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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 22:55:03 GMT -5
Gus and Harley spent the rest of the weekend in the hotel room, but Sunday afternoon, it was time to go back to Springfield. Zach’s party was the next Sunday and Susan was coming home Friday, so they had a lot to do to get ready.
Phillip was keeping Zach for the night, so Thursday, Gus and Harley worked late. After they got off, they stopped by Company to pick up some things for the party. By the time they got there, it was after 10 and Buzz had closed down the restaurant and gone home for the night, so Harley used her key to unlock the door.
When they got inside, Harley set her purse on the bar and Gus threw his jacket next to it.
“So what are we here for?” Gus asked.
“Plates, cups, napkins, that kind of stuff. It’s in the back room,” Harley replied as she headed back towards the kitchen and Gus followed.
“Why does your dad have all this stuff anyways? He uses real dishes here, right?” Gus asked as he followed Harley into the small back room full of paper plates, plastic bowls and cups and napkins.
“I don’t know, for stuff he caters sometimes,” Harley answered, “Honey, don’t let the door shut-“ she warned as they both heard the door click shut.
“Why?” Gus asked as he slowly turned towards Harley.
“Because the lock is broken and it can only be opened from the outside! Are you kidding me?” Harley exclaimed as she pushed him out of the way and rushed towards the door.
She tried to open it to no avail and turned and shot Gus a dirty look.
“What are you looking at me for? You could have warned me that the door would lock,” he said.
“I did tell you!” Harley shot back.
“Not until after I let it close!”
“Well, whatever, just give me your phone, I’ll call Dad,” Harley said as she stuck her hand out.
“I don’t have my phone,” Gus replied, “It’s in my jacket.”
“Where’s your jacket?”
“In the dining room! Where’s your phone?”
“In my purse in the dining room! Are you kidding me?!” Harley exclaimed.
“Would you stop saying that? I’m not kidding, this isn’t really a joking matter,” Gus replied.
“Well, what are we going to do?” Harley asked.
“I guess we’re just gonna have to stay here until someone finds us,” Gus said as he sat down against one of the shelves.
“That won’t be until morning! What are we supposed to do? Sleep here?”
“Well, we don’t necessarily have to sleep,” Gus winked as he grabbed her hand pulled her down to him.
She straddled his legs that were bent at the knees and sat in his lap.
“Really?” she asked, intrigued.
“Uh huh,” Gus said as he kissed her neck, “It’s kind of like a forbidden place, your dad’s restaurant,” he murmured into her neck.
“Okay, that works about as well as a cold shower,” Harley said as she pulled away, “did you have to mention my dad?” she asked.
“Forget about him,” Gus said as he began unbuttoning Harley’s blouse, “It’s just you and me and a lot of alone time.”
“We haven’t had a lot of that this week, have we?” Harley asked as she ran his fingers through his hair.
“No, we haven’t,” Gus agreed as he unbuttoned the last button and pushed open her shirt.
They had spent most of the week at work or getting things ready for the party. Not only did Harley rope Gus into cooking for the party, but she also persuaded him to help clean up the house and yard too. It wasn’t really hard, all she had to do was bat her eyelashes and kiss him and he was puddy in her hands.
Gus leaned forward and kissed Harley’s bare chest. She grabbed his face and pulled it up to hers and kissed him deeply. Her tongue slipped through his lips and she pushed him back against the shelves and stacks of plates and bowls fell onto their heads.
They both broke into a laugh as the rest of the supplies on the shelf fell down around them.
“This could be dangerous,” Gus teased as he picked up a package of plastic silverware that had fallen between them and tossed it away.
“Yeah, I don’t think this position is going to work,” Harley said as she buttoned up her shirt a bit.
“Well, the floor is really hard, so I don’t think that will work,” he said as they both stood up and started putting all the stuff back onto the shelves.
“What about this?” Harley asked as she jumped up onto a small table and unbuttoned her shirt again. “Get over here,” she beckoned and Gus dropped the stack of plates in his hand and crossed the small room to where Harley was.
“This works,” he said as he quickly took of his shirt and his pants followed. They joined Harley’s clothes that were already on the floor behind him and she pulled him to her.
“So what is this? A quickie in the storage room?” she asked between kisses.
“Uh huh,” was all Gus could murmur.
“Not a story we’ll want to tell the grandchildren,” Harley laughed and he silenced her with a kiss as he pulled her closer so he could enter her.
Harley threw back her head as Gus thrust into her and soon they both let out moans of pleasure in release.
“Slam, bam, thank ya ma’am,” Gus said as he turned around and started walking away.
“Get back here!” Harley said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her. “You’re such a guy,” she laughed as she wrapped her arms around him from behind and slapped his chest.
“Owww,” Gus laughed as she kissed his back and shoulders. He tickled her legs that were holding him to her with his fingertips, causing her to squirm and he turned around to face her.
“Now would I really do that and not cuddle with you afterwards?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled into her neck.
“You better not,” she said as she lifted his head and kissed him.
He hugged her tightly and lifted her off the table and twirled around with her in his arms. He set her feet down on the floor and kissed her deeply.
“I love you,” he whispered as he touched his forehead with hers and they caught their breath.
“I love you too,” she replied as she kissed him again then rested her head on his chest.
“We should get dressed in case Buzz decides to stop by,” Gus said as he kissed the top of her head.
“I guess so,” Harley said, “but it’s so hot in here,” she whined.
“I know, I’m just putting on my pants,” Gus said as he found his underwear and pants in the pile and slipped them on.
“Where’s my shirt?” Harley asked as she looked at the pile of clothes that was missing her shirt.
Gus looked around, “I don’t know. Where did you throw it?”
“I don’t know!” Harley exclaimed, “I’ll just wear yours,” she said as she picked up his blue dress shirt and slipped her arms through the sleeves.
“Damn,” she heard Gus mutter and she looked over at him, where he was leaning against a shelf biting his lip.
“What?” she asked.
“You look really good in my shirt,” he said as he started walking towards her.
“Oh yeah?”
“Oh yeah, and your hair is all messy. You look very sexy, very sexy,” he said as he pulled her over to him and kissed her.
He ran his hands down her back to her legs and let his hands travel up the back of her thighs under his shirt and he teased the soft skin below the bottom of her panties with his fingernails and her arms tightened around his neck and she kissed him deeper.
“Wanna try to get some sleep?” she asked after they broke the kiss.
“Yeah,” Gus said, “let’s see if we can find something to use for cushioning,” he continued as he looked around the room.
“Found your shirt!” he said as he threw it towards the middle of the room from the corner he found it in.
“Oh good,” Harley said as she threw it on the floor with her pants, bra and their shoes.
“This might work,” Gus said as he showed her a plastic table cloth.
“Better than nothing,” she shrugged and he ripped open the package and rolled it into a ball.
He put the tablecloth on the floor and laid down with his head on it, “Come here,” he said to Harley and she laid down beside him.
“This floor is so hard!” she complained and crawled on top of him and laid on him. “You’re a little softer,” she said, then corrected herself, “well, not all of you,” she teased as she kissed him.
“Hey, that’s your fault,” he replied as he pushed some hair behind her ears.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 22:56:45 GMT -5
He cleared his throat and changed the subject, “So are you excited about Susan coming home tomorrow?” he asked.
“So excited!” she replied with a huge smile, “I can’t wait for you guys to meet.”
“Yeah, I have to say I’m a little nervous about that,” Gus confessed.
“You’re nervous about meeting Susan? Why?” Harley asked as she twirled her fingers in his chest hair.
“Well, I’m a little afraid she’s gonna realize I’m not good enough for you,” he answered.
“Come on,” Harley replied, “That’s not true. And she is going to love you. She’s a great judge of character. She hates Phillip,” Harley smiled.
“Well, you loved Phillip at one time,” Gus said quietly.
“Yes I did,” Harley replied, “And I learned my lesson the hard way. Listen to me. Susan will love you. She might be a little skeptical at first, but she knows how much I love you and once she gives you a chance, you guys will get along great.”
“I hope so,” Gus said as he caressed her cheek with his thumb.
“So, her plane gets in at 4, so I want to be there before that,” Harley told him.
“Yeah, about that, I don’t think I should go with you to pick her up.”
“Why not?”
“Well, you haven’t seen her in a really long time, and I’m going to be with you Saturday, Sunday, and Monday and she leaves Tuesday, I just think you guys should have some time to yourself.”
“You’re definitely coming Saturday night though, right?” Harley asked.
“Of course,” Gus answered.
Harley was having a big family dinner at her house Saturday night so Susan could spend time with her grandpa and uncle Frank and get to know her cousin Marina before Zach’s party on Sunday.
“Honey, I’m sorry, but this is really uncomfortable,” Gus said as he rolled over and laid Harley beside him.
“Are you saying I’m too heavy?” she teased.
“No, I’m saying this floor is hard, and I need to stand up,” he said as he kissed her and stood up.
“Well, let’s get the stuff together that we need then,” Harley said as she stood up too.
She grabbed a cardboard box out of one of the corners and started filling it with picnic supplies. By the time they had gotten everything they needed for the picnic, Gus noticed it was almost 2 am and he sat down against one of the shelves.
He entertained himself by throwing plastic silverware into a Styrofoam cup that he set across the room.
“Do you have to do that?” Harley asked, annoyed at the sound of plastic knives and forks hitting the tiled floor, as she wandered aimlessly around the room.
“Excuse me, but what else am I supposed to do?” Gus asked as he looked up at her and she rolled her eyes.
Gus gave up and stood up. He paced the room and Harley soon got annoyed with that too.
“What is wrong?” she asked.
“I…I have to pee,” he whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” she asked, almost laughing. She picked up the Styrofoam cup, dumped out the silverware and held it out to him, “Here.”
“What?”
“Well, honey, you’re either gonna have to pee in this or hold it until we get out of here. Dancing around the room is not going to help,” she explained.
Gus shot her a dirty look, grabbed the cup and put it back on the shelf, “I am not peeing in a cup,” he said. “Can we just try to get some sleep again?”
“Fine,” Harley said as she grabbed the imitation pillow and laid down in the middle of the room.
Gus sat down beside her and lifted her head and took the tablecloth, “Don’t be greedy,” he said as he put it under his head and pulled her next to him so her head was on his chest.
“Sorry,” she said quietly as she found his hand and threaded her fingers through his.
“That’s okay,” he replied as he kissed the top of her head.
“You can pee in the cup if you really want to,” she said, laughing as she looked up at him.
“I don’t have to go that bad!” he laughed as he poked her in the side with his finger causing her to squirm and shriek.
“Let’s get some sleep,” he said as he kissed her and she soon settled back into his chest and they fell asleep.
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A little before five o’clock that morning, Buzz unlocked the front door to Company, wondering why Harley’s car was in the parking lot. When he turned on the lights in the dining room, he saw a jacket and purse on the bar.
“Harley!” he called out but didn’t get an answer. Suddenly, he realized where they were.
Harley had told him she was going to stop by after work and get stuff for the picnic, they must have gotten stuck in the storage room. Buzz walked towards the back room and knocked on the door before he opened it. When he didn’t hear a response to his knock, he slowly opened the door and poked his head in. He saw Harley and Gus asleep on the floor, Gus without a shirt and Harley wearing his shirt and missing her pants. He shook his head and called Harley’s name.
When she heard her name, she stirred and looked up at the door.
“Daddy! Finally,” she said as she nudged Gus awake and he moaned and rolled over.
“Gus! Wake up,” she said as she stood up and put her pants on and hugged Buzz. “We thought you would never get here.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Gus said as he realized where they were and also realized he still had to go to the bathroom.
He stood up and shook Buzz’s hand, “Hey Buzz, you should really think about getting that lock fixed,” he said as he rushed past him and almost ran to the bathroom.
