The World at Her Feet

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

"Never made S'mores?" Raising an eyebrow, she gave him a startled look. Sure, there were people who had never made them, or never even heard of them, but heck, what sort of sad childhood would you have to have had not to know what those were? "Man, that right there is grounds for obliteration!"

She laughed, then shrugged. "I just guess you deserve a chance after all that you've done for me, that's all." Glancing over at him, she smiled a little. "I mean, you gave me a chance to live, right? And...I just think..."

I want to convince myself that you are an okay guy so we can have a future? Well, that was the bottom line, anyway.

Reaching over, she brushed her fingers over his, then linked pinkies with him, not exactly holding hands, but physical contact nonetheless.

OOC: You can jump us ahead if you'd like!

[Scott Cooper]

Scott shook his head, no it was something he had never done before as he laughed seeing her startled look. “Obliteration? Really. Are they that great?” Scott asked her not entirely sure where to begin about a S’more but they did sound good if there were grounds for obliteration over it. “So will you teach me how to make them?” He asked her not sure if he had committed a serious crime against camping with not knowing what to do but still he had to learn things.

“Kelle, you’re the one who’s given yourself the chance to live, I just tagged along with you and I know this will sound corny or cheesy but you’re the one who’s given me a chance to live.” He said meaning every word, it wasn’t just the chance to live but a chance to be normal to take a leap into a world he wasnt even sure would let him come back and sure smoothing over the whole contract killer thing was a must but she was still there with him.

“A chance is more than I deserve but thank you for being here today.” He said wanting to promise her she wouldn’t regret it but then again she might be regretting the entire thing and she just hadn’t told him yet. Scott smiled when he felt her fingers brush over his and then their pinkies were linked. It was nice to just be a kind of normal he thought enjoying her touch.

Scott was loathed to break the contact when they got into the taxi, it was a reasonable journey to the place where they would be camping. The ruins of a castle that barely stood with enough grandeur to even call it castle. The short walk to the top of the hill where he dropped off their stuff was easy enough as he glanced at the camping equipment there.

“So welcome to your night under the starts at the sight of a castle ruin.” Scott said smiling, “We even have two tents so you don’t have to worry about...” Me killing you or doing anything else he thought about saying until he decided to change the subject. Far too soon for jokes about that he thought as he glanced at the stuff and found one of the fold away camping chairs. “How about you take a seat and work out what we need for S’mores and I’ll set up, then we can talk?” he offered trying to do the right thing as he folded out the seat for her.

Kelle Lindsay, EMTP
(Hope that's okay, if not feel free to change anything)

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

How could an evil man act so genuinely kind? Unless he was an incredible actor, Scott certainly seemed to be sincere in his current actions, and so far it seemed that he was being open about things. But then, she wasn't sure she was going to push too far, there were things she likely didn't want to know, that, in the long-run didn't matter as they moved forward (Oh, so wrong, child!)

And yes, she wanted to believe, wanted to think that there might be a chance at more, although how that would work out, she wasn't sure.

Then they got to the camping spot and she had to wonder if she wasn't more enthralled with the idea of him than him...but then, he was the one doing this for her, and her head was starting to hurt puzzling it over, so she decided to stop for now and just...be.

"You're gonna set camp?" Raising an eyebrow, she shrugged and settled into the chair. "So, you don't know how to make S'mores, but you think you can set up camp? This should be fun!"

She laughed, but there was no mocking in it.

Scott Cooper,

[Scott Cooper]

Scott hadn’t a clue how things would work out for them at all, once she knew the entire situation could she be happy with that because if she could he was sure he would give her the world. Then again it wasnt that he wouldnt give her the world it was how she would handle knowing what he did for a living. A ‘hey, honey how was your day’ question was likely to end in ‘another bites the dust’ answer with details he was sure given her profession she wouldnt want to know.

