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All Roads Lead To Sol...Unless Stated Otherwise: Chapter 4
Posted By: S7N<n.j.r.jones@brighton.ac.uk>
Date: 12 June 2003, 11:01 PM
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Chapter 4
2215 Hours, March 16, 2547 (Military Calendar) /
151st Street, Downtown New York
Earth
"So how long have you been back?" Oliver Manors gazed at his son. They sat outside Callers on one of the many benches, taking in the night air. It only been a few months since he had watched him go to boot camp, but the man before him was far from the boy he knew. Jon had been a skinny lad, but since he had last seen him, the young boy had grown into strong adult. His muscles had certainly grown and it was evident in the white t-shirt he wore. The stubble on his face made him look a lot older, too. And it reminded him of his other son, Bradley. That memory spiked pain in his heart.
"Only since this morning." Jon sucked on a cigarette and exhaled, blowing a smoke ring up into the night sky. "The flight was only a few hours but I was exhausted and went back to my apartment." He looked up at his father and smiled. The strength behind them negated the weary look he wore. Either that or he had had too much to drink.
"And you didn't think of ringing your own father?" he put on a look of dismay, then chuckled to himself.
"Well, I knew you would be coming here anyways so I thought I'd surprise you."
"What, by setting one of your friends on me?" Oliver rubbed his knuckles. It had been a long time since he had done anything like that.
"He ain't my friend, dad, he's an arrogant son of a bitch and you know I hate those types!"
"Right, right." Oliver shook his head. "So how's Pom treating ya?" he put a hand on Jon's shoulder and rubbed it. Even though he wasn't tensing it, Oliver could feel his son's shoulder muscles strength. He really was turning out to be what his brother was.
"He's an ass hole! But he is my instructor so I gotta put up with it." He glanced at his father then took another drag on his cigarette.
"He's the best there is. And he's only hard on you because he knows you're my son and Bradley's brother." He noticed his son's expression change to that of annoyance.
"Look, I know it's hard for you, but your mother and I aren't expecting you to be Bradley. He may have been a hero, but you are just as much our son as he was, and no matter what you do, we will always be proud of you, I want you to know that."
"So basically what you are saying is that even though I'll never live up to what Bradley was you'll still love me. Thanks, dad, but no thanks." He stood up and paced around.
"I didn't say that..."
"Yeah, but you might as well have!" Jon interrupted. He stopped and stared at this father.
"What is your problem?" Oliver stood and moved over to Jon. "Bradley did what he did because it was what he wanted to do, not because we wanted him to do it, but because he felt it was his duty. We couldn't have stopped him even if we wanted to."
"Yeah, but you wanted me to do the same." Jon looked into his father's eyes. "It just felt like that because he was your oldest son that what he did mattered the most, and what I did, didn't matter at all."
"How can you think that?" Oliver felt despair wash over him. "You know we wanted what was best for the both of you. You chose college, he chose service. If it had been the other way around we still would have felt the same, we are proud of both of you. Remember we are at war, this isn't about who we love the most, this is about survival. The Covenant are getting closer and closer to Earth, we both know that. And soon it won't matter what you think because we will probably all be dead."
He could tell the words hit home. Jon looked down at this feet. He flicked the remains of his cigarette on the floor and trod it out. Looking up at his father, Oliver saw even more of Bradley shine through and he felt immense price for both of them.
"I'm sorry," Jon said. "I've been angry for all the wrong reasons. It just felt at times that you loved him more than you loved me."
"Hey, try being the middle one!" Oliver laughed. He was the middle child in his family, with one older brother, one younger brother. He was never the oldest, nor was he ever the youngest, he just the middle one. Now he was the only one. With the exception of his mother, they had all died at the hands of the Covenant. He reached over to his son and hugged him.
"Right, I've had enough for one night, I'm going home." Oliver said. He kissed his son on the head. "Come and see us tomorrow." He smiled at his son.
"Yeah, I will." He grinned at his father. "Hey, thanks for teaching that idiot a lesson. And take care getting home." He hugged his father one last time and watched as the older man walked off into the night.
