Just when you thought it couldn't get worse Who: Jason, Lucas and Cheyenne What: Phonecall of bad news When: 10.16 - Early Sunday afternoon Where: Phone line/Lucas' car Warning: None
"I'm fine," Jason insisted, pulling away from the paramedic fussing over him. The ambulances had taken Justice, Naya and Gabe away. The little blond hadn't been much help, she was too worried about Gabe to really be able to give much of a statement. He'd called Ty and told him to head over to the hospital, because what he had gotten out of Nadia implied this guy might be their killer. Unfortunately, he didn't have any more than that right now. So he'd asked the other detective to go to the hospital and try again. Ty was a little less intimidating than Jason was, which might help.
Finding Lucas' number in Justice's contacts, he just used her phone to call as he eased off the tailgate of the ambulance. He took the ice pack offered to him, just to get the paramedic off of him. He was feeling the tumble more now that the adrenaline had worn off. He had a whole new set of bruises, two sprained fingers, and a handful of superficial cuts. Nothing compared to what anyone else had suffered today. Now he just hoped the kid picked up.
Lucas' phone went off in his pocket with his mother's ringtone and he sighed a little, reluctantly pulling his mouth back from Cheyenne's mouth despite his intense urge to keep kissing the girl. He wasn't really sure why his mother would be calling now and that was the whole reason he reached for the phone and pressed the on button. "Yeah, mom?" he said in greeting. "I thought you were supposed to be having lunch with Naya. You're not done already are you?" he asked, confused as he waited for his mother's voice to come over the line.
Cheyenne groaned as Lucas' phone started ringing. Of course, it was his mom, so he had to answer. Letting out a sigh, she straightened out her clothes a little and leaned against him, hoping something wasn't wrong.
"It's not your mom, Lucas," Jason explained. "I'm using her phone because I didn't have your number. It's Jason. There was an incident at the bar. She tried to help, and broke her arm. Naya has a concussion. They're at the hospital being treated right now." He didn't know if Lucas knew Gabe, but he knew the kid would be most worried about the two women.
He recognized Jason's voice when he started talking and for a moment Lucas just listened, too shocked to really do otherwise. Incident. Incident was never a good word. Certainly not when it involved police officers, one of which was his mother. Who'd gotten her arm broken. On top of his godmother getting a concussion. "Is she okay?" he finally managed to ask, worry clear in his voice though he was trying his damnedest to keep it together. "What happened? I don't need sugar coating, just give it to me straight. How'd she get hurt?"
Shy let out an audible gasp when she heard that Justice had broken her arm and Naya was hurt too. She immediately started stroking Lucas' hair, now worried herself. They were supposed to be having coffee, not getting in a brawl. Hopefully they were okay.
Jason sighed. "They're going to be fine," he assured Lucas. "I don't know what happened. From what the girl who works for Gabe Cooper said, some wackjob snuck into the basement and knocked out Naya while she was doing inventory. When she and Gabe went down to investigate, he used telekinesis to throw kegs at Gabe. He threatened to smash Naya's head with one and a window got broken. Your mother flew in in owl form for some reason and he broke her wing- arm. He was running away when I got there. He threw me into some tables and by the time I got out into the alley he was gone and the uniforms had shown up and I couldn't find his scent. I'm sorry." He wished he had more explanation or answers, but he didn't. Now Lucas knew as much as he did.
Okay, so it was even worse than the horrors he'd expected to come out of Jason's mouth. Some crazy person had essentially tried to kill his godmother and her boyfriend and likely would have killed his mom if he wasn't too much of a pussy to stand and fight. Wonderful. And the bastard was still out there somewhere doing god knows what to god knows who. Lucas' stomach uncomfortably did a flip-flop and he swallowed down the lump that was forming in his throat. "Can I come see her?" he asked, his voice cracking a little despite his best efforts for it not to. "Should I bring her clothes or something?" he added, trying to give himself a little bit of purpose, something to occupy his mind.
"Jesus," Shy gasped, clinging to Lucas' shirt with the hand not brushing through his hair. That was just crazy. Super crazy. Especially since it didn't sound like this wackjob did it for any reason.
