Road Trip: Chapter 6

"Fucking Christ."

"You know, I think that's the first time anyone mistook me as being on that side of religion," I muttered trying to stay as still as possible to not further aggravate my injuries.

Shuffling sounds and quick steps approaching me as Sam's masculine voice said, "Man, you're a mess, ma chère."

"It's not that bad," I mumbled keeping my head down while concentrating on my breathing.

A hand brushed my hair away from my swelling face. He winced seeing the forming bruise that covered most of my left side. Tilted my head showed him my split lip. His concern shown in his eyes even as he whispered curses.

"I'm fine. Just needed to catch my breath."

"You would say that even if someone had ripped off your arm," Sam snorted; his gaze moving from the visible damage to my eyes. "What's wrong that I can't see?"

"I'm…" Sam's glare cut off my habitual response. Sighing I reluctantly answered, "I think Two Mauls might have broken one of my ribs. If only because I don't want to give the credit to Guppy."

"He's never liked you but he's never been out to get you like this," Sam muttered. "How the hell you stayed on your feet after Two Mauls grabbed you and that explosion, I don't know, but the noise it's going to create online will be insane."

"You saw the fight?"

"Some of it at the end," Sam answered. His concern warring with his amusement. "Got a text when it first started and another when you showed up. Got here as soon as I could but I was pretty far down the street by the time things were done. By then you were walking off into the sunset like a fucking boss."

Smiling weakly, I winked at Sam, "If they could only see me now, hmm?"

"No one would believe it," Sam answered with his own smirk. "Gambit doesn't get hurt because she doesn't mix with the riff raff. And don't think I'm not asking one of the guys to make a meme of you going all home run on our man Two Mauls. I want that shit as a background on my computer sayin, Bad Dog, No Biscuit."

Trying not to chuckle, I settled for slowly shaking my head. "So, what would you have done had I embarrassed myself by not having the situation in hand?"

"I was going to run him over with ma girls car," Sam said with a smirk. "Even if it didn't keep him down, figured it would buy you time to blow him up or something."

My short chuckle ended in a hiss of pain as it aggravated my injuries. After a moment to collect myself, I whispered, "Any civilians hurt? Anyone other than our people see what happened?" If the news was already out then I would have to be ready to react to public opinion, but if not...

"No hurt civies," Sam assured me as he assessed what I was sure was going to be a spectacular bruise covering most of the left side of my face. "Most went to ground when the party started. Two crazies getting vid. They didn't give us any problems when we asked them to delete it. People like us around here way more than they like the Protectorate. Everyone knows how bad the lower 9th is just like they know the Protectorate won't come here without a damn good reason. We're about it when it comes to help for a lot of people."

Internally I weighed my options. The PRT taking a temporary PR hit from the leak -while amusing and not just a bit vindictive- was essentially worthless to me. Having blackmail to potentially force their hand on an issue they might not normally intervene in however might be useful. The question was if it would be worth the cost to squelch. A gamble in either direction, but the opportunity was one I was loathe to waste.

My brain raced as I tried to think out various scenarios. The deciding factor was that while I had managed to avoid Guppy and Baritone this time, If I was brought in later, the threat of release could motivate the PRT to let me out of that questioning session in order to avoid the shit storm. At the very least it would make good evidence for a judge and poison a jury against a prosecutor.

After making a decision, I nodded feeling relieved. This would be one more card in my deck. "Let the guys holding footage know that once it's compiled by Roger I want it kept off the net but I want it."

"Seriously? Why?"

"Future concessions will be a far more satisfying revenge than giving the Wards a black eye we both know won't last more than a week. We can't fight a government PR machine from the streets. Not directly. But in the right circumstances they might be persuaded to look the other way."

"You're way too soft on them, Renée." Shaking his head Sam frowned. "That's probably why they feel like they can hassle you like this. They know you won't hurt them to back off."

"There is more than one way to bleed a threat," I said vaguely as I groaned feeling the strain of talking so much. "Penny's cooking tonight. Help me get home?"

All traces of amusement gone, Sam leaned close, bringing his arms around me lifting me up. "You must be hurt if you're asking. How you even made it this far… Sorry about this, ma chère."

"It's okay," I grunted before the pain of being jostled had me clenching my teeth. "I would have made it all the way back if I hadn't stumbled. Landed wrong."

Walking to the door, Sam paused whispering, "Hey, we good?"

"Yeah," a vaguely familiar feminine voice answered. "How's Gambit? Is she...oh shit."

"She's fine, Katie" Sam grunted as he carried me. "Get the car door before someone see's."

