The Ties That Bind

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Obviously feeling like a burden of any sort was hard for Madeline, and owing anyone anything was always a precarious situation on its own. It wasn't insane to want to be able to pay her own way, though some would have reveled in having someone else pay the bills. Maxim was sure she had her reasons.

"It's all right," he reassured when she apologized, his voice lowering into something quiet and soft, sympathy in his eyes when he slowed to look at her. "You don't have to be sorry. I know it doesn't feel like it, but it's okay to have help every now and again." She wasn't truly asking for it, more being forced into accepting it, but she didn't need to feel bad about needing help.

Having observed enough to know she often fell on humor to deal with things, he gave her a little smile. "This is a loan, not a handout. Other officers might start calling me Sugar Daddy." If she was there, he was sure Bella would have gagged at him.
 
She turned to look at him, still feeling a bit embrassed that she hadn't been able to hide her true feelings. She'd gotten good at masking how she really felt, but her control had been slipping a little these last few days.

She blamed the incredible amount of stress she was under right now, it was dredging up things she'd buried long ago. It was also the fact that Maxim was surprisingly easy to talk to, perhaps because he was a sympathetic ear, not a pitying one.

"Thanks, I appreciate that." She replied softly, still a little surprised but appreciating the fact that he seemed to actually care how she felt.

His tasteless joke managed to get a short, soft laugh out of her. Shaking her head a little, she gave him a haughty glare but the small smile and amusement in her eyes gave her away.

"Yeah right, In your dreams special agent." She teased lightly.
 
Maxim smiled to himself when she laughed, though he was sure it was half because he'd startled her. If nothing else, he could provide a little comedic value to break up the understandable stress she was under. No matter how hard her life had been, being suddenly pulled from it into something completely new and unfamiliar was jarring.

"Not even then," he said with a chuckle when she'd recovered enough to look at him so disapprovingly. "If we were home I'd've been smacked from three different directions." Well, perhaps Marina would have just cackled, but she found it hilarious it when he or Oscar said things outside of their usual nature. Shock value was generally her thing.
 
Her amused smile widened, laughing softly at the image of that. "Well it's good to hear they keep you humble." The more she heard about their relationship, the clearer it was that they were all incredibly close. That as an alpha, he had their respect and love.

She enjoyed his sense of humour, even his truly groan worthy jokes were amusing to her, his deadpan way of delivering them helped.
 
"Oh, extremely," Maxim confirmed with a chuckle as they made their way to the registers, having collected enough of the basics for her to live off of. More seemingly unnecessary items could be gathered later on, or eventually retrieved from her own home. "If I do or say anything stupid, they are sure to never let me forget."

He let the matter go as they were checked out at the register, not so much as wincing at the total because, as he'd said, he would be at least partially reimbursed and the rest was simply the price of taking her under his wing. As it currently stood, the HED didn't consider her a valuable enough informant to pay for somewhere else for her to stay, and didn't have the resources for constant protection detail. For the foreseeable future, Maxim had taken her as his own responsibility, and money was only part of it.

"Staying in a new place with people you don't really know can be daunting," he said after he'd paid and they were on their way out with a cart full of bags. "So if you have any questions about the others, feel free to ask. If it's anything I think they wouldn't want you to know, I promise not to be shy about not answering."

Some things were private, and others he would discuss with the person in question first, but things like personalities, habits and schedules were free game. Even some light information about certain events that had brought them together was all right. He would have to use his own discretion not to give away anything anyone didn't want her to know.
 
"Well, what are friends for I guess?" She replied with amusement, though she knew they were more family than friends based on everything she knew.

Family was just as bad for that anyway, or at least that's what she'd seen, she hadn't really been able to experience much herself, what with how small her family actually had been.

Though she was glad to see his calm acceptance of the total, her reaction was a bit less enthused. Outwardly she was calm, but she winced on the inside.

"I'll keep that in mind." She replied as she helped load the back-seat with bags, "I'm not really sure what to ask about though." She shrugged a little, "I guess I just need to know what they like and dislike."

"I mean I don't want to step on any more toes than I already have, so I dont want to accidentally do anything to annoy anyone." She smiled a little, "like talk to someone before their coffee."
 
Maxim made a soft, thoughtful hum as they loaded up the car, acknowledging that he'd heard her but thinking it over for a moment. When they were done he let her shut the trunk and get in while he returned the cart to a stall, and finally joined her to get the car started again.

"Let's talk potential minefields, then," he said with a shrug, glancing in his mirrors before starting to pull out. "Oscar is easy, just don't ask about his childrens' mother. Marina gets squirrely if you mention anything about her schooling - she dropped out of high school, didn't get her GED until a year or so ago. Definitely don't talk to Bella before she's had her coffee, but more because she'll be grumpy and unintelligent than anything."

