Mandatory Vacation Day

[Pepper Krasniqi]

Pepper stayed silent while Cody talked. He stopped a few times; talking about it was clearly hard for him. She made sure to keep rubbing her thumb across his knuckles while he talked, a subtle reminder that she was there. When he finished, she thought for a moment, allowing there to be silence as she gave him time to recover. So it had been a school shooting. What a horrible way to discover an anomaly. What a horrible first experience. She knew what 255 could do, and had seen it in use enough times. She could guess what that meant it had done that had appeared so convincing.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Cody. That’s horrible. I won’t even pretend to know what being through something like that is like. I’m so glad you had it with you. I’m so glad you survived. I’m so glad.” She lifted his hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, her lips gentle. The touch was as soft as a butterfly’s wings grazing the skin. She pressed her cheek to the back of his hand, both her hands holding onto his, her ice cream forgotten.

“I can’t even begin to understand how much all of this has affected you. I can’t, but I’ll do my best anyway. That’s such a hard thing to live with, buried so deep down inside you. That day changed your life forever. I’m so sorry you had to endure it– but I will never be sorry you ended up with us at Fourteen. Not ever. I know that’s selfish, but how else would you have become who you are, and how else would we be sitting here today?” Her smile was sad and soft as she loosened her grip on his hand, in case he wanted it back. She pulled her legs up onto the bench next to her, curling into his shoulder.

“I can’t express how happy I am that you’re here, now, even after everything it took to get you here. I’ll never be able to understand the things that brought you here, I just can’t do anything other than empathize, but I’m so glad that you made it through everything you have and came out the other end the person you are, Cody Redd.”

She looked up into his face then, her smile no longer sad, but still just as soft. She leaned in and pressed her lips to his cheek, one of her hands gently catching the other side of his face. Then she leaned her forehead into his shoulder, letting her hand fall away. The best thing that she could do at that point was offer comfort. He had answered all her questions, and she had only one left but decided it could wait. “You’ve done me the honor of sharing yourself with me. I don’t have a lot of secrets. My life is well documented on paper. But if you have any questions for me, well, I think it would be unfair for me not to answer them now.”

 

[Containment]

This was different than any other time he’d explained it. The only time he’d done so of his own free will was with Isaac. The other times were all researchers or shrinks who wanted to make sure he was fine. He was fine. A little scarred, mentally, but physically and emotionally he’d turned out pretty well-adjusted. When he’d told Isaac, there’d been a long period of silence, and then soft conversation about the situation, about how Cody felt.

Nobody had ever just been happy he was alive. Nobody else really seemed to understand why he was so willing to accept that it had happened, not until Pepper was honest with him. Not unti Pepper kissed his hand, and then his cheek.

Cody set the ice cream aside on the empty part of the bench next to him. He did take the hand back, but just to wrap it around her shoulder; the other hand took hers in its place. And then he took a long, deep breath, and smiled.

"If I could go back, I wouldn't change a thing," he assured her, softly. "I have the coolest research job in the world and the most wonderful person on earth as my girlfriend. I can’t imagine a world that didn’t end up with me meeting you, Pepper. Even if I was a little dense about it."

He wanted to leave that alone, to tell her no, there wasn’t anything she needed to tell him, surely, he knew everything and that was already unfair. There was one question, though. One question he’d always wanted to ask. Was this the right time? The right place? He glanced around. Nobody seemed to be paying them any attention – if anything, folks were giving the cute couple a wide berth.

"What was it like, growing up – inside? With Kallie? I’ve heard it can be rough, especially if your parents… are gone."

It was the kind of question even Dr. E or Dr. Holt could speculate over, but only Pepper could answer. It felt like the right question. Maybe it would distract him from the ache in his chest he was hiding, not because of her, but because of the time and the place.

 

[Pepper Krasniqi]

Pepper smiled almost comically wide at the word “girlfriend” That answered an unspoken but important question that she had planned to ask on the way home. “What were they now?” And he had gone and answered it so casually, without any need for discussion. That smile grew a little smaller at his question, not completely gone, but enough that Cody would surely notice. Surely she could keep the smile going. Surely she wouldn’t– her face fell completely into a frown despite her best efforts. She sighed softly and curled into his side.

