In Your Head

"Ok, you need to behave in here." Cassie said, walking into the county jail with her father, signing some things at the front desk as Punk looked around.

"I've probably been in here more times than you have." Punk scoffed.

"Not something to brag about, dad." Cassie hummed, walking on down the corridor as Punk followed, "I shouldn't even have you with me."

"Well I wanna talk to this guy." Punk shrugged, walking down the corridor as Cassie lead the way, "Has Jude left to go home yet?"

"Yeah she had an early flight." Cassie said.

"I'm surprised she came all the way out just to go to a strip club with you." Punk rolled his eyes.

"Well… when little sis needs help she gets it." Cassie nodded to him, "I didn't wanna ask Thea obviously. That's nothing she needs to be around."

"Good call." Punk agreed.

"We had fun, though. It was nice seeing her." Cassie said, "So how's mom holding up with all of this? Obviously she's worried."

"She's doing ok." Punk said, "She's just suspicious. And I think she has a right to be. It's not like we're just being delusional or anything."

"Of course not." Cassie agreed, walking into a room and closing the door over, "Ok, take a seat." She told him.

"Ok, I'm not the one you're questioning here." Punk smiled, amused. He did beam with pride that his daughter was a cop, even despite his troubles in that area in the past. It was something she loved and was good at, and that definitely showed.

"Still, just sit down." Cassie scoffed as Punk took a seat at the table.

"So he didn't get bail?" Punk asked.

"No." Cassie said, sitting down next to him as they waited for Mark to be brought in.

"And what was his role in all that shit with the dealership? Was he dealing?" Punk asked.

"No, but he was withdrawing evidence from the police station to make sure he was protecting them over at the dealership. Sending the pictures to Jude was a form of blackmail." Cassie said as Punk nodded, "Seriously, you can't let off steam in here." She turned to him.

"Ok, I get it. Quit treating me like a kid." Punk shook his head as Cassie rolled her eyes, watching the door open as Mark was brought into the room in handcuffs by a security guard.

Punk watched as the man, perhaps just a little older than Cassie, walked into the room and sat down at the table, staring at them both.

"You don't need to stay in here. We're fine." Cassie told the guard who nodded.

"I'll be outside." He said, leaving the room as Cassie looked over at Mark.

"What's this about, Cassie?" Mark questioned, leaning his elbows on the table.

"Won't take long." Cassie assured him, "What do you know about Joey Striker?" She asked, "You guys pals?"

"What's he doing here?" Mark asked, looking at Punk, "He your bodyguard?" He chuckled as Punk looked at him, "Is Theo still crying about his case being taken from him?" He smiled, amused, leaning back on the chair.

"Answer my question." Cassie said.

"I know Joey." Mark shrugged, "We're pals."

"How'd you become friends?" Cassie asked, "And why did you tell him about what happened to my sister." She said angrily.

"He asked about your mom a few years ago after it just happened." Mark shrugged, "So I told him."

"What'd he ask about my mom?" Cassie asked.

"Just how she was doing. I only knew because Sean worked at the station. I saw your mom come and go sometimes. So I told him she was fine. Had a nice family. Beautiful daughters." He smiled to Cassie who glared back at him.

"Tell us about Joey." Punk looked at him.

"Sorry, I'll only answer to cops." Mark nodded smugly as Punk stood up and grabbed him up from the chair by only his t-shirt.

"Dad." Cassie hissed.

"Oh, you'll answer to me." Punk nodded, pushing him back down onto the seat as Mark rubbed his neck, "Tell us about him." Punk said angrily, sitting back down.

"He was a friend of my family's." Mark said, "We'd go for a drink every now and then. There's really not much to say." He shrugged.

"Did he know about you? About what you were doing on the down low?" Cassie asked as Mark shook his head.

"No, I don't know how he could have." Mark shook his head, "I didn't make it public knowledge."

"Who told you to send those pictures?" Punk asked.

"Dad." Cassie nudged him with her leg.

"Someone obviously did. Clearly you were taking orders, right?" Punk said, "So who told you?"

"No one. Boss man told me to do whatever I could to get Theo to back off, so I had to come up with something quick. Didn't matter in the end, I guess." Mark shrugged.

"You're a pig." Cassie spat.

"And you're a useless as hell cop." Mark nodded to her, "What were Theo's exact words when he first met you? Too pretty and dumb to be a cop." He smiled, "We all joked about it."

"Shut up." Cassie spat as Punk glared at Mark.

"I'd bring up some other things Theo told us about you but… maybe not with your dad in the room." Mark nodded as Cassie looked across at him.

"Cut the bullshit." Punk spat, "You know Joey and I don't buy that you two were just conveniently friends and went for a drink together sometimes. I think he's just as much bad news as you are."

"He did speak an awful lot about your wife." Mark nodded, "Even when he was married. I don't know, I think he's just a guy who's still hung up on a girl. Happens to the best of us." He said, looking over at Cassie who wasn't saying anything.

"Ok, we're done here." Cassie nodded, standing up from the table as Punk looked up.

