Disclaimer: I don't own FX, I'm not profiting financially from this
story. Blah, blah, blah, etc, etc, etc. Oh, it's owned by Rysher, who,
incidentally should do a better job of looking after it!!!
Ok - before you read this - I have NOT seen Red Storm as yet (but I
couldn't resist the challenge :-). However I have absolutely no
self-control so I've read all of the posts about it. Hopefully I will
get to see it really really soon. *whimper, whine*. I did have the good
sense to get Peggy to beta-read it for me, and check for any
inconsistencies with the episode. Thank you Peggy! Geoff by the way is
my creation - just an aside type of character, he is a good friend of
Rollie's and someone that Rollie has confided in about this whole mess.
Warm Milk
They pulled up to the location set - late. The drive had taken several
hours longer than expected in the heavily laden FX van and they had both
been on edge all day. Angie was overtired and snappy, and Rollie was
just about at his wit's end. The problem was, Geoff, a close friend of
Rollie's, and the director of the film had told them the previous day
that they were going to have to share a trailer for the week long
location shoot. It wasn't like they hadn't shared one before, or hadn't
slept in close quarters before but it was the first time since... well,
since him...
Geoff saw them arrive, he flagged them down and pointed to the only
unlit trailer in the row. It was the largest trailer in the small
trailer village that had been set up, which would have generally
indicated that it should have been the director's trailer. Geoff called
out to Rollie, "Hey Rollie, Angie. Great to see ya. Listen, once you
guys get unpacked a little, can I see you Rollie? I've got a couple of
things I wanted to talk to you about before tomorrow."
"Sure thing Geoff, see you in a few minutes." Angie and Rollie dragged
their personal gear from the mountains of equipment that filled the back
of the van and entered the trailer. The interior was as large as the
exterior had suggested, although a large portion of the floor was taken
up with a single fold up bed. Even with that floor space taken up,
there was still plenty of room for two people to live in the trailer
without having to live in each other's pockets.
Rollie left Angie to unpack and head for bed while he went to speak with
their director. "Hey Geoff, what's the deal? That trailer looks like
it should be yours. It's got that 'director trailer' look written all
over it."
"Yeah, sorry about that Rollie. It was mine, but I swapped to the one
that was supposed to be yours after the suits wouldn't spring for a
second trailer for Angie. I figured you guys could use the extra room
after... well, you know."
"Oh, yeah I know. Hey thanks for trying, mate."
"How is she doing anyway? It's been, what? Two months?"
Rollie sighed, "Yeah, about that. Angie's OK, most of the time. If she
gets down about something then she gets really down but she usually puts
on the standard bright Angie face to convince herself and the rest of
the world that nothing is wrong. I think she's got the old denial thing
going, hopefully time will heal her."
Geoff nodded wisely, "I guess so. Have you made any decisions about the
two of you?"
"Me, about us? No way, it's too soon. I mean I love her dearly and
everything, I certainly wouldn't do too well without her but as for
actually being IN love, the jury is still out."
"Yeah, it hasn't been very long... Anyway about my shoot..." Rollie and
Geoff talked about the set up for the next day's shoot for a good half
an hour before Rollie was finally able to escape and head back to the
trailer to sleep.
Angie had left the light on for him and had taken the fold up bed,
leaving the main bed for her boss. Bloody typical, was the first thing
that sprang into Rollie's mind, here she is, not sleeping properly and
she still leaves me the good bed. He smiled at the still form curled on
her side with her nose just poking out from under the covers. He
quietly moved around the room unpacking his toothbrush and finding the
track pants he was planning on wearing to bed. He was just about to
turn off the light and go to bed when he heard her murmur in her
sleep. She rolled over onto her back, an arm splaying out from under
the covers. Rollie smiled again, he was well aware of the fact she was
an adult, and a beautiful young woman at that. That couldn't change the
fact that, when she was asleep, he could still see the innocence, the
snub nose, the freckles and the pony tails of the 11 year old girl he
had met so many years before. He was still reminiscing when Angie
mumbled again, louder this time, and her dream driven movements became
more urgent.
