Wait
Punk managed to get into his car, driving home with his shoulder out of place, dried in blood over his face as he kept his eyes on the road ahead of him as best he could.
He finally got home, parking outside and limping out of the car, hobbling his way to the front door and opening it up. He was in excruciating pain with his shoulder, not to mention he felt like his face was constantly being stepped on.
He closed the front door behind him, hobbling through to the kitchen.
"Hey, babe. You're late." AJ called from the kitchen, sitting at the kitchen table reading a magazine as Punk limped into the kitchen.
She turned around with a smile, of course happy to see her husband like any other night, but immediately jumping out of the chair, her face dropping when she saw the state he was in.
"Oh my God, Phil." AJ panicked, "W-What… what happened to you?" She walked over to him, "Oh my God." She placed her hand on his arm as he shook his head.
"I gotta get this back in." Punk groaned.
"What?" AJ shook her head, not understanding what was going on.
"My shoulder." Punk groaned, sitting his car keys down, walking over to the wall as AJ watched him.
"Phil, what are you-" She paused as she watched him bang his shoulder against the wall, listening to a popping sound as he yelled out in pain, "Phil." AJ's voice broke with worry as Punk leaned his forehead against the wall, feeling relieved by his shoulder banging back into place.
"I'm ok." Punk assured her.
"No you are not." AJ said, "What the hell happened to you?" She walked over to him, guiding him over to the kitchen table as he limped over, "Sit down." She said softly, pulling the chair out for him as he sat down at the table carefully. She never thought she'd see him come home like this ever again. She thought these days were well behind them.
"Some guys jumped me when I was getting into my car." Punk told her as she got the first aid kit out from under the sink, opening up the box.
"Who? W-Why?" AJ shook her head, "Did you see their faces?"
"Yeah, I saw them." Punk nodded as she walked around to him, standing between his legs as she cleaned his face with a wipe, watching him jerk his head a little at the pain.
"Sorry." She sighed, cleaning his face up as she felt him lean his head against her stomach, sighing to himself as she looked down at him, "What is this about, Phil?" She dreaded to know, lifting his head up to look at her in the eyes.
"I don't think Thea left here because she got transferred." Punk looked up at her.
"What?" AJ shook her head, "What are you talking about? What has Thea got to do with this?"
"The guys who jumped me didn't say anything… apart from… tell Thea, we'll find her." Punk said as AJ looked down at him, stepping back a little.
"What the hell does that mean?" AJ questioned in panic.
"I have no fucking clue." Punk leaned back against the chair, "But I've got a feeling she does."
"Who are they? Do you recognise them?" AJ asked.
"Never saw them in my life." Punk shook his head.
"Why would Thea know them?" AJ questioned as Punk looked across at her.
"Why do you think?" Punk asked her as she looked at him.
"No." AJ shook her head, "No, she hasn't… she hasn't taken anything since she was eighteen. That is way behind her." She said, "That was years ago. Years." She said.
"I know dealers when I see them." Punk said, "And they knew exactly who I was. I could see it in their face." He said as AJ shook her head.
"No, no way." AJ said, "When Thea was… using… she never went to anyone directly for anything-"
"April!" Punk yelled as AJ looked at him, "She was on drugs. She would have told you anything to make you believe she was ok. No one gets drugs just by their friends." He said, "You know that, I know that." He said as AJ looked across at him.
"She told me she'd get it from people at school. That they knew dealers-"
"Yeah, well… that's fucking bullshit." Punk shook his head, "This is why if I was here when this shit was going on-"
"Don't even go there." AJ warned him as Punk looked at her, "What? If you were here you would have stopped it all?" She laughed a little, "Is that what you were gonna say?"
"I would have found who was dealing her drugs, yeah-"
"So you think I didn't do the right thing?" AJ questioned, "You think I could have done better?" She asked as Punk shook his head.
"I'm not saying-"
"You have no idea what it was like." AJ said, "Don't you dare." She warned him, "Seriously." She said as he looked at her. He knew he'd struck a nerve, and he didn't mean to. He was just extremely anxious and concerned. Words were just spilling out. She knew that on some level too.
"How many years was she using?" Punk asked her, cleaning his face up himself as AJ had abandoned the first aid kid.
"A year… year and a half." AJ nodded.
"Cocaine?" Punk asked.
"Yes. You know this." AJ spat.
"Where was she getting the money from?" Punk asked her.
"She used her lunch money I think, she… took some from Jude too." AJ shook her head as Punk looked across at her.
"You know fine well that lunch money doesn't cover that type of shit." Punk said.
"Well I thought her friends were buying it for her!" AJ yelled as Punk shook his head.
"She owes them money." Punk said, "And I'm betting she knows she does. That's why she's moved."
"You don't know that. You know nothing. You're just assuming. These might not even be dealers-"
"Then who they are? Her friends?" Punk stood up painfully.
"Be careful." AJ said, "Phil, she hasn't used in years. Why would they do this now?" She questioned.
"Because they've either been in prison or she hasn't been clean for as long as we think she has." Punk said.
"I know my daughter. She has." AJ gritted her teeth.
"Hey, I'm home!" Cassie called as she walked in the door. AJ looked across at Punk worriedly, knowing they couldn't hide anything from her.