Manny sat back down on the bench he and his father had previously occupied and took some time to try and think about what was said. The funny thing was, the only thing that he could think about was his dad pounding Harris back in the bar. Never mess with the Manors! It was a lesson Harris had learned the hard way, but at least he learnt it.
At that moment Greggs strolled out the bar. He stumbled a bit and his eyes were glazed, but he had the same smirk on his face that he always wore. He plonked himself down next to Manny and wrapped an arm around him.
"You alright, me old mucker?" Manny could smell beer on his breath and grimaced.
"God how much have you drunk?" he exclaimed. They both laughed and settled back into the bench.
"It's closing time soon," Manny remarked "We'd better make a move."
"Why?" Greggs slurred, "You scared we gonna get mugged or sumink? From what I saw of your pa tonight, I don't have to worry about getting in a fight if he's nearby."
They were silent for a few minutes, then the others exited the bar. Tanya and Grace came out first, followed by Sarah. A few paces behind, Harris was being supported by two fairly drunk blondes. He held his broken nose, and winced in pain as he tried to breath through it. They came to stop by the bench, and Greggs and Manny stood up to go.
"Well, my ladies," Greggs said, stumbling over to Grace and Tanya. "Take me home and do as you will!" he put an arm round each of them. They nearly buckled under his weight, but managed to stay up. "Manny, my lad, I will see you later!" Manny chuckled as they walked passed him.
"See you later." He watched them wander off down the road, then turned back to the others. Harris and his two companions were slowly ambling off in the same direction. Sarah stood by the exit, leaning on the door jamb.
"Night, night, Manny wanny." The short haired blonde said, winking at him, and nearly falling over in the process. The other one waved at him from behind Harris' back as they continued off after the others. Manny watched them walk quickly down the road.
"So." Sarah said behind him. He turned round to face her, feeling an uncomfortable silence fall over them. He walked over to her and stopped just short of her. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know if she was pissed at him for letting his father lay into Harris or happy that he did so. Her face was a blank emotion. She stared into his eyes and he couldn't figure out if she was going to laugh or cry.
"So," he echoed back. They gazed at each other before he had the courage to speak again. "You want me to walk you home?" he said it to get a reaction. She'd either say yes or no. He hoped for the former, but expected the latter.
"Well, considering we live in the same building it would be stupid for you not to." She smiled at him, then turned and started back up in the opposite direction from the others. He stood for a second then rushed to catch up.
"Listen, about tonight..." he started.
"You don't have to explain Harris being a compete ass." She said. She looked over at him as they walked a few feet apart. "I'm glad actually, it got him off my back."
"Well, I'm glad to hear it." He laughed to himself. He felt her eyes on him still and couldn't help but stare at the ground, not wanting to look her in the eye. They walked in silence until they reached the elevator. He thumbed the switch and the doors parted revealing an empty lift. What happened next took him completely by surprise. As he stepped in to the lift, he felt her hands push him back against the wall. He turned around to face her and felt her lips impact on his.
They kissed for what seemed like an eternity. Her mouth was warm and her kisses were soft yet hard at the same time. He had forgotten what it was like, it had been so long. Her hands were all over him. They moved up his chest, then scratched down. She moved one hand up to his head, and pushed the other up his t-shirt, and started to grope his chest. All he could do was lean back and let it happen, he was powerless to do anything.
She withdrew for a second, slammed the 40th floor button then launched back onto him. For the whole lift ride they kissed and caressed each other. No clothes were removed, and neither of their hands went further than their waists, but just kissing her felt too good to him.
When the lift came to a stop, she moved back from him, and backed out of the lift. Her eyelids were slightly closed, and she had a sly smile on her face. He found the strength to peel himself off of the lift wall and moved out into the fresh air.
"Don't you live on the 42nd floor?" he said. It wasn't that he didn't want her to stay the night, he just wanted to see if she wanted to stay the night.
"If you want me to go, I'll go." She wore a hurt expression but he knew it was just an act. He grabbed her again and kissed her deeply. Then he took her by the hand and led her to his door. "Are you sure you can handle me?" she said, coyly.
He looked over at her. "I doubt you'll be saying that in the morning." He slid the key card through the lock and the door parted. Before he could turn and motion for her to come in, she grabbed him and forced them both into the apartment, locking her lips with his. And Manny realised this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
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