Justice Hunter (talkwiththemoon) wrote in supernextdoor, @ 2012-06-10 21:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | 10.10.11, justice, justice and lucas, lucas |
Who: Justice and Lucas
What: Mother/Son time
When: 10.10.11 - Monday Evening
Where: Their home
Warnings: None
His mother had left him a voicemail earlier in the day and though she hadn't really said much, Lucas knew something was going on. He knew his mother better than she knew herself most of the time and he could tell that there was something not quite right, something bothering her, just from the sound of her voice on the recording. So he'd told Alanna he was going to stay in that night because he was worried about his mother. She'd understood of course, and he'd promised to call her later. Making it home well before his mother was scheduled to arrive, Lucas went ahead and got dinner done for his mother. He wasn't the best cook around, but he knew what he was doing enough to whip up some steak quesadillas and a nice salad for the both of them. When his mother opened the door, dinner was on the table and he was just reaching for a couple of glasses. "Hey mom," he called from the kitchen. "What do you want to drink?"
Justice's day hadn't improved since that morning. She'd been walking the streets for most of the day, but as with Emma, no one had heard anything. It was a rough part of town, and it wasn't entirely surprising that people weren't talking, but that didn't make it any less frustrating. Worried and tired, she'd made a quick stop by Jason's desk to make sure he ate something before she headed home. She needed to see Lucas, needed to know for herself that she was ok. And, much as he'd likely protest, she needed to make sure he was going to be safe. And if that meant giving him and Alanna a curfew, so be it.
Dropping her purse and keys on the table by the front door, Justice headed straight through to the kitchen, smiling wearily at Lucas. "Hey, kiddo. Beer, please." She didn't normally drink mid-week, but right now she desperately needed to relax. Grabbing him as he walked past, she pulled Lucas into a tight hug, burying her face against his shoulder and breathing him in for a moment. It calmed both the owl and the mother in her, reassured her that Lucas was fine, that they were safe.
Lucas hadn't even made it to the fridge when his mother grabbed him and pulled him against her. Something was definitely wrong. He didn't like whatever it was, especially if she was feeling the way she was feeling, so many different emotions easily breathed in by the boy. Lucas slid his arms around his mother and held her back just as tightly. "Mom?" he breathed. "What's going on?" Obviously something not very good for her to be reacting this way. "What happened?" he asked her, lifting one hand to stroke his fingers through her hair in hopes of comforting her the way she usually would be comforting him.
Justice clung to her son, her eyes closed. “There’s been another murder,” she murmured softly. She tilted her head up, pulling back enough to look at him. She still wasn’t used to that, though it had been a few years since he’d first grown taller than her. “Do you remember Eric Bloodgood?” She’d only dated him a couple of times, but she remembered he’d been borderline rude to Lucas when he’d picked her up from the house - it had been one of the things that had put her off. Even before he’d pushed her up against her car and tried to grope her.
He remembered him. He was a jackass. He didn't say that aloud, however, though his eyes did narrow into tiny little slits. "Someone murdered him?" he asked. Must have been a woman. Douche probably went a little too far. Which was rude to think, but at least he'd kept it in his head and not said it outloud. "Is it the same guy as the other murder?" he asked his mother, curious if there was a serial killer on the loose.
Justice nodded. “Same MO. We think it’s an anti-supernatural killer. First a fangbanger, now a were.” He might have been a jackass, but he still didn’t deserve to end up like that. Justice shivered a little at the memory, bile rising in her throat as Eric’s face, pale above the bloody mess of his neck, floated in her mind’s eye.
“I want you inside after dark, baby,” she murmured. “I don’t care if it’s here, or at Alanna’s. You’re not going out after dark.” She knew she was going to get ‘but moooooooooom,’ as a result, but she wasn’t budging. Not until this psycho was caught and behind bars.
He sighed. He could take care of himself, damn it. "Mom," he whined. "I'm not a baby. Dark isn't even that late," he pointed out. At least she wasn't really minding whether it was at their place or at Alanna's, but still. Of course then he started to get a little paranoid and didn't want to think or dwell too much on the topic or he was going to be calling and texting Alanna all night. Even if he knew she was safe in her huge house full of servants, it wasn't the same as if he was protecting her. If it was a super killer, she was more safe than if she'd been supernatural but she was still dating a were. The fangbanger was a prime example that everyone was a little unsafe as of now.
“No ‘mom’,” Justice said firmly. “There’s a killer on the loose, one who’s targeting supers.” She sighed. “I’m an openly supernatural cop, and I’ve been to the bar where we think the killer might be finding vics.” They didn’t know for sure, but Emma had been a regular at Gabe’s, and both dump sites had been within a couple of blocks of the bar. It was too big a coincidence. “That puts you in danger, too. I’m sorry, kiddo, but I’m not budging on this.” She reached up, stroking his cheek. “I just want you to be safe, baby.”
