Lacey.
Over the next few days, I was asked to stay home. I didn't mind so much because a lot of the others stayed home, too so it wasn't like I was excluded for once.
Annabeth took me shopping and I was able to get some clothes. Hannah started taking small shifts at the hospital again and apparently, hadn't been bothered by the cops yet. Cameron was even walking around on his crutches when Travis wasn't stealing them to play with.
I was told that the Dacostas wouldn't be a problem at the moment, so I didn't need to worry. According to the guys, their plan to get their supplier on the Dacostas to draw their attention had worked. They hadn't told me who their supplier was but if they were annoying the Dacostas and not shooting at Travis, that was enough for me right now. Their supplier thought that the Dacostas were angry at the Caseys and as a result, taking to trying to destroy their supplies. But the drugs that the supplier was bringing in weren't technically Casey property so the supplier was not happy with this little feud hurting them now.
But even though the Dacostas were distracted, that still left the problem of the cops. And the warrant for Travis. Earlier in the day, I wondered how many other warrants and for who were issued but Travis told me to stop worrying.
Right now, I was sitting in the middle of the couch watching an action movie. Travis was on my left and our arms were leaning against each other. I liked any excuse to touch him. Ben was to the right of me, leaning against the armrest of the couch.
Cameron was in the kitchen sitting on a stool. His condition had improved a lot. He was back to a regular sleeping schedule, from what I could tell. Currently, he was bossing Finn around who was in the kitchen attempting to cook since Cameron didn't want to stand up for that long himself. Every once in awhile, he would correct Finn and with the strain in his voice, I figured it was only a matter of time before he got up and did it himself. I wondered how he was able to give up some of the control of the gang without going crazy by now.
Hannah was currently at work and Annabeth was reading in her room, under the excuse of she'd been around dumbasses too long and had to reset.
It was a strangely normal afternoon. And not normal by their standards which meant something more along the lines of 'I'm not bleeding much', it was normal by most people's. If I thought really hard about it, I could imagine every day being like this, like we were all college roommates and this was a typical afternoon.
"Dumb," Travis muttered, still looking at the screen.
"What is?" I pulled my legs up on the couch and my knees pressed against the side of Travis' leg.
Instead of answering, he just shook his head and slouched down on the couch.
It was Ben that spoke up, "His gun doesn't have that many bullets in it. He'd have to reload."
I rolled my eyes. "It's a movie, just enjoy it."
Ben scrunched up his face and I heard Travis groan.
"It should be realistic," Ben countered.
They quieted down after that, getting back into the movie. That is, until the main character finally ran out of bullets at the same time the antagonist rounded on him, mentioning that he had one bullet left he planned to put between the main character's eyes.
"Of fucking course," Travis shot his hands out towards the television. "What bullshit. Maybe if you stopped to reload your gun thirteen shots ago..."
Ben chuckled.
We continued to watch until the end and what I hadn't expected was for Travis to wordlessly get up and put the second movie in. Ben didn't even protest.
Travis sat back down next to me and pressed play.
"What?" he asked when I wouldn't stop staring at him.
I motioned with my hand to the movie currently showing the production companies on the screen.
He shrugged, "What else am I going to make fun of? Not Cam anymore. Last time he hit me with his walking stick."
And Cameron, who had been walking into the living room with Finn after they ate, leaned onto one of his crutches to support his weight. Using one hand, he lifted the opposite crutch and whacked Travis on the back of the head lightly, enough to get a reaction. I leaned forward to get out of the way.
Travis was cooped up more than he was used to, I think and took to bothering Cameron most of the time because he was under the impression Cameron couldn't do anything about it because he could barely walk.
Cameron had instead, taken to whacking him with his crutches.
"Ow, that's my head, motherfucker," Travis swore, rubbing the back of his head as Cameron took a seat in a chair and Finn laid on the floor.
"It's not like you use it anyway," Cameron countered and I stifled a laugh.