Scott laughed and nodded at her obvious disbelief that he could set up a camp site. Well his first civilian camp site but how hard could the cross over be? “Yeah I can set up a camp site... mostly. Never promised I could cook but set things up, sure it cant to be too difficult.” He said laughing as he started to set to it. He placed the gas stove in the middle of the site between them as he placed the pots around it as he paused for a moment. “Ta da.” He said as he motioned to it, “We can eat in a sense.” He said grinning as he set to putting up the two tents.

The first one he manage to snap two of the plastic poles in part though the second one went up without a hitch as he made sure to peg it to the ground. “And the princess has her castle for the night.” He stated as he looked at his more lopsided, caved in at one side tent but then again he had slept in worse places so he didnt mind it at all. “So cooker and tents... what else do we need?” He said thoughtfully as he grinned at her.

He glanced at a few other things there, more like camp fire too and probably put up the plastic picnic table he had added to the mix of things. “Good so far or does it need more work?” He asked her smiling, so sure it wasnt exactly five star camping but it was at least a dry place to be and the tent wasnt going to blow away that much he knew.

Kelle Lindsay, EMTP

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

"Looks real...professional." Kelle grinned, standing and circling the small camp that lay in the shadow of a real castle ruin. "Kind of 'Upstairs Downstairs'..." Glancing over at him, she nodded. "Just the fire now, I guess, so we can do the S'mores...but we have to wait for dark for that, right?"

It was odd, the dichotomy of pretending things were 'normal' when they weren't, but then, it wasn't so foreign to her, that was what she did for a living -- pretending...that she wasn't concerned about a patient's condition as she was panicking inside trying to save them...or that she wasn't terrified at being kidnapped at gunpoint when she really was...

Still, she wanted to find a way, if there was one, and the only way to find out was, well, this.

"Get that fire going and we can roast some hot dogs...bangers, is it? Or haggis?" She laughed. "Anyway, have supper, S'mores, hot chocolate, then Truth or Dare...may as well go out well-fed, right?"

Scott Cooper,

[Scott Cooper]

Scott laughed and nodded at her, “Oh real professional huh, I can take that.” He said chuckling as he watched her. “See glad you got the feel I was going for, upstairs downstairs.” He joked as he nodded about the fire. He knew he’d missed something as he went to gather a few stones from the area to place as a border for the fire as he pulled open a bag of kindling and logs. He hadn’t a clue how dry the wood was going to be and given it was Scotland he had a more than ninety percent sure that it would have rained in the last seventy two hours.

Wet wood, no fire. Trying to be normal was a new thing for him and he enjoyed it. The not watching his back for another killer, trying to work out a situation for ten angles and making sure that the family business was running smoothly. To just be there and even pretend that this could be normal was a great feeling. Then there was trying to work out if Kelle wanted to still be there or head for the hills, either option was still looming but he would take normal over anything else.

“I’m on the fire.” Scott said as he started to places the stones, kindling and logs. “Bangers and haggis if you want by all means.” He added grinning. “S’mores, hot chocolate and truth or dare... good job we’ve got S’mores, hot chocolate then and nothing better than being well fed.” Scott wasnt entirely sure truth or dare was going to do him any favours, the dare part sure he had that covered but the truth. No he wasn’t going to lie and he had promised her to answer any question which was more of a worry now he had to do it.

The movie how to lose a guy in ten days, yeah he had how to lose a girl in ten seconds pretty much covered. Though at least she was right about going out well fed, if it all did turn into a disaster then at least they wouldnt be hungry.

Kelle Lindsay, EMTP

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

Moving over, Kelle helped to build the stone ring that would contain the fire, then started scooping up pine needles to act as kindling.

"Here..." she tossed a couple of long twigs over by the fire, "those should make good marshmallow-roasting sticks. As for the fire," she grinned, "you going old school, like flint and steel or...whatever that bow and stick thing is called, or just...a boring lighter?"

There was a wee bit of a challenge there, not that she could make fire without a lighter or matches, but she was teasing anyway.

"Guess you are more used to a cold camp, huh? Like...no fire to give away your position?"

