Shopping. *DUNH DUN DUNNNNNH*

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... all right, maybe not.

*ahem*

Ray emerges from the bar with April O'Neill in tow, heading along at that peculiar walk one assumes when one is thisclose to running but doesn't want to leave someone else behind. "She's right over there- see? Bonnie's been working on her, I've been working on her, it's been an amazing project- just be careful, Bonnie says she's not completely dry yet and I'd kind of like to be the first one to put a hand on her- anyway, this is her. Ecto-1..."

[Summary: Ray shows off Ecto to April, takes her back to his New York, acquaints her with Louis Tully's creepy product endorsements, and they head downtown to buy Ray a decent suit at Brooks Brothers for his high school reunion. There is also some breaky because the Brooks Brothers store in question is across the street from where the Twin Towers used to be.]

Comments

[the-damsel.livejournal.com]

April blinked. "Well, of course."

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"Yeah, well..." Ray fidgeted a little in his seat. "It's not there any more."

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"Anymore?"

What the hell?

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"It's 2004 here, April. There was an accident, three years ago... a very big one." Ray grimaced. "An airplane that vanished in the 1960's finally came home, but the pilot didn't know he had a new skyline to deal with, and it... it was really bad. The worst aviation accident in history. Nine in the morning, September the eleventh, 2001."

No, that doesn't square with the time frame for the movies. Yes, Ray knows that. He looks like a man braced for questions.

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April just stared.

Mikey and Mel were just there last week.

"You're not kidding." She wasn't to the question stage yet.

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"I wish I were. There was a family that lived around the corner from where I grew up- the Infantes- the father, Anthony, was a Port Authority cop on duty that day. He didn't make it out."

He nods down the length of West Broadway, where they are now. Amazing how much sky it's possible to see without those monsters in the way.

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"Oh my God."

April covered her mouth with her hand, struck mute for several seconds.

"I... Oh my God."

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Ray sighed quietly and reached over to put a hand on April's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. So far I've only brought three people from the past to this New York, yourself included, and one of them was Prospero- I'm not much good at telling people about it. I, uh... I'm sorry."

[the-damsel.livejournal.com]

"But... but... how?" She swung her gaze over to Ray, wide-eyed.

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"A dimensional warp of some kind... Trans-Ocean flight 66 was due in at Idlewild in 1965 when it vanished from every radar screen on Earth. Everyone assumed it'd gone down in a storm and the pieces were lost at sea. It hadn't. Exactly what the conditions were that allowed it to finally come home no one knows for sure, but according to the flight recorder that was recovered from the crash site, the pilot and co-pilot were seeing stuff that sounded very much like the coast of North America sometime in the middle Cretaceous period. They'd mentioned unusual turbulence and bizarre lights around the aircraft several times in the course of the flight, and then..." He lifted his shoulders. "They flew into the teeth of the worst storm they could find, and came out over New York- but it wasn't the same skyline they'd left behind, and it all went to Hell. Trans-Ocean 66 hit the tower with the radio mast and the resultant signal pulse blew a bunch of other planes' navigation systems. An Eastern Airlines jet got dropped out of the sky by it, and that hit the other tower."

[the-damsel.livejournal.com]

April sat back in her seat, her hand pressed over he heart in shock. "I... Oh my God." She was vaguely aware that she was sounding rather stupid, repeating herself.

"And people were inside." It wasn't a question. "Both? That's... I can't believe it." And yet, there they were, where April should have had to press her forehead against the window glass to see to the top of the landmarks, and... nothing. Rubble. She gaped, but it was the tributes and flowers and notes and people in prayer along the perimeter which really struck her.

April swallowed back the lump that had formed in her throat, and wiped at the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry. This is just- It's a lot. I didn't know."

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Ray nodded. "They were, yeah.... several thousand. Oddly enough, very few people were inside. We've never been able to figure out exactly how that happened, but for some reason, the Towers were at something like thirty or forty percent of what their normal population for that time of day should've been. For pretty much every person who was lost that day, there were a good three or four more who should've been, but who found some reason to be somewhere else. Strangest thing. We've been years cleaning up the mess, and they've only just settled on a design for the new buildings to go up on the spot, but that's how it happened."

