I didn't really know how to write this chapter or the next one so I made them short and decided to push them out together BUT that being said they are kinda important to the plot… Hope you enjoy it lol.
Boyd stood, swaying in the kitchen, staring at the calendar. His internal clock was freaking the fuck out because he was pretty sure that it was the end of March but he was missing two weeks of memories, which had implications that Boyd didn't even want to think about.
"Boyd?" Boyd turned, noticing Louie, relief surging through his body.
"What happened? What did I miss?"
A sob escaped from Louie's lips and he swiftly pulled Boyd into a hug.
"There was an accident, baby, a man dressed as Jailbird took you out of the sky. You've been out of commission for a week."
Boyd frowned, holding onto Louie, mostly for comfort but also to keep his balance. Mars rubbed against their legs and Boyd wished he could derive comfort from their emotional support animal.
"I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault, Boyd. I'm just glad you're awake."
"I want to lie down," Boyd said, pressing his head into Louie's side.
"Of course, baby, let's go cuddle." Tears streamed down Boyd's face.
"I've never felt this tired before, Louie. Is this what being hungover feels like?"
"I mean? Maybe? I don't know what you're feeling right now, but I'm going to take care of you. We'll cuddle and catch up."
"I missed a whole week?"
"Yes," Louie said sadly, "But it's not your fault. I don't want you blaming yourself."
"Okay," Boyd sniffled, clinging to Louie. They lay down and Louie held Boyd close, pulling the blankets over them.
Boyd sobbed, "The sheets are so cold…"
Louie frowned deeply and cuddled Boyd closer, "They'll warm up. I'll keep you warm. I've got you, love."
"I missed a whole week…" Boyd said quietly, "What happened?"
"Some bad stuff," Louie confessed, "I… Did some bad stuff. I got drunk and trespassed on the crime scene, looking for your engagement ring. I got arrested."
Boyd lifted his hand, looking at the engagement ring, "You found it, though."
"Lil Bulb found it. Your dad and brother have been staying in the guest room since you got here." Boyd nodded, that made sense. Part of Louie's story didn't make sense though.
"You broke your sobriety because of me?" Boyd asked, sounding distressed.
"No, no, babe, I was upset that you were injured but I made the decision to drink. It wasn't your fault. I made the mistakes."
"Do you know who the Jailbird was?"
"I think so. He hasn't been caught yet." Louie set his jaw at the word yet, knowing what he had to do.
"I wish I remembered any of this, I wish I wasn't useless right now-"
Louie tightened his embrace, "Boyd, you're far from useless. You're recovering from a terrible accident. You're going to need more time to get back on your feet and that's okay. We'll go slow."
"You'll go slow too, right? You won't do anything else, anything dangerous?"
"Right," Louie lied, pulling Boyd even closer, "Let's just get some sleep right now. People are going to want to see you tomorrow."
They had guests at breakfast, Huey and his family, bringing along the breakfast and more sympathy than Louie could handle. After a couple minutes of niceties and everything bagels, Louie stepped outside to clear his head and fill his lungs with smoke.
"Dad says smoking is bad for you," Azure said, standing at the door watching Louie before Louie could light up.
"Does he?" Louie said, putting the cigarette back in the box untouched, "and what are you doing out here, little dude?"
"Scar was teasing me, so I thought I'd come out and sit on the swing," Azure said, sitting down on the back steps with Louie instead.
"Uncle Louie, what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be inside with Uncle Boyd?"
Louie sighed, "I should. I just feel a bit stressed out about everything. But don't worry about me or Uncle Boyd, okay? We're going to be just fine. We can do anything."
Azure nodded solemnly, believing every word. In his ten-year-old mind, every adult could already do everything, especially his cool relatives.
Louie decided to pivot, "Anything stressing you out that I could help with?"
"Well. Uh. You could tell me how to ask a boy out?" Azure tried to sound like he didn't really care about the answer but he cared so much and couldn't play apathetic as well as Raph.
"One, you're too young to date, two, I really don't know, buddy. I just got really lucky."
"What if I never find someone?" Azure asked fearfully.
"Again, you're nine, but trust me when I say you don't need to worry about it. The right person will stumble into your life when you least expect it."
"Thanks, Uncle Louie." Louie smiled and kissed Azure's head.
"Any time, bud. And you know, you can go to any of your parents about this kind of thing, too. They'd be happy to talk and give you advice."
