Unravelling Zeke - The Deal
Banner by aliensouldream
Title: The Deal
Author: Gabi
Fandom: The Faculty
Pairing: Z/C
Rating: R, but maybe NC-17 if I’m playing it safe. Not that you guys care.
Summary: Zeke’s offered a deal and Casey’s none too impressed.
Disclaimer: I own neither the rights nor the characters. If I did, Mr Tyler would be sporting a lovely new collar. I make no money. I have no money. Don’t sue me.
Note: Unbeta’d because I'm impatient.
Warning: Fluff heavy. For all those who might want fluff today.
Previous
Epiphany / Party & Boring / Plans / Casa Del Tyler / The Suit / Mom / Hate You / Meet the Connors / New York - Friday / New York - Saturday / New York - Sunday / Texting
The Deal
The shrill ring of the phone shattered the calm of Casey’s lazy morning. He didn’t bother to move from Zeke’s embrace as they lay, spooned and comfy, on the couch in front of Saturday morning cartoons. He knew Zeke would let the answer phone pick it up.
“Yo, man, it’s Didz. Pick up.”
Zeke huffed a groan and nudged Casey to move.
“Pick up. Pick up. Pick up!”
Casey muted the TV and begrudgingly sat up so Zeke could scramble over and reach for the phone beside the couch.
“Pick up the phooo-ooone… Don’t make me call y-”
Zeke snatched the receiver from the cradle.
“Fuck sake, man! You know what time it is?”
“Yeah, yeah… whatever... S’up?”
Casey watched Zeke’s one sided conversation in silence. Trying to guess what was being said on the other end of the phone by Zeke’s reactions and responses. He was currently frowning in concentration.
“Yeah… Right... The one I had to blow a hot date for?” Zeke glanced back at Casey and rolled his eyes. “You owe me huge for that.”
Blow a hot date? Casey barely stifled a childish giggle.
“Man, if you ask me to bail your sorry ass…”
Casey’s jaw dropped. Bail? What the fuck?
Zeke’s expression went still. “What?”
“How much?”
Zeke’s eyes narrowed. “How sweet?”
A tiny smile crept across his lips. “I’ll be right over!”
Casey watched him replace the receiver and stand, stretching as he did before turning and offering his hand to Casey. “Come on. We’re going out.”
“What?” Casey really didn’t fancy being dragged to the police station first thing on a Saturday morning. Johnny Bravo was on. “Where?”
Zeke picked up the remote and hit standby. He leant down, grabbed Casey’s hands and pulled him up off the couch. “Out. Come on.”
Casey allowed himself to be led, bewildered, the wrong way through the house. Through the dining room and past the office to the side door of the car port. Zeke slipped his feet into a battered pair of sneakers, unlocked then opened the door. He squinted against the low December sun but didn’t seem to notice the cold. He jumped the step and popped the car’s trunk. “Help me get this shit in the house.”
Before Casey could protest Zeke handed him an armful of boxes and video cases. “Just stick them inside the door for now.” His head disappeared back inside the trunk. Casey huffed his annoyance and took the boxes inside. Surely the police wouldn’t check his trunk just because he’d turned up with bail money.
When he stepped back out into the cold air Zeke was sat in the driver’s seat pulling papers and old chewing gum packets from the glove compartment into a messy pile on his lap. He glanced up at Casey briefly. “There’s more in the trunk.”
“Ok! Time out!” Casey demanded, leaning on the open door. “Who’s Didz and where the fuck are we going?”
Zeke stopped sorting the papers and let his head fall back against the headrest. “Ok… You remember the time we should have gone to the movies but I had to blow it off last minute to help a friend out?”
“Ohh…” Casey remembered that all too well. Zeke had apologised profusely and taken him straight home. He didn’t see him again until school. His whole weekend had been ruined. “The guy who was getting audited?”
“Yeah, that was Didz. I had to go bail him out of trouble before the audit cos the guy can’t keep books for shit. He’s a mechanic, not an accountant. So I fixed his books and he owes me one huge fuck of a favour.” Zeke flashed a little devious smile. “He’s paying up.”
