harlequined | ( AN OPEN POST #2 )

( It was Abigail's idea, going back home. The train ride from Arizona back to Minnesota was a couple hundred dollars, but it was worth getting the police off the Gecko brothers' back. As it turns out, kidnapping a young girl paints quite the target on grown men's backs.

She didn't want to go, truthfully, which might sound odd to anyone that was paying any kind of attention to the news or who knew Abigail Hobbs was. Going from a murderous father to being taken hostage by two professional thieves. (What a life.) The original plan was to be home for good and never look back. There was no way to communicate with them. Disposable cell phones meant no phone calls or texts (not that either of those felt right), and constantly being on the move left no address to send letters.

She's never been all too fond of sticking to plans, which is how she finds herself in a small town in Southern California less than two weeks later. (That's right, Seth, she paid attention to all of those plans of yours.) Call it in a hunch, but the black car covered in red dust parked in the back of a cheap motel could only belong to two people, which is why she ultimately sits in an old chair outside the room, opting to toss small pebbles at the window rather than knock on the door. Police knock.

Abigail's a criminal when she's with the Geckos. )

[ The neon sign flickers overhead, buzzing to a song only they seem to know. The Comfort Inn, the two ns fade in and out interchangeably.

He's convinced himself he doesn't miss her. She left; she left and they let her go. It's her choice, Richard. This life wasn't for everyone. Another time, another place, it wouldn't have been for the Gecko brothers. This is here and this is now. Now, they move forward. The job is never over, the day is never done. They pull out of the train station and Richie doesn't turn in his seat.

California. They've been here before, but the north seems another country. It's two nights before they continue, ready themselves for what lies ahead. Three AM and Seth's buried his face in his pillow, drooling into fluffed decorum.

The pool appears radioactive now. In the midst of light and dark, only the buzzing to occupy the night. He glimpses her in the distance, silhouette familiar, but far away. Abigail's presence allowed Seth and Richie to breathe — something catches in his throat and he blows it out with the smoke from his chest. ]

You know, all that noise at this hour? [ He flicks the cigarette butt elsewhere and it trails embers over gravel. ] It's almost criminal.

( At her feet rests a navy blue backpack. She didn't pack much; she didn't need it. The essentials: a couple articles of clothing that can interchange and create a handful of different outfits, shampoo to last her until she can buy more, her laptop. She hopes that they didn't sell her gun when she left. They didn't seem like a pair of nostalgic men, but it wasn't theirs to get rid of, right? She had no option but to leave it.

It's not like bringing it onto a train headed back home to her semi-normal life was an option.

She's in the process of gathering another handful of pebbles when he speaks, and Abigail's head whips in the direction of Richie's voice. She can't help but grin, raising an eyebrow in amusement. It's dark, so hopefully it doesn't go unnoticed. )

Luckily for me, that's not uncommon, here.

( The newly gathered pebbles in her hand fall to the ground, as she realizes it's best not to wake Seth if she doesn't have to. The man needs his beauty rest — she'd been reminded of that on more than one occasion.

She doesn't know what to say. That she's a fickle teenager? That she missed them, especially Richie? That she feels like a black sheep in Minnesota, knowing all the things she's done?

Instead, she takes a simpler route. )

I'm glad I caught you.

[ Richie doesn't miss it, the way her lips pull upright, mischievous and aligned with her brow. He leans into the door's frame, tilting his chin, curious. She might be an idea; these days, he doesn't remember waking up, taking into the passenger's seat alongside his brother.

He reaches out, thumb grazing familiar red dust from her cheek. Richie leans his thumb to his face, examining it against the brightness before it fades from sight. He turns his attention to her, pushing hands into coat pockets. ]

Why are you here, Abigail?

[ It isn't accusatory, wrought with distaste. He can see it in her expression. She never should have walked away. This life chooses you; it was never the other way around. To escape was either brave or stupid. ]

You got out.

( It's been a long time since Abigail's been somewhere that doesn't feel temporary. Even with them endlessly hopping from motel to motel and with the constant possibility of getting caught on their minds, being with the Geckos always felt more like home than Minnesota ever did.

Abigail shrugs almost sheepishly, cheeks flushed hot even in the cool night air. She struggles to look at him, and looks down at her feet which are currently kicking at those previously mentioned pebbles. She's never been all that good with honesty, being raised to lie about just short of everything.

With Richie, though, the answer seems to come out before she even has a chance to stop it. )

I couldn't stay. ( She wrings her hands in her lap and fiddles with a ring around her right ring finger, nervous that he might disapprove of her actions even though he's done nothing to show that he does.

An awful habit that her father engrained into her a long time ago. ) I don't belong there, not anymore.