"Yeah, it's not like I use it every day I'm in charge of the gang while you lay in bed taking your sweet time to recover," Travis said with sarcasm but I could tell he meant it lightly. The guys all constantly argued and if they were offended by anything, it never showed.
Cameron rolled his eyes. Finn reached for one of Cameron's crutches and held it parallel to the floor. He began trying to balance it on his hand, moving it slightly each time it would lean more to one side. His tongue was out slightly in concentration as the top half of it leaned down toward the ground. He caught it before it touched the carpet and edged it over on his hand to try again, paying the movie no mind.
I glanced to Cameron as he rested his head lazily on his hand, eyes darting between Finn and the movie. He had dark circles under his eyes and his skin clung tightly to his cheekbones, like he needed to gain five points to look less sunken.
It was Ben's phone ringing that eventually took me out of my trance of watching the two older guys.
"Huh," was all he said as he pulled the phone out of his pocket before answering it. "Afternoon, Joy."
A few seconds in and Ben was reaching over me to slap Travis a few times out of urgency.
"What did you tell him?" Ben asked and paused as Joy spoke on the other side but I couldn't make out what she was saying. "Is he still there?"
"Just a second," Ben said and I watched as he put the phone on mute. He had everyone's attention by this point.
"Joy said Josh is at her shop asking to see us," Ben said quickly. My eyes widened.
"Did she say anything?" Cameron's voice was almost too calm when he asked and when I looked to him, I could see that despite his tired exterior and broken bits, Cameron was still very dangerous. His eyes were set hard onto Ben, as if they were going to shoot lasers or knives out of them at any point.
"No," Ben answered. "She said he's just sitting at a table by himself, he said he wants to talk to us. Well, Lacey."
"Okay," Travis insisted before I could speak up.
I spun my head to look at him, feeling my chest tighten at the thought of what Josh was trying. "Okay? It's obviously a trap. He wants to be the one getting recognition for turning us over."
Travis wasn't looking at me though, he was looking at Cameron.
"I don't care," he spared me a second's glance before looking at Cameron. "He can't sit and loiter at Joy's, she's an innocent party."
"Then she should..." I was about to suggest she call the cops out of instinct but the sentence died on my tongue as I remembered where we were. "Don't they have better cops where she lives?"
"Why does he know about Joy, Travis?" Cameron asked.
Travis squirmed slightly in his seat. "I may have said some things. We may have had a meeting there."
Cameron's glare burned.
"In his defense, we were all in on it," Ben said.
"Don't get arrested," Cameron eventually said as he rubbed his forehead a few times.
Ben didn't waste any time in taking Joy off of hold and telling her that we would show up soon.
Travis popped up from the room and went down the hall. I wondered how often Travis waited for Cameron's permission before doing anything.
"What if I don't want to talk to him?" I protested. "What if I don't want to go to jail?"
Ben hung up the phone, "She said he told her he was alone and it confused her."
"See, Joshy boy says it's not a trap," Finn laughed from the floor, like that was supposed to reassure me any. Why was I the only one that ever seemed to worry?
"Are you seriously okay with this?" I asked Cameron.
He stared at me for a few seconds and then shrugged, "He's going to go regardless."
I realized he was talking about Travis, who came out shortly after with his jacket on as he loaded a gun. He paused and looked at Ben and I still on the couch.
"You coming?" he asked before going back to his gun.
I let out a loud sigh before pushing myself up and going to my room to get my jacket. I stashed my knife in the pocket and Ben and Travis were waiting for me by the door when I got back.
"This is stupid," I protested as we walked out and I felt like my common sense was at the door, trying desperately to pull me back into the safety of the house. Yet I walked on.
"Everything I do is stupid," Travis said simply.
That only made me regret each step even more.
I started heading over to his bike, wondering how I was going to hold on and not fall off when my insides were buzzing with nerves when I noticed Travis heading to the car with Ben. Before either of them had a chance to correct me again, I switched course and fell back into step behind Travis.
