luke henry ; robin (notjustsidekick) wrote in musingslogs, @ 2011-06-04 02:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | batman, lois lane, oracle, robin |
Who: Max, Gwen, Luke and Thomas
What: Talking, which Luke is never allowed to avoid.
Where: Aubade.
When: Recently. (After this).
Warnings: None.
Luke was home, but Max hadn’t talked to him yet. Between Amanda teething, the bitter snow and the bombs, she’d alternated between pacing with an infant and being called into the Times. She, like everyone else in Seattle, was tired and cold and cranky, but that didn’t change the fact that family came first - at least for Max. She hadn’t been able to visit Luke at hospital, but she was going to sit the kid down and talk to him now that he was home. But she wasn’t going to do it alone. She loved the kid, but she sucked at speaking teenager, and she had a feeling this particular conversation was going to be too important for her to fuck up. She didn’t know much of anything about what was going on between Luke and the girl the Weatherman was after, but she had a sneaking suspicion this might be one of those times when Thomas wasn’t quite as hugs and open conversation with Luke as he should be.
Enter Gwen.
Max left work early, and her white truck pulled up in front of Bathos. She honked the horn, knowing Gwen would hear it on the first floor. The ground was still slick with ice and snow, and she didn’t want to go out into it if she could help it. Not to mention that she was anxious, ready to get home. Thomas said Luke was fine, but she wouldn’t believe it until she saw it for herself.
Gwen closed her laptop when she heard the honking. Once she had heard it was Wren who was in jail, she went to work in finding out everything she could, reading all the reports, moving her money around to prepare for bail. They still had time before the hearing but that only made Gwen more uneasy. Too much time to fret.
By the time she slipped into the pickup truck, she looked more than a little weary. Between this, Fawkes, the Weatherman, and talk of another mind controller, Gwen was on edge. It was the first and the last two that had her really on edge. Wren and her weren’t too close but she still considered the girl to be near to family, both because of Quinn and because of Kyle. The fact that Quinn had left and Kyle refused to talk to her didn’t change anything between her and Wren. If anything, it only made her more concerned, especially because of the latter man and how he had been lately.
“Ugh,” she said as she shook the snow off her boot and closed the door behind her. “This weather needs to stop.” Casual words though because of who they were, and who was causing it, this could easily count as work talk between her and Max.
Max couldn’t agree more. “You know what the best remedy is for a teething baby? Driving around endlessly while they drool all over something. Fucking weather doesn’t let that happen,” she said, keeping it small at first - children, relationships. It lasted all of five seconds before she looked over at her friend. “This snow is going to start killing people soon, if it hasn’t already.” Max had been listening on the comms, and she’d heard the connection between the girl in jail and the Weatherman, but she was still mostly in the dark. “Fill in the dots, Gwen,” she said, because Gwen had her fingers in absolutely everything, and she didn’t think, not for a second, that her friend wouldn’t know exactly what was going on. “So far, all I’ve managed to find out is that Cassidy Moran was seen at a bookstore and at a club called the Edison, and if we don’t come up with something soon to find this Mind Controller, I’m going to suggest stripping or book selling as side job.”
Gwen smirked at that. “Are we going to flip a coin to see who gets naked and who’s shelving cook books? As for details, her name is Wren, at least that’s what she used to go by and that’s what I always think of her as. Maheu is her real name though she’s only started going by it recently. She’s a friend of Quinn and Kyle.” She wasn’t about to tell her that Wren was also one of them, a mask. That was her own business and her own secret to tell. “And yes that was her who was kidnapped with Luke a while back. They’re friends too. Edison is where she works. She’s a dancer. I assume that’s where Moran met her but I don’t know how well they know each other and to be honest I’d like them to stop knowing each other.” She had always worried about Wren but always made sure not to be overbearing – she wasn’t her daughter after all. But now that someone was so taken with her that they’d freeze the entire city to get her back, she was going to put her foot down. “And god knows where he found the mind controller but really it could’ve been anywhere.” After all, she hardly left her own apartment and still managed to fall in Bishop’s sights.