“Do I even want to know?” Buzz asked, pointing to the pile of clothes on the floor.
“Probably not,” Harley said as she shoved her shirt and bra into the box of supplies and followed Buzz out of the room.
They met Gus out in the dining room and he handed Harley her purse as he put on his jacket and took the box from Harley.
“Thanks for the stuff Daddy,” Harley said as she kissed Buzz’s cheek then took Gus’s hand. “Let’s go sleep somewhere a little more comfortable,” she said as they walked out of Company and headed back to Harley’s house where they slept until after noon.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 22:57:52 GMT -5
Harley watched nervously out the window of the airport as Zach sat in her lap making up words to the book he was pretending to read. Instead of being about Pooh and Tigger, it was about Gus and Zach and their search for a pot of honey for Grandpa Buzz’s baklava. Zach couldn’t read a word of it, but he had spent enough time with Buzz to know what ingredients went into his famous baklava.
Finally, a plane pulled up to the gate and Harley told Zach to put his book away.
“Lookie, that’s Susan’s plane!” Harley said and Zach’s face lit up as he quickly closed his book and shoved it into Harley’s purse.
Harley stood up and Zach stood on the chair as they watched people start to come out the gate. Finally, they saw Susan, her blonde hair cut in short layers with her ends flipped out with the shortest layer at her jawbone and the longest resting on her shoulders. Harley looked at her daughter in amazement. She looked 25 instead of 16 and smiled when she found Harley and Zach in the crowd.
She made her way over to them and gave Harley a big hug as Zach looked on. Harley’s eyes filled with tears as she held her daughter in her arms. When she pulled back to get a good look at Susan, she couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
“What’s wrong?” Susan asked.
“You just look so beautiful. I’ve missed you,” Harley said as she wiped the tears away and hugged her again.
“I missed you too,” Susan said as Harley finally let go of her. “And I missed you!” she exclaimed as she lifted Zach off the chair and spun around with him sending him into fits of laughter.
“Where’s Gus?” Susan asked as she put Zach down.
“Oh, he thought we could use some time alone. You’ll meet him tomorrow. We’re having a family dinner,” Harley informed her as she grabbed Zach’s hand and the three of them headed to baggage claim.
“With Grandpa and Uncle Frank?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” Harley replied.
“So what do you want to do tonight?” Harley asked as they walked out to the car.
“I want to go home, order a pizza and veg out,” Susan replied with a smile.
“Sounds good to me,” Harley said as they got in the car and headed home.
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Later that night, after a pizza and a chick flick, Harley pulled Zach away from his toys and told him it was way past his bedtime. As he was kissing Susan good night, the phone rang and Harley answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me,” she heard Gus’s voice.
“Hey you. Can I call you back? I’m just about to put Zach to bed,” Harley asked.
“Yeah sure, tell him I said good night,” Gus said.
“I will. Bye,” Harley said and they both hung up and Harley chased Zach upstairs.
Zach was exhausted from playing with his sister all night and fell asleep quickly. Harley went back downstairs and joined Susan on the couch. While they were talking, Susan saw Harley sneak a look at the phone.
“Aren’t you supposed to call Gus back?” she asked.
“Oh no, I can call him later,” Harley waved it off.
“But you want to call him now,” Susan said, “It’s okay, I can entertain myself for a little bit.”
“Are you sure?” Harley asked and Susan nodded.
“Yes, can I check my email?” she asked.
“Of course,” Harley replied as Susan sat at the computer desk in the corner as Harley picked up the phone and dialed Gus’s number.
“Hi,” she said when he picked up the phone.
“Hey, how was your night?” he asked.
“It was great,” Harley replied as she picked up their pizza dishes and went into the kitchen. “It’s so great to have Susan home, even if it’s just for a few days. What did you do?”
“Oh, I just did some work,” Gus replied, “Hey, you haven’t gotten anymore weird calls, have you?” he asked.
“Nope, not since that message on the machine, why?”
“I was just thinking about that tonight. Do you think that could be connected to the Carson case?” he asked as Harley went back into the living room.
“I doubt it,” she said, “why would they do something like this?”
“I don’t know, I just wish we knew who it was,” Gus said.
“I know, but everything’s fine. It was probably a fluke,” Harley assured him.
“Alright, but if anything weird does happen, you’ll tell me right?”
“You will be the first to know,” she promised.
“Good. Oh, I’m filling in for Davis tomorrow and he’s scheduled until 7, but I’ll try to get off early so I’m not that late,” he told her.
“Oh, okay,” Harley said disappointedly. “Well, get here when you can, the door will be open.”
“Alright, I’ll let you get back to your daughter. Good night, I love you,” Gus said.
“I love you too,” Harley replied, “Night,” she continued, then hung up the phone.
When Susan was done on the computer, she joined Harley back on the couch.
“So how did you get so much time off from dance?” Harley asked.
“Oh, we have a few weeks off before classes start,” Susan explained. “Actually, we’re supposed to be keeping up with our workouts.”
“And here I am feeding you pizza,” Harley laughed.
“It’s okay, it’s not every day I get to have pizza with my mom,” Susan replied. “I’m really glad I came home.”
“I really glad too,” Harley said as she reached over and touched Susan’s hair. “You look so beautiful.”
“I look like you,” Susan smiled as she moved closer to Harley and laid her head on her shoulder.
Harley put her arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
“Do you mind if I go to bed?” Susan asked, “I’m pretty tired.”
“Of course not, that’s fine,” Harley said as Susan stood up.
“Night,” she said as she headed upstairs.
“Night sweetie,” Harley called after her and watched her daughter disappear up the stairs.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 22:59:09 GMT -5
The next evening as they were all sitting down to dinner, Buzz looked at the empty chair beside Zach.
“Where’s Gus?” he asked.
Harley answered him, “He’s took a shift for someone today, he was going to try to get off early,” she explained as she looked at the clock that said ten after six.
Five minutes later, they heard the front door open and someone fall up the stairs and Harley averted everyone’s wondering eyes. Two minutes later, Gus walked into the kitchen and patted Buzz on the back as he made his way around the table to his seat.
“Sorry I’m late,” he greeted, “Hi everyone. Hey Z-man,” he said as he high-fived Zach and got a sticky left hand.
“Gus, this is Susan,” Harley introduced them.
Gus stuck his unsticky hand out and shook Susan’s hand, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“You too,” Susan said as Harley got up and got Gus a beer from the fridge.
Gus went to wash his hands and Harley stopped him before he went back to the table. She pinned him against the sink and kissed him.
“Hi,” they both said in unison.
“Did you take your stuff upstairs?” Harley asked quietly.
“Yeah, was I too loud?” he asked, “I tripped on one of Zach’s trucks.”
“We heard,” Harley replied, “Why don’t you keep some things here so you don’t have to bring stuff all the time?” she suggested cautiously.
Gus looked at her surprised, “Okay,” he smiled, “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she replied with a smile and kissed him again then they went back to the table.
Gus put his jacket over the back of his chair and sat down.
“Honey, your gun,” Harley pointed to his holster he was still wearing.
“Oh, sorry,” he apologized as he stood up, took the holster off and tried to find a place to put it. He settled on the top of the refrigerator and sat back down and made a plate.
After everyone had finished dinner, Gus helped Harley clear the table.
“Let’s go in the living room,” Harley suggested to everyone as she noticed Gus had started washing the dishes.
She went up behind him and shut the water off.
“What are you doing?” she asked as she moved beside him.
“I just thought I would do the dishes for you,” he replied as he rolled up his sleeves.
“They can wait, we’re going into the living room,” she said.
“Go ahead, I’ll be in when I finish these,” Gus replied.
Harley looked towards the table and motioned to Buzz for them to go into the living room. Buzz got Zach and the rest soon followed leaving Harley and Gus in the kitchen alone.
“What’s wrong?” Harley asked when everyone had left.
“Nothing, I’m just going to do the dishes.”
“Liar, what’s going on?”
“I just feel a little out of place, like I’m intruding on this big family thing,” Gus said without looking at her.
“You’re not,” Harley assured him.
“Well, I feel like it,” Gus said, finally looking at her. “I mean, your brother’s here and he hasn’t stopped giving me dirty looks all night, and your daughter’s here who I’ve never met and I’m trying to impress her. And everyone’s talking about family stuff that happened a long time ago and I’m just kinda here, not really sure why.”
“Why?” Harley asked. “Because I want you here and I want you to get to know Susan, because you are part of my family. And you don’t have to impress her, just be yourself.”
“Well, myself isn’t good enough for Frank is it?”
“Fine,” Harley conceded. “I don’t understand, do you want to be with me, but without my family? Cause it doesn’t work that way.”
“No, I didn’t say that. That’s not even what I was thinking. I’m just sick and tired of having to prove myself to them. I thought the only approval I would need in this relationship is yours, but no, I need your dad’s, your brother’s, your ex-husband’s, your friends, your kids’!” he shot back, trying not to be too loud.
“That is not true! You have my approval, that’s all that matters to me! I have never let any of them come between us!”
“Okay, so Frank’s hatred of me hasn’t come between us, but it’s come between you and him. You don’t think I see the disapproving looks he gives you when I’m in the room? You don’t think I see the look in your eyes when he gives you those looks? It kills you that there is this distance between you two. And it kills me that I put it there.”
“But you didn’t! Honey, you haven’t done anything. Why are you bringing this up tonight? I don’t want to go through this again,” Harley said, exasperated as she fell into one of the chairs at the table.
“You brought it up,” Gus said quietly. “I’m sorry,” he said as he sat in the chair next to her and turned his chair so they were facing each other. “I don’t want to go through it again either, I just wish I could magically fix this. I would do anything to make you happy, I just don’t know what to do this time,” he continued as he reached over and took her hands in his.
“I know you would, and that is one of the things I love most about you,” Harley replied as she moved to his lap. “Let’s just forget about that for now, though. What can I do to make you more comfortable tonight?”
“Nothing,” Gus said, “I don’t want you worrying about me. I’ll be fine. It’s just been a long day, and I’m tired. I just need to loosen up.”
“Well, you can start by loosening this,” Harley said as she untied his tie and took it off. “And unbuttoning some of these and showing some of that chest hair I love so much,” she continued as unbuttoned his top few buttons and kissed the newly exposed skin.
“You loosen anything else on me and we’ll have to skip family time and go straight upstairs,” Gus teased as he ran his hands through her hair and kissed her softly.
“Mmm, that is very tempting,” Harley teased.
“Come on, let’s get in there,” Gus said as he nudged her off his lap and stood up.
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“So Susan, your mom told me you’re a dancer. What kind of dancing do you do?” Gus asked as Harley sat down next to him on the loveseat.
“All of them, ballet, jazz, tap…” Susan replied.
“Okay, then what’s your favorite?” Gus asked.
“Ballet, definitely ballet,” she answered.
“Do you get to be lifted into the air by any hot guys?” Marina asked.
“A couple,” Susan answered slyly.
“Uh oh,” Gus teased.
“Maybe in the spring we can come up and see your recital,” Harley suggested.
“That would be great,” Susan smiled.
“You’ve never gotten to see her dance?” Gus asked.
“Not at this school,” Harley said, regrettably.
“Wait a second, I have a tape of our Spring recital. I just remembered. Let me go get it,” Susan said as she jumped off the couch and ran upstairs.
When she came back downstairs, she put the tape in the VCR and moved the TV so that everyone could see it. Zach left his toys on the floor and jumped into Gus’s lap as Harley turned sideways on the loveseat so she could see better.
They watched every dance Susan was in that recital. At one point Susan sat up in her seat and said excitedly, “Ooh, this is my favorite dance,” she said as she came out onto the stage in a pink ballet leotard by herself.
