A/N: Happy Monday. That is all.
After a moment Walt coughed politely and Saul stepped back and let him finish treating Ruby.
"There," Walt said cheerfully after a few moments. "All done. Let me just get you some more analgesia, okay? You'll need to get plenty of rest and I don't want you using that arm anytime soon."
"Okay," she nodded sleepily, as he brought out a syringe and carefully gave her the shot. "Let me just get my clothes back on, an' then I'll get Lizzie and I'll be out of your hair."
Walt shot Saul a look that was two parts concern and one part disapproval.
Honestly, it wasn't like that was his idea of a good plan either. "You should stay here, Ruby," he told her gently. "For tonight at the very least." He hesitated. "Unless you have somewhere else you want to go."
"No..." she shook her head. "There's nothing for us in New York now. Saul, are you sure?"
"Of course," he said, almost indignant. He was not in the habit of putting children out onto the street.
"I said you should get lots of rest," Walt added with a smile. "Go against doctor's orders and you don't get a lollipop."
She giggled slightly. "Okay, then. I'll stay. I need to go find Lizzie."
She walked out the room and Saul turned to Walt with a frown. "She's really alright?" he asked.
"Yes, she'll be fine," Walt promised.
That was good.
"Let her down gently, will you?" Walt added, busying himself tidying his medical bag.
Saul blinked. Let her down...? "What?" he asked, when he was convinced that Walt wasn't going to elaborate.
Walt looked up at him and sighed. "Ruby. She's a nice kid and she's much too young for you."
"There's nothing like that," he said at once, indignantly. "She's still a child. For God's sake, Walt, don't be ridiculous."
"Uh huh." Walt gazed at him. "You might want to let her know that. Because she looks at you like you're her own personal white knight."
Oh, this was still completely ridiculous. He wasn't young, he wasn't handsome...and he remembered a couple of looks he'd noticed. Remembered the way her eyes shone.
Oh, hell.
Still, he had other things to worry about right at this moment in time. He took a deep breath. "Danny - "
" - he's got a fever," Walt cut in understandingly. "It's nothing to seriously worry about, and it's not exactly unexpected. He's injured, he's not been in the most sanitary conditions, throw in a touch of dehydration and malnutrition...his immune system is struggling a little, that's all. I've started him on antibiotics." He grimaced. "It would be better if he'd stay in bed but unfortunately I'm not as persuasive as you. I was going to sedate him again, but he had some strenuous objections to that idea. I didn't want to do it without his permission. Not unless I have to, anyway." He laughed. "Apart from anything else, he's fifty years younger than me and I'm not up to anything undignified. You need to talk to him, Saul."
He nodded and he wasn't exactly sure he was going to have much more luck persuading Danny this time. He sighed. "Thank you, Walt," he said gratefully. "I'll get you your - "
" - Saul?" Walt interrupted levelly. "You even think about mentioning money to me right now, I'm going to take it as an insult."
Right. He'd avoid doing that for the moment then. "I'd better go see how Bobby's getting on," he said.
He found Bobby in the living room, surrounded by street maps and staring at a set of hand drawn floor plans. He looked up at Saul quickly. "The street address checks out to Brownville," he said quickly. "East side of the street, near the railway track, right in the middle of the area we thought...I'm as certain as I need to be, Saul."
Saul nodded. "Ruby got the address from Mike's wallet," he told Bobby. "A scrap of paper with Patrick's name on. I'm sold."
"She took Lizzie through to the kitchen," Bobby commented. "She'd asked for something to eat. I told her to help herself to as much as she wanted." A shadow crossed his face. "She took some persuading I meant it." He shook his head tightly. "Danny went with them. He'll make sure they get whatever they want."
"Good," he said simply. He frowned down at the plans. "He talked you through these? This the house?"
"Yeah," Bobby agreed. "Don't know anything about upstairs, and as far as I can tell there's only one door."
Which wasn't good. He stared at them thoughtfully, looking for inspiration.
Bobby grimaced apologetically. "We're going to need to get the cops involved. I can't see any help for it. If I'm with them to neutralise Patrick and Mike, if he's there - "
" - then I can sneak in and get Rusty out while they're distracted," Saul finished. "It's still the middle of the night. If we're lucky, Patrick will be upstairs asleep and Rusty will be in the...basement." He shivered a little at the thought. Still. Easy in and easy out. He tapped his finger against the drawing of the kitchen window. "There?"