"It's all right. You had no way of knowing. I should've mentioned it before, but it completely slipped my mind- I've been living in this New York for three years, after all. You get used to the hole in the skyline after a while."

[the-damsel.livejournal.com]

"Somehow, saying it could be worse just doesn't seem right in this situation, does it?" April sighed, turning away from the window. She was shaken, and more than a little bit. Vaguely, she wished that one of her boys were there, just to hold her and reassure her. When she got back, she would have to be sure to squeeze Mikey extra tight.

"I can't even comprehend this." Maybe it would be better if she didn't. On impulse, she reached out and squeezed Ray's closest hand. This would keep her up nights, she knew it.

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Ray squeezed the hand back; he knew the feeling. It was just that, for him, that feeling was several years old and very far away. "Don't try," he said. "My friend Peter says that in his version of reality, Eastern Airlines went out of business in '89, and that Trans-Ocean never existed as an airline. It's possible that this is some kind of horrible but unique event, and that in other worlds it never happens."

The cab pulled to a stop; Ray paid with his free hand. "Did you want to go straight to the store, or do you need a few minutes to deal with the whole thing?" he asked quietly.

[the-damsel.livejournal.com]

"Could we maybe just stop and get something to drink?" April asked with a faint smile. She squeezed his hand one more time before letting him go so that they could slide from the taxi. "I'll be okay, I just need a minute, I think."

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Ray nodded. "There's a bubble tea place over there, across from St. Paul's- I'm going to assume you've had that, right? I mean, I know the guys are all drawing on Japanese culture and stuff, but Mikey seemed to imply that they spent a lot of time in Chinatown, and that's where you find most of the shops that sell it. Sometimes they call it boba, but either way the end result is the same. It tastes good and it's really pretty distracting..."

[the-damsel.livejournal.com]

"I, um... Sorry, no." And April actually chuckled, softly. "I have no idea what you're talking about. But, I'll try it."

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"Ah, you're missing out, then," said Ray with the air of a man who knows his distractions. "Take iced tea, mix it with milk or soy milk, add in a bunch of shaved ice and some fruit flavor. Now add in a whole bunch of black tapioca pearls about as big across as your pinky nail and shake the whole thing up. You have to drink it through this massive straw and don't forget to chew the tapioca, but it's worth it."

[the-damsel.livejournal.com]

"That sounds... complicated," April laughed. "But hey, I'm a brave girl. I'm ready to try new things. Lead the way, Dr. Stantz."

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"Came out of Taiwan a few years ago. Great stuff," says Ray happily, leading the way. The end result is two plastic cups of milky liquid, one orangey-pink, the other greenish. "Take your pick. Normally I get almond or sesame, myself, but it never hurts to change things up a bit."

[the-damsel.livejournal.com]

Having an affinity for things green, April decided upon that color. She took a preparatory breath and then took a long drink, remembering to chew.

"That is really good," April enthused, licking her lips. "Different, but good. It feels strange, chewing a drink," she laughed. "Can I try yours?"

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Ray passed the cup over. "You got papaya. Mine's supposed to be honeydew, but honestly, I couldn't tell it apart from any other fruit if you paid me. If you order it back home, remember to avoid asking for red bean- red bean paste is good in desserts but they put the actual beans in the drink, and then you have to eat it with a spoon."

[the-damsel.livejournal.com]

April chuckled. "Okay, no beans if I want to use a straw," she confirmed. "This is good, too," she mused, passing Ray's cup back to him in exchange for her own. Yes, distractions were very good.

"So, are you ready for this?" She arched a brow with a smirk. "Kinda scary, I know."

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"As long as I don't have to do anything involving underwear or tying my own tie, sure," Ray says. "They have people to handle the tie for you at stores like this, right?"

[the-damsel.livejournal.com]

That ellicted a full-on laugh from April, who leaned over and whispered, "It's okay, Ray. I'll help you with the tie." She hooked her arm through his and led him back out and down the street. Just outside of Brooks Brothers she paused.

"Last chance to run screaming and crying," she smiled.