Fic - " The Gobbler of Souls" Part 2
It is time for part two of my creepy Lee Adama fic. Yes, this is a prequel to "The Waystation" and yes, it is a BSG/DrWho crossover. Lee, like me, has a "Shining" thing going on for this place. I am hauling a lot of inspiration for this from "The Grooviest Motel In Wisconsin" - http://www.lileks.com/institute/motel/gob1.html It's a pretty awesome website btw.
If you are interested in "The Waystation" it's also on this journal a few entries down and as this *is* a prequel, there *might* be some hints there as time goes on.
“ I don’t want to get ready. I don’t want to go. Can’t I stay over at Richard’s? His mom said it was ok.” Lee hoped that it would work. He knew he couldn’t stay home by himself. He had tried that before.
“ No you can’t. You are coming with us.” His mother pushed by him and sat down at her makeup counter. She began to apply makeup. “ Now go on and get your things. Aunt Ellen is going to pick us up in a half hour. Don’t forget to pack your bathing suit. You know…”
“ The hotel has a pool,” Lee muttered as he stalked out of the master bedroom. The pool was what had made going to the hotel sound fun when they first started going. Mom hadn’t noticed that he hadn’t gone to the pool the last five times they had gone to the hotel.
He looked into the bedroom he shared with Zak. Deep down, he had known the plan wouldn’t work. Zak was already packed. Zak had his little bags packed and was sitting on the floor drawing. Drawing a picture of the hotel. He looked up at Lee and smiled. “ We’re going to the hotel tonight! I want a blue room. Can we get a blue room, Lee?”
“Whatever.” They always got the color room that Zak wanted. Mom said it was easier, and Zak was little, and didn’t he love his little brother? The doorbell rang. “ Go get that. It’s Aunt Ellen and I need to get packed. The sooner I get done…”
“The sooner we leave!” Zak fairly leapt out the door. Lee went to get his bag but stopped to look at the picture Zak had been drawing. He tried not to be jealous of Zak. Dad said being jealous was unworthy, that everyone had special talents. Zak could draw, and even at four people complimented him. Especially people at the hotel.
But the picture was scary. It was the hotel, it was always the hotel, and this time it had eyes, Eyes that glared at him.
He held out the bottle of ambrosia. “ I want to talk to you about Ellen. I don’t want to talk about New Caprica, or what happened there. I want to talk about my mother, and how she was friends with Ellen… and what was going on with the hotel.” Lee tried not to stare at the bandage on Tigh’s face. The man was a drunk, and a mean drunk, and he had been that way long before New Caprica, but Lee was honestly frightened by the one eyed troll of a man that glared at him.
Tigh was half dressed and unshaven and the heavy scent of stale ambrosia hung off of him. It was almost overpowering, and despite his honest dislike for the man, Lee felt a wave of pity. He wasn’t doing a good thing, bringing a drunk more alcohol, but he wanted answers. And he wanted them enough that he could ignore the damage he was likely to cause.
“ You want to talk about old times,” Tigh said with a nasty laugh. He gestured for Lee to enter his quarters. Lee noted with concern that the place was more than just messy. It was disgusting. Dirty clothes and bandages, some that looked like they still carried the dirt from New Caprica. Tigh was spiraling downwards, and worse if the rumors Lee had heard were true.
Tigh sat down and gestured for Lee to do the same. “ The hotel… The Caprican Gobbler Hotel and Restaurant….Gods that place was a nightmare. Tackiest damn thing on the planet. The women loved it. I never understood why… it wasn’t like it was stylish. Ellen adored it. She even took me there a couple of times. Do you remember the dinner loft? The Roost, they called it?”
Lee nodded. It had been a second level to the restaurant, only used during the busy supper hour. He and Zak would sometimes sneak up there during the lunch hours and watch people. At least he would. Zak usually contented himself with rubbing his hands all over the carpet, the carpet that was everywhere, including the railings, or spinning in the bright pink chairs. And… He’d seen something. Or had he?