It took the work of moments for Sam to ease me into the back of the unfamiliar car. Him apologizing every time my teeth ground against each other or when I hissed. The whole time his brunette girlfriend looked around with her hand in her purse.

She wasn't a regular, nor was she one of the ditz teen fans that thought hanging out with the Guild gave them some kind of street cred. Those empty headed morons flowed in and out of the group moving from one guy to the next. I kind of remembered seeing her once or twice and always with Sam, which was probably why I recognized her at all. From what I could see of her at the moment she looked nervous and very uncomfortable, but she clearly had spine.

"Sam," I called softly once both of them got seated in front. "Tell me about the Lucy Job."

"Right now?" He asked uncomfortably. "I mean, it can wait for a few days, no?"

I choked back a hiss as the car hit a pothole and, ignoring Katie's mumbled 'sorry', I said, "So things did not go so smooth. What happened?"

"Damn, girl. Do you ever think about anything but us and work?"

"If you don't start talking I'm going to explode your seat," I growled.

"Um," Katie squeaked. "Could you not do that please? This is my mom's car and she's already mad I had it this long. If I bring it a back smeared in chunky boyfriend, she's going to really pissed."

"I know a guy who could clean it after," I assured her, keeping my eyes on Sam. "Take him about ten minutes. He's expensive, but he's a professional. By the time he's done, it'll be as good as new."

"Oh, okay," Katie chirped happily. "Explode away."

"Ma chère?" Sam asked her looking horrified she was taking my side.

"What?" She said innocently. "I'm not crossing her when she's moody."

"But to throw me so quickly under the bus? Not even a little fight?"

Katie snorted at his whine, "Sorry boyfriend, but if there's a choice on which side to be on, I'm going to pick the side that doesn't end badly for me."

I instantly liked her. It wasn't anyone who could keep Sam on his toes. Hopefully, Sam wouldn't screw it up but my patience was waning the longer he delayed talking about the job. I started weighing the pro's and cons of giving Sam an ejection seat, and which way to shoot it unless he started talking.

"I'm hurt love, deeply," Sam said mockingly but not without his own amusement. "I thought we had something special."

"We do, unless you don't start talking," she smirked not buy his little act any more than I was. "Besides, I'm curious too. You looked really shook when we met up at The Rum House and I've never seen you order one of those Captain Ridiculous Rum de Dum Dum's. You didn't even share it, just killed it like it was water and that thing is served in a fucking fishbowl complete with a rubber ducky floating on top!"

"Oh. That actually kind of explains a few things. I remember getting there but stuff got kind of blurry by the time the tacos arrived. I wonder what happened to the duck..."

"I hid Pedro in my purse after you challenged him to a drinking contest, and then lost," Katie said shortly.

"Was that before or after the midget with a club punched Carlos in the balls?" Sam asked. "Or did I imagine that?"

"No you didn't, and yes Carlos really did ask her if she wanted to ride the 'big girls ride' and consequently yes, he deserved every single bit of what she did to him," Katie huffed annoyed. "Now will you please stop avoiding the question before Gambit decides the inside of my mom's car needs a new paint job?"

"She's right. Also, Ugh… knew there was a reason I avoid your parties. I'm so grossed out that it's actually overpowering the pain in my ribs. Stop dodging and talk rum boy."

Finally giving in, Sam started talking. Slow at first going over details I already knew since I planned most of them. Picking the crew, setting up, getting into place. It wasn't until he got to the insertion part of the job that I understood his reluctance.

Through it all, I didn't say anything. Even Katie had gone quiet but I could see little twitches in her face from where I was sitting. I just listened how the plan went from perfect, to fucked, and Marcus's solution to unfucking it.

Keeping my face bland, I turned to look out the window once Sam was done. The one incident aside, everything else worked to plan.

"That makes far more sense than it should," I casually said. Pieces of a puzzle I wasn't aware of till now falling into place. "How many people on the crew didn't have a problem with Marcus's solution?"

"Half maybe," Sam answered. "But the money was good, and I think that soothed a lot of people's nerves."

"Yeah, it would," I said. The more I thought about it the more things fit. Little things, recent things, and more than a few other odd bits over the last few months. Now that I was going over everything, it was obvious what was going on.

Now I just needed to figure out what I was going to do about it.

It was a very quiet car ride the rest of the way home. Before I knew it, Sam was half carrying me again but it wasn't until we arrived at my apartment that other things intruded on my thinking. As if sensing my dread, Sam chuckled as he unlocked my door.

Penny better have made bread pudding…

The door swung open. I grunted when I accidentally hit the door frame getting past it, and found myself facing the inquisitorial squad of doom.

The apartment was full of familiar and very welcome smells reminding me just how hungry I was. It also had -unfortunately- two very relieved and angry looking people inside it.