"No... don't, please..." Angie gasped and her back arched as she
started to thrash back and forth destroying what had been a neatly made
bed. "No... no... don't!"
It was blatantly apparent to Rollie now that Angie was in the middle of
a nightmare. He moved to beside the bed and gently grasped her
shoulder, calling her name to wake her. The thrashing was more panicked
now, and she pushed his arm away. "No... I can't... No!"
Rollie grabbed Angie by both shoulders this time and shook her, "Angie,
wake up!" And with a startled gasp, she did. The terrified young woman
looked around wildly before finally focusing on the worried countenance
of her best friend and partner. "Hey Ange. It's OK. You're safe
now." He pulled her up into sitting position as he moved from a
crouched position to sitting on the edge of her bed. Her deep shaky
breaths dissolved into sobs and he held her tightly, rubbing her back
and murmuring words of support and comfort until the sobbing subsided
again. She pulled back from the embrace as she regained her composure.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you Rollie." She ran one hand
through her hair as she grabbed a tissue from the box nearby.
"Hey, do not apologise for something over which you have no control."
He spoke the words slowly and distinctly as though it was an order to be
obeyed. "It's not like you intended to have a nightmare and I wasn't
asleep anyway. How often have you been having these nightmares, I
assume they started after, well, you know..."
She held up two fingers of one hand as she blew her nose on the tissue
with the other.
"Twice, you've had nightmares only twice since... umm, he..." Rollie
trailed off again. Neither of them had mentioned the name Victor Loubar
since those dreadful few days. Somehow they felt that if they did, it
would emphasis the fact that no one knew what had happened to him and
that if he had lived, he could still come back for another go at them."
She shook her head, "No, at least twice a night since then."
Rollie looked surprised, "Twice a night!?! And you didn't tell me? No
wonder you haven't been sleeping properly."
She glanced up at him sharply, "How did you know?"
"Come on Ange. How many years have I known you? You've got bags under
your eyes more often than not - they give you quite the haunted look by
the way. And you've been drifting along without the usual zip, bounce
and energy that just about everyone associates with Angela Rameriz.
We're all really worried about you."
A quiet "Oh", was her only response as she lowered her head again. She
could never fully tell Rollie about the nightmares, especially as he
often featured in them. She was trying so hard to separate and
distinguish between the Rollie she had known and loved (in at least some
capacity) for many years from the 'Rollie' of that fateful night. But
it was so hard, HE had done his homework so well, and the nightmares
often mixed everything up together as if on a mission to destroy the now
tenuous link between herself and the most important person left in her
world.
Rollie sensed her uncertainty and knew it had to be related to the fact
that HE had worn his face, and as a result he was part of the cause of
the pain that simmered so close to the surface in the vulnerable young
woman sitting before him. He shook himself from the self-pitying
thoughts of what Loubar had cost him and decided that it was time to be
practical about the whole thing. "Right, I think it is time for some
warm milk for the both of us and then I think we should try and get some
sleep." He grinned at her, trying to get at least a small smile in
response before he bustled about in the kitchenette of the trailer
preparing the warm drink.
She looked at him incredulously, "Warm milk!?! Rollie, I haven't had
warm milk since... ummm, since... Ya know, I've got no idea." She shook
her head and smiled.
"Since the time I made it for you when you were 14 and having nightmares
after that Horror flick your Dad and I worked on. Do you realise that
was the last horror movie we did with him, even though at that time
horror flicks were the mainstay of the special effects business..."
They reminisced for about an hour over their warm milk. Talking of
happier times and the friends and family of the past. Creating warm
fuzzy thoughts to curl up in and protect yourself with. And then, for
the first time in months, Angela Rameriz drifted off to sleep, and slept
through the rest of the night without a single nightmare...
