Parting is such sweet sorrow, Epilogue

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

November 5, 2004

 

 

 

Johnny Dangerous and Dominic LeCroix are seated in a Waffle House outside of Durham, North Carolina, waiting for their orders to arrive. While Dominic stares out the window, lost in his own thoughts, Johnny is looking at his friend’s new body art in wonderment. Over the course of the last seventy-two hours, young Dominic’s body had become adorned by several tattoos: across his throat is a one-inch braided pattern resembling a rope, drawn in roughly the same area as where he had placed a noose only a few days previously. Across his right shoulder and down his back is a thin black outline bordering the scar from his reconstructive surgery, made a necessity by a vicious attack at the hands of Mike Van Siclen several months ago; written vertically to the left of the outline are the words “n'oubliez jamais, ne pardonnez jamais” in bloodied text: “never forget, never forgive.” Across his back, a weeping angel, surrounded by the faces of Henri, Diana, Marius and Lillian. On his left bicep, the LeCroix family crest.

 

 

 

Suddenly, Dominic turns his attention back to his friend. “What?”

 

 

 

The sound of Dominic’s voice sends Johnny blinking out of his trance. “Just wondering when you became so morbid, is all.”

 

 

 

Dominic looked away, struggling to fight down his emotions. “De day after Jeanne touched down in Morgan’s Bluff.”

 

 

 

Realizing what he’d just said, Johnny hung his head in shame. “I’m sorry, dude. I didn’t mean to bring it up.”

 

 

 

But Dominic merely waved his hand dismissively. “It was an honest question; I guess you can say that I’m not the same happy kid that I was before… But I do thank you for bringing me over here, Johnny. I don’t t’ink I’d have been able t’ deal with my grief back in Andros; I was surprised by how much better I felt just getting t’ throw some of those trainees around.”

 

 

 

“Well, you might feel better,” Johnny said with a grin, “but I’ll bet some of those kids weren’t feeling so great afterwards.”

 

 

 

Dominic replies with a shrug. “It’ll help them in de long run, eh? Dey need t’ learn how t’ take bumps sooner or later.”

 

 

 

“I have to admit,” said Johnny, “I was surprised by how well you were moving around in the ring, considering how long you’ve been out.”

 

 

 

“Well, you didn’t t’ink dat I just sat around for eight months, did you? I mean, I have been keepin’ in shape.”

 

 

 

‘Ah,’ Johnny though to himself. ‘The opening I was hoping for.’ “You get to wrestle much in Andros?”

 

 

 

Dominic shrugged noncommittally. “Not really; jus’ a bit here an’ dere. Marius had wanted to become a wrestler, an’ I’d been training him, but not much more den dat.”

 

 

 

“Speaking of which,” Johnny began, looking back over his shoulder before reaching into his jacket, “I found this next to Marius’ grave that day I went looking for you. Do you happen to know how it got there?”

 

 

 

Dominic was slow in responding, staring at the object in Johnny’s hand before finally saying, “I was wondering where that went… I know how it got there: I put it there.”

 

 

 

“That so?”

 

 

 

“Oui.”

 

 

 

Johnny nodded his head, and then remained still for a few moments longer before continuing. “So, does that mean that you were…?”

 

 

 

Dominic nodded his head, answering before Johnny could complete his sentence. “Oui… Well, not de whole time.”

 

 

 

This caused Johnny to raise his eyebrow in interest. “Not the whole time?”

 

 

 

“Well,” explained Dominic, “At first, I was on… a little fact-finding mission, an’ I’d asked Marius to perform in my stead. I must say dat he did pretty well, wouldn’t you?”

 

 

 

Johnny nodded in the affirmative. “Without question. But why didn’t you…?”

 

 

 

Once again, Dominic began to answer without waiting for the whole question. “It wouldn’t have been prudent, at first. It was important for me t’ be able t’ operate in secrecy.”

 

 

 

Johnny cringes in response. “That hurts, man. I can’t believe that you didn’t think that you could trust me.”

 

 

 

Dominic shook his head. “It wasn’t about trust; I couldn’t ask you t’ put your plans on hold to help me out. You were about to become de World Champion… I couldn’t ask you t’ abandon dat t’ help me out.”

 

 

 

Before Johnny could reply, the waitress returned with their food. The two decided to abandon the topic and enjoy their meals.

 

 

 

Some time later, Dominic looked up from his plate at Johnny and asked, “So, what was going on between you and my sister?”

 

 

 

 

 

*AAAAACK!*

 

 

 

Caught off-guard, Johnny chokes on a bite of his waffle; Dominic looks on with interest as the Barracuda struggles to clear his throat. “Lilly and I had a platonic relationship.”

 

 

Dominic didn’t respond verbally, but simply raised a questioning eyebrow.

 

 

“Okay… mostly platonic.”

 

 

Dominic raised his eyebrow even higher, a feat which one wouldn’t have thought possible. “MOSTLY platonic?”

 

 

Johnny raised his hands in a placating manner. “I treated Lilly with nothing but respect at all times, ‘Nic! Come on, man; you know me!”

 

“Dat’s right… I do know you…”

 

“Nic…”

 

“She was seventeen, Johnny.”

 

“Nothing happened, I swear,” says Johnny, raising his voice slightly in frustration. “I mean, I’m sure you noticed that we got along well, and you know I thought she was a great girl, but come on, Nic; you know I’d never sneak around with your sister behind your back… I have more respect for you than that; I had more respect for her than that!”

 

Dominic still looked unconvinced, but he chose to let the matter drop. Johnny, only too glad to change the subject, spoke up quickly. “So… have you given any more thought to getting back into the ring?”

 

Dominic sighed loudly. “I’m not sure; I mean, it won’t be de same anymore... I may not ever be able to get dat high from de fans cheers dat I used to. On de other hand, when we were working out wit’ dose trainees, it was de first time in weeks dat I haven’t thought about my family…”

 

There was a long pause, and Johnny began to open his mouth to reply, only for Dominic to continue. “I dunno if I want t’ go back t’ de fed…” Johnny nodded, disappointed but understanding, and looked down at his plate. Both were silent for several seconds longer.

 

 

“… But, I t’ink I might actually need t’ go back.”

 

Johnny looked back up in surprise. “Are you sure about this?”

 

Dominic shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe it’ll be some kind of physical therapy, or something.”

 

Johnny smiled feebly. “Well, in that case, let’s get out of here, bro; we’ve got to get practicing if we want to get back in sync.”

 

Johnny and Wildchild paid their bill, remembering to leave a generous tip for the waitress, and headed back out to their rental car.

 

 

END

[Secret Agent 0]

Well, I liked it. Good job, WC, nice to see some charater building going on with this! (Y)