Author's Note: Lousy muse keeping me up all night. Better than doing homework though. Anyway, this is another sort of nothing chapter, at least in terms of action. Like last time, there are some character beats I really enjoyed writing though, so please keep flames to a minimum. My ramblings out of the way, read, enjoy, and remember, feedback is a writer's best friend.
Garrett returned several hours later with enough toys to keep thirty children entertained. Rachel ignored the gifts, clinging to his neck with a death grip.
"You came back," she declared, clearly surprised.
"Told you so."
"Am I going to stay with you now?"
Abby and Elektra bore witness to the exchange, the older woman puzzling over what she saw next. Instead of answering, Garrett held his niece tighter, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"Uncle Garrett?"
Eyes closing briefly, the hitman eased Rachel away, offering an overly bright grin. "I got you some new clothes, kiddo." He nodded at one of the bags.
"But Uncle Garrett-"
"Rach," he interjected gently, "take the clothes upstairs, see if they fit. Play fashion show."
"Daddy knew the bad men were coming. He said they wanted me 'cause I'm special."
Face twisting, Garrett turned away from the child.. There was a haziness in his eyes that made Elektra wonder if he'd stopped at a bar on the way back.
"You are special, kid," he finally responded, turning to stare into the empty fireplace.
Rachel waited, frowning when nothing more was offered. "Are they going to come back?"
Elektra waited, waited some more, waited for him to reassure the frightened child. That reassurance would more than likely be a lie, but so what? That's what you did; lied to make it bearable.\
"Nobody's hurting you," Abby said fiercely, leaving the couch to drop down next to Rachel. "Nobody."
Elektra swallowed hard, knowing Abby had heard those words before, occasionally from Elektra herself.
Rachel nodded tentatively, but continued to stare at Garrett. "You won't leave again, right? I can stay with you and you can keep the bad men away?"
Facing the others, Garrett tried and failed to appear strong. "You'll be safe, Rach. Nobody's hurting you."
'You'll be safe. Not 'I'll stay with you.' Abby shot him a venomous glare. "I'm going for a walk," she announced, barely restrained fury seeping into her voice. Rachel opened her mouth as \\\\\if to protest, but the teen was already out the door.
"Rach, go try on your clothes. I got Spongebob shirts."
The blonde regarded him with hurt eyes. "Are you mad at me?"
"No, kiddo."
"You only talk like that when you're mad."
"I'm not mad, Rachel." Sighing, he gestured towards the bags again. "Go try your shirts on."
"I don't like Spongebob anymore," the girl replied timidly, anticipating a reprimand.
"Of course you don't," Garrett mumbled. Without another word, he grabbed some of the bags and carried them into the kitchen. Brows raised, Elektra smiled in what she hoped was a comforting manner, even though Matt was supposedly the nice one. She offered to help the girl carry her things upstairs, but Rachel declined. One more bewildered glance at her uncle and she was climbing slowly to her room, unwanted Spongebob garments in hand.
Elektra waited 'til she'd made it safely up the stairs before joining Garrett in the kitchen, speaking in an angry whisper. "What are you doing?"
"I didn't have any kid food," he replied, mechanically placing things in the cupboards and fridge. Pulling out a bag of Skittles, he tore it open and began rummaging through a nearby drawer.
"You can't do this with her."
"Where's the bottle?" he asked, completely ignoring her comment.
"What bottle?"
"The pills. I gave them to you and I put them here and they're not here."
Elektra frowned. "You're self-medicating?"
A grunt was the only response. Finding his prize, Garrett twisted the cap loose, shook a few tablets into his hand and returned to the Skittles bag. Grabbing a handful of brightly colored candy, he mixed the sweets with the meds and downed everything. While Matt tended to gnaw pills like a horse, Garrett swallowed without chewing.