"We're in here." AJ gulped, folding her arms.
"Hey, I just stopped by Jude's and had some pizz-" Cassie stopped mid word as she arrived in the kitchen, looking on at her father, "Dad, oh my God." Cassie raised her eyebrows.
"I'm fine." Punk nodded.
"No you're not. Oh my God, what happened? What happened to you?" Cassie walked over to him worriedly.
"It's ok, I'm ok, really." Punk rubbed her arm softly.
"No you're not!" Cassie said angrily, "What happened?" She turned to her mother.
"He… He was jumped on his way home." AJ said briefly.
"What?" Cassie turned to Punk, "Why? Wh-Who?" She shook her head.
"I-I don't know." Punk said, looking over at AJ who was shaking her head behind Cassie, "They just jumped me and then left."
"Oh my God." Cassie said sadly, wrapping her arms around her dad tightly.
"Yeah, I think I have a broken rib." Punk winced a little upon her tight hug.
"Oh my God, sorry." Cassie pulled back right away, "Gosh, why would someone do this?" She asked with confusion, "I gotta page this in. We can find whoever did this… I can find whoever did this." She said confidently.
"No, please… please don't." Punk begged.
"No way. Look at you. You were just coming home from work and you get jumped? I'm gonna find them. Whoever they are." Cassie spat angrily.
"Cass, it's fine. It was just kids messing around-"
"Well fuck them kids. I'll find them and they'll be arrested. Look at your face." Cassie said, "I'm gonna call Theo-"
"Cassie, no. Don't." Punk said, looking over at AJ, "We think this might have something to do with Thea." He said. He couldn't keep it from her. She wasn't a child.
"What?" Cassie shook her head.
"They know Thea… somehow." Punk said, "And one of the guys said they were gonna find her. I don't think your sister moved away because of a job." He said as Cassie looked across at him.
"What are you talking about?" Cassie shook her head, turning to her mother, "What are you saying?"
"Your dad thinks they were dealers." AJ nodded.
"Why the hell would Thea know-" Cassie paused, looking over at her mother, "Oh." She thought to herself, "Oh God." She panicked a little, "Is she in trouble?"
"No, she's… she's gonna be fine." AJ assured her. No matter how old her children were, the need to protect them and assure them was always going to be there.
"How do you know that?" Cassie said, "I should tell someone. I can get these people. Whoever they are."
"No, just… for now, leave it. I gotta talk to Thea." Punk said, "I'm gonna drive up in the morning."
"We have to get the police involved. I have to." Cassie said.
"No, not yet. We don't know anything. I need to speak to Thea first-"
"When will you ever learn?" Cassie spat as Punk looked across at her, "I'm a cop now. I don't have to turn a blind eye to this stuff. Whenever you try and fix something on your own someone ends up shot or kidnapped." She said as Punk looked at her, "I don't have to put up with this shit anymore."
"Cassie, I have no idea what Thea has gotten herself into." Punk said, "So before we go talking to cops-"
"I am a cop." Cassie reminded him.
"I know that." Punk said, "Before you go to work and tell people about this, let me figure out what the hell is going on with your sister. Ok?" He said as Cassie shook her head, unhappily.
"That's just wasting time." Cassie nodded.
"And don't tell Jude about this." Punk shook his head, "She doesn't need the stress." He made clear, "I gotta shower." He shook his head, limping out of the kitchen as Cassie watched him.
"Why is he like that? Why can't he just handle things like normal people?" Cassie turned to her mother.
"Let him cool off." AJ advised, "He's frightened." She said. She knew her husband, she knew what he was feeling without having to ask him or get confirmation from him.
"He just got jumped in the street and he doesn't even look phased by it." Cassie shook her head, "What the hell is going on with Thea?"
"I don't know." AJ shook her head, that was the troubling part.
The next morning, Punk woke up and headed off to Milwaukee pretty much as soon as the sun was rising. He nor AJ had slept much through the night. His face was now bruised black and blue. His shoulder and ribs painful from the beating he'd gotten.
He drove for an hour and a half before finally pulling up at Thea's new house. He had only wished that he was seeing the new house under better circumstances.
He pulled up outside the house, noticing Thea's car still there which meant she hadn't left to take James to school yet. She was always late for everything.
He got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him as he watched the front door to the house open.
"James, your bookbag!" He heard Thea calling from in the house whilst James opened up the door, running out.
"Papa!" James noticed as Punk smiled.
"Hey, buddy." Punk smiled. Boy was he glad to see his grandson in the midst of all this uncertainty, "Hey." He smiled, lifting up James, forgetting he possibly had broken ribs and wincing as he done so.
"James." Thea called, walking out of the door, pausing as she saw her father.
Punk put James down on the ground, straightening back up as Thea got a better look at him, noticing his face was covered in bruises.
"Oh my God." Thea whispered to herself, "James… go back inside."
"Oh, what? Why? We need to go to school." James frowned.
"Just… go back in and watch some TV for a little bit." Thea nodded to him as James huffed, running back into the house as Thea walked down the steps and towards her father, "W-What… what happened to you?" Thea asked, folding her arms as Punk looked across at her.
He could see on her face that she knew what had happened and who had attacked him, which worried him even more.
"You and I need to talk." Punk nodded as she looked across at him.