“Oh.” Casey said, a little surprised. Bail out of trouble… not pay bail. So no police station either… “So… why are you emptying the car?”
Zeke grinned. “He’s found a buyer for it.”
“The Camaro?” Casey asked, dismayed. “But… I like this car.”
“It’s just a car.” Zeke replied absently, sorting the papers into two piles. Casey knew he had no sentimental attachment to this car but Casey did. It was the car he was rescued in on his birthday. It was in that car that he first noticed how pretty Zeke was. It was in that car he’d shared hours of fun on the road with the first and only person he’d ever loved. With Zeke. In that car. That cool classic black car that didn’t seem too drastically different, to Casey at least, from the GTO. They had history in this car. He didn’t want Zeke to sell it out from under him.
“But if you sell it today,” he argued, “how we getting home?”
“Cab, maybe. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. I just gotta go see how sweet this deal of his, is.”
“But…”
“Just empty the trunk, Case. Please?”
With a heavy heart, Casey dutifully picked the boxes and cases out of the trunk. There was no point arguing, it wasn’t his car. But to him it felt like their car. Removing the junk felt like he was stripping it of personality. Of the junk that made it typical Zeke. He was sulking and there was nothing he could do to stop himself. He just hoped he wouldn’t get emotional when Zeke handed over the keys without so much as a backwards glance.
~*~
Casey had spent the ride in silence, lost in thought, mourning the loss of a hunk of metal and engine. He was glad that Zeke had suggested he get one last photo of them both with the car. He had a good number of shots of Zeke with, and in the car, but none of himself. He figured that Zeke had sensed how upset he was at the prospect of losing something that held so many fond memories for him. He was grateful for that at least.
Before they’d set off, Zeke had leant over and kissed him. Their last kiss in that car. It seemed like a goodbye kiss. He felt a little ridiculous getting so emotional over a machine but he couldn’t help the silent sulk as Zeke drove towards some grease monkey’s body shop type place. He wasn’t going to like this… ‘Didz’, he just knew it.
He bit his lip and sighed. “Didn’t realise how attached I was to this car until now.”
Zeke looked across for a second before returning his attention to the road. “If you’d have said this sooner…” he paused, “I’d have considered keeping it.”
“Really?” he asked, hopefully.
“Yeah.” Zeke replied, softly, “But he’s got a buyer for it now, Case.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to sell it.”
“I know…” he nodded, “Just let me see how sweet this deal is, ok? If it’s less than spectacular we keep the car. How’s that sound?”
Casey smiled a little. “Okay.” The smile faltered when he spotted the sign for Auto Repairs a few hundred yards down the street.
“Just do me a favour, alright? If I do sell it… Don’t make me kiss the tears better in front of burly mechanics.”
Casey couldn’t help the chuckle. He took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for whatever happened next.
Zeke indicated right, put his food down and slammed the car round into the forecourt, sliding to a halt in front of the office door. Casey just shook his head in mild amusement as the office door flew open.
A short, stocky man stepped out. Early twenties, shaved head, big warm smile and blue grease monkey suit, complete with dirty rag in the pocket. Colourful tattoos littered his arms beneath rolled up sleeves. “Jesus fucking Christ, child!” He yelled at Zeke as he got out of the car. “I swear to God every second you spend in that car takes a dollar off it’s value!”
Zeke grinned back at him. “Nah, man. She’s good.”
Casey got out, possibly for the last time and watched as they bumped knuckles. The mechanic looked the car over. “How’s she running?”
Zeke stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Purring like a kitten.”
“Good good.” He look over the roof at Casey and beamed. “Hey.”
“Hi.” The polite wasn’t as feigned as he’d intended. There was an odd warmth to this biker looking, mechanic dude who was stealing his car. Casey hadn’t meant his smile to be that genuine.
Zeke introduced them. “Casey, Didz. Didz, Casey.” Eloquent as ever.
Didz cocked his head slightly. “Yeah… I recognise you. You were involved in that whole incident that made Numbnuts here crash his car, right?” Casey nodded sheepishly. He still felt uncomfortable being recognised. “Yeah… I ask you man, who the fuck crashes a goat on purpose? A classic goat!”
