Just To Be With You (2/9)
Title: Just To Be With You (2/9)
Word Count: 3,635
Summary: Babe makes a big mistake that sends the one he loves into the arms of another. Now he has to chase him across the globe to tell him how he feels before it's too late. Seriously AU. Various pairings.
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. I don’t own anything….so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
Dick Winters was a patient man if there ever was one. He had to be. If he wasn’t then the people around him would have caused him to become every bit as crazy as they were. Yes…crazy.
Well what else would you call his borderline alcoholic boyfriend whose mood swings were the stuff of legends? Or his wild group of friends who didn’t think anytime was a good time unless someone passed out? Preferably from doing something illegal.
Well….he thought they were nuts anyway. Lewis had assured him that this was all perfectly normal behavior for people their age. Dick had come to accept this. His two best friends, thankfully, were more like himself. As far as he was concerned the crazy wasn’t anything to worry about on their end.
Unfortunately he couldn’t quite think of any other word to describe the situation he was in right now.
Here he was…up in the air, away from the one he loved and party to something he thought was ludicrous. Mindlessly he looked over at his friend sitting to his right whose arms were crossed as he stared out their airplane’s window.
“This is crazy isn’t it?” He asked the troubled looking young man.
Carwood Lipton possessed, along with many admirable qualities, the ability to talk about sensitive issues without making anyone look or feel bad. Dick was hoping he could convince his friend to talk to Eugene. Let him know that this wasn’t what he wanted, because Dick had tried and he really couldn’t find the right words to get Gene to reconsider his current course of action.
“What?” His friend seemed distracted. Or maybe he was just tired. Everything had happened rather quickly.
After fleeing the party Eugene had made up his mind that he was going to find Renee even if he had to go after her by himself. Dick didn’t want that, so he and Lipton had tagged along despite the fact that they were both against the whole thing.
Eugene still hadn’t told them what had happened between him and Babe. But Dick was sure that whatever it was it could be fixed. Eugene had to be blind not to see that Babe loved him. To Babe the sun rose and set on Eugene and Eugene himself seemed to be the only one who didn’t understand that.
Dick had sent Lewis a message from the airport to let him know what was going on. Maybe he could convince Babe to fix this somehow. Or at the very least maybe he could meet up with them somewhere. Dick didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of them spending the summer in different countries.
He let out a small sigh and focused his attention back in on Carwood. “You should talk to him. I’ve already tried but maybe you can say something different-something better.”
Carwood looked rather skeptical, which told Dick something right away. Lipton was the kind of person who would take a chance on anything if he thought it was the right anything. If he didn’t think he could get through to Eugene then he must have a solid reason.
Carwood started to speak and then paused, possibly to rethink what he was about to say. “Maybe I’m not the best person to talk to him. I don’t have the most stellar track record when it comes to relationships and if we hope to convince him to give up something he thinks he wants…then we should at least have the decency to let him hear it from someone who’s happy.”
Dick sighed…again. He should have known that this was coming. Carwood hadn’t been the same since last summer when he had a fling that went horribly wrong.
Dick felt somewhat responsible for Carwood’s current misery because the guy was a good high school friend of his that went to college in a different state and he had been the one who introduced them. Just another shining example of a relationship that could be fixed if both parties just stopped wallowing in self pity and said what needed saying. But what did he know?
“Oh yeah…him…you know I still think you should give him another chance.” He told Carwood who just glared at him and went back to staring out the window.
Well so much for that plan. He really hoped Lewis was having better luck with Babe.
“So what’s the deal with this guy anyway? How do you know him and why don’t you like him?” Lewis asked as he looked over at Bill.
The two of them were going to go scrounge up some money to convert to traveler’s checks while Babe and Luz saw about getting them a flight and Nixon had to admit he was curious about whoever it was they were talking to.
Bill gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Geez Nix with the fucking questions-look he’s an old high school buddy of Dick’s and he’s nothing but a self serving pain in the ass alright?”
Lewis looked irritated at the information. Bill thought that was a nice change of pace really-Nix looking irritated. “What do you mean he’s a friend of Dick’s? I’ve never met him.”
Bill shrugged as he looked over his shoulder to switch lanes. “Yeah well I can’t help you with that. So you don’t know everyone in Dick’s life-whoop-de-fucking-do. You’ll meet him soon enough I’m sure.”
