Forging New Paths

Having mostly succeeded in calming himself down and gone back to being fairly blank as far as expressing emotion, Luca
was quiet when Garrett sat next to him. He glanced sidelong at the man, curious as to why he was there, but otherwise didn't pay him too much attention, other than a confused little furrow in his brow. He wasnt sure what the older man was apologizing for. People didn't often say sorry to him.

Luca touched a fingerprinting kit while he was putting a book away, and after a pause managed the interest to pull it carefully down and look at it in his hands. ". . . What is this for?" He asked, as if nothing had happened. No one had ever tried to help him with the horrible feelings that sometimes settled in his gut, so he had learned to push on and try to ignore them. Whatever happened to him would happen, and there was nothing he could do about it.
 
Garrett smiled thinly at him, with a glint of a tear in his eye. "It's . . . it's a fingerprinting kit. It's used to find fingerprints on surfaces. I can show you, but . . . are you okay? I didn't mean to cause you a panic attack. You did a very good job handling it, but I feel terrible about it," he admitted.

One of his main goals in life was to help people, not hurt them - and certainly not scare them so much they had a panic attack. He decided then not to being up Luca's powers any more, or even his previous imprisonment, unless Evelyn was at least in the room or Luca brought it up.

He already dreaded explaining what had happened to her in the morning.
 
Luca was looking at the different pieces of the kit, not quite pulling them out but trying to figure out how they worked just by looking at them, and only glanced at Garrett again, always sliding away from making direct eye contact for very long. "I'm not hurt," he murmured with a small, confused little frown. Nothing had happened to injure him, so he didn't understand. Did Garrett think he had hurt himself? He had heard the phrase 'panic attack' before but didn't really know what it meant. Had something happened that he hadn't noticed?

He fiddled a bit with one of the pieces in the kit, with hands that still felt vaguely as if they might shake, then very quietly closed it. He rested his hands over it on his lap, unsure why Garrett's voice had changed and if it meant he was doing bad. "I can . . . put it back," he offered uncertainly, not knowing what the man wanted. Maybe he had stayed too long and was supposed to go back to bed now.
 
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"Well, not physically, no," Garrett explained softly. The detective took a breath. "But I think I may have given you a panic attack and made you afraid. The way you curled up and covered your ears and eyes, and we're breathing fast for a moment . . . I may not have meant to cause that fear in you, but I did. And I apologize."

He very nearly patted Luca's shoulder to comfort him, but remembered himself and rubbed the back of his own neck instead. "Oh. No, you don't need to put it back, unless you're finished with it. I'm delighted you seem so interested in all of the detective supplies - I enjoy sharing my work." He smiled and nodded. "You're more than welcome to come in here whenever you like, even if I'm not in here."
 
"Panic attack . . ." Luca repeated the phrase very quietly to himself, clearly thinking it over rather than saying it as any type of response. Panic felt like the right word, and he supposed it was something like being attacked. It happened sometimes. The only way he knew how to deal with it was to shield himself from the world for a while, focusing on just his own body until it stopped feeling like he wanted to run while trapped in a locked room. Given that he often was in a locked room or otherwise unable to flee the thing that made his heart race, he hadn't had much other choice.

It felt strangely nice, hearing the words 'I'm sorry' directed at him. Garrett hadn't been trying to threaten or scare him. No one was trying to hurt him.

"Is it messy?" He asked finally as his fingers ran idly over the lid of the kit, unsure if he wanted to put it back or continue exploring. He wasn't supposed to make messes at night, or noise, and if Garrett said it was okay to be here even while he was gone, Luca wondered when the man would sleep. Was it like before, and someone would stay up to watch over him while he was awake? He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be in bed or not, but he didn't want to be bored or lay down in the dark by himself if he didn't have to.
 
Garrett beamed. "Oh, yeah. That's the fun of it. Let me go get some cleaning supplies, and you go right ahead and try to figure it out." He stood up and went off, grateful Luca seemed to be feeling a bit better.

He himself was starting to feel the exhaustion of the day.

When he finally came back a few minutes later with cleaning spray and paper towels, he yawned widely and rubbed his eyes, setting them down. "All right. Feel free to stay up and explore stuff as much as you like. I'm gonna head to bed." He stretched a bit and headed for the door with a wave. "If you need help with anything, feel free to wake me up. Otherwise have fun learning about the fingerprinting kit. It's a fun one."
 
