Who: Jane & Luke & Thomas What: Jane’s been comin’ up to the Aubade and decides to check up on Thomas, but meets Luke instead. Where: Aubade 506 When: Backdated to last Thursday night (during the inhibitions plot) Warnings: Some awkward. Smiley Thomas. Nothing major.
After their last conversation, Jane had been revisiting thoughts of Thomas Brandon. It was a lot easier than dealing with her other problems. It wasn’t as nicely distracting as the alternative, but she had other things she’d like to ask him, namely about Alfie. It was something she’d have to deal with eventually, but for now, she just didn’t want to talk to the woman directly. It was just so awkward. The way she had practically all but run out of the office when the woman dropped a fortune in her lap had been rude and altogether embarrassing. It was something she had to work up apologizing for. She thought maybe Thomas would know some nice personal way to do so. He wasn’t exactly the personal type from what she could tell, but she wanted to at least make an effort. Putting thought into an apology always made things a feel a little more sincere.
The doorman had let her in, and she rode the elevator up to the fifth floor. He had to have the apartment at the end of the hall, didn’t he? It wasn’t a matter of distance, because she closed in on that quickly. Despite the 20,000 sitting in her bank account, she continued her daily routine. She was still thinking about this, probably more than she should have. She should have taken Daryl up on that DNA testing thing, just to make sure, but this was a delicate situation. That wasn’t a black and white decision either.
Her brows furrowed as she looked at the door, utterly annoyed. She rang the bell and waited for someone to answer. Maybe he’d be here, maybe he wouldn’t. She would have called first, but he did that weird evasion thing and that got old quick. Jane was having none of it anymore.
Luke was in the living room, having shoved all the furniture and breakable items out of the way in order to give himself enough space to practice. The vigilante meeting had gone fairly well, but he wasn’t sure he really needed the training they were offering - not when Thomas seemed willing enough to teach him what he needed to know. A coat rack with pillows attached served as a makeshift dummy, something other than the empty air to hit, and he wore sweatpants and a t-shirt. Practice was the only way he was ever going to improve, and he spent every spare moment he had doing just that - and it was working fairly well, even though he had to make a few adjustments so the coat rack didn’t keep falling over every time he hit it.
The doorbell was a surprise, since Thomas wasn’t here and he’d never mentioned anyone coming by. His own friends knew better than to arrive unannounced (at least, he thought they did), but even if they did come by without saying anything he doubted they’d just be sent up - teenagers were a rarity in Aubade.
He returned the living room back to normal and shoved his coat rack dummy in a closet before going to the door, frowning at the peephole. The blonde woman on the other side wasn’t familiar, but clearly she knew Thomas well enough to be standing outside his door. After undoing the locks and sliding the chain free he pulled the door, just enough so that his body filled the space between the door and the doorframe. “Hi.” Luke offered a slightly quizzical smile. “Can I help you?”
Jane hadn’t expected the door to just open like that. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, probably silence. Thomas didn’t talk much and she wouldn’t put it past him to pretend he wasn’t there. When Luke poked his head out the door, he was greeted with a look of confusion. This was the right apartment, wasn’t it? She didn’t even ask him, she backed up to check the number above the door, then she looked down the hallway at the other door. It’d been a while, but she didn’t think it’d been that long. She looked at the number again, then returned her gaze to Luke. “This is Mr. Brandon’s apartment, right?”
She didn’t recognize him, and the thought of a guy this young being alone in Thomas’ apartment raised a couple of questions. “Is he home?” Her brows furrowed as she posed the question. Maybe she should come back at some other time. “Oh,” she said catching herself. “I’m Jane.” She extended a hand to him. “Sorry about all the questions. I’m just a little confused here. It’s been a while since my last visit.”
Luke caught her look of confusion immediately, and assumed that however well Thomas knew her it wasn’t enough for him to have mentioned that he had someone staying with him. Unfortunately it probably didn’t look very good, someone his age answering the door when it was clear that Thomas didn’t have any known family - coming up with a cover story before opening the door might have been a good idea. “Yeah, this is Mr. Brandon’s apartment.” It felt strange, calling him that, but ‘Thomas’ was too familiar for the moment. “He’s not home, though. Sorry.”
“Nice to meet you, Jane. I’m Luke.” He shook her hand first, taking the few seconds he had in between to think of how he was going to explain his presence. What if he said one thing, and then she talked to Thomas later and he told her something else? Damn. “I’m a... friend of the family,” he explained, unable to think of anything else (saying he was ‘a friend’ would definitely give the wrong impression) and it at least held some trace of the truth. “He’s letting me stay here for a bit, until I find somewhere else.” Another lie, but what was he supposed to say? It would have been a lot easier if Thomas just did this himself.
A wave of relief washed over her as she found she was at the right apartment. She would've been really annoyed if he'd moved on her and not told her. She would've been doubly annoyed if he'd done it on purpose. The young man's presence was still puzzling.
The moment his hand touched hers, she almost let out a gasp. Jane really hated these nasty surprises. People who lived in buildings should not be acquiring the injuries these two men were. After a second, her expression changed completely, and she was looking at him with sharper eyes. Then she just broke out into a smile. "Nice to meet you, Luke. It's good to know Thomas is keeping you busy." The words came easy enough, but she was supposed to be thinking that not saying it. The fact that she just did made her blink. "I'm his attending physician, and I just wanted to check up and make sure he was okay. Do you mind if I come in? I don't want to talk about this sort of stuff in the hallway where someone else can hear."
Why would she want to go in and talk to Luke if Thomas wasn't there? There were plenty of reasons. Those reasons were littered all over his body in the form of bruises. She could sense them all over, coupled with the healing bullet wound, and she couldn't help but laugh at the perfect symmetry the pair made. "You'd think he'd wanted you to be just like him." Again, she hadn't meant to say that out loud, or look so amused while saying it.
Luke pulled his hand back slowly, frowning when she mentioned Thomas ‘keeping him busy.’ What was that supposed to mean? “Uh... he tries, I guess?” Maybe she hadn’t meant anything by it at all, and he was just overthinking things. His interest was caught, however, once Jane said she was his attending physician. Any normal doctor would take one look at Thomas and wonder what the hell he did in his spare time, since he’d been shot once that he knew of and probably collected a lot of other scars over the years - so how much this Jane did or didn’t know interested him. “Oh. Sure, come in.” It did occur to him that she might be lying, but he doubted the doorman would have sent her up if she was.
