Best of a Bad Situation

[helpdesk_hero]

The worst part is that he can't REACH. Okay, no, the worst part was that he hadn't seen it coming. That he hadn't been better at this. But he'd been taking their kid, their little boy, to the doctor. It was stupid that he even had to. But David wasn't a pediatrician, and he was big on the 'don't treat your family unless it's an emergency,' and so it had been a trip to the doctor for what was clearly an inner ear infection that he needed to get a script of ear drops for.

They'd taken them in the car. Run him off the road and the car had flipped and were it not for the baby seat, things would have been worse. Everything after that had been... distant. Foggy. Terrible until David had woken up in a non-descript room, woken by his little boy, in a literal cage, crying and screaming. David, chained to a wall and bleeding from his brow and dizzy, just wants to reach across to grab his baby and hold him close. Less than a year old, no way he could understand what was going on. couldn't understand why his daddy didn't just pick him up.

"Shhhh, shhh baby. It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

They want his money. They want his secrets. And they intended to let his son get very sick and very weak to make sure that David was willing to work with them.

And he knew it would work.

Comments

[helpdesk_hero]

Well... David guesses he gets that part. That point. But he's just about shaking, from the fear. From the pain. From everything. He opened his mouth to protest only to be stopped by a flash of blue light in the emergency room. No doubt Billy would get in trouble for the entrance later, but who was going to argue with a costumed hero showing up? Everyone knew of the Sorcerer Supreme, or a lot of people did. Enough that a nurse just moved to head Billy and Teddy off.

"Will you let them take care of you now?" David asks Tommy wearily. "Billy can watch over Lucas until we're okay."

[zoomandboom]

Tommy sagged when he saw the familiar flash of blue. Billy was here. And he could trust Billy to take care of his family.

"Yeah," he agreed, abruptly tired. "He'll have Teddy with him too, he can watch you and Billy can watch Lucas. So you're both safe." He turned though, tipping his head against David's forehead for a second. "I'm sorry. I love you."

[helpdesk_hero]

"And who watches you?" David asks, his voice soft and he's barely keeping himself up now.

"We do," Teddy answers as he approaches. "Billy's talking to them now. AMazingly he remembered to bring all of the paperwork with the assurance that we have a right to be here. It's going to be a bit, and I'm half thinking he's going to Jedi all this, but... Well, when you two are out of your processes, you'll be in a room together, with Lucas."

And there are small favors like that, aren't there?

[zoomandboom]

"No one wants to take me anywhere," Tommy said. "It's you and our baby I'm worried about." He kissed David softly, and then got up, pushing David gently down into the bed with his good arm.

"Thanks," he told Teddy, relieved. "Someone's picking them up at the house too, right? They-" he stopped, groaning as a nurse tried to move him toward the other stretcher they'd just brought in. "Yeahfine," he gave in. Still he went over to gently brush hair back off his son's forehead, watching him worriedly before he let the staff hound him onto the stretcher to wheel out. "Make sure you take care of his hands and wrists, too. And check to make sure noonegave him or Luke anything."

[helpdesk_hero]

"Kate's managing that with Noh-Varr," Teddy promises.

"I'll be out before you," David assures his husband, and he lays back on his own gurney. "I'll be at Lucas's side and waiting for you."

[zoomandboom]

"Okay," Tommy agreed. But his eyes stayed on his family until he was wheeled out of the room.

It took longer than David, since they had to extract the bullet and repair the damage and sew it up, and also consult with Dr. McCoy, on Billy's insistence, to make sure they could keep Tommy sedated enough to not wake up in the middle of it all.

But as soon as he woke up in recovery and the doctors were sure he was stable, he was taken back to the room that had been set up for the three of them, Tommy groggy but anxious until he could see them for himself.

[helpdesk_hero]

If it helped, well, Tommy won't be alone when he wakes. David instead is sitting in a chair that had been moved between Lucas's small bed and Tommy's bed. One hand rests on Tommy's arm, the other touching his son's hair.

"Tommy," he says softly when his husband wakes. "You're a hero."

[zoomandboom]

Tommy's fingers move, brushing up against the ring David wore. "You're the one who made sure I could find you ... but fuck, David, you could have just told me."

He looked over at Lucas. "When you both were just gone and I wasn't there ..." he hadn't protected them. Hadn't been there to know. "Are you okay? Lucas? I'msosorry."

[helpdesk_hero]

All David wanted was to pick up his baby and climb into his lover's arms. But no, not happening.

"I should have, but... I am a fool. Lucas will be okay. He's a little sick from the cold. but he'll be fine. I'm more worried about you now."

[zoomandboom]

"You're not. You just always think I'm smarter than I am, and I took too long to figure it out or think of it," Tommy said, fingers curling around David's forearm, so he didn't hurt his hands or wrists.