She told herself it was no big deal. Matt was addicted to three separate medications. Years ago, Elektra herself had bought sleeping pills in bulk, hoping to silence the demons in her mind. It hadn't worked, but still. Garrett's breath was clean, so at least he wasn't drinking.
"I got muffins. No blueberries this time."
Elektra gave him a look, recalling the breakfast in his apartment earlier that week, the way he smirked as he presented the stale, blueberry-laden pastries he knew she wouldn't eat.
"Rachel's allergic to blueberries." He smiled ruefully. "Or maybe she's not anymore."
Out of patience, Elektra grabbed his forearm, forcing him to meet her eyes. "You can miss your brother all you want," she began.
"My brother was a dick," he interrupted tersely. "Selfish and stupid and overbearing." His shoulders dropped. "Except with her. Jimmy was a different person with her."
"Well Jimmy's not here."
"But I am."
Elektra nodded infinitesimally.
Yanking his arm free, Garrett turned towards the living room. "Poor kid's in serious trouble," he muttered.
Abby didn't take her eyes off the TV when Matt walked in, nor when he joined her on the couch. It was their second full day in Connecticut and the teen had managed about three hours sleep all together.
"What are you watching?"
Overly casual. He was trying to start a serious conversation without trying to start one. "Chasing Amy. It's over now."
"What's the verdict?"
"It didn't suck. The main guy looked a lot like you actually, even sounded the same."
"Hmmm. And did the main guy save the world?"
"Nope," Abby responded, switching the channel to a horde of screaming children and their frustrated parents. "He fell in love, then he found out the woman played for the other team. Then he turned her around."
Matt's eyebrows climbed to his hairline. "This guy reminded you of me?"
"Yup. He basically was you, except with a beard."
"So I live happily ever after with a lesbian?"
"No, you break up. And you find out your best friend's bi and he's in love with you. Then you ask the best friend and the lesbian to have a threesome with you." Abby made a face. That part of the film had given her a disturbing image of Foggy, Matt, and Elektra that she couldn't yet shake.
The blind man's expression was rather priceless. "Where is everybody?" he asked after a long, long silence.
Abby sank deeper into the couch. He knew that, he had to; he was just trying to ease into the serious conversation they weren't going to have. "Rachel's in her room. Garrett gave her a coloring book."
"And he's…?"
"In his room. Cleaning the guns."
"Elektra?'
"In your room. Cleaning the knives," Abby replied flatly. Then she stood from the couch and went for the front door. "I'm taking a walk."
"You took three in two hours," Matt pointed out.
"Fresh air, no muggers, don't need to carry mace, she retorted, leaving him with the television for company.
Day three was the last straw. Garrett was functioning again, loving to Rachel, civil to the rest of them. Abby was a different story. Rachel had taken a liking to her predecessor, and when the kid was around, Abby played with her and talked to her and did a good job at being happy. When Rachel wasn't there, the teen channel surfed for hours on end, mixing things up by disappearing into the woods until Elektra or Matt forced her back inside. When Abby went jogging in the pouring rain wearing shorts and a t-shirt and refused to come in, Elektra had had enough.
"We're going out," she announced after the rain stopped. Garrett was adding logs to the fire, Abby staring zombie-like at the TV. Rachel was doing the same puzzle for the fourth time.
Striding in front of the TV, Elektra turned it off, locking eyes with her protégé. "Get some shoes on."
"I don't want to go."
"I don't care." To Garrett, "You have the keys to the truck?"
The hitman turned to face her, eyes hazy again. "More than one vehicle."
Elektra glanced at the child on the floor. "Yours has heated seats." And bulletproof windows and siding.
Shrugging, he pulled a key ring from his pocket, tossing it from one hand to the other. "Are we all going or is this a female bonding thing?"
"Female bonding thing?" Abby repeated doubtfully. "Are we going to the mall?"
Garrett threw the keys to Elektra. His arm jerked at the last moment and she had to step left to make the catch. His movements were slow and jerky as he bent to help Rachel put away the puzzle.