He stepped back, away from the door, pulling it open wider to allow her entrance. Her next comment just ended up confusing him even further, and he frowned again as he closed the door. “Be just like him? What do you mean?”
Jane waited until she got inside and closed the door behind them. She made her way further into the apartment as if she were familiar with it, which she wasn't. It wasn't hard to fake it, though. She remembered the layout for the most part and now it looked a lot more lived in.
It was the question that had caught her off guard, and she considered him thoughtfully. "The shot must have hurt. The one right there." She pointed to were his wound was, the one that was still healing. "I take it that it's the result of an occupational hazard." The fresh scrapes on the floor were noted, where he moved the furniture. Some of those bruises had been fresh, but not as severe as the others. She wasn't going to judge him on his choice in lifestyle. She'd had enough of that growing up herself.
"Is he teaching you how to take care of yourself if it happens again?" She'd placed her bag on the nearest counter and turned to look at him. She had been observing the apartment, taking in minor details that had differentiated from her initial visit. It almost looked like a home. She smiled.
Luke did a poor job of concealing his surprise, and he barely managed to keep himself from glancing down at the wound in question as if to confirm that she wasn’t just taking a wild guess. The only way she could have known that was if Thomas told her, but he couldn’t see him doing that - besides, why would he tell her the exact spot? “I... occupational hazard?” Now he knew something was definitely up, but he couldn’t figure out what. Instinct told him to deny, deny, deny; but she said everything so matter-of-factly that he doubted it would even do any good. “No, it was just an accident.” Clearly not the most convincing excuse in the world, but he had to at least try something.
That was a question he didn’t know how to answer without implicating both himself and Thomas in... what, exactly? He wasn’t sure, but Jane spoke like she knew more than she should have. “I’m sorry, but I don’t... understand where all this is coming from.” It wasn’t a clear-cut plea to explain how she knew all this, but it was close enough.
"So you just managed to accidentally shoot yourself?" Jane just looked at him, raising a brow as if to dare him to tell her she was stupid. She even crossed her arms over her chest and stood just a bit taller. They were about the same height, but she could make herself give off a feeling of imposition. "You're the kid in the video, aren't you? The one that was all over the internet a few weeks ago?" It wasn't hard to put two and two together for Jane. She had figured out who Thomas was, and she didn't need him to come out and say it for her to know. She knew. He knew she know.
This kid had been shot, and so had Robin in the video she had watched, because she was bored and it was there, and more importantly her patient was there. "Well, at least your costume is better than his. The ears thing is a little kitchy if you ask me." She'd never run into Batman in costume, but with all the pictures she'd seen recently, it wasn't hard to visualize what he'd look like in person. The fact that he was a grown man running around in a literal cape made her wonder if she should report him, if only due to what it said about his mental health. In the long run, she just let it go. It didn't mean she didn't think he could use therapy for other reasons. He had a lot of issues to work through, and now that she was looking at Luke, waiting for his answer, she thought of just how those issues were going to effect him.
"Why are you doing this?" It was an important question. Why did anyone do anything? "No bullshit. Straight answer. If it's just for the chicks, I totally understand." She had said that with a smile, just enough to show that it was alright to tell her the truth. She was not going to judge him for it.
That stupid video. Luke fought back a scowl, although he couldn’t help folding his arms across his chest in an unconscious gesture of defensiveness. He didn’t confirm or deny that the boy in the video was him, but Jane sounded sure enough of herself that he doubted an answer was really needed. Apparently she already knew everything, and he was frankly a little annoyed that Thomas hadn’t thought to mention that. “No, it’s not. His has meaning, and mine is just--” He cut himself off suddenly, frowning at his impulsiveness. Maybe Thomas trusted her, but he really didn’t have enough proof of that yet for him to trust her too.
Everyone seemed to want to know the answer to that question, and admittedly the reasons did matter - if someone did it for the attention, well, it didn’t mean the same as someone who did it for the sake of others like Thomas did. “It’s much more than that,” he said guardedly, avoiding saying anything specific. “I want to do what I can to make a difference. I found a way that I can, and that’s what matters.” He shrugged. “But you don’t even know me, so why does it matter?” It sounded harsh, but he tried to say it in a way that suggested curiosity rather than hostility - not that he wasn’t still wary.
Jane couldn't help but smile at Luke. She liked him. She let him go on without interruption, the patience she'd honed from dealing with Daryl came in handy a lot of the time. There was also the whole working with crazy kids all day in the clinic. If you weren't patient you went crazy. "If that's how you really feel, your costume has much more meaning than you give it credit for." Maybe Thomas had put a lot more thought into his before putting it on, and this kid just threw something together and ran out into the night.
"There are a lot of you young ones out there right now, and I get it. You all have to start somewhere. It's just that there are so many, it's starting to feel more like a fad than an actual mission." She reached out and patted him on his shoulder. "You've got your heart in the right place. That's why it matters." She thought over her statement and how it didn't quite fit, but she was sure he would get her meaning. "Not that my opinion matters. I was just curious." She'd let that go for now. Luke was old enough to make his own decisions and she wasn't going to judge him for pulling on some tights every now and then.
"So," she said glancing around the apartment, "what have you learned since he took you in?" He glanced around the room. "He has been teaching you things, right?"
“I meant that it has meaning to them, the criminals out there who fear him. It’s different for me.” Luke left it at that, trying to fight the need to explain things so he could be sure that Jane understood. No one would look at him and be afraid, not in the same way that they feared the Bat or even Rorschach. Thomas didn’t need to explicitly state that for him to recognize it, but he wasn’t sure if it was a commonly known thing or not. Once again he found himself wishing that he knew just how much Thomas had told her.
He knew that some people viewed the younger vigilantes as silly kids following a fad, but he couldn’t speak for any of the others - he only knew his own reasoning, and he’d keep on doing what he was doing regardless of how many teenagers decided to put on a mask. “I can’t judge any of the others,” he said slowly, “but if they’re just joining what they think is some kind of fad, well, then they’re doing it for the wrong reasons.” That was understandably worrisome, as it lacked awareness of the risks and consequences, but he didn’t feel quite right preaching to people his own age - especially since he hated it when people did it to him.
