Neil sat with his head in his hands in the uncomfortable chairs in the hospital's waiting room.
Andrew was in surgery, the bite on his left hand left by Drake had either severed or damaged the tendons in his hand, leading to a lack of control of his pinkie and ring fingers. Neil was sure that this injury was at least better than the last time's, but Kevin wouldn't stop freaking out about another hand injury. He kept asking the nurses if Andrew would be able to play again, and Neil was going to strangle him silent if he didn't sit down and shut up.
Nicky wasn't much better. From muffled sobs to long agonized quiet, it was putting all of the red-heads nerves on edge to sit beside the man.
Surprisingly, the only one Neil could stand at that very moment, was Aaron.
Sure, Andrew's twin was watching him, silent questions in his eyes, but at least it was silent. He was stiff and worried, but he sat beside Neil for the wait like he expected to be there for a while. Neil was just grateful that Aaron wasn't yelling.
"His name is Drake Spear. He was the son in Andrew's last foster home." Neil finally spoke up after nearly an hour of waiting. Aaron's gaze instantly snapped to him, and Nicky's whimpering instantly stopped as he listened. "He's the reason Officer Higgins called Andrew around a month ago. They had a complaint about bruises on one of the recent foster kids Cass, Drake's mother, took in. He called nearly all of Cass's old foster children, Andrew was on that list, except it was Andrew that gave Higgins the biggest reaction because Andrew had told Officer Higgins before. Or, he tried to. Higgins told him that he was just misunderstanding, that it was brotherly affection and Andrew should feel good that he was being welcomed into the family like he was. Cass used to talk about adopting him, used to call him Andrew Joseph Spear. It was the only thing Andrew ever let himself want."
Aaron's expression was granite, and Nicky looked horrified.
"Why…if that man was abusing him, why didn't Andrew just leave? He was in that house since he was 15, right, that's what we heard. Why did he stay there for nearly a year? Why would he even want that woman to adopt him?" Nicky asked, voice shaky.
Neil swallowed hard and it took him a moment to answer. "Cass was warmth. Cass was what Andrew thought of as the perfect mother, the only one who ever treated him with any kind of kindness, or care. Gave him cookies, fussed when he was sick, she was probably his biggest 'want'."
"And Drake was his biggest nightmare." Aaron said, angrily but matter-of-fact. "Why did he get sent to juvie then? If he was determined to withstand Drake just to stay with Cass, then why would he risk it the way he did?"
Neil looked at Aaron, wondering if the man was ready for that kind of answer. In the end, it didn't matter. When he'd asked Andrew how much he wanted his family to know, Andrew had shrugged and said whatever Neil felt like divulging. If it wasn't Andrew doing the talking, he didn't care. He'd made his choice.
"He learned about you." Neil admitted finally, after a long silence.
Aaron's face twisted in confusion, but Nicky gasped. Nicky had listened to the recording. Aaron had not.
"What do you mean, I don't understand? He didn't want anything to do with me, he basically told me to fuck off."
Neil nodded and was about to answer, when Nicky decided to do it for him.
"Drake threatened you." Nicky concluded, his voice hollow with devastation as he began to collect the pieces of Andrew he'd never been trusted with before. Nicky had listened to Neil's advice about Andrew, had been watching his cousin's actions and thinking about the 'why' of them. He'd looked closer than the surface, and all of it was now connecting like it hadn't before. "Andrew could hold out as long as it was only him suffering, but then Drake started using Aaron to taunt Andrew. He wanted the both of you, and Andrew's only way to protect you was to get out of that house. To keep Drake as far away from you as possible. So he went to juvie."
And just like that, all of Aaron's carefully cultivated blankness, crumbled to pieces.
Neil couldn't look at the emotions flashing back and forth on Aaron's face, it was too close to Andrew's and he didn't know if he could stand seeing fear on Andrew's face. So he looked down at his hands, tracing scars that were no longer there. Dashboard lighter burns and deep wounds caused by Lola's sadistic blades. He wondered at the fact that he missed those scars. As horrible as they had been, they had been with him for years and he was used to tracing them idly as he dealt with his thoughts and feelings.