“Yeah well that’s not the point is it? The point is that you seem to know him and I don’t. I mean what the hell?” Lewis growled.
Bill just stared at him out of the corner of his eye and gave him a little smirk. “Y’know Nix-irritability and possessiveness aren’t really attractive qualities. And they seem to be the ones you have the most of.”
“Dick doesn’t seem to care so why should I?” Nixon spat as he hopped out of the car the moment they were stationary.
Bill shook his head and followed the huffy man into their first stop-Nixon’s bank. “Yeah well Dick’s a saint.”
Boy wasn’t that the fucking truth. Bill guessed he kinda had to be.
Babe was curious. Curious about a few things to say the least. But mostly he was just nervous. What if this guy wouldn’t or couldn’t help them? Then what would Babe do?
He supposed he could go alone but he didn’t have the money and he had absolutely no freaking idea where to start looking for Eugene. Maybe Dick would be able to call Nixon again once they landed.
“Hey stop thinking so hard. You’re starting to give ME a headache.” Luz joked as he smoked another cigarette. Babe didn’t really think that smoking while driving was all that smart. Especially not in this piece of shit jeep that Luz seemed strangely fond of.
It was an old thing-Luz’s jeep. All that Babe really knew was that Luz had won it in a poker game, which was really fucking amazing because Luz sucked at poker, no matter how much he played. And that the passenger door didn’t lock… which was just fantastic. Oh and his seatbelt had to be tied around the armrest since the buckle was broken. Basically his chances of survival were not good in this seat. He should seriously sit in the back next time.
“Whatever. Geez…just how far away does this guy live? Are we almost there? ” They had been driving for what felt like forever. It had taken them an hour just to get out of the city and that had been two hours ago.
They had been sucking down Virginia countryside ever since and Babe had seen so many cows that he was seeing spots everywhere he looked now.
“We’re not visiting him at home. We’re gonna drop in on him at work. It’ll explain a lot actually. Trust me.” Ugh he hated it when Luz told them to trust him.
“Man don’t say that. So why doesn’t Bill like him anyway?” Babe asked as they turned onto a street adjacent to the first actual building Babe had seen in a long time.
Pulling into the building’s parking lot Luz cut the engine. “Nothing important really. Bill just thinks he’s an asshole. He got Lipton into some trouble last summer and you know how Bill can be about stuff like that. It’s probably the reason you never met him. Bill must think he’s a bad influence.”
Babe shook his head. “I’d hate to see who Bill thinks a bad influence is. Seeing as how I hang out with you knuckleheads all the time.”
Luz gave him an affronted look as he stomped out his cigarette. “Ouch man.”
Babe took the opportunity to survey the area. The building they were standing next to wasn’t the only one close by. It just looked to be the only one you needed to go into.
There was concrete stretched out for what Babe could only assume was miles. It had to be some kind of private flight service. The large buildings in the distance were probably where they kept the planes.
Luz jerked his head to the side and Babe followed him into the building. It was rather plain and empty but Luz seemed to spot someone that could help them.
“Heya Tom!” he called out to his right and took off toward a counter where an older man was getting off of the phone.
The man had a face that was sturdy, nose perfectly straight and his graying hair was cut close to his head. He didn’t look too happy at first until he saw Luz.
“Well I didn’t think I’d be seeing you back here after last time. Hope my son doesn’t owe you anymore money.” The man’s voice sounded casual but it was pretty clear that that had better not be the case, for his son’s sake anyways.
“Oh nah, the jeep was fine.” Luz muttered leaning over the counter. Interesting…well now Babe knew who he could thank for that death contraption. “Where’d he get that jeep anyways?”
Tom just gave him an exasperated look and Luz waved his hand around in the air. “Forget I asked. So um…where is he anyhow?”
“He’s over prepping the jet for tomorrow, the one in section C if you’re wondering. Need a ride?” Tom asked as he held up a set of keys.
The man seemed to like Luz which made Babe smile because most parents seemed to like Luz. He didn’t understand it really.
“Oh cool, do you have those little golf cart thingies?” Babe asked before he could stop himself. Luz glared at him.
Tom just laughed, “Sure do son and you can get it any color you want. So long as it’s white.”