Zeke shook his head behind the mechanic. “Fuck you, man.”
“Fucking write-off she was...” he continued, ignoring Zeke completely, “Couldn’t salvage a fucking thing! Oh, apart from his shit in the trunk.” He was grinning now. “Even the tyres were bald.”
Casey laughed involuntarily as Zeke glared daggers at the back of Didz’s head. “You want this car, you better shut the fuck up.”
Didz turned to face Zeke, still grinning. “Oh, don’t worry buddy… she’s mine.” He patted Zeke’s shoulder as he passed. “Come on.”
Zeke motioned Casey to follow them towards the large closed workshop next to the office. “So how sweet’s this deal?”
“Sweet with a capital everything.” Didz replied without turning. “Hey, Kenny!” He shouted towards a younger skinny guy who was working under the hood of an old red Chevy. “Get the door.”
The young man seemed to brighten as he came over and grabbed the handle of one of the huge double doors. He waited for Didz to grab the other and they slid the doors back simultaneously.
As the low light poured into the workshop between the widening doors, Casey could immediately see the shape of a car being revealed beneath a big white cover. He dared a glance up at Zeke who stood absolutely stock still beside him, completely focused on the telltale shape of that cover.
Both Didz and Kenny grabbed the back of the sheet and paused, grinning at Zeke. “Tuned her up just the way you like her. All she needed was new tyres… and a lick of paint.”
The cover slid back like silk over the newly sprayed, highly waxed hood. Polished jet black with those two distinctive bright red stripes. Zeke exhaled a gasp. Casey knew there and then… the Camaro was dust.
Casey watched Zeke intently as he stared at the GTO in stunned awe. The level of emotion was obvious. He was no less beautiful then, than he had ever been. He blinked twice, licked his bottom lip and stepped up to the car. Pulling the sleeve of his sweatshirt over his fingers, he slowly ran his hand up the hood in reverence, over the frame and across the roof. “She’s perfect.” he gasped. He turned to Didz. “Where did you find her?”
“Funny story.” the stocky man grinned, “We’ve been looking for a replacement since you crashed yours. Called every car lot we knew of, but no one had your 70. Told ‘em to keep an eye out and to let us know if anyone wanted a 69 Camaro. We get a call two weeks ago from some dude who’d give his left nut for your car. He’s just had his stolen and burnt out.”
Zeke grimaced. “Ouch!”
“Yeah… Told him we needed a goat to trade and right off the bat he goes ‘Oh, I saw one of those in a lot in Dayton’. We got the number, called the guy and sure enough… We picked her up next day. Course she was bright blue at the time… We just needed to tune her up, clean her up and spray her. And now she’s yours. Merry Christmas.”
“How much?”
“Just give us the Camaro. Even trade. The guy’s desperate dude, offering way over the odds. Cost of her, pick up and work? We still get a bit of money out of it. Call it a finder’s fee.” He stepped round the car to Zeke and pulled the keys out of his pocket, jingling them in front of Zeke’s face. “Trade?”
Zeke’s smile slowly spread to a cheeky grin. He snatched the keys. “Test drive!” He turned to Casey, positively beaming. “You coming?”
Casey couldn’t help the swell of excitement. “Fuck yeah!” He dodged a rack of tools as he raced to the passenger side, making a conscious effort not to put fingerprints on the shiny metal handle. He let Zeke get in first. When he finally settled he looked to Zeke.
Zeke had his head back against the seat, eyes closed, just smiling and breathing. “Even smells like my car.”
“No it fucking doesn’t.”
Zeke laughed. “Smells like my car when I first got her.”
“Give it a week…” Casey grinned, “It’ll smell like I remember it.”
Zeke’s chuckle dropped when he opened his eyes. “Fuck… Yo Didz! There’s a CD player in my car.”
Didz leant on the open window. “Yup. Thanks to our new boy Kenny here. He’s a genius with electronics. Didn’t think you’d mind, you being more of a hedonist than a purist.”
Zeke pointed at Kenny through the window. “YOU… are getting a pay rise.”
