In the Grasp Of the Enemy W/Icystorm

Tom turned back to Eddie,

"Oh, Eddie. Pa wanted me to tell you he can't drive you back tonight cause it's a long drive and it'll be late. He wasn't sure f you packed for over night, but Teagan said you can borrow some of her clothes if needed." he explained. Eddie nodded Teagan, Mir's wife, was a lot taller than Eddie so the clothes wouldn't look good, but if needed it'd be fine.

"And Seth," Tom added turning to his sister's friend, "You will probably be borrowing some of my stuff..." he trailed off looking Seth up and down. "Cause I think you're closest to my size." he finished.

"Roman, Eloni, and the baby are in the guest room upstairs and Dad gets the other guest room so we'll just sleep on the floor down here. Gus claimed the couch and Simeon claimed the recliner. " He layed out.

Eddie nodded and looked around. The house wasn't big, but the Kovacs were used to cramming into small spaces. The furniture would be pushed to the side and they would get everyone in here easily enough.

"OK, yeah Pa shouldn't have do the same drive three or four times in one day it's too long." she agreeded softly. tom nodded patted her shoulder and stood up.

"Pa's gonna come get Mickey now, can you help him clean up? I'll show Seth where the upstairs bathroom is." Tom added though by the tone of his voice it was pretty obvious the mission goal was not aquianting seth with the little two story house's lay out. Eddie's brow furrowed and she looked like she was about to say something, but Tom turned to Seth quickly and signaled him to follow before walking away.

"F-food?" Mickey asked dropping his blue crayon,

"Yeah buddy it's time to pick up so you can wash your hand." Eddie informed him grabbing the box of crayons and starting to put them in. She wanted to know what Tom was going to do, Eddie never brought boys home in highschool so this was new territory for all involved.

 
Seth closed his eyes in disappointment and slight frustration. He had been hoping for something, but at least the topic that was brought up wasn't pointless. It was good knowing he wouldn't be home tonight, and the abandoned place he was staying in was starting to feel like home, which was not a good thing. He could not stay there since once he got a job he would save up for an apartment or something.

Hearing his name, he opened his eyes and nodded at Tom. Later he would say he really didn't need to borrow anything, unless someone persisted. They didn't need to know how he lived, but he lived in the same few changes of clothes, and living with little was not new to him. It was almost comforting. The same with sleeping on the floor or wherever he was told. Even hard floor would be better than some of the nights he and Eddie spent in the wilderness.

He had grown used to not getting the answer he wanted, so when Tom said he would show him where the upstairs bathroom was, it took him a moment to realize what was really going on. Right, this was more than just getting shown where certain rooms in the house were located. This is what he had been wanting, but now worry hit him full force.

Standing up, he gave Eddie a reassuring smile and followed Tom out of the room. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke up. "So..you're Eddie's twin?" Best to start off with something simple and let Tom bring up whatever it was he planned on talking about.
 
"Yeah I am." Tom responded. He led Seth out the front door and onto the little porch, he stood there looking Seth over for a few moments,

"OK, look, we, my brothers and I, don't know a lot about you at all and frankly we don't really trust you that much. Eddie's our sister we don't want her getting hurt more than she already has been." Tom explained. Tom had been chosen to talk to Seth because the brothers figured that if all of them interrogated Seth it could end badly and trigger any cornered instinct Seth might have. They'd drawn straws for who would talk to Seth and the others were waiting in case Tom called them out,

"We don't want you're whole life story we just have a couple questions," he continued, "How did you meet Eddie? And what are your intentions with our sister?" he finished. The Kovac boys wanted to make sure this new guy would intentionally or unintentionally hurt their sister. They knew Eddie generally was a pretty good judge of character, but at the same time they wanted to vet Seth themselves for peace of mind.
 
This was just the talk he had figured they would have, and he couldn't blame Tom (or any of Eddie's brothers) for acting protective and questioning his presence. He was not only a stranger, but he had somewhat scary looks thanks to his short time as a prisoner, and not only that but he was a Russian. He was suppose to be the enemy, and before meeting Eddie he was. And that was going to be hard to admit.