"He was going to stay there until he was old enough to be on his own. He was determined, Luther said that Andrew told him to go away, to leave him alone and he didn't want anything to do with any of us." Nicky spoke again, but he sounded like he was speaking to himself. The fact that he'd called his own father Luther, had Neil's attention snapping to him in seconds. "Aaron said that all changed when Aaron went to see him."
"He saw the bruises." Aaron said, finally void of emotion. He slumped back into the seat next to Neil, his stare vacant. "He asked me who hurt me. Then when I didn't answer, he walked out of the visiting room, his guard kept yelling at him, but he didn't care. The next time I heard anything about him, he was being released on parole for good behavior."
"He thought you were safe. He thought what he'd given up would be enough to keep you safe. He found out he was wrong when you came to see him. You might have been safe from Drake, but you weren't ever really 'safe'. Andrew made it his mission to make sure that changed. If he had you beside him, if he could keep you safe, then maybe giving up on Cass was worth it." Neil explained.
"That's why he made the promise." Aaron muttered. "That's why he…my mom."
Neil shrugged. "He never cared that Tilda gave him up. At that point, he didn't think it mattered anymore. He didn't care, he felt nothing for or about Tilda."
Nicky's sobs choked off as he smothered himself with his hands, bending in half until his face was buried in his knees.
When Neil looked up, he saw Kevin watching them from a couple feet away, not knowing if it was okay to approach. From the look on his face, it was clear that he'd heard at least most of what was said, but Neil didn't care about that part. He just nodded to give Kevin the okay to come up.
"The nurses told me that Andrew's out of surgery. Everything went well, he'll have to go through a bit of physical therapy for his hand, but in a month or two, he should regain full use of the hand." Kevin looked and sounded more relieved than Neil was. With only two games in the next month and a half, Andrew would be back on the court by January, kicking off the championships with the rest of the Foxes.
Neil on the other hand, was more worried about the mental and emotional strain this had been for Andrew. He didn't care that he'd have to do most of the translations for their side job by himself while Andrew recovered, he didn't even care that this little episode with Drake had put them in debt to Connor Manson. They could handle that. He was relieved that through all of this, Riko was left with nothing to hold over Neil's head to get him into Evermore.
His Christmas was his, and he was free to spend it with Andrew. He'd nearly been dreading the coming Christmas, going through everything he knew in his head and searching for every escape from that event as he could. He hadn't told Andrew, but one of his biggest fears, was that they wouldn't be able to change his time with Riko.
As soon as he let himself relax, Wymack strode into the hospital waiting room, his eyes searching the chairs until they landed on his group of 4 huddled in 3 of the seats.
"What the fuck did you assholes do this time?" Wymack asked as soon as he was close enough to be heard. Most of the other people in the waiting room kept their distance from the 4 young men, but as their big coach came closer to them, everyone else in the room stiffened.
"We didn't do anything, Coach." Kevin replied with a scowl. "We're the victims here."
Wymack only nodded, gaze going from a curled-up sobbing Nicky, to an exhausted Neil, to a stone-wall Aaron, and an angry agitated Kevin. "We're missing one. Where's Andrew?" His question was directed at Neil, but it was Kevin who answered.
"He's out of surgery and being transferred into one of the rooms. He'll be allowed visitors in a few minutes and they're going to keep him for at least another couple of hours. He should be released tonight if we push for it."
Wymack's brows rose as Kevin spoke and then lowered in a harsh frown.
"Why did Andrew Minyard need surgery."
His eyes were on Neil, asking questions that Neil wasn't exactly ready to answer.
"This didn't have anything to do with that. This was personal for him. We were at Nicky's Parent's house, they invited someone from Andrew's past, someone who wanted to hurt Andrew. He managed to injure him, but Andrew got the best of him." Neil replied, voice low and steady, trying to convey with his eyes that they would talk about things later.
It seemed to satisfy Wymack for now, because he sighed heavily and sat down next to Nicky's doubled over form. A big hand rubbed at Nicky's back, and Neil heard the hiccup and the choked off sounds.
