...so yeah.
I blame quinby for this, entirely. So should you. There may or may not be more in the future.
Flight to Evade Prosecution
"God, I'm hungry. You want some food?"
"Loser goes."
"Oh, come on, Cos, don't bother with the sleight of hand. We might as well both go. Besides, I never lose."
"What, and abandon the post?"
"Don't want to end up with eye strain, do you?"
"Not as badly as I don't want to get frostbite or something. Have you looked out that window lately?"
"Yes. And I don't want the van getting stuck with just me in it. Two people have a better shot at getting it out of a jam."
"...All right, all right. You and your persuasive manner win again, Marty."
"See, I knew you'd come around."
"Anyway, if I let you go by yourself, you'll bring back anchovy pizza or something, and I am not settling for that."
"...You impugn my honor! Why would I ever do such a thing?"
"You do know you don't fake innocence very well, right?"
***
"Okay. Now that we have a windshield, where to?"
"You pick. I think you're more hungry than I am."
"There is that. Pizza sounds good, actually, since you mentioned... whoa."
"What is it?"
"Have a look. You'll know."
"...There aren't usually that many cops on campus, are there?"
"No. Whatever's going down, it must be big."
"Was there supposed to be some kind of party tonight?"
"I don't think so. It's a little too close to finals for most people."
"And some others would call that the perfect time. Still, if you didn't hear about it, there's probably nothing going on."
By some unspoken agreement, they let the matter drop until they're nearly to the pizza place.
"Marty?"
"Yeah?"
"You don't think all those cops were there for us, do you?"
"...Nah."
"Why did you hesitate, then?"
"Cos--"
"It's a day for the record books, ladies and gentlemen. Martin Brice is not in fact one hundred percent sure he got away with it!"
"Stop, Cosmo. You can laugh at me later. For now... I don't think they were after us, but if they are, there's no sense in going back now. For one thing, we'd potentially be dealing with authority figures on empty stomachs."
"Good point. So... we're getting the pizza and then seeing what's up?"
"That was my idea. If nothing's happened to the lab, we can get back to business. But if they're still there or it looks like they just left, well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Burn it as well, most likely."
***
There are still cop cars in front of the building when they get back to campus, complete with flashlight beams bobbing around the lab they've half been living in all semester.
"...Oh, this is bad. Tell you what - I've got at least a change of clothes in here already. We can swing by your dorm, if it's still safe you can grab some stuff, and then we need to get the hell out of here."
"Certainly beats the alternative, at this rate."
It's a tense few minutes in the van while Marty's waiting on Cosmo, but under the circumstances, that can't really be helped, he supposes.
"Okay, I'm all set. You?"
"Yeah, I'm... shit, Liz is gonna kill me."
"Why?"
"Think about it, Cos. The rumor mill around here's gonna have the police showing up all over campus by lunch tomorrow. Our lab's busted, we're gone, and she doesn't know about it? I'm dead. I'm so dead."
"Would she even believe you if you told her?"
Marty sighs. "She's believed a lot for me already."
"She won't be too happy, I'll give you that, but we really can't do much about it. We've probably jeopardized ourselves enough coming back here. If we stick around to tell her, not only will we more likely get caught, but the cops might decide she's in on it too."
"...I hadn't even thought of that. Right, getting the hell out of Dodge."
Not being able to say goodbye hurts, and they both know it. But for now, Marty's just going to have to hope like hell that he gets a chance to apologize to Liz one of these days.
Flight to Evade Prosecution
"God, I'm hungry. You want some food?"
"Loser goes."
"Oh, come on, Cos, don't bother with the sleight of hand. We might as well both go. Besides, I never lose."
"What, and abandon the post?"
"Don't want to end up with eye strain, do you?"
"Not as badly as I don't want to get frostbite or something. Have you looked out that window lately?"
"Yes. And I don't want the van getting stuck with just me in it. Two people have a better shot at getting it out of a jam."
"...All right, all right. You and your persuasive manner win again, Marty."
"See, I knew you'd come around."
"Anyway, if I let you go by yourself, you'll bring back anchovy pizza or something, and I am not settling for that."
"...You impugn my honor! Why would I ever do such a thing?"
"You do know you don't fake innocence very well, right?"
***
"Okay. Now that we have a windshield, where to?"
"You pick. I think you're more hungry than I am."
"There is that. Pizza sounds good, actually, since you mentioned... whoa."
"What is it?"
"Have a look. You'll know."
"...There aren't usually that many cops on campus, are there?"
"No. Whatever's going down, it must be big."
"Was there supposed to be some kind of party tonight?"
"I don't think so. It's a little too close to finals for most people."
"And some others would call that the perfect time. Still, if you didn't hear about it, there's probably nothing going on."
By some unspoken agreement, they let the matter drop until they're nearly to the pizza place.
"Marty?"
"Yeah?"
"You don't think all those cops were there for us, do you?"
"...Nah."
"Why did you hesitate, then?"
"Cos--"
"It's a day for the record books, ladies and gentlemen. Martin Brice is not in fact one hundred percent sure he got away with it!"
"Stop, Cosmo. You can laugh at me later. For now... I don't think they were after us, but if they are, there's no sense in going back now. For one thing, we'd potentially be dealing with authority figures on empty stomachs."
"Good point. So... we're getting the pizza and then seeing what's up?"
"That was my idea. If nothing's happened to the lab, we can get back to business. But if they're still there or it looks like they just left, well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Burn it as well, most likely."
***
There are still cop cars in front of the building when they get back to campus, complete with flashlight beams bobbing around the lab they've half been living in all semester.
"...Oh, this is bad. Tell you what - I've got at least a change of clothes in here already. We can swing by your dorm, if it's still safe you can grab some stuff, and then we need to get the hell out of here."
"Certainly beats the alternative, at this rate."
It's a tense few minutes in the van while Marty's waiting on Cosmo, but under the circumstances, that can't really be helped, he supposes.
"Okay, I'm all set. You?"
"Yeah, I'm... shit, Liz is gonna kill me."
"Why?"
"Think about it, Cos. The rumor mill around here's gonna have the police showing up all over campus by lunch tomorrow. Our lab's busted, we're gone, and she doesn't know about it? I'm dead. I'm so dead."
"Would she even believe you if you told her?"
Marty sighs. "She's believed a lot for me already."
"She won't be too happy, I'll give you that, but we really can't do much about it. We've probably jeopardized ourselves enough coming back here. If we stick around to tell her, not only will we more likely get caught, but the cops might decide she's in on it too."
"...I hadn't even thought of that. Right, getting the hell out of Dodge."
Not being able to say goodbye hurts, and they both know it. But for now, Marty's just going to have to hope like hell that he gets a chance to apologize to Liz one of these days.