Closing his eyes, he took a few moments to think things through before answering the first question. Telling a lie never crossed his mind since nothing good would come from that, and Eddie could have already told them how the two of them met. Eyes opening, he looked at Tom. "When Eddie was captured, I was the one who was suppose to interrogate her. I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I was thrown in a cell with her until we escaped." He figured that was enough information for the first question, so he moved onto the second.

"When I think of Eddie, all I want to do is protect her and make sure she stays safe. It is what I have been doing for so long now that I guess it is all that seems to matter now." He thought for a moment, thinking if there was anything else to add. "If you are worried about us getting into a relationship, I haven't thought about getting with someone for years. It is just not something I can bring myself to think about." If Eddie wanted a relationship later on? He had no idea how to answer that one, but there were far better guys out there so it was unlikely he would have to worry about that.
 
Tom frowned,

"You were her interrogator?" he almost accused his eyes darkening. Sure Seth said he didn't do anything to Eddie, but why would he say he did anything? Of course he would paint himself to be the hero and he could be making everything up and actually have been one of the main ones that hurt Eddie. What was thta called where people liked their captors? Stocks and Ulm Syndrome? Something like that.

Tom wasn't sure what to say even if Seth was a bad guy confronting him wouldn't work. Maybe he should try to talk to Eddie or get one of the brothers too. He nodded pretending to end the conversation,

"Let's get cleaned up for dinner." he suggested heading inside and pointing Seth upstairs to the second bathroom before going off to find his brothers. Mickey was in his wheelchair at the dinner table, they used his chair because it had a shoulder and chest harness to help him sit up straight. Eddie was in the downstairs bathroom washing up and Roman was calling the younger boys in. Everyone else was bring food to the table.

The Kovacs were doing their 'traditional' thanksgiving they'd been doing even when they lived in the van. They had fired spam, soft rolls from Wal*Mart warmed in the oven, canned green beans, and cranberry juice. The only variation was they made real mashed potatoes instead of instant. When they were in the van there'd been less food then there was now plus it wasn't usually heated or cooked up.
 
Seth instantly realized that he should have taken a different approach in the way he answered the questions. Taken things slower maybe..or something. He was hating not being good with words, and while the truth was always the best way to go, right now it was digging him into a hole. The truth was dirty and did nothing but set him up to be labeled as the enemy. At least Eddie would be able to back him up.

Realizing that the conversation was over, his eyes darted to the ground. That short talk had not went well, not well at all, and by the way it suddenly ended after he answered, he was feeling pretty depressed by it. Would the brothers ever trust him? Maybe in time. It could take a long time, but hopefully it would eventually happen. He didn't want to be the reason for trouble in her family.

Not wanting Eddie to see how the talk had affected him, he pushed the sadness away for the time being and followed Tom inside. Seeing the other male pointing him to the stairs, Seth climbed the stairs and quickly found the bathroom. After washing his hands, he splashed some water on his face, taking a few seconds to look at himself in the mirror before drying his hands and face. Not feeling prepared for the dinner, but not having much choice, he left the bathroom and made his way back down the stairs and into the kitchen.
 
Eddie hobbled to the table and sat. Next to Mickey who was sitting next to Tom. she left the seat on her right open for Seth. Eddie saw Seth come in and go upstairs. She worried chewed the inside of her cheek wanting to know what went on outside, but also worried it wasn't something good.

Before she could ponder whether to go after Seth her other brothers stampeded in and washed their hands in the bathrooms, kitchen, or laundry room before rushing to find seats at the now crowded table. Eddie still kept the seat next to her open.

When Seth came in the young woman tried to make eye contact with him and see what went on outside. He didn't seem to cheery right now though that could be just the environment in general. She herself felt a little more stressed as the room started to fill up.

Eddie hated being claustrophobic especially too the more extreme point she was. It made her ha e huge levels of anxiety, messed with her appetite, and made her think about things she didn't need to think about.

Her Pa called everyone to bow their heads and Eddie grabbed Mickey and Seth's hands for pray ducking her head respectfully.
 
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Seeing that Eddie had saved him a seat, Seth sat down next to her and watched everyone else at the table out of the corners of his eyes, keeping his head somewhat low so not to draw attention to himself. It was a laughable attempt he was sure, because he was the stranger and would draw attention from everyone until people started getting used to him. Too bad getting used to him wasn't the same as trusting him, because if that were the case then life would be so much easier.