I stood outside the door to the car as Travis got into the passenger seat.
Ben eyed me from above the car.
"Lacey," he said cautiously. "If he tells Joy about us, our life, it could ruin her life. It's a world she doesn't need to get wrapped up in. So we go, talk, and make sure he never steps foot in that place again."
I was looking at my door handle, tapping my foot. "Do you not think it's just a trap to draw us out?"
He didn't answer me, he just got in and I rubbed my eyes a few times before opening the door.
"He said it was a life or death situation," Ben added when we were on the road.
"Yeah," I muttered grimly, "Our life or death."
On the way there, Travis and Ben were making small talk or occasionally talking about the situation but I wasn't listening. My eyes were darting around everything we passed, just looking for any cop cars or Dylan. I could hear my heartbeat in my head and I didn't know why I wasn't still at home right now. It was stupid coming out here, a death sentence and Ben and Travis seemed to have no problem with it.
Before I knew it, we were parked. It was a couple blocks away from Joy's and Travis was opening my door, waiting for me to get out. A small voice in my head said stay, loud and clear but despite that, I got out of the car to an impatient looking Travis.
The boys walked on either side of me and I felt a little safer, knowing someone wasn't going to come up and grab me from side. I went through years of training. I knew how to use most weapons. I knew the order of operations to take when multiple people were attacking and how to keep civilians safe. But none of that training made me feel as safe and confident as Ben and Travis walking next to me did.
Travis grabbed my hand and squeezed it a few times before letting go. And just like that, he was turning to go down an alley. I saw Joy's sign up in front of us.
"Wait," I said, turning to follow Travis but Ben grabbed my arm and kept me walking with him.
"We're going in. Travis is going to hang back and watch for a little bit until we know what's going on."
I wondered where he was going and how much I should have been paying attention in the car on the way here.
"You ready?" Ben asked as we stopped outside of the door.
No. Not at all. I glanced quickly around and so far, no cops had come out to arrest me so at least there was that.
I saw Josh through the glass door. No doubt he'd seen us already but he was currently looking down at the booth's table.
Rage started to pour through my veins as I looked at him. He blabbed so easily to Dylan.
I nodded and Ben opened the door and not willing to let Josh know he'd frazzled me, I stood tall as I walked through the door. Josh's eyes quickly found mine but they soon drifted over to Ben.
"Benjamin!"
Joy came out from behind the counter and rushed over to us. She wrapped him up in a giant hug and he smiled.
When she pulled away, arms resting on his shoulders, she looked at me, "And is this who I think it is?"
Before I had a chance to answer, I was enveloped in a hug. She smelled like sugar and waffle cones and I couldn't help but hug her back.
"I haven't seen you in years, where have you been, darling?" she asked.
I snuck a look at Josh to see him watching us intensely.
"I went away for school," I lied. Josh surprisingly kept his mouth shut but I couldn't help but glance around, wondering if Dylan and Owen were hiding somewhere.
"That's good, an education will take you a long way," she said and I nodded absentmindedly. "Well your friend's over there. Bit of a weird one," she whispered the last part just so Ben and I could hear.
"Will you actually help me with something in the back?" Ben asked before Joy walked away. And before she could protest or ask what it was, Ben was already walking to the back room with Joy mumbling to herself as she went after him. She still had a smile on her face all the while and I guess that was the difference between Ben and Travis. Joy wasn't a good example but people generally trusted Ben. They looked at him and saw a nice young guy when in fact, he was usually just trying to talk them into believing whatever it was he was saying.
They looked at Travis and well, usually he had a gun pointed at them already.
When she was in the back, my eyes drifted to Josh and I walked as casually as I could before sliding into the booth. I rested my hands on the table, intertwining my fingers.
"You wanted to talk?" I started after he didn't say anything and was just staring at me.
He leaned in closer to me, glancing to the side at the backroom for a moment.
"I don't know what's going on," he said finally.
