Jake was led into a small room, there were a few tables set up. The detention facility didn’t hold as many people as a real prison and so everything was much smaller, like a jail. However, things were just as regulated as a prison. He wore the blue hospital scrub style prison uniform and he had an additional cuff on his wrist that the guards could use to shock him into submission. But Jake hadn’t a need for that. He’d been calm and the model inmate for his time. He knew he’d be out in a month and back to his job. He also knew what he’d done to be punished and knew what would happen the moment he grabbed Lynch and kicked off the whole mess.
He was escorted to a table and told to sit, he was the only one with visitors that day it seemed, but there were still plenty of guards watching him. Jake took a seat at the table, waiting for whoever had come to be escorted in to the seat across from him. He folded his bandaged hands before him and waited patiently.
Alec had never visited anyone being detained before. He hadn’t realized that was a possibility before he did some digging to figure out how dead he’d gotten Jake killed. Turned out - he hadn’t. So now he was just following through with that and making sure Jake wasn’t dead with his own two eyes.
It didn’t make going through the visitation process easier though. They searched him before they let him through to the room with all the tables. The entire atmosphere set him on edge. It made him feel cornered, like he was walking into a lion’s den that still had a lion in it. But he kept that down deep inside of him and didn’t let it show on his face.
He walked through the door, with his normal cocky smile, and to the table Jake was sitting at. He sat down across from him, letting his eyes take in Jake. Yep. Kid still looked like he was breathing. “Hey,” he said.
Beyond his knuckles, it would be hard pressed to tell that Jake had been in a fight as the other two didn’t really get any hits in. The young man smiled as Alec took as seat and he up-nodded. “Hey. Wasn’t expecting visitors.” He said, pleased to see it was who it was. Of course, now that Alec was before him, there was one thing on his mind- something he’d been worried about. “How’s Avery?”
“Handsome asshole like you probably got a whole line of them outside that have no idea they can visit anybody in here,” Alec said wryly, but he still looked happy enough to see Jake here in one piece. He felt relieved. “Didn’t realize that was an option until yesterday.”
Alec wasn’t sure how they came to sharing Avery like this. He knew Jake better than Avery but Avery seemed innocent. She seemed vulnerable on this island. Alec didn’t know her too well, but he felt a strange urge to protect her. The faction made moves that themselves in danger and Alec understood and accepted that but Avery didn’t do any of that and she still got put in danger. It didn’t seem right.
“Worried,” he said. “You were supposed to visit her or something and didn’t show. I think it freaked her out so I told her I’d track you down.”
His eyes dropped to the table. “Yea. I was actually on my way to her when I ran into a bit of an altercation.” Which was one way to put it. “Managed to find both the guys who hurt Avery. I don’t think they’re going to be hurting her,” Or hopefully anyone. “Again.” Jake frowned. “I didn’t intend on being detained, things got a little out of hand.” And he got hot headed. He looked back up to Alec. “Tell her I’m sorry and didn’t mean to worry her, please? She doesn’t deserve it.” His protectiveness over her, and other feelings he sort of felt, hated himself for letting her down. Alec shrugged. “Already told her most of that stuff. Thought you’d either killed a man or gotten yourself killed so an altercation sounds awesome and benign. But I’ll let her know you’re not dead or a murderer,” he added. His casual tone managed to cover for how much that unknown had bothered Alec as much as it had bothered Avery. “I think she knows you wouldn’t have disappeared if you could help it. I don’t think she blames you.”
He rubbed the bandage on his hand slightly and nodded. Jake did question whether he would have actually stopped hitting the guard if he hadn’t been pulled off. He’d just been so mad. “They admitted what they did- actually gloated about it.” He said, his voice hushed. He knew not all the other guards in the detention center approved of what he did (but a few did acknowledge that the two who had attacked Avery- and most who did go off the rails that night- didn’t represent everyone). Word of his fight had spread as well and it seemed that some of the guards were actually a bit more scared of him than before.
“Sounds like they got what they deserved,” Alec muttered. Alec hadn’t seen the fight, he didn’t know how out of control it’d gotten. But if even he had, it was highly unlikely he would consider his opinion on the situation. He had no love lost for the guards, but he even less love for assholes who preyed on the weak.
“You know how long you’re gonna be in here?” He asked, at a more normal tone.
They had, but at the same time Jake knew he could have handled it differently. As a good Agent he knew, but when they’d talked down about Avery… He’d just lost it. “Till the end of the month.” He said simply. “Could have been a worse punishment.”
Alec made a face. An entire month; he’d never heard of a mutant being detained for a whole month. But - if he’d attacked a couple of guards, he probably would’ve gotten longer than that. “Shit,” he said. It felt like a harsh punishment but he agreed, it could’ve been worse. They could’ve killed him. “They at least feeding you right? You can lose a lot of muscle definition from malnutrition in a month.”
