Smells Like Home

[whistlersmum]

Whistler spent a lifetime the past eight days rooming at the El Ray.

The paper-thin walls provided twenty-four entertainment; while he'd suspected Blair was a bit loose, her Facts of Life were projected in high-octave screams of pleasure, and Mister Drummond was a horrendous, abusive drunk.

If his bosses expected him to set up shop in the desert again, the least they could do was point him towards decent place to live. Which, in Searchlight standards, was a double-wide trailer on a dusty road on the outskirts of town.

It had a pinsize hole in the floor in the north corner, and one of the windows was a piece of plastic and masking tape, but it was quiet. All he needed to figure out was where the smell was coming from.

A final sweep of the hotel room produced a missing pair of boxers. He didn't relish the thought that Blair had been snooping through his things. He'd dropped off the key, and walked back out to the Impala.

"Onward and sideways."

Comments

[whistlersmum]

Whistler tried (and failed) to pinpoint the nexus of Rhiannon's destiny.

So he improvised.

"There's gonna be a moment, Rhi-Rhi." (Where the hell did that come from?) "Everyone has 'em. You can't get away from it. It's what comes after that's gonna decide who you're gonna be."

The Agent took a long drag of his cigarette before continuing. "It can be slippery. It'd help if you had someone ta hold onto, metaphorically."

[rhiannon_lee]

"Yeah, I guess it would," she hedged, "Except when they're not disappointing me, they're bowling me over with clichés and bad nicknames." Rhiannon tossed the rock in a garbage can a few yards away. "Look, you can be straight with me. I don't deal well with ambiguity and I don't respond to motivational speeches. If you need to say, 'Rhiannon, what you're doing is fucked', just say it. You do that, and I'll do the same for you. But I also don't need or want a watchdog."

She took a drag of the cigarette.

"Anybody could be corrupted, Whistler."

[whistlersmum]

"Rhiannon, what you're doin' is fucked."

Whistler took another drag of his cigarette.

"And at the very least, you need a friend."

[rhiannon_lee]

"I hope that was just practice, because I haven't done anything." Her expression was blank.

[whistlersmum]

"You couldn't even fool your own father with that," Whistler spat back.

He took a step forward towards Rhiannon, attempted to speak but instead sighed, turned and walked back three steps. Whistler then pivoted and took another step. He raised a finger at her.

"You think you're so fuckin' tough. That nothin' gets through your armor. Been doin' shit on your own for so long, no Watchers, no nothin'. Don't need help." He gook another drag of his cigarette. "And that's the exact thing you shouldn't be doin'. You think I can't smell the Were on you? That I can't already see the dark edges? You've been flounderin' since you hit Nevada, but are too scared to fuckin' admit it. You'll take any comfort to keep you from screamin' your head off."

The Agent looked up to the night sky. The one good thing about Searchlight was that you could see the stars at night. "They say you're important. But you know what? I don't need 'em to tell me that. I know it.

"It's a shame you don't."

[rhiannon_lee]

"Hey." Rhiannon flicked her cigarette at his cheap suit. The butt bounced off his lapel, landed on his sleeve, and rolled onto the ground. "I smell like Were? You smell like liquor and bargain basement prostitute, so don't talk to me about floundering. You want to earn my trust? Step one is keeping your mouth shut about a good man who's shown me nothing but decency, demon."

She shook her head.

No use denying there was a connection between them; their communing brains had taken care of that detail. But she didn't have to like him, especially if he kept up with the holier than thou attitude.

"You are the exact reason I'm starting to hate playing for this team."

[whistlersmum]

"You think I'm on just this team?" Whistler was getting hot under the collar, and it wasn't from Rhiannon's discarded cigarette. "I'm technically half-demon. Two opposing sides decided to have a tryst and I'm the result. I'm so fucking OCD over maintaining the balance I can barely function. So excuse my coping mechanisms."

He threw down his cigarette and jammed his heel into it. "I put Moses in the basket, and convinced hundreds of people that the volcano was just burpin'. Was I happy about it? What do you think? You can read my mind. So go ahead. Take the full download before you judge me."

[rhiannon_lee]

"What?" Rhiannon snorted. "The only thing I'm judging is your bad behavior," she said. "Since we met, you have run me over with your car, yelled at me for being real, left before I even woke up at the hospital, insinuated that I'm going to the dark side, and that I'm sleeping with a man just because I'm going crazy. At this point, I don't LIKE you, okay? And if you don't have a seat in my life, it's because of your actions... Not mine."

[whistlersmum]

Whistler knew she was right. And worse, he knew he was being an ass. For the first time in centuries, the man was completely out of his depth. No one had access like the brunette did.

"Fine. I take it back. I apologize." There was sincerity in his voice. "For the record, I left the hospital because I was sure you were just gonna hit me again when you woke up."

He leaned against his Impala, feeling smaller. "And I don't mean you are goin' to the dark side, but you saw it. It's possible. I'd really like that not to happen."

There was a weighty silence between them, which he finally broke. "Say the word, and I'll leave ya be."

[rhiannon_lee]

"Fine." Rhiannon crossed her arms. She leaned forward. "Leave me be."

Silence stretched between them. The wind blew hard across the parking lot, stirring up hot air and dust that stung Rhiannon's bare arms. The statement felt off, like a bold faced lie being told with a straight face, and yet it was the only answer that Rhiannon could give. She was tired of the behavior police, tired of condescension, tired of the suspicion that those she took cues from were much farther down the spiral than she was.

She turned and left the parking lot.

"Go ahead," she mumbled. "Say you saw it coming."

[whistlersmum]

'I didn't.'

He hadn't moved. Not an inch. But he heard her in his head. And her leaving just hit him as a thousand kinds of wrong.

"Usually I show up at someone's doorstep, tell 'em they have a destiny. Point them in a direction. And then I'm onto the next stop. But I get here, and you're in my head. We don't know each other, and I'm acting like you should know all this shit already."

He pulled out another cigarette.

"I dunno, maybe it's this town. It fucked me up once already. Bore a hole and skull-fucked me until I could barely see."

Whistler looked past Rhiannon. "Maybe I'm too early. Maybe it's just the way it is. Whatever's going on, I can't see what's comin' next.

"And that scares the shit outta me."

[rhiannon_lee]

On the sidewalk, she turned on her heel.

"None of that has anything to do with me," she called out. "I never know what's coming next. I just try my hardest and I do what feels right in my gut. So I think about defecting sometimes. Ya got me. You straddle the fence because you were born to. I straddle it because I believe in myself more than anybody else. I trust me." She thumbed her chest.

"If we're supposed to be connected, you get to know me like anybody else. Okay?"

[whistlersmum]

"Deal."

[rhiannon_lee]

She didn't move any closer.

"I live in Vegas now. Acacia Street."

Rhiannon dug her key out of her pocket. "I'm sure I'll see you around, whether I want to or not."

[whistlersmum]

Whistler didn't move from his position.

"I'm on Wendell. There's always-- or there will always be beer in the fridge."

[rhiannon_lee]

Rhiannon had a feeling she'd need one to hang around Whistler.

She unlocked her car door and sat inside. She watched him for a moment through the windshield, then shut the door and turned the key in the ignition.