FADED GLORY
By: Karen B.
Thank you my friend Karen-Leigh! Her time and talents are such a blessing!
Episode: The Fix: A Different POV
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Glory fades fast when you need something so badly you can taste it before it ever hits your tongue.
His flag was down. Torn to shreds, lying on the ground, discolored from its normally honorable and virtuous self. His wrecked body slid down that brick wall as the ground exploded beneath his feet and disappeared bringing him into a dream-like state of unknowing.
His mind took another passage. A passage to another way of life. His normally well-groomed hair greased and matted to his skull. His clothing reeking like a scurvy sea dog and loosely decaying off his battered body. The blond's mind tumbled in turmoil not knowing if he stood, sat or even had a heartbeat. His normally pastel blue eyes constricted, abducted and chambered sightlessly in some unreachable place.
I could feel his need growing, bubbling inside him like a black cauldron. Chills of pleasure racked through me to know this man was now on the road to impeccable doom. I sang a song of the black sunrise that now beamed through his soul. This one, this blond glory seeker now was mine as he faded fast. In my grasp forever. I would never let him go. I was his Captain and there was no ship, no sea, only darkness and empty promises. Yes, this blond, white knight was now tarnished like the brass fittings of an old sea barge. It pleased me greatly when he leaned over shaking violently as my poison filtered through his veins causing his stomach to cleanse itself.
He lay there mindlessly weak from need. Sooner or later he would seek me out and I would be gratified once more. I celebrated my victory by wrapping myself around his throat like a coiled viper causing him to gasp and struggle for air.
Unfortunately, I had to loosen my grip when an interloper of greater good interrupted me. The curly haired Glory Boy had the blond shrouded in his arms keeping him seaworthy for the moment. I could feel the goodness pouring out of this man infamously. Like a soldier trapped alone in a fox hole keeping the flag waving high even when the bombs of death detonated all around him. This curly haired man was a threat to my happiness and by the demons I worshiped I would not let him win. He would not pass go and he would not collect his two hundred dollars.
To prove my point and my power I skewered the blond's guts into a knot causing him to retch all over curly locks. This didn't slow the darker haired man. I was helpless as he slowly lifted the blond Faded Glory to what was left of his legs. I smiled to myself. I knew the man could barely walk as he fell and heaved again. Glory Boy with all those swirling locks of his was just a mild stepping-stone that soon would sink to the bottom of the icy sea. He would never have the fortitude or stamina to beat me.
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I would fight for my crew with all the power of the universe backing me up. Huh, Glory Boy doesn't stand a chance. Does he really think he can hide from me? You can't escape me by locking the door and throwing away the key, guarding Faded Glory and forcing caffeine down his throat will have little effect. He'll clamber over any obstacle to get to me. Hauling a dead carcass behind him if he has to. I am roped and anchored to him. My weight always will pull him under and layer the sands around him so deep he won't be able to move unless I say he can. I will control him.
The locked door opened slowly and shut again just the same. On the eve of my celebration you dare call in reinforcements? Call in the reserves? A scrawny rail of a man bearing candy as gifts. He will have no power over me. Caffeine junkie, you have no chance, not a prayer. I'll destroy the blond before I ever release him from my stable.
I powerfully burrowed through the blond to prove my self once more. His decorated blood no match for me. I carved my name on the inside of his flesh. I felt triumph as a low painful growl seeped out from him. "Eeeerrrrrrrrrrr." His face twisted in raw agonizing pain. "Give me something, I n-need it. S-Starsk p-please." He implored his helpless comrade. "You're my f-f-friend." He stated with a quiver of his lip. "Now, I n-need it now. Dying, gotta h-h-have it." Aw, his shivering voice was music to my ears.
The curls on the head of Glory Boy shook at my mighty supremacy. Tears tugged at his lids and spilled down his cheek as he cradled the blond in his arms in a desperate attempt to ease his pain. "Aw hell, Hutch don't do this to me now. You're not dying buddy. You're not dying." He tenderly rubbed the blond's arm as a form of reassurance for himself more so I believe. "Easy now, come on. We're going to fight this together partner. You hear me? We're going to fight. Not giving in." Now I knew curly was grief stricken but he is stronger than I suspected. This is going to be a little tougher than I thought.
"Man, he's hurtin." That's right, Reserve, and he's going to keep on hurting till he learns to trust me. Till I become his backup, his partner, his friend. He won't turn to Glory Boy any more. Only I can ease his pain and he will learn that sooner or later. Only I can pull the sword from the stone that rocks him to his knees.
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Things got quiet for a while. Too quiet. The blond seemed to take relish in the hold curly had on him. I decided to stir up the waters again. This time the undertow would pull him completely under and he would be mine. I would win. Let there be no mistake about that certainty. One way or another I would triumph. He would succumb to me or be put to his knees in a slow torturous demise.