“No he fucking isn’t!” Didz shouted loud enough for Kenny to hear him. “He’s still new. Pay review comes when I decide to keep him.”
“Customer satisfaction means he stays. Also means you gotta get me a CD for the test drive.”
“Yer a cheeky fucker.” He straightened up. “Waddya want?”
“I dunno. Something… me. Me in the coolest fucking car on the planet.”
Didz turned to Kenny. “Go get him a CD. Something that screams… ‘punk assed brat in a shit hot car.” The young man saluted lazily and disappeared into the office. “So come on! Start her up, see how she feels.”
Zeke spun the keys round his finger once with a slight smile and put the key in the ignition. Casey noticed he still had that look of adoration as he paused before turning the key. Casey subconsciously held his breath as the key turned.
The engine purred into life, eliciting a broad grin from Zeke. He tested the pedal. The engine growled low, roared twice and subsided back to its contented purr. Zeke sighed happily. “I could get so fucking hard for her.” Casey tried to suppress a reaction as Didz groaned in disgust and stepped away from the window.
Kenny returned with a handful of cases. “Didn’t know what you wanted so I got a selection. You got… Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails, Cowboys From Hell by Pantera or Smash by Offspring.”
“Um… gimme Pantera. It’s gotta be obnoxious!” Zeke took the CD and handed it to Casey. “You’re now in charge of road tunes. Get on it.”
“Yes Sir!” Casey saluted emphatically and flipped the case open.
The moment the riff started up, Zeke cranked the volume and shouted out the window. “You fuckers better back the fuck up! Later!” He snuggled into his seat, roared the engine and peeled out of the workshop with a wicked grin.
~*~
Casey totally got it. Totally fucking got it. He’d only been in the backseat of the original GTO, but here in the front with the growling engine and the thundering riffs he felt like a rock star! He wasn’t sure if it was the car itself, or Zeke’s reaction to it, but somehow this was even cooler than the Camaro. He tapped his fingers along to Pantera while people in the street, alerted by deep roaring revs, turned to watch the car glide past. Just by sitting in shotgun Casey was so fucking cool!
When he wasn’t watching crowd reaction and driver envy he was watching his boyfriend. Zeke wasn’t just happy, he was ecstatic. It radiated from every pore. He held that cooler-than-fuck expression perfectly but Casey could see it sparkle in his eyes and glow in every smirk. He was hotter than hot. King of the Road.
Zeke glanced over, all business. “I’m gonna christen this car so fuckin’ hard!”
Casey furrowed his brow in confusion. “Huh?”
Zeke kept his focus on the road but reached over for Casey’s hand and placed it on the solid bulge in his groin. “Oh!” Casey exclaimed. He settled back with a flirtatious smile. “You wanna fuck me in this car, huh?”
“Wanna? Gonna!” he smirked, “But first… I would give anything… anything… if you’d blow me in this car.”
“While you’re driving? We’ll get killed. Or worse… seen.”
“We can park. I just need to keep her running.”
“Um… Not to burst your bubble Zeke, but it’s Saturday morning. Everyone’s out. Where we gonna go?”
Zeke thought about it for a millisecond. “Home. High hedges, roof. I’ll beg. I can’t go back there with a boner.”
Casey was feeling uber cool and ultra sexy. “No need to beg, baby.” He leant over and whispered over the music. “Turn the car around.”
~*~
Zeke sat with his eyes closed, left hand resting on the wheel, head back against the seat, just soaking up the car’s familiar atmosphere. The feel of the leather, it’s scent, the sound of the engine. The fingers of his right hand were gently stroking and massaging Casey’s scalp, sending tingles through the boy’s skin.
Casey could only imagine how Zeke was feeling right now. His immediate emotional attachment to the car had been obvious. It didn’t seem to matter that she was a replica. He was home. Sat behind the wheel of a shit hot muscle car while she purred and growled, purred and roared, all at his command. Eyes closed; feeling the rumbling vibrations of the engine flood through his core. He could pretend he was driving anywhere. King of the road, master of his domain, having his dick lovingly sucked by a boy who adored him. Absolute power.