Then she sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, guess I shouldn't kid you about that sort of thing." But that glint of teasing returned to her eye. "Probably didn't set camp anyway, just tied yourself to a tree for the night, kept on the move during the day."

Honestly, she had no idea beyond what Hollywood portrayed, what his life might have been like, but then, she was pretty sure there were parts she didn't want to know about.

"So, um...we can do the S'mores for dinner if you want...one of the perks of being an adult, right, having dessert for dinner?"

Scott Cooper,

[Scott Cooper]

Scott glanced up when Kelle said here, he looked at the twigs and grinned placing them by the seats so he wouldnt mix them up for fire wood. “Well since you suggested it, let’s go bow stick thing.” He said grinning as he went to his bag and collected a flat piece of wood and a straight dry stick. So sure it was more a case of magic rather than using the pack of matches he had for the occasion but still it was fun to do.

“So all you need is a flat dry piece of wood, a straight stick and hands.” He explained as he pulled a pocket knife from his boot digging into the flat piece of wood as he started to spin the stick in the newly created indentation he made with the knife. “You should probably keep that.” He said as he offered Kelle the knife realising that after having told her what he did for a living, it maybe wouldnt be settling to have that on his person.

Scott chuckled when she spoke about the cold camp when the teasing returned to her eye he nodded. “Me and trees are close, spent many a night with a tree.” He joked, “Though yes cold camp is what I know best, fire attracts attention and it’s not always a good thing in my work. So trees become friends when you need a relatively dry place to be and shelter too. If you can move on after a couple of hours even better to keep going. Less great in autumn when the leaves have gone but same idea, cold and alive than warm and... well you get the idea.”

Yes Scott had promised not to lie but it was strange talking about the things he had done or how he had done them. The military side that was different, he was used to camping with them but a fire wasnt used often. Hollywood got part of it right and others wrong, the glamour of it was way off and the hair and look, no you couldnt just come back off a trip like that looking as good as you did when you left. Your hair was a mess, clothes worse, felt awful and kissing the woman of your dreams. The worst idea given the lack of showers so that part was wrong but looked good.

Scott was still spinning the stick in his hands as he listened to Kelle talk about the S’mores. “Oh sure that’d be great, yeah good thing about being an adult then. It has to have some perks right.” He said grinning at her as he added a couple of pine needles to the flat wood as it started to smoke. “Hey, come see we should have a tiny flame in a minute.” Scott said as he could smell the burning wood as he hoped the needles would catch an ember and light so he could get the fire started.

Kelle Lindsay, EMTP

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

"You carry flint?" Shaking her head, Kelle chuckled. "If I didn't know better I''d say you were a regular Boy Scout!"

She took the knife, turning it in her hand. "If this means I have to defend us, we're done! I've never killed anything..." Trailing off, she watched him, but quickly changed directions. "Anyway, I think we'll do all right...I hope so, anyway."

Kneeling beside him, she blew gently on the glowing kindling, then sat back with a triumphant grin as it caught and flamed. "Bravo! Team work!"

Her expression became serious as she looked at him from only a couple of feet away. "So, does it mess with your head? I mean, I know in my job it kinda screws with my head sometimes, pretending to be calm and in control when I'm all freaked out inside. But...it's gotta be different, you have to protect yourself, your soul?"

Provided he had one, and that was her fear.

Scott Cooper,

[Scott Cooper]

“Oh be prepared is my middle name.” Scott teased as he laughed, “You never know when a fire is needed and as much fun and the slow ways are... if it means freezing or warm I’m all for fast.” Scott likely sounded half insane he thought when he said that though fire was a tool for warmth or destruction, if he needed to cover his tracks fire was a pretty good solution to most things.

Scott smile and nodded at her as his eyes hit the floor, “It’s good that you’ve never done that.” He said as well he had done that a lot when required. It wasnt an every week thing but once in a while if it was needed he did. “Yeah I’m sure we will besides you don’t have to defend us at all, the worst that is going to happen is the weather so unless you can fight off rain... we’ll be alright.” He said grinning at her for a moment.