Garrett was smiling again. That much Luca could hear without looking at him, and it made him feel a little less nervous. When the man came back, Luca only nodded a little and looked at the items given to him, then managed a little wave back as Garrett left. He spent an hour or so figuring out what the kit did, spilling some of the dust here and there and not truly understanding what he was meant to do with it. Eventually, he put it all back together on the shelf, spent a bit longer figuring out how he was supposed to use the spray and paper towels, and cleaned up a bit clumsily. He'd never had to clean up after himself before so it wasn't a fantastic job, but most of the mess was gone when he was done.

He wandered a little more, curiously looking for the exit just to know where it was, since it wasn't like normal doors and there were no windows. Around 3 in the morning he went back to his room and laid down in bed with the light still on, and waited out the rest of the night listening to the faint, infrequent sounds of the house.

Come morning, Evelyn was up at around 7 and went to check on him, worried when she found him lying in bed wide awake and realized he hadn't slept at all. They were going to have to work on that, but first she would focus on just getting them both cleaned up and making him breakfast. If he'd been awake all night, he had to be hungry.
 
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Eventually, Garrett woke up as well, a bit closer to right thirty in the morning. "Mmpfh. Mornin', you two," he greeted with a wide yawn. "Evelyn, how'd you sleep?" And then, after she'd replied, "Luca, did you enjoy the fingerprinting kit?" He could already hazard a guess the boy hadn't slept much.

He made himself some breakfast and settled down at the table. Then he took a deep breath. "So, ah . . . I already apologized to Luca last night, Evelyn, but - I wanted to let you know I accidentally caused a panic attack in him last night." He explained how the conversation had gone, and how Luca had handled the panic attack well and seemed all right afterwards. ". . . but I still feel terrible about it," he admitted.

He stirred a spoon through his cereal and took a breath. "I should have waited to bring the conversation up. It was my fault."
 
Evelyn was careful to be quiet while she made breakfast for them, unsure when Garrett would eventually wake, or how late he'd stayed up. By the time he got up she and Luca had finished eating but seated at the table still, her idly sipping tea and him quietly nursing a glass of orange juice. She offered a soft 'good morning' and that she'd slept 'all right' but otherwise tried to simply let him go about his morning as he normally would without them around.

She was suspicious when he hesitated to start speaking at length, and at the words 'panic attack' he had her full, laser-focused attention. As he explained what had happened, the part of her that had been aching to protect Luca for weeks was boiling, her eyes only just barely narrowed, her grip on the mug going gradually tighter. It felt like betrayal, the one person she had on her side hurting the boy they were supposed to protect - but Luca was quiet, unbothered even by Garrett talking about him while he sat just nearby. He wasn't afraid, or nervous, only tired and distracted reading something on her phone.

It wasn't on purpose, she told herself, and for just a second or two closed her eyes. No one was hurting anyone on purpose.

"Well." She said finally when she looked at Garrett again, her voice a bit terse but otherwise calm, and set her mug very gently on the table. "It seems we've learned our lesson. . . Just be more careful in the future."

There were going to be a lot of pitfalls, and a lot of mistakes, in the coming days and weeks and months. It wouldn't be fair to berate him for it when she was sure to find plenty herself, even if she did think he had made some supremely bad choices in conversation topics.

"Were you two up late?" She asked instead, doing her level best to move on. Forgive and forget. They could have a talk about being delicate later on, when Luca wasn't in the room. "I'm surprised I didn't hear you."
 
Garrett could hardly meet her gaze. He could practically feel Evelyn's anger seethe right through the mug she was holding. But he couldn't blame her. "Yes. Yes, I'll be far more careful in the future. I promise you that." Maybe he could ask Evelyn for some advice on what safe topics to talk about would be, if she would even still let him talk to Luca.

He cleared his throat and tried to hurry through breakfast so he could get out of the house. "Yes, a bit late. We had a fine time exploring the various detective tools and what they were used for." He couldn't but smile a bit. It had been wonderful seeing Luca open up even the slightest amount, to show the slightest amount of curiosity.

But he was sure Evelyn would do a far better job of drawing that out of him than he could.

