Califor M.I.A

Saftey

"You kids get outta here!" The cop let go of Ethan and ran off towards ToyZone. Ethan stood there watching the cop run off with an annoyed look in his eye, fixing his jacket the cop had the audacity to mess up.

Hannah's head suddenly started hurting. Closing her eyes, she sat in one of the chairs in the theatre plaza. "Don't do it. Two doors, not one." The headache started to subside as Ethan walked over to her,

"I'm sorry Hannah. I thought I could get us in." Ethan said, noticing Hannah sitting by herself and rushing to sit by her. "I would've shelled out on tickets, I'm just a little low on funds at the moment." He looked down for a second, seeing Hannah's disinterested face, before continuing, "I thought my old jalopy weren't gonna make it to California so I sunk a grand into it." He let out a nervous breathy laugh. "Look, don't tell your sister I got no dough. She'll lose respect for me."

Ethan took a good look at Hannah, who had been silent the whole time he was rambling. She looked like she was in a daze, either unfocused or hyper focused on something. He grew concerned but tried to hide it in case Hannah was scared. "Hey, what's shakin' Banana, you ok?"

Hannah snapped out of her daze and looked at Ethan. Her expression made him even more worried. She shook her head, "Bad place. Black and White." She made it sound like Ethan should know what she meant so he went with it.

Ethan shifted in his seat a bit, trying to find what he should say to try and avoid what Hannah said while also calming her down. "Look, I know you're nervous to leave home. But," he sighed, "you've gotta trust me." He saw the worry on her face start to fade so he kept going. "It's going to be so much better for you once you're outta there." He paused for a moment, still trying to find what to say without saying something he shouldn't, "And hey! Maybe once you're gone, maybe then your mom will realize, 'hey, I gotta do better'" He turned to Hannah, "Do you trust your sister Hannah?"

She nodded and hummed an agreement.

"And do you believe that, no matter how bad it looks right now, that things will get better?" He grew worried again when he saw her shake her head.

"Not better, badder. Much badder." Her voice quivered with what he could only think was fear.

"Hey, what's with that grammar? Even I know it's more badder." He said, trying to lighten the mood.

Their attention was pulled from one another as two men ran into to the theater plaza yelling. One of them was wearing a full suit and a tie, Gary Goldstein. The other was wearing a normal winter outfit with a plaid hat.

"What the hell was that?" Ethan stands up. Putting a hand out as if to get Hannah's attention, "I think we better split Banana!" He puts a hand on the man with the hat's shoulder. "Hey, are you ok?" Ethan asks, trying to calm the man down as to not get hurt.

"NO I'M NOT OK!" The man yells before punching Ethan across the face. As Ethan recovers he is punched in the gut by the same man, making him spit blood.

Hannah gasps, "Bad blood!" She shakingly points to it.

The man that punched Ethan shoves him into the arms of Gary. Ethan kicks the man's leg and elbows his stomach, finally able to get free from his arms. All that was on his mind was Hannah's safety. He knew he wasn't going to be able to keep her safe if she was still here. "Hannah, get outta here! The play-place by Marshall's, get in the kiddie tunnel!" He didn't mean for it to come out so harsh, he didn't want to scare her anymore than she already was.

Hannah ran out of the theatre, grabbing the hat on her head as if to protect herself. Ethan's eyes followed her, until the man he didn't know shoved him back, Gary punching him right after. He fell to the ground with a shout. Gary grabbed his legs and spun him as the other man started to kick him. One foot was kicking his ribcage and one foot was kicking his head. His mind couldn't tell whose foot was whose. After he was kicked twice in the head the pain numbed. He still felt the kicks but they had lost the base of their pain. A darkness in the back of his brain beckoned him but he tried his best to ignore it. He couldn't pass out, he needed to save Hannah, to find Lex, to take his girls to California. He couldn't bear to see Lex cry again. He needed to save his girls from the horrible family they had. Hannah was too young to have to go through this. As his mind raced he hadn't realized that his eyes had closed.

Hannah snuck back into the theatre plaza through a back door. She had to hold back the gasp that threatened to escape when she saw the two men beating Ethan. "Hey! Get off him!" Hannah rushed over to the man with the plaid hat. When he didn't turn to her, she kicked him the back of the knees, making him fall to the floor. When he tried to get up, she kicked him right in the temple, successfully knocking him out. Or, she hoped he was just unconscious. She pushed the thought to the back of her head when she heard a noise behind her. She spun around and hissed at Gary, he ran away screeching.

She looked around warily before she heard a rough cough. She fell onto her knees at Ethan's sides. She failed to hold in a sob as she unzipped his jacket, looking for major wounds.
Ethan jolted awake when Hannah ran her hand over the giant bleeding bruise on his side, right next to his ribcage. Ethan grabbed Hannah's hand, pulling it away from his side. "Han... nah." His voice was strained. He coughed again. "Find Lex, go to Cali-" His whole body jolted when he coughed again. "I'm not gonna make it Banana, I was supposed to watch you and keep you sa-"

Hannah squeezed his hand gently, Ethan stopped talking and looked her in the eyes, "Eth, if you don't shut up, I will tell Lex that you're low on funds." She tried to lighten the mood as much as she could based on the situation. She wiped some of the blood off of Ethan's forehead. "I'm gonna get you outta here Eth, I promise."

I wrote a while mini revise of Califor MIA for Ethan when he tells Hannah to go find Lex
I imagine its a very slow piano version, his voice is strained and Hannah crying as he sings.

And when the sun shines down upon you
You'll know I'm righteous, hey
You'll survive this crisis, hey
And when the sun shines down over Cali
The future's priceless, hey
I won't pass this virus, hey
'Cause you're Califor-M.I.A
M.I.A

When he says, "I wont pass this virus," that's when Hannah decides she's gonna save him.