"Tell her I don't have to go," Abby demanded. Matt, who'd just entered the room, pretended not to hear her.
Irritated, Abby glanced from one to the other. "You're doing the united front thing again aren't you?"
"Shoes. And a jacket," Elektra replied crisply.
Fuming, Abby left the group, calling Matt a traitor as she trudged upstairs.
Abby took her time getting ready. Matt and Elektra used that time to slip aside, the blind man running his hands lightly over her sides. "Sure I can't come?"
Elektra shook her head, trailing her fingers along his cheek. They'd already agreed on this. Abby liked using Matt as a distraction, knowing that he was less likely to push for what he wanted. It was better Elektra did this alone.
Matt brushed her lips with his own. "What am I supposed to do while you're gone?"
Hearing Abby descend to the stairs, Elektra kissed him back, surprised by how difficult it was to pull away. "Garrett bought Legos,"
The lawyer tilted his head sideways, lips quirking in a crooked smile. "Get the bags, watch the child. Am I worth anything to you besides as a packhorse or a daycare service?"
Elektra mimicked the head tilt. "Don't hog the toys."
"You left them alone? Together?"
Ignoring the oxymoron, Elektra regarded her charge from across the table.
"There's a grenade launcher under one of the floorboards, what if they start fighting over you?"
About to take a drink of her water, Elektra was glad she'd waited the extra second. "You need to get some sleep."
"He still likes you, it could happen."
Elektra scowled.
"He didn't shoot you in the face when we showed up. He still likes you."
The waitress came by, saving Elektra from having to respond. Ordering for herself, Elektra spoke for Abby as well.
"Ice cream," Abby said after the woman left.
Elektra nodded.
"For lunch."
"You won't get anything better."
"What's that mean?"
"Rachel wants Matt and Garrett to go fishing."
"Fishing? Matt doesn't fish."
"I know."
"And you're going to let him?"
Elektra said nothing.
"What if Garrett kills him and dumps the body in the lake?"
The older woman forced herself not to choke on her beverage.
"Does Garrett fish?"
"There's a boat, fishing poles, I assume he does." She assumed, but didn't trust him to actually bring back anything.
"What if he doesn't know what he's doing? Could be Titanic without the iceberg."
The older woman decided not to point out the flaws in that logic. "Go with them. You said Mark used to fish."
Abby stared at her napkin. "That was a long time ago."
Pressing her lips together, Elektra let the silence stretch until their server returned. Smiling, the woman placed an overflowing banana split in front of Abby and a salad in front of Elektra. "Haven't seen you two before," the waitress said pleasantly.
"We're vacationing," Elektra replied, politely.
"Some vacation," Abby muttered.
"You not enjoying our town, honey?"
"She's trying to make up for sending me to reform school. This is my last week of freedom before she sends me back. They hit you with rulers there."
The look on Elektra's face sent the waitress scurrying away without comment. Abby swirled the ice cream around with disinterest. "I'm not depressed."
"No one said you were."
"You always do this when you think I'm depressed. Bribe me with junk food like I'm five."
Elektra leaned forward, choosing her words carefully. "This can't be easy."
"Be easier if we got more stations. I sat through a four hour marathon of Jon and Kate Plus 8. How does having mass amounts of kids suddenly entitle you to a TV show?"
"Abby."
"I know. You think it reminds me of my parents. It's fine, I'm over it."
"You don't get over that."
"You do what you have to do, right? Isn't that one of your mantras? Anyway there's no point freaking about it, nothing's going to change."
"You're not talking about Mark."
"The Treasure doesn't end things, right? The balance just tips from one side to the other for a few years. So that makes it pointless. Her dad, mine, that's all pointless because the war doesn't end."
"Hey," Elektra began, unsure what she could possibly say in the face of that hopelessness.
"Don't. I'm cool with it."
The older woman shook her head in disbelief.
