(no subject)
Title: Put Pen To Paper
Fandom: Lost
Characters/Pairings: Kate, Cass.
Word Count: 848
Rating: PG-13
Timeline: Pre island, post "Left Behind" but before "Born To Run".
Summary: There's a woman, short dark brown hair, familiar confident manner about her, up ahead of Kate, and she almost has to laught at the fact that their paths have crossed again.
There’s a woman, short dark brown hair, familiar confident manner about her, up ahead of Kate, and she almost has to laugh at the fact that their paths have crossed once again.
What are the chances.
Jewelry again. Gold chains that aren’t worth combined what she’s selling just one for. Except this guy falls for it. He falls for it, and is on his way, before Kate startles her from behind with a, “Mind if I take a look at those?”
There isn’t anyone else around, no one to get suspicious, and Cass just simply turns with a smile on her face and a surprised, “What are you doing here?”
“I was just driving through, stopped for gas.” She watches a man come out of the shop attached to the station, nods to him ever so slightly, just enough that Cass will notice, then, “Want to get a cup of coffee?”
---
“So Lucy…”
“It’s Joan now. Joan Hart.” Kate corrects. She never uses the same name twice.
Cass raises an eyebrow. “Still sticking with the saints I see.”
Lucy, Monica, now Joan. Cass has a point. “I guess you go with what you know.”
“So are you really just driving through or do you have some ulterior motives I should know about?”
They’re in the middle of Missouri. She’s never even actually been here before and probably won’t be back here again. “No. Just passing through.”
Cass nods, “Any destination in mind?”
“I think I might try Nebraska for awhile, maybe Ohio.” Kate says, after thinking a moment. “What about you?”
“I’m thinking about going back to Iowa.”
Kate looks at her over the rim of her coffee cup, swallows her surprise. “Thought conning required you to keep moving.”
“It does.” Cass pauses, plays with the corners of a napkin. “I’m thinking about throwing in the towel.”
“Why?”
The other woman sighs, contemplating her next words. “My daughter.”
And for a second Kate doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Then it all comes back to her. “Oh my God, I completely forgot.” Cass nods her head, like she figured as much. It has been over a year. “I didn’t even know if you were going through with - “
“I still love him. He fucked me over and I still love him. So I figured, why not.” She looks down, something like disappointment, maybe in herself, maybe in someone else, flashing in her eyes. “She’s staying with a friend of mine, back home. I don’t want to expose her to…this.”
“Yeah.” Kate understands, to some degree. This is exactly why she’ll never have kids. But she grins as she asks, “She’s a she?”
Cass smiles, with a mother’s pride. “I named her Clementine.”
“Original.” Kate replies. “What about that guy? The one who conned you?”
She loses that pride. “I pressed charges. He’s in jail.”
Kate, sensing the regret in her voice, barely there but present all the same, leans closer, reminding her, “You did the right thing.”
“I guess so.” Cass still doesn’t seem too sure about that. “So I’m thinking about taking her, going somewhere else, like Albuquerque. I’ve got family there. I figure that’s the only way to move on, to just get as far away as possible.”
“I thought you were going back to Iowa.”
“I’ve still got a few loose ends to tie up there, so yeah.” Cass must notice the change in her demeanor, because she asks, “Something you want?”
Kate shakes her head, “You’ve already done enough for me.”
“Well it’s not like you can go back there.”
“I can.” Kate interjects, “I just shouldn’t.” She doesn’t like being told what she can and can’t do. That problem with authority is exactly what got her here in the first place.
“Just tell me what you want.” Kate still remains mum on the subject. “Last chance.”
“My mother,” Kate says, before she’s thought it through. “I just want to know if she’s okay.”
“Fine.” Cass says, almost before she’s finished. “I’ll do it.”
“I mean I can go I just…if I risk getting close to her again…”
“Really, it’s fine. I’m around that diner all the time. I’ll just check in, see if I see her.” Cass reassures her, and, on the outside at least, she’s treating this as no big deal. Kate still sees it as a lot to ask. “You said you’re going to Ohio?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll send you a letter.” Cass scribbles down an address on the napkin she’d been previously playing with, passes it to Kate. “You know where that is?”
Kate nods. “Yeah.”
“Give me about two weeks.”
She’s too surprised to do anything but nod. Never did she think Cass would go for this. This may actually work. All she wants to know is if her mom is alright. Where she is. “Thank you,” she mumbles.
“No problem.”
---
Three and a half weeks later, Kate finds herself in Ohio, sitting in her car and crying as her shaking hands clutch a letter filled with the worst news possible, and a stack of twenty dollar bills.