"Bonjour…"

"My God, what the hell happened to you!?" Danny shouted as he rushed from where he was sitting to me.

"I'll get the medkit," Penny sighed, walking toward my room. "Take her to her room, Sam, so I can see what I'm working with."

"Okay."

I gave Sam a wane smile when deposited me on the edge of my bed. By the time he was done, Penny was already back with her home made medkit, and Danny looked like he was one breath away from a stroke.

"Out," Penny commanded once she was next to me.

Before Danny could even open his mouth, she rounded on him, "No, out! If you want to see a naked girl, I'll hook you up later, but Renée doesn't give shows, so OUT!"

Sam put his hand on Danny's shoulder and that made him deflate. He did as he was instructed by the normally-bubbly blond but when I caught his concerned glance before the door closed, I knew he wouldn't keep quiet for long. Door closed and locked, Penny started unpacking things from her satchel.

"Penny, hand me my cards please?"

The blond eyed me a moment before nodding. Taking a folding table from against the wall, she set it in front of me with my deck of tarot cards. Then helped me out of my jacket.

While she was working on my armor, I shuffled the deck, eyes half closed from the pain of being moved around. By the time she had me stripped to the waist, I had laid my cards in a simple three card spread.

The Moon. The Tower. The Fool.

Not the most auspicious reading at first glance.

"You're going to be sore as hell tomorrow morning," Penny noted sourly as she examined my back. "What the hell got you?"

"Guppy and Two Mauls but if anyone asks, it was Two Mauls."

"Why am I not surprised you ran into him the same day you got back. And what did you do to piss off Guppy this time?"

"Same thing as always. I'm still alive," I answered absentmindedly; running my hand from the first card to the last, I hissed as she examined my ribs.

"I'm going to have to bind these," Penny sighed. "Danny said something about you guys going to see Bennie?"

I nodded, fingers tracing the edges of The Moon.

"Alright, I'll check on you before you leave. See how much you healed during the night."

"Thanks, Penny."

"No problem," she muttered. The sounds of cloth being unwound behind me let me know she was getting the bandages ready. "So, how's the future look?"

"Confusing."

"How so?"

"Lot's of change," I answered slowly. "Most of it not good. Loss. Betrayal. Hubris. Ruin. Uncertainty. Loss and…"

"And?"

Tracing the image of The Fool, I whispered, "Some kind of chance? No, too much chaos. Maybe... maybe a new..."

"A new, what?"

I didn't answer, half lost in thought.

The Moon for the past. The Tower for the present. The Fool for the future. A simple reading just to see if my thoughts were just me overthinking everything, or if there might have be something to them. Unlike before, I felt nothing for the first two, but the last one tingled the back of my mind for some reason. Strange, my readings had never done that before.

So vague. The Moon in front threw everything else into chaos but I felt nothing from it when my fingers traced the card. So, there was nothing there, or at least, there was nothing I could do about it now. Something easily supported by The Tower but what it meant I couldn't feel. Like The Moon, The Tower was equally empty when I touched it.

But not The Fool. There was something there, like the answer to a question I didn't remember asking. Or was it more than that? Maybe, but whatever it was stayed just out of reach as nebulous and unwritten as the future the card was placed to represent.

That I couldn't feel the past or present I understood. I was awash in events I couldn't alter. But the future… that was something I could navigate but the choices were grim, unless I took the one offered out. That was… concerning.

Sensing my mood, Penny didn't ask any more questions and finished treating me. Once I was wrapped, redressed and medicated she helped me into our living rooms sole recliner and there I stayed for the rest of the night once I gave Sam a grocery list of things I'd need for tomorrow. Even with the reading weighing on my mind, I trusted him to handle the things I wouldn't be able to do myself tonight.

What I wasn't sure I could handle, was Danny hovering.

The worry writ large on Danny's face, and I knew at that moment that I wouldn't be able to hide who he was – might be, dammit. Might be! – or why I'd brought him with me. Not from these two. Danny's concern went above and beyond what even the most loyal minion would ever show to a boss. Unfortunately, that was giving Sam and Penny the wrong impressions. Thankfully Sam left, but I could tell that he knew something was going on that I hadn't told him.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"Fine," I grunted. Again. For the thousandth time. Penny's raised eyebrow spoke far more than words would have as she made plates from the kitchen.

Without Sam to help run interference, that left Penny. Which was just great because she wasn't going to help. This was going to be awkward.

Sighing, Danny sat on the couch being very obvious about not looking directly at me. The few times he did, he winced or mumbled something under his breath angrily.

Thankfully, Penny arrived with food. I gratefully took the offered plate ignoring her glittering eyes instead keeping mine on my food and not looking up.