"I'm guessing Nicky isn't handling it well." Wymack said sarcastically, a direct contradiction to the careful way he kept his hand settled reassuringly on Nicky's curved back.
"I don't think any of us are handling it well." Kevin admitted with a weary frown.
"Is there anyone here for Minyard? Andrew Minyard?" A nurse asked to the room at large.
Instantly, Aaron, Neil, Nicky, Kevin, and Wymack all stood up and made their way to the slight little nurse. Despite her size, she was only about 2 inches taller than Neil, meaning that Kevin, Nicky, and Wymack towered over her. Despite that, she didn't even flinch.
"He's not awake yet, but he's in good shape. I'm only supposed to allow 2 of you to see him right now, at least until he wakes up, but I don't think you guys want to split up, so if all 5 of you want to come with me, I'll show you were his room is."
Neil was greatful to her.
When they all walked into the room, everyone but Wymack stumbled.
Andrew was knocked out on the bed, bandages covering both hands, and a bruise on his face from where Drake had punched him. Neil also knew that there were bruises on his torso and thighs, some of them light but most of them a dark purple. At least there was no blood, but it was unsettling to see Andrew surrounded in stark white.
"Oh god…" Nicky choked out. "I'm so sorry…I- oh god." His hand came up to cover his eyes and Wymack had to lead him to one of the chairs against the wall.
Neil and Aaron walked side by side to Andrew's bed, Neil rounding it to go to Andrew's other side, the one with the bite.
He examined Andrew carefully. Face slack in sleep, white blond hair messy but dry, still clean from the shower he'd allowed Neil to help him with at Luther's house. He was pale, but he was always pale. In the harsh lights of the room though, he looked as white as the sheets he was laying on.
"He looks like he's dead." Aaron said, breaking the quiet of the room.
Neil nearly flinched at his voice, but he only put a careful hand on Andrew's chest, keeping his touch light and barely there so he could feel each of Andrew's breaths. The tubes and wires connecting his arms to different machines, irritated Neil more than Andrew's stillness. Andrew was always unnaturally still when he slept, although he avoided sleeping on his back, always keeping his back to the wall and Neil in front of him.
"He should be waking up soon. He'll be groggy and in quite a bit of pain. He told us he refuses to take anything too strong that muddles his mind. I made sure to pass that on, so while we will give him some pills, it will only take care of some of the pain."
Neil just nodded, knowing that Andrew would prefer that to anything that messed with his mind.
"Thank you." Neil told her honestly, nodding slightly when she smiled. He was grateful when she left them all alone.
"Anyone want to tell me what happened to his hands?" Wymack asked gruffly.
"He punched an asshole rapist in the face and got his hand bitten. The other one he used to grab the blade of a knife." Aaron replied bluntly.
Instantly Wymack's eyes flew to Neil, understanding now on his face. After all, he'd had Officer Higgins in his house and was there when Andrew spoke briefly to the man. The only confirmation he needed from Neil was a slight nod, and then he turned to the rest of Andrew's group.
"Do I need to call Bee for any of you?" Wymack asked, serious and non-judgmental.
"I…I think I want to talk to her." Nicky spoke, voice stuffed from crying and cracking at the edges of his words. "Plea-" he paused, eyes going wide in horror as his mouth clicking shut. "Oh god…that's why he hates that word."
Neil didn't know what to call the look in Nicky's eyes when the taller man looked at him, but he honestly didn't want to name it.
"What?" Aaron interjected, glare on both Neil and Nicky. "What are you talking about?"
"Please, the word Please. Andrew hates it when people say 'please'…oh god and it was because of Drake, wasn't it? It's because Drake made him say it, oh god, oh fuck…I-" and again, Nicky broke down. Collapsing onto himself like a house of cards. Around the room, everyone looked some kind of horrified, but Neil only sighed.
"Listen." Neil barked, his tone sharp enough to get Nicky's attention despite the overwhelming sobbing. Neil met everyone's eyes carefully, expression accusatory. "None of what you found out changes anything."
"W-what do you mean! It changes everything!" Nicky cried out.