“I think we should decide based on whose significant other has a more likely chance of not killing everyone in the joint,” Max said, and she turned the truck toward Aubade as she listened. “You know, I’m going to be on the news someday for beating the shit out of my family for keeping things from me.” She really did wish Luke could hang around with a harmless cheerleader, maybe someone in chess club or choir. Someone who didn’t strip or fight crime would be nice, too. She didn’t ask for much, really. “The kid in the hospital, his father’s a sex trafficker, and I might not have met this girl, but I’ve seen plenty of her. Lots of images on the Internet, and some of them even make me blush.” She shook her head. “So, we stop Moran and have him lead us to the mind controller,” she said, pulling the truck up to the Aubade curb. “Piece of cake.” Right, because it was anything but a piece of cake. “I think Brandon is getting tired. It’s too much shit all at once, Gwen.”
“I don’t know, Roger has been put out that I won’t let him beat up everyone sending me gifts,” Gwen added with a soft snort of laughter. “And you’re talking to the woman who shut down a bunch of city blocks when her daughter played vigilante hooky. I told you worrying of epic proportions would come with the territory.” She frowned softly at the talk of Wren, shaking her head, disapproval more that her profession was all that came up with her name and not anything else. Another thing to discuss with the girl when Gwen had a chance. “I don’t blame him. It’s a never ending shitstorm.” Just then a hard gust of wind blew snow across their windshield. “Pun not intended but apt. He needs a break. I can offer coverage and shifts and give him some down time but you and I both know that he’s going to patrol all the time, regardless. And that doesn’t stop anything that Luke does on his own. Parental worrying I can’t help with at all.” She sighed, talking herself into a circle. “And that’s nothing in regards to the Fawkeses and Morans of the world. We never saw either of those two coming.” Well one of them. She supposed that their current approach to the crime in the city would have eventually lead to Fawkes. She just wished it hadn’t happened so soon.
Max put the truck in park, and she watched the valet run through the snow from the lobby. He slipped twice, and she shook her head. The snow was quickly icing over, and at this rate shit was going to get really ugly, really fast. “We didn’t even get time to catch our breath this time,” she said. “Not only that, but we have three fucking threats all at once - don’t forget the zombie dogs. Even with more people on the comms, it isn’t enough.” A frown. “And I don’t want to suit up, even if I should.” She shook her head, glancing toward the windows to the apartment. “Come on. One problem at a fucking time,” she said, and she opened the truck door and thanked the valet before venturing out into the snow.
“Don’t suit up. Bat would kill me.” Barely even a lift of Gwen’s lips, for they both knew it to be true. Her mind was turning over everything, for she had almost forgotten about the zombies. Just another thing to add to the ridiculous list of things to tackle, with no end in sight. But she nodded and followed Max up the to the building. One thing at a time, at least for right now.
Being out of the hospital was initially a relief, but Luke soon realized that he was trading being stuck in a hospital bed for being stuck in an apartment; if he tore his stitches or got into any more trouble he was pretty sure that Thomas really would kill him. Though he was far less concerned with his own legal troubles he was aware that there was still the possibility of charges being filed against him, but for now he’d apparently been released ‘on recognizance’ or something like that. On the one hand Thomas didn’t have to pay for bail, but Luke knew there were countless other expenses he had to deal with which would only increase if he did end up helping Wren as well. It was a double edged sword; Luke felt guilty for the obvious burden he’d become, yet he thought that if he hadn’t been Thomas Brandon’s son then no one would’ve given a damn about either of them.
Talking wasn’t high on his list of current priorities, so Luke opted to remain in his room most of the time to avoid any unwanted conversation. His cell was close at hand just in case Wren managed to call him again, but he didn’t bother to check the forums and his comm hadn’t been turned on since that fateful Sunday. Frankly he just couldn’t bring himself to care about any of that right now; even the sound of footsteps and voices in the apartment wasn’t enough to get him to move from where he was sprawled out on his bed.