Eventually he finished his meal and brought the dishes to the dishwasher to put them away. "I'll . . . be back later tonight, at some point. Do you two need anything before I head out?" He pulled in his outer coat and hat even as he asked the question. He was convinced what they actually needed was for him to leave, as often as possible probably, and the sooner the better.
 
Active exploration. If Garrett was being truly accurate, it was good to hear that Luca was already beginning to be willing to explore parts of the house with someone next to him, whereas she had thought it would be much longer before he started to feel comfortable. Maybe it was just that they were the ones to rescue him, or maybe he would work his way towards healing more quickly than she dared to hope. Only time would tell.

Perhaps it would have made her more forgiving if Garrett hadn't clearly been trying to run away.

Somehow the speed at which he tried to leave, when he had lingered to check on them the previous morning, stoked the dying fire of irritation in her chest. It made her keep quiet, letting him stew in a panic he likely didn't deserve without any further attempts at conversation. Still, he was Luca's only other connection to the world, and she was certain that he hadn't antagonized the younger man on purpose - he was just rather clearly unpolished in his social skills. When there was time for it they would have a little talk about walking on eggshells, and in the meantime she would have mercy.

"Nothing I can think of," she said as she got to her feet, taking her empty mug to the sink to wash it out as if nothing at all was wrong. "Do you have any idea around what time you'll be back? I'll make dinner." He could always heat it up later on, but it would be nice to eat together.
 
The detective slowed down, ever so slightly, on hearing Evelyn offer to make dinner. Maybe she wasn't as upset with him as he'd thought. "Ah, rough guess . . . probably around six o'clock or so. That's very kind of you to offer." And it was, especially considering what had happened.

He tipped his hat to the pair and smiled gingerly. "But I'll have my phone on. And if either of you need me, I'll come right back." That much was true. Even though he'd messed up horribly, it was still his duty to protect Luca and Evelyn. He'd promised. And they were his first friends in a long time.

"I hope you both have a wonderful day," he said at last, and with that, he headed out and locked the door behind him.

-----

It was almost six thirty by the time he eventually returned. He staggered in through the door, panting and wiping blood off his face. "T - terribly sorry I'm late. There was an altercation," he explained as soon as he got inside. He doubled over to catch his breath before standing up again. "Let me just get cleaned up a moment. And put your minds at ease. This apartment is still safe for you, and it's good news!" He winced and put a hand to the side of his head. "Ah. Yes. Cleaning up first. Half a moment . . ."

He made his way to the bathroom, where he spent a bit of time bandaging his wound and making himself a bit more presentable. Finally he made his way back to the kitchen and headed to the table. He'd reheat the leftovers in a moment; he was sure the pair had questions. "So," he said at last, folding his hands before him. "One of my informants let me know, at the end of my patrol, that they had some information on where a certain Lombardi was hiding." He didn't name the man for fear of scaring Luca, but he made prolonged eye contact with Evelyn and hoped she got the message. "We went to the place together and found it unfortunately empty. And also got jumped by a few squatters who had been living there. But once we explained our situation, they presented us with some evidence as to where the man may have gone next. And if it's where I think it is - I shall be catching a boat, very early tomorrow morning."
 
"Be safe," Evelyn urged softly, and let Shiver go with little protest. When the dishes were done, she turned to Luca and gave him a little smile. "How about a movie?"

They passed the day peacefully, Evelyn making sure Luca knew how to get himself ready for the day and keeping him busy so he wouldn't have to think and worry if his conversation with Garrett lingered in his mind. She got him to nap for a few hours with his long limbs curled up on the couch and her fingers in his hair, and when it grew late got him up so she could make dinner. Garrett was late, but that was all right, she had suspected he would be, given his uncertain work hours. What she hadn't expected was for him to come in bleeding.

"Are - Are you all right?" she managed after a shocked pause, but he was already hurrying away. He was a grown man, she tried to reason with herself, and used to dangerous solo work. She should leave him be.

A quick check on Luca told her he either hadn't noticed or was too used to the sight of blood to worry about it, so she did her best to sit quietly and wait, and when Garrett came back resisted the urge to get up and demand to know how hurt he was. Knowing the man who had held Luca's leash was still at large quieted the part of her that wanted to tell him to stop and be safe.

"Are you sure you're up for it?" She asked finally when he was done, and despite her worried expression a part of her guiltily couldn't push for his health as much as she would have liked. As dangerous as it could be, they needed this man gone, or Luca would have to live in fear forever.

