Aware
"What the hell are you doing with that?" Punk shook his head.
You're coming with me." Dean pointed the bat at him.
"Where? And don't point that thing at me." Punk swatted the bat away with his hand.
"Chrissy's." Dean said, "I've just came from Sarah's house. Brandon has been hurting her." Dean shook his head as Punk looked at him.
"What?" Punk shook his head.
"What's going on?" AJ came behind Punk, noticing Dean standing, and then noticing the bat, "What the hell are you doing with that?" She asked with wide eyes.
"What-What do you mean he's been hurting her?" Punk shook his head.
"Abusing her. Lifting his hands to her. What the hell do you think I mean?" Dean shook his head, breathing through his nostrils only, feeling like he was going to combust with his angry and hot he felt his blood.
"For real?" Punk asked with shock.
"Yes, for real." Dean nodded, "I've busted up some noses for you in the past, you owe me this." He said.
"I really don't think this is what Chrissy needs right now, Dean." AJ said with horror, "What the hell are you gonna do? Beat the guy to death? End up in prison?"
"I'm gonna give him what he deserves." Dean said.
"How did you find out?" AJ asked.
"Sarah called me, told me to come to the house. Chrissy then started yelling at her and told her she didn't want me to know. I'm standing there like an idiot, not having a fucking clue what's going on, then Sarah blurts it out. I think it's a joke at first." Dean shook his head, "I mean… fuck." Dean spat angrily as Punk watched him, "If you don't love someone, ask them for a fucking divorce. Don't fucking hurt them. I swear I'm gonna just…" He swung his baseball bat, smacking a flower pot that sat at the front door.
AJ turned to Punk, "This is all you." She put her hands up. She could handle her brother-in-law pretty well, but when he went that little bit too far, she passed the torch to her husband, "I'm gonna contact Renee." She said as Punk nodded, watching her walk back to the kitchen.
He turned back to his brother who was repeatedly striking the bat off the ground angrily as Punk watched.
"Alright alright." Punk shook his head, "Just calm down." He advised as Dean gritted his teeth, huffing like an angry bull, "Chrissy doesn't need this right now."
"You raise your hand to a woman, you get beat." Dean pointed the bat at him.
"If you don't stop pointing this thing at me." Punk spat, yanking the bat from Dean.
"Give it to me." Dean said angrily.
"You're going to end up doing something you regret. I've been here before, alright? I know the feeling." Punk said, "Did you stay long enough to get the details?"
"I don't need details. He's been hurting her. Period. I don't care if it was one time or if it was dozens of times." Dean said, "Don't humour me as if you wouldn't be out there looking for blood if this was one of your kids."
"I would sure try to but… I'd hope someone would come stop me. You or April." Punk said as Dean looked at him, "It won't even be worth it. Don't waste your time with him. Go be there for Chrissy. Make sure she knows you're there for her right now." He said as Dean looked at him.
"Give me the bat." Dean nodded.
"No." Punk shook his head.
"Come on, I'm not fucking around." Dean shook his head angrily.
"You're useless to everyone if you behave like this. Trust me, I know." Punk nodded, "Go with Renee, and go be there for Chrissy." He said as Dean looked at him.
"Give me the bat or I'll drop you on your ass right where you're standing." Dean said, "Let's not pretend I didn't win most of our fights growing up." He said as Punk rolled his eyes.
"I let you win." Punk scoffed.
"Give me it." Dean moved forward, getting into Punk's personal space, trying to reach for the bat as Punk held it behind him, feeling Dean jab him in the stomach as he doubled over a little.
"Give me that!" AJ snapped, snatching the bat from Punk as Dean looked over at, "What you gonna do? Drop me on my ass?" She asked him.
"You two seriously are the most annoying people in my life." Dean nodded.
"Shut up." AJ spat, "Go be there for your daughter. That's what she needs right now. She doesn't need you walking around Chicago with a baseball bat ready to bash her husband's brains out." She said as Dean looked at her, "You're not a kid anymore and I can't mother you both with these things-"
"Both? Why am I getting roped into this?" Punk turned to her.
"Dean." AJ said as Dean looked at her, "Phil will drive you to Chrissy's." She told him as Dean looked at her, bowing his head a little and stepping back.
Punk grabbed the car keys from the pot by the door, "Go." Punk told Dean who turned around, making his way to the car as Punk followed, turning back to AJ who just shook her head. It wasn't the first time they'd had to save Dean from himself.
"Hey." Theo said, walking over to Cassie who was sat at her desk, staring in a trance until he came over, "How long you been out here?"
"Uh… about an hour." Cassie said as Theo drew a chair up beside her, sitting down.
"How'd it go?" Theo asked her, hesitantly of course.
"I mean… what am I supposed to say?" She asked him as he nodded, "I think he was there." She whispered as Theo looked at her, "Vincent."
