Who: Roger, Wren What: Catching up! When: Sometime last week Where: Roger's office on Fremont Street Warnings: swearing. it's Roger
Wren didn’t actually hear about Roger being in town until after the hotel opened. Until then, she largely didn’t pay attention to whatever was going on in Las Vegas. Her life was set, patterned, peaceful. Luke showing up had changed all that, and MK coming to stay had brought a thousand memories crashing back as well. All the years she’d tried to forget during the past half decade, they seemed close enough to touch now, and she didn’t like it. It was hard to be distant, to keep it all from hurting when there were reminders around every corner. And she’d always been a glutton for punishment where Luke was concerned. She looked for information, tried to find out where he was staying, and that led her to the realization that Roger was in town.
She hadn’t seen him in four and a half years, but it felt much longer than that. The nineteen-year old girl he’d met on the street had been scared, hungry, heartbroken. She wasn’t any of those things now, at least not on the surface.
It was, in part, concern that caused her to seek him out. There was no chance that he and Luke knew each other - the world couldn’t possibly be that small - and she didn’t think Luke would actually go looking for information on her, but she was still worried. Roger was the only one who really knew her secret, and he was the only person she could trust with it. He’d helped her when no one else had, and he’d helped her to make a decision in good faith. She knew now that it hadn’t been the right one, but back then, with the knowledge he had (which wasn’t very much), it was sound advice. And, in truth, she would have died without his help. When he’d found her, she’d been starving and sick and battered, not to mention nearly seven months pregnant. She owed him, and she trusted him.
The woman who walked through the door of the bounty hunter’s office off Fremont looked like she’d gotten lost on her way someplace much more upscale. She was dressed more casually than normal, knowing her regular clients wouldn’t be in a place like Fremont. Gray designer cotton slacks and a snow white camisole were paired with black stilettos and a thin diamond bracelet. There was no sign of the pregnant nineteen-year old hooker Roger had known Wren to be, and she waited inside the entrance to the shop to be noticed.
Roger was silently debating with Damian about the need to even have an office when Wren stepped in. The kid thought it was a waste of time when he could take calls from a cellphone and spend a better part of his day collecting stupid criminals instead of filing useless information. While Roger agreed that catching bad guys was indeed the best part of the job, sometimes boring stuff had to be done to keep everything legal-ish. Only idiots let the law tell them what to do. Yeah, and only stupid jerks don’t pay their taxes.
The sound of someone coming through the front door cleared Roger’s head and he looked up to see a transformed Wren. “Holy shit.” Roger got to his feet and moved around his desk. “Is that Wren?” He smiled thickly at her. She was always a pretty girl, but she looked healthy which was a huge improvement over the first time they met. He never thought he’d see her again, figuring she was just some bird with a broken wing that he had helped fix before letting her fly off with her flock. Her leaving was one of the hardest things he had to accept. He wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who let anything important go. Even if he couldn’t exactly play her watchdog for the rest of his life.
Wren didn’t touch anyone these days, not unless they paid her to, and then it was never gentle or kind. But Roger was different, and the thick smile he gave her made her move forward and take his hands in her warm ones, the gesture very reminiscent of the girl she had been. She squeezed his hands, and she tugged on them a little as she pressed a slow kiss to his cheek. When she pulled back, she was smiling too. “I cleaned up a little,” she said, just a statement of fact and no vanity or smugness behind the words. “I think Las Vegas is trying to bring my entire past back to haunt me,” she added, a hint of teasing chastisement in the statement. Then, fondly, “how have you been, Roger?”
She didn’t expect him to be working out of an office somehow, even now that she was standing there. She’d always seen him on the streets, out with all of the rabble and yet somehow above it. It seemed fitting for a man who followed his own moral code, and who didn’t shy away from the bad things the world had to offer. He wasn’t the kind to look away from a beggar, or turn a blind eye to a bruised working girl, and Wren had always liked that about him. She had been liked that once, and even though she wasn’t like that anymore she liked thinking he was still that person. It’s how she remembered him.
He squeezed her hands back, smirking down at her before moving to let her take a seat. The office wasn’t fancy, but it was practical and had enough rooms for files, computers and hopefully a team. “Well, let’s see.” Roger moved back to his place behind the desk. “My mentor retired and gave me a bunch of money to turn my little hobby into a business. So, I’m looking around for a small team. Used to working alone, but I’m not getting any younger.” He shrugged. Thirty wasn’t old, but he wasn’t as fast or strong as he used to be. That was just a fact. Plus, he liked the tradition of finding someone to train like his mentor did for him.