Again he sighed, but he couldn't really blame his mother. "Fine," he agreed. "But does that mean that if I stay here, Alanna can come over too?" he asked her. "I know she's safe at her place, but I'd feel better if I were with her. And I don't want to always be at her house. I feel like a cockroach over there," he told her honestly. He'd not said as much to Alanna, but her house was so big and elaborate and he just didn't fit. A mansion and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks just didn't work out right. He didn't like feeling like he was using her either. This was his home, something his mother had worked hard to get for them. Her house was a big huge tomb where her parents kept all the things they bought and often didn't give a damn about aside from bragging rights.
Justice nodded. “Of course. She’s welcome here whenever she wants.” It would be good, in some ways. She could get to know Alanna a little better. Watching the two of them at Jason’s barbeque had reassured some of her worries, at least. The two of them together had been rather sweet to watch - and seeing them asleep, curled up with Gracie, had had Justice reaching for her phone to take a picture.
Squeezing Lucas one last time, Justice stepped out of his arms, grabbing a beer from the fridge and sitting down at the table. “This looks great, kiddo, thank you,” she murmured.
Getting permission to have Alanna over soothed him a bit. He was glad that his mother seemed to be warming up to the whole situation. Even if it wasn't easy, he was thankful to have such an understanding mother. Things could have been a whole lot worse than they were if she wasn't the way that she was.
Getting himself a glass of iced tea, he settled beside his mother at the table. "When I got your message I knew something was wrong. I didn't want to make you have to cook dinner when you were obviously feeling crappy," he told her. "So hopefully it tastes good," he smiled. He wasn't an amazing cook, but he certainly wasn't bad at it either. taking a sip of his drink, he sat the glass down. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
Justice sighed, brushing her hair back from her face with both hands, slouching back in her seat a little. “Not really,” she admitted. “I ID’d the vic-” she’d distanced herself at the crime scene, but it felt wrong to do that now. “Eric. I...recognised him.” Even with a silver bullet distorting his features, he’d still been recognisable enough. Still smelt the same. She shook her head, taking a generous gulp of her beer.
“At first I thought it was you,” she admitted quietly. Before she’d caught the scent of Eric, all she’d gotten over the stench of burnt flesh was owl. And while she knew, realistically, that it wasn’t her son, it hadn’t stopped her from panicking.
Lucas looked over at his mother's last sentence, his stomach knotting up a little and he reached over to gently brush his fingers across her shoulder. Now her 'be in before dark' rule made even more sense. She was obviously terrified, especially of losing him. "Mom," he breathed, forgetting about his dinner for the moment and pulling his mother towards him so he could hug her in an effort to comfort the woman. "I'm okay," he promised her. "Nothing's going to happen to me. I'll be in before dark and if I'm not here, I'll be at Alanna's. Hell, if you want I'll just make sure she comes here instead," he offered.
Justice was shivering gently as Lucas wrapped his arms around her, and she gladly leant in close, sliding her arms around his waist. “I know,” she murmured, not sure who she was trying to reassure more - him, or herself. “I knew it wasn’t you, I just...” she drew a shaky breath, closing her eyes. “God, Lucas...even the thought of losing you kills me.” She couldn’t tell him anything about the case, of course. But thinking of Lucas, spread out in an alleyway like that, mutilated...that was going to haunt her dreams for a good while. “Remind me to phone your grandmother,” she murmured, apropos of nothing. “I don’t know if Eric’s family’s been told, but she can check on them...”
He let his fingers run through his mother's hair, hoping that she'd find some comfort in just being held onto for a while. She knew it wasn't him, but perhaps she just needed to breathe him in for a bit to make her own nerves calm themselves. He knew how she felt. He felt similar every day that she went to work. He worried about what might happen to her on the job and he had to force himself to let her do what she felt was right. Helping people was what she felt was right. "I'll remind you," he promised her. Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he sighed a little. "I'm sorry that you thought it was me, Mom," he whispered. "But I'm safe," he assured her. "Right here. And I'm not going anywhere," he promised.
Just as being held by Jason had helped earlier, having Lucas’ arms around her, being buried in his scent, helped her more than any words ever could. She squeezed him tightly, laughing softly as her stomach growled, the smell of the steak reminding her that she hadn’t eaten all day.
“I know, kiddo,” she murmured. “Won’t stop me worrying.” It was pretty much part of the package, being a mother. “You wanna watch a movie or something together after dinner?” She asked, pulling back to grab a bite of her dinner, though she kept touching him, kept looking at him as if to remind herself that he was there. “Feels like forever since we had some one-on-one time.”
Lucas let her pull back and reached for his own plate, pulling it a bit closer. "Yeah," he told her. "That sounds good to me." Getting some one on one time with his mother was something that didn't happen as often as he'd like anymore. He was growing up, so close to eighteen that he could practically taste the freedom. Still, every once in awhile, he just wanted to curl up with his mother on the sofa and let her force him to watch some sappy old movie that she'd seen and cried to hundreds of times. Doing that would be just fine by him. Anything to help his mother realize that he was still living and breathing and not planning to go anywhere any time soon.