"No." Neil focused on Nicky, knowing that he was the one most likely to try something like 'comfort' with Andrew and knowing exactly how badly Andrew would take it. "None of what you learned today matters, because Andrew is still Andrew. If you treat him any different than you've had in the past, you are going to lose him. He won't tolerate pity, he won't want your comfort, he didn't even want any of you to know anything, but it was the only way we could think of to shame, intimidate, and keep Luther out of the house while Andrew faced Drake."
Neil watched Nicky's watery eyes go wide, he watched his mouth fall open and then shut, and he watched Nicky nod softly before he turned to get everyone else's confirmation.
"His past, his vulnerabilities don't matter anymore. He's gotten over them a long time ago, he's moved past it, so all of you figure out a way to move past it too, because otherwise he'll leave you behind."
He met Aaron's heavy stare with a cold one of his own. "He's not weak anymore. He took down his personal monster." He looked to Kevin's startled eyes. "He'll take down anyone else's too." He can still protect you. He will still protect you.When Kevin nodded, Neil felt relieved.
"Stop being loud, Idiot."
The weak voice from the bed instantly caught everyone's attention as Andrew slowly fluttered his eyes open. Neil grabbed the cup beside the table, noticing that it was filled with slowly melting ice chips.
"Shut up and suck on this. Ice chips is the best we got for now." Neil replied as he tipped the cup into Andrew's open mouth.
With three ice chips pressed against his cheek, Andrew glared. "Fuck you."
"Yeah, fine, but you'll have to get out of this bed before you can do that." Neil replied with a cheeky smile, not paying any mind to the diverse number of looks he was getting around the room. His focus was on Andrew and only Andrew. "The team disposed of Drake's body like you told them to, no one's going to find him and Manny will clean up your parts of the recording so it won't have you threatening him. We'll record something else and have it added so it's more incriminating. Do you want me to send it to Higgins and Cass?"
Andrew's eyes were unfocused, his mind tripping over itself to provide answers, but Neil knew that this was the best way to handle Andrew. Don't acknowledge his weakness, treat him like you always have, keep his mind busy.
"Have Manny send it to me first, I want to listen to the finished product before sending it in as evidence against him. Did you get the call from Connor yet? He said he'd be cashing in the favor we owe sooner, rather than later."
"No, not yet. I haven't turned on any of our phones, but we could handle that tomorrow. If there was anything important, Manny could contact me directly. Connor contacted his daughter, but she's happy with the foster family she has now and refused to see him. I'm thinking the woman who took her didn't have many nice things to say about her father."
"Does anyone have any nice things to say about Connor Manson?"
"Probably. He's getting up there in years and he still doesn't have children willing to take over, so he'll have to choose his successor soon."
Andrew snorted. "And what, you think he has his eyes on us? Like the limey prick?"
It was Neil's turn to snort. "My uncle doesn't want me to succeed, he wants to use me to get his own daughter accepted. There's a difference."
"I thought you wanted nothing to do with any of that shit?"
Neil shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think I'll ever give up on Exy, but it could be a challenging thing for us. It's not like we really shy away from those things anymore."
Andrew's eyes lowered in thought, focused completely on Neil's face despite the fact that Neil was sure Andrew knew they weren't alone in the room. When Andrew spoke again in Russian this time, Neil smiled.
"Are you telling me you want to either take over or create your own criminal organization?"
"Something like that. It's looking more and more like it'll be a constant thing in our lives. Now that my Uncle has his sights on us and we have connection with the Irish in Boston and the Bratva Brotherhood in New York, and the Moriyamas still on our backs." Neil just shrugged. "You can't tell me you haven't thought about it."
"I have, but I figured you'd be too focused on your obsession."
"Maybe I still am. It's not like we can't join the US Court earlier. We're just as good if not better than Kevin and Riko were when they were signed. It's been in my head, and I wanted to talk to you about it."
Andrew's narrowed eyes sharpened a bit, before a single nod was his answer. They would talk it through, come up with the hows and whys of things together. If it was something that looked to be unavoidable, they would make plans.