“I’m sorry your past is creeping back on you. Same shit has been happening to me. The good news is that it hasn’t been too bad so far.” Roger liked being in the same city as his brother and now that Wren was here, too, he didn’t feel alone.
She smiled. “Good luck on your team. My best friend from years ago is in town, and she’s staying with me. If she’s as impulsive as she used to be, she might be a match,” she suggested of MK. It was strange, seeing someone she hadn’t seen in so long, but who she’d shared everything with. “What are you looking for, exactly, and is the pay decent, or are you shortchanging them?” she asked, leaning back against one of the desks in the shop and giving him a smile that let him know she wasn’t being serious about him ripping anyone off. Still, she thought about the horrible state of Luke’s clothes, and she wished Roger didn’t know all her secrets; it might be a good opportunity for Luke. She sighed, trying not to get carried away with the guilt that thought brought along with it. “My run-in with the past hasn’t been as good so far,” she admitted. “I’m having a hard time looking my mistakes in the face. Your past, does it come with mistakes?” Roger knew precisely what her mistakes were, but she didn’t know any of his.
“I was thinking of just hiring interns, which I heard is another word for slaves.” He teased back. “If you got someone in mind, send them my way. I pay well enough that my people don’t have to live next to the Gold Nugget.” It didn’t matter how many lights they put up on Fremont Street, it was nothing but trash now. Just like how the main strip would turn into trash in twenty years. That was just how Las Vegas worked. Wren knew his style well enough that he’d trust her judgement. He wanted hard workers or natural talents. Those usually didn’t go hand-in-hand and if they did, it usually turned the person a little nuts.
Roger shrugged at the second question. “Sure, but I don’t have to look my mistake in the face. She’s been long dead. Might hurt a little more but it sure as hell doesn’t cause any trouble down the line.” He leaned back in his chair and realized he didn’t have any real fond memories of his mother. Damian didn’t really either. “Although. Ah see, when I was a teenager I ran off to help my mom. I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have bothered and stayed behind to help my brother, Luke. He’s in bad shape. Struggling. Living off barely anything and acting real strange. If I step in now it’ll look like I don’t think he can take care of himself.”
“She’s a redhead and a spitfire, but I get the feeling she has some energy to burn,” she said of MK. It was just a hunch, something in the other woman’s voice, but Wren was good with hunches. “But she’s got a good heart, and she’s moral, and I think life has dealt her some bad hands. She could use all the friends she could get,” she said honestly of her dear friend, and it showed on her face, how much she liked the woman she was talking about. “Even if it just ends up being a friendship, I think she could use as many good people in her life as she can get.”
Wren didn’t think being long dead actually made things any better for him. She could still hold out hope that things would get better, even if it was a dream. He didn’t have that, and she reached out and squeezed his fingers in a gesture of understanding without pity. She knew plenty about loving people who weren’t worth loving, mothers that had died and left a lot of anger behind, and she knew that look in his eyes. “You still haven’t learned how to hide what you’re feeling,” she said, which was true. She’d gotten very, very good at that in recent years. But even all that practice didn’t keep her from dropping his hand when he mentioned his brother by name. No, she reminded herself. That was a coincidence. Luke had no siblings that she knew of, but her pulse still sped up, and she had to force herself to clarify. “I didn’t know you had a brother. What’s he like?” Casually. “His last name, it’s Darman?”
“I’d lose a lot of my natural charm if I hid my feelings.” He smiled down at their hands. Wren had a way of being comforting without making him feel like a child. It was something only a person who saw too much of the world could do. “He’s a half brother, technically. Mom was a mistake and so was I, so my dad remarried and had Luke. My real last name is Henry, but I took up Darman cause I thought it would help my mom. Stupid little gestures made her happy.” He looked back up at her, trying his best to not step too far into the past.
“Anyway. Luke is uh- well. He’s a good little brother. Smart as shit and nicer than me most of the time. Life was so fucking simple when we were kids, though.” Roger hadn’t thought about their perfect, untouched childhood. Their mild mannered parents. It was like a family out of a Target ad. “I always knew he wanted something more and Las Vegas is a good enough place to find it.” Roger looked worried. He wasn’t a detective or anything fancy like that, but he knew something happened to his brother. Or maybe it was a couple things. Whatever happened, it left the poor kid fractured as all hell.
