The Slippery Slope

Night in Twinbrook is a dangerous place. Not only do the criminals crawl and the police forget to drink their coffee, but everywhere you look, there's a place to fall, a place to trip and tumble down...

... But tumbling doesn't always mean a stubbed toe or a bruised knee. In Twinbrook, there is more to falling then simply an injury; for, where the slippery slopes hide, only one mistake is needed to start a chain reaction for more...

... Only one mistake to lose your footing on solid ground. And where that slope goes, well... Nobody really knows.

---

Though his hands felt numb and his head felt light, something inside Travis suddenly came alive the second his lips touched Lolly's. It took him a moment to entirely 'awaken' from his drunken stupor, but when he finally realized what was going on around him, he quickly pushed the woman as far away from him as he could get her.

"W-wha... what!?" Lolly gasped, taken completely off guard.

"You're what'ing me? What you, Lolly! What the heck do you think yer doing?!"

Travis' voice still held the rasp and slur of his long night knocking back poorly mixed drinks, but at least his eyes were now able to focus on his companion outside the blur and buzz of the bar.

"I was just reading the signals you were giving me!" Lolly yelled back, equally loud. "It's not my fault if you have absolutely no inhibitions!"

"No ihhiibtitions, huh?" Travis was furious. "Don'tcha think that mighta been from the, ya know, sixteen drinks I just had?"

Lolly rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like that has anything to do with it."

"It has everything to do with it, Lolly! I love Jade! Not you! I'm jusht tryyyin' to be your friend, and you think it's cool to stick your tongue down my throat!"

"Oh yeah? Then if you didn't want it, why'd you reciprocate like you did, huh? I think you're full of trash, Travis! You're just afraid to admit what you really want!"

That did it; Travis was no longer angry, Travis was infuriated. If looks could kill, the one he gave her would be poison -- there was no way to tell why he gave it for sure, but it most certainly was because what she'd said was either entirely false, or entirely true.

"So? Is that it, then?" Lolly scoffed. "You're just gonna lead me on and then drop me?"

Travis's eyes squeezed shut. "I don't know, Lolly," he hissed through pursed lips. "But I want you gone. Right now. And don't... don't come back."

For the first time, Lolly felt afraid; she'd never seen Travis this angry before. Perhaps she realized that she'd actually made him mad, or she realized that he wasn't going to give in -- nevertheless, she began to back away slowly, her hands raised.

"Fine... fine," she mumbled, her eyes welling up. "I'll go."

As Travis blinked his weary, fuzzy gaze, he saw Lolly run like he'd never seen a grown woman run in high heels, through sand, before; and though he felt bad, the thick feeling at the bottom of his stomach prevented him from feeling anything more.

Travis didn't understand; why would she do those things, say those things, if she knew the truth?

... But, what if she really did?
 ... What if he was the liar?

---

It had been several days since Bradley's first attempt -- first attempt at travelling to the past and preventing Emerald's death, that is. Now, you cannot have a 'first' without a 'second'... And that there certainly was.

A second.
A third.
A fourth.

Bradley Kane was beginning to feel weary. He had heard the screech of Emerald's crashing car, he had heard her scream... And he'd done everything he could think of to stop it. First, he'd tried making the car un-driveable, but then he discovered that Emerald knew a lot more about cars than he did; then he tried various ways of convincing Emerald not to date Travis, and that inevitably backfired.

Nothing he did seemed to make a difference, and now, Brad was beginning to wonder if he even could.

But, as weary, frazzled, and angsty as he felt, he knew he would feel a great deal worse if he didn't get himself some nice, clean laundry.

It was, most probably, not the best time for his little sister to corner him.

"Brad?" Amelia's squeaky voice echoed a little as it came around the corner, her body following shortly after. "Do you have a minute?"

As Brad pulled out a fresh load and threw a dirty one in, he looked up at his sister and said rather grouchily, "Yeah, I guess."

"Well you don't have to sound so annoyed... I mean, this is the only break you've had from tinkering with that contraption of yours for the last few days. I would've waited until later, but..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Brad sighed. "What is it?"

"Look, I know that things have been really tough for you lately, Brad. And we all just want the best for you." Amelia heaved a deep breath, realizing that her brother's face was already starting to look down-trodden. "Not just family, either. There's people out there that like you a lot, that miss you... Like Alesha..."

"Yeah? What about her?"

"I dunno, maybe you could... Like... Spend some time with her, instead of that metal beast of yours?"

"No -- No way," Brad groaned. "What I'm doing is incredibly important. I don't have time to have a playdate with your friend."

 Amelia whimpered, now getting desperate. "It's not a playdate she wants, Brad, it's a date! Like a real date! You can't honestly turn that down, can you?"

"Why does everyone seem to think that just moving on will make me feel better? Why does no one even try to understand what I might be going through?!" Brad's voice doubled in volume, made even worse by the small size of the echo-y laundry room. "And now here you are, trying to force me to change because apparently you don't like the way I am--"

"That's not true!" Amelia gasped.