"Yeah," he said. "That'd be a good idea. Bring her some clothes, then you need to take her home. Or to my place. You're welcome to stay too, Lucas." He didn't like the idea of the wereowls being alone with this bastard on the loose. "But neither she nor Naya should be driving. If they even release Naya today. He hit her pretty hard." Gabe Cooper was going to be in the hospital a few days at least. "I'll bring her phone with me to the hospital when I'm done here. There's not much to process. The guy had on gloves and a ski mask." He'd gotten a good whiff of him, but 'he smells like the same bastard' wouldn't hold up in court. It was frustrating.
Lucas nodded almost bobble headedly at Jason's words even if the man couldn't see him over the phone line. "She'd be safer with you," he breathed, even if the words hurt to say as much as they hurt to hear once they were out of his mouth. Then he looked at Cheyenne and realized the girl was going to be alone as she often was at night with her mother's work and dating schedule and that just wasn't going to do. "I think I might not be able to stay. See, my girlfriend... my best friend...," Lucas sighed, brushing his hand through his hair as he tried his best to get his words to form coherent sentences. "I don't want to leave Cheyenne alone any more than I want mom to be alone," he explained. "Her mom works late a lot and if this bastard is still out there...," he breathed, shaking his head a little. "I'll talk to mom about it. See what she wants and that's what we'll do," he told the man. "Thank you though, for the offer... and for taking care of my mother."
Cheyenne was issuing a protest now. "Luc, you need to be with your mom," she told him. "I'll be fine. It's not like the wacko is going to come after me or my mom." They weren't anybody important, like cops or MEs or whatever Naya's boyfriend was. "Mr. Lion Cop Dude, tell him he's being dumb."
Jason sighed and nodded. Leaving it up to Justice seemed to be the best way to go. It wasn't like he couldn't look in on her from time to time at her place if it was needed. But she shouldn't be alone. None of them should be. "Justice told me the basics," he said. "It's okay. Do what you have to." He winced as the girl practically shrieked in his ear. That would be her. He groaned when she tried to drag him into the argument. "Yeah, no comment," he muttered. "I don't mind, Lucas. I care about your mom. And with all this going on, I know she's worried about you. I would be in her place." He was worried about his girls and they never went anywhere alone and were better trained in self defense than half the police department. "If I can catch her before you take her home, I'll talk to her. If not, just have her call me with what she decides."
Lucas glared at Cheyenne. "You'll stop squawking in my ear is what you'll do," he told her. He wasn't going to give up this argument, even if it meant that Cheyenne and his mother stayed at their house, damn it. He was going to keep the people he cared about close to him and safe. Better than he obviously had been doing considering his mother was in the goddamned hospital. "She cares about you too," he commented, thinking that Jason likely needed to know that from someone who wasn't in the midst of the situation. "If she smiles one more time because of you texting her, her face'll stick like that." Making light of something was easier than dealing with the other emotions welling inside of him, that was for sure. "I'll get her some clothes and go to the hospital," he told Jason. "Thanks again for calling me. And Jason? Be careful, yeah?"
Shy pouted, but went quiet only because Lucas and his mom's boyfriend were discussing important stuff. Lucas needed to be worrying about his mom, not her. Jeeze.
Jason had to suppress the smile at the smile comment. "She's not the only one," he admitted softly. Then it was back to the sobering reality. "No problem," he said. It was the kid's mother. If something happened to his mother, God forbid, somebody better call him as soon as possible. "Thanks. You too. Don't let her give you any attitude about being fine." Because Justice would. "Call me if you guys need anything. Bye."
"I won't," he assured the lion. His mother might be a stubborn pain in the ass, but the apple hadn't fallen far from the tree. "Bye," he replied, hanging up his phone and tucking it into his pocket. Leaning back against the seat of his car, he stared up at the headliner and let out a long breath. What the fuck had just happened? His mother was in the hospital with a broken arm and he'd been absolutely powerless to stop it. He'd been sucking face and his mother could have been killed. Great. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Cheyenne sighed and leaned into Lucas. "I'm sorry, Luc," she sighed. "She's gonna be all right though. Let's just go back to your place and get her stuff and bring her some not!hospital food and then you can scold her for scaring you like that." That made sense to Shy anyway.
He nodded a little and pulled his seatbelt back across his chest. If he didnt think about it, maybe he could get to the house without breaking down like a complete idiot. He started the car, took a deep breath and headed back in the direction of his house. It felt like the hits just kept on coming.