Tigh laughed as he poured some of the ambrosia into a glass. He handed the glass to Lee, and took a long swig out of the bottle. “ Ellen liked to frak up there. Is that what you came to hear?”
“No…” Lee could only hope that time would scrub that image from his head. “ I have these memories… of going there a lot. I can’t remember when it started or why. Or why it stopped.”
“Don’t know why Ellen stopped. She did… She had a good time though, while it lasted.” Tigh casually tossed a photo album at him. “ Take a look. Ellen had a little game with that place… When I was away, she’d find a man there. Take a picture of her latest man and send it to me. And your mother… Your mother thought it was funny.”
“Did she?” Lee opened up the album. Sure enough, the small album had photo after photo of Ellen Tigh with men. Different men, and while it was nothing pornographic, Lee doubted anyone would misunderstand what Ellen was up to. She had been a lovely woman, even as an older woman, and in the pictures she was… hot. And Lee Adama was no fool. Ellen Tigh had always been more than eager to flirt and to cheat. The rumors said that she had been frakking a Cylon to save Tigh’s life and Lee was pretty certain the woman could have carried that off.
It wasn’t Ellen he was interested in anyway. The photos though… The background was what caught his eye, not the image of a smiling younger Ellen Tigh. The colors, the ugly decorations, the carpeting that seemed to be vomited onto the floor and walls…. It was like a sickness, and he couldn’t look away.
“Why are you here, Lee?” Tigh asked after a long moment. “ You know what your mother was doing.” He took a long drink. “ The Gobbler was… where people went to have affairs. Everybody knew. For about five or six years, it was the place to go. The guy that owned it must’ve made a mint. You could find anything there. Drinks, politicians, prostitutes…. “ Tigh chuckled. “ It was where the Caprican elite went to party, and Ellen couldn’t get enough of it even though she was only getting in because of your mom.”
It was true, Lee realized, but… it wasn’t right. “ Did she have an affair? My mother?”
Tigh looked at him, an almost vicious leer crossing his face, but after a moment it faded. Replaced by something… Shame, Lee realized. Tigh set the bottle down, seeming to contemplate it. Finally he said, “ I’m not going to say it, Lee. I’m a drunk, and a bastard, and a killer, and right now I hate your old man with the fire of a thousand suns, but I’m not gonna say it.” He swallowed another drink. “ Besides, you’re wrong.”
“ What?” Lee didn’t know what else to say.
“ You’re wrong.” Tigh eyed him. “ Something your mother used to say… I used to think she just repeated it so much to make people agree but, looking at you now…You look just like your father, Lee.”
“You look just like your father, Lee.”
His mother’s voice echoed in his head and he stood up, wanting nothing more than to leave the quarters of a man he’d never liked. “ I…”
“Take that with you,” Tigh muttered as he pointed at the album. He staggered over to his bed. Lee closed the album and walked to the door, only to hear Tigh say, “ You’re the nail, Lee.” Lee spun around.
“ What? What did you say?” Lee demanded.
“ I said close the damn door,” Tigh snarled back. “ Get the hell out of here.”
Lee almost argued but Tigh had that scary look to his face, the look of a man who had no issue with killing someone over something as silly as an open door. He closed the hatch door and then leaned against it, closing his eyes against the flood of memories.
Tigh wouldn’t say it, and there was a part of him that suddenly understood why his father had stood by the miserable bastard for so long. But Tigh was wrong. He hadn’t ever wondered about it. Not about himself. He slumped against the door.
When he opened his eyes, he was there. Sitting in a pink leather chair at one of the restaurant’s many ornate tables. For just an instant, Lee was startled. It’s just a dream, he told himself. He was quite certain of that, especially when he looked over at the bar.
Karl “Helo” Agathon was behind the bar, carefully polishing a glass with a white cloth, and wearing a bartender’s uniform. Helo was not supposed to be there. Helo hadn’t been there. At best Helo had been a child his own age. Play along, he decided. He walked up to the bar, taking care to step onto the slightly rotating platform.