While she watched her daughter move across the stage, Harley felt a tear roll down her cheek. She turned and buried her face into Gus’s arm that was on the back of the loveseat. He felt his sleeve get wet and he touched Harley’s cheek as she leaned back against him. He put her arm around in front of her and she threaded her fingers through his.
“You okay?” he asked quietly into her ear and she nodded.
“Look at this one,” he said and she turned her head and saw Zach fast asleep against Gus’s chest.
Harley smiled as she settled into the couch and Gus gave her a little squeeze.
When the recital was over, everyone clapped and Zach woke up.
“Hey sweetie, ready for bed?” Harley asked as he rubbed his eyes and settled back into Gus’s chest.
“No,” he murmured.
“Yes, you are. You have a big day tomorrow,” Harley insisted, “Say goodnight to everyone,” she said as he slowly made his way off Gus’s lap and went around giving everyone hugs and kisses.
Gus was last and when he wrapped his arms around Gus’s neck, he wouldn’t let go.
“Will you read me a story?” he asked sweetly.
“How can I resist?” Gus said as he stood up, Zach holding on to him.
“We’ll be right back,” Harley said as she grabbed Gus’s hand and followed him up the stairs.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 23:00:51 GMT -5
Usually, Zach would be asleep before Harley even finished his story, but Gus’s stories were a little more active. The story Zach chose tonight was The Little Engine That Could, and of course Gus had to do all the motions and sounds to go along with it.
Gus was going around the room, using his arms, imitating a slow-moving train. Zach jumped onto Gus’s back as he came past his bed and joined in with Gus on the sounds.
“Chuga, chuga, chuga, chuga, toot too!” Gus began as he slowly made his way around the room with Zach on his back.
“Come on Mommy!” Zach exclaimed and Harley became the caboose of the train and followed them around.
“What does the engine say, Zach?” Gus asked as he started moving slower.
“I think I can! I think I can,” Zach exclaimed and Gus moved faster each time he said it until they were practically running around the room.
When Gus got dizzy, he fell onto the bed with Zach and Harley jumped on with them, all three of them laughing.
“Alright, I hate to be the bad guy, but it is definitely past your bedtime,” Harley said as she pulled the covers up over Zach.
“Okay, Mommy,” Zach said as he yawned and hugged Gus. “Good night Gus,” then hugged Harley.
“Good night, sweetie, I love you,” Harley said as she kissed him and she and Gus got out of the bed.
“I love you too,” Zach replied then rolled over onto his side.
Harley shut off his light and shut the door partway. When they got out into the hallway, Harley pushed Gus up against the wall and laughed as she put her forehead against his chest.
“What’s so funny?” he asked quietly.
“I wish I would have had a camera in there to get proof of you being a train!” Harley laughed.
Gus laughed, “Well, it was for the kid,” he explained.
“Do you remember when I told you that I found you the sexiest when you were playing baseball with Zach?” Harley asked and Gus nodded. “Well, I’ve changed my mind,” she continued, “Gus the train is very sexy,” she teased.
“Really?” Gus asked, his eyebrows raising. He leaned in close and started whispering, “Chuga, chuga, chuga, chuga,” he said as he gently urged her backwards into her room.
Harley was giggling by the time they hit the bed and she met Gus’s lips with hers as they worked their way up from her neck.
“Mmm, we can’t, we gotta get back downstairs,” Harley moaned between kisses.
“Alright,” Gus sighed as he rolled off of her and sat up on the bed.
“Hold that thought though,” she said as she kissed him and started out the door.
“Sure…” Gus breathed as he watched her walk away then got up and followed her back downstairs.
Frank, Buzz and Marina left about an hour later, giving Gus an opportunity to get to know Susan a little better and vice-versa.
While Harley locked the door behind the rest of her family, Gus cleaned up some of the glasses laying around and took them into the kitchen.
When he came back Harley and Susan were sitting on the couch talking.
“Umm, I’m almost afraid to ask, but what was going on upstairs when you put Zach to bed?” Susan asked as Gus sat across from them on the loveseat.
Harley looked at Gus and they both laughed.
“Gus was reading, well more like acting out, The Little Engine That Could,” Harley explained.
“Really?” Susan asked intrigued, “You don’t really seem like a train whistle tooting guy.”
Gus laughed, “Well, umm, a few months ago I probably would have agreed with you.”
“Why a few months ago?” Susan asked confused.
“I’m a very different man now than I was when I came to town,” Gus explained.
“Why?”
“Do you want the short answer?” Gus asked and Susan nodded, “Her,” he said simply, pointing to Harley who smiled at him.
“Mommy!” they heard Zach cry out from the top of the stairs and Harley got up and took him back upstairs.
“So what did she do?” Susan asked as she settled back into the couch.
“She showed me that I was missing out on a lot of things in my life.”
“Like what?”
“Love, a family, happiness,” Gus answered. “Your mom is the best person I have ever met in my life.”
“Yeah, she’s cool,” Susan agreed. “So you guys are like serious?” she asked.
“Yeah, well I think so,” Gus replied, “And I’m pretty sure Harley thinks so too.”
“She thought things were serious with Phillip too,” Susan offered.
“I know,” he replied, “I know what Phillip did to her, and I have every intention on making up for that and making sure I never even come close to hurting her like that,” Gus assured her as they heard Harley come back downstairs.
“Everything okay?” Gus asked her as she sat back down on the couch.
“Yep, he just wanted some water,” Harley replied, “What were you guys talking about?”
“You,” Gus replied, “and how great you are.”
Harley rolled her eyes at him and changed the subject. The three of them talked for a little while until Susan said she was ready for bed.
“Bye Gus, it was nice to meet you,” she said as she stood up.
“You too,” Gus smiled.
Susan went upstairs and Gus joined Harley on the couch.
“How did she get so great?” Harley asked rhetorically.
“It’s in her blood,” Gus answered as he put his arm around Harley.
She looked up at him and smiled, “Let’s get this mess cleaned up so we can go to bed too,” she said with a twinkle in her eye and they went into the kitchen to clean up before heading upstairs to bed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 18:55:16 GMT -5
The next morning, while Harley was getting dressed, Gus went downstairs and started a pot of coffee. As he was looking through the cupboards getting everything out, Susan came into the kitchen.
“Good morning,” Gus greeted cheerfully as he turned on the water and started filling up the coffeemaker.
“Morning. Where’s Harley?” she asked as she sat down at the table.
“She’s still getting ready,” Gus replied.
“Did you spend the night?” she asked as she saw his bare feet sticking out the bottom of his jeans.
“Uh, yeah,” Gus answered as he scooped the coffee into the filter. “You know, it was just easier since I was going to be here early to help with the party anyway.”
“It probably made the sex a little easier too, huh?”
Gus turned the coffeemaker on and turned around, leaning against the counter.
“How old are you again?” he asked.
“Old enough to know that you didn’t stay here to make getting ready for the party easier,” she laughed.
“Well, now we have that subject out of the way,” Gus replied, “Was that a test?” he asked.
“Kind of. I just wanted to see how you would react.”
“Well, I have to give you credit. I don’t think many sixteen year olds would come right out and basically tell their mother’s boyfriend that she knows they had sex the night before. Just make sure you let me know if you tell any other guy that and they don’t deny it,” Gus joked.
“Are you worried about that? Harley cheating on you?” she asked.
“No,” Gus replied, “Not at all. I was just joking.”
“She’s afraid you’ll cheat on her,” Susan added.
“I know she is,” Gus replied sadly, “I won’t. But I know she’s just waiting for it all to fall apart.”
“I hope you prove her wrong,” Susan said.
“I plan on it,” Gus assured her and Susan’s silence was her approval.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, “I can start something for breakfast if you want.”
“Can you make pancakes?” she asked, “I’ll help.”
“Pancakes it is,” Gus said as he started getting the ingredients out while Susan washed her hands.
“So, you’re going to be what? A Junior?” Gus asked her.
“Yep,” she replied.
“Have you thought about college at all? Like what you want to do if dancing doesn’t work out?”
“Well, I’m planning on auditioning for Julliard in the spring. I’m already working on my routine,” Susan answered.
“Julliard, impressive. What if you don’t get in though? I mean, I’m sure you will, but what if you don’t? Do you have a backup plan?” Gus asked.
“I’ll get in,” Susan assured him.
“Okay, so what if you do get in and then you get hurt?”
Susan looked at Gus, then looked away, “I don’t know,” she said quietly.
“Can I grill you now?” she asked a few minutes later.
“Shoot,” Gus said.
“Why doesn’t Uncle Frank like you?” she asked.
“Oh you noticed that, huh?” Gus laughed.
“Yeah, well, it’s pretty obvious. I mean, Grandpa seems okay with you, and Marina likes you, Zach likes you, so why doesn’t Uncle Frank?”
“Honestly, I’m not really sure. I think part of him doesn’t like me because he’s sure I’m going to hurt Harley, but I think a lot of it has to do with the person that I was when I came to Springfield.”
“Care to elaborate?”
Gus went on to explain to her a short version of his vendetta against the Santos family and how Harley helped him work past that.
“So Uncle Frank doesn’t think you’ve changed? Is that it?” Susan asked when he was done with his story.
“I guess that’s it.”
“Have you changed? Like permanently?” she asked.
“I think in many ways I have. I mean, there will always be a part of me that wants to make the Santos family pay for what happened to my dad, but I know that how I was doing it wasn’t right. But I used to only look out for myself, and now that’s different. Now I have Harley and Zach to look out for. And you too,” he continued.
“Me? Why me? You hardly even know me.”
“Because you’re important to Harley, so that makes you important to me too,” Gus told her.
Susan smiled over at him. “Harley told me about your dad. I mean, she told me that he died when you were young, but I didn’t know the whole story. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks, she told me about your dad too. It’s hard isn’t it?” Gus asked.
Susan nodded, “Yeah, it is. I miss him all the time,” she said sadly, “but sometimes are worse than others. It’s the small things that we used to do together, you know?”
“I know. My dad used to take me to Cubs games. It’s still hard for me to be there without him. What did you and Jim do? I mean, if you want to talk about it,” Gus asked.
“He used to take me fishing,” Susan said and started laughing. “This one time, we were out on this little canoe in this little lake and he thought he caught this big fish because he couldn’t reel it in, but his line was just tangled in some seaweed or something. He almost tipped the canoe over trying to reel in this huge fish he was so sure he caught,” she laughed and Gus laughed with her.
“Thanks,” she said, “I haven’t talked about him in a long time.”
Gus smiled at her as he poured some pancake batter onto the skillet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A few minutes later, Harley and Zach came downstairs to the smell of sausage and coffee.
“Smells like Gus is cooking for us,” she told Zach as they hit the bottom step and made their way into the kitchen.
“Good morning,” she greeted when she saw Susan standing at the stove beside Gus.
“Morning,” Susan replied as Harley helped Zach into his chair.
She stood on the other side of Gus and nudged him out of the way with her hip so she could get plates out of the cupboard. She kissed his cheek, then took the plates to the table.
“I like the idea of you guys making breakfast for us,” she said, “I might get used to this.”
“Well Gus, that just means you have to spend the night more often,” Susan teased, causing Harley to stop setting the table and look at her in shock.
Susan still had her back to Harley but Gus laughed and turned towards Harley with a plate of sausage. When he met Harley at the table and set down the plate, he kissed her quickly.
“I’ll tell you later,” he said quietly before he went back to the stove.
The four of them ate up all the pancakes and sausage Gus and Susan had made and were just cleaning up the table when the doorbell rang and Susan went to answer it then led Buzz, Frank and Marina into the kitchen.
“Well, sis, we’re here, what do you need us to do?” Frank asked.