"Okay, so even the English half of that conversation went right over my head. Are you guys okay?" Nicky's voice broke the stare between them, and both Andrew and Neil turned their attention to the taller man now standing beside Andrew's bed next to Neil.
"You look fucking terrible." Andrew said emotionlessly, his strained jaw and the pull of his eyes warning Neil that he was in pain.
Nicky made a face. "Fucking thanks, Andrew. You look like a peach yourself, asshole."
Neil smiled, okay so, Nicky was going to be fine. That's a plus at least.
"Fucking hell, Andrew. Next time don't stop a knife with your bare hands! Do you know how long it'll take you to pick up a racquet again!"
Oh, and so was Kevin apparently.
Neil eyed Aaron as he stood by Kevin's shoulder. His face was blank, but he was eyeing Andrew in a careful way, concerned despite himself.
Neil figured that he'd leave that for Andrew to deal with. Aaron wasn't his problem.
There were no questions from the hospital people, and Neil was glad for that. Andrew's release happened quick and relatively easily, and soon everyone was settled into the cousin's Columbia house. Wymack, Bee, Abby, Andrew, Neil, Nicky, Kevin, and Aaron.
Aaron, Nicky, and Kevin shared Aaron's room, while Bee and Abby took Nicky's room upstairs, and Neil and Andrew barricaded themselves in Andrew's room while Wymack took the living room's uncomfortable couch.
Despite it being Sunday night and their next game being on the coming Friday, no one made to leave that night, nor the next morning. Neil had gotten calls from the upperclassmen, most of them worried but some, Allison's and Dan's, were incredulous and harsh. Looked like Matt had told them about his relationship with Andrew.
It didn't matter. Neil shut his phone off and ignored it all. They'd be back in Palmetto on Tuesday, he'd deal with the upperclassmen then.
Andrew, much like Neil during the aftermath of the Baltimore incident, couldn't use his hands very well, leaving Neil to handle a lot of the smaller stuff. Showering, dressing, eating, and being overall comfortable were hard on Andrew and as such, Andrew was hard on everyone. It didn't keep people from hovering, and it seemed to just piss Andrew off even more.
Aaron had taken the hint quickly and kept his distance whenever possible. He didn't speak to Andrew, but he also didn't hang around. He had the right idea when guessing that it would be better to talk this out after Andrew had healed enough to not feel like he was constantly unarmed and at a disadvantage.
Despite the pain of using his fingers, Andrew kept his armbands on at all times, he slept fitfully if he managed to sleep at all, and he was vicious when people questioned him too much. Neil seemed to be the only one allowed to get within arm's length, and even then, only if Neil kept his mouth shut.
Bee had tried, but it was rebuffed, so she'd been spending some time with Nicky instead, talking the taller man down.
Kevin seemed to be walking on eggshells around everyone. Anxious with the lack of practices and his built-up excess energy. He'd started joining Neil on his morning runs as a way to avoid the house. Neil didn't mind. Kevin didn't really talk much and he almost seemed in deep thought.
Wymack and Abby went back to Palmetto on Tuesday, but told them that they could come back when they thought they needed. Neil was grateful for it, but he knew Andrew would want to leave soon. Wednesday would be late enough, and being stuck in a house with a crying Nicky and a silent Aaron was driving Andrew to homicide.
It didn't really surprise Neil that when they went back to the Tower, Andrew stood in front of Seth and Matt and told them Aaron would be moving into their room and Neil would be coming to stay in Andrew's.
When the two men tried to argue, Andrew held up bandaged hands, told them to shut the fuck up, and walked away.
Seth watched him leave with an angry frown and he rounded on Neil the second he was going.
"Is he forcing this on you? Do you even want to be in that room with them?"
Neil had shrugged and smiled. "I expected this. He'd put Nicky in here with you too if he didn't think you'd kill him. He's not going to be comfortable with Aaron's silent knowing and Nicky's furtive glances if he has to deal with them both all the time. One will be enough. Let Aaron come stay, he at least won't be as bad as any of the others. Aaron is probably the most normal of us, he's straight, going into medical science to become a doctor, he's quite and sarcastic, and best of all, he's not Nicky."