Luz looked over at him, “We’ll take one in…I’m thinking white. What do you think Babe?”
Babe nodded, “White sounds good.”
Section C was crawling with people when they got over and it made sense now why the main building was so empty.
They walked in and looked at the chaos that seemed to be happening near the actual jet. Babe watched as employees went over the plane- cleaning it and checking it out.
Luz walked over to a man holding a clip board and jerked his thumb towards the jet. “Hey is Ron in there?”
The man nodded. “He’s going over the controls. Tom told me you were headed over, so you can go on up.”
Luz thanked him and walked over to the jet and clambered up inside. Turning around he gave Babe a hand up.
“Swanky.” Babe commented on the tan leather interior of the ridiculously roomy aircraft. Luz was already headed towards the front.
Looking over Luz’s shoulder Babe saw the young man in the cockpit.
He was sitting up so straight it actually looked painful and his thin arms were stretched out while long fingers fiddled over the many knobs and buttons displayed in front of him.
Luz cleared his throat and the hands stopped. The young man’s head turned over his shoulder and his body followed its lead to turn and face them.
Well…he didn’t look much like Tom really.
As he stood up the younger man showed a lean, but somewhat thin, body. Babe could relate. His hair was a dark brown and it was tousled in a much more carefree manner than his father’s clean cut. His features were much softer and his eyes much darker and larger. Yet the posture was the same and when he spoke it was in the same curt tone.
“George Luz. No one told me you were here.” He spoke to Luz as the two shook hands, but his cool gaze strayed over towards Babe. “Who’s this?”
“Ah, Ron this Edward Heffron, we just call him Babe. Babe this is Ronald Speirs. ”
Speirs reached out and shook his hand, eyes looking Babe up and down as if he’d seen him before.
“Call me Ron.” He muttered and when he stopped the hand shake Babe had to rub his hand on his leg to get the feeling back into it.
Ron gave him one last look before snapping his head over to Luz. “So what can I do for you George?”
Luz shot Babe a look-he really hated it when people called him George. Yet he said nothing of it as he slumped down into the co-pilot’s seat. Ron followed his lead, sat down and went back to checking the controls.
“Here’s the thing, I kinda need a favor. You see Babe here really needs to get to Europe soon and I was thinking maybe you could give us a lift huh?”
“Define us.” Ron requested as he kept his eyes on his work.
Luz groaned. “Well there’s Babe and me plus Bill Guarnere and Lewis Nixon.”
Ron looked up slightly, “Wild Bill huh? Bet he’s thrilled about this. Nixon’s a bit of a surprise though. Didn’t really think Dick wanted us to get too acquainted. He seems to think we’d get into too much trouble.”
Luz scratched the back o his head uncomfortably, “Yeah well Dick doesn’t know about this. He’s kinda in Europe along with the rest of our problems.”
Ron must have thought that was interesting because his movements stopped and he looked up.
“So let me see if I understand. You want me to sneak four of you onto a jet plane to get you somewhere where Dick, who doesn’t know what you’re up to, is? That doesn’t seem like something I want to do. Dick’s not exactly pleased with me recently, I hear his boyfriend is a bitchy drunk and Guarnere would just as soon shoot me as accept a favor from me.”
Luz shook his head, “Look Dick is trying to help us out with this one from what I can tell. Babe needs to stop Eugene Roe, you know him, from doing something real stupid. Bill won’t be a problem okay? He just wants to help Babe out. Nixon…well whatever man I can’t help you with that one.”
“Doc’s doing something stupid huh? That seems a little out of character for him.” Suddenly something seemed to dawn on Speirs because he turned his gaze back towards Babe.
“Wait-you’re Heffron right?” He asked while Babe nodded. “Now I know where I’ve seen you before. Roe’s got a picture of you tucked away in his wallet.”
“He does?” is the first thing Babe asks, then, “Wait what were you doing with his wallet?”
Ron nodded then smiled at him, “Sticky fingers.”
Babe just looked at him. Trouble….right.
Speirs made one last tweak of a knob before he stood up and walked past them, motioning at them to follow. Climbing out of the jet he spoke a few words to the man Luz had talked to earlier and waited for them to catch up with him.