Now that was asking for a little too much information. “You said you came by to see if he was okay,” he said, deftly avoiding the question. “Okay after something in particular, or just in general?”
“I’m fine.” Thomas was standing in the entryway and the door was just closing shut behind him. It seemed impossible that he would have opened the door and got two steps into the room without anybody noticing, but it also seemed impossible that nobody would notice a giant bat skulking around the streets of Seattle for six months before an actual dependable report made it to press.
Thomas was like that.
He had on a suit, one that was not bullet resistant but rather one that might have rivaled the cost of a small European car. Thomas always looked severe and capable in his business suits, regardless of what kind of soft blue tie his personal shopper noosed him up in, as they never accented his eyes quite the way that was intended. They were always too sharp. “How are you, Jane. I see you’ve met Luke.” The tie was always the first to go, and he pulled at it.
Luke talked a lot more sense than she was expecting, and so she just let everything go. She even let him try to divert the conversation, although her smile only grew when he asked her the question about Thomas. She was about to do a little diversion of her own when Thomas came walking in behind them. Even if his presence had startled her, she hadn't jumped. Luke would have seen a small tick in her expression before she turned to view the older of the two. "Mr. Brandon." His name came smoothly to her lips. "It's finally nice to actually catch you."
That probably sounded more ominous than it should have, but she didn't care. Instead, she turned to look at him. "Luke's been a very good host," she said amiably. She'd hadn't been trying to pull the whole concerned adult thing, but it was kind of hard with the age difference. "I'm fine and if you're as fine as you say, you won't mind if I get that follow-up I've been requesting." She held out her hand for him to take. She wondered if he'd ignore it or actually shake it. She couldn't quite place Thomas, but the similarities between him and Daryl were undeniable. She just doubted talking to him like a child would get her anywhere. He did that cutting off thing a lot, although now she was face to face, he would forcefully have to remove her from the premises to block her out.
She canted her head at making the mental note. She didn't want it to come to that.
Luke was used to Thomas and his unnatural stealth, but it was still hard to not be startled by his tendency to show up when least expected. He didn’t visibly show it, save for a slight widening of his eyes and a turn towards the front door. “Nice timing.” Honestly, it was like he always knew when the best moment to interject was. At least it was obvious that they knew each other, so he didn’t have to worry about having let her in the apartment. Jane asked a lot of questions, but she didn’t seem so bad - and she hadn’t started lecturing him about what he should or shouldn’t have been doing with his life.
He tilted his head to the side when she extended her hand, since he’d pegged their relationship or whatever as being beyond the handshaking stage. What did a follow-up have to do with shaking his hand anyway? He thought about it for a few moments, eyebrows raising when he realized that it was only after Jane shook his hand that she’d suddenly known about his bullet wound.
Looking between the two of them with a hint of carefully concealed amusement, Luke waited to see what Thomas would do. This definitely had the potential to be interesting.
Ordinarily, Thomas wouldn’t have been interested in taking Jane’s hand. He was aware of the full implications of her ability, and he knew that her diagnosis would be complete. Thomas was not a man that enjoyed sharing anything about himself with anyone. He didn’t talk about his feelings, emotional or physical. He operated entirely on observation and information, and he assumed that everyone else did the same, so he tried to keep those around him from picking up anything off him wherever possible.
But he’d taken the elevator.
He put a hand out and shook Jane’s. The worst was a deep cut behind his right shoulderblade (where he couldn’t reach to stitch). Someone had tried to stab him and the armor had done well, but there was a joint right there in the armor. Residual burns from last week, none of them serious, along the side of his neck. Damage to his left knee from a rough landing. Healing bruises to the back of the head (a near concussion, that seemed to happen a lot). The ribs were in amazing shape considering the last time they’d touched. Bullet wounds had scarred over.
He actually smiled. All the way. Both corners of his mouth. “We’re on last-name basis again now?”
Jane made no sign of hiding that she was doing a reading. Her head remained canted and her expression became thoughtful. In the end, there was even a touch of surprise. "So you weren't lying to keep me away after all," the smile she gave was much different than the one she had given to Luke. Only one side of her mouth quirked upwards in a smirk.
She was wondering whether she should call him by his first name. She'd never done it before, but now that she'd had an actual invitation, she allowed it to roll off her tongue. "Thomas it is then." She hadn't let go of his hand. That was probably because it was the first time she'd ever seen him smile like that. Just like the last time their palms touched, she brushed her thumb gently against the back of his knuckles. "You should have come to me about the wound on your shoulderblade. I could have had it patched up in no time. At this rate, the scar's not going to be pretty." She turned to look at Luke briefly. "Not that they ever are."
Retrieving her hand, she slipped it into her back pocket and shifted her weight. "I wish you'd call me in more, especially since you go out so often. Now that you've got Luke here, who I am assuming has joined you on your nightly excursions, it only seems prudent." She looked at Luke again, this time a little more thoughtfully. "At least, he should learn how to take care of gun and knife wounds, apparently."
Luke’s amusement quickly turned to surprise when he saw Thomas smile - not one of those fake tight ones that were clearly for placating people, but an actual genuine one. Since neither of them seemed particularly bothered by the fact that he was standing there, it was easy to observe the way Jane smiled back at him, and how she brushed her thumb over his knuckles. Really, if they were going to have some kind of ‘moment’ then they could have picked a better time. He was sorely tempted to clear his throat in a loud, deliberately obvious way - almost enough to actually do it, but not quite.
It didn’t come as any great shock that Thomas had wounds he hadn’t sought any medical attention for, but he did wonder just how often Jane had treated him in the past. “I haven’t, actually,” he put in suddenly, glancing at Thomas before turning his attention to Jane. “He still works alone.” For now, at least. Luke had accepted his inactivity without argument, but that didn’t mean he liked it any more than he had in the first place. “Some first aid would be useful, though. I just know the basics.”