And God did Casey adore him. This moment was all for Zeke as he sprawled across the seats, the engine vibrating through his entire body as his moist lips took Zeke deeper and deeper. The deeper he sucked, the deeper the engine roared. Christ, it was loud when he floored it.
He was totally into this. Caught up in the excitement of the bad-boy moment. The cool of the car, the risk of being caught in the act, Zeke’s fingers roaming through his hair. Zeke was close before he’d started and as Casey’s lips caressed him faster, twisting his head to take him deeper he could feel the swell, taste the orgasm rising. The roar was deafening as Zeke bucked with a curse and a groan; and as hot semen flooded his mouth; Casey tried hard not to grin.
He was smiling when he raised his head, wiping the corner of his mouth with his thumb. Zeke had his eyes closed; a sated smile gracing his youthful features. Casey succumbed to a mischievous grin. “Any more of that, you’re gonna burn the fucking engine out!”
Zeke’s smile broadened to a wicked grin of his own. He opened his eyes and turned to Casey. “I fucking love you!” He leant over and reached behind Casey’s neck, pulling him into a deep, heated kiss. When he collapsed back against his seat he sighed happily. “Now it’s my car.”
“Nope. Not signed the papers yet, bucko.”
“Buzz kill.” A tiny smirk tugged the corner of his mouth as he zipped himself up. “Fancy a road trip?”
“You’re just gonna set off and keep going ‘til Christmas, aren’t ya?”
“Schools out, baby. I’ve got you ‘til Christmas eve.” he winked, “Seriously though… I just wanna drive. We can go in to town, see what’s on at the cinema, do lunch, go the book store or something… I haven’t bought a book in months. Just take off, see where we end up. Make a day of it, ya know?”
“Drive, park up, be seen getting out of the car, drive, park up, be seen getting out of the car… that kind of thing, right?”
Zeke chuckled. “Pretty much… Am I that transparent?”
Casey nodded with a smirk. “Pretty much.”
“And…” Zeke added, his eyes narrowing seductively, “it gets dark early… Every turn off we come to we’ll take the smaller road until we’re in the middle of nowhere, under the stars. I’ll return the favour… twofold.”
“Well then…” Casey concluded, “What the fuck are we waiting for?”
Zeke opened his door. “I’ll get my shit together, you get the tunes.”
Upstairs, Casey had grabbed a carefully chosen selection of CDs and bounced down the stairs with a new sense of excitement. He loved Zeke’s road trips. They’d laugh and joke over the radio, or CD now, get into deep passionate discussions or just stare out of the window at the world disappearing behind them. Passing those bogged-down people, going about their daily soul-crushing lives. Looking up at the reflections twist in huge glass buildings in the city, staring out across countless miles of rolling fields, watching the oncoming horizon. It was a total freedom that Casey had only discovered since his involvement with the rebellious teenager. It was intoxicating.
On his way past, he picked up his camera bag and hooked it over his shoulder. He had no idea where they were going and suspected Zeke neither knew nor cared. That was part of the lure of road trips. New sights, new photos, new memories.
As he reached the side door Zeke was leaning against the frame, quietly staring out at the car. He turned back to Casey with an almost melancholic expression. “Case… I know you’re attached to the Camaro, but…”
“It’s ok.” Casey interrupted with a reassuring smile.
Zeke regarded him for a moment, uncertainty flickering across his face. “You sure?”
“Yeah… It’s ok.” he repeated, his smile widening, “I’m falling for her already.”
Zeke’s uncertainty faded as he approached Casey. “Thank you.” He placed his warm hands on the soft skin of Casey’s neck and planted his lips on his forehead. “You will never comprehend… how deeply I love you.”
Casey tried not to drop the CDs as he wrapped an arm around Zeke’s slender waist and sighed in contentment against him. He couldn’t think of any words powerful enough for an appropriate response. The rising swell in his chest had caught in his throat and addled his brain. He hoped the kiss communicated his emotions for him.
In the car, he placed his camera bag in the foot well and after a fruitless search he packed the CDs into the glove compartment. “You need a CD holder.” he mused, “Why don’t these old cars have door pockets? Was imagination so lacking back then?”