She could be emotionally vulnerable here. This was safe. She knew he would be understanding if she cried from talking about it. “Well, that’s definitely a question. You’re right, it was rough. My parents died way before I understood what that meant. It’s actually the situation that taught me what death was. Dr. Hillary and Dr. Kallie, they both tried their hardest. Doc– well, I guess she isn’t a doctor anymore. Hillary and I never clicked, and then she resigned shortly after the incident with… that dark place. Dr. Kallie became like a mother to me, but she. She was encouraged to keep me at arm's length and not love me. For a long time, she managed to do just that. So my early childhood is just… tests and experiments and psych evaluations.”

She looked around while she whispered the last bit. People were still giving them a wide enough berth that she was confident no one had heard her. She leaned back into Cody’s arm and tilted her head back, watching as some clouds passed over her head. Then she smiled again.

“It wasn’t all bad. I think when I was ten, Dr. Kallie decided to break protocol. After a particularly painful physical exam, she scooped me up in her arms while I cried and she held me. She cried with me. From that moment on, she was my mom. She would sneak me out of the facility, take me out to the movies, take me roller skating, she took me to dinner every birthday from that point on. She was a great mom, even if she still had to study me. It became more casual. With her leading the team, I didn’t mind as much.”

The smile thinned out a little as she thought about all the lonely nights in her containment room before they allowed Dr. Kallie to move her into the apartment when she was fifteen. “I was lonely. I was so lonely. The next closest person in age to me was Jade, and she graduated out and moved to Twenty-Two to work there when I was only twelve. I never saw her again. They brought in a small boy when I was fifteen. I used to help entertain him between his tests… I think. I’m uh. Not supposed to remember that, I think. Or it got caught up in something else I wasn’t supposed to remember. I’ve only had, you know, the therapy once in my whole life. I forgot his name and face and what he did after that. I just remember holding his hand and hearing him laugh.”

She paused and looked up at Cody, her eyes meeting his. She smiled nervously as she decided to ask her final question in return. “I’ve never felt lonely with you though. You always make me feel so… genuinely happy. Genuinely full, if that makes sense. Cody, I have one more question. It’s not about you, really, and it feels so silly to ask this, but I’m so worried about it. Will you… will you love me when you grow old and I don’t?”[/font color]

 

[Containment]

He probably would’ve said more, if they weren’t out in public; made little interjections or comments. Kallie had always been something of a hardexpletive when it came to the rules, at least around interns, but Pepper was right; she was softer with anomalies, except maybe Archer, but nobody was soft on him. Over time, Cody had learned a lot of researchers were like that, including himself. If you let an intern make a mistake, then you put everyone at risk in the future. But there was only so much experimentation a normal person could do before they were forced to remember that anohumans – among other things – were people, too.

There was also the old ‘once that you can remember’ quip, but that was best saved for interns and much less serious occasions.

"Pepper, if I didn’t think I could do that, I would’ve pushed you away. If only so you could find somebody who would." He punctuated his reassurances with kisses to the back of her hand and arm. "If you’ll still be able to love me when I’m old and gray, even if you’re still young and pretty, if you’ll be next to me in every crisis, as long as you can promise me you love me – then I’m yours until the day I die of old age or a heart condition or something else that’s not a weird disease."

He took a quick glance around, then forced his best teasing smile.

"Besides, statistically – if we stay where we are, which is most likely – I won’t make it that long anyway. Just means I’ll have to love you more in a shorter time."

That might’ve seemed a little morbid, but Cody was the kind of person who took both previous and future brushes with death with a grain of humor. Dr. E had mentioned that it was his favored coping mechanism on several occasions. Was he coping? Not with the knowledge that she’d outlive him, no. He had gotten used to the idea of dying, of being outlived. He was just trying to lighten the mood. He kissed her forehead before he finished.