Something was making Thomas talkative. Not that he was any better at speech, or that he was any more graceful about communicating, but at that moment he didn’t mind doing it. He had not forgotten Luke was there--he would never be so blind to someone within his physical proximity--and he now turned to give him yet another bizarrely genuine smile. “And you won’t go out any time soon, either. Though you learn disturbingly fast; perhaps a Creation effect.” He had been thinking that for some time, but he’d had no intentions to say it aloud. In that moment, though, he couldn’t think of a reason not to.
“The scars don’t matter, Jane. As long as it doesn’t get infected, then skin is skin.” He got rid of the tie and dropped it on one of the sofas Luke had shoved up against the wall. “If I needed to call you, I would. After getting rid of all the towels.” Okay, that wasn’t a smile, that was a grin.
Something was seriously wrong.
"Maybe if he'd recruited you sooner, he wouldn't have half the unfortunate injuries," she said observationally. "But then I'd have less work than I already do." Thomas' smile was somewhat infectious. Hers hadn't faded at all, neither had the expression she gave him. It was still clearly amused and quite interested. There was a moment of distraction at the mention of Luke's ability. If he was a quick learner, "That means you can help me teach your other cape friends." That would be useful. Most medical work was best learned in a practical sense. Having an assistant was always helpful.
She was going somewhere with that, somewhere useful, but her entire train of thought got completely derailed by Thomas' last statement. Her head turned to look at him, and she giggled, actually giggled at what he said. It was almost as if she'd forgotten Luke was there too, because she bit her lip at the grin he gave her. Her eyes spoke for her. She looked very very pleased, as she spoke. "Now Thomas, you don't have to get rid of all the towels if it’s that kind of an emergency." So it wasn't exactly discreet. It wasn't like she was trying.
“Disturbingly fast? You say it like it’s a bad thing.” He pointedly ignored his first comment, because they’d gone over that more times than he cared to remember. Besides, Luke wasn’t sure what to make of his smile. Thomas rarely smiled like that, and he supposed it was a good thing that he was now, but in all honesty it was starting to get a little strange. “I know some people who could benefit from some first aid knowledge,” he told Jane with a nod, deciding that if being able to learn things ‘disturbingly fast’ was part of his ability, then it was actually a fairly useful one to have.
Luke tried and failed to keep from staring at Thomas and Jane in disbelief, hoping that this towel thing was some kind of inside joke he was missing instead of what it sounded like. Needless to say, it didn’t work very well - especially when neither of them seemed very concerned with being subtle or discreet.
Suddenly the ceiling looked very interesting.
Fortunately for Luke’s sensibilities, Thomas said no more about towels. He was aware that it sounded a lot worse than it was, but it amused rather than troubled him. He did not (and probably never would) consider Luke an adult, but he wasn’t as caught up in Luke’s well-being right at that moment. He reflected, but considered that was probably because Luke was here in the apartment, safe, and so far had been following his directive about not making a target of himself.
“Disturbingly because certain things are meant to take time. More lessons will increase your physical vocabulary but the basics should take time to put into muscle memory. You apparently don’t need that time; it will probably shave five years or so off the learning curve,” Thomas said seriously, as if he was this candid all the time.
“Medical lessons can only help,” he added, nodding at Jane. “Do you want a drink?” he asked her, wondering what was in the kitchen. Thomas didn’t drink anything other than water and those awful vitamin protein smoothies of his, but there was probably something. Normally he would have been concerned about what Jane might think about Luke and what Luke might think about Jane, or what sort of information either would take away from the other’s presence, but that amount of thinking wasn’t necessary right then. He didn’t consider why.
The moment had passed, although Jane hadn't quite let it go. That was the most forward thing he'd ever said to her. It was also the first time she'd seen him that openly interested. She tucked it away as he routed the conversation back toward the medical lessons. "They would be helpful, but I'd still like to be around to help out for when things are serious, so you all aren't dropping into Seattle Grace Hospital and waking up in handcuffs." She slid her hand onto her hip. "I'm sure they'd notice the constant repeat customers." It wouldn't be too hard to put two and two together, not to mention there were security cameras, paper records, electronic records, records of how much of what was used for what. A hospital could be a prison if they really wanted it to be.
It was a tall order to ask one woman to take care of it all, but she'd do what she could at least. Anything that could be kept off the record was good. "Water would be fine." She said answering Thomas' question. It was the first time he'd offered her anything too. He was usually so uptight. Maybe she'd caught him on bad days? Then again, he was in a lot of pain. Maybe he was just in a better mood because he wasn't so much now?
Her attention turned to Luke. "Who are these people who that will be benefiting?"
Luke liked the sound of the whole ‘shaving five years off the learning curve’ thing, and it was enough to divert his gaze from the ceiling back to Thomas. He wasn’t worried about the other details, since he was confident in his ability to practice and train as much as he needed to in order to ensure that he didn’t skip any corners or whatever. It was surprising that he was being so straightforward, when usually he would have expected that this was something Thomas would have preferred to keep hidden. Something was off about him, but whatever it was seemed harmless.
“That’s why most of us don’t go to the hospital unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Gunshot wounds fell into that category, but anything else seemed to be taken care of by the individual person. It wasn’t exactly new information, so he figured there was no harm in saying it. It was probably lucky that Jane was fine with water, since the drink choices weren’t exactly varied - water, whatever stuff Thomas drank, and pop were all stocked in the fridge, along with milk and orange juice.
There it was again, one of those trickier questions to answer. “Mostly the younger ones, like me, but anyone who does what we do would benefit. There aren’t enough who know how to take care of themselves if they do end up hurt.”
Thomas wasn’t having any trouble talking about himself; what he thought was virtually what he said. “The only reason I haven’t died fifty times over was a private hospital in Musings New York,” he said, glancing up at Jane as he returned to the room with water bottles. “I appropriated it from a gang and put a couple doctors in there that owed me favors. At one point they thought I wasn’t going to wake up, but they stayed anyway.” He pointed one of the bottles at her, offering, but indicating as well. “We both know that’s not going to work for you. You can’t live in some derelict building waiting for one of us to show up. And to be honest, you live with someone who has the potential to cause me a lot of problems.” A glance at Luke. “Daryl Hockney. She’s a private investigator. Very good. Probably has some Creation ability to assist her.”
Then back at Jane. “We’ll come up with something else for serious injuries. If I had been paying attention, I would have been fine that night.” He didn’t believe that. It was very obvious, in a way it had not been before.