"I'm tired," the teen announced suddenly.
"That happens when you stay up for seventy-two hours."
"Can't help it. Unless we manage to not get arrested and I go to Insomniacs Anonymous."
"So take something for it."
"I don't like pills."
"Is that because you don't like them or because I don't like them?"
"Please. I stopped doing the copy thing once I realized you really weren't cool."
"Thank you."
"Don't be like that, you said yourself you weren't." The girl raised a hand to her mouth to cover a sneeze.
"I told you to get out of the rain."
"I don't get sick. I haven't been sick since I was ten and I overplayed that to get out of a history report." She sneezed again. "Don't get all hovery, I hate it when you go psycho with the protective thing."
"Hovery? That's not a word."
"So make it one. You don't see 'Kimagure' in the dictionary. Why'd you push Garrett off a building?"
Elektra blinked in confusion.
"Before we left to get Rachel. Garrett said you pushed him off a building in Venice."
"Verona," Elektra corrected automatically.
"Whatever. Why'd you push him off?"
Elektra frowned. In Matt's absence, her charge was using Garrett to avoid the topic. She thought about asking what he'd done at the hospital to make the girl so angry, but recognized the futility of it. Of near equal importance was the fact that Elektra had no desire to tell that particular story. Though she imagined Abby would be thrilled by any tale involving Garrett and physical harm, there were certain things that were simply too hard to explain or defend, even if the building in question hadn't been very tall.
"She's not going to like this," Matt stated.
"What she likes and what she needs aren't usually the same," Elektra retorted, adding a liberal amount of marshmallows to the hot chocolate.
"As long as I don't have to explain it to her."
"You said you wanted something other than babysitter and packhorse."
Matt held up his hands. "Not what I meant."
"In other words, you like it better when I play bad cop."
"Am I under oath here?"
Smiling, Elektra carried the drink to Abby's room, finding her shivering on the bed.
"Don't start," the teen warned, wrapping herself in a heavy blanket.
"I'm not the one who went jogging in the rain in forty-five degree weather," Elektra pointed out, setting the mug on the nightstand.
"Do we need to get into you and Matt and your make-out sessions every time it drizzles?"
"Abby."
"What? If I'd been kissing a tree instead of running would that-"
The older woman quirked a brow as Abby's statement dissolved into a coughing fit. "I don't get sick," the teen insisted after regaining control.
"Fine," Elektra responded. "Sleep."
"Can't."
"Try."
"It's light out."
"Sleep anyway."
"Yes, Mom," Abby snapped. It was sarcasm, but it still left the air heavy. Biting her lip, the teen turned her attention to the mug. "Did you spike this?"
A beat of silence. "Yes."
Abby blinked. "Seriously?"
"No," Elektra replied, closing the door as she left.
"Liar," Matt accused as she joined him in their room a few moments later.
"Eavesdropper."
"E," he said, listening as she opened and closed a drawer, "I either hear you, or the squirrels doing their mating dance."
About to change clothes, Elektra halted her task.
"The sad part is that you think I'm kidding," he deadpanned. Coming up behind her, Matt helped ease the shirt from her shoulders, pausing when he detected a catch in her breathing. "Okay?"
"It's nothing," she replied, annoyed that the bullet wound continued to give her trouble.
"You should be taking it easy," Matt said worriedly, grabbing a more loose-fitting top.
"I am," she insisted, taking the shirt from him and putting it on herself. That done, she let her eyes roam over him, focusing on the new collection of cuts and bruises from his jailhouse confrontations and the brawl with Fisk's men. Frowning, she unbuttoned his shirt, running gentle fingers over the marks on his chest. His stomach and rib cage were black-and-blue, and she stopped her examination when he drew in a quick breath.
"Nothing," he minimized before she could speak.
"Liar."
"Everybody lies."
God she hated when he quoted her. As if she didn't get more than enough of that from Abby. Leaning in to dust a feather-light kiss on his sternum, Elektra pushed his open shirt to the floor.