“If I were to help you, I’d first have to get you on the jet. Which I can’t do under my father’s nose because he would notice you and I’m pretty sure the passengers would too. The only way to successfully do this is for me to be the one flying. Now I’m certified to fly with my father’s charter company, however the only jet going to Europe is the one right behind you and it’s leaving in the morning. Truth is that there is no way in hell I’m flying that one due to the status of the passengers. In order to help you guys out I’m going have to break a few laws and put a fair amount of lives at risk. If you want me to help you you’re going to need to give me a good reason.”
Luz rolled his eyes into the back of his head and started listing, “Well for starters I got you out of jail last summer and I’m the only reason you didn’t get sued last spring break by that poor gentleman whose leg you broke with that golf club. Although to be fair, I was totally with you on that one. That guy was asking for it. Plus I like to think that pissing off your father is always a good incentive.”
Speirs stared at him and shook his head, “Not good enough.”
Luz sighed, “Lipton’s with them.”
Speirs smiled after a moment, “Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”
Babe was confused.
At 4:30 the following morning a few hours before they needed to leave, Nixon showed up with his things to let them know he’d gotten another message from Dick.
“He had to call from a payphone. His phone’s dead and there isn’t exactly anyway for him to charge it back up. Their plane just landed in Paris. They’re going to crash somewhere and then go find Renee probably tomorrow. Her family apparently live in the west part of Paris so, thankfully, Dick says they’re no longer in too much of a hurry. However he thinks Gene knows what he’s up to so I wouldn’t expect too much help from him from here on out.”
Babe nodded, “Well at least they’re waiting till tomorrow. We’ve got time to catch up with them I suppose. Hopefully we’ll have enough time. You guys ready to head out?”
He looked over at his friends. They had all decided to fit as much as they could into one backpack for each of them since they didn’t really know how long they’d be there. The less that they took the less they had to worry about.
Nixon looked over at Bill, “Got the money?”
Bill nodded. They had managed to get about a thousand dollars between all of them and it was decided that Bill should hold onto it. Seeing as Babe couldn’t be trusted to not lose it, Luz to not gamble it away, or Nixon to not spend it on booze.
“You really not going to take any liquor huh Nix?” Luz asked like he couldn’t believe it.
Nix just shrugged, and pulled an old silver flask from his bag. “I’ve got this….which is almost empty. I can always check the jet to see if there’s a mini bar.”
Babe laughed as they all piled into Bill’s truck. “Yeah but what about when we get to Europe?”
“I have every confidence in my scrounging abilities.”
When they got to the airstrip it was mostly empty. Babe was under the impression that it took more than three people to get a jet off the ground. Maybe not.
Speirs was waiting in front of the jet, looking every bit a pilot. He nodded to them as they approached.
“Let’s go put your shit in cargo,” was all he said before turning on his heel and walking to a compartment area where a man took their backpacks. Reaching up to unclip something hanging on the golf cart nearby Speirs unzipped a black clothing bag to reveal another pilot’s uniform.
He turned to Bill and handed him the hanger, “Put this on.”
“What? Why me?” Bill demanded.
“You look the oldest. They’re expecting me to have a co-pilot.”
“There is no way I’m impersonating a pilot!”
“You will if you want that jet to take off.”
The two of them stared at one another heatedly for a few moments more before Bill gave in.
“Son of a bitch.” He muttered as he jerked the uniform off the hanger. Looking around he realized he was going to have to change where he was.
Nixon whistled as he looked up at the jet and then shook Ron’s hand, “Lewis Nixon. Who’re you flying in this thing anyway?”
“Ron Speirs. As for your question- a Virginia congressmen and his family. I’m sure they’ll be less than pleased at your company. They probably won’t fly with us again.”
“Uh don’t you think these guys are going to suspect something’s up and report back to your Dad?” Babe asked, gesturing to the personnel around them as Bill finished getting dressed. “Or do all of your co-pilots change out here?”
“I don’t see why they would need to report anything, they’re the custodial staff. My father pays them shit. So they don’t mind helping out. I convinced my father’s new manager to schedule the flight to leave a few hours early. He hasn’t had this job long enough to realize that just because I’m the boss’s son doesn’t mean my word is any good. My guess is he isn’t going to be working here much longer anyway. Let’s go.”