Max glanced toward the stairs once she’d deactivated the alarm and tossed her keys on the entrance table. She could hear Amanda giggling, and she glanced over her shoulder at Gwen and promised to take her upstairs once they’d talked to Luke. She verified with the maid that Luke hadn’t been out of his room all day, and she walked up to the door and knocked once before pushing the door, which was ajar, open slightly. “Hey, kid. Up for visitors?” she asked, pushing it wider and taking a step in. She fully expected him to say no, at least given the impression that Thomas had given her about how quiet he was being. “You’re too weak to kick us out, and we’re sneaky enough to take advantage of it,” she said, trying not to make it too obvious that she was looking him over for injuries. “I almost killed Brandon for not telling me you’d got hurt, for the record,” she said, glancing back at Gwen with a look that said see? I suck at this.
Gwen barely managed to keep her silent laugh to herself, not so much at Max but more at herself. She liked Luke, he was a good kid and he had spent a fair amount of time in her home – under her watchful eye, of course. But she wouldn’t say that she knew him, and she hadn’t seen Thomas and him in any sort of context where she could figure out the current parenting style, and follow suit. She thought she was just as useless. Probably best only for a buffer.
“Hey, Luke,” Gwen called out from the doorway, hand waving from behind Max’s shoulder. “We thought we’d come by and hear it from the source. Reports and Thomas just don’t do it justice.” She gave him a faint smile as she nudged Max in, leaving very little room for doubt that he wasn’t to tell them to leave.
Luke managed to sit up just before the door was pushed open, which wasn’t unexpected even though he thought it completely defeated the purpose of knocking in the first place.He’d figured that Max would show up sooner or later, especially since Thomas hadn’t been pushing him to talk ever since the hospital, but Oracle-- no, Gwen was admittedly a surprise. Maybe they’d thought it would be harder for him to ignore two people instead of just one. He didn’t feel up to conversation, but he didn’t have the energy to force them to leave either. Unlike Thomas he didn’t have the physical presence necessary to drive people out of rooms.
“Hi.” The halfhearted greeting was directed towards Gwen before he turned to Max. “Oh,” he shrugged. Luke was in no mood for his usual humor. “He was probably just distracted. Besides, I’m fine.” Since the knife wound to his abdomen was covered by his shirt only the bruises around his throat were visible, though they had begun to fade. “Most of the reports lie,” he added sharply. “What did Thomas tell you?”
Max had noticed Luke’s improving sarcasm over the past months, and she suspected he didn’t give Thomas any of the sass he tended to give her. She didn’t mind it. She thought it was better than bottling it up, even if she didn’t know what to do about it, and she threw Gwen a look and then sat down in one of the room’s armchairs. It was a big space, bigger than a teenage boy needed, and it just made him look smaller and younger to her. “Not much. That the reports lied, that the witnesses were wrong, that you weren’t talking very much,” she said, sitting forward in the chair. “He didn’t have to tell me he’s worried about you, but he is. And you don’t feel like talking, I get that, but you can’t hide in here forever.” And she knew it would piss him off, because it was a tactic she’d gotten used to with Luke - pissing him off to get him to open up.
Luke barely managed to resist the urge to roll his eyes. What the hell did they all want him to talk about anyway? No one ever considered that maybe, just maybe, he had nothing to say. Besides, Thomas wasn’t the best at conversation even under normal circumstances. When things were this bad it only became more difficult. “The witnesses stood there and did nothing,” he said scornfully, “and now they can’t even get the truth right.” He didn’t expect everyone to be a hero but someone could have intervened, and maybe if they had things wouldn’t have ended the way they did. Wren was only trying to protect him; she hadn’t meant to kill that boy. He knew that.
“He doesn’t have to worry about me. I’m not the one sitting in a jail cell on a murder charge with an idiot for a lawyer and no money to back me up.” Luke narrowed his eyes and leaned back against the headboard. “I’m not hiding. If I don’t stay here, I’d just go down to the County jail and probably do something I’ll regret. Or maybe Stephen’s friends would find me and try to finish what they started; then not even having Thomas Brandon as a father would be able to get me out of trouble.” He didn’t really mean most of it, except maybe the part about showing up where Wren was being held.
