Mini-Bright showing up with two kids in tow wasn't what JT expected when she told Dani, "We'll be there."
Nothing at this point should come as a surprise really. Not after everything that happened the past few days. Bright's girlfriend turning up dead, an assassin trying to kill his pops in his cell at Claremont, Bright arrested on suspicion of murder of the man who tried to kill his pops, Endicott revealed as the head of a serial killer ring, Batman a real-life crimefighter, Talons, underground cabals controlling shit… what's left, honestly?
A voice in the back of JT's head warned him not to tempt shit by asking.
Less he knew at this point, the better.
So he believed, anyway.
"Damian, Christopher," Mini-Bright said when the three reached where he and Dani stood. "This is Detective Tarmel and his partner, Detective Powell."
A snotty ffff came from the boy on her left while the taller of the two flashed them a lopsided grin.
"Don't mind my cousin," the kid, Christopher told them. "He's like this with everyone."
A Tt was accompanied by a roll of eyes a rich shade of green and a crisp, "My cousin is nice to everyone." Those eyes raked JT and Dani. "Even if they are unworthy of it."
"Damian." Mini-Bright's tone was sharp with disapproval. "That was uncalled for. Apologize to the detectives."
The kid gave her a dead-eyed predator look. One that didn't impress Mini-Bright one bit.
He did not, however, apologize.
"Where's Bright?" Dani glanced behind Lite-Bright, brow creased. "Isn't he with you?"
"My danger prone dope is home." A hint of mischief flashed briefly in Mini-Bright's dark eyes. "And probably trying to convince his babysitter to let him off his leash."
JT snorted a laugh.
"You mean his skinny ass actually stayed at home?"
Bright obeying orders happened about as often as pigs flying over the Empire State Building. It was the biggest bone of contention they had with the guy. Well, that, he amended as a loud bang came from the children's ward, and the fact doesn't call for backup.
"You knocked him out and cuffed him to something, right?"
"Didn't need too."
"Yeah?" JT glared at a reporter who managed to sneak by the hospital security and uniformed officers guarding the entrance to the floor. The guy went white as the paint on the waiting room walls and beat it back without a word. "Why's that?"
"He doesn't know I'm here."
"He don't know you're here?" JT's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "How'd you manage to keep him from finding out where you were going?"
"The kids and I were just leaving the grocery store when Dani called to say Evan had taken children hostage."
"Lemon Jello." The ends of Dani's lips curled. "Right?"
An echoing smile briefly graced Lite-Bright's lips.
"And Twizzlers."
Dani hummed a small laugh.
"Of course."
"Uncle Mal can't function without Twizzlers or Dum-Dum's." A grin teased out Christopher's dimples. "They're like his spinach."
Confusion shot through JT. Far as he knew Bright had a younger sister, Ainsley. Who would have been sixteen when this kid was born.
"Bright's your uncle?" Dani asked, saving JT from doing it. When the kid nodded, she added, "How? Bright only has one sister."
"Well, he's unofficially-but-officially a member of the family."
"How is he unofficially-but-officially a member of the family?"
"Well, Grandpa Bruce hasn't adopted Uncle Mal like he did Mom, Dad, Aunt Cass, Uncle Tim and Jason, but we all think of him as family so he's unofficially-but-officially a part of it."
"I do not consider Whitly a part of my family," came from super-brat. "He is merely another of the rejects Father has taken in."
Fury pulsed under JT's skin at Bright being called a reject by this kid. Needs someone to put his ass in place. He was about to do it but Mini-Bright beat him to it.
"His name is Bright." She halted whatever the kid might have said with a firm, "Bright."
A battle of wills occurred between the two then. JT swore he could hear the clash. His money was on Mini-Bright. Girl put Colette Swanson in her place for talking shit about Bright. Damian relented, begrudgingly after a few more tense seconds.
"Fine." A sniff was given before he sneered, "Bright is not a part of my family."
"C'mon, Dami," Christopher pleaded softly. "Don't be like that. You know Uncle Mal is cool."
Damian rolled his eyes and heaved a, "Whatever," before turning to saunter off towards the waiting area. Christopher sent them an apologetic look before trotting off after him.
"Kid's a real snot." JT frowned when Dani elbowed him in the side. "What? He is."
"Don't be a dick," she chided. "He's just a kid."
"Damian's mother instilled in him the idea that he's better than everyone because his father is Bruce Wayne and his grandfather Ra's al Ghul." Mini-Bright's eyes followed the retreating duo. "Malcolm's, Raya's, and Tim Drake's blood is as blue as his own but he still views them as beneath him."
"Wayne lets him get away with treating people like dirt?"
"He tries to correct Damian but…" She waved to where the sullen boy sat slumped in a chair. "You can see how effective that's been."
JT grunted softly. "I can think of a few ways to knock that shit off."
Military school being his first suggestion.
"He's just a kid," Dani said. "He'll grow out of it."
JT had his doubts about that. He kept them to himself, however.
"We got more important shit to worry about than a kid with a bad attitude."
Who needs surgery to remove that sneer from his face.
He kept that to himself, too.
"Right." Mini-Bright turned towards the children's ward. "Evan is in there?" At JT and Dani's nods, she frowned. "And you're sure he has children with him?"
"Yeah." JT handed her the list of names the hospital administrator gave them. "Three nurses and six children from what we can gather."
"I can't believe he's holding children hostage." Mini-Bright's brow creased as she looked at the list. "Has he given any reason for why he's doing this?"
"Guy ain't said much of anything outside he ain't talking."
"Given how people who've talked have ended up dead…" Lite-Bright blew out a breath. "He has a pretty good reason to not want to talk."