The place was full, and the music loud, but much to his surprise, Helo waved for him to take a seat. “ Like a drink, Lee?” he asked pleasantly as he flipped the glass and the bottle around in a pleasing juggle.
“Sure.” Helo was new. So was the bar, although he remembered the bar quite well.
“One ambrosia with ice.” Helo slid the glass to him with a polished flourish. “ You look like a man with troubles, Lee.”
“ That I am,” Lee said after a moment.
“Well, don’t worry,” Helo said. “ There’s plenty of lovely ladies here tonight. Look at the dance floor.”
Lee looked. Sure enough, there were a lot of women, including his mother and a young Ellen Tigh out on the dance floor. They were dancing with men, young men. He watched the crowd swirl about the dance floor. What is this supposed to mean, he asked himself. Because it did mean something.
“ I need two ambrosias, neat, please.” Lee looked to his left. Another familiar yet new face, Felix Gaeta. Like Helo, he was dressed differently. Much more stylish and flamboyant, which was odd since Gaeta was one of those people who seemed to have mastered fading into the woodwork at an early age. He barely glanced at Lee at all. “ By the way I think there’s some kids up in the upper level.”
“ Just kid playing. I’m sure they’re fine.,” Helo said cheerfully as he poured the drinks. “ Plenty of ladies here tonight… Although I see you’re doing quite well yourself, sir.”
Lee followed Helo’s gaze to one of the tables. A blonde girl was there. The blonde girl. The one who…
“ It certainly looks that way,” Gaeta said pleasantly. He threw down several crisp new bills. “ Keep the change.” He took the drinks and walked back to his table. The blonde greeted him with a lovely smile.
“ Good tipper,” Helo said after a moment, as he counted the bills. He gestured out to the dance floor. “ See anyone you like? We do… help people out, here at the Gobbler…”
Lee waved him away. On the dance floor, dancing with a good looking dark haired man, was a much younger, beautiful Laura Roslin.
Lee awoke with a start. He was still in the hallway, sitting by Tigh’s door. He picked up the album and thumbed through the photos. Sure enough, behind Ellen Tigh… was a much younger Laura Roslin.
Feel free to comment on my insanity
If you are interested in "The Waystation" it's also on this journal a few entries down and as this *is* a prequel, there *might* be some hints there as time goes on.
“ I don’t want to get ready. I don’t want to go. Can’t I stay over at Richard’s? His mom said it was ok.” Lee hoped that it would work. He knew he couldn’t stay home by himself. He had tried that before.
“ No you can’t. You are coming with us.” His mother pushed by him and sat down at her makeup counter. She began to apply makeup. “ Now go on and get your things. Aunt Ellen is going to pick us up in a half hour. Don’t forget to pack your bathing suit. You know…”
“ The hotel has a pool,” Lee muttered as he stalked out of the master bedroom. The pool was what had made going to the hotel sound fun when they first started going. Mom hadn’t noticed that he hadn’t gone to the pool the last five times they had gone to the hotel.
He looked into the bedroom he shared with Zak. Deep down, he had known the plan wouldn’t work. Zak was already packed. Zak had his little bags packed and was sitting on the floor drawing. Drawing a picture of the hotel. He looked up at Lee and smiled. “ We’re going to the hotel tonight! I want a blue room. Can we get a blue room, Lee?”
“Whatever.” They always got the color room that Zak wanted. Mom said it was easier, and Zak was little, and didn’t he love his little brother? The doorbell rang. “ Go get that. It’s Aunt Ellen and I need to get packed. The sooner I get done…”
“The sooner we leave!” Zak fairly leapt out the door. Lee went to get his bag but stopped to look at the picture Zak had been drawing. He tried not to be jealous of Zak. Dad said being jealous was unworthy, that everyone had special talents. Zak could draw, and even at four people complimented him. Especially people at the hotel.
But the picture was scary. It was the hotel, it was always the hotel, and this time it had eyes, Eyes that glared at him.