While Max sat down, Gwen remained standing, not one for sitting these days. “Wren’s going to get out,” she said simply, no hesitation at all. She hoped that by clearing up what was obviously most upsetting to him – Wren in jail – they could get somewhere in this conversation. “Once I can, I’ll be going down to get her myself. I’ll be bringing her back… home.” She almost said ‘here’ before she remembered where they were. Despite that she knew Wren had her own place, it was obvious from her tone that Gwen meant her home. And, in case he was wondering why she was making a big deal out of her safety she added, “We’ve got someone holding us under winter hostage until he can see Wren. Considering I’ve never heard about him, Cassidy Moran, until recently I’m not about to let her out of my sight anytime soon.” She said it casually, though her gaze was careful, as she looked at Luke’s face for any recognition on the name or the threat that the man posed.
That caught Luke’s attention, since until now no one had given him any definitive reassurances yet about Wren being released from jail. “She said the public defender didn’t think she’d get bail, and it’ll probably be high if she does,” he said doubtfully. “She’ll need a better lawyer too, so she can plead self-defense instead of manslaughter.” He knew Quinn and Wren had been close friends so it did make sense that Gwen was willing to help, and since he was concerned with her safety he assumed anyone else who cared about her would be too; the only difference was the source of the threat itself.
“Cassidy?” Luke frowned, deciding it would’ve been too much of a coincidence if this Cassidy and the one Wren had mentioned were two different people. “He’s the one messing with the weather? Wren told me he was in love with her, but she doesn’t feel the same way. I think he was a client of hers once,” he added, his frown deepening into a scowl.
Max was going to kill Thomas - again. She had no idea this other kid was in jail. And she’d seen the pictures; she was definitely a kid. “Thomas should be home soon. Maybe he’s got something in the works,” and she sure hoped he did. Not that Gwen couldn’t handle it, but if what Luke said was true they might be talking about more money than Gwen had on hand. Still, sending the girl home with Gwen was a good idea, no matter what the fuck happened. “He can definitely help with the lawyer, at least,” she said, aware she was meddling, not knowing if there was some reason Thomas might not want to help. But, that aside, they still had the matter of the Weatherman to deal with. She glanced at Gwen, and she quirked a brow. “Maybe she can get him to stop,” she suggested. Yeah, the guy seemed crazy, but making him stop had to be a priority, or they were all going to fucking die.
There was just the smallest tightening of her lips but otherwise Gwen didn’t bat an eyelash at talk of a high bail. She and her family had some hobbies that required expensive equipment of all kinds. This would take more than a sizeable chunk of her savings, but she could do it. “I can get her a good lawyer,” she reassured Max, not caring about meddling or not since they were already knee deep in it. If there was one thing that Gwen had in spades, it was contacts. A good lawyer wouldn’t be hard to find. As for Luke’s description of Cassidy, that was when her eyes narrowed, her frown deepening at client. “Hopefully. But if she doesn’t share his feelings we’ll have to also consider that this might happen again.” A snow storm was because Wren was missing. Gwen was already getting a headache imagining other possible scenarios. “We’ll see if we can get her to talk to him and calm him down. Did she mention anything else about him?” Weaknesses, perhaps?
Luke trusted Thomas more than anyone else he knew, but he also had a fair amount of trust for Gwen; there was little doubt in his mind that both would help Wren as much as they could. It was a small reassurance but at least it was something. He didn’t like Max’s suggestion that Wren could ‘get’ him to stop, but Gwen’s question made him pause before he had a chance to reply. “No, just that he’s rich. She didn’t say anything about him being able to control the weather.” If this Cassidy felt strongly enough about Wren to plunge the city into a snowstorm when she was missing, what else would he do if something happened that he didn’t like? Luke knew she’d feel obligated to stop him somehow, and that would lead nowhere good. “I know her. She’ll make some kind of deal if he won’t stop, and I-- we have to make sure that doesn’t happen. She can talk to him, ask him to stop, but he’s not guilting her into anything,” he said, and it sounded a lot more like an order rather than a suggestion.