"Guy mentioned earlier he told you and your sister-in-law it was dangerous getting involved with the Whitly's." Guy ain't wrong there, JT admitted silently. Danger does seem to follow the Whitly family around. "You remember having that conversation with him?"
A sound, like sneakers made on tile, came from inside the ward. JT silently prayed the doctor decided to start letting the children go. It'd not only go a long way to diffusing a tense situation but help the man avoid a lengthy prison sentence.
Nobody exited the ward, however.
Dammit, man, he silently groused. Why not make shit easier on yourself?
A small voice, suspiciously like Bright's, replied, "Because he doesn't want to end up like Eve."
Found floating in the water.
Killed simply 'cause she got to close to figuring out who and what Nicholas Endicott was.
"I remember Evan telling me how people tend to die around the Whitly's, yes," Mini-Bright said. "That I'd be next if I remained friends with Malcolm."
JT snorted a laugh. "Guy don't know you if he thought that deter you."
"Jessica wasn't able to deter me from being friends with Mal."
Malcolm's mom hadn't stopped them from becoming more than friends. Something the two tried to pretend they weren't for years. Can't deny it anymore, though, JT mused with a side glance at Mini-Bright. Girl went grocery shopping just so Bright's skinny ass would have the right flavored jello and Twizzlers.
Some people would say going to the grocery store for Twizzlers and Jello wasn't an especially romantic gesture. JT'd argue it meant everything to a guy who didn't get a lot of nice things done for him. JT himself wasn't an overly romantic sort-of guy. He did the flowers thing from time-to-time. Took Tali out to play pool, eat at her favorite restaurant or catch a movie. Even surprised her by doing things around the house without her asking him to do them. It was the little things that mattered most. They were the backbone of all relationships. Kept people together when times got tough.
Bright, on the other hand?
Was utterly clueless when it came to things like that. He learned that when the guy crashed his and Tally's date night with that girl, Eve.
Who's now dead thanks to some rich asshole looking to keep his secret just that: secret.
Bright gave generously to people. Picked gifts suited to the one receiving them. Mini-Bright deserved better than presents. Especially after everything that happened in the last few months. Girl deserves a medal for all she's put up with, really. Least Bright could do once things settled down was take her somewhere nice.
Like Hawaii.
"When did Chambers tell you that?" Dani asked. "Do you remember?"
"It was during our first year at Harvard."
"How'd you meet him?"
"Evan was doing his residency at the same hospital Mandy did hers."
"Is that how he knows Bright as Whitly and not Bright?" Dani's mouth pursed. "He met him at the hospital?"
"Yes." Bright-Lite tucked her hair behind her ear. "Malcolm and I got food poisoning and ended up in the emergency room. Evan was on call that night and treated us both."
"And told you to basically break up with Bright?"
Mini-Bright sent JT an amused look.
"We weren't dating."
"Mhm."
Mini-Bright's eyes sparked with a hint of humor. "We weren't."
"Yeah…" He slanted a knowing look at her. "Yet."
Her lips trembled, curved at the corners.
"Okay… we weren't dating yet."
"Why did Chambers urge you to cut off your friendship with Bright?" Dani's brow furrowed. "Did he give you any particular reason?"
"No."
"So, what was his motive in telling you to not be friends with Bright?"
"Mandy thought it was because he had a crush on me. Now?" Mini-Bright blew out a breath. "I'd say it's because he knew about Endicott's connection with Martin Whitly and was trying to warn me to protect me."
"He says that detective, Gray, convinced him to deliver those samples to you."
"Gray didn't mention that when he and I talked outside Sterling's building."
"Imagine that," JT grumbled.
"Maybe Gray didn't know it was Chambers who had the samples." Dani frowned at his snort. "Gray might have made the comment as a general one and Chambers took it as his way of getting out from under Endicott's thumb."
"Should have called us and let us come to him." Something more people needed to do in his opinion. "Might not have gotten shot if he had."
"He might have ended up like Eve Blanchard if he had called the police." Lite-Bright nodded towards the cops gathered by the elevators. "We still don't know how many cops Endicott has on his payroll."
JT grimaced. "Yeah… good point."
"We also can't forget he has this Court and their Talons, too." Dani glanced behind her as something thumped on the floor in the children's ward. "We need to convince him to let those kids go."
"I, uh, don't think we are going to have a problem with convincing Evan to let the hostages go." Mini-Bright's expression crept towards sheepish. "In fact, don't think we will have a problem with him at all."
"We won't?" Dani's brow puckered. "Why not?"
She waved a hand in the direction of the waiting area. "My guess is that thump we heard was Evan being knocked unconscious by one of our missing ten-year-olds."
"How the hell did they sneak in the ward without being seen?"
A soft Tt sounded from the doorway. "We went through the ventilation system is how."
Of course, JT groused. Super-brat would be the one to answer my question. He didn't need to look at his face to know the kid's perma-sneer was firmly in place. If only he was eighteen… he thought as he turned to face the smug twerp. I'd wipe that smirk off his face.
"Damian, you and Christopher shouldn't have gone into that ward," Mini-Bright gently chided. "Not without discussing it with us first."
The kid's mouth was set on rapid-fire.
As always.
"While you were busy discussing things irrelevant to the situation, I handled it."
"Damian…"
The kid disappeared back inside the ward with another Tt.
"I'm sorry…" Mini-Bright said apologetically. "He's…"
"A pain in the ass."
A royal one, JT added as he headed into the ward. He stopped short when he spied Evan Chambers unconscious on the floor.
How?
From what?
He had no idea.
A voice inside his head told him he didn't want to know the how or what.
The less I know, he decided as he ambled over to where the doctor lay, the better.
So he believed, anyway.
A/N: Hello, all! Hope this finds you well!
I want to send a special thank you to Duchess of Lantern Waste for their lovely reviews!