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

[zoomandboom]

"Hit the button for the nurse, get more meds," Tommy said. "You don't have to hurt."

He bent over the little bed. "Shhh, relax little man. You're safe, and we'll get you something to eat. Come here." Tommy gathered his son up, trying to just use his good arm as best he could.

Once he had Lucas tucked up against his chest he went back to bed, climbing in carefully with David so he could touch Luke too. Tommy touched Luke's little cheek, where a little bandage covered a small cut. Today was awful and he was still afraid for both of them, like he couldn't quite let go. But it could have been so much worth.

[helpdesk_hero]

"Don't wanna get used to drugs, Tommy. I'll be fine without them."

But he relaxes when Tommy approaches with their son, and there are tears shining in his eyes to see the babe so close.

"We could call for Teddy, for a bottle. I don't doubt he has some."

[zoomandboom]

"This is what they're for - when you've been hurt. You don't need to take 'em for long. But you shouldn't hurt when you don't have to." Tommy didn't want David in any more pain than he had to be.

"He probably did," Tommy agreed. "I'll go get him if he doesn't come back in in a second." He didn't want to move Lucas again until he had to. "He feels less warm," Tommy said quietly.

[helpdesk_hero]

"He's waiting outside. Giving us space," David says. So, yeah, he doesn't expect Teddy to poke his head in without being called for. As for the boy, the child is quiet, safely cradled between his fathers.

[zoomandboom]

"Mmm," Tommy said vaguely, most of his attention on Lucas and David. He sighed after a moment though and called quietly. "Teddy? You around?" He tried not to rouse Lucas, stroking fingers through his hair gently.

[helpdesk_hero]

The touch definitely soothes their son, and soon the door opens. Teddy pads over quietly, their standard baby bag in his hands. He offers them a soft frown and he produces a bottle from the bag, handing it over. David definitely wasn't reaching for it, sorrow in his eyes, He can't hold or feed his son.

"Billy will be back in a while with more," Teddy tells him, voice soft.

[zoomandboom]

"Thanks," Tommy told him, giving Teddy a weak sort of smile. His own tiredness from bloodloss and surgery was catching up, but Tommy absolutely wasn't going to sleep any time soon. He wanted to keep his eyes on his family.

"Hey, Lukey, you hungry?" Tommy asked, nudging him gently awake and then kind of propping him up between him and David the best he could. The little boy opened his eyes and made a sound of complaint that made Tommy smile, but he reached for the bottle when Tommy offered it, bad arm adjusting the angle as carefully as he could and good one holding Lucas.

[helpdesk_hero]

The infant takes the bottle quite happily, drinking readily. Greedily even, once he realizes the bottle is in his mouth. No doubt he was fed while his fathers were out, but the boy was clearly still hungry.

"Billy wants you guys to stay with us for a while," Teddy says, taking the chair that David had been in until recently. "I know you've been against the Manor before, but it would be safer."

"We know," David sighs, watching his son, not looking at Teddy.

[zoomandboom]

Tommy was relieved to see the eating. Like Tommy himself, Lucas usually had a big appetite for his age. If he hadn't wanted food, it would mean something was really wrong. He held the bottle a little awkwardly, making encouraging noises for Lucas and bending to kiss his little scrunched forehead.

He looked at David when he answered, trying to see how unhappy he was about that, but nodded to Teddy. "Yeah ... we already talked about it. We're just gonna stay there. At least until he's older."

[helpdesk_hero]

"Good," Teddy says, frowning. "I don't want to lose my family, okay?"

"We get it," David agrees, also giving their son a brief kiss. "Would someone maybe, you know, go to our house and secure it? Moving out is going to take some effort."

[zoomandboom]

"You won't," Tommy said, voice quiet so he didn't disturb Luke, but fierce. He wasn't going to let anyone get to his family again. He didn't care what he had to do to keep them safe, he'd do it. Moving in to the manor - that was just a tiny sacrifice he was more than willing to make. He knew David would hate it though. Maybe they could do some reno or something - make part of it more theirs. Maybe that would help him feel better.

"I can get everything out in a few days," Tommy said. "If someone can just lock it down for now. Maybe ask some of the extended family to stay there until we can move everything out?" Tommy realized then and groaned. "And can you ask Billy to call David's family and let them know?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"Cute that you think we won't be helping," Teddy dismisses. "And I called the Alleynes earlier, while David was getting tended to. I used the team card to pay for tickets."

David looks relieved. He sighs and curls up tighter against his husband. "How have we not been invaded by the rest of the rest of the family yet?"

"Wanda and Vision are doing their best to pin down if the people who grabbed you guys had any other network of support," Teddy offers. "Erik and Lorna want to be here to hurt some people, but there's an issue on the Moon they're busy with. Luna wants to know if it's okay if she comes to help you boys out with Lucas while you're recovering."