I lunged around his heart bumping and grinding against it trying to halt its steady beat. I have to admit the blond is one tough knight. All my hard work only succeeded in having him hang off the side of the bed like a rag doll. Sweat pouring off him like the raging rapids. The muscles in his legs and arms tightened and he convulsed against my efforts. My storm whirled through him. His face red and his knuckles white as ivory tusks as they gripped the sheets.
Curly carted him back up onto the bed and struggled to hold him still. He foolishly coddled the blond speaking low in his ear. The blond's feverish eyes blinked up at him struggling to focus on his words. "You hold on Hutch. Hear me? Hold on. You're doing it partner." The darker man caressed the sides of his temples. All in vain I might add. " We're doing it together. I'm here with you. Won't let you fall." More false hope spoken by Curly.
My prisoner seemed to gag as his breath snagged in his esophagus. Obstructed by the opening and closing off his airway. He wheezed out as he spoke his need. Aw, the beauty of it all. "Y-you don't kno-know." He informed Glory Boy. "C-can't understand." He gurgled and sucked in a deep breath. "N-need it. W-want…" choking, "it."
He couldn't take the needing and wanting any longer. I was reeling him in like a fish on a hook He shot off the bed with renewed strength and stumbled toward the door. This was the closest I had come yet to victory. I could hear the clanging of coins in the metal dish and envisioned the three gold bullions, as I pulled harder on the arm of life's slot machine. Its cylinder spinning and rolling wildly. I was near the jackpot. I could feel it in him like a blind man could feel the warmth of the sun.
The wavy haired Glory Boy knocked the blond to the ground and he lay in a heap on top of him. "You're not going anywhere, Hutch. Damn it!" His frustration running high "I know, believe me god in heaven I know." His voice lowering and I could hear his fear. " You can't. I won't let you have it. It's not going to win you. I won't let it have you."
He pulled the blond to him, leaning against a wooden dresser. His legs spread wide apart and my prize sprawled in between them leaning heavily against the heaving chest of Glory Boy. "I-I c-can't d-do it St-starsk." Yes, just what my wanting ears wanted to hear. I could feel him near me. He couldn't stop swallowing down hard on nothing. His fingers flinched and twitched lying limply on the curly haired man's lap. The bag pipes where playing my song and I reveled in my own grandeur.
"Don't give up on me now Hutch. You can. And you will do it buddy. I'll help you beat this thing." I could see the steely glare in the dark haired man's eyes. Like lethally pointed arrowheads. He knocked the bow and he aimed the spikes straight at the core of my essence. Love, perseverance, endurance, and resolve locked their sights on me and targeted me for execution. I was in trouble here. I had underestimated this man's love for the blond. Love conquers all, unfortunately for me.
I gave it one last try. I had never lost a battle before and giving up seemed so lily-livered of me. I sped up the blond's heart rate causing it to pound so hard in his chest it nearly burst out in flames. He darted away from the hold of good old Glory Boy. His legs though, I couldn't get those up under him. They were useless and dead weight. I had weakened him too much and sealed my own fate. I pulled him hard to port and dragged the blond down to the water's bottom. Scraping him against jagged rocks and coral reefs. It was my last hope to win him over. He scrambled at the doorknob desperately seeking escape. His body too weak and cumbersome to do much more than that. Unfortunately for me.
Glory Boy held him tight, wouldn't let him go all the way under. Pulled him away from the door with valor and held him at bay. "Hutch!" His voice echoed through the room in its urgency. " What are you doing partner? Come on now. Easy, come here. Hold back, just try to hold it back." He beseeched. I smiled.
"It's there. Out there. Gotta get it. W-won't make it." He informed his friend with steadfastness. " I-I-I need I-it." He wallowed in his drug deficient state like a pig in mud." This is working out. I should have done this sooner.
Damn there was no mistaking it. The candle that burned deep in Curly's heart, in his soul, lit that room like a brazen comet streaking through the atmosphere. "Fight hard Hutch. I'm fighting with you. Right here buddy. Right at your back. You hear me partner?" His warrior soul was strong. I shuddered at its potency.
Curly exhaled in a whisper. Something low and deadly in the blond's ear. I couldn't quite make it out. I love you. I know I heard that but there was something else. Something that sent fissures of chills through the blond like the earth splitting wide open. Sounded like sea and bee no, no that wasn't it. Key and lee. No, no. Me and thee. That was it, me and thee. Now what in the hell does that mean?
A resigned sigh came from Faded Glory as he stopped his struggle and forced himself to lie back in the arms of Glory Boy. Damn him. Damn his love to hell. I never lost. Never, in all my years of abduction of the souls, have I lost till now. Till these two.
"That's it Hutch. You got it partner. You're here with me now. We're getting out of this together. Still a ways to go but you're doing it buddy. You're doing it."
The blond had pulled his oars hard through the turbulent waves. He was exhausted and weak but he wouldn't give in to me. Even when he wanted to, needed to, had to but he wouldn't go against his partner. He wouldn't do it. A fog began to creep in around me. My own glory fading fast.
