Chapter 26: You Will Love Me

Tobin's contacts in the criminal underworld of Appaloosa Plains set them up with a new house and new identities.

Amit, now Aiden Bowman, got a new hair color along with his new name. His natural turquoise and green would have stood out too much for a man trying to hide from the law.

Tearney got to keep her first name and hair color. Her last name is now Bowman, as she and Aiden are posing as a married couple.

After Tennyson is settled into her crib and Elvis, the Scarlet King snake, is settled into his terrarium, the couple meet up in their new kitchen.

"What do you think?" he asks.

"It's a great house," she answers, "I love the studio."

She's smiling, but there's something in her voice and in her eyes that worries him. "What's wrong?" he asks.

"I just...it's just a little weird. I mean, we just hooked up once, and now we're playing house, pretending to be married. We aren't even in love."

His arms drop from around her waist and he looks away. "Tired of me already?" he quips, but his voice fails to convey any humor.

"I've hurt your feelings," Tearney observes.

"Did you think I didn't have feelings to hurt?" he asks bitterly.

"No, I just thought...in high school, you had a new girlfriend every other day. Aren't you a little freaked out to suddenly have to play at being married?"

"Tea, do you know why every girl I dated in high school broke up with me?" he asks.

"They broke up with you?" she asks, "I thought you just had commitment issues or something. You never seemed broken up by it, and your girls would cry for days afterwards."

Aiden shakes his head, "No, I got dumped every time. I never really wanted any of them, but girls just kind of, well, throw themselves at me whether I want them or not. My mother said it was a fae thing, that humans are attracted to our kind, drawn to use almost against their will. But whatever it was, it always ended when they realized that what I really wanted was to be with you."

"Oh," Tearney breathes, remembering all the times he flirted with her, tried to touch her. She thought that was just his nature. "I never thought...I wish I'd known."

"You know now, Tea. This situation we're in, forced into hiding together, I never wanted that, and I'm sorry I put you in this position. But being with you, that's the one bright spot in this mess for me. We have to maintain this cover for awhile at least, but if you want to be free of me..."

"I'd rather be with you than not," she says. Not the confession of love he wanted, but better than outright rejection.

He smiles, a little weakly, "It's been a long trip out her. Why don't we go check out our new bedroom."

They'd been days driving out here, cramped in his truck, and there'd been neither time nor space to make love.
"I'll make you happy, Tea," he promises, lifting her gently to the bed, "You will love me." He makes love to her, slowly, tender and deep, nothing like the furious passion of their time, and Tearney discovers there are other ways to satisfy the passions that burn inside her.

The house came with a guitar, and Aiden has picked up a new hobby.

Tearney had always meant to be an artist, but moving away from the city and into this town in the middle of nowhere has squashed those dreams. There are no agents out here, no galleries to show her work. But having no audience will not stop her painting and sculpting.

While Aiden is out meeting wih his father's contacts, Tearney is surprised by a knock at the door.

"Are you the welcome wagon?" she asks.

"I'm Kenji Midden," he answers, shaking her hand, "My meter has been off the chart since you arrived."

"Okay," she laughs, "For one, that is probably the worst pick up line in the history of pick up lines. And, two, I'm taken. Married."

"Oh, that wasn't...I didn't..." Kenji fidgets nervously, "I'm with the Wolfson research center, in the paranormal department. I measure paranormal events in the area. And when you came into town, everything lit up. Are you a medium? Can you see ghosts?"

"A what? I've seen ghosts, yes...what is this about?"

"Oh, excellent!" Kenji is beside himself with excitement. "I need someone to collect spirit samples for my research, but the banshee banisher won't work for just anyone. And there are no sensitives in this town. You will come to the center won't you, and try it out?"

"What exactly are you asking me to do?" Tearney asks, "What is a banshee banisher?"

Kenji grins, "It's an amazing piece of tech, invented by Landgraab industries." he goes on to describe the device and its operations  in technical terms that are way over Tearney's head.

"In Simlish, please," she says with a frown.

"Oh, right," Kenji says, slidng his glasses back up on his nose, "It sucks up spirits and ghosts, like a vacuum, and traps them in spirit jars."