Max had settled back in the chair, and she’d watched and listened. Gwen was good at this; a lot better than she was, which didn’t surprise her. She wasn’t maternal, and she never had been, and loving someone didn’t mean you knew what to say to them. As for Luke, he was surprising. With Thomas, he was generally deferential. With her, he was the opposite. With Gwen, he was respectful. And his reaction to the girl, that was new, too. Worrisome. She cleared her throat once he was done talking. “Did he cause the rain?” she asked. “And if he did, was that because of this girl, too? Because if the answer is yes? We have a serious fucking problem on our hands. And, for the record, they agreed on the comm to have her talk to him. Thomas was going to go tell her to.” This was turning into a much bigger problem than she expected, and it didn’t escape her notice that Luke was putting himself smack dab in the center of the problem.
“No deals. No negotiation,” Gwen promised Luke, because she was not going to stand for any of that either. “We’ll get her to talk to him and hopefully knowing she’s fine will do enough to make him stop.” She frowned slightly at the wording of Thomas telling her to do something but she brushed it off for now. They were running low on time and options. “I think Spider said he was the one who did the rain last time around,” and she made a mental note to talk to that Spider-Man once this as all over. “Though if that was because of Wren, I don’t know.” She did a quick glance back to Luke, seeing if he knew if Wren and their Weatherman had another falling out prior. “And getting to the bottom of this mind controller he encountered won’t hurt our chances either,” she added back to Max.
Luke wasn’t reassured by the idea of Thomas telling Wren to do anything, especially since conversations between the two of them never seemed to end well. “Thomas wouldn’t let her make any deals,” he said slowly, trying to sound like he believed what he said. Of course he didn’t actually think Thomas would intentionally give Wren that impression, but he might do it without realizing it. “I wish I knew,” he said with a hunt of frustration in response to Gwen, “but I don’t. Wren never really talked about him too much, and not usually by name. He left town at one point, I think, and came back before she did.” He didn’t like that she’d seemed to constantly feel like she owed this Cassidy something, and he wasn’t going to use that to his advantage if Luke had anything to say about it. “Mind controller?” He looked from Gwen to Max with a frown, feeling faintly ashamed at just how out of the loop he was.
“Someone mind controlled Cassidy,” Max explained, filling in the blanks for Luke, “and he thought they had Wren. Unfortunately, clearing shit up for him hasn’t seemed to help. And it doesn’t explain why he tried to flood us a few months back.” She didn’t add that someone who could do this to the weather as dangerous, yes, but someone with mind control? They’d all been there. They knew how dangerous that was. “So, we wait and see if the girl talks to this guy. And we wait until Thomas gets home and we work out bail and lawyers and the girl going to Gwen’s house,” she added, hoping that reassurance would calm Luke down more.
Gwen remained even quieter than usual as Max explained the emergence of another mind controller. The fact that she wasn’t piping up, her arms folding a little tighter, showed how disturbing she found this news. As Max wrapped it up, Gwen smiled faintly at the both of them. “We’ll get Wren back where she belongs,” this Gwen sounded sure of. “We’ll get this weather under control,” easier said than done but she sound firm still. “And then we’ll tackle the rest of this mess.” There was no shortage of problems in Seattle but those first two they needed to get out of the way. “And you,” she scolded gently, swatting the end of Luke’s bed since she couldn’t just hit the leg of someone injured. “You need to actually rest up. Like you’re supposed to.” Despite the fact that he was in bed when they came in, and not being privy to his thoughts Gwen didn’t pretend he hadn’t spent most of his awake hours worrying about Wren.
“Oh.” Things seemed to just keep getting worse and worse lately with no sign of stopping; zombie animals, Fawkes, dangerous weather and now a mind controller to add to the mix. Just thinking about it was overwhelming, never mind trying to deal with it. “Can I come see her after she gets out?” Luke didn’t think Gwen would refuse, but since it was her apartment he felt like he should ask first. “I am resting,” he added, pulling a face. “It’s not even that bad. I’ve had worse injuries.”
“If she wants. Though my money’s on her saying you should sit tight too.” Gwen just smirked at his long face, a light moment after all this heavy talk. “All the usual rules still apply.” Her grin faltered for a split second, remembering the last time she had to enforce them and who had been living there during, but she pressed on. “And only if you’re cleared to go. I’ll take a doctor’s note or a Bat’s. I’ll leave it to you to find out which is easier to get,” she added with a small laugh.