Luca, done eating but still sitting at the table with them, looked between them with a small, confused tilt of his head. He wasn't sure what was going on, but they both sounded very serious. Were they talking about Davis?
 
"I have to be," Detective Shiver said at last. "If he's going where I think he's going - over state lines - it'll be infinitely harder to catch him if he's successful. But he's taking a large ferry boat, and I know which one. You can bet your bottom dollar I'll be on it," he added with conviction.

Then he smiled and lightly tapped the bandage on his face. "Besides, I've had much worse than this. Might as well have been a paper cut." He took a breath and cracked his knuckles. "In any case, I'm looking forward to catching that, ah . . ." He'd been going to swear, but decided against it with Luca so nearby. ". . . that Lombardi and throwing him in jail where he belongs."

He finally got up and headed towards the fridge, hoping there might be leftovers within - and there were. "Thank you for making dinner by the way, Evelyn," he said as he brought his plate to the microwave. "I'm sorry I was late - I hope you both weren't too worried. I quite forgot to even send a text."
 
I have to be. She didn't like it, but it wasn't as if she couldn't understand the sentiment. She hadn't felt ready or capable of getting Luca the help he needed; it was just something that needed to be done. And from the start he had had Garrett's sympathies. She had to believe that he was just as invested in keeping Luca safe as she was, and rely on the research she'd done before approaching him. Detective Shiver was a capable man, not in need of coddling.

"Don't worry about it," she said instead of expressing her worry, not wanting to burden him with anything like concern for herself. She and Luca would be just fine. "It's the least I can do, for letting us stay here, and for all you've done for Luca. I know you don't exactly work office hours." Neither did she, when she was out fishing for information.

Luca had winced slightly and made a little face at the sound of cracking joints, but otherwise didn't seem overly worried about what was going on, eyes lost somewhere in the middle distance between himself and the living room. He was used to people talking about him, or about other things while he was in earshot, with little worry about him overhearing. It wasn't as if he wanted Garrett to do anything dangerous, but it had also never been his place to stop anyone from doing so unless otherwise commanded. He was used to being left at home while others ran off to carry out tasks he would never be a part of.

"I don't like boats," he said finally, quietly and with something Evelyn thought might be worry in his voice, tuning back in to details of their conversation minutes late.

Part of her wondered if he was worried about Garrett, but rather than press only placed a gentle hand over one of his and gave him her attention as she listened to the other man warming up his food. "Do they make you sick?"

Luca only nodded, a clearly displeased expression on and his other hand drifting absentmindedly to his stomach as if remembering the nausea. Boats were not his friend. He hoped Garrett didn't get sick on them like he did.
 
Garrett smiled softly at Luca and waved a hand. "Don't you worry, Luca. You won't be on it. You and Evelyn will be staying here at the apartment, I should think," he explained. ". . . But that's good to know. For later on." He could cross off "boat ride" on the list of activities he had planned to suggest for Luca.

The man carried his food back to the table and started eating, already much more relaxed than he'd been in the morning - ironically enough. "Say, Evelyn, could I speak to you a bit later on tonight? Whenever you have time. It's not urgent."

With Davis so close to being captured, he wanted to do everything he could to help Luca heal from the experience. And while he dreaded talking to Evelyn, he knew that she would have the most knowledge on doing so correctly, and safely.
 
Garrett's idle comments made Evelyn curious about what sort of things he had planned for the future. Did he want Luca to travel? Did he think it was safe to take him on a ferry with large numbers of people? It was all speculation, given the way her Insight could not touch him, his feelings, or his intentions, so for now she simply let it go. It wasn't important.

When questioned she gave a curious little hum, as if she hadn't heard, then just patted Luca's hand and let him go to sit back a little in her chair, cool as could be. "Of course. Whenever is good for you." She needed to get him alone to speak with him anyway, and was going to tamp down on the protective rage he had inspired in her in the morning as best she could to keep it from resurfacing. If that was what he wanted to talk about, kudos to him for being brave enough to face her after he'd been so quick to flee in the morning. Maybe he thought she would have mercy on him because he had gotten hurt for Luca. Maybe he was right.

She sat with the two of them at the table for a little while, then eventually got up to herd Luca away from 'quality time' because he didn't seem interested in speaking and got him set up on the couch watching tv to occupy him. For a little while she sat with him, and only when Garrett was ready did she get to her feet to follow.