“Why don’t you guys go into the living room and start blowing up the balloons, and Susan and I will finish cleaning up in here,” Harley suggested and the three guys plus Zach and Marina followed their orders and went into the living room.
Five minutes later, Harley and Susan were also in the living room blowing up balloons and when they heard the doorbell ring again, Harley gratefully stopped to answer it. When she opened the door, Phillip walked in and looked at the scene in front of him.
“Well, I see the whole family is here. And Aitoro too,” he smirked. “I thought I would come early to see if I could help.”
“Oh, thanks,” Harley said, “Why don’t you guys take those balloons outside. I want to talk to Phillip first,” she told everyone else and they picked up the balloons that were ready and started towards the back door.
“Gus, will you stay here too?” Harley said before he left the room and he handed his balloons to Susan to take out back.
“What’s up?” Phillip asked as Gus came back into the living room and stood by Harley.
“I just want to get a few things clear before this party. I don’t want to see you two arguing, giving each other dirty looks, anything like that. Today is about Zach, and you both love him, so can you please get along today for his sake and mine? Tomorrow you can go back to hating each other if you feel it’s necessary,” Harley pleaded.
“Of course,” Gus agreed and Phillip reluctantly nodded.
“I’m going to go help with the balloons,” Phillip said and he walked past them to the back door.
“I’m sorry,” Harley said as she turned to Gus, “I just don’t need you two fighting today. And I was going to just say something to Phillip, but then he would complain that I was just saying it was his fault, and you know honey, sometimes you do give him looks or mutter things about him, and I just can’t deal with that today.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I’ll be good,” Gus promised and they headed outside.
“You never did tell me what Susan was talking about this morning,” Harley said as she put her arm around his waist and he pulled her close.
“Oh, she just basically told me that she knew we had sex last night,” Gus explained as they stepped onto the back porch.
“Oh no!” Harley laughed as she buried her head in Gus’s shoulder as they walked down the few stairs of the porch.
Gus laughed, “It’s okay. It was actually pretty funny,” he said. “Don’t worry about it,” he said as he kissed her forehead and they separated when they got to the group and helped with the balloons.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 18:56:42 GMT -5
By noon that day, the backyard was filled with kids and parents. Phillip and Gus were civil to each other, and Frank and Gus even grilled together in peace. Zach got more toys than any kid should get at age four, but his favorite gift was the Power Wheels Harley Davidson motorcycle that Harley and Gus gave him. They had spent Friday morning putting it together while Zach was still at Phillip’s. It was black with silver running boards and details. As soon as Gus brought it from the garage, Zach wanted to jump on it, but he reluctantly hopped off when he was told he would have to share with the rest of the kids if he played with it now.
Later that afternoon when Gus finally found a moment to sit down and eat while Harley was entertaining the kids with a game, Susan came up at sat at the picnic table with him.
“What’s up?” he asked as he wiped his mouth with his napkin.
“I was thinking about what you said earlier about Julliard. You were right, I guess. I’ve always just assumed that I would be able to dance, and I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t. But I realize now that I need to think about that,” she said.
“You’re not the first person who thought they were invincible,” Gus replied.
“Harley told me you went to law school,” Susan said.
“Yeah.”
“So how come you’re not a lawyer?” she asked.
“Well, I really went just for the experience so I could get into the FBI, but it also gave me more options than just being a cop,” he explained.
“Was it hard?”
“Yeah, it was, but college is hard no matter what you do,” he said.
“I could be a lawyer,” Susan said casually.
“I have no doubts that you could do anything you wanted to,” Gus said.
“Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks. You know, for reminding me that I’m not invincible,” she laughed, “And also for listening about my dad,” she added seriously. “That meant a lot to me.”
“You’re welcome,” Gus replied as Susan stood up.
“For the record, I think Uncle Frank is very wrong about you,” she added.
Gus smiled, “Thanks.”
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When most of the partygoers were gone, Blake, Ross, Cassie, Richard, Phillip and the rest of the Coopers stayed to help clean up.
“Really, you guys don’t have to help,” Harley protested as Blake pushed her out of the kitchen into the living room.
“Go sit down or something. You’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off all day,” Blake insisted.
Harley reluctantly went into the living room where Gus was eating a piece of cake, sitting on the arm of the couch.
“Where’s Phillip and Zach?” she asked him.
“Zach wanted to show Phillip his Lego castle thing,” Gus said pointing upstairs with his fork.
“Oh, okay. I got kicked out of the kitchen,” she said as she stood in front of and he put his plate on the little table behind the couch.
“That icing is too sweet,” he commented, then smiled at Harley, “Good,” he said as he put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him, “I feel like I haven’t seen you all day,” he said as she leaned down and kissed him.
“I know, thank you for all your help,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“No problem, it was fun,” Gus said as he kissed her chest. “I think Zach liked his Harley.”
Harley smiled, “Are you kidding? He loves it.”
“I love mine too,” Gus breathed into her ear as he kissed her neck.
Harley lifted his head and kissed him deeply. When they broke the kiss, Harley reached over and picked up the rest of Gus’s icing with her finger. She pretended she was going to eat it, but instead she tried to get it on Gus’s face, but he was too quick for her and grabbed her arm before she could get him. They wrestled until he pulled her down onto the couch with him and he held her arms away with his hands. One time when Harley moved, Gus moved a little too much with her and they rolled off the couch onto the floor, with Gus on top of Harley.
Everyone in the kitchen rushed into the living room when they heard the big thump and heard Harley’s shrieking and laughing and they saw Gus and Harley wrestling on the floor. Gus was straddling Harley and holding her arms above her head to keep the icing away from him. While he was using both hands to control her hand with the icing, she used her other hand and poked him in the side and rolled over so he was under her.
“Alright,” Gus laughed, “I give up! Icing me,” he caved, “Just make sure you clean it up,” he winked.
“In that case…” Harley said as she smeared icing on his neck and quickly kissed it away.
“Put some of that on my lips,” Gus suggested.
“I thought you said it was too sweet,” Harley teased.
“It is, but I want a kiss,” he replied.
“Oh,” Harley said as she put what little icing was left on her finger onto his lips, “You can get the kiss without the icing you know.”
Gus opened his mouth and caught Harley’s finger with it and sucked the rest of the icing off of it.
“Good,” he said as she leaned down and kissed his lips.
“I think we just found something more sickening sweet than that icing,” Blake joked and Harley and Gus broke their kiss and looked back at the crowd standing in the living room.
“Hi!” Harley laughed as she climbed off of Gus and helped him up off the floor and they laughed as Phillip and Zach came back downstairs.
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The next night, Gus and Harley took Zach to his first Cubs game. When they first found their seats, Zach sat between Gus and Harley in his own, but by the middle of the first inning, he was in Gus’s lap. Gus moved over beside Harley and tried to explain the game of baseball to Zach. By the fourth inning, Zach was getting restless and Gus was getting frustrated by the Cubs.
“Wanna go get a souvenir?” he whispered into Zach’s ear and Zach nodded excitedly.
Gus turned to Harley, “We’ll be back, do you guys want anything?” he asked.
“Where are you going?” Harley asked.
“We’re just going to walk off these disappointing innings,” Gus teased.
“I don’t want anything,” Harley said and Susan said she didn’t want anything either, so Gus stood up with Zach and they walked up the stairs out to the concourse.
“We haven’t really gotten to talk for few days,” Susan began when Gus and Zach left, “But I wanted to tell you that I really like Gus. He’s a great guy.”
“Yeah, he is. I’m glad you like him,” Harley smiled.
“We had some really good talks this weekend,” Susan said.
“Really?” Harley asked, a little surprised.
“Yeah, we did. We talked about Dad. Well, I talked about Dad, Gus just listened, but it was nice because I know he knows how I feel,” she explained.
“I’m glad that you feel comfortable around him. He’s easy to talk to, isn’t he?”
“He really is,” Susan agreed. “Do you think he’ll be around for awhile?” she asked cautiously.
“I hope so,” Harley replied.
“Think you’ll get married?” she continued and Harley looked at her.
“I don’t know,” Harley replied, “I think I would like that,” she said finally. “I think I would like that a lot,” she smiled and Susan smiled back at her.
“Me too,” she said, “You deserve to be happy.”
Gus took Zach to a few gift shops and Zach decided on a Cubs Mascot Bobblehead doll and Gus got him some cotton candy before they went back to their seats. Zach spent the rest of the game making the bear’s head bobble instead of watching the game, but Gus was into the game, even if the Cubs did lose. Zach fell asleep in Harley’s lap at the end of the eighth inning and didn’t wake up, even when Gus carried him out to the car when the game was over.
While they were sitting at a red light waiting to get out of the city, Harley reached over and wrapped her hand in Gus’s and looked into the backseat. Zach was still asleep and Susan was leaning against the window with her eyes closed. Harley leaned over and motioned Gus for a kiss and they kissed quickly, but fully in the front seat.
When the light turned green, Gus started moving the car and soon they were on the highway headed back to Springfield. When Harley was sure Susan was still asleep, she put her hand on Gus’s thigh and he looked over at her.
“What’s that smile for?” he asked.
“This was just really nice,” she replied, “the whole weekend was great. I can’t believe she’s leaving tomorrow.”
Gus put his hand over Harley’s on his leg and smiled at her, “It was nice. She’s a great girl.”
“She likes you,” Harley said as she leaned her head back in her seat.
“Thank goodness!” Gus said as he wiped his brow and let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, “No, I know. We had some good talks this weekend.”
“So I hear,” Harley said. “You know what she asked me?”
“What?”
Harley hesitated for a moment, “She asked me if we were going to get married.”
“What did you say?” Gus asked.
“I said that I would like that one day,” Harley answered as she moved over and rested her head on Gus’s shoulder.
“I would really like that too,” Gus replied, “Someday,” he finished as he kissed her forehead.
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“Call me when you get back to the dorm, okay?” Harley said as her flight was announced as boarding.
“I will, I promise,” Susan said as she put her bookbag over her shoulders and hugged Zach.
After she put Zach down, she turned towards Gus and hugged him.
“Take good care of her,” she said quietly as she hugged him.
“You know I will,” Gus replied as she smiled at him then turned towards Harley.
Harley hugged her daughter tightly and kissed the top of her head.
“Be careful,” she said as she pulled away and held Susan’s chin in her hand.
“I will,” Susan replied and hugged her again.
“I love you,” Harley said.
“I love you too,” Susan replied and Harley finally let go of her.
“Bye,” Susan said to everyone then turned and headed to the gate.
They stayed until the plane had taken off, then Gus put his arm around Harley who grabbed Zach’s hand and they left the airport.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 18:57:41 GMT -5
A few weeks later…
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Gus put on his headphones and buried himself in the case in front of him after he got to the station. He hoped the headphones would discourage anyone from trying to talk to him. He just wasn’t in the mood today.
Harley walked into the station and saw Gus sitting at his desk, working.
“There you are!” she said as she came up to her desk that was across from his, but got no response.
“Hey,” she said as she reached over and touched his arm.
Gus looked up and saw her, then took the headphones off, “Oh hi,” he said.
“Oh hi?” she replied, “I thought we were going to have breakfast together this morning. I waited at Company forever, and I tried to call and your phone was off.”
“Oh, baby, I’m sorry, I forgot. Tomorrow, we’ll have breakfast, I promise,” he said as he looked through his drawers for another pen.
“Well, I can’t tomorrow because Zach has a play date, remember?”
“Oh right,” he said as he found a pen.
“Are you alright? Harley asked, concerned why Gus was so quiet and short with her, even more concerned that he didn’t rush to kiss her good morning like he usually did if they didn’t see each other before work.