Huh…Babe decided that he rather liked Ronald Speirs.
Word Count: 3,635
Summary: Babe makes a big mistake that sends the one he loves into the arms of another. Now he has to chase him across the globe to tell him how he feels before it's too late. Seriously AU. Various pairings.
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. I don’t own anything….so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
Dick Winters was a patient man if there ever was one. He had to be. If he wasn’t then the people around him would have caused him to become every bit as crazy as they were. Yes…crazy.
Well what else would you call his borderline alcoholic boyfriend whose mood swings were the stuff of legends? Or his wild group of friends who didn’t think anytime was a good time unless someone passed out? Preferably from doing something illegal.
Well….he thought they were nuts anyway. Lewis had assured him that this was all perfectly normal behavior for people their age. Dick had come to accept this. His two best friends, thankfully, were more like himself. As far as he was concerned the crazy wasn’t anything to worry about on their end.
Unfortunately he couldn’t quite think of any other word to describe the situation he was in right now.
Here he was…up in the air, away from the one he loved and party to something he thought was ludicrous. Mindlessly he looked over at his friend sitting to his right whose arms were crossed as he stared out their airplane’s window.
“This is crazy isn’t it?” He asked the troubled looking young man.
Carwood Lipton possessed, along with many admirable qualities, the ability to talk about sensitive issues without making anyone look or feel bad. Dick was hoping he could convince his friend to talk to Eugene. Let him know that this wasn’t what he wanted, because Dick had tried and he really couldn’t find the right words to get Gene to reconsider his current course of action.
“What?” His friend seemed distracted. Or maybe he was just tired. Everything had happened rather quickly.
After fleeing the party Eugene had made up his mind that he was going to find Renee even if he had to go after her by himself. Dick didn’t want that, so he and Lipton had tagged along despite the fact that they were both against the whole thing.
Eugene still hadn’t told them what had happened between him and Babe. But Dick was sure that whatever it was it could be fixed. Eugene had to be blind not to see that Babe loved him. To Babe the sun rose and set on Eugene and Eugene himself seemed to be the only one who didn’t understand that.
Dick had sent Lewis a message from the airport to let him know what was going on. Maybe he could convince Babe to fix this somehow. Or at the very least maybe he could meet up with them somewhere. Dick didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of them spending the summer in different countries.
He let out a small sigh and focused his attention back in on Carwood. “You should talk to him. I’ve already tried but maybe you can say something different-something better.”
Carwood looked rather skeptical, which told Dick something right away. Lipton was the kind of person who would take a chance on anything if he thought it was the right anything. If he didn’t think he could get through to Eugene then he must have a solid reason.
Carwood started to speak and then paused, possibly to rethink what he was about to say. “Maybe I’m not the best person to talk to him. I don’t have the most stellar track record when it comes to relationships and if we hope to convince him to give up something he thinks he wants…then we should at least have the decency to let him hear it from someone who’s happy.”
Dick sighed…again. He should have known that this was coming. Carwood hadn’t been the same since last summer when he had a fling that went horribly wrong.
Dick felt somewhat responsible for Carwood’s current misery because the guy was a good high school friend of his that went to college in a different state and he had been the one who introduced them. Just another shining example of a relationship that could be fixed if both parties just stopped wallowing in self pity and said what needed saying. But what did he know?
“Oh yeah…him…you know I still think you should give him another chance.” He told Carwood who just glared at him and went back to staring out the window.
Well so much for that plan. He really hoped Lewis was having better luck with Babe.
“So what’s the deal with this guy anyway? How do you know him and why don’t you like him?” Lewis asked as he looked over at Bill.
The two of them were going to go scrounge up some money to convert to traveler’s checks while Babe and Luz saw about getting them a flight and Nixon had to admit he was curious about whoever it was they were talking to.
Bill gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Geez Nix with the fucking questions-look he’s an old high school buddy of Dick’s and he’s nothing but a self serving pain in the ass alright?”
Lewis looked irritated at the information. Bill thought that was a nice change of pace really-Nix looking irritated. “What do you mean he’s a friend of Dick’s? I’ve never met him.”
Bill shrugged as he looked over his shoulder to switch lanes. “Yeah well I can’t help you with that. So you don’t know everyone in Dick’s life-whoop-de-fucking-do. You’ll meet him soon enough I’m sure.”