"It's embarrassing," Azure mumbled, "I don't want to tell them about my crushes."
"I get that," Louie said, "you can always come to me. I will keep telling you that you're too young to date until you're at least sixteen probably, but I will listen to you, no matter what."
Azure smiled and hopped up, "Should we go inside?"
Louie nodded, "Absolutely. Thanks for chatting with me Azure. Let's go inside."
Boyd and Huey were chatting in low voices in the kitchen when Louie and Azure returned to the rest of the group in the dining room. Scarlett and Gyro were locked in an intense discussion about engineering, Gyro already wondering how old someone had to be to become an intern (probably older than nine?) while Emerald tried to earn the favor of Mars that so far only Mikey and Lil Bulb had earned.
"How are you doing?" Violet asked when Louie returned.
"Much better now that Boyd is awake. It was a hard week, but I'm okay now."
"Take care of yourself, okay, Louie?" Gosalyn said, wrapping their arm around Azure when he came over to them.
"Of course," Louie said, not mentioning any of his plans for vengeance. Vengeance wasn't exactly self-care.
"What are Huey and Boyd talking about?" Louie asked, pouring himself some coffee from the pot on the table, noticing that Scarlett had swiped her own cup of joe. If Huey noticed he would probably take it away but Louie knew the law of snitches getting stitches and Scarlett was currently protecting one of his most valuable secrets.
Huey was not trying to protect any secrets. He was trying to protect his brother. So he pulled Boyd aside the first chance he got for a little chat.
"Louie and Gyro are trying to bring Louie's old Jailbird armor back online."
"How do you know that?" Boyd asked, sounding panicked. He was still a little wobbly and tired from being brought back online himself.
"I have access to the specs for the beta armor on my tablet, I can tell when it's in use."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Boyd said, "Keep monitoring that for me. I'll talk to Louie. We didn't really get a chance to discuss his plans. Thanks for letting me know, Huey. Hopefully, I can talk him out of doing anything risky."
"Well, you'd be the first," Huey said with a sigh, knowing his brother was very hard to talk down.
"I've got this," Boyd said, a bit unsure, "Louie wouldn't do anything to hurt our relationship, not after what happened. I hate to use my injury as leverage but- well. I have leverage."
"Right. Good luck, Boyd."
Boyd curled up on the couch, Mars in his lap, when their visitors were gone. He ran his fingers through Mars' fur, his mind going at dizzying speeds trying to play catch up. Gyro shut himself up in the guest room to give them a moment of privacy and Louie joined Boyd on the couch.
"Hey," Boyd said.
"Hey. How are you feeling?"
"Dizzy," Boyd admitted, "But I'm okay. I'm more worried about you."
"Ah," Louie's face reddened, "Yeah. I fucked up, didn't I? I'm sorry for all of that."
"You made a mistake," Boyd shrugged, "A crime of passion. And a minor crime, all things considered."
"I called several cops bastards."
"You were drunk. And they were probably being bastards."
"I love you," Louie said, nuzzling his head into Boyd's neck.
"I know, I love you too. That's why I'm worried about you. Breaking your sobriety sucks but, Louie, you can get back on track. And getting arrested, damn I probably would've done the same if it had been you. But I don't want anything to happen to you. Please don't become Jailbird again for my sake."
"I will never be Jailbird again," Louie promised, but he couldn't promise that he wouldn't be something more than Jailbird. Freebird, or some shit like that. He'd come up with his anti-hero name later. But he wasn't Jailbird anymore, it had been almost a year since he'd been Jailbird. And if he did things right, he'd only have to wear the armor one more time. Once Satoshi Kojima paid for his sins Louie would be free from his alter ego and they would be safe.
"I just want to put all this behind us," Boyd said insistently.
"I couldn't agree more. Let's change the subject."
"Have you been having those nightmares again?" Boyd asked.
Louie nodded, "I finally hit the water."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to catch you," Boyd said, taking Louie's hand and rubbing his thumb over it.
"It's not your fault, love." Louie had to push down his hurt until Boyd was okay enough again.
"I love you," Boyd said, "I'll catch you next time. If you let me."
Louie thought back to his dream, "You don't even want to be caught."
"I'll try." His voice cracked and he buried his face in Boyd's neck once more, the pair holding each other in comforting silence, both hoping there wouldn't be a next time where Louie would need to be caught.