The room felt crowded with all these people in it, and he couldn't say he like it. It made him nervous and was hard to not scoot closer to Eddie, the only person he knew and the only person he felt comfortable with. That would not be the best think to do, though, especially with the conversation he just had with her twin brother. Word would spread that he had been the one assigned to interrogate her, and that left his stomach churning with nerves.

Seth was about to thank Eddie for saving him a seat when her father beat him to it, saying something about bowing their heads. His eyes widened in confusion when Eddie took his hand and her brother on his other side took his other hand. He had no idea what was going on, so he copied what everyone else was doing and bowed his head, hair blocking his face from sight and eyes staring down at his lap.
 
Eddie gripped Seth's hand nervously her palms were sweating slightly which embarrassed her a bit. It was never pleasant to have to hold someone's sweaty palms, but she was also nervous which wasn't helping her. It felt strange to be anxious around her family, the people she'd grown up with and always been comfortable with. When prayer was over she quickly let go of her brother's and Seth's hand and wiped her palms on her jeans.

Her father started to cut up and doll out the spam, Eddie only took a little her appetite hadn't been near as big as it was before she deployed and was captured. She took a little bit of mashed potato and poured herself a mostly full glass of cranberry juice deciding against taking a roll for now, but added some green beans to her plate before starting to quietly nibble at her food. Conversation erupted around her as everyone started talking at once and Eddie just felt like she was retreating farther into her shell as she anxiously gripped her fork.

Her dad turned to Seth,

"So, Seth, I heard you got a job, what do you do?" he asked Eddie's friend as the food got passed around. Tom had already told the rest of the older brothers and Eddie's father what Seth had said so the older brothers were watchful of him. The younger ones didn't know anything yet though. Mickey tugged at Eddie's sleeve and she stated to load food onto his plate for him to eat.
 
Seth wasn't at all bothered by Eddie's sweaty hands. If anything, it made him worried about her. Was she nervous about something?Perhaps what her brother had been talking to him about? Or was it something else entirely? He watched her out of the corner of his eye, too lost in his own thoughts the pay attention to the prayer. Right now was not the time to ask her if she was ok, but he made a mental note to do so later.

When the prayer was over, he lifted his head and wiped off the hand that had been holding onto Eddie's, watching her father cut up..well, he wasn't exactly sure what it was, but he would eat some anyway. Like Eddie, he took only a little, putting some potatoes and a roll on his plate with the spam. The food looked really good, but like the hospital food it wasn't something he was used to. He took a small bite of potato when everyone started talking, the noise causing him to jump and look around at everyone at the table. He looked at Eddie last, but before he could speak to her, her father started talking to him.

"Yeah. I'm going to be a groundskeeper at a daycare. They told me I could start a few days after the holiday." He was excited for it, and certainly hearing he was trusted enough to work at a place with children would help his position with her family, at least her father and older brothers. He had no doubts that Tom had already spread the word about what he had been told. He may not be the best at reading people, but he knew when he was being watched, even if not directly.
 
"I worked as a school groundskeeper for a while." Her father responded. Eddie's dad was sort of a jack of all trades, he'd worked a lot of jobs, but, especially during Eddie's childhood, had had a hard time keeping one due to various reasons.

"I worked for a middle school though. Do you have to work weekends and such? I always had to because of sports games, but you're at a daycare so it's probably very different." he explained. Eddie could tell her dad was trying to be polite to Seth, probably for her sake, but he also didn't have the same warmth in his voice he did when he talked to his kids. Eddie poked at her food and nibbled at it. She wasn't really hungry, the room was too loud, too crowded, too unpredictable. It made her just want to leave and go outside and just hide somewhere quiet and calm.

Tom, who was on the other side of Mickey leaned towards Eddie so she could hear him without yelling.

"So sis, hows Bethesda?" he asked trying to drag her into the conversation. He noticed she was acting weird, quieter, not eating as much. Eddie glanced at him and took a tiny bite of spam,

"It's just fine." she answered not really feeling like having a conversation, "How's school?" she asked. Tom was going to community college right now and was wanting to transfer to a university next semester.

"It's going well. I'm applying for an Army scholarship and should be finding out soon if I get it." Tom told her as he helped Mickey cut his spam up smaller.
 
