A/N: This takes place after Nightlife. I hope you all like it.
Cal sucked in another deep breath, kept his head down to block the wind, and ran faster. Don't slow down. Don't slow down. You CAN'T slow down! Don't stop. If you stop, you'll die. He'll make sure of that.
Cal could feel his legs tiring. It felt like his lungs were about to collapse. Why did he get himself into this? Niko warned Cal this would happen if he went through with his plan. He warned him he would regret it, but of course Cal didn't listen. He was too stubborn. That's a trait I should really give up. Look where it's gotten me, he thought as he pushed himself to keep running, willing himself not to get caught by the angry (very, very angry) pack that was chasing him. Well, okay there was only one, not a pack, but with all the razor-sharp weapons that could spring from any where on his body at a second's notice, Cal decided it was wise to keep running.
"You know I'm just humoring you with this, right? I could catch you in a second," said the voice from behind him. It irritated Cal that he didn't even sound out of breath.
"If that is true why are you back there and I'm up here, out of your reach?" Cal answered, sounding very out of breath.
"Because," the voice said, now much closer. "I figured I could use this as another branch of the punishment you'll be receiving when we get home. And it seems to have had the right level of torture I was hoping to get out of a ten mile run. So we can slow down now, and get to your actual sentencing." And Cal felt his brother's hand come down on his shoulder. It's a little depressing to think that I'd been caught up to so easily, especially since I've really been trying to outrun him. What if that had been an actual monster behind me. Maybe Nik is right and I would benefit from exercising more… Oh well, at least I get to slow down now.
"Did we really go ten miles?" Cal asked, sitting down at the closest picnic table he could find and trying to catch his breath. Niko joined him and pulled out two water bottles from the bulging backpack he'd been carrying while they ran. Cal accepted the water in disgust.
Niko shook his head as he opened his bottle and took a drink. "No, we only ran nine, but with the mile back to the apartment, it'll add up."
"We're that close to the apartment? I thought we'd gone all the way across town," Cal said, surprised. And relieved that they wouldn't have to run too far back. Though he probably would have given in to the temptation of the subway if that had been the case.
Niko sighed. "Cal, I really wish you would pay attention to where you are going when you're running from someone. What if I had been something with more sinister purposes to my pursuit? How would you have found a way to get away? If you were to get lost I would have a harder time finding you in time to get you out of there, and what if one day I was too late? Then what would you do?"
"You aren't the only one in this family who knows how to take care of yourself. I'm not a kid anymore; I can handle the monsters just as well as you could, maybe better," Cal said, and in his anger, over-exaggerated. Niko laughed once and was about to comment on that, but Cal interrupted before he could. "And also, since you seem to have forgotten, I do have my ways of getting out of situations. My loving father made sure of that."
Ignoring Cal's reference to his… darker half, Niko said calmly, "You are right, to an extent, about a few things. You aren't a kid anymore so I won't treat you like you are. You're old enough to take care of your mistakes by yourself."
"Okay; what does that mean for me?" Cal asked, a little uncertain.
"Your punishment, the first part of it, is that you will find a way to pay Robin back for every dollar you owe him. You can figure out how to do that on your own, I'm not helping you with this. Secondly, since you've proven that you can read and do research, you will be doing all the research for any jobs we get from now until I decide differently."
"Well I wasn't going to go to all the trouble of getting the money, if I didn't even know how much I needed. To know that I had to research and find out what surgery you would need. But trust me, I didn't enjoy it," Cal said, not wanting Nik to think he went through his books for pleasure reading.
"Thirdly," Niko listed sternly. Cal sighed and waited for Niko to finish. This list was getting fairly long…
He didn't go on though, and wasn't looking at his little brother. "Nik?" Cal asked uncertainly. Niko looked up and when he did, Cal saw that his hard look had thawed some.
"Thirdly, I need you to understand that I'm fine," Nik said quietly. "It's not as if I'm dying or anything. And even if I was, I would have found a way to take care of this myself. I won't tolerate you doing this kind of thing. When Robin offered you that job at his dealership he thought he could trust you. And you know as well as I do, that that really says something."
"Yeah, well, he'll get over it eventually. I'll figure out a way to fix things with him later, after your shoulder is better," Cal said defiantly, but feeling remorseful, and not bothering to act as if he didn't care; with Niko, he didn't need the pretenses. "And I know that you can take care of yourself, but you're crazy to think I'll sit back and do nothing when there is something that I can do."
"Yes, but Cal-"
Guessing what Niko was about to say Cal hastily added, "No, I get that I went about that the wrong way. It's just that I knew that it might have been the only way to get the money for your surgery. And don't say you don't need it." At that, Niko unconsciously started rubbing his arm and adjusting his sling, where he had hurt it two weeks ago. They'd been on a job. Somewhere, in the sewage pipes under New York, there lay a monster, mouth full of teeth, stomach full of Niko's shoulder, and heart sliced open by a Katana's blade.
Studying his older brother, something occurred to Cal. "Hey Niko, how'd you manage to follow me with you arm in a sling? And how'd you do it with a backpack full of stuff?"
