Chapter 36

As they made their way through the garden, Piper could tell Jason was distracted. He wasn't overly talkative normally, but usually if she initiated the conversation he would gladly take part. Now though, he was giving limited answers, and didn't seem to interested in keeping the conversation going.

After a little while of this, Piper sighed, looking over at him, before softly speaking "You're worried about tonight?"

For a moment she wasn't sure Jason was going to answer, and really he didn't have to. Of course he was nervous, they all were. Than Jason spoke "Of course. I mean- a lot can go wrong."

"Of course," Piper agreed, nodding a bit, before glancing around at the garden again. Somehow it had sort of become a thing they did, walking around the garden when Jason wasn't busy and Piper wanted some company. It happened more than either of them had really expected. After a moment she added "And you're worried about Leo? Not just getting him out, but just in general."

"I am," Jason admitted, sighing a bit at that and focusing on one of the flowers as he spoke "He has a habit of getting himself into trouble."

"He's not going to be alone," Piper said softly, looking over at him "He'll find the others, and then they'll all get out of here before the king can do anything."

"I know that- but I still can't help but be worried," Jason shook his head a bit "And even though I know it's the best thing for him is to get as far away from here as possible, I'm still upset. It's going to be weird to not have him around anymore."

"You really care about him," Piper said softly as she looked over at Jason, finding his face rather easy to read for once.

"He's my best friend," Jason shrugged a bit at that, slipping his hands into his pockets "It's been a long time since he hasn't been around to pull me off on crazy adventures. I know it's the only option, but it feels wrong that he has to leave. He loves his job, he finally has a stable life."

"What about his family?" Piper asked hesitantly, still watching Jason closely, trying not to push this to far, but also getting the feeling that this was something he needed to talk about.

"He has an aunt and uncle, who he lived with for awhile, but from what I understand they weren't all that nice," Jason sighed as he thought about it "I don't know about his dad, but his mom died in a fire when he was young. That's how we met- her grave is in the yard of the church where I grew up, and he was visiting it one night."

A small smile appeared on Jason's face as he spoke, making Piper look at him curiously. He hadn't said anything particularly happy, besides meeting Leo. The circumstances actually seemed rather grim, so after a moment she found herself prompting him again "There is more to that story, isn't there?"

"Yeah, there is," Jason agreed, smiling a bit more at that, before he continued "I caught him trying to steal some food from the back room. I made some point about stealing from the church, and his response was that if the church was the house of God, than really it was God he was stealing from, and if God was really as loving as everyone said he wouldn't mind. Also that we should fix the lock on the back door if we didn't want thieves. I couldn't really argue with either of those statements."

"So you let him take it?" Piper asked, smiling as well as she listened. It sounded like something Leo would do, manage to talk his way not only out of getting in trouble, but also managing to leave with the items as well.

"I asked him if he knew how to fix locks," Jason replied, shrugging a bit "He did, so I told him that if he took the food it was only right to do something for God in return. The next day he came back and offered to fix the lock, claiming he had just noticed it while he was out in the yard. I ended up spending some time talking to him- and he came to help with more things when he would stop by. A friendship just sort of developed."

"Was he a druid yet?" Piper asked curiously as she looked over at him "If his mother was, than surely she wouldn't have been buried in a church yard, they have their own rituals for death, don't they?"

"She wasn't, but yes, he was," Jason hesitated for a moment, and Piper knew he was debating if this was alright for him to be telling her. At this point though, what does it matter? Apparently Jaon agreed, since he continued "After her ran away from his aunt and uncle, they took him in. I'm not sure how long he was on his own, and even after he joined them he was still a bit of a loner, which was why he was often at the church on his own. Still, he appreciates the traditions, and he is still beyond grateful to them for what they did to help."

Piper nodded, getting the urge to reach over and slip her hand into his, but she resisted. They could be very relaxed in the garden by themselves, but she doubted Jason would be comfortable with that, especially when there was still a chance someone else would come upon them. "And then you both ended up here? Was that planned?"

"Not really. I got the job first, wanted to get away, and like I said I was looking for adventure," Jason shrugged, glancing back at the flowers again "Once I was here I heard about the blacksmith job, and I knew Leo enjoyed tinkering with things so I suggested it to him. That's when he told me he was a druid, since he was worried about being found out."

A look came over Jason's face, one that she hadn't seen before, and after a moment Piper realized that it was guilt. Sighing slightly, she looked over at him "It wasn't your fault Jason, you couldn't have known that this would happen."

"I convinced him this was a good idea, that blacksmiths wear gloves all the time anyway," Jason replied, shaking his head in response to that, still not looking at her "Even if someone did see it I figured he could pretend it had to do with being a smith. I was wrong, and now he is in the dungeons."

"It wasn't your fault," Piper repeated, stopping to try and catch his eye, though he was still not really looking at her "This was years ago. He got stuck in a bad situation, you couldn't have done anything about it. Besides, we are going to get him out of it, so no harm done."

"There's still harm done," Jason said very softly "He still has to leave. Abandon his life and a job that he loves."

That caught Piper slightly off guard, but it was true. Even if they got Leo out, he was still going to lose a lot. It wasn't fair, but she wasn't sure what they could do about it, or how to make it better. Maybe there wasn't anything that could be done.

She had no idea what else to say, and luckily before she had to Jason spoke again, seeming to have shaken off the conversation a bit "We should go. Dinner will be starting soon, and then- well- hopefully tonight doesn't end with all of us in much deeper trouble than Leo already is."

"Right," Piper nodded, giving him a small smile, before changing their direction to head back towards the entrance of the garden "Let's go stage a jailbreak."