As usual, Thomas made no sound before his arrival. Amanda, however, did. She was a round, bright-eyed little thing, and enjoyed announcing her presence (and his) with rolling little laughs and a great deal of drooling. Her yellow dress made her look like an especially large daisy, or perhaps a pink dumpling, against his more sober suit. She was in the process of ruining another of his silk ties and made wide-eyes at everyone as they entered.
“Conference?” Thomas asked, giving Luke an assessing look to make sure he wasn’t straining himself or pulling his stitches. He walked over to Max and attempted to deposit Amanda into her arms, but she had a firm grasp on his tie and it wasn’t working very well. “Dailey,” he greeted Oracle. He felt better calling her Oracle, but he tried to avoid using codenames in the house.
Max kissed Thomas’ cheek, because she’d recently decided that it was good for Amanda (and Luke, too) to realize that affection was perfectly normal, and he was just going to have to deal with it. She unwound the tie, having found it the easiest way to get Amanda away from Thomas on occasion, and she handed the baby (tie and all) over to Gwen, who she knew had been wanting to see her. “We’re talking about bail and lawyers and where we’re sticking the girl, Wren, after she gets out on bail,” Max explained, making it sound like a given that they were helping, because she didn’t want Luke agitated again. “And we’re trying to figure out how we get the Weatherman and the Bodythief from there.” She didn’t add that Luke was upset, because she didn’t think she needed to; Thomas would be able to figure that out on his own.
Luke didn’t have a chance to respond before Thomas and Amanda arrived, though he was determined to see Wren one way or another and wasn’t planning on accepting anything other than agreement to do so. He already knew without a doubt that she’d want to see him, so that wasn’t in question. “Or-- Gwen said that Wren could stay with her once she gets out,” he said, with a quick glance towards her for confirmation. “She can’t let Cassidy pay for her bail,” he added, almost apologetically, because Luke knew that this whole thing likely wasn’t good for Thomas either. “And the lawyer she has now is an idiot.” Because clearly he was a legal expert himself.
Gwen nodded at Luke, though she was mostly distracted with the baby in her arms and trying very hard not to coo loudly at Amanda. “Wren can stay with me. I’d prefer it actually.” She had no idea where the girl was staying but she absolutely didn’t want her going with Cassidy. “We need to get her talking with the man who’s snowing us out but once I can post her bail, I want her coming with me. But after we need to decide what to do about a man who can flip the weather whenever he wants to throw a tantrum. And whatever mind-body controller is chasing after him.” The last she added grimly and turned back to the baby for something better to focus on. She was saved by a happy giggle, her only warning, before Amanda decided to grab a tiny fistful of her red hair.
Thomas watched his daughter wreak havoc with Gwen’s hair, expression more mild than usual, before turning back to focus on Luke. “I just came from visiting hours. I told her not to make any deals with Moran. That doesn’t mean she won’t, as she has a tendency to barter for things rather than ask, but I told her not to. You should follow up with her on that.” As if Wren was a business deal. “I offered a legal team but coming from me--us--is not going to look good in the courtroom. It is far better if Gwen and a foundation--funded circuitously--supports Wren financially. I already have contacts with one such foundation and you--” now he nodded at Gwen, “--can coordinate their efforts. Bail, legal advice, and so on. It would also benefit her a great deal if her residence at Edison looked a little more dependable on paper. There’s no reason we can’t lean on the appropriate people for that.” Thomas, it appeared, was not above manipulating the legal system for his own ends. He also had obviously given all this a great deal of thought in advance. “I can speak to Moran myself about the weather--in very pointed terms. The Bat may do a better job, I had not decided. Spider-man has a good mind and he’s proactive--keep him on the trail of the Controller. We know who Moran is; Fawkes and the Controller, we don’t.”