"You know," Matt started, pausing to drop kisses down her neck, "any ideas I had about taking you on a cabin getaway didn't include wearing your ex's clothes."
"You do look like a lumberjack," Elektra responded, his ministrations leaving her slightly breathless.. Only half-aware she was doing it, Elektra pushed him towards the bed.
"Not my fault," he murmured, hitting the mattress with her on top of him. Trailing his hands up her back, he then moved them under her tank top, stopping when he reached a bra clasp.
"What are you doing?" Elektra demanded, kissing him hard before he could answer.
"Your shoulder," he said a moment later, breathing hard after the prolonged lack of oxygen.
Elektra made a dismissive sound, fumbling with his belt. "You started it."
"Not this time,' he refuted, making a half-hearted attempt at stilling her movements.
Damn, she hated when he was right. "Are you complaining?" she asked, pulling gently at his hair then kissing his scalp to make up for it.
He made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a moan. "I was in jail for a long time."
"Less than a week," she pointed out, tossing the belt aside.
"Your sympathy makes it so much easier," he replied, changing his mind about the bra. "Haven't seen a woman in years."
"Not funny," Elektra shot back, taking a moment to nibble on his earlobe.
"I know," he acknowledged, a shudder running through him. "I almost lost you. Again."
"And I came back," she told him. She understood though, better than he knew. They had a bad habit of losing each other and, now that the painkillers were out of her system and she allowed herself to really think, Elektra understood how close things had come.
"No," he muttered, tracing the stitches on her shoulder with extreme care. "I should've been there."
"You were," she replied, frustrating herself by confusing him. It wasn't the time or place to explain that she'd hallucinated his presence, especially when one of those hallucinations involved the memory of having sex with Garrett.
Looking rather pained, Matt caught her hands in his, easing her to rest on his chest. The wince he let out was almost, but not quite inaudible.
"I'm hurting you," she said, trying to pull away, but he kept her in place.
"You're fine. We just can't do this now."
"Abby's probably asleep."
"She is asleep. No one else is."
And then she could hear it, just barely picking up Rachel's soft cries from downstairs. A moment later and Garrett's voice came in, a soft, consoling murmur. It hurt Elektra to listen to; she didn't want to think what it did to Matt. "Dammit."
"I know. Is he going to be okay with her?"
"He wouldn't hurt that kid, Matt."
"Long term."
"He's grieving, nobody's totally clear like that." She knew what he was thinking, having told him about the pills. Then there were the mood swings, but he seemed to be moving past those. But still…he wasn't himself yet, not even halfway to normal.
Normal. Himself. What did she really know about that? He was someone else entirely when Rachel was around.
"He cares for you."
Not this again, not from him. "Maybe he does, he's got other things to deal with."
A beat of silence. "He said he proposed."
Elektra scoffed. Garrett's 'proposal' had taken place in a Nevada hotel while he was too drunk to speak. He'd slurred out the question, referred to her as Eleanor, then vomited in an ice bucket before losing consciousness. "You were talking about me?"
Matt tensed, changing the subject a bit too fast. "He cheats at cards."
"So does Abby."
"Not in front of small children."
Elektra pictured the men trading stories about her idiosyncrasies and made a mental note to hurt both of them at a later time. "Poker?"
"Uno."
Elektra couldn't be sure, but thought she detected a hint of jealousy, something that both amused and exasperated her "He's not you," she declared quietly, demonstrating the point by invading his mouth with her tongue.
"I know," Matt replied hoarsely. "I don't wear God-awful cologne."
"Garrett doesn't wear cologne."
"So the burnt grass smell coming off him is natural?" he joked
Pinned as he was, Matt couldn't dodge the pillow she rewarded him with.
