The Intervention Series:
Making Choices
By Tabby
~~~~~~~~~~
There was a bang on the window.
Mrs. Johnson bolted upright in her chair. Reno and her, being the resident night owls, had the graveyard shift sitting with Perfect Tommy. Reno was inside, she sat in the observation booth.
Glancing up at the one way mirror, she saw what had brought her about.
Perfect Tommy was banging frantically on the window. He waved a hand behind him to where Reno laid unconscious on the floor.
"Oh, my god!" she cried, coming to her feet and rushing to the door. Buzzing it open she ran pass Perfect Tommy and rushed to Reno's side. Dropping to her knees she asked "What happened?"
"He hit his head." Perfect Tommy answered.
"On what?" Mrs Johnson carefully lifted Reno's head, looking for damage.
"My fist."
She stopped cold, her heart skipping a beat as she realized what had happened. What `was' happening. Her eyes slowly rose until she saw Perfect Tommy.
He was standing in the open doorway, looking back. "Take care of him. And tell him I'm... I'm sorry." he whispered.
"Perfect Tommy..." Mrs Johnson started to rise to her feet.
But too late.
Perfect Tommy was out the door, closing and locking it behind him.
"Tommy!" Mrs Johnson screamed after him.
~~~~~
His go-phone beeped, singing the Banzai theme music.
Groaning, Dr. Banzai rolled on his back. He reached for his go-phone sitting on the night stand. Blind fingers fumbled around, knocking over a clock and something else, until he found the little communicator, then brought it to his ear. "Yea?" he managed through a yawn.
"Buckaroo."
Banzai's eyes snapped wide open. "Perfect Tommy?" He sat up, switching on the light.
Last he had heard, Perfect Tommy didn't have a go-phone in the holding room. Anyone who went into the room was supposed to leave their go-phone in the booth. Kid as smart as Perfect Tommy could do all sorts of things with a go-phone.... the least of which was escaping.
"Buckaroo. I'm just callin' to ask you to go down and take care of Reno."
"Why?" Banzai was already grabbing his pants.
"I hit him."
"You what?!" he cried at the communicator. "Where are you Perfect Tommy?"
"Go take care of him."
"I am." Banzai did up his pants on his way out his bedroom door. Across the hall he banged a fist on Rawhide's door, while asking again "Where are you, Tommy?"
"Tell him... tell him I'm sorry.... I didn't want to hurt him."
Rawhide's door opened and the half asleep cowboy blinked at him. "Wh..." he started, but Banzai's hand snapped up, silencing him.
"Perfect Tommy!" Banzai growled. "Where are you?"
Rawhide came fully awake at those words. He reached back into his room, grabbed his stetson, then, in socked feet and boxers, he followed his boss down the stairs and toward the infirmary.
"I gotta go." Perfect Tommy was saying.
"No, you don't." Banzai answered quickly. "Listen to me, Tommy: you need to tell me where you are. You're not well, You are still under the influence of the drugs. You're not thinking straight."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Tommy assured.
"What form of fine gets a good man to hit his friend?" Banzai demanded.
He was answered by silence.
Banzai stopped at the door of the observation booth. After a long moment of silence, he asked "Perfect Tommy?"
"I gotta go." came a shaky voice.
"Please, Tommy, tell me where you are!" Banzai pleaded. "I'll come and get you. We can go get a cup of joe. Talk things out."
Silence.
"Perfect Tommy?"
More silence.
"Come on, buddy. Where are you?"
"I'm sorry."
"Perfect Tommy!"
The go-phone sounded with an ominous click as it was disconnected.
Banzai and Rawhide looked at each other.
"Ah, damn." Rawhide growled.
~~~~~
"How is he?" Pecos asked, looking up as Banzai came into the Bunkhouse and hour later.
Though it was only 2-somthing in the morning, the Cavaliers were all up. most of them were scattered over the property, hoping that Perfect Tommy hadn't actually gotten over the wall yet. Banzai, knowing better, had made sure Rawhide would lead up that search as the doctor planned on his response.
"Reno'll be fine. Little headache." Banzai shrugged as he headed across the room to where Pecos had been working on a computer. "He's already on his feet and biting at the bit to join the search." he leaned over the back of Pecos' chair. "You called?"
"His credit card was used at NY airport. He was buying a ticket to Greece. They're holding it up until we get there." Pecos told him as she came to her feet and grabbed her coat.
"We?" Banzai wanted to know.
Pecos smiled slightly. She handed him his coat. "You're not the only one who won't let him go without a fight."
Banzai stared at her, before finally admitting "I'm not going to stop him."
Her smile disappeared. "You're not the only one who knows what has to been done either." She tossed his coat at him. "And I'll be damn if I'm going to be around when someone tells Rawhide you went off into the city in the dead of night without protection. Now are we going? or what?"
Banzai shook his head. But followed her out the door none-the-less.
~~~~~
Perfect Tommy stared out the big airport window, watching but not seeing as the planes were taxied this way and that. His legs were hanging over the arm of the chair, his arms wrapped around his body, trying to ward off a chill that wasn't there.
The terminal was practically empty. A lone traveler here and there, scattered across the giant room. A janitor, a security guy, the woman at the ticket counter who had told him it would take a bit of time to get his ticket processed.
Damn, he hated waiting. Always seemed like he was waiting... a year, a month, week, day hour... hell, five minutes was too long... five seconds! Always waiting for something or someone... waiting for himself to get up the nerve...