Jake chuckled and nodded. “Three squares and I’ve adjusted my workout routine since I can’t go on my runs, so I should be just fine when I get out.” He was being punished, but it didn’t mean they were going to risk their Agent being mission ready upon release. “At least I’m not being demoted, or losing my job.” He said, while it wasn’t something the higher ups were going to risk after all the time and work they’d put into him and anything really bad (or a second transgression) would end up putting him back at Riken for reconditioning- Jake was completely unaware of that. “And I think they’re reopening Avery’s case maybe. At least I hope so with the guys admitting they lied on their report.”
Right. His job. Which was probably really important to him, Alec mentally reminded himself. He was less optimistic for Avery’s case. Daryn had gotten put in the hospital and lost her job. But… maybe it was some kind of legal bullshit. Maybe the assholes that had gone after Daryn hadn’t lied in their report. Maybe they owned up to kicking the shit out of a resident in their report and that made it okay. The rules seemed to change here.
That was what made the faction necessary.
“Yeah, that’d be nice,” he said, because he couldn’t speak freely here and he had a feeling he shouldn’t unload that mentality on Jake even outside of here. Alec rarely censored himself but he kept dead silent about the faction and any faction like beliefs. “She deserves a fair shake. I’m not going to tell her you got yourself locked up for fighting for her honor, but if I tell her you’re here, she’s gonna wanna come see you. What do you want me to tell her?”
That question had Jake hesitate. The thought of seeing Avery made his heart beat a bit faster and a smile slip onto his lips. But did he actually want her to see him in the state he was in? Glancing down to his blue prison uniform and his bandaged hands he pursed his lips as he thought about it. “This isn’t the most stress free place… and I know stress isn’t good for her control right now.” He rubbed his thumb over his palm. “But I know not telling her I’m ok will probably also stress her out because she’s sweet and worries like that.” It wasn’t actually an answer to his question. He felt it wrong to tell Alec to tell her to come because he wanted to see her- selfish. But he also knew if she insisted on coming and had an episode he’d feel to blame.
“I could tell her you got sent on an emergency mission or job or - I don’t know actually know what you do.” It started out as an offer to lie to their mutual friend - which was shitty and she didn’t deserve that, but this place made Alec nervous as fuck and it would probably do worse for Avery.
Jake chuckled softly. “I think that would go over great, don’t you? Until that pesky Empathy picks up deceit?” He shook his head. “I don’t want you to lie to her. But maybe make sure she knows there’s no pressure to come. It’s only a month- less than technically. I’ll be out before you guys know it.”
That was a good point. Alec could lie remarkably well and Avery could negate they entire ability because it wasn’t like he ever had to learn how to lie to himself to lie good to other people. “I mean, you’ll be out before I know it, I got loads of friends. Avery would probably ignore me, and show up here ten minutes after I tell her where you’re at.”
“Exactly.” Jake rubbed his neck. “Maybe it's best not to tell her. Just tell her I'm ok.” He sighed. “Loads, eh? Well I'm glad to be counted among them.” Or at least he hoped to be. Alec may be a memory from a bad time in his life- but to see him still alive and well made him realize not everything in the past before Riken had been all bad. “And I'm glad Avery has a good one looking out for her.” Maybe he was too overprotective of her since they found each other again. Maybe it was because he still sometimes saw the scared thirteen year old when he looked at her. “And thanks for checking up on me.”
Alec grinned. He did count Jake among them. Jake was a little off, and they hadn’t really been talking too long, but Jake got that weird place of recognition that nearly nobody got with Alec. It was like they’d served war together, and survived it. Alec had a soft spot for them. Which was fucked up, when they were on opposite sides of this new war. But Alec had a weird moral code, and Jake didn’t really go against that code, despite technically being the enemy. So he got a pass from Alec, and would continue to get a pass right up until Jake did something unforgivable. And Alec wasn’t sure Jake was capable of doing something unforgivable by his standards.
But then Alec shrugged. “No problem,” he said. But he viewed checking up on Jake as selfish and almost entirely disconnected from Avery’s concern. He wanted to make sure he hadn’t gotten Jake killed. This didn’t feel like a favor to him. “I’ll make sure she knows you’re still breathing. “I’ll come back in a week, to check up on you again. Give you a beautiful face to look forward to seeing; it’s the least I can do.”
Jake laughed lightly. “Appreciate it.” He glanced back and saw the guard approaching the table. “Looks like my escort is coming.” He commented, looking back to Alec. “Wish you could have seen the look on their faces.” Jake smirked as he stood up when instructed. That hot headed kid showing his face for a second. “It was barely a fight.”
A second guard approached to escort Alec as Jake was lead out of the room. He felt good despite being detained. Seeing Alec had somehow helped reassure him he'd done the right thing- even though he knew it had been the wrong thing to do.
Alec grinned. He couldn’t help it. Because he liked this side of Jake. He didn’t think it’d been the wrong thing to do. He wished he had seen their faces. He wished he could’ve punched them in the face himself. Alec glanced back toward the guard approaching him and rose to his feet.
He let the guard lead him out, and felt the tension ease once he was out of the building. Then he headed for Avery’s house.