonders how Stone can be so much like himself and at the same time not. It's uncanny and painful because it makes what he says to Ezekiel more tangible, more real. If he were over the top evil and cackling like Flynn this would be so much easier to deal with, just a clean separation between the person he used to be and he is now. But like this the two blend into each other and it hurts.

With a small sigh Ezekiel shoves the phone deep into the UFO's belly and hides it behind conduits and chips, letting it do its thing, and gets up, slowly heading over to the toolbox next to where Stone is sanding.

Despite everything he's just told himself his heart starts beating faster the closer he gets to his friend and his hands tense involuntarily but at least he manages to refrain from hiding them behind his back. Inhale, exhale. It's fine. He can play the part. The part where he doesn't care about what Stone says to him, does to him. The mask is in place, not letting on his fear and--

There's a hammer in the toolbox and for a moment he freezes, heart thundering in his chest before he reaches out and takes the pincers next to it. It's fine. He can do this.

"How's it going with the dents?"

Stone looks over when he hears Jones speak. He shrugs a shoulder.

"Same as before, which is a whole lotta nothin'. This alloy is just..." he huffs, clearly frustrated. "Can't buff the scratches out, at least. I tried this dent here..."

He points to still-quite-an-obvious-dent.

"But I've dealt with tougher trucks than this. I helped an old buddy of mine restore a '78 Bronco that was more rust than metal. I'll get it eventually." A wan smile. He speaks so casually, so amiably, that it's almost like old times again. For a second he can almost pretend they are.

Almost pretend that Jones didn't sell out his entire planet for some pizza.

Ezekiel relaxes ever so slightly when Stone seems to be in a good mood, the corner of his mouth moving up with a wry grin. "Go get 'em, Cowboy."

He sits down on a crate next to the ladder, lazily twirling the pincers in his hands, letting the tool dance between his fingers. It's nice to use them, he can't seem to hold them still, can't not use them in the precious hours where he may.

Before Stone will break them again.

"I found some of the fried connections. Might be the ones that short-circuited and gave you a hard time with the landing."

It's nice, pretending, even just for a little while. It reminds him of what could and would be once he gets Stone out of Flynn's clutches. At the same time it's disturbing because every fiber of his body is tingling with fear and it's all so wrong, like a horror movie, the clean white fake picket-fence suburbia right before the facade crumbles and the horrific murders start.

Or, you know. The tortuous hand smashing.

"They're a bit tricky to replace but I think I found a way to make Earth components compatible. Just have to reroute the power through a secondary system. Might have to build a special circuit board for it."

Edited 2018-04-18 17:25 (UTC)

There's a part of Jacob that doesn't want Jones to be so friendly, to sound just like old times. It'd make it easier, all of this easier. Easier to hate freely.

The hate feels so wrong sometimes, because of their previous friendship. He should never have had to hate Jones like this. But he did what he did.

And yet, it is nice to pretend sometimes. Made everything hurt less.

Though when reality hit it made his betrayal hurt that much more.

"Good. That's good." He works at a particularly nasty scratch. "Flynn will be happy to hear that."

The old hatred he bore for Flynn was gone from his voice. He speaks of him differently now. Because after all, he protected the earth.

And didn't sell out.

Edited 2018-04-19 05:33 (UTC)

"Yeah, I'm sure he will be." He can't quite keep the sarcasm from his voice but it's a lot more subdued, a lot less snide than it could have been.

It bothers him. He has never policed his tone around Stone before and it feels like giving up another part of his freedom. Like a win for Flynn and Stone and their notions of teaching him 'respect' or whatever - but right now, it's necessary. Ezekiel tries to think of it as breaking a lock instead, carefully picking at the different components and not getting too impatient. He doesn't want to make Stone angry. This Stone is terrifying when he's angry and he needs him to not be angry in order to work on saving the other Stone.

"The circuit board might take me a while." He hesitates. This next one is risky, he doesn't know how Jacob will react, but he has to try.

"It would go a lot faster if I could keep working on it in my cell."

"What?" Jacob pauses, staring at him and holding the sandpaper up. He's clearly thinking about it, weighing the options. Jones was sneaky, sure, but what damage could he get up to with that in the cell?

He chews on his lip for a second before shrugging.

"Ask Flynn. If he doesn't have a problem with it, then I don't."

There was something weirdly freeing about deferring to Flynn. It was easier this way, plus he didn't have to worry about fighting with him or anything. Less trouble for everyone all around.

Flynn making the decisions for him was much easier.

Edited 2018-04-19 09:11 (UTC)

"Seriously?" Like Flynn is ever going to agree to that. Maybe Ezekiel shouldn't have punched him but back then it had seemed like the only option.

But that's actually not what's bothering him right now.

"What happened to 'I hate these tattoos so much and I'm super mopey all the time because I don't get to make my own decisions?'"

"Yeah, seriously. In case you haven't noticed we both work for the guy?"

'Work for.'

He shrugs and goes back to aimlessly sandpapering.

"I was more stressed out then. It's easier now."

It's a tone that suggests he might not exactly believe that.

'Work for.'