Absently, his hand rested on his pocket. He could feel the vile through the jeans material. It hadn't been hard to find a dealer between in the Institute and the airport. Hell, the problem was avoiding them.
If Rawhide knew how easy it was...
"Hey, buddy."
Perfect Tommy stopped breathing.
Buckaroo Banzai dropped a duffel in the chair beside him, Then sat down in the seat across from Perfect Tommy.
Slowly, carefully, Tommy lowered his feet to the floor. "What's that?" he wondered, shrugging toward the duffel.
"I brought you some of your stuff. Figured if you're going on a trip, you should, at least, have a clean shirt." Banzai answered.
Perfect Tommy frowned. He glanced up at the doctor. "You're letting me go?"
Banzai looked at him. "Do I have a choice?"
The younger man sat up a little. His boss' admittance suddenly handed him the power. That's right! It was his life! His choice! No one could tell Perfect Tommy what to do! After all... he was Perfect!
Perfect Tommy's hand suddenly yanked away from his pocket, as if the vile he had so badly wanted had burned his hand. Something about having the choice... the one not giving him the choice was that damn addiction...
Banzai held something out to him.
Tommy glanced down at it. "My ticket?" He didn't understand.
"To Greece." Banzai confirmed. "It leaves in a three hours. I'm paying."
Hesitantly, Perfect Tommy reached for it.
Banzai flipped it back. "There's a catch."
The boy sighed. "Of course." He huffed, shaking his head. Leaning back in the chair, he glanced around for Banzai's back up.
"Perfect Tommy, it's just me." Banzai told him. "And this is the catch." He held out a second plane ticket.
Tommy frowned. Looking down at the two tickets, then up at the doctor, he shrugged, shaking his head. He just wasn't understanding.
So, Banzai explained. "I will give you this ticket to Greece if you take this ticket to Alaska."
"Alaska?" Perfect Tommy smirked. "You've gotta be kiddin'!?"
"We have a lodge in Nome Alaska ran by Alaska Anne Ankins. It's closed for the winter and the old gal could use a hand keeping the place in condition." Banzai waved the ticket. "All you have to do is take the ticket. You can sit for the next three hours and choose for yourself which plane you'll take, which ticket you'll use." He paused, licking his lips. Dropping his eyes to the choices he was offering, he added "There are advantages and consequences for both choices that you should be aware of."
Perfect Tommy's eyes narrowed. "Such as?"
"You go to Alaska you will be limited to the lodge and Nome. In the hardest part of winter, you probably be stuck at the lodge." Banzai looked up, his eyes locking with his young friend. "You will not be able to get your hands on any stimuli stronger than caffeine."
Tommy looked away.
Banzai tapped the ticket on his knee, drawing the boy's eyes back. "The up side: no locked doors, no guards, no restrictions. Raven Lodge is a big place with lots to do. State of the art communications, its very own Bunkhouse, so on and so forth. And Alaska Anne is a terrific woman. If you really want to get through this, she'll get you through it."
Perfect Tommy huffed. He wasn't going to bother arguing that there was nothing to get him through.... as he fought the urge to feel the vile once again.
"On the other hand..." Banzai snapped the other ticket. "Greece, all pretty and splendid. You speak the languages, heart skip and beat away from all the wonders of the world... and all the vises." He paused again, licking his lips. "You can see a lot of great things out there, perfect Tommy. As short as your life has been thus far, you've seen most of them. You've also seen most of the worse things too." He shook his head slightly. "I won't even pretend to know what half of them were. You keep at that junk in your pocket, and you're gonna see those worse things all over again." He dropped his eyes. "And there won't be coming back to the Institute when it gets too tough."
Perfect Tommy blinked. "What... do you mean... coming back?" he asked, not really needing to be answered.
Banzai straightened. Taking a deep breath, he looked Tommy right on. "I love you like a brother, kid. We all do. And we'd fight tooth and nail to protect you. Same as you'd do for us, we know. And you are worth fighting for!
"But, sometimes, it's the fight that does the damage. I can't... I won't stand back and watch you kill yourself. And, since I can't make you give it up, then you can't come back." He paused, before finishing: "If you go to Greece, you can't come back. It'll be your choice."
Dr Buckaroo Banzai stood up and dropped the tickets on the duffel bag beside his friend. With one last pat on the shoulder, he turned and started to walk away.
"Buckaroo!" Perfect Tommy called after him.
Banzai stopped and turned back.
"I can't ever come back?" When Banzai just looked at him, Perfect Tommy asked "What about Rawhide? He say that too?"
"It is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, letting you go." Banzai couldn't help but growl a little. "It would kill Rawhide... but he would do it." He sighed. "You've got a choice to make. You have three hours to make it." he started to turn away, but paused. Not looking back, he spoke softly "Ask one thing, Perfect Tommy? If you go to Greece, put a card in your pocket with my name and contact information."
"why?"
Banzai opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again nd finally answered: "I don't want you to die and not have the people who love you know." Before Perfect Tommy, or even himself, could think of anything more to say, Banzai walked away.
Slipping out the exit, Banzai nodded to Pecos. "Stay about, out of sight. Let me know which plane he takes."
"This gonna work, Buckaroo?" she asked.
"God, I hope so."
~~~~~
Perfect Tommy stared down at the two tickets.
Damn, he hated making choices...
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Challenge
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