Chapter Text
Setting: September 1993
Dusty, Rabbit, Bill, and Jo haven’t talked about that very misguided rescue attempt since it happened. Dusty and Rabbit had threatened Bill, got more than they’d bargained for, and then Jo had threatened them if they so much as breathed a word of what they saw to anyone.
Circle of life and all that.
Eventually, things got back to normal, even if Rabbit and Dusty couldn’t exactly bleach their eyes. True to their word, they hadn’t told a soul what they’d walked into. And so now, across the hall from Bill and Jo, when they hear the all-too-familiar yelling, their hearts drop. They exchange a glance. Beltzer and Haynes are in the room adjoining theirs, and thankfully they have no other neighbors because they’d gotten the corner room.
When a thud against the wall shakes their bed, Haynes turns to Beltzer with a quizzical look. “That them?” She asks. Then another thud, quieter and farther away, followed by a venom-laced curse.
“Gotta be,” Beltzer shrugs and goes back to reading about carburetors. “It’s Friday. I guess that’s their version of date night.”
Haynes sighs, “these freaking walls are too thin for this.”
“We start dating and suddenly you treat me like I need looking after!”
“No, Jo, I treat you like you’re reckless because you are!” Bill roars.
“At least they’re still using full sentences,” Beltzer says with a smirk. They hear Jo let out an irritated I’m-at-the-end-of-my-rope guttural yell. Silence, then the bed squeaking.
“Bill, I swear to God you’re- fuck, God-”
Quieter and breathless: “still think I’m treating you like you’re fragile?” Bang-crash. It sounds like a lamp topples over.
“Should we intervene?” Haynes looks over.
“Nope,” Beltzer flips a page. “I want no part of that.”
They both jump as the wall thuds loudly twice in a row. Bill’s voice floats through, too low to make out but definitely angry. “But like… what if they’re actually fighting?”
“They do actually fight,” he says. “That’s what they’re doing right now.”
“I mean… you know… fists flying full-on smackdown?”
“That’s not a fistfight,” Beltzer laughs.
“Do you concede that somebody’s been shoved into our wall at least once?”
That gets him to put the magazine down. “Okay. Sure.”
Another thud followed by Jo gasping. “What if they’re not just fighting?”
“Maybe we should check on her,” Beltzer finally agrees. He throws Haynes her hoodie then tries the adjoining door. It’s locked.
In the hallway, Beltzer has one hand raised to bang on the door when Dusty and Rabbit come flying out of the room across the hall. Dusty all but tackles him as Rabbit steps in front of him, waving his hands like a walking, talking stop sign.
“What the hell?” Beltzer asks.
“You do not want to do that,” Dusty says breathlessly.
“What do you mean?” Haynes says. “It sounds like they’re killing each other in there.”
“They’re not!” Rabbit says quickly. “I promise you that.”
“…How do yo know?” Beltzer raises an eyebrow. Dusty gulps. Glass shatters inside the room, and the only ones who don’t look worried are Rabbit and Dusty.
“This is ridiculous.” Beltzer steps forward but Rabbit puts an arm out. The shorter man glares but the arm doesn’t move.
“Wait… Did you guys walk in on something?” Haynes is almost laughing.
“It was an accident,” Dusty says quickly. “A very, very stupid accident that we very much regret.”
Another hard thud followed by a pained gasp. Haynes winces. “Are you sure they’re okay in there?”
“Oh, they’re more than okay,” Rabbit mutters.
“Jesus, Jo-” Followed by a strangled grunt.
“Oh my God,” Haynes backs away from the door like she’d been burned.
“We’re telling you, they’re fine. They’re both just emotionally constipated and dealing with their shit in their own special way,” Rabbit says. A loud thump-thud-growl accentuates his point.
Then some shuffling, the sound of feet stumbling. “Do you have to control every-” Bill gets cut off by what sounds like a body slamming into the wall.
“That sounded like-”
“Don’t worry, she shoved him,” Dusty sighs. Haynes and Rabbit turn their eyes to him. “Trust me, I wish that was something I didn’t have to know.”
“Stop pretending you don’t like when I do that,” Jo’s voice, low.
“I’m leaving,” Beltzer says. “We’re leaving.” He gently tugs Haynes’ arm until she follows him to their door. Then he pauses. “Dusty, is it any quieter in your room?”
“Probably,” he shrugs. “Rabbit and I are playing cards if you guys wanna join?”