Ezekiel pulls a face and watches him out of the corner of his eye, measuring his reactions. It's a fine line to thread here, prodding at dangerous subjects but if he wants to figure out what Flynn did to Stone he needs to narrow it down, needs to understand how his friend's mind works now and why. Is it a spell? A curse? Something that changed morality? Something that forced him to make certain decisions?

"I don't know, you kiiinda seem a little stressed to me." You know, with your rage face moments and hammer wielding insanity. "And since when do you like the easy way?"

"I'm not stressed!" His voice rises, then he catches himself.

"I'm not stressed. And maybe I like the easy way cause..."

He doesn't look at him and digs around a bad scratch with his sandpaper.

"Maybe I'm just tired of fighting. Maybe...maybe I've fought long and hard enough and it's gotten us nowhere. Maybe Flynn actually isn't so bad after all and we can actually get things done by working together. Not that you'd know anything about that."

Edited 2018-04-19 11:07 (UTC)

"Maybe I don't."

It feels like a throwback to the early days, of pretending he doesn't care for these people he suddenly finds himself working with, because he's just here to have some fun and treasure along the way.

"So you like working for Flynn now?"

"Yeah, I figured." There's a scoff. As if he didn't expect much else from Ezekiel Jones.

He pauses in his sandpapering, looking back over at him.

"It's not really a question of liking. It's more like...figuring out the best way forward. And maybe he's part of that."

"Mmh." This is fine (it's not), he's used to Stone thinking ill of him (he's not, not really, not anymore, not when he's so serious about it).

"You really don't care about any of this. Breaking my hands? Locking me up? Like, I get that you're angry and you feel betrayed and think I somehow doomed Earth by not getting beaten up by the space gardener but you're actually saying what you and Flynn are doing doesn't bother you?"

This is completely fine.

"Of course I care, why'd you think I'm doing any of this stuff in the first place? We gotta defend the earth, unlike you, who thinks pizza is worth more than people--"

What he and Flynn are doing?

"He's doing what's necessary. It's tough times right now." He sounds a little unsure and goes back to buffing out another scratch.

"You smashed my fingers with a hammer. Do you even know how much it sucks to have your fingers smashed with a hammer? Because it really sucks a LOT."

He pushes himself up, moving away from the crate again.

"Like, I'm pretty sure there's an International Law against that or something. Or used to be, you know, before Flynn literally took over the planet."

"Well, maybe you shoulda thought about that before you decided to throw it in with the video game guy!" he waves a hand in the vague direction of space indignantly.

"And yeah, Flynn took over the world, but we're working for the most powerful guy on earth, so you know. There's some benefits for that."

Whatever they were.

"That doesn't even make any sense. We're supposed to be Librarians, we don't work for anyone but the Library."

He moves back to the panel and crawls into the UFO, grabbing the phone and hiding it in his sock before he can accidentally cross a line with Stone.

"Which means if I'm a traitor, then so are you."

"In case you haven't noticed, we have Flynn now! We don't need the Library anymore!"

He regrets the words as soon as they come out of his mouth. It feels so wrong to say it.

He feels like a traitor.

And now he's even more pissed at Ezekiel.

"Don't you put this on me!"

"'We don't need the Library'? Are you serious right now?!"

When Jake's rage picks up Ezekiel feels like apologizing, then angry at the reactive urge, then furious at what Jacob is saying. He should diffuse the situation but he's genuinely upset now and the words are out before he can stop himself.

"You punish me for treason but you renounce the Library?!"

Renounce is such a...strong word, really.

"The Library protects the earth. Flynn protects the earth better than anyone else right now, and he's gonna last forever, so it's--y'know, it's fine!" That's not really a great argument and he knows it.

That is an awful argument, Stone, and the worst potential way to end it, too. "It's not fine!"

He shouldn't have done that. This isn't going to end well but once they started going down this road he can't seem to stop himself, his carefully constructed pretense slipping away.

"Working for this maniac is not fine! Breaking my hands is not fine! What the hell's going on with you? This isn't you! Do you really not realize that he must have done something to you?!"

There are doubts in his mind, but he only doubles down harder when accused. He can't trust Jones. He can't be wrong in his decision to break his hands. He can't because that meant...no, he couldn't harbor those thoughts. Ezekiel was trying to get him to turn against Flynn, obviously.

"Don't you realize everything changed when that maniac--" he waves a hand vaguely at space and accidentally drops his sandpaper, getting worked up in the moment.

"Came down and decided he wanted to take over the earth? That Flynn's the only thing savin' the good people of earth? That you're gonna say whatever you need to get me on your side, then you're gonna convince me to join you and betray Flynn? Unlike you--" He jabs a finger towards him.

"--I know how to be loyal! I know where I stand! I'd never sell out this planet!"

"I didn't sell out Earth!"

He throws his hands in the air, agitated, walking away (maybe getting a little more distance between them), angrily ripping out a handful of dead cables to toss in the bin next to his work station.

"Oh my God, I can't believe you. I can't believe this. It's like talking to a brick wall. You don't even have any proof!"

cw mentioning of broken bones and violence possible for entire thread

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