Brad rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes it is! Ever since Emerald died, all anyone wants is for me to just get over myself! Like this isn't who I am!"

"Brad..." Amelia's face fell into her hand, trying to hold back the tears she could feel welling up behind it. "All she wants is a date. All we want is for you to be happy."

"Well, the answer is NO. Ehn. OH. So just... go."

Amelia ran from the room as fast as she could, descending the steps before she finally paused to catch her breath -- and to let her emotions get the best of her.

Yes, Bradley had changed... And what saddened Amelia most was that the only one who couldn't see it was him.

---

"You can keep all of that to yourself, right? No telling anyone else?"

"Yeah, of course I can, Jeb. Contrary to popular belief, I don't have a big mouth. At least, not that way."

"Good." Jeb sounded raspy and tired, but still confident. "I just want to know I can trust you."

"You can trust me, alright... But I'm a little disappointed about the change."

"Look, I know it's last-minute, and I know it's not the wild plan we had before, but even something this small is important to our success. I can't trust anyone else as much as I can trust you, Marta. So let's just count that as a blessing, alright?"

The two stood in the living room of Marta's house, the crickets beginning to buzz outside the windows, the house clean after all the rest of the gang had said their dues and left -- but Jeb had had more to discuss with Marta, alone... And they both kept pausing, cautiously, to listen for any intruders.

After Marta briefly thought Jeb's addendum over again, she nodded. "Alright, I'll do it. I'm not happy about it, but I'll do it. You just gotta promise me that next time, I get to do something a liiiittle more interesting, alright? You bore me too much, and you might just see me start rooting for the other guys."

"Yes yes," Jeb said chuckling. "I get it. I swear, next time you'll get a bigger role."

There was a moment of silence that passed between them, where their eyes locked, that Marta's lips suddenly started to curl upwards... It was a smile that was unique to Marta Tomasi, but one unlike anything Jeb had seen in a very long time.

"You know... My role doesn't have to be that small. There are other things I can do... Other pressures I could take off... Then maybe we could call it even, hmm?" Marta's eyes fluttered slowly as her lips parted further, revealing her feline smile. "The stories always say that there's always more room at Jebidiah Kane's side..."

"I, I --" Jeb stuttered. Jebidiah Kane was not surprised by much, but even the notoriously flirty Marta had snuck a proposal on him that he had not at all expected.

"Marta... That was a long, long time ago. I'm an old man, now... An old man that loves his wife. You're a woman I love to have at my side, but... Not like that, Marta. Not like that."

This time it was Marta doing the stuttering, suddenly realizing that she'd just stepped over a line she shouldn't have crossed.

"No, I-- I'm sorry, Mr. Kane. I didn't-- That was terrible of me. Especially since Meredith is my... And you're my... and..." Marta slowly backed away. "Please don't think worse of me, I just--"

As Marta's head begun to hang in shame, Jeb knelt to look in her eyes, gently placing his hands against her shoulders.

"See, my husband... He just left me, for another woman... Well, I mean, he actually sort of married her before I even knew she existed, which is totally illegal apparently, but still means he's a cheating bastard, which means we're getting a divorce because I can't be with someone like that, and having that pressure right now when we're just about to pull off a heist and I'm not thinking straight and--"

"Marta." Jeb's voice was firm, and although disappointed, still reassuring. "It's okay. Sleep it off, we'll both forget you even said anything."

Marta slowly began to nod her head, though the guilt in her face even made Jeb feel a little guilty.

"You're a good woman, Marta. And I'm glad to have you as a partner. But now... Now's not the time for love. Right now, it's the time for crime. We've got a job to do, and soon enough, you'll have plenty of time to think about everything else." As he pulled away and began to head towards the door, he looked back, and nodded to her with a weary smile. "Next time I see you, make sure you have that wrench."

---

If Brad listened closely, he'd know that one of the cars whistling past him on his walk was his father's, heading home... But Brad had other things on his mind.

Although it was a rather meager attempt, Brad had taken something Amelia had said to heart; it was time to get away from that machine for a while. There was always time to change the past when you can travel through it, but there needed to be some time to get some rest...

... and some time to reflect on even why he was doing this.

As Brad looked upon the site where Emerald had breathed her last breath, a small smile came to his lips; even still, months after her death, flowers surrounded the statue commorating her loss. It was good to know that after all this time he wasn't the only one that was still feeling her painful loss.

He took a deep breath in, taking in cold air around him. Coming here was comforting... It was as if he could feel Emerald's presence, could see the impact her life and death had had on the community... In fact, he could even swear that amidst it all, he could still smell the vanilla perfume she had used to wear...

In fact, it seemed to get stronger the longer he stood there, gazing into those flowers. Like she was there... standing right beside him...

Suddenly, Brad heard a crunch of leaves behind him.

