Unhinged Louie makes a reappearance :D
Louie's life was completely fucked up. It was 5 PM and he was well on his way to being wasted, having charged into his pub demanding liquor, downed a shot, and left with a full bottle of whiskey. Craig was worried and immediately hit up the Duck Family Group Chat (the one without Louie, obviously) and gave them a word of warning. He was very concerned for his boss/friend but the boss part made him unable to really stop Louie from fucking up his life.
Louie had one plan in mind. Go to the place where his husband had been grievously injured, and find the damn engagement ring. Louie was already reeling from his partner being in a robo-coma, he was not going to let the ring get lost too. He was so full of anger, sadness, fear, and alcohol that this seemed like a good idea, to go in, guns blazing. He didn't actually have his gun on hand but that was fine. He had a pissed-off helper bot who wanted to avenge his brother. He knew Lil Bulb could do some damage, and the bot was glowing red now, allowing Louie to get away with his lunacy instead of stopping him like he'd initially intended.
"I hope," Louie slurred to Lil Bulb, "I hope the bastard's still out there, I'm gonna make him pay, I'm gonna make him pay." It didn't matter that he was in even less of a condition to fight than Boyd had been, with his armor and mechanics… Boyd had still gotten wrecked. But Louie was too angry and drunk to think logically, so he prayed the Jailbird would show up for a piece of Louie's mind.
But first, the ring.
He found the crime scene by pure luck, stumbling past "Do Not Enter" tape and beginning to search the ground for the glint of rose gold. He set Lil Bulb down to search and began looking around.
"Hey, sir! You can't be here, it's an active crime scene." A cop called, moving toward him. In an oversized hoodie and purposefully ripped jeans, he might have looked a little homeless. Not that homeless people should be villainized but Louie could kind of see where this guy was coming from.
"I have a permit," Louie slurred, pulling out his wallet and waving a hundred dollar bill in the man's face.
"Are you trying to bribe an officer? I'm going to have to ask you to leave before we have to remove you ourselves." Another officer had wandered over.
"No," Louie said, jerking away from the arm the officer reached toward him, "My husband's engagement ring is, it's here, it's somewhere here, I have to find it."
"Sir, you're clearly not thinking straight, please come with us, we don't want to hurt you."
"No! Fuck you! I'm gonna find that damn ring!" Louie turned away and was promptly grabbed by the police.
"Fuck you! You're all going to hell! All cops are bastards!" Louie screamed as the cops handcuffed him and dragged him away, Lil Bulb watching, glowing red.
Louie was placed in a holding cell, not for the first time in his life, and offered one phone call. But they took his phone, which made it pretty hard to come up with a person to call. He remembered exactly two numbers, and Boyd was currently out of commission.
So he rang the houseboat landline, hoping that it still functioned and that his aunt or uncle would pick up.
"Louie, we've been worried sick about you! Where are you?"
A tired sigh reached Louie's throat before his reply, the events of today catching up to him and sobering him quickly, "Jail, Uncle Donald. I'm in jail."
"For what?" Donald asked, sounding panicked.
"Trespassing, refusing to cooperate with the pigs, resisting arrest."
"Louie," Donald said with a sigh.
"I'm not proud of it," Louie said, "I just need someone to bail me out."
"I can come in the morning, Louie," Uncle Donald said.
"That's… Fair. Thanks, Uncle Donald. I'll see you tomorrow."
"I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."
"I love you too." Louie handed the phone back to the guard and sat down on the bench in the holding cell. He felt disgusting, his head was fuzzy and his stomach was churning, the start of a hangover that he clearly deserved, the start of a nightmare he'd predicted for a while.
He was spiraling, all alone, exhausted but unable to sleep, panicked and unable to breathe.
"It's only for a week, it's only for a week," he mumbled to himself, but he wasn't sure he could last that long without Boyd.
"It's only for a week," Louie repeated, but he couldn't imagine sleeping alone.
It was one of the longest nights of his life, losing out only to the night after he found out his mom was dead, and the one time Raph had been in the hospital with a near-deadly allergic reaction to strawberries when he'd been seven and Louie had stayed with Mikey and DJ. Louie was tired but he was also still so angry, angry at himself, angry at the motherfucker who had hurt Boyd, angry (just a little) at Boyd for being a hero. He didn't want to be angry at Boyd, but he couldn't stop the feelings that rose insidiously inside of him.
Uncle Donald was there first thing in the morning, both of them quiet until they were in his car, away from the cops.
"I'm gonna sue those bastards," Louie muttered.
"Louie," Donald sighed.
"Fine, I won't. But they… But they… But I messed up."
"I know you're upset right now, but you can't take it out on random people."
"Cops aren't people."
"Louie."
"Fine, not good people. And you… You left me in jail for a reason. You bailed Dewey out way quicker when he got arrested for protesting in high school."
"Maybe it was out of line, but I thought you needed a night to cool down."
"Well, it didn't work. I'm fired up. I'm going to get my gun and I'm going right back out to find the asshole who hurt Boyd."
"Louie, listen to me. No vigilante justice. Putting your life in danger is not going to make Boyd recover any faster."
"I'm really sorry, Uncle Donald," Louie said, though Donald had no idea what Louie was apologizing for.
"Everything is going to be okay, Louie. They're going to catch that guy."
"What if they don't?" Louie asked, "What if the new Jailbird hurts someone else? Someone in our family?"
"Our family is tough, Louie. We're not going to let that happen."
"It already happened to Boyd!"
"And that was terrible, Lou. A tragedy. Boyd shouldn't have gotten hurt but because he did we now know what's out there and we'll be prepared for whatever comes next."
"What comes next?" Louie asked tiredly.
"What comes next is that you go home, eat some breakfast, take your antidepressants, and get some rest."
"And then what?"
"I don't know, Louie. You just have to trust that it will all work out."
"I don't know if I can trust that anymore," Louie said, pressing his head against the window.
"I know it's hard right now. But you have to try." Louie nodded but didn't say anything more for the rest of the ride.
"Alright, Louie. Eat breakfast, take your pills, take a nap," Donald reiterated when he pulled up next to Louie's house.
"Who's car is in the driveway?" Louie asked, puzzled.
"Oh, I think that's Gyro's. He and Huey moved Boyd so he could wake up here."
Louie smiled at that, a small and pained smile but a smile all the same.
"I'm glad Boyd is here."
"They knew you would be. I love you, take care of yourself." Donald got out of the car and held his nephew close for a moment before Louie headed inside.
"Eat breakfast and clean yourself up," Gyro instructed, "I have something to show you."
"Can you show me quieter?" Louie asked, exhaustion flooding over him.
"Mm. Right. Hangover… Eat breakfast, take a nap, clean yourself up, and then I have something to show you."
"Is Boyd alright?"
"He's recovering. You don't need to worry about the repairs, I know what I'm doing."
"Right, I know but… Will he be the same after he wakes up?"
"Well, he might be a little… Groggy? For a bit, but he's going to be the same person. Boyd's been through a lot, but he's always been the same at his core. He's tough like that."
"Thanks, Gyro. I appreciate you being here to make sure he's okay."
Gyro hesitated, "I'm here for you, too. Now go deal with your shit. I think you'll like what I have to show you." Intrigued, Louie went to go deal with his shit.