Jane loved how it became the time to state the obvious all around, and she couldn't help but notice Luke picking his words carefully. He'd eventually get better at it, but for now, it was just really annoying. "I've handled a lot of gunshot wounds, all you need is a private store of everyone's blood type for excess bleeding and you're good as gold. No, I would not be waiting in some dilapidated building, not when I've suddenly come into so much money." It was about then that she remembered why she'd really come in here. "You know Ms. Worth believes she's my grandmother." That was said as she took the water bottle from him. "I mean, I'm not going to take the money from her if it isn't true, not that this about money, but it is a lot of money, and it doesn't seem right to just take it without checking. Am I right?"
She twisted the cap off her bottle and took a sip before continuing. "And handling Daryl will be fine as long as she believes we're sleeping together."
Whatever was going on was like some kind of information overload, and Luke couldn’t figure out if it was worrisome or entertaining. Probably a mixture of both, especially since it didn’t seem to be affecting him - which was good. It was very good.
“Daryl Hockney? I’ve heard of her.” He had heard that she was a brilliant private investigator, but all the brain power in the world apparently hadn’t stopped her from getting herself shot during a bank robbery. “Wait-- you thought it was a good idea to let someone who lives with a private investigator know about what you do?” This was directed at Thomas with incredulity, especially since this particular PI didn’t seem to know the difference between when to speak up and when to not. “No offense,” he added to Jane. She seemed trustworthy, but all it took was one wrong thing to get her interested. Unless, of course, she thought they were sleeping together. Apparently that was a popular excuse - and honestly, it wasn’t really an unbelievable one in this case.
Then the revelations just kept coming. He leaned against the arm of the couch as he listened, even though Alfie potentially being Jane’s grandmother and giving her money wasn’t really any of his business. Since he hadn’t yet reached an age where the majority of adults stopped viewing him as a kid, they never usually said this much in his presence - so this was welcome change.
Luke’s criticism made Thomas grumble in a way that he had not before. Mutters under his breath. “I didn’t tell her. I don’t tell anyone. People find out when I bleed too much.” He sounded resentful about how much he ended up bleeding lately. “That’s not important,” he said, at a normal volume, turning again to Jane and eying her as if she was trying to play a particularly bad joke. “Did you just say Worth? As in Alfie--as in Penelope Worth?”
Thomas brushed aside the comment about facilities and a blood bank. Blood, like milk, went bad over time, and a blood bank wasn’t as easy to maintain as it sounded. He tried to keep some of his own on hand, but it was a dangerous thing to do on your own, and there was certainly no call button for a nurse in a deserted warehouse.
She was about to help smooth over Thomas' reputation, when Thomas spoke up for himself. "What he said. I figured it out by myself. I’m a P.I. too, you know." She was ignoring the whole subject about Daryl having an ability that helped her investigate. She might write about Daryl, but the woman wasn’t the only one who could go around solving cases. She was just a lot better at it. Jane would never deny that.
The subject change was more than welcome. "Yes, I said ...Alfie? Is that what you call her?" She was genuinely interested in that. "Can you tell me what she's like?" Jane knew it would have probably been better to ask Alfie all these things face to face, but she kind of just had all this dumped on her lap, and wanted to know what other people thought of her first. It was a strange way of her coming to terms with everything that happened. "Have you both met her?" She fiddled with the cap of her bottle. "I've only met her once."
Luke sighed and shook his head. No, of course it wasn’t important. It wasn’t like he’d end up in a jail cell for the rest of his life if the wrong person noticed he bled too much or anything like that. “The problem is that people figure it out in the first place,” he countered, but left it at that. He was well aware that his secret identity wasn’t as secret as he would have liked either, but that wasn’t his fault. No one would have known if Thomas hadn’t gotten Oracle to find out who he was, which resulted in Quinn following him home. That had been awesome.
He nodded, offering a small smile. “Yeah, I’ve met her. She’s great.” It wasn’t the best or most detailed of descriptions, but it summed up what he thought of her fairly well. Thomas was probably the best person to describe her anyway, since he’d known her the longest.
Thomas’ trust in Oracle had considerably downsized after that little stunt, but he hadn’t told anyone that, least of all her. It never occurred to him to tell Luke that hadn’t been what he intended. It never occurred to him to discuss any of his decisions with anyone, especially after the fact. It came from being alone for so long. You just did what you thought best, and if you did wrong, then you’d done wrong, and there wasn’t anything you could do about it. Thomas didn’t understand the concept of “smoothing over” or “burnt bridges.”
“Alfie is--” Thomas tried to find an efficient description and came up largely blank, “--trustworthy.” He shifted, trying to reconcile Jane with the collected, capable businesswoman he had known for so long. It wasn’t working.
“Great and trustworthy,” she said looking between the two of them. She wasn’t going to get anything more than that she figured and let it go. Thomas’ trust was not an endorsement to take lightly, or so she figured. She just pinched the bridge of her nose. She wanted to ask for more, but she had decided not to. They were both not much talkers. Jane had enjoyed her conversation with Luke before Thomas had come in, but part of that was enjoying the way he stumbled over trying not to reveal things. She shouldn’t have had that kind of entertainment at his expense, but it was good for him to practice. He’d done a lot better than when Daryl had asked her what she was doing with Thomas.
“I’ll keep those two things in mind. As for those medical lessons, you can call me whenever you’d like to set them up,” she looked from one man to the other. “If you want your friends to be in costume while it happens, I won’t be offended. In fact, it’s probably better if they are so they learn how to do all the things with all that stuff on.” Everyone always tried to train people in comfortable clothing. Jane believed that was a bunch of shit. People should always get trained in whatever it was they usually wore.
Luke glanced at Thomas and shrugged. He wasn’t very good at describing people in the first place, and it probably would have been better for Jane to find out what kind of person Alfie was on her own. She might have a different opinion, although he found it hard to believe that she might not like her. Besides, ‘great’ and ‘trustworthy’ was a decent enough start - they were both positive traits, after all.