Seth was glad that Eddie's father was trying to be friendly with him. He really appreciated the attempt and hoped that one day they could talk like this without the feeling of uncertainty. It would be a good thing for both he and Eddie. He also hoped that the rest of the family would be like her father and act at least somewhat friendly until he proved himself to them.

"I'm not sure if I will have to work weekends. I probably should have asked that, but it will be fine either way since I have nothing but free time. What were some of the things you did while a groundskeeper at the school?" Never having had a job before, or experience with much of anything, he figured this would be a good time to get an idea for all that he might do while at work, that way he could be more well prepared. Just so long as Miroslav did not question his experience for the job then all should be good. How hard could being a groundskeeper be, anyway?

He gave Eddie a quick look out of the corner of his eye and noticed that she wasn't as happy or talkative as he thought she would be. Since he wasn't using the hand closest to her and it was under the table, he reached out and rest it on her knee, hoping to comfort her, even just a little. From what he could tell, the table helped block the gesture from any other eyes. At least he hoped it did, because he wasn't sure his family would take to kindly to him touching her in such a way. Tom especially, since he made him the most nervous.
 
"I mean you clean the school, or day care in your case, cut the grass, stuff like that." Eddie's father explained, "Sometimes the hours run late because you have to clean up after the kids go home. The school I worked for didn't have many employees so as the groundkeeper I also held the position of handyman which meant I just fixed small things." he finished.

Eddie heard her brother talk about how he was applying for colleges in the area and how he'd toured a couple campuses, but as bad as she felt about it she didn't actually listen. She knew he was just trying to make her converse and she didn't really want to. Feeling a light squeeze on her knee she glanced down and saw Seth's hand resting on her leg. She slid her hand under the table and lightly wrapped her fingers around his for a few moments before withdrawing her hand because her palms were still slightly sweaty and she was worried Seth would be grossed out.

Eddie felt really guilty about feeling claustrophobic and anxious around her family. Her dad had driven all the way up and back down early in the morning and she could't even manage to enjoy herself! She nibbled at her food and listened to everyone else talk. She was honestly thinking about getting up and going back to the living room to try and relax, but didn't want to be rude and leave before dessert was even served.
 
Seth took a few bites of food while Eddie's father talked about the job, the distraction making it so he barely registered the taste of what he was eating. "That sounds like it was a good job, and you worked around kids so that had to be enjoyable." Older kids could also be little brats and terrors, but at least he would be working around young children so wouldn't have to worry about that. At least he hoped he wouldn't have to work around a kid that acted like he had.

He had been worried that Eddie didn't care for him touching her, but the feeling of her fingers wrapping around his for a couple of seconds caused him to smile softly. It had been reassurance that the small touch of his hand helped some. That was good, so he kept it where it was, but he also noticed that while it may have helped some, she still seemed nervous. Now that he really thought about it, maybe he wasn't helping at all. She had even stopped talking.

Not wanting to draw too much attention to them but also not wanting to ignore that something was up, he ducked his head and leaned somewhat close to her, speaking softly so only she would hear as he grabbed another roll. "Are you ok?" He wasn't sure how she would answer him back, or if she even wanted to, so now he was questioning if he should have waited to ask her about how she was doing.
 
Eddie finished up the little food she'd put on her plate and put her utensils down,

"Just tired." she mumbled. It wasn't technically a lie, she was tired, but that wasn't everything. She didn't know what was wrong honestly which frustrated her. She didn't want to be anxious and on edge all the time, she had guesses, but didn't want to talk to anyone about it.

In the back of her mind Eddie worried that her captivity had triggered something and that she was going to go nuts like her mother. They'd never figured out what had been up with their mother or why she acted like she had. Pa had said her childhood had been rough so Eddie and her brothers had speculated that that had something to d with it, but they hadn't ever found anything else out. The idea of turning out like her mother terrified Eddie, but she still refused to get help because she didn't want to be medicated or locked up the hospital was already making her feel trapped she couldn't imagine what a psych ward would be like.
 