“Not at all… it was just… elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere…”
“Yeah… like up in the stars n’ on LP covers n’ shit. LSD man… Damn hippies got a lot to answer for.”
Casey giggled. “Come on, Muppet! Lets get the paper work over with.”
~*~
When they pulled up on the forecourt Zeke parked parallel to the Camaro as Didz came out to greet them. Casey removed the Pantera CD from the player and returned it to it's case. “Don’t forget this.”
“Thanks. May as well wait in the car, I’m just signing papers. I’ll call my insurance company while I’m in there. Won’t be long.”
“Okey doke.” Casey watched him get out and approach Didz, who was obviously eager to see how the test drive went. Zeke appeared to be playing it cool and casual with only a telltale smirk to betray his emotions. Just as they turned to the office, Zeke stopped and headed back between the cars. Opening the Camaro door, he reached in to the glove compartment and pulled out the remaining papers.
Casey couldn’t help his sentimental smile when Zeke closed the door and patted the roof lightly, speaking something that Casey could tell was a fond farewell. His boyfriend was a big ol’ sap when he thought no one was looking. He was still smiling when Zeke disappeared into the office.
He stared out at the sleek black Camaro through his window. It was still a beautiful machine. He couldn’t just sit in the GTO while Zeke was occupied then drive off without a goodbye. He really did love that car. He’d been swept up in Zeke’s exuberance, his loving adoration of the GTO. It was hard not to, that kind of boyish glee was infectious. Zeke’s happiness made him happy in turn; they fed off each other. No… theyfed each other. He was elated that Zeke was elated.
He’d still miss that car.
Given the choice… Yeah… he wouldn’t change a thing about today. He’d made the right decision, not that it was his decision to make, but… it was ok. They’d have so much fun in this car. New memories had already been made under the car port. He knew there were many more to come. Behind the wheel of the GTO, Zeke became two years younger, two notches happier and two degrees more rebellious. He was cool in the Camaro. He was king in the GTO.
Casey pulled his bag onto his knees and unzipped it, removing the camera. He stepped out and walked up between the cars to stand before them both. He tried to silence the subtle chant in his mind that the GTO was the sexier of the two. Oddly, he had to remind himself that it wasn’t the same car that Zeke had rescued him in during the invasion. It wasn’t the car that he’d photographed Zeke dealing contraband from, with the original intention of exposing his schemes for the paper. He’d ended up just really liking the way the light played in the photo and kept it with his collection.
He raised the camera to his eye, adjusted his composition and took a shot of them both side by side. He spent a good few minutes getting shots from different angles, including one of the Camaro reflected in the chromed mirror of the GTO. When he decided he’d taken enough photos he slung his camera over his shoulder and leant against the Camaro’s door.
“I’m gonna miss you.” he whispered, “We had some times, huh? Me, you and Zeke. But this new guy… he’s so desperate for you. I know he’ll take good care of you. You’ll be just fine without us.” He ran his hand across the roof as he spoke. “I won’t forget you. I’m gonna put your photo on my wall and when I’m old I’ll say ‘That’s the first car I ever fell in love with. She was beautiful.’ and I’ll tell everyone about the fun we had with you.”
The sound of the office door alerted him and he turned to see Zeke approaching, smiling affectionately at him. He whispered to the car. “Bye girl. Miss you.” He took a deep breath and pulled himself straight.
Zeke was all warmth and affection. “Said your goodbyes?”
“Yeah… I’m all done.”
“Come on, softy… lets go make memories.”
Back in the GTO Casey found the Warrior Soul CD that seemed to have a song to suit each of Zeke’s moods and hit play.
I am the child of a new generation…
Psychotic product of total frustration…
The rest of the intro was obscured by the roar of the goat as Zeke slammed her into high speed reverse. When she spun into a tight 180 turn, Casey felt the surge of rollercoaster adrenaline and threw his head back and laughed. He was still laughing when a frustrated driver hit the horn in protest at Zeke’s split-second timing as he exited the forecourt into heavy traffic.
The asphalt and concrete horizon lay before them. When they reached it there’d be a brand new, mysterious horizon to claim. This was freedom.
They were gonna have so much fun in this car!