10 December 2008, Just north of Kansas City, Kansas

God knows how I have made it this long on this steady diet of angst and no sleep. My back is sore from bedding down on the old couch in the back room. I'm so tired that I just about can't work magick, and especially not for myself. Everything is still so -wrong- in the house and I can't figure out -why-. The whole scene has had me worked up for days.

I gun the engine of the Suburban as I get up by the Lakeside Speedway. It's very easy to envy the racecars simply because they know the track they have to follow. Were it only me.... At just over 60, I can see I-435 and the turnoff for the airport. Rad's flight is due in 20 minutes and it is going to be all I can do to get there in time. I am running so late and have been since I got here in November--I have the snow, snowplows, and being blocked in by Gary and Connie's Volvo to thank for this.

Gah...I'm being bitchy. Gotta get it together before Rad sees me a mess like this. Don't want to worry him. Got enough on his mind as it is.

Airport parking is screwed up. You'd think 50mil would buy fewer construction delays, but everyone knows the unions are crooked as the day is long. The time I lose finding a parking place for that huge truck mostly negates the time I gained speeding to get here. The shuttle is late, the wind is kicking up and the snow is starting to thin out into more icy flakes as the grip of the cold night surrounds and penetrates everything--including my jacket.

Finally, I give up on the shuttle and hoof it the half mile to the terminal, my long johns and boots only barely keeping me warm enough in the chill. I get in past the guards and metal detectors and walk down 'A' concourse to try and meet a plane that touched down about two minutes before I gave up and started walking.

The worst part of it is that I'm late enough that the plane is unloaded a bit ago. The crowd around the gate is pretty big and I can't see Rad anywhere. The whole damn place is jammed with college kids on their way home for the holidays. There's about no room to manuever and using correspondance is too much of a risk in here. Every brush against someone makes me feel like I'm going to get grabbed and dragged back to that basement in Detroit. If the nausea wasn't coming back with it, I'd probably be okay....

God, Beatrice, you are so damn screwed up.

Where is Rad?

Rad walked out of the plane toward that gate with laptop and carry on bag in hand. No checked luggage meant no baggage hassles at the airpor and as long as it wasn't bigger than the duffle bag, he could still grab it in a pinch from home. Once he cleared the gate, it was a simple matter of looking around for Beatrice.

The weather report from the pilot were for snow and cold, indicating there could be delays on the roads here. Rad really didn't expect her to be there on time. Not seeing her immediately and really wanting to just get his land legs back, he picked a likely looking support pillar and waited. All the college kids and bustle made it hard to pick anyone out, and probably harder for Bea to find him. He'd give it ten minutes hoped she had her celphone with her, at least then he could find her, given the laptop and a couple of minutes at the keys.

He was worried and pensive. Bea had been calm enough, but her voice shook as she broke the news about her mother's death. He wondered why she hadn't called him sooner, wondered why she couldn't have a little peace. Their lives had gotten simpler and more complex in New Hampshire. Some of it was good, like getting married and Bea getting a handle on herself again after the summer ordeal. Some of it was bad, like what happened with Aliya and Guy losing it.

As he stood there waiting, he wondered why he is not affected by such things and if he should care more--or less. He wanted Bea to be strong and knew that if she could walk away from the cult and survive what they put her through in the summer, that she could get through this. It was just one of those things, like 1 and 0, that you did or didn't do.

Above all, though, he just wanted the two them to be happy. For the most part, they were. This just complicated matters further than either of them would have liked.

After 10 minutes of waiting, Rad presumed the worst and that he'd have to find out what was going on. Beatrice was hopelessly punctual these days, so her being late meant -something- was going on. He grabbed his bag and headed off for a quiet place to make the call.

He moved through the airport largely unhindered or noticed. A few yards from the gate, he finally spotted his wife. Four weeks in Kansas hadn't done Bea all that much good. Then again, the past 2 years had been difficult for her. Her color was still that deathly transluscent paleness. Whether the result of the Seeking or something the Nephandi did to her in capitivity, it worried him, htough not nearly so much as the haggard and sleepless look she had about her. To say that the inlaws were idiots would have been more tactful than Rad would put it.

He got close and dropped his Arcane enough that a quiet 'Love?' would get her attention. It wasn't until she realized it was him standing there that the look of total relief overcame her. They hugged each other tightly for a time, it becoming apparent that she wasn't holding up as well as she had claimed on the phone. It worried him a lot more than he would ever let on, but he'd decided long ago that Beatrice needed to come to him, it was better for both of them.

I'm standing here, looking around through the crowd, worried that I've missed Rad totally and that he decided to take a cab out to Leavenworth. The celphone hasn't rang yet, but that could mean a lot of things. Still, I look around and take up residence near a water fountain, figuring that Rad will appear out of nowhere, like he does at home. The crowd is thinning a bit now, and with my back to the wall, I don't feel so exposed. Maybe I'll get through this and still not be too much of a basketcase to drive us back to the house.

It's a nice idea anyway.

I don't know how long it is before I hear Rad say "Love?" and appear right there, but at least I've got his act down. We didn't say anything for a bit, he assessing me as I just stand here looking at him like he was my last friend. I just put my arms around him after that and feel the security of his embrace after a month away from it.

"You okay?" he asks in that way of his.

"I am now, Rad."

He pulls back a moment and just smiles before holding me tight again.

That smile is really all that matters to me right now. "It's been a really bad day. I'm hanging on." I admit openly, not feeling the need to couch it in too many pleasantries, though saying something like 'Hi, I'm fucked up and fucked over by my family' would probably get a reaction that wouldn't do anyone any good.

Thankfully there's no luggage to grab from anywhere, so we go off tromping back out to the Suburban when it becomes apparent that the shuttle isn't running anything like on time. I hate this airport more and more with every passing minute and Rad tells me several times that it will be okay. I feel him extending Correspondence out and then he starts to navigate us out of that mess.

Soon, we're back over into Kansas side and I start to tell him all of what has been going on. In the hour it takes to get back, there is plenty of time to offload 4 weeks of life around the Winters' household. The look on his face isn't a happy one and he curses under his breath.

"You should have told me sooner, Bea." he starts out calmly, "We might have been able to stop it."

I fall silent for a couple miles, pulling the idea through my mind while concentrating on my driving. He starts explaining to me about Progenitors and I start to get sick inside. This was already bad enough, now I feel stupid in addition to useless.

Rad listened quietly as Beatrice told him all of what was going on. His opinion of her family was already bad enough without hearing about the petty squabbles going on over everything from the matter of the estate to who was going to put out the family dog. It certainly explained a lot of why she looked so bad and pushed some of those buttons inside that might be better left unpushed. He slipped his hand to her arm, letting her know he was there and silently reassured her as she spoke. Then she started telling him about the hospital and his heart froze in place.

When he finally found the words to say what needed to be said, Bea's face fell further. It wasn't that hard to tell that she was going to have a hard time dealing with this. The last thing in the world Bea needed to feel was that it had somehow been -her- fault. He loosed his seat belt and slid right beside her as she drove, letting his presence soothe her as much as he could. A long night lay ahead; a funeral and a stressful situation with the inlaws on the morrow. With a small shispered chant, he let his Mind magick floow gently between them. Bea needed the support, especially if they were going to get to Leavenworth in one piece.