He held out the bottle of ambrosia. “ I want to talk to you about Ellen. I don’t want to talk about New Caprica, or what happened there. I want to talk about my mother, and how she was friends with Ellen… and what was going on with the hotel.” Lee tried not to stare at the bandage on Tigh’s face. The man was a drunk, and a mean drunk, and he had been that way long before New Caprica, but Lee was honestly frightened by the one eyed troll of a man that glared at him.
Tigh was half dressed and unshaven and the heavy scent of stale ambrosia hung off of him. It was almost overpowering, and despite his honest dislike for the man, Lee felt a wave of pity. He wasn’t doing a good thing, bringing a drunk more alcohol, but he wanted answers. And he wanted them enough that he could ignore the damage he was likely to cause.
“ You want to talk about old times,” Tigh said with a nasty laugh. He gestured for Lee to enter his quarters. Lee noted with concern that the place was more than just messy. It was disgusting. Dirty clothes and bandages, some that looked like they still carried the dirt from New Caprica. Tigh was spiraling downwards, and worse if the rumors Lee had heard were true.
Tigh sat down and gestured for Lee to do the same. “ The hotel… The Caprican Gobbler Hotel and Restaurant….Gods that place was a nightmare. Tackiest damn thing on the planet. The women loved it. I never understood why… it wasn’t like it was stylish. Ellen adored it. She even took me there a couple of times. Do you remember the dinner loft? The Roost, they called it?”
Lee nodded. It had been a second level to the restaurant, only used during the busy supper hour. He and Zak would sometimes sneak up there during the lunch hours and watch people. At least he would. Zak usually contented himself with rubbing his hands all over the carpet, the carpet that was everywhere, including the railings, or spinning in the bright pink chairs. And… He’d seen something. Or had he?
Tigh laughed as he poured some of the ambrosia into a glass. He handed the glass to Lee, and took a long swig out of the bottle. “ Ellen liked to frak up there. Is that what you came to hear?”
“No…” Lee could only hope that time would scrub that image from his head. “ I have these memories… of going there a lot. I can’t remember when it started or why. Or why it stopped.”
“Don’t know why Ellen stopped. She did… She had a good time though, while it lasted.” Tigh casually tossed a photo album at him. “ Take a look. Ellen had a little game with that place… When I was away, she’d find a man there. Take a picture of her latest man and send it to me. And your mother… Your mother thought it was funny.”
“Did she?” Lee opened up the album. Sure enough, the small album had photo after photo of Ellen Tigh with men. Different men, and while it was nothing pornographic, Lee doubted anyone would misunderstand what Ellen was up to. She had been a lovely woman, even as an older woman, and in the pictures she was… hot. And Lee Adama was no fool. Ellen Tigh had always been more than eager to flirt and to cheat. The rumors said that she had been frakking a Cylon to save Tigh’s life and Lee was pretty certain the woman could have carried that off.
It wasn’t Ellen he was interested in anyway. The photos though… The background was what caught his eye, not the image of a smiling younger Ellen Tigh. The colors, the ugly decorations, the carpeting that seemed to be vomited onto the floor and walls…. It was like a sickness, and he couldn’t look away.
“Why are you here, Lee?” Tigh asked after a long moment. “ You know what your mother was doing.” He took a long drink. “ The Gobbler was… where people went to have affairs. Everybody knew. For about five or six years, it was the place to go. The guy that owned it must’ve made a mint. You could find anything there. Drinks, politicians, prostitutes…. “ Tigh chuckled. “ It was where the Caprican elite went to party, and Ellen couldn’t get enough of it even though she was only getting in because of your mom.”
It was true, Lee realized, but… it wasn’t right. “ Did she have an affair? My mother?”
Tigh looked at him, an almost vicious leer crossing his face, but after a moment it faded. Replaced by something… Shame, Lee realized. Tigh set the bottle down, seeming to contemplate it. Finally he said, “ I’m not going to say it, Lee. I’m a drunk, and a bastard, and a killer, and right now I hate your old man with the fire of a thousand suns, but I’m not gonna say it.” He swallowed another drink. “ Besides, you’re wrong.”