I watched the meager blond lean forward and cough jaggedly. I tried to shove the bit back in his mouth but it was no use as he coughed more balking at my futile attempts. He fell back, heavy with weakness and gasping against his partner's chest. Just before the mist covered me completely and buried me in the white knight's sand, I heard Faded Glory whisper out "M-me and t-thee Star.... sk. S'all we n-n-neeeeed."
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Well, Curly was right about one thing, he was weak as a kitten. Hunched against the wall as he sat on the bed the sheets, pillows, and blankets of which looked like they had gone through a war zone. I too was weak and pressed down but not too far down. I lie in waiting under his thin skin. When he rose off the bed I was a bit shocked to see he had found his sea legs. But a mountain lay heavy on his back and he moved real slowly toward the bathroom to try and wash me from his flesh. You can't wash me down the drain my faded one. I am yours to keep even if you have found a thread of will power to keep me on the edge of autographing your soul forever. This truth we hold self-evident. You and me whether you like it or not are connected for life.
After his shower he sat on a wooden legged chair. It wobbled beneath him and I could still feel his need but he kept it down. Where he kept it I have no clue? Waves of exhaustion booted through him. I really don't know where he found the strength to bend over and tie his shoe. Reserve was there but Glory Boy had fled the scene. Heading off on some hell bent scheme to revenge his friend. Now Faded was weak but Reserve was no match for him when he stood to leave lockdown. Reserve stood unresolved in stopping the blond. "Starsky's going to kill me."
Opportunity knocked and we all know when it knocks once you better answer because it may not ever knock again. I desperately made my way through his maze looking for a spot that I could begin drilling for oil. I plotted on all four sides of his beating heart. Striking my blades into his muscle and trying to shave his bone. He ended up at some dive despite my efforts. Sitting in another wooden chair that threatened to crumble as he shook at my labors. Where does he get his perseverance?
Hell, he was trying to back up Glory Boy. He was near unstoppable I almost felt myself having a tinge of respect for Faded Glory but I knocked that thought out faster than a gathering crowd round a fallen body.
He was pig-headed and I was to weak too pursue him at this time. His conversation must have taken a wrong turn as his insides began to light up a lovely sickened green color. I knew he couldn't see well, an after effect I am proud of, as he tottered from the bar and grill.
He leaned against the brick wall outside. I felt a euphoric feeling of deja vu enter me. We were back to square one. Yet my hands were tied. I couldn't set things in motion. He had kicked me down deep and even though he was weak he somehow kept me just out of reach.
Despite his dizziness he remained standing this time. Damn! But wait a second the cavalry has arrived. That-a-boy, a spore of a nightmare carrying a syringe ready to drive the nail on home. At last I will have him this time. This time he will not escape me. Faded Glory was completely subdued. His mind mashed like overcooked squash. Very soon now I would have my prize. My charming disciple readied to lunge my warmth back through his veins. I held my breath in anticipation.
Faded Glory somehow read in the face before him what was about to take place. His head rocked weakly back and forth fighting physically to escape as well as mentally. 'Nooooo." He still wanted me but he was like a relentless angry hornet that wouldn't go away. He found the strength to shoot out away from the rat king who held the key to my glory.
His feet scrambled and fumbled beneath him as he, in no certain pattern, made his way down a filthy alley. I couldn't do a thing to stop him. But I had my reserves too you know and they were there chasing him down in a four wheeled coupe. Faded Glory was turning gray. Part of his brain wandered freely about, not knowing where he was or who. Another part accompanied by his feet staggered and circled like a trapped animal just before he clawed up that fence like a cat up a tree.
A blaring came from some god-awful red monster, striped in white. I cringed as Glory Boy poured from the beast's mouth and came up shooting. Glass shattered, metal pierced through flesh and it was over. My disciples lay in a red pool unblinking and gone forever from my deviant control. Glory Boy glided cautiously around the twisted metal and broken bodies till he came to stand underneath his friend.
The blond flopped off that eight-foot fence as Glory Boy helped pull him down. "What are you doing up there?" He teased.
Faded Glory's body, nearly shapeless, his lips lisping out small short breaths but he let a smile slip across his face. He melted into his partner and hung over him like wet laundry on a clothesline. The touch of Glory Boy's hand to his back caused him to purr and I knew, for now, they had won this time. But I would never fully fade from him. I would lurk in the shadows of his soul till a time when he needed me. Searched for me once more craved my fluid. I would be there like the thief that stalks the night. Waiting at the dark end of the street. Waiting under the broken lamppost in the hours of darkness. Waiting for the light of Curly's love to dwindle like the flames of a dying fire. Like the wings of a broken moth that flounders on the ground. I fear I am in for a long wait.
EPILOGUE
Glory fades fast when you're all alone in this world with no one to stand at your back. To block the wind from your body or the rain from your heart. Ghosts of twisted confusion and false promises try to steal you from this place. Let the glory of your life, of this world, of its beauty keep you tall. Keep you strong. Keep you bonded together. Keep you from ever fading.
The End