“I’m fine. Look, I said I was sorry, we’ll have breakfast another day,” he said as he got up and left the room with the case he was working on.
Harley stood in the middle of the station confused about what just happened. She looked around for any hint of what was going on, but everything was normal at the station, except for Gus. She was worried, but she also knew how caught up he could get in a case. She hoped that was the reason for his bad mood. She sighed as she looked through the stack of cases on her desk, picked a couple and headed off to the interrogation room where she could work in the peace and quiet.
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Two hours later, Gus came back into the station and saw Frank sitting at his desk.
“Hey Frank, have you seen Harley?” he asked.
“Nope, I just got here, what’s up?”
“Nothing, I just need to talk to her. Hey Patrick, have you seen Cooper?”
“Interrogation Room,” Patrick replied.
“Is she questioning someone?” Gus asked, confused.
“Nope,” he answered, “just doing paperwork I think. She was looking for you earlier though.”
“Thanks,” Gus said as he headed down the hall to find Harley.
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Harley sighed as she shut one case and moved on to another. She was still bothered by what happened earlier with Gus. If she had known what was going on, maybe she could fix it, but she was clueless. She had gone out earlier for more coffee, but she still couldn’t find him and no one else knew where he was.
“Come in,” she called out when she heard a knock on the interrogation room door.
It opened a bit and Gus stuck his head in.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
“Hi,” she replied, looking up as she stopped writing.
“You busy?” he asked and she shook her head, so he came into room and sat down at the end of table.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” he apologized, “I didn’t mean to be so grumpy. It’s just one of those days.”
“That’s okay, but it’s more than that. What’s going on?” Harley asked worriedly, as she pushed the files away.
Gus took a deep breath and hesitated before answering her.
“Today is the anniversary of my dad’s death,” he replied.
“Oh, Gus. I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Harley said quickly as she put her hand on his arm.
“No, I know. No one does. And I’m sorry about breakfast. I was going to try really hard not to let it get to me this year, but it didn’t work, and I just forgot about this morning,” he explained.
“Honey, it’s okay, really. I’m glad you told me though. I was kind of worried when I didn’t get a good morning kiss,” she teased.
“That’s what I’m missing,” he replied with a smile as he leaned over and kissed her deeply. “Good morning…a little late.”
Harley smiled back at him, “So I don’t know, do you want to talk or something?”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “But, I’m going to have to cancel dinner tonight. I really want to go to Chicago to the cemetery. His grave always needs weeds pulled or something.”
“That’s fine. You go do what you need to do,” she replied, “Do you go by yourself?”
“Well, yeah. There’s not really anyone else…”
Harley nodded, “Do you want to go alone or do you want some company for the ride? I mean, you can tell me no if you want, I just want to be there for you if you need me.”
Gus looked up at her, “You want to go with me?” he asked.
“If you want me to, yes.”
“I do want you to. Thank you,” Gus replied. “I love you,” he added as he leaned over and kissed her softly.
“I love you too. When do you want to go? I need to get someone to watch Zach or ask Phillip to keep him for the night.” Harley asked.
“As soon as we can I guess,” Gus said. “Do you think it would be okay if Zach came with us? I mean I don’t want to freak him out, but there’s this park I always go to when I’m in Chicago where my dad used to take me and you know, it would just look better if I had a little kid with me when I go tonight,” he joked.
Harley smiled at the thought of Gus and Zach playing at the park, “Yeah, he’ll be fine. He knows what it’s about. He goes with me to my mom’s grave a lot. And I know he will just love getting to play with you.”
“Good. When can we get him?”
“We can go pick him up at Phillip’s when we get off at two. I just need to call and tell him I’ll be a little early and then I need to cancel the sitter.”
“Okay, you hungry? Do you want to go get some lunch?” Gus asked.
“Yeah, that sounds good. Let me call Phillip and Sarah and we can go,” Harley replied as she picked up her stack of files and headed towards the door.
“Wait a second,” Gus said as he grabbed her arm and took the files and put them back on the table. “Thank you. For the first time since my dad died, I don’t feel like I’m all alone on this day and that really means a lot to me.”
“Oh, Gus,” she said as she reached up and hugged him tight. “I hope you never feel like you’re alone again.”
Gus kissed the top of her head and held her tight until his growling stomach reminded them it was lunchtime.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 18:58:14 GMT -5
Gus drove towards Chicago again later that afternoon. He felt like he had driven that route a million times in the past couple of weeks. Zach was in the back seat singing along with the kids CD that Harley put in the CD player and he kept Gus and Harley entertained the whole drive. When they got to the cemetery, Gus unbuckled his seat belt, but Harley didn’t move.
“You coming?” he asked.
“Only if you want me to,” she replied and he nodded.
“I want you to, both of you,” he said then got out of the car and Harley and Zach followed him.
When they got to the grave, Gus knelt down and pulled the weeds around it while Zach found a butterfly that he decided to chase after.
“Zach! Come here,” Harley reprimanded and he slowly came back and stood by Harley.
“Hi dad,” Gus said quietly as he ran his hand over the smooth stone.
He turned around a little and grabbed Harley’s hand, “This is Harley, and her son Zach,” he said outloud.
Zach tugged at Harley’s shirt, “Who’s he talking to Mommy?” he asked and Harley quieted him.
“We’re gonna go take a walk,” she said to Gus, “we’ll be back in a little bit.”
Gus smiled up at her then watched her take Zach’s hand and walk away.
“That’s Harley,” he said again as he turned back to the grave. “She’s my girlfriend. She’s more than that, well not officially, but one day she will be. I love her so much dad, I’ve never felt this way about anyone else my entire life. She’s so great. She’s a cop with me, and you wouldn’t believe how we met. We hated each other, we did nothing but fight when we were first partners,” he laughed.
“I uh…I went to Springfield to take down the Santos family for what they did to you, but Harley showed me that there was more to life than revenge. She changed my whole life. Remember after mom died, you told me that you knew that she was the only woman you would ever love because you were meant for each other? Well, that’s how I feel about Harley. I know that there was a reason that I met her when I did, she saved my life. And I have no doubts that she is the one I am meant to be with. We’re perfect for each other. She’s calm where I’m crazy and vice-versa. That’s her son Zach with her. He’s a great little kid. He just turned three a few weeks ago. It sounds crazy, but Zach makes me appreciate you so much more. I’m not his father or anything, but I love him like he was my son. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I never really understand how much you could love your child, but if it’s even half as much as I love that little guy, it’s a whole lot. She has a daughter too, she’s sixteen and she is just like Harley. She’s great.”
“I wish you could be here to see me now Dad, I’m a completely different person from who I was last year at this time. And I wish you could know Harley and Zach and Susan. You would love them and they would love you. My whole life I thought I would make you proud if I took down the Santos family, but recently I realized that probably the proudest you could ever be of me is when I’m with Harley and the kids. Because I know what’s really important now, something you knew all along, and that’s love and a family and a place to call home. I have that now, and I hope I’ve made you proud,” he finished quietly as he saw Harley and Zach walking back towards him.
“You okay?” she asked quietly and Gus nodded.
“Absolutely. You guys ready?” he asked as he stood up.
“Why don’t you take Zach to the car,” Harley suggested, “I want to…”
“Okay,” Gus said, nodding his understanding. “Come on, Zach,” he said as he reached for Zach’s hand and they walked back to the car.
Harley waited until they were down the sidewalk a bit, then knelt down at Joe’s grave.
“Hi,” she said awkwardly, “I’m Harley. This is kind of weird since I’ve never met you, but Gus talks about you so much, I feel like I know you. I just wanted to let you know that you have such a great son. He’s just wonderful. He’s so good to me and my kids. Even though you weren’t able to bring him up, he turned out great and I think you would be so proud of him now.”
“Okay,” she said as she stood up and walked back towards the car where Gus and Zach were waiting for her.
“Hey,” Gus said as she came up and stood beside him at the car and they watched Zach chase another butterfly. “Buzz called, he wanted to know if he could take Zach tonight. I told him you’d call back.”
“Oh thanks,” Harley said and she reached into the car for her phone and dialed Buzz’s number.
By the time she hung up, they decided that Zach would stay at Buzz’s that night and he would take him to his play group the next morning then Buzz wanted to take him to the zoo.
When they got back into the car, they headed to the park Gus and Joe always went to and they played with Zach on the swings and let him play on the slide for awhile, then they went to get some dinner.
Gus ordered a hamburger and fries and Zach wanted macaroni and cheese, but Harley only ordered a cup of soup.
“You’re not hungry?” Gus asked as he handed their menus to the waitress.
“Not really,” Harley answered, “I don’t really feel that good.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m just tired and feeling yucky,” she replied.
“Hmmm,” Gus said as he reached across the table and put the back of his hand to her forehead, then wrapped his hand around hers.
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When they got back to Springfield, Zach wanted to watch the Lion King before Buzz came to pick him up. Harley put in the tape for him then laid down on the couch and put her head on Gus’s lap.
“I gotta go get Gus!” Zach exclaimed as he jumped up and rushed upstairs to get his stuffed lion.
Harley sighed as Gus ran his hand through her hair then fixed the chain on the locket that he gave her that was around her neck.
“I am so glad Dad is taking Zach tonight. I’m just not in the mood to fight with him at bedtime,” she said.
“So what’s wrong? Are you getting the flu or something?” Gus asked.
“I don’t know, I hope not,” Harley replied as Zach came back downstairs and plopped down in front of the TV.
By the time Mufasa had died, Harley was fast asleep, her head still on Gus’s lap. Zach was glued to the TV through the whole movie, but when Simba and his friends went back to Pride Rock, he climbed onto the couch by Gus because the hyenas always scared him.
“Mommy’s sleeping,” he whispered to Gus.
“I know,” Gus said as he put his finger to his mouth and Zach snuggled into his arm and held onto his lion tightly.
A little while later, the doorbell rang and Gus nudged Zach away, “That’s grandpa, let me get the door,” he said as Zach jumped off the couch and he lifted Harley’s head and gently laid it down on the couch when he got up.
“Hey Buzz,” he greeted as Buzz walked into the living room.
“What’s with her?” Buzz asked, pointing to Harley who was still fast asleep.
“She doesn’t feel good,” Gus explained.
“Oh,” Buzz replied, “You ready to go Zacheroo?” he asked and Zach nodded excitedly.
“Come here, let’s get your shoes on,” Gus said as he pointed to the loveseat and Zach jumped up and let Gus help him with his shoes. “Give mommy a kiss,” he said when he was done tying Zach’s shoes.
Zach kissed Harley’s cheek, then turned to Gus, “Mommy’s hot,” he said.
Gus bent over and kissed Harley’s forehead. She was burning up and he stood up and walked Buzz and Zach to the door.
“I’ll take care of Mommy, have fun with grandpa,” he said as he high-fived Zach and shut the door behind them.
“Harley,” he said quietly as he knelt down beside her and brushed some hair out of her face. “Come on,” he urged her awake, “Let’s go to bed.”
She opened her eyes slowly and stretched a bit before he pulled her to her feet and led her upstairs.
“Why don’t you go home?” she said as she changed into a light blue satin slip. “I don’t want to get you sick.”
“I don’t want to leave you while you’re sick,” Gus said as he pulled back the covers for her.
“I’ll be fine. I just want to sleep,” she said. “Go home, I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“You’re kicking me out?” Gus asked.
“Yes,” Harley replied, forcing a smile. “But I still I love you,” she said as she laid down and reached for his hand.
“I love you too,” he said as he bent down and kissed her forehead. “Will you call me if you need anything?”
“I will,” she promised.
“Alright,” he said reluctantly, “I’ll lock the door. Good night.”
“Night,” Harley replied before she rolled over and fell back asleep.