Luke made a deliberate effort to remain quiet until Thomas finished instead of bombarding him with questions about Wren; how she was doing, what she’d said, whether or not she was being treated properly. He was more relieved than surprised that Thomas had obviously thought all this out already, and having a distinct plan was much better than a vague outline. “Okay. So Gwen and this foundation can take care of bail and lawyers, and we’ll do something about where she lives-- dependable, so they don’t think she’s a flight risk or anything?” He assumed having someone vouch for her would help too, and he was more than willing to do that. As for Fawkes and this mind controller, well, Luke couldn’t do much about that considering the fact that both Max and Thomas would probably kill him if he tried to go out before the stitches healed fully. “I’ll go see Wren once she gets out, if it’s okay, and make sure she doesn’t make any deals.” He hesitated for a brief moment. “How’s she doing?” Seeing her in person was a lot different than a phone conversation, after all.
Max was back to wondering why life couldn’t be simple. A cheerleader, a member of chess club, a valedictorian? But no, now it was as prostitute who had murdered someone and had an obsessed ex. She didn’t say that, though, because Luke was talking, at least, and she got the distinct impression that he wouldn’t appreciate her opinion when it came to this. She sighed, and she grabbed Amanda’s pacifier as she tried to levitate it back toward herself. Handing it to the baby (who let go of Gwen’s hair to grab the prize), she looked at Thomas. “We’re still going to have to deal with Briggs’ father,” she said, because she’d heard about threats to Luke as she poked around for the story, which meant the kid was staying inside as long as she could manage to keep him there.
“I can deal with him,” Thomas said, glancing at Max and not elaborating. Thomas had no particular hesitation in breaking an important bone in Briggs’ father’s body to make sure he was laid up until the trial, if not long after. Threatening Luke just wasn’t a smart idea in Thomas’ presence, particularly when he was in this mood. To Luke, Thomas said, “She doesn’t like it in there. There’s very little we can do about that, however.” Thomas didn’t shrug; he watched Luke’s reaction with calm that wasn’t passive, an alert, acquired calm. He put it on when he was stressed or concealing stress. “If you must see Wren, you should do it quietly.” In a mask, he meant.
Luke hadn’t forgotten about Briggs’ father and what he’d done to the man’s son, but he didn’t doubt Thomas when he said he would deal with him. Personally he figured that if Briggs’ father was a pimp then sooner or later the opportunity would present itself to catch him in the act, but for now he decided to leave the subject alone. “Of course she doesn’t like it in there,” he muttered, thinking it was fairly obvious that no one would describe jail as a pleasant experience. Something about the idea of seeing Wren ‘quietly’ rubbed Luke the wrong way, and it was evident in his expression when he looked up. “Fine. I’ll do it quietly, but I’m still going to see her.”
Max glanced from Luke to Thomas, then back again, and she took a step toward the door, a stilling hand on Thomas’ chest as she moved. “Gwen and I are going to put Amanda down for a nap,” she said, because something about Luke’s expression when he looked up at Thomas made her think they needed to talk alone, without Luke guarding his words because of her and Gwen. She glanced back at her friend, motioned toward the door, and left the room. She would talk to Thomas later, because she knew that fucking calm, knew it hid something, but she wouldn’t ask about it until there was no one else around.
Gwen shifting Amanda in her arms now that they were leaving and her hair was no longer trapped in an adorably tiny hand. “I’ll be in touch.” She nodded at Thomas and then at Luke, though expression to him was a little softer, and then she was following Max out the door.
Thomas didn’t really understand why vacating the room abruptly was necessary, and he thought perhaps that Luke was tired and he missed it. He looked from Max’s retreating back to Luke again. “Good.” It was the best he could come up with.
Luke had a pretty good idea of what Max was trying to do and didn’t think it was necessary in the slightest, but she and Gwen had left the room before his attempts at communicating through pointed looks could accomplish anything. Now he felt obligated to say something just to avoid any prolonged awkward silences. “Anyway, uh, I know you didn’t have to get involved with helping Wren and everything, so... thanks,” he said after a pause, deciding it was a safe enough thing to say without leading into a conversation he didn’t want to have.
Thomas stood up. The look he gave the younger man in the bed was neither cold nor clinical. Thomas so rarely became heated about anything that it was a foreign thing to see on his face. He was angry; not raging angry, or cold calculating angry. Just the normal, everyday, 'my son did something stupid' angry. "You left me very little choice. I'll let you rest." And then, ignoring Max's obvious intent to force them to have a heart-to-heart, he left the room.