He was glad when he saw the triumphant grin as the flame caught as he nodded. “Team work.” He replied as he added the flames to the fire as he watched the tinder catch fire and start to smoke. Scott looked a little concerned when her expression turned serious though when she asked her question he knew why. Scott had no idea how to answer her question as he nodded for a moment knowing he had promised to be honest with her.

“My soul, I think I can guarantee that I’m not getting to heaven in this life.” He said with a weak smile, “But you’re right it screws with my head at times. I can compartmentalise and taking work home with me... isn’t an option. I guess it helps to be able to change like a light switch, keeps things separate but certain things bring the two sides together.” He guessed like anyone he had things that got to him more than others, any work involving families was enough to give him a flash of conscience but he had to remind himself of the circumstances to it all.

“What about you, what do you do to protect yourself from work?” He asked her, Kelle had been the one person who had managed to mess with his head when she had challenged him that night. Since then she had been in his head and he wanted desperately to make up for everything he had put her through. “Kelle, I want to ask you something but you don’t have to tell if you don’t want.” Scott said quickly, “That night we met, why did you tell me to stop for the woman and baby? Why did you think I would?” He asked her not sure what had given her the idea but he had done. He just wasnt used to anyone telling him to do something when he had taken them hostage of sorts.

Kelle Lindsay, EMTP

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

“What about you, what do you do to protect yourself from work?”

Kelle shrugged, gazing into the fire for a moment before answering. "I go into what I call 'clinical mode', just focusing on the task at hand and not on all the other stuff, the family, even the...Humanity of a patient." She shrugged. "It sounds cold, but sometimes it's the only way to stay sane, you know."

Of course he would know, likely he did the same thing, in a different way. "They are a patient, not a person."

“Kelle, I want to ask you something but you don’t have to tell if you don’t want.”

"Sure." She glanced at him, wondering why he sounded so serious, what could be that dreadful to ask, and braced herself, determined to answer him.

“That night we met, why did you tell me to stop for the woman and baby? Why did you think I would?”

"I really wasn't sure you'd stop," she replied with a shrug. It hadn't been a test, but more of a gamble. "I wasn't really sure you would, but I had to try...it was a baby..." A new life, hope..."After that, though, I knew you weren't going to hurt me. I guess that's why I haven't left."

She looked over into his eyes. "And you, why did you stop?"

Scott Cooper,

[Scott Cooper]

Scott listened to Kelle talk about her ‘clinical mode’, it sounded like a good plan to have as he nodded to her. “It’s not cold, it makes perfect sense and if it helps you then it’s good. I can’t imagine having to deal with all of that in one shift.” He said as the family aspect of it he could only image made things worse. The yelling, panic and tears were always things that Scott never liked. It was why he chose to be the way he was with things, the less tears made it a lot easier.

“Same, people are jobs. You do the job and you’re finished.” Scott said figuring it wouldnt make things any better for his case but it was how it was. If he started to feel anything when he was working he knew he would be in effective. Given his line of work the minute that happened he knew he likely wouldnt live too long after that.

Scott tried to smile when she said sure though he was being serious about it. He was curious to know what her answer would be though when she said he wasnt sure he would stop. Well it made sense given he had just kidnapped her. “That night Kelle, it was just wrong place wrong time.” He said as he did regret what he had done to her. “If I could change it I would do and you know I’d never hurt you. I know at the time it might not have seemed like it but women and children are a no. I don’t hurt the good guys.” He explained though again he wasnt sure it was helping at all.

He was trying to be as honest as he could be when he was surprised by her question to him. “You asked me to, no one has ever done that before.” Scott said as he smiled, “I took you that night and you told me to stop for that woman and child. No one has ever told me to stop for someone else before, you didnt think about you or what might happen. It showed me the sort of person you are, so I did.”