“Okay. I’ll let you know.” He tried and failed to imagine getting Quinn to show up for something like this, but maybe Wren would come and between the two of them they could convince the other young vigilantes that it would be beneficial for them. “They’ll probably want to show up in costume to protect their identities.” Not all of them had the proper protection, but they all wore some kind of mask to shield who they were, and he couldn’t expect them to risk putting that aside to trust someone they didn’t know.
Thomas noticed the shift of topic from Alfie, as it was so abrupt that even he couldn’t help but do so, and he gave Jane a look that made it obvious he was wondering what had gone wrong with that particular connection. It wasn’t strange that Alfie had given her some money, whatever the amount may be, because like Thomas Alfie thought of money as means to an end. Probably a familial connection, in this case.
“Just don’t post something up on the forum asking for a role call,” Thomas said, sounding as disgusted as he felt. “Word of mouth will be good enough, and that’s probably dangerous as it is.” Uninhibited, he gave Luke a look that was unmistakeably accusatory. He hadn’t quite forgiven him for his involvement in Corbinian’s plan, which he still thought was thoroughly foolhardy. He was fortunate enough that nobody had told Luke he’d been present. Without armor or mask.
"Sounds good," she said to Luke before turning to Thomas. When he mentioned the forum roll call, she couldn't help but laugh. "At least, now everyone knows who is on the streets. Putting names to faces eliminates fear." It was hard to put a positive spin on such a bonehead maneuver, but, "People like names to faces, and by people, I mean civilians. Try to work it to your advantage." She sounded like a goddamn PR agent, but she didn't much care. It was true, they had endangered quite a few vigilantes, but they all knew the risks the moment they stepped into the lifestyle.
Jane upturned her wrist to glance at her watch as she picked up her bag. "I better get going before the great detective Daryl Hockney attempts to track down my location," she said teasingly. She was about to leave, but a few steps toward the door and she turned to look at them both. "Should I wear some sort of costume too? I mean, just for good measure." There were reasons why it was a good idea and reasons why it would be a bad idea. Good idea, was that no one would be able to identify her and walk up to her on the street in broad daylight, giving her space between them and Daryl. Bad idea, they wouldn't be able to approach her in civvies to get help if they didn't want to do it in costume.
Luke shot Thomas an annoyed look, biting his tongue to keep from arguing that they hadn’t had many options and at least Corbinian was trying to do something to help. No matter how stupid it was, there was never a chance of him not going - especially since the meeting concerned him and people he knew. He was proud that Thomas kept his word and didn’t interfere, although it was probably for the best that he didn’t know he’d been there sans mask and costume. “It was risky, but we didn’t have many options. Besides, everything turned out fine.” He said it to Jane, although he didn’t try to hide that it was directed towards Thomas as well - just in case he wasn’t aware of how the meeting went.
He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. “Maybe,” he said slowly. “Depends on what you think would work better.” If what he’d heard about Daryl Hockney was true, then she was far too observant for her own good - and the last thing they needed was a private investigator digging around.
“Show them your face, Jane. People trust when they can see who they’re talking to, and they fear when they can’t.” People think he dresses up as a Bat because he likes showmanship? Honestly.
His eyebrows tilted just slightly upward at Luke, a blatant, masculine dare to start something. He might as well have taken a sharp step in Luke’s direction just to make him flinch. In comparison to Thomas’ usual blank behavior, he might as well have been shouting.
When that didn’t happen (because Luke hadn’t taken the elevator), Thomas looked at Jane. “It’s safer if you’re not involved,” he said bluntly. “But I know you’re not going to listen. Too much of a thrill seeker.”
Jane rolled her eyes at what passed between the two. Luke hadn't offered much in terms of answering her question, but Thomas had offered more than he needed. "Because you know me so well, Thomas," she said teasingly with a raised brow. "No mask it is then."
Jane nodded to Luke then Thomas, "Boys, if you'll excuse me." She let herself out.
“Bye, Jane.” He hadn’t missed Thomas’ slight gesture, not by a long shot, but he carefully didn’t acknowledge it because what else was he supposed to do? By this point it was obvious there was something off about him, but he didn’t care enough to risk asking about it. Letting whatever it was just fade away on its own seemed like a much better idea.
Luke slid off the arm of the couch and headed for the stairs. “Well, that was fun.” Not weird or awkward in the slightest. “Jane seems nice,” he added over his shoulder. His claim on the living room for practice was gone now that Thomas was here, but his room was a perfectly acceptable compromise.
Thomas only shook his head, left alone in the living room and wondering what it was about him that tended to drive people off even when he wasn’t trying. Maybe he could stop trying to hide things at this point; it didn’t much matter in the long run, they all ran off anyway. He had almost hoped Luke would make a stand about the thing with Corbinian, just so they could have it out rather than Thomas having to deal with the silent resentment (and Luke having to deal with the same), but it was a vain hope, apparently.
He sat down on one of the couches against the wall with his water and frowned at the crumpled tie. He’d find more to be resentful about. Everyone was going to find out about Max soon enough.
He managed to get to his room and turn on the TV before it started to bother him. Despite not having touched any elevator buttons or stair banisters, he didn’t need a lack of inhibitions to become frustrated - he could do that all on his own. It was no secret that Thomas didn’t approve of Corbinian or what he was doing, but he didn’t like that accusatory look, like it was somehow his fault for agreeing to go. And what was up with the weird eyebrow thing that followed? Up until now, Luke had done everything that was asked of him - so if he wanted to go to one meeting and listen to what someone else had to say, well, he was perfectly entitled.
The realization Thomas was currently more talkative than usual and thus might give some actual answers was enough to get him up and heading back downstairs.
Coming to a halt in front of the couch he was sitting on, Luke took a moment to consider what he was going to say and decided to just wing it. “Okay, so I have to ask. Just out of curiosity.” He shrugged. “Is there anything you want to say to go along with that look you gave me when you mentioned vigilante roll calls?” Actually having inhibitions meant that he sounded like he was asking a simple question rather than being blatantly harsh, although for a brief moment he did regret it - but it was out there now, and he couldn’t take it back.
Thomas had gotten out that damn cell phone that chained him to the company and he was punching out emails with brusque orders to people that probably would have done very well on their own if he didn’t have an email address. He was surprised at Luke’s return and, as always, looked up immediately when he neared.