"There," Bobby agreed. He stood up. "I'll phone it in. Say I've got an anonymous tip for the address, and a warning Patrick may have a hostage. That should discourage indiscriminate shooting anyway."
That was what they wanted to avoid at all costs. And it looked like this was their best hope. He stood up too. "I need to have a quick word with Danny," he said, heading for the door.
They were almost there. In his head, he asked Rusty to hang on just a little longer.
His hand was on the door handle when he heard a commotion coming from the hallway, right at the front door. He froze for a second, trying to make sense of who and what.
Danny's voice. And Ruby's.
"Get out of the way," Danny was saying insistently. "I've got to go find Rusty. He needs me."
"I don't think you should be going anywhere," Ruby said, sounding like she was trying to be firm. "You don't look well. And I'm sure your Dad wouldn't like it."
"Saul's not my Dad," Danny said shortly and Saul heard Ruby's soft gasp. He tried to persuade himself it didn't hurt. After all, it was nothing less than the truth. And he almost didn't hear Danny's next words, Danny's voice was so slow and soft. "He's my brother's Dad..." A brief pause and now Danny sounded frantic again. "I've got to get to Rusty. Move out of the way. Please."
Saul opened the door quickly. "You're not going anywhere, Daniel," he said, and Ruby looked relieved to see him while Danny looked at him obstinately. "I need you to go back to your room, lie down and get some rest."
Danny laughed humourlessly. "That's not gonna happen. I know the address now, Saul. I heard her say it. That's where Rusty is, and do you really think I'm going to sit and - "
" - yes!" Saul cut in insistently. "We've been through this, Danny. You're not nearly recovered enough for any of this. I'm not going to put you in a position to get yourself killed."
"I'm fine," Danny lied wildly.
Saul looked at him. His arm was braced against the wall, taking as much weight as possible off his feet. Thankfully, he hadn't tried to put his shoes on, and he was standing with his feet twisted beneath them, so that as little of his soles as possible came into contact with the carpet. There were bruises covering every single bit of skin that Saul could see, and beneath that he looked hot and flushed and feverish.
Fine. Yeah, right. Not even close. "Always try to keep at least the possibility of truth in your lies, Danny," he said gently.
"Rusty needs me," Danny whispered, soft and broken.
"Yes he does," Saul agreed, without the slightest hesitation. "And I'm going to bring him back. Bobby's calling the cops right now. They're going to raid the house. And while Patrick and Mike are busy with them, I'll slip in and get Rusty. We've got a plan, Danny. We'll be back before you know it."
Danny blinked glassily. "What about Dirk?"
Oh. He supposed Danny hadn't been very coherent at that point. Ruby was trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, leaning against the door. Saul didn't look at her. "Dirk's dead," he told Danny evenly, and prayed that there'd be no more questions right now.
"Oh." Danny took a deep breath. "Rusty thinks I'm dead."
"I'll tell him you're not," Saul said understandingly because Rusty needed to hear that as soon as possible.
"He'll want to go after Patrick," Danny went on.
Yeah. Saul was quite sure he would. "I won't let him," he promised. "I'm not going to let either of you do anything that'll put you in danger right now, you hear me?"
Danny bit his lip. "I could just wait in the car," he offered.
Saul tried not to laugh. "No you couldn't," he pointed out gently. "Neither could I." Waiting in the car, knowing that Rusty was inside the house, afraid and in danger? That just wasn't within the realm of possibility. He sighed. "Look at me, Danny," he instructed, and he waited until Danny obeyed. "Do you really think there's anything that you would do to get Rusty back that I wouldn't do?"
There was a long, long moment. And Saul held his breath for every second.
Finally, Danny shook his head. "No," he said in a whisper.
Saul exhaled heavily. "Good," he said. "There isn't." Bobby was standing in the hall behind him, obviously ready to go. He managed to smile at Danny. "Stay here, listen to Walt and look after Ruby and Lizzy," he instructed. "We'll bring Rusty back soon."
He could only hope he was telling the truth.