He paused for a moment, thinking again, and finally sighed. "Aether and I have talked, but he's not going to settle down for a while. Feel free to ask where things are if you need them, but don't expect any efforts at conversation unless Simon is around to scold him, not that I expect you to understand sign language anyway."

Simon himself was a different matter, generally friendly and cheerful no matter what happened, but every once in a while he had his moments. If she asked, Maxim would explain why he limped, and why he had come to live with them in the first place, but it was better she not ask their human pup about it much.
 
She would have taken the cart back herself, but he was already doing it before she had the chance so she simply sat, buckled herself in and waited.

Potential minefields was exactly what she was looking for, the last thing she wanted to do was put her foot in it and accidentally bring up something painful.

"Alright, but can I ask did she pass away?" "Or is she just not a part of their lives?" She didn't need details, she was just wondering in case the children mentioned her or something. "Regardless I won't bring her up."

"I can understand why she might feel that way, but she's got nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about." She said softly, "Believe me, I'm not going to judge her or anything."

In general she wasn't a judgemental person, and she could definitely sympathise with Marina. She had finished school, but troubles at home had made it quite a struggle.

She nodded a little when he mentioned Aether, she hadn't expected any different. "I learned a bit as a kid, I don't really remember anything but I'm sure I could pick it back up again easily enough."

She shrugged a little, "not that I expect I'll need it, if he wants me to keep my distance from him I've got no issue respecting that."
 
Maxim sighed softly at the idea of Oscar's ex-wife having passed on; though he didn't truly wish the woman any ill fate, it wasn't as if he had to like her. "Unfortunately, no. She thought she could take it, being married to a wolf. But when Opal finally started to shift, she couldn't stomach the idea of her children turning into monsters."

Once they had shown that side of themselves, they had stopped being her children. It was sad to have to separate them from their mother, but better to be away from her than to live with someone whose opinion of them would likely only devolve into something caustic or even violent later on. He had seen it before.

Madeline being understanding about Marina's struggle was something Maxim wasn't particularly shocked by but was still grateful for, murmuring a soft 'thank you' as they drove but otherwise leaving the matter untouched. She and Bella were rather easygoing, most days, so long as everyone stayed out of their resident streamer's way while she worked, so there wasn't much there to unpack unless one wanted to delve deeper into the past.

"Oh, no, not from him," he said with a small chuckle, amused at the idea of Aether being bothered by just her proximity. "He wants you to keep your distance from Simon. Don't let him stop you from existing in the same room, of course. . . He's seen people he cared about get hurt before, so he's only being wary. I'll keep talking it over with him until he settles down." He didn't quite expect the teen to ever be happy about it, but he was confident enough in his wolves' characters to know that if push came to shove Aether would help Madeline out of tough spots as needed, no matter how begrudgingly.
 
At first she was surprised by his rather grim use of the word unfortunately, but as he continued she understood and perhaps, agreed with him.

"Oh.. I see." She said softly, though her voice was quiet and full of sympathy and understanding for the children, there was a pain and anger buried underneath that suggested this was a subject that hit a little too close to home.

She had no idea what he was thanking her for so she didn't respond, still distracted by her own thoughts and feelings about the childrens so called mother.

His chuckle caught her attention, as she nodded a little in understanding once he clarified about Aether. "Ah, ok well I can do that I guess."

She liked Simon but she would stay away from him to keep the peace, she wasn't supposed to be getting attached anyway and she could understand Aethers urge to protect his friend.

"I get that my word probably doesn't mean much, but he doesn't have anything to worry about." "None of them do, I've got no problem defending myself..." <now at least,> she thought to herself distractedly. "But I'm not an aggressive or violent person."
 
It wasn't truly that Maxim wished the woman dead, but if she had been it would possibly have been easier on the children. It was better, in some ways, to know someone was gone than to wonder why they didn't love you anymore. He and Oscar both had spent many different nights quietly explaining that it wasn't their fault, that their mother was afraid of things that had nothing to do with them. Some nights it worked.

"Let me rephrase," Maxim said with a shake of his head, a small smile on his face. "Aether wants you to stay away from Simon - but in no way does that mean you need to. He doesn't always get what he wants, and Simon isn't telling you to stay away. I don't believe you're going to try to hurt anyone."

And neither would Aether, in time. The young wolf was more worried about what trouble would follow her.
 
She understood what he was saying and she appreciated it, but she was still a bit wary of stepping on any toes. "Alright." She replied softly, not really sure how she was going to handle it yet.

Though she was glad to know that he knew she wasn't a bad person, or at least not a violent one.