So, — what? You decided you'd try your luck again in the middle of nowhere with those two criminals you've heard tell about in the town square? Nice try, but I've seen True Grit. [ He stands upright, staring off into the distance as he contemplates something, anything. Looking at Abigail tells him too much, explains the things she can't. He isn't after answers, though he has the questions. ]

This isn't a game. You're either in this or you're out. You go in there, Seth'll tell you the same damn thing.

[ Richie is calm; always calm, when he has what he's looking for. It's her, even if he doesn't have any desire to express that. No need to try. ]

Your choice.

I didn't leave because I wanted to. I left to give you two time to get away from the spotlight.

( Her voice raises perhaps a bit too high, given the time of night. It's a defense mechanism. She feels like a small girl that's being scolded, and it's not a feeling she welcomes.

She usually feels like an equal around the Geckos — it's one of the reasons she decided to come back; one of the reasons she stuck around in the first place. She was a victim back in Minnesota, in Baltimore when she was at the hospital after her father tried to kill her. She was Garret Jacob Hobbs' poor, ruined daughter. With them, she's just Abigail.

She's been through too much to be that poor, victimized girl again. She's got the blood on her hands to prove it, though she's been told that doesn't mean anything. Her temper often gives her away. )

You know I was making it worse, even if you didn't actually get around to saying it. I'm not stupid.

I gave you a choice. You? Chose us. We didn't choose you. You stayed, you enjoyed it. You left, because it got too hot. [ He stands off of the frame, looking down his nose at her. Her voice raises; any louder and Seth won't hesitate to shove his head in through the door.

Both his hands spread over the arms of the chair, gripping the rests tight. Richie's back curves, cornering her there until she feels as small as she appears.

He angles his head, watching her eyes — they're bright, wide in the night. He wants to swallow her whole and let her fill the gap she's left behind. Let her go, Richard. Not again. ]

Is that what you're going to be, Abigail? Mm? The Chesapeake Ripper's scared little daughter who runs away, because she can't handle the battles she's chosen for herself?

[ His breath is on her face and he could do it, if he wanted to. She wants a way out — why not give it to her? Allow her to see what she's been missing.

Instead, he grabs her by the neck, hand over the scar that keeps her sewn together. He presses his lips to her mouth, opting to steal her soul for himself. ]

Oh, you didn't? ( These words leave her laughing, but there's no amusement in it. It's a lifeless, bitter sound. ) Because that's not how I remember our first meeting going.

( This isn't what she had in mind when she decided to come back. Abigail knew they probably wouldn't understand, but this? This is more than she had prepared herself for.

It's as though the ground beneath her feet — ground that she was sure was firm and stable — was crumbling beneath her, leaving her grasping at a way to keep herself standing upright. It's frantic and it's embarrassing and it's a reminder of just how young she is, that simple words can leave her hands trembling. )

If I was scared I wouldn't have stayed in the first place, let alone come back. I would've left and not looked b—

( Definitely not what she had in mind, but as she leans forward in her chair to get closer and press her lips back to his, she decides it's not a bad replacement.

His hand on her neck makes her heart race in a way that almost scares her, and Abigail grips the wrist of the hand at her neck, but after a second of contemplation, she decides not to move it. Unwanted memories come flooding back, but she pushes them aside, deciding to focus instead on the present rather than the past. After all, while this isn't the reason she came back, it's not unwanted. )

[ He doesn't know when or why he chose to break the kiss, but he assumes it had something to do with oxygen. A necessity, by all specific means. Richie opens his eyes and finds hers, as curious as his his were to see her there. He comprehends his actions; hers come from an understanding that is slightly less.

His thumb strokes across the sensitive skin, the trace of her past flush against her neck. His breath catches, somewhere between reality and the idea he believed her moments ago to exist as. He should say something, break the unavoidable silence that often befriends a kiss.

He can hear Seth now — it makes for an awkward situation. ]

Seth kept your gun.

[ She's warm, cheeks pink. Her lips were soft, rarely used for anything other than the tales she spins to make her living. Richie licks over the taste of her mouth. ]

Couldn't bring himself to pawn it.

( She's not been back a full twenty minutes and it's already felt like an emotional roller coaster. At least with Seth, things won't end up like this. Knowing him, he'll give her that look — the one with the raised eyebrows and the pursed lips that makes her feel like some kind of ashamed animal, but none of that will have her doubting her actions like Richie somehow managed to do.

She was so sure of what she was doing, coming back to find them, and while she doesn't regret it, she wonders if perhaps he didn't want her to come back. If once she was gone, he'd wished she would stay gone. It's all very confusing, and not really something she wants to think about at the moment, if only she could stop.