Scott took a breath as he glanced at the flames in the fire. “It maybe also showed me there was hope left in the world for me that night.” He said knowing that after his family had been taken he hadn’t cared much about anything. The world was just going through the motions and what he did was just, a job nothing more. That night he had a heart because someone had asked that of him and since then he had been trying to make up for what he had done to Kelle because he truly wanted to make it right.

Kelle Lindsay, EMTP

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

"I didn't mean to..."

Kelle shrugged, she'd seen someone who needed help and there had been no other thought than stopping to help, at least until later when she'd had a chance to really stop and think about it, and only then had she realized what might have happened if he had been anyone else.

"That showed me the kind of man you are," she continued, "that you would stop to help a baby and not just ignore it and move on...after that I wasn't nearly so scared. I mean, if you're going to take the time and risk to help a sick baby you're not going to do anything bad to a sweet angel, right?"

Smiling sweetly, she batted her eyes at him then shook her head. "You know, I'm actually kinda glad it was me in the long run, I mean, it wasn't that great an experience, but I hate to think what might have happened if it had been one of the guys and he fought back...or another of the girls who freaked out and froze or something."

For a moment she was silent, looking at him, then she muttered, "Fate...I wasn't supposed to even be working that night, that wasn't my regular unit, it was just an extra shift. It was fate..."

It was flawed reasoning, she knew, but if 'they' weren't meant to be, why had they been brought together in the first place?

Scott Cooper,

[Scott Cooper]

"I'm grateful you did." Scott was glad he had stopped that night, despite his job choice and what he did he was a monster in some respects but at heart he was trying to be a good person. Sure one attempted good act didnt make up for all the bad but he liked to think that it at least maybe evened out the score paper a little. Then actually having Kelle tell him to stop, that was different entirely. No one did that before, they either screamed, sat terrified or just didnt make any movement to break away.

Sure those were easier but then Kelle was different to all of that. Scott chuckled as he saw her smiling sweetly and batted her eyes at him. “You’re right there, I wasn’t going to hurt you but thanks for giving me the chance to at least show that I’m not entirely a bad person.” He said knowing that if she hadn’t said anything that night he might have missed them or worse not been able to do anything for them. Not that he did much other than deliver them a paramedic which in the way of things worked out great.

“Well you were great dealing with the baby and the mum and I’ve never seen anything like it. You saved the child’s life, you should be extremely proud of that.” Scott said seriously as he nodded, “I’m glad it was you too I just wished I hadn’t caused you so many problems or hurt you. It just, I couldn’t exactly ask nicely in the traditional way given what I was doing.” Scott explained not that it made much of a difference he was sure as the outcome was still the same.

He had kidnapped her and that wouldnt change. Fate, Scott could only smile at her reasoning until he heard that she wasnt even supposed to be working that night. Sure Scott believed in the bigger plan but the plan was made by those in it. Fate, sure his job required some luck, a lot of skill and a good dose of right place right time but that came with a lot of waiting around in the wrong place.

“Then I’m thankful for fate then, because I’m glad it was you there that night and I’m glad to be getting to spend time with you too. Fate or not I think it’s turned out pretty well all things considered.” Scott said not entirely sure Kelle would see it that way but if it wasnt for her Scott wouldnt have even considered trying to be a better person or even looking twice at where he was going in life. It would just be another job and another day with the Mafia.

Kelle Lindsay, EMTP

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

Kelle looked into his eyes for a moment, reflecting the flickering firelight, then murmured, "I want to try."

Reaching over, she took his hand in hers, giving it a small squeeze. "I want to believe that things were the way they were because they were meant to, and as illogical as that sounds, I think it'll be all right."

Sighing, she rested her forehead on his hand. "I know nothing is given, it might not work out, but just..." she looked up at him again, "just promise me that you're sincere in this, that it isn't some sort of ruse or game to you. The rest we can talk about later, but," she took a deep breath, "please don't play games."

She didn't want to get invested in something and find out it wasn't real, she didn't need that sort of heartache.

Scott Cooper,