When she next came downstairs, Garrett was sitting at the kitchen table, a new laptop in front of him. Next to that was a plate of undercooked fries smothered in ketchup. A red spot on his collar stood testament to his impeccable table manners. On seeing her, he offered a small nod.
"Where's Rachel?" Elektra asked, trying not to see the dirty dishes in the sink. She recalled the eating binges he'd indulge in after a successful job. And a successful night of alcohol poisoning.
"She uh, she had a nightmare, didn't want to talk to me." His chin rested in his hand, the fingers of which were trembling minutely. A small jolt ran through her when she realized the shaking hand wasn't the one she'd twisted in her fit of anger. Studying him more closely, Elektra noted how bad he looked. No, not bad. Strung out.
"I tracked her mother to New Mexico but it was an old address. She was more of an idiot than Jimmy. Probably stuck a fork in a toaster and fried herself"
Elektra couldn't decipher his tone. When he'd mentioned Lena before, his whole being radiated disgust, anger at the woman for abandoning her child. Now…now he seemed almost disappointed.
"I should've given her to Ethan."
Elektra blinked in surprise. Days ago he was bound and determined to keep the child away from Burke and anyone else. Now this?
"I can't do this," he continued flatly. His skin was pale and oily as he rubbed bloodshot eyes.
Sighing, Elektra went to stand across from him as he closed the computer screen. "It gets easier," she said, remembering the fear that came when she decided to keep Abby with her, no longer having the option of playing mentor, indulging in the occasional visit, and leaving the hard stuff to Mark.
He snorted, blowing air through his teeth. "You're lying."
She was, but that's what you did in situations like this. Lied to make it bearable.
The hitman laughed bitterly. "Never thought I'd be soliciting you for parenting advice."
"Never thought I'd be giving it," she admitted."You'll be fine." Whether or not she believed it, there wasn't much else she could say.
That same bitter laugh. "Fine. Is that because you were?"
Elektra said nothing.
"What you did for Abby was different," he said flippantly.
That was obvious, but she suspected Garrett's reasoning wasn't the same as hers. "Why?"
He waved dismissively. "You're you."
Elektra shook her head, not liking the way his muddled brown eyes were looking at her. Rachel's eyes, she realized suddenly. "Garrett-"
"I can't do it," he said again.
"You think you have a choice?"
"No, you don't understand, I can't do it."
Light footsteps disrupted their excuse for a conversation. Rachel joined them a moment later, frowning as she pulled on her uncle's shirtsleeve. "Are you sick?"
Straightening, Garrett attempted a smile. "No, kiddo."
"Abby's sick."
"Just a little. She'll be better soon."
The girl swiveled her gaze to Elektra. "Is it okay if I make her a picture so she'll feel better?"
"Yeah," Elektra replied, smiling in spite of herself. "I'm sure she'd like that a lot."
Pleased, the child addressed Garrett again, sobering almost immediately "Are you sad?"
He froze for a second. "Yeah, Rachel."
"But Daddy said-"
"How about you, kiddo? You feeling any better?"
Rachel stared at the floor. Garrett shot Elektra a pleading look. She had no idea what he expected her to do, but recognized with a jolt that she'd somehow become the unofficial expert on gifted orphans.
With effort, Elektra held on to the curse that wanted to escape her lips.
Matt was leaning against the doorframe when Abby woke up. Sluggishly, the teen sat up, leveling an irritated scowl on him. "Traitor. You let her do it."
"I didn't see a thing," the blind man retorted.
"Funny. Hilarious. How long was I out?"
"Long enough."
"She put you on guard duty. Well go tell her I'm not sick."
"She says you either get in on the next game or you stay in here not being sick. No TV, no going outside."
"Game?" she parroted blankly. "Elektra's playing a game."
The lawyer nodded. "Candy Land."
"Candy Land. Elektra's playing Candy Land."
Another nod.
"Willingly? Did you drug her?"
"No, Abby."
"And…it's her? Not a shapeshifter or an evil twin clone?"