"Even if that didn’t happen, though, I’d be yours as long as my heart beats to love you. That’s a promise."

 

[Pepper Krasniqi]

Pepper giggled as Cody kissed her hand, then her arm, and finally finished by kissing her on the forehead. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tucked her face into his neck. “Cody, there’s nothing in the world that could make me not love you. That includes you being old and gray. You better live long enough for that. I want you for a lifetime.”

She pulled back to look into his eyes, a soft smile on her face. She meant every word of what she’d said. It didn’t matter to her if he grew old on her. She’d love him every day he lived, and long after he died. She didn’t mind his morbid jokes, either, though she sincerely hoped he knew how much she wanted him to not die of an accident at the Foundation. She was about to open her mouth to say so when her phone dinged. She made a face, planning to ignore it, when it dinged three more times in quick succession.

She dug the phone out of her pocket and unlocked it, almost laughing when she saw the messages. They were all from Charlie, demanding to know how the date was going. Pepper looked up at Cody and smiled. “Charlie wants to know how the day is going. Would you mind if I took a photo of us to send to him? I need it to explain why I will not be attending the concert with him this weekend.”

She blushed a little as she shook her phone. If it weren’t for the fact that Charlie was her best friend, she likely wouldn’t have even bothered to unlock her phone after seeing the messages. But she knew if she didn’t answer, she would just get a million more messages, demanding answers. And the only answer she wanted to give was that she’d be too busy that weekend to even think of going to a concert.

 

[Containment]

Cody just smiled when she mentioned living long enough to turn gray. Underneath, he was forcing his will back on not activating 255. Now wasn’t the time for grisly reminders of the most common fate of Foundation personnel. Now he needed to let himself be happy. He was safe, and so was Pepper. Biological immortality and all.

He watched her pull out her phone. He probably should’ve had his on, but it was silent in his backpack. If there was a real breach, a butterfly would’ve always been around to catch his attention. Given that they hadn’t resorted to that, Cody could imagine that Isaac had stuff well in hand. He laughed as the messages came through. Someone was really worried.

That someone was apparently Charlie. Charlie was a pretty common name, and Cody could think of several offhand, but he decided not to ask right now. Instead he just smiled and nodded, emphatically.

"Sure!" He shifted to adjust, to make sure his hand was around her shoulder comfortably and in position. "Alright, whenever you’re ready."

He waited for the last second. Then, he leaned in and caught Pepper’s cheek with a quick kiss right as the camera clicked, although his hazel eyes were turned toward the lens and there was an obvious smile of pure joy around the action.

 

[Pepper Krasniqi]

Pepper laughed as she looked at the photo, turning to look up at Cody. She smiled her own smile of pure joy and leaned in, giving him a kiss on his cheek in return. Then she turned and sent the photo, with her big grin and him kissing her, to Charlie. “Not going to be able to make it to the festival. I have a lot of talking I need to do this weekend.”

There were a few moments of nothing, then a few dots appeared at the bottom of the screen. “Pepper, is that Cody Redd? You didn’t tell me it was Cody Redd. I needed to know that so I could actively disapprove. Why him?”

Pepper stared, mouth agape, at her phone. “What do you mean, disapprove? What’s wrong with Cody? He’s sweet and intelligent and funny, like what else could you want in a guy?”

Another message. “I have stories about when that boy was an intern.” Pepper laughed and shook her head. She tucked the phone away and leaned into Cody’s shoulder again, enjoying the warmth from his body.

She didn’t want the date to end yet. She wanted to spend hours talking to him, about everything and anything. There were so many little questions she had for him. So many things she wanted to tell him. She looked at her empty ice cream cup and had a sudden idea. She looked up at him again and smiled. “So you know a good pizza place in New York, and I know a good bowling place in New Jersey. What do you say we extend this a little longer?”

No matter what his answer was, she would be happy. Because finally, after so many years, after so much struggling and so much heartache, they were them. He was hers, and she was his. And nothing would change that.