"So, you want me to hunt ghosts and suck them up with your magic vacuum," Tearney says. Her mind goes back to the night the ghost of Sun Young invaded her nursery and stole her candy. Since then, she's always had a fear of ghosts. Tearney likes to think of herself as fearless, so she decides it's time to conquer the only thing that contradicts her self-image. And she could do with a job, since she can't be a career artist. "I'll come by tomorrow, and you can show me how it works."

"How did your...meeting...go?" Tearney asks when Aiden returns.

"Bedlington has worked with my father before, so she's willing to let me into her operation," he answers,  "But I can think of a million things I'd rather do right now than talk about work."

"A million? Really?" she laughs.

"No," he admits, "Just one."

"How do you want it tonight?" he asks, "Rough, or gentle?"

"Can I have both?"

"You can have whatever you want, sweetheart," he promises, and delivers.

"That song," he says as he comes into the kitchen that morning, "My mother used to sing that song."

"My mother, too," Tearney laughs, "She'd always sing while she was cooking. I guess I picked it up from her."

"Don't stop, you have a beautiful voice," he says.

This morning, she's enthusiastic, raving about how much she loves the house and about her job interview at the Wolfson Center this afternoon. Aiden smiles at her every word.

Tearney rides over to the Wolfson Research Center that afternoon to meet with Kenji. He hands her the banshee banisher, and he squeals like a schoolgirl when it comes alive to her touch.

"You are a sensitive! I knew it!" he exclaims. "The banshee banisher reacts to your innate abilities, and also enhances them. Take it out at night, and you will sense where spirits and poltergeists are lurking. Suck them up and bring them to me. We'll pay you for every jar you bring to us, plus a weekly stipend."

With the rest of the afternoon free, Tearney drops by the local gym. She's not forgetting how badly her fight with the cop that arrested them went, and she means to build up her strength in case she ever needs to fight again. Not everyone who goes to the gym is there primarily to work out. For some, it is the local pick up joint, and Tearney's session on the treadmill is interrupted by Benjamin Schmidtt, the local lothario.

"Look, buddy, I'm not here looking for a date," Tearney snarls at his attempts to flirt with her.

Guys like Benjamin really piss her off, and Tearney, unable to hold back her rage, swings a punch.

Her first hit connected, but after that the fight went downhill. Tearney decides to buy some exercise equipment so she can work out at home in he future.

While Tearney is out, Aiden spends his day with Tennyson, teaching her to talk.

When the sun sets, Tearney goes out with her banshee banisher. These sprits are nothing like the candy stealing ghost she remembers from her childhood, but whatever they are, she takes them out with a vengeance. "No more candy for you," she snarls as she traps them in the jars.

Her first night on the job, and she already has a fan.

Aiden gets Tennyson ready for bed.

Tearney returns from her victorious first night as a ghost hunter to find him in the nursey, tucking his daughter into her crib.

"Hey," he says, wrapping his arms around her, "I heard you got into a fight."

"Wow, gossip sure travels fast in this town," she says.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine, just a few bruises," she brushes it off, "Some jerk was checking me out at the gym."

"Tea, if you try to beat up every guy that checks you out..."

"I know," she sighs, "It just pisses me off. I was there to work out, not looking for a date. But, still, I need to control my temper." That was a lesson her father always tried to teach her, but one that she repeatedly failed to learn.

"If anything ever happened to you..." Aiden can't finish the thought.

He sleeps fitfully that night, his worries translated into various nightmare scenarios of losing Tearney to her own violent urges.

Tearney has no such worries about her own safety, and has put the fight out of her mind. Over breakfast, all she wants to talk about is her new job.

This town is full of wildlife, and Tearney catches a pygmy komodo dragon for a pet. "Little dragon," she says with a smile, placing him in his terrarium. It's what her father used to call her. She misses Aymeri, and wishes he could be here.


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Challenge Notes:
One Fight down for the Fighter goal.
Party to Remember is actually going to be a little challenge. If I had stayed in BH, it would have been no problem, as Allyriane was a level 10 chef and Aymeri level 10 guitarist (and mixologist). So, I think Tearney is already a good enough cook to get the three required dishes for a party, but it will be some time before Aiden's guitar skills are up to performing a song.