Thomas was already sitting upright as he’d forgotten the cut just long enough to slump before it reminded him sharply of the damage. He was feeling his second life after being out in the sun all day, and uninhibited, he didn’t bother hiding it. Sitting forward over his knees he watched Luke approach with head slightly tilted. “Yeah. Don’t answer when someone asks if you’re one,” he said, bluntly. “I would have thought that might have been your first defense; lie.”
Thomas was shit at lying and he knew it, but he didn’t raise his hand when someone shouted “VIGILANTE?”
“I do lie. It’s not like I’m going out there and announcing to the world that my name is Luke Henry and I’m a vigilante.” He tried to be careful about keeping his two identities secret, and considering the circumstances he thought he’d done a damn good job of it so far. “I answer to a code name - most people don’t associate me with Robin or vice versa. I make sure of that.” The only person he’d actually given his real name to (willingly) was Wren, but that was because he trusted her and she hadn’t yet given him any reason to doubt that trust.
Luke really wanted to throw in something about how people who walked into hospitals dressed as giant bats were in no position to talk about defense, but he’d save that one for later. Just in case.
Thomas stood. He didn't want to have this conversation sitting down. It was long overdue anyway.
"When you make yourself physically available at a pre-arranged place and time, what your name is doesn't matter." Thomas didn't attempt to control his usual devotion to his craft, and his eyes were hard and unyielding. His voice actually went up a few notches, too. "I'm trying to teach you how to keep yourself alive, and you're not making it any easier!"
He would have preferred if Thomas stayed seated, if only to make the conversation a little easier.“I had every right to be at that meeting, even if it was risky. Everything we do carries some amount of risk, so we take precautions. Corbinian did, and nothing went wrong.” Even if something had happened, Luke would have preferred to be there to help instead of staying away just to be safe. There was only so much of doing nothing he could handle before it became too much.
Why did everyone seem to think he needed to be taught how to stay alive? Apparently being shot and surviving wasn’t proof enough that he had every intention of surviving whatever came his way. “What do you want me to do, then? Just sit here and do nothing?” It was a half serious question, because sometimes he really did think that was exactly what Thomas wanted him to do.
“No! Yes! I don’t know.” Thomas turned abruptly away and started to pace, something he didn’t do in front of other people very often at all. It generally wasn’t a problem since he wasn’t in front of people all that often, but stress was stress, and it had to get out somehow. “Why can’t you help and stay out of danger at the same time? It can’t be that hard. Something like Oracle does, for example. You’re good, Luke, but stopping a bullet with your body is not the way to do this. I don’t know, maybe this teaching, it’s a bad idea. You don’t want to end up like me, it’s not the kind of life you want. You think you do, because you think it’s... I don’t know, glamorous, or something. I thought that stay in the hospital would be enough to convince you--”
He hadn’t been expecting Thomas to say so much and it was difficult to focus on everything, especially when one thing in particular stood out. “What did I ever do to give you the impression that I think this kind of life is glamorous?” Having his reasons trivialized by a stranger who didn’t know any better was one thing, but this was something entirely different. “I don’t want to end up like you, Thomas, and I don’t want to do what Oracle does. It wouldn’t work for me. I didn’t intentionally go out and get myself shot, you know. It was a mistake, and it’s one I won’t make again.” He wasn’t the first vigilante to be shot, and he definitely wouldn’t be the last.
“I want to do what I can to help, and if I’m good then that means doing nothing and wasting that would be wrong. Being in the hospital convinced me that I needed to be more careful, but it didn’t change my mind - and for the last time, nothing you say can change it either.” If only Thomas could accept that, Luke thought it would go a long way towards making progress.
“I figured that out already,” Thomas said, with more heat that was really necessary and more emotion he than he had shown in a long while. He stopped pacing mid-step, turned to face him again, and though he should have made an effort to calm down and think rationally, he didn’t. “It’s different for you. You don’t have a reason to get into any of this. If your parents were here, there’s no way they’d let you within ten miles of me if they knew what was happening here, and for good reason. What about all the people that would be hurt if something happened to you? We keep having this conversation and you never listen.” One hand moved up and down sharply. “You’re going to go out there and you’re going to decide in that split second to be brave and then all you’ll be is dead and it will be my fault. Mine.” He took a hard breath. “I don’t know if I can live with that.” It was as much a revelation as a speech, and his temper died in the moment it came to him. Silence.
Luke started to speak, stopped, and decided to wait until Thomas had finished his tirade - but once the silence came, he wished he hadn’t. It was far easier to argue when Thomas was being his usual stubborn self, but then again, he did want answers - and now he had them.
“My reasons might be different than yours, but that doesn’t make them any less valid. All those people that care about me, I’m doing this for them - and for everyone else like them.” He avoided the topic of his parents. They weren’t here, and they were never going to be, so there was really no point in talking about what they would or wouldn’t have wanted. “I am listening, but... I’m not going to die, okay? I won’t end up being some kind of martyr, because I’m no good to anyone if I’m dead. But you have to stop blaming yourself for what happens to me. I don’t want you putting that on yourself with everything else you have to deal with.” It was enough to make him all the more determined to be careful, but not enough to get him to stop. He paused for a moment, but spoke before Thomas could say something first. “You need to start worrying about yourself too, because there are a lot of people who’d feel better if you did.”
He had begun to say something in the pause, something with some of his former heat, some of the righteous anger, some of that concern, and he stepped forward to do it--and then stopped. Inches from Luke’s face he heard the last words and they hit him hard. Six months ago there hadn’t been anyone who worried about him enough to make it matter. Alfie, Oracle, Roger, even Luke; those people were strong, strong enough to go on with whatever it was they did regardless of what happened to him, however horrible it was.
Shame, even a slight flicker of guilt, turned his face away and Thomas backed off, quite literally. No one had ever needed him like Max needed him now. Not emotionally. Not him, personally, rather than some protector that would be gone quickly enough once the danger was over. He sat down.
Well. This was the first time he’d seen Thomas back down from anything, and he hadn’t been expecting his words to really make an impact - at least not one that was apparent. While Luke knew he was right and some part of him was satisfied at the lack of a return argument, he suspected there might a reason for his reaction that went beyond whatever weird factor affecting his behavior - or maybe it was all connected.