"No… we're not." Punk said.

"Yes, we are." Cassie said, knocking on the door for the guard to come in.

"Nice chatting with you both." Mark smiled, standing up and leaving the room, smiling to Cassie with more emphasis on his way by.

"What the hell? We could have gotten something out of him." Punk said angrily.

"He wasn't gonna say shit." Cassie shook her head, leaving the room as Punk followed.

"He was saying that he always spoke about your mom. He was starting to speak." Punk said, mad that Cassie had cut it short.

"Look, this is not your job. You shouldn't even be here." Cassie shook her head.

"Look, whatever he was saying to you, he's just getting in your head. You're right there. There is something about Joey that isn't right. They two know each other for a reason." Punk said.

"I have work to do, dad." Cassie nodded to him, walking away.

"Cassie." Punk threw his hands up with confusion, watching her leave the jail as he shook his head.

"Can you eat your broccoli, please?" Cassie nodded to Chase, sitting at dinner with him and Theo.

"I've ate enough." Chase huffed, managing all he could, nudging his plate forward.

"You barely touched the veg. Please eat a little more for me." Cassie nodded to him.

"He's done fine." Theo looked over, "If he's full he's full." He shrugged as Cassie turned.

"Well I'm saying he needs to eat more." Cassie nodded to him bluntly as Theo looked at her with confusion, surprised with the tone, but not too surprised as it appeared she was in a strange mood since he'd gotten home.

"Listen to mom." Theo nodded to Chase who took a piece of broccoli with his hand from the plate.

"Use your fork, babe." Cassie nodded to him as Chase slightly rolled his eyes and grabbed his fork.

"So you've not said how it went with Mark today?" Theo asked her.

"It was fine." Cassie shrugged.

"Just fine?" Theo asked, sitting beside her.

"Yeah. He didn't say much. Pretty pointless." Cassie nodded.

"It's weird seeing people you were kinda close to become something else." Theo shook his head, "I would never have thought he'd end up in this position."

"Didn't know you two were pals." Cassie mumbled.

"Well we weren't. Conversation here and there." Theo said as Cassie nodded, taking a drink of her water as Theo watched her, "You ok?" He had to ask.

"Mhm." Cassie nodded to him.

"Now I'm finished." Chase sighed, nudging his plate away again as Cassie nodded.

"Good boy." Cassie smiled.

"Good boys get ice-cream later." Theo nodded to Chase who grinned, jumping off the chair and running into the living room.

"Don't run around." Cassie called.

"He'll be off to watch the news." Theo teased as Cassie concentrated more on her food, "You sure you're good?"

"I'm fine." Cassie nodded.

"Was Mark bothering you?" Theo asked. Sometimes it was like trying to get blood out of a stone when trying to figure out what was wrong with his wife.

"No." Cassie shook her head as Theo nodded.

"Was your dad bothering you?" He teased as Cassie didn't respond, "Ok, what's going on? What have I done?" He shook his head with confusion.

"Nothing." Cassie stood up, clearing their plates from dinner and dumping them at the sink to wash, "I'm too dumb and pretty to be bothered." She shrugged as Theo stood up.

"What?" He shook his head with confusion.

"When we first started getting together, were you… telling people about us?" She asked him as he looked across at her, "Your friends at the station? Were you telling them about me?" She shook her head.

"What are you talking about?" Theo shook his head, "Where's this coming from?"

"Just answer the question." Cassie said as he looked at her.

"Well… yeah, maybe it slipped out a few times. I mean we were just fooling around back then." Theo said.

"That never gave you the right to speak about it with everyone." Cassie said, "And when you met me… the pretty and dumb comment… what was that about?"

"That was me teasing you, Cass. Obviously." Theo shook his head with confusion, "You know how the station is. Everyone's teasing each other."

"How come yours felt personal towards me?" Cassie asked, "Like you really meant it."

"I'd known you for like an hour. Why are you bringing this up? And yeah, I did think wow this girl is super beautiful-"

"And stupid?" Cassie asked.

"It was a joke. You're not stupid. Far from it." Theo said.

"And telling your friends about sleeping with me? Bragging about it? Tell them details? What'd you tell them?" She asked as he looked at her.

"What? What the hell did Mark say to you?" Theo screwed his eyes up.

"What did you tell them?" Cassie questioned, "Just bro chat?"

"I just said we were having a good time. Which we were. We were also just friends so-"

"So you had a right to give them details? That's humiliating for me. To have been walking around and knowing people knew my business like that." Cassie said, "You suck, you know that?"

"This was years ago. We're married now. You really gonna start bringing up things from the past to argue about?"

"Well there's a hell of a lot to choose from." Cassie scoffed.

"Look, I'm not perfect. You know that. And maybe I was a dick back then, thinking I had it good with you. No commitment and all but then… then I fell in love with you." He nodded, "And that's better than anything."

"Whatever." Cassie shook her head, not amused, leaving the kitchen.

"Cassie." Theo called as she left the kitchen without responding.