It was one of the hardest things Wren had ever done, listening to Roger and letting him finish what he was saying without stopping him. He didn’t say anything she didn’t know about Luke, and it was the last name - Henry - that made her go even paler, not the information he conveyed. She wondered why Luke had never told her, and she wondered how many other secrets he’d kept from her. She was probably quiet too long, and it probably gave too much away, but she couldn’t help it. She was torn between telling him, and risking him running to Luke with what he knew, and not telling him. In the end, it was the fact that she might come up in conversation that helped her choose. “I knew Luke,” she said, keeping timelines intentionally vague, even as she started to realize there was no good way for any of this to end. “I ran into him recently,” she added, because she might as well. “He’s-” she paused, “changed.” Her tone was careful, blank almost, not giving anything away. She didn’t know if Roger knew about Seattle, if he knew about any of it, and she didn’t want to tell him anything Luke didn’t want him to know; she owed Luke that much. “I’m worried about him too,” she added.
Roger’s expression hardened. “You two-” he paused, hand rubbing his chin. He didn’t have a whole lot of experience with love, but the way her skin paled and this sudden need to keep things vague made him think it had to been something like that. Well, it made enough sense. Roger instantly liked Wren and while he had always treated her like a little sister, Luke likely saw something more. It was sort of sweet, except it came with a feeling that something was wrong now. The kid in his head told him to stay out of it. This wasn’t his problem. But, Roger didn’t care. This was as close to family as he’d get. “Have you tried to talk to him?”
She tensed when his expression hardened, wondering if he'd added things up, and she nodded quickly, confirming his assessment. "I only just ran into him the other night," she said, which was really a non-response about whether she'd tried talking to Luke or not. "We didn't part well when things ended," she admitted, which was almost misstating, since they hadn't actually parted at all. She'd just left while he was out of the apartment, which kind of kept the parting part out of the equation. "I don't think he'd listen to me anymore, and I know he wouldn’t confide in me," she added, which was true. She took a deep, deep breath, and she looked away as she considered her next statement. "How much has he told you about his life in Seattle?" she asked, because that was all she knew. Well, that and a handful of weeks in New York. She suspected he didn't know very much about either, and her expression said as much.
He made a humming noise as he tried to think back. “Luke and I only really talked twice a year. Once on my birthday and once on his. He was a little down towards the end of it, but I figured that was just young guy stuff.” Roger might have been compassionate, but when it got down to the hard, complicated feelings he either didn’t want any part of it or simply didn’t understand. “Did you break his heart or something?” He smiled gently and said it like his words might change the past. She did, though. That much was obvious. I think she did something worse than that, Darman. Yeah, no shit. “Just tell me what happened, Wren. I earned it. This is the only way I can help you. And, him.”
“Something like that,” she said, and that was all she would say about it. Her voice cracked on the words, guilt in her voice, and she shook her head. “Some things you just can’t take back, no matter how much you want to,” she said, a deep breath chasing away the tears that threatened to brim over. They were replaced by concern, and by a careful look that said she was determining how much to say, how much wouldn’t be a betrayal. Because if there was something she wasn’t going to do, it was betray Luke again. “The only thing that really matters is getting him better now. A better job, money, I’m trying to find out where he’s staying, but he won’t take charity. He’s always been too proud for that,” she said fondly. “If you make it sound like you need him, he might help.” She looked around. “And maybe you do, a little. It wouldn’t be a lie.” She paused. “I think he needs someone he can talk to. He always had trouble with that, and I got things out of him when we were kids, but I don’t think it would be as easy now.”
“He’s top priority right now, trust me on that.” Roger softened up a bit. Wren breaking down wasn’t something he was apt to handle. She could count on him to keep tabs on Luke and slip him money whether he wanted it or not. With his mom dead, Roger had time now to make sure someone in his family didn’t turn into a piece of shit. “But, he’s going to get curious about you. Especially when you’re looking like money. So, this isn’t going to be as easy as you sitting on the sidelines.” He knew telling the truth was the right thing to do, but it didn’t always mean it was the best thing. “You gotta decide real fast how you’re going to deal with that. And, how much you want him to know. If you don’t have a plan, it’s going to get a lot messier than it is now.”
Hearing that Luke was Roger’s top priority made her feel better. She knew what it was like to be atop Roger’s list of concerns, and she knew how much that could help. “He’s too angry to be curious. He hates me right now, or he wants to. But he won’t go looking for me,” she said with a wistful sort of certainty. “He thinks I’m hooking for my money. It doesn’t matter, Roger, and he isn’t going to take anything if he’s knows I’m involved.” He was right about needing a plan, though. “I have someone I’m paying to find out how bad things are, now in debt he is, if he’s living someplace terrible. It’s someone I trust, and I was always planning on finding a way to help.” She looked around at the place, as if she was trying to gauge how much money Roger had to his name. “I think it’s better if I just filter money to you, and you make sure it gets where it needs to go, that it does what it needs to do. If it wasn’t for Luke, I’d be in jail somewhere or worse. I owe it to him, even if he doesn’t want to take my help.” She didn’t say she loved him, Roger’s brother, but she didn’t have to. She opened the clutch she had with her, and she began to write a check.