Gus opened the front door and locked it behind him before walking to his car and driving down the street. While Gus left, a pair of eyes watched Harley’s house and waited for the right moment to make his move.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 18:58:43 GMT -5
He had watched them for weeks, months even. He watched them leave Harley’s house for work and come back when they were done working. He watched Harley and Zach leave for his play group every Saturday morning, and he watched Harley and Gus kiss goodbye on the nights Zach stayed home. He knew that Gus never spent the night when Zach was home and when Zach wasn’t home, he knew Gus wouldn’t be leaving until the next day.
But tonight was different. He had seen Buzz Cooper come over and leave with Zach and then only a few minutes later, he saw Gus leave. And he knew tonight he had to make his move.
He waited a few hours until the traffic on the suburban street had diminished then took out the key to the front door that he had and easily slipped into the dark house and made his way upstairs. Harley’s door was open and he saw her fast asleep with her back to him. He slid into the bed behind her and ran his hand up her leg and under her slip.
As Harley felt the warm hand caress her skin, she woke and leaned back against the body behind her. She wondered why Gus was back and rolled over. She could barely let out a gasp when she saw the man beside her before he covered her face with a rag and she blacked out.
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Gus strolled into the police station the next morning, late as usual. When he saw Harley’s chair was empty and he could tell she hadn’t been in yet, he turned to Justin who was sitting at his desk working on a case.
“Hey Campbell, has Cooper been in yet?” he asked.
Justin looked up at Gus, “Uh, no. She called a little bit ago. She’s not coming in today.”
“She’s still sick?” Gus asked, wondering why she wouldn’t have called him.
As he walked to his desk and picked up his phone, Justin called out to him.
“She said she didn’t want any calls from the station,” he said.
“Well, I think she’ll make an exception for me,” Gus replied as he dialed Harley’s number and the phone rang.
He got her answering machine and left a quick message for her to call him if she got it.
“No answer?” Justin asked when Gus hung up the phone and Gus shook his head.
“I’m not surprised, she said she would probably be sleeping all day,” he added and went back to his case.
As Gus sat down and started working, he couldn’t shake the bad feeling he had. Why wouldn’t Harley have called him and told him she wasn’t coming in? Maybe she tried his phone earlier while he was in the shower or something, so she just called the station. That must be it, Gus told himself and got down to work.
Between the time Gus got to work that morning and lunchtime, he had tried calling Harley four times and each time he only got the answering machine. When it was time for his lunch break, he grabbed a quick sandwich from Company and ate it while he drove to Harley’s house.
When he got there, the front door was unlocked. He knew he locked it last night when he left and he wondered why Harley would have it unlocked if she was sleeping. He saw the red light on the answering machine blinking and knew that she hadn’t listened to any of his four messages yet. He walked upstairs and slowly pushed Harley’s bedroom door open.
He expected Harley to be lying in bed sound asleep but the bed was empty. He walked to the other side of the room and checked to see if she was in the bathroom. It was empty too, so he walked down the hall calling Harley’s name. When he didn’t get an answer, he went back into her room and called her cell phone. He heard it ringing and found it on the dresser in her purse. As he walked around the bed, he foot got tangled up in something laying on the floor. He bent down and picked up a blue rag. As he brought it closer to his face, he could smell a chemical on it and sniffed it, then quickly dropped it and dialed Frank’s number on his cell phone.
When Frank picked up, Gus practically yelled into the phone for him to get over to Harley’s house.
“Gus, what’s going on?” Frank asked, confused.
“She’s gone, Frank. Harley’s not here,” Gus spat back, flustered, “Just get over here!” he insisted then hung up and rushed downstairs and outside.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 18:59:11 GMT -5
“Aitoro! What the hell’s going on?” Frank yelled as he walked into Harley’s house and Gus came rushing downstairs.
“Harley’s gone. Her purse is here, her car is here, and I found this by the bed,” Gus said as he shoved the rag into Frank’s face and he pulled away at the smell.
“Whoa, what is that?” He asked.
“Ether,” Gus replied, matter of factly.
“You think someone like drugged her?” Frank asked.
“Well, I don’t think she did this to herself!” Gus yelled as he turned around and headed back upstairs.
Frank followed him as he called Chief Franklin on his cell phone and filled him in. Franklin said he would be right over and would get some officers out looking for her.
“Where’s Campbell?” Gus asked
“He had to meet someone for lunch. I tried to call him on my way over, but he didn’t answer,” Frank replied as they got into Harley’s room. “Where’s Zach?” he asked.
“Buzz has him,” Gus replied as he pulled back the covers on the bed.
“Aitoro, don’t touch anything,” Frank warned him as they heard Franklin downstairs yelling their names. “Up here,” Frank yelled back and Franklin joined them in Harley’s room.
“What the hell is going on here?” he asked.
“Harley’s missing. When I got here, the front door was unlocked and I found this by the bed,” Gus answered pointing to the rag that he put back where he found it.
“Well, are you sure she’s missing? Maybe she went to the store,” Franklin suggested as he started back downstairs.
“What? Without her purse or car, after she ethered herself?” Gus shot back impatiently.
When they got downstairs, Harley’s living room was filled with officers and crime scene investigators. One of the investigators started playing the messages on the machine and Gus soon heard his own voice from the first message he left that morning.
Hey Harley, it’s me. Justin said you called in sick, why didn’t you call me baby? I hope since you didn’t answer you’re sleeping and getting better. I’ll call back later, but call me if you get this message, okay? Bye hon.
The few officers who didn’t know yet about Gus and Harley gave Gus some curious looks. Normally he would have been razzed for his sweet talk, but it didn’t seem important or appropriate at the time.
“So where would she be? Who would do this?” Franklin asked as he turned his attention back to Frank and Gus.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like standing around here when she could be…” Gus began.
“Don’t say that,” Frank interrupted, “Don’t even think that. Let’s find her.”
“Is there anyone who might have it out for her? Or either of you? Or anyone connected to Harley?” Franklin asked as they heard a new voice on the answering machine.
I assume since you’re hearing this message, you’ve realized Harley’s gone. You probably miss her already. God knows I’ve missed her. She’s beautiful, isn’t she? And she’s all mine now, Aitoro. Don’t bother looking, you won’t find us. You don’t even know who it is that’s stealing her away, do you? No wonder you didn’t make it in the FBI.
“That voice…” Gus began. “I know that voice. He called here before. It was weeks ago. Do you remember when Harley was getting all those flowers? It’s him.” He turned to a uniformed officer, “Get the phone records. I want to know every call that was made to this house since the beginning of July,” he ordered then turned towards Frank. “What about the Sandovals? Or any of those families?”
“What do they have to do with this?” Franklin asked.
“They have to know we’re sniffing around. They have to know that Harley’s his sister and my girlfriend. What better way to get to us?” Gus asked. “Come on Frank,” he said as he started walking out the door.
“Where?”
“We’re going to see Santos,” he replied, then called out to Franklin, “Call my cell if you get anything.”
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“Santos! Your office, now!” Gus ordered as he and Frank rushed into Infierno.
“This is my place, Aitoro, you don’t give directions here,” Danny replied from behind the bar.
“Danny, please,” Frank said as Gus opened the office door and Danny followed them inside.
“What’s up detectives?” he asked casually as he sat behind his desk.
“Harley’s missing,” Frank replied.
“We think the Sandovals might have something to do with it. Do you happen to know anything about that?” Gus asked, trying to stay calm.
“No,” Danny said simply after he shifted in his seat.
“Look Santos, we’re not here as cops, okay. I don’t care if you’re connected to the Sandovals, I don’t care if you have 10 dead bodies hidden in the closet over there. Right now, I just care about finding Harley and finding her safe. Do you have any reason to think that the Sandovals are behind this?” Gus asked again.
“It’s not them,” Danny replied.
“Do you know who it is?” Frank asked.
“No. This has nothing to do with any of the families. I don’t know anything about this,” Danny assured them and Gus looked at Frank disappointed. He was actually hoping it was one of the families so they at least knew who they were dealing with.
“Now what?” Gus asked quietly as he fell onto the couch and put his head in his hands.
“I don’t know…” Frank replied as Gus’s phone rang and he quickly pulled it out and answered it.
“Aitoro.”
“It’s Franklin. I think you guys should get back over here. The guys found something upstairs,” Franklin told Gus and he motioned to Frank that they needed to go.
After he hung up with Franklin, he turned to Danny. “Thanks,” he said.
Danny nodded, “I hope Harley’s okay.”
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“What do you have?” Gus asked as he and Frank got back to Harley’s house.
“The guys found this upstairs,” Franklin said as he held up a plastic bag with a ring in it. “Now unless you went to Harvard, I think this belongs to our man.”
Gus grabbed the bag and looked closely at the ring. It was definitely a man’s ring, with a large garnet stone in the middle and the Harvard insignia on one side and a scale on the other side.
Gus looked up at Frank and Franklin, “Harvard Law,” he said.
“Campbell went to Harvard,” Frank said and the three men looked at each other.
“Has anyone heard from Campbell today?” Franklin asked everyone in the room and everyone shook their heads no.
“Dammit,” Gus yelled as he threw the ring down. “Find him!” he yelled to everyone who was listening.
Franklin called everyone down to the living room and went over what was going on.
“Okay, we’re looking for Justin Campbell. We have reason to believe he is the one who took Harley. Someone get his license number and get an APB out on his car. I want a car to his apartment. If any of you know where he hangs out, I want a car there. I want every available officer looking for them,” Franklin instructed and most of the officers cleared out of the house and started their search.
“Frank, did Justin ever tell you anywhere he and Harley went while they were dating?” Gus asked.
“I don’t think so, why?”
“Well, it sounds like he thinks Harley belongs to him, I just thought maybe he would take her somewhere they had been. Somewhere that might have meant something to him.”
“I don’t know…wait, he did mention that they went to Laurel Falls, do you think…” Frank suggested.
“Let’s go,” Gus said, and they were out the door with Franklin following.
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Justin looked in the rearview mirror of his car and saw Harley leaning against the window, drifting in and out of consciousness. The ether had been harder on her than he thought it would be and she was like dead weight to carry out to the car. He went over a bump in the road too quickly and she knocked her head against the window, causing her to wake up for good. She looked in the front seat and for the first time, saw Justin clearly.
“Where are we going?” she asked groggily.
“Someplace special,” Justin answered smiling back at her.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“You don’t know why?”
Harley shook her head now and pulled her hands up to her neck. They were bound together with rope, but her fingers were free and she grabbed the locket around her neck and rubbed it between her fingers. Justin looked back and saw her touching the locket and pulled the car off to the side of the road and turned around in his seat.
He grabbed the locket and opened it and saw the picture of Gus and I’ll love you forever engraved on the other side and ripped it off of Harley neck and dropped it to the floor in the backseat.
“Forget about Aitoro,” he said angrily, “You’re mine now,” he added as he leaned close to her face and brushed her cheek with his lips.
She shuddered as he turned back around his seat and continued driving. When he wasn’t looking back at her, she reached down and struggled to get the locket back into her hands. She finally got it and held onto it like her lifeline. She closed her eyes as a single tear fell down her cheek. She knew Gus had to be looking for her by now and somehow by holding the locket he had given her made her feel closer to him. If anything was going to get her through this, it would be Gus.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 18:59:58 GMT -5
By the time Justin pulled the car over and drove through the area around Laurel Falls, it was raining steadily. He put the car in park behind an old cabin at the top of a hill and turned around to face Harley.
“Are you gonna walk, or do I need to carry you?” he asked.
“I’ll walk,” she answered quietly as he squeezed the locket in her hand tighter.