Seth didn't believe that it was just being tired that was making her act the way she was, but there wasn't much he could do about it. While he finished eating, he thought about what he could do. She was anxious, that much he could tell, so fresh air would probably do her good. Was it rude to just get up and leave, though? If only for a few minutes? He had no clue on proper table etiquette or what the family would look down upon. Surely, after all Eddie had been through, she would have a little leeway. But she didn't look like she was willing to get up and leave on her own.

Taking the last few bites, he decided to try to help her out, and help himself out also. He didn't want to risk having anyone think worse of him, but he could use getting away for a few minutes. Clearing his throat, he began talking to no one in particular. "I hope it is ok if I step out for a minute. I want to call my family before I forget and see how they are doing and if they are celebrating the holiday." Standing up, he looked down at Eddie. "If you want, I'm sure Adrian would love to say hello and hear that you are doing well." But was she doing as well as she let on? He was starting to question it.
 
Eddie was relieved when Seth gave her an excuse to leave the loud, somewhat over stimulating environment and she would honestly like to see how his family was doing. Seth hadn't really talked about them at all since they got to America, and she hadn't pushed the subject because she didn't want to upset him.

Pushing her chair out Eddie grabbed her crutches and started her awkward hobble to the back door,

"You still have my phone?" she asked quietly. He hadn't returned the little flip phone yet so she assumed he still had it. She'd called him only once when she was having a bad day and it wasn't visiting hours so he couldn't be there. She'd wanted to call him more, but hadn't wanted to seem like a burden and most of those times had been early in the morning or late at night sos he didn't want to wake him.

Eddie waited at the back door for Seth to get the phone and head out. The family was still talking in the dinning room, though the further Eddie got away from the noise the more relieved she felt.
 
Stepping away from the table, Seth followed Eddie to the back door, glad to be away from everyone for a few minutes. "Yeah. I have it." He grabbed the door and opened it, waiting until she went out first before leaving the house, making sure the door shut behind him. The almost silence was a nice feeling, and by the looks of it Eddie felt the same.

Pulling the phone out of his pocket, he leaned against the wall, looking at her instead of the small object in his hand. "I hadn't actually been planning on calling my family, but now I suppose I have to." He made no move to dial the number, and his hand that held the phone continued to hang by his side. Sure, it might be nice to know that his mom, dad, and brother were doing well, but right now there were more important matters to discuss.

"Eddie.." His voice trailed off. He wanted to find out what was up, but he didn't want to upset her in any way. "I'll call my family in a minute or two, but first I think we should talk. You're not just tired, are you?"
 
Eddie leaned on her crutches and watched Seth lean against the wall and held the phone in his hand. She traced his shape with her eyes, he had a a thin muscly look to him which she liked. Since they'd gotten back she hadn't really studied how Seth look, in the hospital she'd joked he looked like a pathetic puppy, but she hadn't truly looked at him. Eddie took a deep breath and shook her slightly to clear it looking back at the ground as she listened to Seth's question,

"I really don't know honestly." she answered softly. She did feel tired all the time, but despite being tired she could barely sleep at night. Her moods seemed to change a lot and she would get frustrated because she didn't know why she couldn't drag herself out of her funk. Her mind was in the wrong place all the time it felt like which only deepened her frustrations and depression.

"My..." she didn't know if she wanted to tell Seth what was going on. It was very personal for her and she didn't like to let people into her private matters,

"My brain's just kind of screwed....it's fine I'll get over it." she muttered..
 
Seth missed the way Eddie looked him over, too worried about what was going on with her. It wasn't as if he was doing the best himself, but he was used to feeling like crap since it was nothing new, but he doubted Eddie was used to feeling whatever it was she was feeling. Unlike him, she had grown up with and was happy with her family, but now...not so much. Whatever was going on had to be rough on her.

Hearing her first words, he gave a nod of his head. He would have been satisfied with just that answer, but since it seemed like she was going to speak more, he stayed quiet and waited. Her next words gave him a better understanding of what was up, but it also left him more confused. In what ways was her brain screwed up?

"Alright." He wasn't really sure if she would get over it, but decided not to say so. "If you ever need to talk more, about anything, I'm always here for you. I still have your phone, so you can even call at any time. I won't mind." Giving a small smile, he lifted the phone. "If you are ready, I suppose I can call my family now." This conversation wasn't over, but he was going to give her a few days to bring it up herself. After that he would try to talk to her about it again.
 
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