"What'd Mark tell you?" Theo asked.
"Just what he overheard from Vincent." Cassie said, "Can't think of any reason why he'd wanna lie? Why he'd come in here and bring all this unwanted attention his way." She said.
"So you think Vincent was there that night? In the house?" Theo asked as Cassie nodded.
"Yeah. The things Mark heard implied that he'd… saw Jude naked or… in that sort of environment." Cassie took a deep breath, "We should have realised it at the time."
"We? Cass, you were like fifteen." Theo shook his head.
"Ok so… everyone else then." Cassie said with frustration, "Why didn't my mom and dad question why Vincent was so eager to help them? I mean he practically delivered them to Rio's remaining workers. He posed as their friend. Like they were all gonna take Rio down but he was… he was always on the other side." She shook her head, "Just so happened that Karen was there that night to really finish it all."
"Do you think Vincent spoke with Rio after it?" Theo asked her.
"No, he couldn't have. He wasn't allowed any visits from anyone. He was in solitary confinement for the majority of his days."
"No wonder the guy offed himself." Theo nodded, "What's Karen's next steps?"
"She wants to bring Vincent in for questioning." Cassie nodded, "It's pretty much all she can do. And I don't know if talking to Jude about it would just do more damage than good. It's asking her to go through that process again. The questioning. The speculating. The not knowing. We all saw what that did to her." She shook her head.
"I guess there's nothing else to do now but talk to him." Theo said as she nodded.
"He's obviously going to deny it. And Jude could never testify to him being there because she doesn't remember. You know what they do in court if there's no hard proof evidence." She shook her head.
"We're gonna prove that he was there." Theo nodded to her, "Something is going to catch him out."
"It's gonna be difficult to put ourselves back ten years." Cassie said.
"Cases from even longer ago have been cracked eventually." Theo assured her, "It's not impossible."
"When are you clocking out?" She asked him.
"Just now." Theo said, "I text my mom, I'm picking up Chase when I leave here." He told her as Cassie nodded.
"Ok. I might stay for a little bit longer. Will you be ok?" She asked him as he nodded with a smile.
"I'll be fine." He nodded, leaning over and kissing her head, "Eat something, yeah? Coffee isn't food." He reminded her, flicking her chin as she made a face at him, watching as he got up and headed to clock out for the night.
"What were you doing here?" Punk asked, standing outside Sarah's house with Thea.
He'd dropped a calmer Dean off, only to find Thea was there.
"I came over to check on Chrissy. I knew she was going to Sarah's after work today. I didn't think Sarah would call Dean, though. Chrissy looked ready to put her through the wall." Thea shook her head.
"I reckon it's something him and Renee should know. Don't you?" Punk asked.
"Yeah, I guess." Thea said, "It's shitty."
"Yeah." Punk nodded in agreement.
"I mean… you think you know someone. Just goes to show you never know what's going on with anyone. Not really." Thea shook her head.
"How long has it been going on for?" Punk asked her.
"She said a few months but I reckon longer." Thea nodded, "I'm surprised Dean is so calm."
"Well you should have seen him about an hour ago." Punk shook his head, "I talked to him on the way here. Calmed him down a little." He said as Thea nodded.
"I think she's gonna stay with Sarah for now. The divorce could be ugly." Thea said as Punk nodded.
"How'd you get close to all of this?" Punk asked her.
"I just… I don't know, I had a weird feeling about it. When I saw her that day in the hospital, she just seemed different, frightened." Thea said, "I don't know, ever since I've started therapy I'm a lot more aware of other people." She nodded.
"How's it been going?" He asked her.
"Yeah, it's ok." Thea shrugged, "It's hard to motivate myself sometimes."
"You know it's worth it for the long haul." Punk said as she nodded.
"Yeah." Thea agreed, "Speaking of being aware of other people… I haven't heard from Jude or Cassie since Halloween." She looked at him, "Have you?"
"No, actually." Punk shook his head, "I think Sean and Jude had a fight. She went back to New York and he stayed. He got a flight out, though so I'm sure they worked it out." He shrugged as Thea nodded.
"You think Dean is gonna go see Brandon?" Thea asked him, "By see I mean attack." She scoffed.
"I talked him round, I think. His priority should be Chrissy." Punk said as Thea nodded.
"You wanna go get something to eat?" She asked him.
"Don't you have kids to go feed?" Punk smiled a little.
"They're staying with Dominic's brother tonight and Dominic is working late so… it was dinner for one anyway." She shrugged, "You can take something home for mom."
"Yeah, alright." Punk nodded, "Best to give them some space right now anyway." He said, looking to the house where Dean and Renee were with their daughters.
"Yeah she doesn't need everyone hanging around." Thea agreed, "You're paying, right?" She nodded to him.
"Get in the car." Punk rolled his eyes as she chuckled, getting in the car as he got behind the wheel.