His heart skipped a beat as he swivelled about to look at the source of the noise -- at first, it was a feeling of excitement... but it was quickly smothered when he realized who it was.

"You shouldn't sneak up on a person like that," he stammered, taking a moment to catch his breath. "You almost scared the stuffing out of me."

"Well, I didn't quite sneak up... I've been sitting on that bench over there this entire time, you know."

As Brad nodded, Alesha continued. "See, I come here to read when my parents are fighting... It's always so peaceful, so quiet." Alesha, although also clearly tired and worn out, seemed much more content than Bradley felt. "I figured I'd come over to say hi, though. You looked like you could use some company."

"Oh, er, yeah..." Bradley shrugged. "I guess." He stood silent for a moment, before looking up. "Sorry to hear about your parents."

"It's fine," Alesha said, dismissive. "I always feel better here, anyways. Besides, you look far worse for wear than I feel."

"Yeah... I guess I've been having a bit of a rough time, lately." Although he didn't particularly like being this open with a lower classman and a friend of his sister's, Brad thought it was only polite to be honest. "It just seems like everyone else has forgotten that Emerald even existed... It's nice to come here to see that people actually still remember her."

"You know," Alesha said, tapping her temple in thought. "The first time I met Emerald, it was somewhere around here. Maybe just up the street, I can't quite remember... She helped me catch my first butterfly. I'd never even known anything about them before that, but she told me about all sorts of different kinds... I've never seen anyone treat anything as gently as Emerald treated that butterfly, either."

With a shrug, Alesha finished, "She really was one of the most gentle people I've ever met."

Alesha had barely finished her sentence when Bradley suddenly collapsed into Alesha's shoulder, his glasses the only thing protecting her shoulder from a mass barrage of tears assaulting the sides of Bradley's cheeks. His sobs came quickly, but they faded equally as fast; the pain came, but ebbed away as he felt Alesha's arms drape across his back.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, leaning her chin against Brad's stiff blonde hair. "I didn't realize that would upset you."

"It's not that, it's just--" Bradley pulled himself away, his face so scrunched that his eyebrows formed little crinkles between each other. "I didn't realize you even knew her. I didn't really know anyone knew that side of her."

Alesha smiled softly, looking upwards. "A lot of people knew and loved Emerald, Brad. No one will ever forget her... It's just easier to focus on the present than dwelling on the past. Otherwise, you just forget to live."

When Brad didn't respond, his head still drooping and his gaze pointed downwards, Alesha lifted her hand and brought it closer to his arm.

"I know it's not easy, Brad," she whispered softly. "But you're not the only one that feels that way."

Her hand moved down his limp arm and finally clasped against his fingers; she squeezed, looking briefly at the statue behind him.

As she spoke, she leaned her head against his, which still drooped with his chin against his chest. "I'll stay with you, if you like. You shouldn't have to be alone."

Something in Alesha's words made Bradley's cringe of sadness turn to a cringe of anger; he quickly snatched his hand away, and lifted his head to glare into her eyes.

"Look, I don't need you," Brad said, scowling. "I don't need anyone."

"I mean," he continued, watching as this time Alesha began to bow her head. "It's not like I really need anyone else to care, anyways. What I feel is between me and Emerald... That's all. I've gone this far just fine on my own, I don't need someone hand-holding me like some little kid, alright? I'm almost an adult, you know... What would you know, when you're hardly even a teenager, yet?"

The last words stung, but Alesha kept her mouth shut; the last thing she wanted to do was anger Bradley further.

"Look," she said as she noticed Brad was about to start pulling away. "I realize that's how you feel now, but please, just remember that there are people out there that care, alright? And that if you ever change your mind... You know where to find me."

"Yeah, right," Bradley said, rolling his eyes and flitting his hands. "I get it. Now can you please go, so I can be here in peace? I'd honestly prefer to be alone right now, if you don't mind."

"Did you hear anything I just said, Bradley?" Alesha asked slowly, her voice weak and quiet.

"Mhm, I did," Brad said, shrugging and turning away. "I'll make sure to file your hocus pocus next to the rest of the trash everyone else has been feeding me. Now if you'll excuse me..."

Well... Nothing else really needs to be said. The narrator is with Alesha on this one: Facepalm.

---

It was a strange night in Twinbrook, that evening... Everything had gone topsy turvy, flipped into disarray, sent slipping down a steep slope towards inevitable mistakes and heartache...

But the extent of which would be hard to know until the fall was completely over.

And yet, for some, the night was still young, and the fall only just beginning.

As Sinbad heard the voice on the other end of the line come through, a sick smile crossed his face. "I've made my decision," he said clearly, his eyes turning towards the dark blue sky above. "If the offer still stands, that is."

He listened for a moment, and then nodded, smiling wider.

"Great," Sinbad said, stiffly nodding. "Then it's done."

Yes, the town of Twinbrook is full of slippery slopes, just waiting for an unwary passerby to tumble on down...

... each one waiting for the next victim to take up in it's grasp.