"Luca?" She prodded gently, a hand on his shoulder to be sure she had his attention until he finally turned his head to look at her. "Garrett and I are going to talk for a little while in the office. Come get us if you need anything, all right?"

She waited until she'd gotten at least a nod from him, then followed after Garrett to see what it was he wanted to talk about. In the interest of fairness, she would let him go first.
 
The detective felt a chill run down his spine. Evelyn sounded calm. But again he got the feeling that she was very much upset. He knew she probably wouldn't yell with Luca so close in earshot, but he'd most likely get an earful in other ways.

He pulled in a shaky breath as they headed for the office, and then closed the door and sat down. "I . . ." he started. He ran a hand through his hair and tried again. "Before anything else, I wanted to apologize for scaring Luca. I - I thought it would make him feel safer if he had the chance to control his own powers, but I wasn't thinking clearly about what else he might think about the conversation."

Garrett's gaze stayed mostly on the floor. "I was hoping . . . maybe you could give me a list of safe conversation topics to use with Luca. And review the list of future activities I made. This is for later, obviously, when he starts to venture out, but I thought it might be wise to plan ahead. I've already crossed out the boat ride."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a list labeled "Activity Ideas," handing it to Evelyn. Most of them seemed to be based around very small group activities, such as going on a picnic, flying kites, going on a hike, things like that. There were one or two other activities that had the chance to meet people, but quietly - going to the library, or visiting an aquarium.
 
When Garrett sat, Evelyn remained standing, arms crossed, expression as neutrally expectant as she could manage given the circumstances. The apology, along with the near groveling for help - and, she thought, mercy - went a long way to soothing the pained rage that had lingered since the morning. She was silent for a long moment, then finally took a slow breath and let it out in a long sigh, a hand pressed to her forehead in clear exasperation even as the set of her shoulders relaxed.

Of the things she had learned from growing up with a therapist for a mother, this was among them: if a person is already feeling guilty and repentant, there is no need to make it worse.

"It would be easier to discuss what not to say to him," she said with a little shake of her head, but her voice was soft rather than harsh. "Try to imagine yourself in his place. Kept. Controlled. Used as a living weapon. You would not like to speak of confinement, or hurting others, or using the gift that was forced to hurt them, if you were him. . . I'll find him a professional to speak with about those things soon, I hope. In the meantime, we just have to be . . . delicate. The only reason he isn't panicking being stuck in this place is because I've sat him down and told him in no uncertain terms that it won't be forever, that he's here for his own safety, and as soon as it is safe to leave I'll take him outside, and let him do as he pleases."

She paused for a moment, something sad and pained briefly showing in her expression, and gave her head a little shake to push it away. "We're going to hurt him, Garrett. With so many potential pitfalls, it's inevitable. Like setting a broken bone, sometimes recovery hurts before it gets better. . . Let me see your list."

It made something in her chest go soft to look at it, seeing how he had taken the time to think over ideas and write them down, preparing for a future she wasn't sure even she was ready for. Like they were divorced and discussing trips for Joint Custody Day. It almost made her want to laugh.

"An aquarium is . . . ambitious." She said finally, as delicately as she could manage, and quietly passed it back to him. "But you're on the right track. For now, it will be best to focus on smaller things. Going for walks outside, avoiding large crowds or too much noise, letting him get used to being near people slowly. Perhaps, in a month or so, if we can figure out the aquarium's least busy days, he might like it." He had probably never seen live fish like the ones at the aquarium before.
 
Garrett's eyes glistened as he gently took the list back, folded it, and slipped it back into his pocket. "Thank you," he said softly at last. He took another deep breath in and sighed. "I've . . . never failed a client before. I knew it was inevitable. But I guess I didn't think it would hurt so much when it finally did happen."

He cleared his throat and stood up again. "But it won't do much to sit and stew over it, I suppose. I'll try again. And keep trying. And I promise, I'll be much more careful what I speak to Luca about."

It was kind of Evelyn to phrase it as though they would both make mistakes, but he had yet to see Evelyn make even one. She knew exactly how to help Luca, and how to interact with people in general.

Maybe that's what he should try next. Going out and, while on his rounds, interacting with more people. But that would have to wait until after Davis was in jail.

"Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?" he asked softly.
 
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