I pursed my lips to the side. "That's what you summoned me here to talk about? Your current confusion?" I put my hands face down on the table and started to push myself up to leave when his hand reached out to grab my wrist, halting me.
"It's in your best interest to let go of me," I warned.
"Wait, just talk to me. Please?" he pled and let go of me.
I stood up all the way and he followed.
"Give me one good reason why I should. Last time I saw you, you were chasing me down while I was getting shot at."
Josh put his hands against the back of his neck and looked at the ceiling for a second. He looked stressed. Good.
"Do they know where you are right now?" I asked, not willing to wait for this stupid trap.
He shook his head before adding a quiet, "No."
I narrowed my eyes at him but he seemed too preoccupied with his own worries in his head to notice. I'd been around Josh long enough to know he hated not being in control, he hated worrying. And right now, his posture screamed that he was out of his comfort zone.
I heard Joy exclaim again in the backroom, something about how the two of them shouldn't be strangers. Two. Which meant Travis was in the backroom.
"Are you actually part of their gang?" he asked, voice strained.
If this was all he wanted, I wasn't going to stick around and put Travis and Ben's safety and freedom at risk. I turned to head to the back where Ben still was when Josh grabbed my wrist again.
I grabbed the knife in my pocket and flicked it open, holding it closer to him. My back was to the back room so at least if Joy came back out, she wouldn't see me holding a knife to him.
"You're really going to hurt me?" Josh asked as all frustration seemed to disappear from his voice only to get replaced by confidence. "We're friends."
"I told you to let me go," I said slowly but his grip only tightened.
"I want to talk to you," he said.
"What? You want to talk and play nice like we're friends before you arrest me?"
"If I wanted to arrest you, I could've done it already."
I glanced down at my wrist. "The only reason you haven't gotten shot yet is because the people in the backroom can't see my knife out. I don't need them for me to stab you if you don't let go of my wrist."
I wasn't a ragdoll that he or Dylan thought they could just drag anywhere. This time, I finally didn't have to play nice and bite my tongue. I was already on the side everyone thought was bad.
I pulled my arm closer to me, taking Josh with it in the process and pulling him closer to me. I held my knife out to his chest, pressing the tip against his shirt. I looked at him challengingly. I could see the conflict in his eyes.
"I need help," he said, releasing my hand and taking a step back. He motioned for me to sit down in the booth with him.
My eyes glanced to the backroom as he sat down. "With?"
As soon as I sat back in the booth, Travis and Ben came strolling out. I pocketed my knife, not wanting to anger Travis more than he probably already was.
Travis took a seat next to Josh and Ben next to me. I could see Josh visibly stiffen as he scooted closer to the wall, trying to get away from Travis.
"You're Travis Miller," Josh stated.
Travis only grinned, like he was enjoying Josh's fear. "Yes. And you punched me in the eye. Don't think I haven't forgotten about that."
Josh looked like Travis was holding a loaded gun to his head with that sentence.
"What do you want?" Ben asked.
Too busy staring at Travis, Josh didn't answer. Travis, on the other hand, paid no attention to Josh as he grabbed a napkin from the holder on the table and started folding it up into smaller squares.
"Josh," I hit my hand on the table lightly to get his attention. Josh jumped before looking like a startled deer at me.
"Dylan's been talking to the Dacosta organization," Josh said almost in a trance as his eyes kept wandering over to Ben and Travis. "They told him you shot Sterling Dacosta." That time, his eyes found mine.
"In the arm," Travis corrected, not looking up from his napkin folding.
"I should've asked you more questions," Josh started rambling. "I should have listened to you more, paid better attention, been a better partner. How could I not know this?"
I rolled my eyes because that was the whole point - I didn't want him to know.
"He's been talking to Scully more, too. Brought me along a few times. He's rarely ever with everyone. Usually it's Owen telling people to just go out and do their own thing. They don't know what to do with me now that you're gone so I'm either with Owen, Dylan, or in my hotel room."
"Why Scully?" Ben asked.