Damian wanted to know where she was getting the money. He really wanted to know. Roger guessed it was simply because hooking in Vegas paid well, but that wasn’t enough for the youngest Robin. He didn’t even want Roger to take the money if he didn’t know where it was from. But, Roger trusted Wren more than most people. Even more than Damian. Plus, he couldn’t do this on his own. For now, it would have to be a team effort. “Does he have any- ah, vices I don’t know about yet?” Roger was a clean man, probably the cleanest bounty hunter in the country, but he was well aware that the rest of the world wasn’t. It was possible his little brother was involved in drugs or booze. That would hurt him the most, though.
Wren shook her head. “No,” she said with certainty, looking up from the check to reply. She might not have seen Luke in years, but she had no doubt that answer was true. The boy she had known hadn’t been involved in anything like that, and she couldn’t fathom a world where he would have become involved with anything like that after she’d left. “Luke’s always been better than anyone else I’ve known,” she said with pride in him. She turned her attention back to the check, which she filled out to the tune of ten thousand dollars and handed it over to Roger, who she trusted implicitly. “I’ll let you know what my investigator finds out about his living and work situation,” she added, because she didn’t expect him to find anything beyond that. Luke had learned how to keep his tracks covered too well. If he was still running around in a mask, she didn’t expect Silver to find out. And, she realized, she couldn’t tell if Roger even knew about that. Selina, in her mind, thought all of this was a waste of time. Luke was obviously self-destructive, and she knew better than anyone that people like that were beyond help. “You’ll call me if you hear anything?” she added, handing him a business card with Minette and a phone number printed on it, which probably did little to clarify that she wasn’t hooking.
“Sure.” Roger looked down at the card and knew deep down he didn’t approve of the way she was making money. All these bells and whistles she was walking around with were just masking pain or covering whatever wound being without Luke had cut open inside of her. It was messy. Hell, this whole fucking town was and he was going to get caught right in the middle of it. But, Roger knew that he was the only person who could do the work. This was his second chance to prove he could actually change people. That he could pull someone he cared about out of a pit even if he didn’t want the help. Maybe Roger would stop feeling guilty and finally find a way to live normally.
“Listen, just cause my brother is mad at you doesn’t mean I am, too.” Roger smiled at her. “I’m- on the journals. If you know what the means. If not, just email me.” He didn’t want to give too much away in fear he’d sound insane. He couldn’t exactly tell her there was a Batman character living in his head.
His comment about not being mad at her really didn’t make her feel any better. If he knew, he would take it all back in an instant, and that was her growing fear with everyone who was walking back into her life. All of this, it was just temporary. They’d find out eventually, and then what?
She was just unclasping the diamond bracelet from her wrist when he mentioned the journals, and she stopped and looked up at him. “Mine’s a phone,” she said, the conversation an echo of the one she’d had with Luke in that hotel. “It’s more convenient than a journal,” she added, finishing her fight with the delicate clasp. She put the bracelet, which was a pure circle of flawless diamonds, oh the counter. “In case you run into any trouble and I’m not around,” she said, pushing it toward him. “Did you go to the hotel?” she asked, which really meant, do you know which door is yours? More importantly, did he know Luke had a door too?
“Yeah, I went. It’s a hassle, but if anyone can take care of mine, it’s me.” Roger gave a tired smile. Damian was not amused. “He can be dangerous, but so can I. I’ve dealt with much worse green bounty hunters. I hope yours isn’t bad. Same with Luke.” No, he had to keep this to himself for now. Wren had her secrets, Roger was allowed to have his. Damian didn’t think he needed protecting, but Wren or Luke could have anyone in their head. Roger wasn’t taking any chances. “Anyway. Send that red head my way. I’ll find work for her if she’s any good. And, thank you for stopping by even on the circumstances. Damn happy to see you.”
Wren didn’t like the implication that whoever was in Roger’s mind was bad, but she couldn’t very well do anything about it. Especially when the woman in her own mind wanted to spend most of her time causing trouble for the wealthy members of Las Vegas society by stealing their most prized possessions. In the end, she nodded. “I’ll let MK know. Make sure you put that out of sight,” she said of the bracelet. She stepped forward and squeezed his wrist lightly between her fingers in farewell. “I’m happy to see you too, Roger. I owe you my life, and whatever happens here, that’ll never change.” She hesitated for a moment longer, and then she turned and went the way she had come, feeling more worried (on so many levels) than she had when she’d walked in.