A/N: This is probably my favourite in this little collection. Hee.
Thanks to twin for betaing this. I MISS YOU. ::hugs::
And thanks also to: dizzy - in - the - izzy, Viktorija, Penelope Louise, WildDaisies10, Frogster, WingfieldLegend, Habeous Corpus and Divinia Serit for reviewing part two.
Happy New Year, folks. Hope it brings you everything you want.
x tromana
Three - And the Thunder Rolls
Kimball winced as the front door slammed open and shut once more while thunder echoed around the house. He allowed the smallest of smiles to trace across his features as he heard his mothers footsteps slap against the floorboards as she padded towards the lounge. A soft, reassuring sound. Something which actually made him feel comfortable for a change.
He didn't mean to be so angry all the while, it was just that things annoyed him. Little things, stuff that was out of his control. If someone showed him that they could make things just a little bit better, it meant that he was willing to go to the ends of the earth for them. That's why he'd been easily persuaded to join the gang. The Avon Park Playboys had made him feel secure, welcome. Safe. Something which his father never succeeded in doing and something which his mother tried too hard to do. Something which they were unlikely to do now he was back out of juvie. They'd probably be too scared of him grassing up on them now.
His face fell when his mother walked into the room, with a uniformed official. Kimball scowled as she rushed around, offering him drinks before plopping down beside him, but not without ruffling his hair affectionately. He found himself eyeing the mustached man warily, taking his hand for a short, sharp shake only after his mother nodding enthusiastically.
"He's a good boy, my Kimball," his mother murmured. "He just falls in with the wrong crowds, don't you Kim?"
He pulled a face for a second time, briefly wondering if his mother would ever, ever stop seeing him as being her small son. The one she could wrap up warm during winter and scold for staying out in the sun too long during the summer. Whatever he did with his life, he was doomed to spending the rest of his life as 'Mommy's little trooper.' As the man spoke, his voice rumbling almost as much as the thunder around them, his mother nodded enthusiastically.
It seemed he didn't have much choice. Kimball Cho was off to join the army. As a fork of lightening brightened the room instantaneously, he could only hope that it would inspire him with an actual career. And that his mother would finally stop seeing him as a child.
***
Cho could feel his hackles rising as Lisbon relayed the information she had just received about the latest victim. The man had fought for his country, survived countless wars and made the world a safer place only to be apparently beaten to death by young thugs. The kind of thing the Playboys had been close to doing on occasion. It was strange, having an equal measure of shame and pride coursing through his veins. Rigsby, though knowing about both his gang and army days, was oblivious. He appreciated the quiet hand and a whisper of 'you okay?' from Lisbon.
Jane just stares at him knowingly. It doesn't bother Cho either way. He'd rather not talk about it to be fair. He finds it easier to deal with this kind of thing on his own, let his anger simmer. Like the roll of thunder, building and dissipating slowly.
The thunder rolls
And the lightnin' strikes
Another love grows cold
On a sleepless night
-- And the Thunder Rolls, Garth Brooks