“Yeah well that’s not the point is it? The point is that you seem to know him and I don’t. I mean what the hell?” Lewis growled.
Bill just stared at him out of the corner of his eye and gave him a little smirk. “Y’know Nix-irritability and possessiveness aren’t really attractive qualities. And they seem to be the ones you have the most of.”
“Dick doesn’t seem to care so why should I?” Nixon spat as he hopped out of the car the moment they were stationary.
Bill shook his head and followed the huffy man into their first stop-Nixon’s bank. “Yeah well Dick’s a saint.”
Boy wasn’t that the fucking truth. Bill guessed he kinda had to be.
Babe was curious. Curious about a few things to say the least. But mostly he was just nervous. What if this guy wouldn’t or couldn’t help them? Then what would Babe do?
He supposed he could go alone but he didn’t have the money and he had absolutely no freaking idea where to start looking for Eugene. Maybe Dick would be able to call Nixon again once they landed.
“Hey stop thinking so hard. You’re starting to give ME a headache.” Luz joked as he smoked another cigarette. Babe didn’t really think that smoking while driving was all that smart. Especially not in this piece of shit jeep that Luz seemed strangely fond of.
It was an old thing-Luz’s jeep. All that Babe really knew was that Luz had won it in a poker game, which was really fucking amazing because Luz sucked at poker, no matter how much he played. And that the passenger door didn’t lock… which was just fantastic. Oh and his seatbelt had to be tied around the armrest since the buckle was broken. Basically his chances of survival were not good in this seat. He should seriously sit in the back next time.
“Whatever. Geez…just how far away does this guy live? Are we almost there? ” They had been driving for what felt like forever. It had taken them an hour just to get out of the city and that had been two hours ago.
They had been sucking down Virginia countryside ever since and Babe had seen so many cows that he was seeing spots everywhere he looked now.
“We’re not visiting him at home. We’re gonna drop in on him at work. It’ll explain a lot actually. Trust me.” Ugh he hated it when Luz told them to trust him.
“Man don’t say that. So why doesn’t Bill like him anyway?” Babe asked as they turned onto a street adjacent to the first actual building Babe had seen in a long time.
Pulling into the building’s parking lot Luz cut the engine. “Nothing important really. Bill just thinks he’s an asshole. He got Lipton into some trouble last summer and you know how Bill can be about stuff like that. It’s probably the reason you never met him. Bill must think he’s a bad influence.”
Babe shook his head. “I’d hate to see who Bill thinks a bad influence is. Seeing as how I hang out with you knuckleheads all the time.”
Luz gave him an affronted look as he stomped out his cigarette. “Ouch man.”
Babe took the opportunity to survey the area. The building they were standing next to wasn’t the only one close by. It just looked to be the only one you needed to go into.
There was concrete stretched out for what Babe could only assume was miles. It had to be some kind of private flight service. The large buildings in the distance were probably where they kept the planes.
Luz jerked his head to the side and Babe followed him into the building. It was rather plain and empty but Luz seemed to spot someone that could help them.
“Heya Tom!” he called out to his right and took off toward a counter where an older man was getting off of the phone.
The man had a face that was sturdy, nose perfectly straight and his graying hair was cut close to his head. He didn’t look too happy at first until he saw Luz.
“Well I didn’t think I’d be seeing you back here after last time. Hope my son doesn’t owe you anymore money.” The man’s voice sounded casual but it was pretty clear that that had better not be the case, for his son’s sake anyways.
“Oh nah, the jeep was fine.” Luz muttered leaning over the counter. Interesting…well now Babe knew who he could thank for that death contraption. “Where’d he get that jeep anyways?”
Tom just gave him an exasperated look and Luz waved his hand around in the air. “Forget I asked. So um…where is he anyhow?”
“He’s over prepping the jet for tomorrow, the one in section C if you’re wondering. Need a ride?” Tom asked as he held up a set of keys.
The man seemed to like Luz which made Babe smile because most parents seemed to like Luz. He didn’t understand it really.
“Oh cool, do you have those little golf cart thingies?” Babe asked before he could stop himself. Luz glared at him.
Tom just laughed, “Sure do son and you can get it any color you want. So long as it’s white.”