[zoomandboom]

"You can help. But I'll do it faster," Tommy said. That was why he just ended up doing stuff himself half the time. He was better about asking for - or just letting - people help him now than he used to be. But he still defaulted to just doing bigger things himself and just being lazy with smaller things when he wanted to be a pest.

He stroked Lucas' hair gently as he finished his bottle.

He sighed, since the whole family was still a lot, at the best of times. But they could probably use the help. "Yeah, that's okay, probably. Unless you want to stick to just us?" Tommy said, asking David.

[helpdesk_hero]

"Yeah, but Billy can open a portal to move thing through. And magic stuff into boxes," Teddy counters. "And I'm good for awkward furniture. We'll need to get you guys a storage unit too. You've got a lot of stuff."

But time did that to people, it let you acquire things.

Meanwhile Lucas sighed as he let the bottle slip from his mouth, clearly don. He made a gurgling sound and David shifted to Teddy, who offered burp cloth for them to burp the little one.

"I don't mind Luna's help," he said, but he clearly didn't like the idea. Because he didn't like the idea of needing help.

[zoomandboom]

"Yeah, okay," Tommy gave in, sighing and reaching for the cloth and then sucking in a sharp breath when he tried to move too abruptly. "We can just leave the furniture that we don't take. It's our house. Even if we're not staying, we can keep it. Long as we don't leave anything important there." He just didn't really want to sell it - it'd been theirs. And they weren't hurting for money so it wasn't like they had to.

"Just for a little while," he told David. "Until your hands are healed up. Then we'll kick her out."

[helpdesk_hero]

David could make a point about theft, but he trusts the security of the house enough for that. And he can put up more cameras.

"She's family and she loves you," David counters.

"Yeah, but if you let her stay long, your sister might want to as well," Teddy points out. "She did carry Lucas. She feels protective too."

[zoomandboom]

"Yeah I know. But if I could I'd move to a pocket dimension with just you and Lucas and Billy can portal in to visit with Teddy now and then, if I could," Tommy grumbled. It was just too many people when he wanted to curl up with his family and lick his wounds until they were all healed and safe.

"It's up to David," Tommy said.

[helpdesk_hero]

"And what about my family? His aunt? His grandparents on either side," David counters. He's all for pocket dimensions, provided his whole family can. But he definitely got the whole curling up with people he loved and trusted.

"I don't intend to have a lot of people around right now," David sighs.

"Reasonable," Teddy agrees.

[zoomandboom]

"Billy can portal them in two at a time for special occasions," Tommy said. It was nonsensical, since they weren't going to actually go live in isolation with their baby. No matter how tempting it was.

"We'll be staying with you guys anyway, so if we need help, one of you can do it. Everyone else just short visits until we're all patched up," Tommy said, since David had decided. "Just telling them Lucas isn't up for it yet."

[helpdesk_hero]

They're definitely not going to isolate themselves, David couldn't live like that.

"Of course," Teddy agrees. "Given you guys sometimes babysit Katie, we will totally help out."

David smiles thankfully and smiles at his brother-in-law.

"Thanks, Ted. Tell Bill that I'll have a list of things I need from the house soon."

[zoomandboom]

That was probably why you shouldn't make those kinds of decisions right after your family was kidnapped and you were shot. Tommy wasn't exactly rational about it at the moment.

"Thanks," Tommy echoes, tipping his head against David's and sighing, eyes half shutting. God, he was tired. "You're not gonna go nuts working though, either, right?" Tommy asked his husband.

[helpdesk_hero]

“This,” David assures his husband, “is why I gave over you a board of directors to assist me.”

And assist is tight. He retains the controlling interest in Alleyne Industries so he isn’t worried about losing that. “And have a great executive assistant.”

[zoomandboom]

"Yeah, I know. I didn't mean that kind of work. I mean you throwing yourself into trying to figure out how you could have avoided this and making ten new security things and wearing yourself out into migraines and shi - stuff," he caught the word at the last minute, even if it was probably a hopeless effort to not curse around their kid, given who they were.

Tommy just knew his husband. David wasn't done blaming himself and he didn't want that to spill over into him trying to work his way through it when they got out of here.

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh. That... David definitely has a bit of a grimace. Yep, he was absolutely thinking about things. He may have already determined a few different security devices, and maybe some sub-dermal tracking chips.

"Uh-oh, someone is busted," David chuckles.

[zoomandboom]

Tommy gave his husband a tired smile. "You can do what you need to do. Just ... don't obsess over it. Give yourself time to chill out with us too. Deal?" he offered. Since he wasn't going to expect David to NOT think about it. David was always thinking.