“Yes, please.”
Bill and Jo are late to breakfast. The team isn’t complaining, because they’re grateful for any delay in having to face their bosses. Beltzer shoves a bite of toast into his mouth, Haynes sips orange juice, Dusty stirs his Lucky Charms around sadly, and Rabbit tries to force himself to eat his waffle. Finally, Haynes breaks the silence.
“Should we… stage an intervention?”
“For what?” Beltzer snorts.
“I don’t know…” Haynes gestures around, “anger management? Continued destruction of motel property? Inability to process emotions like normal human beings?”
“Good luck with that, I’ll come to your funeral,” Rabbit smirks. Then, his face drops. “Oh no,” he whispers as he sees Jo and Bill walk thorough the door.
“Mom and Dad are here.”
They’re being cool. Too cool. Walking too normally for two people who’d destroyed each other the night before. Bill might be limping. “Is the food decent this morning?” Jo asks as she throws her bag down on a chair at the table next to theirs.
“Yeah,” Dusty nods.
“My guy, you got cereal out of a box that the motel definitely didn’t cook,” Beltzer says.
“Right,” the red-head nods. Rabbit resits the urge to groan; Dusty is always the one who gives them up.
“What happened?” Jo’s eyes narrow. Dusty looks away. “Something broken?”
“Your room,” Beltzer coughs. All eyes snap to him.
“What?” Bill takes a step forward.
“You guys throwing shit at each other in there? Sounded like you were.” Beltzer, to his credit, is never afraid to say the hard things. Even still, he’ll mince his words here -he’s not an idiot with a death wish.
Realization hits Bill and Jo like ice water dumped on their heads. Bill’s still trying to unclench his fists when Jo says, “we had a disagreement. You guys are the ones making it weird eavesdropping.” Then she spins on her heel to gather breakfast. No one points out that it’s impossible not to eavesdrop in a cheap motel.
Rabbit can’t help himself. With Jo out of earshot, he shoots him a shit-eating grin and asks, “what’d she do to you that you’re limping?” Bill’s face flushes and he stomps off to figure out his own breakfast situation.
Their mismatched caravan is driving down the road at an easy pace. Breakfast was quick this morning, so they’re ahead of schedule on getting to what will be their base camp for the day till the dry line fires. As usual, Jo and Bill are in the front truck.
“At least you locked the adjoining door this time,” Jo says with a smirk, one hand on the steering wheel and the other hanging out of the open driver’ side window.
“Hey, you could’ve locked it, too,” Bill replies.
“God, they knew this morning. They were being so weird.”
“Rabbit definitely knows. He saw me limping!”
“You weren’t complaining last night.”
“Yeah, well, I think I’m getting too old to keep working our problems out out with angry, violent sex.”
“Oh, come on, it’s great! We just need to accept the fact that we’re never going to be normal people who can talk their feelings out,” Jo says. From behind the wheel, she steals a glance at Bill. “Thanks for finally letting me drive your truck.”
“You made some pretty convincing arguments last night,” he tosses her a teasing look. “But my back can’t handle getting slammed into another wall, okay? So just… be a little gentler next time.”
“Gentle isn’t the point,” she snorts. He rolls his eyes. “I gotta say, though, the leverage I get with you on the chair -next vacation I say we just come to this motel, screw Aruba.”
“Jo, I don’t care where we go as long as you do that thing with your-
“Umm guys?” Beltzer’s static-y voice fills the truck. “Your mic’s hot.”
Jo almost slams on the brakes.
“They waited this long to say something?” Bill growls.
“Didn’t you make sure the radio was switched from ‘open’ to ‘push to talk’?”
“Clearly I didn’t,” Bill snaps.
“I’m driving, that’s your job!”
“This is why I drive my truck!”
“Mic is still hot, you two,” Rabbit says and everyone can hear the teasing smirk in his voice.
Bill yanks the mic out of its holder. “Everyone shut up.”
“We haven’t been talking.” Beltzer again. Bill presses the ‘power’ button with more force than necessary and throws the mic.
“I’m going to kill him,” Bill grumbles. “Remind me again why you agreed to be his thesis advisor?”
“Because he amuses me,” she says.
“Jesus Christ,” he mutters and scrubs his face with one hand. Then takes a deep breath. “So tonight…”
“Tonight we need to try not to lose another security deposit.”