Luz looked over at him, “We’ll take one in…I’m thinking white. What do you think Babe?”
Babe nodded, “White sounds good.”
Section C was crawling with people when they got over and it made sense now why the main building was so empty.
They walked in and looked at the chaos that seemed to be happening near the actual jet. Babe watched as employees went over the plane- cleaning it and checking it out.
Luz walked over to a man holding a clip board and jerked his thumb towards the jet. “Hey is Ron in there?”
The man nodded. “He’s going over the controls. Tom told me you were headed over, so you can go on up.”
Luz thanked him and walked over to the jet and clambered up inside. Turning around he gave Babe a hand up.
“Swanky.” Babe commented on the tan leather interior of the ridiculously roomy aircraft. Luz was already headed towards the front.
Looking over Luz’s shoulder Babe saw the young man in the cockpit.
He was sitting up so straight it actually looked painful and his thin arms were stretched out while long fingers fiddled over the many knobs and buttons displayed in front of him.
Luz cleared his throat and the hands stopped. The young man’s head turned over his shoulder and his body followed its lead to turn and face them.
Well…he didn’t look much like Tom really.
As he stood up the younger man showed a lean, but somewhat thin, body. Babe could relate. His hair was a dark brown and it was tousled in a much more carefree manner than his father’s clean cut. His features were much softer and his eyes much darker and larger. Yet the posture was the same and when he spoke it was in the same curt tone.
“George Luz. No one told me you were here.” He spoke to Luz as the two shook hands, but his cool gaze strayed over towards Babe. “Who’s this?”
“Ah, Ron this Edward Heffron, we just call him Babe. Babe this is Ronald Speirs. ”
Speirs reached out and shook his hand, eyes looking Babe up and down as if he’d seen him before.
“Call me Ron.” He muttered and when he stopped the hand shake Babe had to rub his hand on his leg to get the feeling back into it.
Ron gave him one last look before snapping his head over to Luz. “So what can I do for you George?”
Luz shot Babe a look-he really hated it when people called him George. Yet he said nothing of it as he slumped down into the co-pilot’s seat. Ron followed his lead, sat down and went back to checking the controls.
“Here’s the thing, I kinda need a favor. You see Babe here really needs to get to Europe soon and I was thinking maybe you could give us a lift huh?”
“Define us.” Ron requested as he kept his eyes on his work.
Luz groaned. “Well there’s Babe and me plus Bill Guarnere and Lewis Nixon.”
Ron looked up slightly, “Wild Bill huh? Bet he’s thrilled about this. Nixon’s a bit of a surprise though. Didn’t really think Dick wanted us to get too acquainted. He seems to think we’d get into too much trouble.”
Luz scratched the back o his head uncomfortably, “Yeah well Dick doesn’t know about this. He’s kinda in Europe along with the rest of our problems.”
Ron must have thought that was interesting because his movements stopped and he looked up.
“So let me see if I understand. You want me to sneak four of you onto a jet plane to get you somewhere where Dick, who doesn’t know what you’re up to, is? That doesn’t seem like something I want to do. Dick’s not exactly pleased with me recently, I hear his boyfriend is a bitchy drunk and Guarnere would just as soon shoot me as accept a favor from me.”
Luz shook his head, “Look Dick is trying to help us out with this one from what I can tell. Babe needs to stop Eugene Roe, you know him, from doing something real stupid. Bill won’t be a problem okay? He just wants to help Babe out. Nixon…well whatever man I can’t help you with that one.”
“Doc’s doing something stupid huh? That seems a little out of character for him.” Suddenly something seemed to dawn on Speirs because he turned his gaze back towards Babe.
“Wait-you’re Heffron right?” He asked while Babe nodded. “Now I know where I’ve seen you before. Roe’s got a picture of you tucked away in his wallet.”
“He does?” is the first thing Babe asks, then, “Wait what were you doing with his wallet?”
Ron nodded then smiled at him, “Sticky fingers.”
Babe just looked at him. Trouble….right.
Speirs made one last tweak of a knob before he stood up and walked past them, motioning at them to follow. Climbing out of the jet he spoke a few words to the man Luz had talked to earlier and waited for them to catch up with him.