Niko grinned (or his version of a grin) briefly. "What I still haven't figured out is how you got the money. I'm sure Robin takes all the money to the bank at the end of the day," he said. Cal looked away for a minute, up at the clouds, and then turned back to his brother.
"Let's go back to the apartment before it rains on us. I'll explain on the way." He and Niko got up and started back that way. "The other day this guy came to the dealership. He was looking to buy a car for his daughter; her twenty first birthday was coming up. He found the car he wanted; it was one of the most expensive on the lot. I asked him how he wanted to pay for it and he pulls out this huge wad of cash and hands it to me. Just hands it to me like it was nothing. I wasn't even thinking; all I could remember was that we couldn't afford your surgery and Rafferty's gone so we don't have that option, and I just put it in my pocket and since my shift was over, I left. It didn't even occur to me that I had just stolen thousands of dollars, and from one of our friends too." They got to the apartment a few minutes later.
When they were inside, Niko sat down on the couch with an ice pack from the fridge and slide his arm out of the make-shift sling. He tensed up some, which meant that for any normal person the pain would have been so bad that they would be biting back a scream. But Nik didn't allow himself to feel it that much. The fact that he'd shown any outward pain had Cal reaching for the pain killers. Niko obliged, which worried the little brother even more. To take the attention off of himself, he kept the conversation on Cal. "Do you still have the money?"
"Yes, but it's still going to pay for your hospital bill; I won't take it back. I can find a way to pay back Robin after we take care of your shoulder," Cal said with finality.
Deciding to let that fight go for now, Niko moved on to another point that had to be discussed. "What are you going to do to pay Robin back? I'm sure you'll need to find a new job, am I correct?" Cal nodded. "Where are you going to look?"
"There are still a few bars left in this city that I could get a job at. I'll ask around at some starting tomorrow."
"Out of curiosity, what did Robin do when he found out? And when did he find out?" Niko asked, shifting the ice pack some.
"Well, all that happened two days ago. And Robin found out yesterday. He called me into his office because he knew I was the one who had sold the car to that guy. When he asked me if I knew what happened I didn't bother lying; I'm not stupid enough to lie to that puck. I didn't bother telling him why I needed it though; I wasn't sure if you wanted me to or not. I did mention that I wasn't planning on giving it back, and that I would find a way to pay back the debt over time. It was about that time that he threw a bottle of sangria at my head."
"Is that were the red stains came from on your shirt?" Niko asked dryly.
"Yeah, the bottle hit the wall just above my head and it was still half full. I left after that, just in case he wasn't done throwing things. I haven't heard from him since."
"I have. He called and told me you were a traitorous thief and that if it wasn't for me and my ability to cause him bodily harm, he would kill you in the most imaginative way he could find. Apparently he takes great offense at being stolen from." Niko said it very calmly, but Cal could hear the brotherly defensiveness rising underneath the calm.
He shrugged. "He has the right to be angry."
"I know he does. You can't just steal thousands of dollars, Cal. I realize there are certain laws we've broken in the past, but that was to stay alive and it never involved stealing from a friend."
"Niko this was to help us stay alive. If you don't get that arm taken care of, it'll get worse; you might not even be able to use a sword. And with the lives we lead, you can't afford a setback like that; especially since we have a way to prevent it. I was reading about the surgery you need and it has a really short recovery time," Cal said, leaning forward in his seat as he told Niko about it.
"You really want me to do this, huh?" Niko asked him. Cal met his gaze and nodded once.
"You need it."
Nik sighed deeply. "Call Robin. Apologize to him, and then explain why you did it. I know that neither of us have the best record with trusting people, but he's proven himself many times in the past few months. He should know what's going on. After you do that… I promise I will call the hospital and make an appointment."
Cal agreed reluctantly and picked up the phone. It was no small thing for Niko to make a promise.
Robin picked up on the third ring. "Hey, um, this is Cal."
"Oh, Caliban, it's just great to here your voice," Robin said with biting sarcasm. "What do you want from me; you've already stolen my money and made me waste perfectly good wine. What more could you possibly dare to want from me?"
"I didn't call to ask you for anything," Cal started defensively. Niko shot him a sharp look and he tried again. "We just thought you'd like to know what I borrowed the money for." He paused. "It was for Niko." That's the only reason I'd ever steal from you.
Robin's tone changed slightly. "What did he need it for? Is he okay?"
"He's fine for now. A monster got a bite out of him a couple weeks ago. He needs surgery. We needed the money to pay for it. And I will pay you back. Niko's making sure of that," he added dryly, loosening the mood. Robin laughed once, bitterly, appreciatively. "Niko has a call to make, so he needs the phone. Bye."
"Next time I see you, you'd better have a bottle of sangria and the first of many, many checks." Then all I heard was the dial tone.
After Robin hung up I pushed the phone into Nik's hand stubbornly. "Fine, grab the phone book," he said, resigned.
I handed it to him gratefully. "Hey Nik, if I gave you the money, would you buy something for me?"
"That depends what you need," he said as he thumbed through the yellow pages.
"A bottle of sangria."