Despite how awkward it felt to keep standing there, he made no move to sit down. “Is something wrong? Other than the usual, I mean.” Nothing was ever entirely ‘okay’ for someone involved in what Thomas was, but not everything circled around vigilantism and crime.
“You agreed to Alfie’s scheme about the... the company.” Thomas put his elbows on his knees and dropped his head, glancing up at Luke sideways and then back down. None of the former aggression, he just sat there. “She said you ‘did it for all the right reasons.’ What reasons?”
He was surprised, and it showed. “Oh. Well... I knew that agreeing would come with certain risks and responsibilities, but I was okay with it. I can handle all that, contrary to popular belief, and if something did happen to you...” Luke shrugged, glancing downward. “I could make sure everything was taken care of. So. That’s why I agreed.”
“Yes.” Thomas smiled. A sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. “About those things you’re taking care of.” He lifted one hand from where it had been dangling from his elbow on his knee. His fingers rubbed along his eyebrow and across his temple. “Do you know who Cipher is, Luke?”
“Yes,” he said slowly, unsure of why he was asking and where this question was supposed to be leading. “She’s the one who was in the alley with me when the mask killer showed up.” He thought back for a moment, to their drive from the bar to the hospital. “Her name is Max. What about her?”
“Yes, Max.” Thomas dropped his hands. “Max and I have... have been together. For awhile.” He watched his eyes to see if he’d known.
His eyebrows raised slightly, and he spoke without thinking. “Oh. So that was who--” Luke cut himself off abruptly before he could say too much, hoping Thomas wouldn’t pursue it. “Never mind. So you’ve been... together. That’s good.” He did think it was a good thing, but he still was still oblivious as to why Thomas was telling him about his relationship.
Thomas almost smiled. Just slightly, and smiling hadn’t been that hard for him lately. “For some reason I think I’ll be embarrassed about that later. Let’s pretend you’re stupider than you are.” Another breath. Right, he was just going to be serious about this. “Did Alfie tell you about the provision I asked her to put in about biological children?”
“Yeah, that works for me.” Luke could feign ignorance well enough when he wanted to, and that was something he never wanted to mention again. Ever. Alfie hadn’t said a word about provisions, so he shook his head without much concern. “No, she didn’t mention anything like that.” It took a moment for him to realize what sort of implication ‘biological children’ carried, and he did a poor job of trying not to jump to conclusions. “If you asked her to put that in, then that means that you... well, you either have a kid already or you’re... going to in the future.” Hopefully Thomas would give him an answer without him having to actually ask.
Thomas was completely willing to do that. “Yes.” His lips pressed together and stayed that way, and he just stared forward for a little while without saying anything else. He needed Luke, though. He needed him to stay alive even more than he had before. Luke had to stay alive in case he, Thomas, didn’t.
It was enough confirmation for him. “Oh.” That was when he got tired of standing and decided to sit, at least gaining a few moments to consider how to react. Normally revelations like this were met with an abundance of smiles and laughter, but somehow he didn’t think grinning and offering a ‘congratulations’ was very appropriate. He couldn’t act like it was something terrible either, though. Alfie probably would’ve known exactly what to say, but she wasn’t here and he couldn’t rely on her for everything.
“Well,” he said after the silence had gone on for a while, “like I said, now you’ll have to start worrying about yourself too. I’m sure Max will take care of herself.” She hadn’t struck him as a stupid person by any means, which meant he hoped she knew better than to keep getting involved in things. “It’ll be fine,” he added with a slight smile, intending to be reassuring. Adding additional doubt would be counterproductive.
Thomas brought his head up and leveled a gaze on Luke that was entirely different. “No, it won’t. I don’t know what Max is going to tell people, but she’s... she might be alone. If she’s alone, then...” He looked off and tried to revise. That ease that words came to him, it was strangely... gone. “I don’t want her to be alone, and I’m worried, when something happens to me.” He looked at Luke for help.
Luke didn’t like that when. He was all for facing reality and dealing with the truth, but he preferred the word ‘if’. It didn’t sound so inevitable. “If something happens to you, Thomas, she won’t be alone.” He was practically still a kid himself and knew absolutely nothing about babies, but if he had to then he’d learn. It couldn’t be that hard. “But you have to do everything you can to make sure nothing does happen. You can keep doing what you do and still be careful.” It was easier said than done, but Luke had never been one to give up easily.
“You’re a fast learner, Luke. Very, very fast. Max is short-sighted when she’s protecting others. It will get worse with the baby, if I can keep her alive that long.” Thomas shoved his palms over his ears. “You’re getting my problems along with the money. I’m telling you because I’m giving you the opportunity to get out.”
He simply couldn’t believe that Max, or anyone else for that matter, would risk the safety of her baby for anything - even to save someone else. Risking your own life was one thing, but risking the life of another was different. “I didn’t say yes because of the money,” Luke said, with more sharpness than he’d intended. “I already had a chance to ‘get out’. I could have said no, but I didn’t. This doesn’t change anything.” It only made him even more certain that he’d made the right decision.
Thomas meant that Max would be caught up in her child. Like she had been caught up with Luke in the alley. It had been one thing to hear Alfie say that, but another to see the resentment about the money. It made Thomas’ chest expand and his chin come up. Pride. “You’re sure.” Observing, confirming. Luke was sure. Thomas let out his breath. Relief. “Then when something happens, you’ll know. No matter what she decides.”
He caught Luke’s gaze and held it. A request. “Luke. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Alright.” Luke almost smiled at the confirmation, but it was gone before it really had time to form. It was obvious, to him at least, that this was something to be kept private - it certainly wasn’t his secret to tell, so he wouldn’t. He met Thomas’ gaze with ease and nodded firmly. “I won’t. It’ll be like I don’t even know.”
“...Thank you.” He was upright then, suddenly overcome with the idiocy of everything he’d just done. Well. Said. Everything he’d said. He didn’t know why. “I--thank you.” Leaving the room. Now. Things to do.
Luke noticed the sudden change in his demeanor, which was much more familiar than the constantly smiling talkative person he’d been since he walked in the door. Apparently whatever had been happening was over now, even if it hadn’t turned out to be such a bad thing after all. “Yeah, of course.” He stayed where he was until Thomas left the room, then headed back upstairs.