“If I were to help you, I’d first have to get you on the jet. Which I can’t do under my father’s nose because he would notice you and I’m pretty sure the passengers would too. The only way to successfully do this is for me to be the one flying. Now I’m certified to fly with my father’s charter company, however the only jet going to Europe is the one right behind you and it’s leaving in the morning. Truth is that there is no way in hell I’m flying that one due to the status of the passengers. In order to help you guys out I’m going have to break a few laws and put a fair amount of lives at risk. If you want me to help you you’re going to need to give me a good reason.”
Luz rolled his eyes into the back of his head and started listing, “Well for starters I got you out of jail last summer and I’m the only reason you didn’t get sued last spring break by that poor gentleman whose leg you broke with that golf club. Although to be fair, I was totally with you on that one. That guy was asking for it. Plus I like to think that pissing off your father is always a good incentive.”
Speirs stared at him and shook his head, “Not good enough.”
Luz sighed, “Lipton’s with them.”
Speirs smiled after a moment, “Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”
Babe was confused.
At 4:30 the following morning a few hours before they needed to leave, Nixon showed up with his things to let them know he’d gotten another message from Dick.
“He had to call from a payphone. His phone’s dead and there isn’t exactly anyway for him to charge it back up. Their plane just landed in Paris. They’re going to crash somewhere and then go find Renee probably tomorrow. Her family apparently live in the west part of Paris so, thankfully, Dick says they’re no longer in too much of a hurry. However he thinks Gene knows what he’s up to so I wouldn’t expect too much help from him from here on out.”
Babe nodded, “Well at least they’re waiting till tomorrow. We’ve got time to catch up with them I suppose. Hopefully we’ll have enough time. You guys ready to head out?”
He looked over at his friends. They had all decided to fit as much as they could into one backpack for each of them since they didn’t really know how long they’d be there. The less that they took the less they had to worry about.
Nixon looked over at Bill, “Got the money?”
Bill nodded. They had managed to get about a thousand dollars between all of them and it was decided that Bill should hold onto it. Seeing as Babe couldn’t be trusted to not lose it, Luz to not gamble it away, or Nixon to not spend it on booze.
“You really not going to take any liquor huh Nix?” Luz asked like he couldn’t believe it.
Nix just shrugged, and pulled an old silver flask from his bag. “I’ve got this….which is almost empty. I can always check the jet to see if there’s a mini bar.”
Babe laughed as they all piled into Bill’s truck. “Yeah but what about when we get to Europe?”
“I have every confidence in my scrounging abilities.”
When they got to the airstrip it was mostly empty. Babe was under the impression that it took more than three people to get a jet off the ground. Maybe not.
Speirs was waiting in front of the jet, looking every bit a pilot. He nodded to them as they approached.
“Let’s go put your shit in cargo,” was all he said before turning on his heel and walking to a compartment area where a man took their backpacks. Reaching up to unclip something hanging on the golf cart nearby Speirs unzipped a black clothing bag to reveal another pilot’s uniform.
He turned to Bill and handed him the hanger, “Put this on.”
“What? Why me?” Bill demanded.
“You look the oldest. They’re expecting me to have a co-pilot.”
“There is no way I’m impersonating a pilot!”
“You will if you want that jet to take off.”
The two of them stared at one another heatedly for a few moments more before Bill gave in.
“Son of a bitch.” He muttered as he jerked the uniform off the hanger. Looking around he realized he was going to have to change where he was.
Nixon whistled as he looked up at the jet and then shook Ron’s hand, “Lewis Nixon. Who’re you flying in this thing anyway?”
“Ron Speirs. As for your question- a Virginia congressmen and his family. I’m sure they’ll be less than pleased at your company. They probably won’t fly with us again.”
“Uh don’t you think these guys are going to suspect something’s up and report back to your Dad?” Babe asked, gesturing to the personnel around them as Bill finished getting dressed. “Or do all of your co-pilots change out here?”
“I don’t see why they would need to report anything, they’re the custodial staff. My father pays them shit. So they don’t mind helping out. I convinced my father’s new manager to schedule the flight to leave a few hours early. He hasn’t had this job long enough to realize that just because I’m the boss’s son doesn’t mean my word is any good. My guess is he isn’t going to be working here much longer anyway. Let’s go.”
Huh…Babe decided that he rather liked Ronald Speirs.