Abigail licks her lips and closes her eyes at his thumb traces her scar, hyperaware of the fact that it's there after all that time she'd spent getting over the fact that it exists. )

I told him he'd miss me.

( She opens her eyes once more and she smiles. It's faint, but it's there. Hot, cold, even she doesn't fully know what the temperature of the water they're currently treading is. )

Where's the next hit?

Big hotel in Downtown Hollywood.

[ Seth didn't express how he felt, not when it came to Abigail. The more emotionally giving than Richie, it was clear that Seth held a certain respect for the girl. Her leaving left them with pauses that appeared longer than they were before she joined the Geckos on their roadshow. Neither would mention it, which made the silences all the more unrealistic.

Richie pulls back from where he stood. He clears his throat, making good with the frame he'd quickly made his escape from. When he folds his arms, his tongue slips forth one more time to savor the remains of whatever it was she left behind. ]

There's room for one more, [ Richie watches a fly zip across the pool's surface. ] if you think you're up for it.

Hollywood?

( The tilt of her head isn't meant to be offensive, because she knows what the Gecko brothers are capable of. If there's anyone that can get away with a hit as big as a hotel in Hollywood, of all places, it'd be them.

She pulls her hand back onto her lap and folds them both, looking away from him and to the pool, only to find herself struggling to keep from looking back. It's not awkward, though (maybe it's because they finally just went there, and that killed any potential awkwardness), and for that Abigail is grateful. The last thing she'd want is for their reunion to be filled with silences and cleared throats.

Something as big as this hotel would be a good way for her to say that she wants in — for good this time — and that she's in it for as long as they'll have her. She won't mention it but as empty as her time back at home after all the time spent with them felt, she hopes it'll be a good, long while.

Abigail finally glances back at Richie's face, and she looks amused when she does. )

How else would you provide a distraction for something as big as that?

I had a plan. [ It's as aggressive as Richie will allow it to be. The layouts, the blueprints, the goddamn schedules of every employee from the valet to the hotel manager — that? That's Richie. ]

You've been gone a few days. Maybe you've forgotten: I? always have a plan.

[ He points between the two of them, bringing his insistence home as he presses at his own stomach. The subject changes, as it should. There isn't any point in dwelling. Not on how her shoulders have lost their tension, the way her face is easy to smile again.

How else? ]

A plan, which, by the way, is now rendered almost useless. [ Richie frowns. ]

( Abigail didn't forget — how could she? All she thought about while she was gone was her time spent with the brothers and how she was being pulled back the moment she set foot on that train.

She crosses her arms over her chest and leans back in the chair that, moments ago, she'd been so eager to get out of. A normal reaction, when cornered. )

How selfish of me, going and ruining your plans. What was I thinking? ( She sighs, and it's overdramatic in a blatantly obvious way. Just trying to shake those leftover nerves now that she's back to where she was trying to get all along.

It's a shock that Seth hasn't made an appearance, given her raised voice only minutes ago. ) I'm sure a genius like yourself won't be able to come up with another plan.

[ Plans change. Of course plans change. Does it mean they should have to? Does it mean that he, himself, should have to alter their course? No. But he will, because he wants to. Because he knows that Seth will want her earn her right back into their fold.

This isn't his first rodeo. Richie understands the way Seth operates better than anybody. Sometimes, even Seth. He steps away from the door frame. ]

You're like a bad penny, you know that? [ He stands straight, glancing at the building mirroring their own.

Richie looks at her over his shoulder. ] You better hope your luck changes by the time Seth wakes up.

( It's Abigail's turn to tun her attention to the building, the sound of Seth's snoring that once bothered her beyond all words now bringing a smirk to her lips.

She knows he won't be happy with her return; he wasn't exactly pleased that she chose to leave in the first place, but he understood why she felt she had to do it. It's so soon that she's going to seem fickle, like she doesn't know what she wants, and if she knows anything about Seth Gecko, it's that he doesn't like an unsure partner. It doesn't exactly make for confident jobs.

Abigail turns back to Richie, shrugging. )

I've never been the luckiest of people in the world. ( She bites at her lip nervously, still. He's only warning her about something she's already aware of.

Perhaps too aware, if the sudden spike in her heart rate is anything to judge by. ) I don't expect him to be happy to see me.

[ It isn't entirely true. Seth will have his reservations, sure. There will be anger, there will be silence. His brother is as transparent as he is unaware of the idea.

When he looks at Abigail, he sees a girl who was lost. The Geckos, they found her. They gave her life a new meaning. It was only right that she would return to them, in the end.

He angles slightly in order to get a better image of her again. He thinks of her mouth and the impulsive things that he's done. Like the ground had been pulled out from underneath him and kissing Abigail had been the only way to get it to stop. ]

They feed you? On the train?

( AN OPEN POST #2 )

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