“ What?” Lee didn’t know what else to say.
“ You’re wrong.” Tigh eyed him. “ Something your mother used to say… I used to think she just repeated it so much to make people agree but, looking at you now…You look just like your father, Lee.”
“You look just like your father, Lee.”
His mother’s voice echoed in his head and he stood up, wanting nothing more than to leave the quarters of a man he’d never liked. “ I…”
“Take that with you,” Tigh muttered as he pointed at the album. He staggered over to his bed. Lee closed the album and walked to the door, only to hear Tigh say, “ You’re the nail, Lee.” Lee spun around.
“ What? What did you say?” Lee demanded.
“ I said close the damn door,” Tigh snarled back. “ Get the hell out of here.”
Lee almost argued but Tigh had that scary look to his face, the look of a man who had no issue with killing someone over something as silly as an open door. He closed the hatch door and then leaned against it, closing his eyes against the flood of memories.
Tigh wouldn’t say it, and there was a part of him that suddenly understood why his father had stood by the miserable bastard for so long. But Tigh was wrong. He hadn’t ever wondered about it. Not about himself. He slumped against the door.
When he opened his eyes, he was there. Sitting in a pink leather chair at one of the restaurant’s many ornate tables. For just an instant, Lee was startled. It’s just a dream, he told himself. He was quite certain of that, especially when he looked over at the bar.
Karl “Helo” Agathon was behind the bar, carefully polishing a glass with a white cloth, and wearing a bartender’s uniform. Helo was not supposed to be there. Helo hadn’t been there. At best Helo had been a child his own age. Play along, he decided. He walked up to the bar, taking care to step onto the slightly rotating platform.
The place was full, and the music loud, but much to his surprise, Helo waved for him to take a seat. “ Like a drink, Lee?” he asked pleasantly as he flipped the glass and the bottle around in a pleasing juggle.
“Sure.” Helo was new. So was the bar, although he remembered the bar quite well.
“One ambrosia with ice.” Helo slid the glass to him with a polished flourish. “ You look like a man with troubles, Lee.”
“ That I am,” Lee said after a moment.
“Well, don’t worry,” Helo said. “ There’s plenty of lovely ladies here tonight. Look at the dance floor.”
Lee looked. Sure enough, there were a lot of women, including his mother and a young Ellen Tigh out on the dance floor. They were dancing with men, young men. He watched the crowd swirl about the dance floor. What is this supposed to mean, he asked himself. Because it did mean something.
“ I need two ambrosias, neat, please.” Lee looked to his left. Another familiar yet new face, Felix Gaeta. Like Helo, he was dressed differently. Much more stylish and flamboyant, which was odd since Gaeta was one of those people who seemed to have mastered fading into the woodwork at an early age. He barely glanced at Lee at all. “ By the way I think there’s some kids up in the upper level.”
“ Just kid playing. I’m sure they’re fine.,” Helo said cheerfully as he poured the drinks. “ Plenty of ladies here tonight… Although I see you’re doing quite well yourself, sir.”
Lee followed Helo’s gaze to one of the tables. A blonde girl was there. The blonde girl. The one who…
“ It certainly looks that way,” Gaeta said pleasantly. He threw down several crisp new bills. “ Keep the change.” He took the drinks and walked back to his table. The blonde greeted him with a lovely smile.
“ Good tipper,” Helo said after a moment, as he counted the bills. He gestured out to the dance floor. “ See anyone you like? We do… help people out, here at the Gobbler…”
Lee waved him away. On the dance floor, dancing with a good looking dark haired man, was a much younger, beautiful Laura Roslin.
Lee awoke with a start. He was still in the hallway, sitting by Tigh’s door. He picked up the album and thumbed through the photos. Sure enough, behind Ellen Tigh… was a much younger Laura Roslin.
Feel free to comment on my insanity