"I'm fine. The bullet's out, it'll heal up now," Tommy said. "I just care about you and our baby. We should get Billy to get some of his stuff from home for him. And for you."

[helpdesk_hero]

Yeah, well, David's definitely wrapped up in a lot of bandaging. but at least there is something.

"We will," David agrees, "Once I was done Billy headed for the house. Teddy's waiting outside of the room. Kate's due in half an hour. And I'm not allowed to pick up Lucas until the doctor says so and it's driving me mad."

He had barely touched his son since they were grabbed. And it hurts him so bad.

[zoomandboom]

"I'll get him, when he wakes up. My other arm is fine." And even if they told Tommy not to lift him or to stay still, Tommy wasn't likely to listen. He healed fast and didn't do well with stillness when he was worked up.

Tommy took a deep breath. "You hurting too much? Did they give you something for it? Can you come here?" he asked, scooting with a wince to leave David room next to him."

[helpdesk_hero]

He hurts so much, and he didn't care. But he gets up and into the bed anyway, snuggling against Tommy.

"I was wrong. I was so wrong. I said we'd be okay if we had private property, if we had security. I was wrong, Tommy. I did this. If I wasn't what I am, if people didn't see me as someone to steal from..."

It hurts. He got their baby hurt.

"This is all my fault."

[zoomandboom]

Tommy wrapped his uninjured arm around his husband, settling just a little from the contact. "No," he said, instant and fierce. "It's the assholes who DID this, not you. It's their fault. Our place was secure. And we wanted a home that wasn't a combat zone. It wasn't just you. It's not your fault you're brilliant."

"It's not your fault," Tommy insisted again. "I should have been there, I should have protected you and him, and I should have figured out where you were sooner."

[helpdesk_hero]

"You can't be there for every second of our lives," David insists, leaning in to bury his face in Tommy's neck. "I kept an important tool from you."

[zoomandboom]

"And you can't prep for EVERY threat. Just most of them. Our house was safe. You were in the car. We can move if you want to. But it's never gonna fucking be your fault," Tommy told him fiercely, kissing his forehead. "I could have been here for this one. I should have been. Can'tstandthat you two got hurt."

[helpdesk_hero]

"I'm a public figure, married openly to an Avenger," Tommy sighs. "Brother in law to an Emperor and a Sorcerer Supreme. I'm the biggest sort of target. And the same will always be true of Lucas."

And they can't stop that from being true.

[zoomandboom]

"I could retire. Stay home with you and Lucas, only go in for emergencies," Tommy said. "Or fuckit. We could take Luke and live in space for a while." There wasn't likely to be many kidnapping attempts there.

"This isn't gonna happen again. We'll figure it out," Tommy promised, voice a little rough. "I love you."

[helpdesk_hero]

"Yeah, Space isn't smart. Lower gravity would be bad for his structural development."

But asking Tommy to stay home with them was too much. That would never work. Tommy would feel trapped, go mad.

"I love you too. I just... I made a mistake and it put him at risk."

[zoomandboom]

"So some other planet. With the right gravity. I don'tcare. Somewhere where you'll feel safe."

Tommy would deal with it. He'd figure out things to do, and he was a lot more content spending time playing with his son than he usually was without something to do. But he was reacting more than he was thinking clearly right now.

"You didn't. It wasn't you, it was them," Tommy insisted. "Stop blaming yourself for what a bunch of shitheads did."

[helpdesk_hero]

They can't really do all this impulse right now, Tommy. He doesn't have the strength.

"Tommy, I.... I don't want to lose all our family and friends. Lucas doesn't deserve that."

[zoomandboom]

Tommy grunted, pressing his face into David's neck for a second before sighing. "Yeahokay. So we move into Avengers central and use their security and have built in babysitters. And no one goes out without an escort for a while." Which probably went without saying and it wasn't like Tommy was going to let them out of his sight for a while.

[helpdesk_hero]

That's... definitely the right answer. And David hates it. Giving up their freedom. But their son... deserves safety. But the idea of an escort is pretty frustrating. He sighs and reaches up to gently stroke Tommy's hair. But, you know, his hand hurts too much to actually do much.

"Yeah, we'll... do that. Until Lucas is older."

[zoomandboom]

Tommy caught Davids hand by the forearm, not touching any of his injuries and then very gently lifting it enough to kiss his fingertips before letting go so David could stroke his hair. "Yeah." It would suck, and it wasn't fair. But they needed to keep their son safe. And Tommy needed David safe too. He knew David was capable and strong, but he wasn't invulnerable. This proved that. And Tommy needed him safe. Lucas needed him too.

"I love you," Tommy said again. "Are you okay? How bad are your hands and wrists? Anything else hurt?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"Concussion," David says. "Some fractures in my ribs. The wreck was... They hit us with a fucking truck with a rack on the front of the grill. It flipped the SUV. I am glad I chose it. For the safety rating."

IT probably saved their lives.