She could understand why the others would still be wary, especially since even if they weren't worried about her, there was still the people targeting her to think about.

It was her fault for getting in this situation, but she still hated to think she'd be judged based on the company she'd been keeping.
 
"I know it's complicated," Maxim said after a little pause, thinking what was not wholly convinced about Aether but there wasn't much he could do about it. "But do your best to see them as overly friendly neighbors, not landmines that need dancing around. We're all just co-existing the best we can, and they understand you need somewhere safe to stay."

Most of his wolves had been in positions that had them looking for a safe place themselves, at some point in their lives, so they would be sympathetic to her. Eventually, she and the pack would learn how to live around each other, even if they never grew close. It wasn't something he wanted her worrying about when they had much larger issues to worry about.
 
She wasn't sure if she could see them that way, or as anything more than very reluctant room-mates, but she'd do her best.

They seemed like good people after all, it was just hard not to feel like they would turn on her at a moments notice and turf her out, which in her current circumstances would be disastrous at best.

"I'll do my best with that." She replied softly, perhaps afraid of more than just possibly losing her new safe haven. "Have you guys found anything on my phone yet?"

She asked curiously in an abrupt change of subject, she wondered if she'd had any calls or texts from someone in the gang, most likely Alex.
 
Maxim knew he had a different perspective of his own pack than someone in her position might, able to know for certain what kind of people they were and whether or not they would be accepting, and that they would never simply toss someone into the lion's den. She would learn, in time, he just had to sit back and let her.

"A few messages, and not particularly friendly ones," he said, with a slight shrug in response. "Mercer is monitoring it for now. I can send him a message when we get back and see if anyone's tried to leave a message. . . Next time we run by the office, I might even let you see it."

If her friend had left her a voicemail it would have to be reviewed first, but if he could he would let her hear it. She wouldn't be able to respond, but at least she could know that someone was looking for her that didn't want her dead.
 
"I could guess who wrote those." She replied with a soft shrug of her own, "though they probably don't contain any useful information, not if they don't want Farkas on their ass instead."

"Then again they're stupid to send anything, but if they're from who i think, they're not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed."

She seemed unbothered by the hateful messages, she was more annoyed at not being in control of her own phone and being unable to see them for herself.

She was afraid of any messages that Farkas might send, she doubted he would, but he was devious and if there was a way to force her out of hiding, he'd find it.
 
Maxim frowned a bit, giving his head a slight tilt and a so-so sort of sound. "Nothing that's more incriminating than what we already know about them, unfortunately. A couple death threats, which are handy offenses to add on to the rest of their crimes, but nothing helpful.

"The lack of response is probably enough of an indicator that you're not in possession of it anymore," He said with a shrug. "Later on, perhaps, we might use it to bait someone into trying to find you, but we'll decide that later on."

He let the silence stretch for a moment, glancing briefly at her while he drove. "We'll see about getting you any personal photos or other things off of it once it's been cleared." And eventually she would have access to her own laptop again, under supervision, so she wouldn't be losing digital keepsakes. The HED was a law enforcement operation, but its agents weren't completely unempathetic.
 
She figured as much, they might be dumb but they weren't that dumb. Still though, she could hope, she had nothing else to do at this point.

"I'd be willing to do that." She said easily, it would be dangerous sure but so was just existing right now. At least that way she'd have a bit more control, and wouldn't have to just wait around for something bad to happen.

"Alright." She said softly, still uncomfortable knowing they were going through all her private things. There was nothing bad or embarrassing, but it was still a violation. "Will I ever be getting the phone itself back?"
 
Maxim shook his head at her but didn't argue in the moment, thinking something so risky needed to wait on more intel though he knew striking quickly would yield better results. They just had to know which link in the chain to hand the bait, and make sure they could do it in a way that wouldn't put her in more than the necessary amount of danger.

He grimaced slightly at the idea of her phone, making a so-so gesture with one hand. "That's a little . . . tenuous. It's only been a day. It'll take time to earn enough trust to have a cell phone again. Could you honestly tell me now that if I left you alone with one you wouldn't immediately call your friend to check up on him?"
 
She frowned a little but didn't answer right away, taking a moment to consider her answer. Though she could understand his hesitation, it was still frustrating.

"I didn't mean anytime soon." She replied softly, her tone remaining calm. "And I won't lie, I would be tempted to text or email him or something."

"But i wouldn't be that dumb, I wouldn't do it unless I knew they couldn't track my phone." She could contact him if she immediately ditched the phone and left town, but she figured bringing that up wouldn't exactly bolster his trust in her.

"I'm not going to run back to them or try and meet up with him if that's what you're worried about."
 
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