Josh shrugged. "He wants to know more about the Casey organization and how to bring it down. He asks a lot of questions about Finn and Jay and Scully tells him what he knows. He asks about Travis but Scully only knows rumors, said you guys never met."
Travis, still folding only now in triangles, nodded like he was half listening.
"What's he giving Scully in exchange for the information?" I asked.
Josh looked between us and leaned in closer to me like he was trying to tell just me. Travis, paying more attention that he let on, reached a hand out to Josh's chest and pushed him so he was sitting against the back of the booth seat again.
As if he was burned by Travis' hand, Josh adjusted his shirt once Travis went back to folding. "He's talking about trying to get him temporarily released to aid in the arrest of Casey members," Josh whispered.
Travis stopped folding his napkin, "He can't, he'll kill-"
"Annabeth," Ben finished.
Josh's head snapped up. "Isn't that his daughter? The guy's going to kill his own daughter?" Josh asked like Ben had said the most ridiculous thing and a flash of Annabeth's Casey mark, burned into her skin flashed through my head.
"Yes," Ben started.
"Among other people," Travis added.
Josh looked between Travis and Ben, studying them for a second. "Do they always talk like that?"
"That's not the point," I said because Travis and Ben finishing each other's sentences was hardly a priority right now. Especially since if they weren't on the same wavelength, they were usually sitting at polar opposites on the topic, arguing. I preferred the same wavelength right now.
"Has he done anything yet?" I asked.
Josh shook his head, no. "But that's not what I need your help with."
Travis scoffed, finding the idea of helping him comical.
"Dylan's been working with the Dacostas, giving them weapons or passes to do things," he paused like he was waiting for us to be shocked at the knowledge I'd already learned on the car ride home with Dylan. "Ookay, well, they're mad at him. They said he didn't come through on something and they think he sold them out to some other people? I don't know but they decided to take some collateral I think until Dylan comes through. But he hasn't been seeing them and has just been seeing Scully, instead now."
Travis sighed impatiently. "The never-ending story."
"Sorry," Josh apologized, sounding like he actually meant it but it was probably the fear coaxing him to do it. "They took Elle."
"Don't know her," Travis said.
"I used to work with her," I explained as dread started building in my chest.
"So they took some random cop trying to arrest us? Good," Travis said.
I shook my head. "I was friends with her."
"Were you though?" Travis asked, "Need I remind you of the other night?"
I shifted in my seat, taking a deep breath in before slowly letting it out as I mulled over the situation because Travis had a point.
"Dylan doesn't want to do anything until enough time has passed so he can label her as a missing person and try to pin that on the Dacostas. Right now he just says George is lying but we found George bloodied up in the street with no Elle around and George swears that's what happened. That the Dacostas said they'd get Elle back when Dylan cuts the shit and gives them what they agreed to."
"Harsh," Ben said, raising his eyebrows slightly.
"I don't think he cares, I think Scully's his new focus," Josh said.
"What about Owen?" I asked.
My ex partner couldn't hide the anger on his face from me as he spoke, "Owen's been trying to make leads but getting nowhere and I think he's just waiting for the missing person's report so he can storm right up to the Dacosta door, too."
"She could be dead by then," I said.
"Which is why I'm here. I don't want anything to happen to her just because Dylan's off doing God knows what. This was supposed to be about helping the community and getting the city on track, not letting Elle and George get hurt. I didn't know what else to do," he practically pleaded, hands grabbing at the back of his neck again.
"We have more important things to do with our day than help clean up your messes," Travis spit out.
"I figured," Josh ran his hand through his hair a few times, messing it up before tugging slightly at it. "It was a last resort. I just didn't know what to do. They didn't train us for this type of thing and Scully said you guys had guys for different tasks. I figured maybe you had someone to help with this type of thing."
"We do," Travis said as he pulled out his phone and started scrolling through it. "My girlfriend."