Fandom: Lost
Characters/Pairings: Kate, Cass.
Word Count: 848
Rating: PG-13
Timeline: Pre island, post "Left Behind" but before "Born To Run".
Summary: There's a woman, short dark brown hair, familiar confident manner about her, up ahead of Kate, and she almost has to laught at the fact that their paths have crossed again.
There’s a woman, short dark brown hair, familiar confident manner about her, up ahead of Kate, and she almost has to laugh at the fact that their paths have crossed once again.
What are the chances.
Jewelry again. Gold chains that aren’t worth combined what she’s selling just one for. Except this guy falls for it. He falls for it, and is on his way, before Kate startles her from behind with a, “Mind if I take a look at those?”
There isn’t anyone else around, no one to get suspicious, and Cass just simply turns with a smile on her face and a surprised, “What are you doing here?”
“I was just driving through, stopped for gas.” She watches a man come out of the shop attached to the station, nods to him ever so slightly, just enough that Cass will notice, then, “Want to get a cup of coffee?”
---
“So Lucy…”
“It’s Joan now. Joan Hart.” Kate corrects. She never uses the same name twice.
Cass raises an eyebrow. “Still sticking with the saints I see.”
Lucy, Monica, now Joan. Cass has a point. “I guess you go with what you know.”
“So are you really just driving through or do you have some ulterior motives I should know about?”
They’re in the middle of Missouri. She’s never even actually been here before and probably won’t be back here again. “No. Just passing through.”
Cass nods, “Any destination in mind?”
“I think I might try Nebraska for awhile, maybe Ohio.” Kate says, after thinking a moment. “What about you?”
“I’m thinking about going back to Iowa.”
Kate looks at her over the rim of her coffee cup, swallows her surprise. “Thought conning required you to keep moving.”
“It does.” Cass pauses, plays with the corners of a napkin. “I’m thinking about throwing in the towel.”
“Why?”
The other woman sighs, contemplating her next words. “My daughter.”
And for a second Kate doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Then it all comes back to her. “Oh my God, I completely forgot.” Cass nods her head, like she figured as much. It has been over a year. “I didn’t even know if you were going through with - “
“I still love him. He fucked me over and I still love him. So I figured, why not.” She looks down, something like disappointment, maybe in herself, maybe in someone else, flashing in her eyes. “She’s staying with a friend of mine, back home. I don’t want to expose her to…this.”
“Yeah.” Kate understands, to some degree. This is exactly why she’ll never have kids. But she grins as she asks, “She’s a she?”
Cass smiles, with a mother’s pride. “I named her Clementine.”
“Original.” Kate replies. “What about that guy? The one who conned you?”
She loses that pride. “I pressed charges. He’s in jail.”
Kate, sensing the regret in her voice, barely there but present all the same, leans closer, reminding her, “You did the right thing.”
“I guess so.” Cass still doesn’t seem too sure about that. “So I’m thinking about taking her, going somewhere else, like Albuquerque. I’ve got family there. I figure that’s the only way to move on, to just get as far away as possible.”
“I thought you were going back to Iowa.”
“I’ve still got a few loose ends to tie up there, so yeah.” Cass must notice the change in her demeanor, because she asks, “Something you want?”
Kate shakes her head, “You’ve already done enough for me.”
“Well it’s not like you can go back there.”
“I can.” Kate interjects, “I just shouldn’t.” She doesn’t like being told what she can and can’t do. That problem with authority is exactly what got her here in the first place.
“Just tell me what you want.” Kate still remains mum on the subject. “Last chance.”
“My mother,” Kate says, before she’s thought it through. “I just want to know if she’s okay.”
“Fine.” Cass says, almost before she’s finished. “I’ll do it.”
“I mean I can go I just…if I risk getting close to her again…”
“Really, it’s fine. I’m around that diner all the time. I’ll just check in, see if I see her.” Cass reassures her, and, on the outside at least, she’s treating this as no big deal. Kate still sees it as a lot to ask. “You said you’re going to Ohio?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll send you a letter.” Cass scribbles down an address on the napkin she’d been previously playing with, passes it to Kate. “You know where that is?”
Kate nods. “Yeah.”
“Give me about two weeks.”
She’s too surprised to do anything but nod. Never did she think Cass would go for this. This may actually work. All she wants to know is if her mom is alright. Where she is. “Thank you,” she mumbles.
“No problem.”
---
Three and a half weeks later, Kate finds herself in Ohio, sitting in her car and crying as her shaking hands clutch a letter filled with the worst news possible, and a stack of twenty dollar bills.