Acrasia

That day turned from okay, with the arrival of the files on Tyler's parents, to bad to horrific in a matter of minutes. The TV was on behind them as they read the files. 

Kid's birth certificate, school record, social security information and more was in there, along with two death certificates and autopsy reports. One for Nikita Buhari-Knight, and the other for Leroy Knight. Nikita, according to her report, had been shot execution-style in her home two nights ago, while Leroy's death, a fatal stab through the throat, had occurred more than a week before it. 

Rae's mouth went dry and she was glad she was sitting down. She reached out for Chris with a shaking hand. She couldn't force words out of her mouth, and Chris was having a hard time forming coherent thoughts. 

Finally, he said, "We can't tell him."

"Chris-"

"He'll blame himself. He already does for the divorce. Now they're dead. I won't tell him." He looks at her, the hint of a challenge in his eye and she knew she wouldn't meet it. 

She opened her mouth to say something but suddenly the sounds on the TV turn into legitimate words coming from the gaudy pink mouth of an Asian woman. "... Warrick, Christopher Huntington, and Jeremy Collins is still on. Rachel Warrick's mother spoke at a press conference last Tuesday..." Rae watched in unmasked horror as her mother pleaded for the safe return of her baby. She tried to drown the words out, studying the faces of the people behind her mother; a few people in suits, her cousins and uncle and a few friends, and Marcie and Lucy and Max and Alex. But her dad wasn't there. 

The image switched back to the Asian woman from before. "The FBI was brought into the case to find Christopher Huntington, a prominent local young heir to his father's fortune. Mutual friends connected his disappearance to those of Rachel Warrick and Jeremy Collins. If you have any information regarding their whereabouts, please call 1-800-555..." Their pictures flashed up on the screen again, and then it switched to a story about the death of a child actor. 

Rae choked out a sob and Chris wrapped an arm around her by instinct, but he was still staring at the TV with an open mouth. She grabbed his phone from him and it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. 

Her dad's obituary. 

He had died of a heart attack a week after she went missing. She must have read that article four times before Chris realized what was happening. He closed his mouth and took the phone away and tossed it to the floor. He pulled her closer and wrapped both arms around her. He pressed his lips against the top of her head and let her cry on him. 

"They're looking. They want us back-" she coughed. "I knew there was only one reason why... He wouldn't miss something like that. Oh my god-" and then she went into a fit of violent sobbing and he had to instruct her on how to breathe again, unsure if he should he proud or worried at how calmly he was handling all of this. 

Jeremy knocked on the door and walked halfway in. He looked at Rae and the smile melted off his face. Chris simply gave one shake of his head Jeremy began backing out the door. Then he stopped, wanting to do something but wanting to give them space but achingly curious as to why she was so upset. Finally, the hard look that had blossomed in Chris's eye made the decision for him and he left, closing the door with a rustle and a quiet snick. Rae barely even noticed. 

When she felt she had cried more than necessary, she pushed off of him weakly, still sniffling. He watched her with worried eyes, a hand still on her back. The other hand gripped her shoulder, supporting her.  

"Are you okay?" he asked stupidly. She looked up at him with big sore-looking doe eyes and nodded slowly and he knew she wasn't. 

.::.

Rae woke up the next morning alone. 

The cold emptiness next her was oppressive and depressing so she got up and put pants on and went looking for him in the cold early morning air. It was barely six. She found him down the street from the dumb little motel. There a was a park on the corner, but it looked more like a patch of dead and dying grass with patches of bare dirt and a saggy wooden swing set and that was pretty much it, other than the bus bench that would have been there park or no park. Chris was staring at the decrepit swings with his hands on his hips and his shoulders hunched. A cigarette hung from his lips, unlit, and a lighter was in his hand. She approached him and he wordlessly, almost instinctually, offered her one. She turned him down. 

"I'm going to turn myself in," he whispered hoarsely, the cigarette bobbing on his bottom lip. His eyes were red as if he had been crying. 

"What?" she asked. 

He took the cigarette out of his mouth and tucked it behind his ear. "I'm going back to New York. I'm turning myself in as an assassin. I have proof on myself. My gun, my assignments. They'll arrest me before they even know my name."

"Why are you saying this," she whispered. 

"I can't.. I can't live like this any more." 

He paused and she spoke. "With me?"

"No, Rae, no," he said, touching her quickly and lightly, but not meeting her eyes. "No. I just- this is all my fault. If I hadn't gotten Jeremy noticed, heck if I hadn't gotten involved with you, we wouldn't be here. It's my fault, and I need to pay for this and I can't make it up to you or Jeremy or my dad or sister and so all I can do to ease my mind is turn myself in. I can't live with all of this on my shoulders, Rae, I can't do it. I can't take care of you the way you need to be taken care of and I can't live with that-"

"Fuck you."

He looked at her. "What?"

"I said fuck you, you selfish bastard. Fuck you and fuck your self-sacrificing bullshit. Fuck this whole goddamn situation." He was silent. "You know what I think? I think you're being a big fucking baby and I think you know it and I think you need to get the fuck over it. You can't just up and fucking leave me. Damn straight you got me in this shit storm, and now you're gonna fucking ride it out with me. You and me and Kid and Britney and Jeremy and if you try and back out so help me god I will rip your fucking face off you asshole."

She set her jaw, glared at him for a second longer, then turned and marched off to the motel.