balletrat | (no subject)

*And for a moment, there's a look of admiration in Rick's eyes.*

*Andrew kind of gets that.*

*He glances over at Meg.*

*Meg's watching the screen, and her face is inscrutable.

Go ahead and shoot, says Rick.

Ilsa can't, of course.*

*And he moves in to kiss her.*

*Andrew's hand edges over toward Meg's, as the two figures on the screen embrace.*

*The screen fades to black for a moment, leaving the room dark.

When the picture comes up again, Ilsa and Rick are seated on the couch talking, and Andrew's palm rests over Meg's.

Meg's eyes still don't shift from the screen. Her fingers curl up lightly against the side of his hand, though.*

*I know that I'll never have the strength to leave you again, Ilsa tells Rick.*

*Andrew's hand tightens on Meg's, a little.*

*Meg's gaze flickers from the screen to their linked hands, and then back again; and her mouth curves in a tiny wry almost-smile, as Ilsa tells Rick, I wish I didn't love you so much.*

* * * * *

*It's a little later. Carl has taken Ilsa home, and Victor Laszlo and Rick Blaine are speaking.*

*Don't you sometimes wonder if it's worth all this? Rick asks. I mean what you're fighting for?*

*Victor tells him that we might as well question why we breathe, and Andrew's nodding slowly.*

*Meg gives Andrew a quick fond glance; and then Victor asks Rick to take the woman they both love away from Casablanca, and Meg turns back to watch Rick's incredulous face as he asks if Laszlo loves her enough to send her away with another man.*

*Laszlo looks at him. Apparently you think of me only as the leader of a cause. Well, I am also a human being. ...Yes, I love her that much.*

*Andrew's got one knee drawn up to his chest; with a low sigh, he leans forward to rest his cheek against it.*

*As if to punctuate this statement, several armed gendarmes force their way into the cafe for the purpose of arresting Laszlo.

Meg's seen armed gendarmes before, but she's not looking at them now.*

*Shortly thereafter: Rick manages to convince Renault to release Laszlo, as he himself intends to leave the country with Ilsa and hand Laszlo to Renault on a platter.*

*Andrew glances at Meg sidelong.

*Catching Andrew's glance:*

Well, Laszlo did ask.

*He's not smirking. Not really.*

Wait. For. It.

*Meg eyes him.

And waits.*

Love, it seems, has triumphed over virtue, *says a smug Renault, as he prepares to arrest Laszlo.* Thank -

Not so fast, Louis, *Rick says, and the camera focuses in on the gun pointed at Renault.*

*Renault demands to know if Rick has taken leave of his senses; Rick acknowledges, quite calmly, that he has. Renault is persuaded to sit down.*

*And Andrew is grinning like a thief.*

*Meg pulls a face at him - well, sort of at him; it's intended for him, anyways, even though she's still watching the screen - just as Rick says,* And remember, this gun's pointed right at your heart.

That is my least vulnerable spot, *says Renault, as he picks up the phone.*

*Except, of course, he's not calling the airport. He's calling the police department.*

*It's all coming together now, events rolling downhill to the inevitable, as the various players race for the airport.*

*And then they're at the airport, and Renault is filling out the names on the papers - Mr. and Mrs. Victor Laszlo.

Renault stares. Meg stares. Ilsa stares, and asks,* But why my name, Richard?

*And Rick says,* Because you're getting on that plane.

*And here it is. The classic scene in the classic movie, quoted and mocked and parodied a hundred times and it never loses its original meaning.*

*Andrew's whispering the words along with Rick.*

If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life....

*I said I would never leave you! Ilsa insists.*

And you never will. Where I'm going, you can't follow. What I've got to do, you can't be any part of. Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of two little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Not now.

*His eyes are suspiciously bright. They always are, at this part.*

Here's looking at you, kid.

The problems of two little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

*Well, Meg thinks - almost detached. Almost.

They got it.

How about that.

*Ilsa and Laszlo head towards the plane, Major Strasser shows up --*

*You knew this would happen. That last bit may have been a surprise if you've never heard the story before, but this? Come on. You knew this would happen.*

*Renault: Major Strasser's been shot! A pause. Round up the usual suspects!*

*And off charge the gendarmes, leaving Renault and Rick Blaine to finish the scene....*

*And it seems that when romance fails, manly bonding will see you through every time.*

Louis, *says Rick,* I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

*The two men walk off together into the night; and, just in case you missed it, the screen informs the careful viewer that they have reached THE END.*

*The credits roll.*

*Andrew turns to Meg, hopefully.*

Well?

*A short pause.

Then:* Laszlo, *Meg says, firmly, turning to him, and gives him a sideways grin.*

Rick's nice enough, but give me Laszlo any day.

Yeah?

*He turns away from the screen and settles a little more comfortably on the bed, folding his legs under him.*

How come?