"Rachel...Rachel's having a rough time. Garrett's trying to distract her for awhile."
"So…Elektra's playing Candy Land. That is what you're saying?" The theme from The Twilight Zone suddenly came to mind.
"I told her you weren't that sick. You either stay in bed or come by the fire and break her winning streak."
Orders from the warden. Five minutes later, Abby descended the stairs, finding it difficult to keep her jaw closed. The sight of her mentor playing a children's game was only slightly less traumatizing then returning from lunch to find Matt and Garrett gathered around a pink dollhouse while Rachel explained the complicated relationship between Ken and Barbie
"I hate you sometimes," Abby muttered, still groggy from the sleeping pill mixed in the hot chocolate.
"You've mentioned it," Elektra replied, making room for her on the couch. Next to Garrett, Rachel smiled at the new company.
"You're a jerk," the teen went on. "And he's a jerk's accomplice," she declared, tilting her head in Matt's direction as he sat next to Elektra.
"You slept."
"You drugged me."
"Told you I did."
"I hate you," Abby declared again. Then she settled in to play board games with her fugitive guardians, the living weapon, and the living weapon's gun-infatuated uncle.
"This is bull…crap." Garrett muttered, glancing at his niece. "I'm an accountant."
"Congratulations," Elektra deadpanned.
"Accountants make more than thirty thousand a year."
"You're probably a bad accountant," Abby told him.
He gave her a sharp look. "You're a cop. Cops don't make more than accountants."
"The salary cards are separate from the career cards," Abby explained for the fifth time. "This was your idea and you're ruining it."
"My idea was Monopoly."
"Ruining it," Abby repeated.
"Yeah, Uncle Garrett. Quit being mean."
He gave Abby another look. "Stop corrupting my niece."
"Can you just spin, please?" Matt asked tiredly.
Scowling, Garrett took his turn, making a grab for his plastic car game piece.
"You owe me five grand," Abby stated.
Garrett's hand stilled in midair. "I haven't even moved."
"You sped; you owe me five thousand dollars."
"I haven't moved. I can't speed if I haven't moved."
"You spun a ten. That's speeding." Abby held out her hand.
"Did I hit a bus load of nuns, too? How does anyone wind up with a five thousand dollar speeding ticket?"
"Just give her the money, Garrett."
"I don't have enough for a five thousand dollar ticket, Elektra." He was still fuming over losing to her at Scrabble
"I'll take everything you've got, plus the stocks and your Life tiles."
"She's cheating, I know she's cheating."
"Actually that was you," Matt stated, looking significantly towards the deck of cards on the other side of the table.
Smirking, Garrett gave everything he had to Abby, eyes dancing as he caught Elektra's gaze. "Oh well. Maybe it wasn't nuns; maybe I hit Burke at eighty miles an hour."
"Was he the one who talked funny?" Rachel asked shyly.
"Yeah, kiddo," her uncle replied carefully. "He had an accent."
"I didn't like him."
"That's okay, Rach, nobody likes him."
"He talked like the other man. I didn't like him either."
Garrett's smile faded. "What other man?"
"The one who used to talk to Daddy. He had the same…accent."
"Why didn't you like him?" Garrett asked sharply. "Did he hurt you?"
"No, he was just weird. One time when he came over I drew a picture with a smiley face, and he threw a pencil in its eye from really far away."
Garrett shot the others a quick look, noting the lack of color in Abby's face and the rigidness of Elektra's shoulders. "What'd he look like?"
"Mean. But his head was funny. He had a dart board right here," Rachel explained, indicating the middle of her forehead.
"Dart board," Garrett repeated numbly.
The child thought a moment. "Sorry, I got it wrong. It wasn't the whole board, just the thing in the middle."
"You mean the bull's eye?" Matt clarified, tone making it clear that he already knew the answer.
Rachel nodded triumphantly. "Yeah! The bull's eye."