He got out an opened her door and she climbed out of the car. She shivered in the cold rain and he put his suit jacket around her shoulders. He put his arm around her and they walked to another cabin away from his car. About halfway between the car and the cabin they were heading to, Harley looked down at the locket in her hand, squeezed it one last time and dropped it onto the wet ground. She hoped that if Gus could somehow figure out that they were at Laurel Falls, maybe he would find the locket too.
She hesitated when Justin opened the door to the cabin and motioned her inside, but he stepped in and pulled her with him. It was a one-room shack basically, with one window that had been spray-painted over in black. There was a bare bed in the corner and one wooden chair across the room by a small table. Harley shrugged Justin’s jacket off her shoulder and started walking towards the bed. She changed her mind and planted herself in the chair. She shivered but couldn’t stand the feel of Justin’s jacket on her bare shoulders. It reeked of his cologne and the smell made her sick.
Justin stood at the sink, took off his tie and washed his hands, he had been smelling ether on them all day.
“Justin,” Harley said quietly after a few minutes of silence, “Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Doing what? All I’m doing is making things the way they should be. You belong with me. Anyone can see that. I’m the right guy for you, not that loser, Aitoro,” he explained. “It was me that sent you those flowers, you know that right?”
“I do now,” she replied quietly.
“I had to do something to get your attention. I saw them and I thought of you. They were almost as beautiful as you. Do you remember the first time we ever came here?” he asked, “It was our second date. You were wearing jeans and a red sweater. We sat at the top of that rock by the falls and watched the sunset. You looked so beautiful in the moonlight. That was when I realized that we were meant for each other.”
“Justin, we’re not-“ Harley interrupted him.
“Shhh,” he quieted her with his finger over her mouth.
“You broke my heart,” he continued, “That day you told me that you wanted to be with the other man and not me. That killed me inside, but I was nice, understanding Justin. I smiled and told you I was happy for you. And then I see you and Aitoro together. Aitoro? Why him? What makes him better than me?”
“He’s not crazy,” Harley muttered under her breath, but that didn’t stop Justin from hearing her.
As soon as he heard it, he slapped his hand across her cheek, leaving a bright red mark on it, “Don’t ever say that to me! I’m not crazy, I just know what I want, and I’ll do anything to get it.”
Her cheek stung from his strike and tears filled her eyes.
“Oh, Harley, I’m sorry,” he apologized as he pulled her to her feet and ran his finger down her cheek. He pushed her hair behind her ear and she shyed away.
“Don’t do that, don’t pull away from me. You want this, you know you do,” he said as he ran his hands down the silk of her slip.
"No, Justin, please," she begged him as he pushed her backwards towards the bed. The back of her legs hit the bed and she fell onto it. He reached down and untied the rope around her wrist.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” he warned as he pushed her back and joined her on the bed.
She couldn’t stop her tears from falling as he forced his lips upon hers and pushed her down on the bed.
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Chief Franklin broke every speed limit getting to Laurel Falls. Frank was in the front seat with him and Gus was in the back. Gus tapped his foot impatiently as it seemed to take forever to get there. There were two cop cars following them and every other available unit had spread out looking for Justin’s car or any sign of either him or Harley.
“Where did they go here, Frank? Was there a certain spot?” Franklin asked as they approached the entrance of the park.
“There’s a big rock at the west entrance. That’s where they were. Let’s start there,” Frank replied and Franklin hit the gas and headed to the west.
Before he could even put the car into park, Gus had jumped out of the car, pulled out his gun and began searching the area. Frank and Franklin joined him and they found no sign of Justin or Harley anywhere. Gus looked up to the sky in desperation. He was sure they would be here. Suddenly, a bright light blinded him. He looked in the direction of the light and saw that it was just the sun that had just re-emerged from behind the dark storm clouds reflecting off a car parked at the top of the hill to his left.
“They’re here,” he said as he pointed up to the car and Frank agreed that it looked like Justin’s car.
“Let’s get up there. We have to climb,” Gus said as he started up the hill and Frank and Franklin followed him.
Since the hill was small, and they all had bursts of adrenaline at this new glimmer of hope, they reached the top in a matter of minutes and hurried to the car. Frank checked out the license plate and matched it with Justin’s number.
“It’s definitely him,” he said, “But where are they?”
They rushed from cabin to cabin looking in the windows for any sign of them. When Gus got to the cabin furthest to the left, he realized the windows had been painted over and he rushed back to the others. He motioned them over silently and while he waited for them to catch up, he caught sight of something in the grass. He bent over and picked up a gold locket and chain. He opened it and his heart leapt at the sight of his and Harley’s picture on the inside. They were here. And he was pretty sure they were in the cabin he just left. He showed the locket to Frank, put it in his pocket and the three rushed over to the cabin. Franklin made a call to the two cars that had followed them and quietly told them to come to the top of the hill if they hadn’t heard from him in two minutes.
All three men put their guns up and prepared to bust into the cabin. Franklin was in front and counted off on his fingers to three and he threw open the door and they rushed into the cabin and saw Justin and Harley on the bed.
When Justin turned to see what the noise was, he knew he was done for. He couldn’t run, they had found them. When Harley saw Gus, Frank and Franklin at the door, relief swept over her and she passed out.
“Harley!” Gus yelled as he rushed across the room while Franklin grabbed hold of Justin. Frank knew Gus would take care of Harley, so he turned his attention to Justin who was standing in front of Franklin with his shirt off and his pants unbuckled.
“You bastard!” he yelled as he threw a right hook and dazed Justin with a punch to the nose.
“Cooper!” Franklin yelled as Gus picked Harley up off of the bed and cradled her in his arms. He headed towards the door and called for Frank to follow him.
They rushed outside and went to one of the cop cars that had just arrived at the top of the hill, Gus climbed into the backseat with Harley and Frank slipped into the drivers seat and the three were quickly on their way to Cedars.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:00:22 GMT -5
When they got to Cedars, Harley was still unconscious and Gus carried her into the Emergency Room. One strap of her soaking wet slip was broken and her hair was a wet, tangled mess.
“Rick!” Frank yelled when they saw Rick standing by the Nurse’s station.
“Franklin called, bring her back here,” Rick replied as Gus hurried her into the room and Frank and Rick followed.
Gus laid her down on the bed that was ready for her and Ricky quickly checked over her and motioned for a nurse to take Gus and Frank out to the waiting room. They reluctantly left and Frank fell into a chair and put his head in his hands. Gus stood at the window and watched through the blinds until a nurse came over and closed them.
“Frank!” they heard Buzz yell as he burst into the ER. “Rick called me, what’s going on?”
Frank explained the situation with him as Rick came out of the room.
“How is she? Is she awake?” Gus asked him quickly.
“She is, but she’s pretty shaken,” Rick answered, “She has a pretty high fever and a cut on her face, but no other visible damage.”
“Did he…” Gus began to ask but couldn’t finish the question.
Rick shook his head, knowing what Gus's question was, “She said he didn't rape her. You guys got there just in time.”
“Dr. Bauer?” a nurse slipped out of Harley room and motioned him in.
“I’ll be right back,” he assured Gus and went into the room.
When he got in the room, Harley was dressed in a hospital gown and lying motionless on her side in the bed.
“Hey sweetie,” he said as he moved around to the side of her bed and stood next to her.
He looked down at her tear-stained face and she closed her eyes, then opened them quickly, but wouldn’t look at him.
“Everything’s okay,” he assured her. “You have a fever, but that’s the worst of it, honey.”
“No it’s not,” she said quietly and he put his hand on her arm, trying to comfort her.
“Gus is here, and Frank and your dad. It’s up to you, but do you want to see them?” Rick asked.
“No,” she answered after hesitating. “I can’t. Where’s Zach?” she asked.
“He’s at Phillip’s. He’s fine,” Rick assured her. “Get some rest. I’m going to send someone down to talk with you later, okay?” he said and her response was to bury herself deeper under the thin covers of the bed. “Buzz me if you need anything,” he said and then left her alone in the room.
When he got back to the waiting room, Gus, Frank and Buzz stood up and waited for him to tell them something, anything.
“She’s resting,” was all he said.
“Can we see her?” Frank asked.
“Not right now,” Rick answered and went over to the nurse’s station and talked to Harley’s nurse.
Inside the room, Harley fought back her tears. Justin may not have raped her, but she still felt violated. She could still feel his hand push her hair behind her ear, just like Gus always did. She used to love when Gus would do it, but the mere thought of Justin touching her made her shudder. She closed her eyes, but in the darkness she saw Justin above her and she opened her eyes and stared at the wall for at least an hour.
Gus, Frank and Buzz sat silently in the waiting room until they saw Chief Franklin escorting Justin into the ER in handcuffs.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Buzz asked angrily as he stood up.
“His nose is broken,” Franklin explained as he looked at Frank and pushed Justin down into a chair across the room.
Rick came over to them and looked at Justin’s nose until a nurse called him over to the nurse’s station and told him that Harley had buzzed for him.
“What’s up?” he asked her when he walked in to her room, “Do you need something?”
“Gus,” she answered. “I want to see Gus.”
“I’ll get him,” Rick said as he left the room.
“Gus, she wants to see you,” he said and Gus stood and turned to Franklin before he followed Rick into the room.
“Get him out of here,” he demanded, “I don’t want Harley to see him.”
Rick stopped Gus before he opened the door to Harley’s room, “Gus, before you go in there, just remember that Harley’s been through a lot. A lot more than you or I can even imagine, so she’ll probably be very distant. Just don’t expect a lot from her, okay? Don’t push her. Let her come to you.”
Gus nodded and pushed his way into Harley’s room. He stopped at the foot of the bed and saw Harley curled into a ball in the bed. He thought about what Rick said and sat down in the stool next to Harley’s bed. Her back was to him, but she knew he was there.
“Hi,” he said quietly as he reached over and touched her back and heard her sniffle in response.
Neither one of them said anything for a long time. Harley couldn’t look at him yet and he didn’t want to push her, so they sat in silence, but it was enough for Harley to know that he was there.
After about fifteen minutes, Harley moved her hand behind her and opened it and Gus put his hand in her and closed his fingers around it. He leaned down and kissed her hand softly.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he said quietly and she rolled over to face him.
“Why?” she asked.
“I should have stayed with you last night. This never would have happened, it’s all my fault,” he replied.
“Gus, this isn’t your fault. This isn’t something he did just because you weren’t with me last night,” she told him, “He was going to do it anyway, it just would have been at a different time.”
Gus reached over with his other hand touched the bandage that was on her cheek.
“Did he hurt you?” he asked quietly.
“Just this,” she answered pointing to her cheek, “And more inside,” she added and Gus nodded sadly.
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked.
“Hold me,” she whispered.
Gus got up from the stool and crawled into the small bed beside her. He wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head on his chest. He looked down at her face and tears came to his eyes. How could anyone hurt her so badly?
“I love you,” he said quietly as he kissed the top of her head, “And I’m here for you, whatever you need,” he assured her and she tightened her arms around him and finally let her emotions out and sobbed into his chest as his arms held her tight and tried to protect her from what she had just been through.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:01:12 GMT -5
A few hours later, Gus was still lying next to Harley in her bed and she was resting her head on his chest. Harley had asked him about Zach and Gus assured her that he had talked to Phillip and Zach was fine and that Phillip would keep him as long as she needed him to. Other than talking about Zach, neither of them had said much else in the past few hours.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Gus asked cautiously at one point.
“No,” Harley quickly answered. “I don’t want to talk about it, I don’t even want to think about it.”
“You know you can’t do that forever,” he said quietly as he ran his fingers through her hair and kissed the top of her head. “If you ever do want to talk, I’m here, okay?”
Harley nodded and threaded her fingers through Gus’s as she settled back against his chest. They were silent again for a long time until a knock came at the door. Gus looked down at Harley who nodded up at him.
