Fred and Callie: Present!

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Callie embarrasses Fred, gives him a present, then it's off to the Movies!



Fred was alone in the garage, peacefully cleaning an older set of tools, as his laptop slowly worked its way through his music library. When it clicked over to the next song, Fred doublechecked that no one else was occupying the garage with him before turning his speakers up almost full blast. It was a silly, paranoid precaution, but one he took every time.

No one could know that Fred Dukes actually liked some Fall Out Boy songs.

Wouldn't you rather be a widow than a divorcee?
Style your wake for fashion magazines.
Widow or a divorcee?
Don't pretend, d-d-d-don't pretend.

Fred's head bobbed along with the music, mouthing the words as he gave into his urge to get up and sing along. It was under his breath, and his lower voice couldn't match note for note, but even that couldn't satisfy him as the song built up momentum. Fred picked up the now clean adjustable wrench and powerslid through the empty walkway of the garage, his eyes closed as he sang along:

"Weee doooo it in the dark! With smiiiles on our faces!!!"

He opened his eyes, to hop up and continue singing along, when he noticed quite abruptly that he was not alone anymore.

Before him stood a statue of a young woman with pink skin and elfin ears, her green eyes wise in a look of shock and disbelief. For the scene before her was definitely not one that Callie could have ever imagined walking in on when she started her sojourn down to the garage. This music was a far cry from Fred's usual "sad bastard country" (his words, not hers), especially for someone who used to joke about how she listened to Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson songs when she wanted a mood booster.

But none of this even crossed her mind for her to point out. After all, the garage was Fred's unofficial domain, and she had violated the sanctity of his sanctuary when she crossed the threshold. Far be it from her to tell him how he should behave or what he should or should not listen to in this place. So, instead, fighting back giggles from behind the bright smile on her face, Callie said the other thing that had come to mind when she heard his singing.

"You're horribly out of tune. You know that?"

Fred hopped to his feet, and scrambled to turn off the music. He looked around, the picture of a thief caught in the act, "Uhhh...no. No, Ah ain't outta tune. Cause Ah ain't singin. Ah ain't ever sung. Ah don't listen tah music, and you were never here, and we never had this conversation." Fred spoke conspiratorially, as he tried to compose himself now that he had shut the music off.

She flashed Fred a knowing smile to assure him that his secret was indeed quite safe with her. "Of course," Callie said in a very serious and measured tone. "I apologize. I appear to have been hearing things again."

With no sense continuing this line of conversation now that they had both agreed to keep their silence about his private activities, now was the perfect time to introduce the subject that had brought Callie down to the garage in the first place. Stepping forward, the chloropath brought her hands forward to reveal the package she had been hiding behind her back. "Happy Belated Christmas-Birthday-Thank You-etc," she offered by way of explanation. "It's obviously well overdo, but I was only just now able to get my hands on it."

Fred looked quizzically at the package, and gave Callie a small smile as he opened it, "Ah feel bad, Cal. Ah didn't get yah anything." Peeling away the package, he looked at a pristine copy of 'Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid', with something written on the front. Fred narrowed his eyes to inspect the old movie and the writing, and blinked a few times, "Holy hot damn. Callie...is this signed by Lloyd Kaufman!?"

"You saved my life, Fred," she reminded him gently. Callie knew that nothing she could do would ever be able to repay him, or show how grateful she was for all that he had done for her. But hopefully with this token he might see just how much he had done for her after Genosha. And judging by the exuberant look on his face, Callie figured she could call this gift a rousing success. "I spent an embarrassing amount of time scouring the internet, emailing people, a few phone calls, and somehow everything came together and arrived safe and sound."

She stepped closer and lay her hand on his tricep. "Thank you. Again."

Fred scooped up Callie into a large hug, shaking her a little before setting her down, "That was for the gift, which is about the coolest thing I've gotten in the history of ever." Fred shook Callie's hair some. No matter how much he ever seemed to try and muss her hair, it always fell about where it shoulda been. Had to be a mutant power, "And Ah didn't do anything cept get stuck inna window. You did all tha hard crap, Cal."

With a shrug Callie set about running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to brush it back into some semblance of order. Even though her hair had grown considerably since the previous summer, it was still a long cry from where it had been and she was still struggling with styling it to her liking. It was a futile effort, she knew, but she couldn't be upset with Fred for leaving her hair in a state of disarray, he had done it in an outburst of joy and thankfulness. A messed up mop of hair was a small price to pay for making Fred happy.

"Well you convinced me to come back," she replied simply. "Stop hiding from everybody, including myself. Especially myself. So in my eyes, you are my hero."

"...We all need help sometimes, Cal." Fred's face...changed a little when the subject of Genosha came up. It passed almost as quickly as it settled in however, and could almost hardly have been noticed for the moment it was there, "There's no shame in it. Leaning on people who offer a shoulder, you know...?"

"Well even so." Callie raised herself up onto her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you." A peaceful smile spread across her face as she stepped back and tilted her head up so that she could meet his eyes. What a difference a year makes. It hardly felt like a year, really. But the calendar said that the Earth had made another rotation around the sun, and Callie could not argue with this passage of time. It still scared her, the not knowing, the loss of time and self, that for awhile she had ceased to exist, but it no longer upset her as it once did.

"I need to go tend to the plants and make sure all the rain we've been getting hasn't left them waterlogged," the chloropath continued after a moment. "Collect some strawberries too. Let you get back to your Special Lady here."

Fred grinned at the kiss and set down his stupid cassette like he was placing a priceless family heirloom, "Nope," he said simply, "Lady can wait, and so can the strawberries. We're celebrating your awesome gift giving with one of those documentary things you like at the movie house in town." Fred grabbed the newspaper movie listings, which had a permanent 'spot' on his workbench, and cleared the tools from the hood of the nearby Bel-Air so he could crank her up.

Head shaking in mock disapproval at how easily he abandoned his Lady, Callie was still smiling at his exuberant response. It would be good to spend time with Fred, she had almost forgotten how much fun they used to have. "Sure," she replied, as she watched him running around, gathering his things. "But Starbursts are on me."