Seth couldn't exactly argue, and he'd been getting a bit better at the empathy thing, but when it came to Andrew and his group, Seth sort of forgot everything he'd been working on. Still, he curved his tongue or held it back all together when he was in Neil's presence, knowing that Neil wouldn't hesitate to slam a fist into his face if he crossed a line. Neil thought that Seth respected that in some weird way.
Matt hadn't been hard to convince, but he was sad to see Neil move all of his stuff down the hall while Aaron moved all of his stuff in. Matt had reassured Neil that there would still be movie nights in the girl's room and Neil didn't have to be a stranger just because they weren't living together. Neil told him not to worry.
Despite Andrew not playing on Friday, they beat JD 8-4, Renee being unable to shut the goal down like Andrew could, but not being much of a pushover either. She was fast and had good instincts, but she fell for a goal rush every time. It didn't take long for Kevin and Neil and Seth to get pissed off and keep the ball mostly on the opponent's half of the court, taking on an offensive front when defense was lacking Andrew.
With the end of their match with JD, came the Christmas Ball.
Andrew didn't need to bandage his hands much anymore and the stiches had all finally been removed, but it didn't matter, Andrew still asked Neil to bandage them.
They spoke to Manny about the recording and when it was finally the way they wanted it, they sent it out. Andrew called it an early Christmas gift, but Neil didn't find it amusing and told him so. Allison had been incensed that she'd lost so much profit because of Seth telling her not to bet on Andrew and Neil yet, but she made up for it in mocking both men about their 'less than stellar' relationship as she called it. She was always commenting on the fact that they were both emotionally stunted midgets who had trouble showing affection, but Neil just smiled at her while Andrew ignored it completely.
Dan had been harder to placate. She worried about Neil every step of the way, even with Matt at her back telling her that they were fine. She didn't understand that Andrew wouldn't hurt Neil, and that had made Neil avoid her for the most part. It'd take a while for her to get it, and Neil understood, but he wasn't about to deal with it.
Renee was unchanged. Not in how she handled Neil or Andrew. Neil had taken to sparring with her in Andrew's stead, while the blond watched with an impassive gaze and a cigarette. Neil knew he'd be drinking if the bottle wasn't so hard to hang on to.
Nicky talked to Bee a lot now a days and he was doing okay with letting go of his parents. As much as he tried, he couldn't stop his reactions to Andrew. Every time the word 'please' would start to come out of his mouth, he'd look over at Andrew and stop. Everyone noticed it, but no one said anything. The upperclassmen didn't understand and none of Andrew's group was very forthcoming, but Neil had picked up on the fact that Seth had guessed.
Seth had seen too many of Neil and Andrew's 'yes or no's to overlook all of the clues, but the volatile striker kept silent as much as possible and avoided Andrew like a disease.
Aaron was the biggest change. He didn't go out of his way to avoid Andrew. When he spoke to Andrew, it was short and usually only when needed, but he'd stopped hiding Katelyn. In the beginning of December, Neil and Andrew had been on their way to the roof when they ran into Katelyn headed for Matt, Seth, and Aaron's room.
Andrew hadn't snarled or bared his teeth. He'd nodded, which caught Katelyn up short. Neil had smiled and waved as they made their way past.
She must have told Aaron, because the next morning, Aaron had been sitting at one of the beanbags, waiting with two styrofoam cups. He handed one to Andrew, told him 'thank you' and then walked out. No one mentioned it again.
When the night before the Christmas Banquette heralded a call from Manny, Neil knew that something bad had happened. When he heard the news, he cursed his instincts.
"Neil, it's Jean Moreau. He's in Boston, badly injured. I have a private doctor with him right now, but we're not sure he'll last the night. He got the tapes out, but it'll take a while to retrieve all of it, Riko or Tetsuji, or whoever took Jean apart broke the device he used. We still have the memory chip though."
Fuck. One night, all Jean had to do was last one more night and he would have been out unharmed. What had happened at Evermore that got Jean caught?