“Come in,” he called out and the door slowly opened.
A petite woman with short dark hair peeked in, then entered the whole way and Gus and Harley saw with her a female cop that they worked with.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Rivera. I’m sure you know Officer Duncan,” she greeted and the cop smiled kindly at Harley and Gus. “You must be Harley and…” she continued as she looked at Gus.
“Gus,” he replied.
“Oh, nice to meet you. I thought maybe we could talk to Harley for a little while,” she continued.
“Yeah,” Gus replied as she sat up on the bed a little, but Harley held onto him.
“Gus, don’t go,” she said.
“I’m just going to be right outside. I’ll call and check on Zach and I’ll be right out there if you need me,” he assured her as he started to get up but she pulled him back down and kissed him softly.
“Please talk to them,” he whispered into her ear, “I love you.”
Dr. Rivera waited until Gus had closed the door completely before she sat on the stool next to Harley’s bed.
“Is he your husband?” she asked as they watched Gus cross the waiting room and go to the pay phone.
“Boyfriend,” Harley corrected.
“He’s sweet. How long have you two been together?”
“Umm, almost four months,” Harley replied.
“Who’s Zach?” she asked.
“He’s my son.”
“How old is he?”
“He just turned three a couple of weeks ago.”
Dr. Rivera smiled and moved on, “You’re a cop? Is that how you met Detective Campbell?”
“I don’t want to talk about that,” Harley replied as she shifted in the bed.
“I understand, but I really think it would be good if you talked about it. And you’re going to have to talk to the cops eventually, you know that. Maybe it will be easier if we did it all at once.”
Harley laid down on the bed and turned so that her back was to Dr. Rivera and she was silent for a long time.
“I thought he was Gus,” she said eventually.
“What do you mean?” Dr. Rivera asked as Officer Duncan started taking notes.
“Gus was at my house last night. And I was sick, so he went back to his place and when Justin got into bed with me, I thought he was Gus.”
“How did he get into the house?” Officer Duncan asked.
“I don’t know. Gus locked the door when he left, I know he did, he always does. But I have a key hidden outside the front door. Maybe he used that, I don’t know.”
“Okay, so he crawled into bed with you?” Dr. Rivera asked.
“Yeah, I was asleep and I felt him put his hand on my leg, the same way Gus does. And when I rolled over to see him, it wasn’t Gus,” she explained as she wiped a tear away. “I don’t remember much after that. He put a rag over my face and the next thing I remember is waking up in his car.”
“Where were you going?” Officer Duncan asked.
“He took me to Laurel Falls. He parked behind cabin and we walked to another one. He had my hands tied together and when we got into the cabin he untied them.”
“Did you drop the locket?” Officer Duncan continued with her questioning.
“Yeah, while we were walking to the cabin, did someone find it?” Harley asked as she sat up in the bed.
“Yeah, Aitoro did,” Duncan replied.
“I knew he would,” Harley said quietly.
“What locket?” Dr. Rivera asked.
“Gus gave it to me for my birthday. It has a picture of us in it,” Harley explained. “Justin saw it and ripped it off of me, but I got it back and dropped it hoping someone would find it.”
“What happened after you got to the cabin? Did you guys talk? Did he hit you?” Dr. Rivera asked pointing to her bruised cheek.
“He told me that I broke his heart and that we were meant to be together and he was just making things right. I think I made a comment and he slapped me. Then he apologized and tried to kiss me and when I pushed him away, he pushed me over to the bed,” Harley stopped.
“Did he break the strap on your slip?” Officer Duncan asked and Harley nodded.
“Did he try to rape you?” she continued.
Harley closed her eyes and once again saw Justin on top of her. “Yes,” she said quietly, “And he probably would have if they hadn’t shown up when they did.”
Dr. Rivera handed Harley a Kleenex and Officer Duncan went on to ask more questions about Justin and Harley’s relationship.
“We weren’t even serious,” Harley explained. “We went on maybe six dates over a couple of weeks.”
“Did you have a sexual relationship with him at that time?” Officer Duncan asked.
“No,” Harley replied. “He was the perfect gentleman. He never pushed me, he was smart, nice, he was good with Zach. I just can’t believe how different he is,” she finished as Officer Duncan’s beeper went off.
“I’m sorry, I have to get this,” she said, “But those are all the questions I have right now. Thanks for being so open Harley. And you know, if you ever need to talk some more or if you need anything, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks Sherry,” Harley replied with a smile and she left.
When Sherry got out into the waiting room, she called the station to see what was up and as she was talking to Chief Franklin, Gus came back into the waiting room with a cup of coffee and a candy bar. It was still early in the evening and since he planned on staying all night, he needed caffeine.
“Sherry, hey, how is she?” he asked when she got off the phone.
“She’s…okay,” she replied.
“Did she talk to you?”
“Yeah, and Dr. Rivera’s still in there. Listen, Chief just told me they’re going to be questioning Campbell as soon as I get there with Harley’s statement. You guys can’t be a part of the interrogation, but I thought maybe you’d like to see what’s going on,” she offered as Frank joined Gus.
“Yeah, I’m going with you,” Gus answered quickly and Frank nodded that he was going too. “Let me tell Harley we’re leaving,” he continued as he knocked on Harley’s door and went in.
“Hi,” he said quietly. “Honey, Frank and I are going to the station for a little bit, but your dad’s going to be out here, okay?”
“Are they questioning him?” she asked and Gus nodded. “Are you going to come back?”
“Yes, I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Gus assured as he leaned down and kissed her softly.
He pushed her hair behind her ear and Harley shyed away from his touch. Gus noticed, but didn’t bring it up.
“Call my cell if you need anything,” he said as he squeezed her hand and she didn’t let go until he walked too far away and had to drop her hand.
Gus walked back out to the waiting room and went to the station with Frank while Dr. Rivera continued her questions to Harley.
“Harley, do you blame Gus for not being with you last night?” she asked after Gus had left.
“No. He wanted to stay, but I told him to go home. And Justin didn’t do this because Gus wasn’t with me. He would have done it eventually. And I have to say I’m glad it was last night and not a night when Zach was home too.”
“Why did you pull away from Gus just now?” she asked.
Harley hesitated, “It was the way he pushed my hair behind my ear. He always does that, but Justin did it today, and when Gus did that, it just freaked me out.”
“Does it bother you when he kisses you? I mean, he was here earlier and you seemed fine.”
“No, it was just the way he touched my hair,” Harley said sadly as she laid back down in the bed.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:01:39 GMT -5
“Where is he?” Gus asked Franklin as he and Frank walked into the station.
“He’s in the interrogation room, you guys can go in the observation room. But keep your cool if you see him,” Franklin warned and Gus and Frank followed him down the hall.
Gus and Frank joined another officer in the observation room while Franklin joined Officer Duncan in the interrogation room where Campbell was sitting quietly at the table.
Franklin went through a round of questions with him, asking him how he got into the house, why he did it, what he was planning on doing to Harley. At one point, Justin asked Franklin how Harley was doing.
“She’s fine,” he replied, “In fact, Aitoro is at the hospital with her right now.”
Justin laughed, “Nice try. If I know Detective Aitoro, he’s on the other side of that mirror foaming at the mouth, wanting to jump through it and strangle me. Isn’t that right Gus?” he asked as he looked straight into the mirror and waved. “I bet my good partner Frank is back there too, huh? Thanks for the broken nose, partner. That ought to get me some sympathy with the jury. Ever hear of police brutality?”
“Knock it off, Campbell,” Franklin warned and Justin smiled at Frank and Gus, who were growing angrier by the second, through the mirror.
“Did you send the letter to me exposing Detective Aitoro and Detective Cooper’s relationship?” Franklin asked.
“Someone had to,” was his only answer.
“How did you find out about them?” Franklin asked.
“I saw them one day outside the station,” Justin shrugged.
Gus asked the officer in the room with them to get Franklin’s attention and he pushed the intercom and asked Franklin to come into the other room. In a matter of seconds, Franklin was in the observation room.
“What?” he asked.
“Ask him if he set up that whole job thing for me in DC,” Gus said, “and ask him if he sent Harley flowers and called the house.”
“He sent her flowers? Here?” Franklin asked as he stood in the doorway and Gus nodded.
Franklin went back into the interrogation room and sat down across from Justin.
“Were you behind Detective Aitoro’s job offer in DC?” he asked and Justin laughed.
“Nice work Aitoro, it only took you two months to figure it out. You should have taken it, none of this ever would have happened,” he replied.
“And how about the flowers that Detective Cooper received here at the station. Were those from you?”
“All three bouquets,” he answered.
Franklin shook his head, “Well, you’re up for sexual harassment in the workplace, breaking and entering, kidnapping and attempted rape. Do you have anything else to say?”
“Yeah, I want Aitoro in here,” he said. “Bring in Frank too.”
“I don’t think so,” Franklin said.
“Oh come on, I won’t hurt them,” Justin said.
“It’s not them I’m worried about,” Franklin replied as the door opened and Gus and Frank entered the room.
“You have something to say to us Campbell?” Gus asked.
“Yeah, I wanted you to know what it felt like to know that another man has been touching Harley, kissing her, about to make love to her. I want you to know what it feels like to be me,” Justin replied.
“You’re one sick bastard, you know that Campbell,” Franklin said in disgust.
“Thanks Chief,” Justin laughed.
“Let’s get out of here,” Gus said as he pulled Frank out of the room and they went back to the hospital.
When they got back to the hospital, Rick was standing at the nurse’s station.
“Hey Rick, how’s she doing?” Gus asked. “Is that doctor still with her?”
“No, she’s done. Buzz is in there now. She’s doing okay. She can go home tomorrow if she feels up to it. But she probably won’t want to stay alone,” Rick said.
“That’s not a problem. We’ll work that out,” Gus replied, “Can we go in?” he asked and Rick nodded as he knocked on the door and let them in.
“Hey,” Frank greeted as they walked in and he went over and kissed Harley.
“Hi,” Harley replied, “What happened down at the station?” she asked as Frank took a seat on the stool next to her bed.
Gus looked at Frank and sat down in a chair on the other side of Harley’s bed, “Don’t worry about that, okay?” he said as he went to push her hair behind her ear, but remembered her reaction earlier and pulled away.
“We stopped at the house and got you some clothes,” Gus said as he handed her a small bag and she jumped out of the bed and went to the bathroom to shower and change.
When she came out later, she was brushing her long wet hair and wearing a fresh pair of pajamas.
“This is so much better than that stupid paper gown,” she said as she started to climb back into the bed, but changed her mind and fell into Gus’s lap. “I’m sick of that bed,” she said, “I’m sick of this room.”
“Well, Rick said you could go home tomorrow morning if you feel up to it,” Gus informed her.
“I feel up to it right now,” she said as she wrapped her arms around her neck. “Will you stay with me?” she asked.
“I will do whatever you want me to,” Gus replied as she leaned over and kissed him.
“And if you want anyone to be home with you while Gus is at work, I can get someone to watch the restaurant and come over,” Buzz added.
“Thanks Daddy, but I’d like to go back to work too,” she replied.
“Well, why don’t we wait and see how you feel about that later,” Frank suggested, “And when you do, you’ll have to be on desk duty for awhile. It’s policy.”
“Speaking of policy, what’s going on with Justin?” she asked.
“Harley…” Gus protested.
“Stop it. I have a right to know,” she said.
“He’s locked up for now. His sister will probably come through with the bail. His trial will be in a few weeks,” Frank told her. “You should probably get a restraining order if her gets out on bail.”
Harley’s face dropped at his last comment, “I thought it would be over,” she said quietly.
“It is over,” Gus assured her. “Everything will be fine,” he added as he rested his chin on her shoulder and she kissed his cheek.
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