I tried not to blush as Travis stood up and walked away from the booth, phone to his ear. Josh snapped his gaze to me at the same time Ben got up to join Travis, the two of them whispering to each other.
"What are they talking about?" Josh muttered.
"I don't have supersonic hearing," I rolled my eyes, slightly annoyed I couldn't hear what they were saying but I didn't want to leave Josh alone at the booth. Not because I didn't want him to feel secluded but because I didn't trust him entirely.
A few moments passed before he decided to speak up again, "So, did you plan on leaving with them the whole time we were here?"
"Yes."
He seemed surprised by that, I don't know why. "Sorry. I should've been a better partner."
"Stop apologizing, Josh."
"When we went to the Casey house, you knew the whole time where we were," he stated.
"Yes."
"I passed out in the street that night. Did you call them to come get us? How did we get to the house?" he rambled.
"They showed up on their own. They look out for each other," I snapped.
Travis and Ben walked back over to us, Travis now off his phone.
"Let's go," he said, nodding to the backroom.
I stood up to follow Ben, who was already on his way there. I figured on the way home, I could question them about what they were saying and who he was calling and if we were going to do anything about Elle, who I did feel bad about.
"I said let's go," Travis repeated. I looked behind me to see him addressing Josh, who remained in the booth.
"Or what?" Josh challenged. "You're not the boss of me and you're not even going to help me."
"I am helping you, dick," Travis said and I could tell by the tense tone in his voice, it was taking everything to stay as calm as he was.
Josh wavered, debating whether or not he should get up.
"Come on," I told him even though I had no idea what Travis or Ben wanted him for but I figured it was for the best and I trusted them. I just hoped it wasn't to take him to the alley Travis had been in earlier to shoot him.
That seemed to work though, because Josh hesitantly stood up.
"And I swear," Travis said lowly. "If you ever step foot in here again without one of us making you, I'll personally dig your grave."
I fought to keep the smile off my face at Travis' words because I didn't want to look crazy but I liked suddenly liked seeing this side of him, when it wasn't too violent. Josh followed me to the backroom, trying to hide the fear in his eyes when Joy spotted us.
"All done with your little hangout?" she asked, hugging Ben and Travis goodbye. All hostility had been wiped off Travis' face as he hugged her back.
Eventually, she got to me and it felt like my spine was going to crush with the intensity of her hug. "I'm so glad to see you again. You make him happy, I can tell. He's been so sad with you gone," she whispered in my ear.
I grinned, feeling guilty for lying to her again. We left through a door in the back and ended up in the alley Travis had walked down.
"Where are we going?" I asked as Ben and Travis fell into step on either side of me again.
"Car," Travis answered.
"Why are we going to your car?" Josh asked with urgency from behind us. Ben slowed down, walking beside him to keep an eye on him because panic laced his voice.
Neither guy answered Josh but I wanted to know so I elbowed Travis and looked up at him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"To help," he said.
I scrunched up my face as I looked down at the clean sidewalk, a stark difference to the sidewalks in Melkin getting overrun by nature.
"I thought we were trying to tie up loose ends," I whispered.
"Scully out of prison would be a very big loose end," Travis warned and my stomach surged with fear.
"So where are we going?" I asked.
"Jail."
"Excuse me?!" I stopped, causing Ben to run into my back and pulling Travis to a stop until he took his arm off of my shoulders.
Ben stepped back from me, "What?"
"We were told not to get arrested. I specifically remember that part."
Ben's mouth made an 'o' shape when he realized what Travis and I had been talking about before he grinned.
I could hit him I was so angry right now and I wanted to yell at him that Cameron said that but I couldn't and I wanted to call Cameron to tell him what Travis was doing but I couldn't do that either.
"Were we?" Travis asked innocently, smirking. "Our instructions have recently been revised."
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I was planning to have this out yesterday but I spent most of the day and today sick and in bed so if there's typos, I'll fix them when my head stops pounding <3
Hope you enjoyed it and have a great rest of your day!
Travis, Lacey, and Ben aesthetic