"So… You're Danny-from-up-north?"

"That or New Guy, which seems disturbingly popular," Danny chuckled weakly. "But I prefer Danny."

"Hmm," Penny mumbled. When she finished chewing, she asked, "Why did Renee really bring you down here? You know, she normally recruits from the lower 9th, if she recruits at all."

I almost choked, but was half braced for it. Danny however, wasn't. He did choke. Ignoring his not so covert glances at me as I left him twisting in the wind, I ate my gumbo.

It was delicious.

"I… Well, that's… I'm a good henchman?"

I couldn't hold back a snort. He was a good henchman but such a bad liar.

"Is that a question?"

"No?" Danny half asked rubbing the back of his neck. "I was looking for a… change. Yeah. Figured I'd see what I could find down south."

I winced. If there was ever an indication we were not related, listening to him lie proved it. Oh look, Penny made oysters. Yum.

"Yeeeahhh… Bullshit."

I laughed and then winced as the laughter hurt my sides. Danny shot an angry but playful look at me as Penny continued, "I mean, you obviously care about her. Way more than is healthy for a guy your age."

"I hope you are not implying what I think you are implying," Danny said, his voice cold in a way that actually made me tense a little.

Penny didn't even seem to notice. "You didn't let me finish. Renée isn't an idiot and you'd be mincemeat if you tried something she didn't like. So that means she did like it, or it's something else. Since I know for a fact Renée's not into older men, that leaves something else."

Thinking back I reevaluated my thoughts on how worth it the food was. Undecided, I kept sampling. I'd make a decision after the pudding. I wasn't sure what was worse though. That Penny was openly talking about my...preferences, or Danny's reaction to said information. Both were disturbing but before I could say anything the promiscuous blond kept talking.

Danny turned to me asking, "Can we just tell her? She's jumping to all the wrong conclusions and I want her to stop."

"No no, don't stop me now! I'm on a roll!" Penny said playfully.

Danny sighed indulgently, while I rolled my wrist in a "go on" sort of motion, and rolled my eyes too. She didn't need any encouraging, but Penny liked playing to a crowd and right now, she had a captive crowd of two.

"So worst case scenario you're blackmailing her but that would probably be even more stupid since the last guy who tried to do something like that, she left a quivering pile of meat in the street."

"She did what?" Danny asked looking confused on if he should be happy, or appalled as he turned to look at me.

"Two Mauls," I mumbled around my mouthful of creole. "The first time."

"Plus, she seems to trust you," Penny continued obviously enjoying herself. "Which trust ME, says a lot about you. I can count on one hand the people Renée let's near her. Add all that to the fact that you two look pretty similar. That leaves only one possible explanation."

She nodded sagely as she closed her rant with a single, poignant question.

"You 'er Daddy?"

…

Danny stared at the girl for a solid three seconds. Then he turned to me, eyebrow raised but with a weird look of 'I told you so' writ on his face.

"Maybe," I shrugged as much as I could considering how much moving hurt. "That's why I'm taking Danny into the bayou tomorrow to talk to Bennie. He'll tell us for sure."

Ignoring Danny's frown at my reaction, and Penny's equal look of disbelief I returned my focus back on my plate.

"That's it!? This is so exciting! Shit, I mean. You might be the first Case 53 to actually find your family!"

"You don't know that, and we won't either until tomorrow," I muttered. "And I'm not a Case 53. No Tattoo. All the others had Tattoo's. Even Bogget."

"Really? That's all you've got? 'Maybe? We'll find out tomorrow?" Penny asked incredulously ignoring my other argument. We both knew that aside from that one thing, there wasn't anything else that separated me form the usual Case 53's except I was more human than those on public record. "Come on! Renee! You… Wait so does that mean your name isn't Renee?"

I tried to smile but judging by the looks on their faces, didn't pull it off very well, "It's… yeah, maybe? I just don't want to bank on a bet that could go either way."

I glanced at Danny. Acting as exuberant as I felt at the thought that I might have a real dad wouldn't look right. I didn't get excited. I was Gambit. I knew how cruel the world was. Penny didn't need to know about the constant fluttering anxiety in my chest that had nothing to do with the bone fracture. I knew that in a lot of ways, there was going to be no good outcome from tomorrow.

But then… as I shrugged the possibility off with nonchalance, I realized my reaction was hurting Danny. It was embarrassing to be so… happy. So hopeful. Didn't he understand that? Even if he was my father, couldn't he understand…

I squashed that thought, hard. Tomorrow; I would worry about if that was a thing or not tomorrow.

Thankfully, Danny smiled. As if completely understanding my conflict, reaffirming in my mind how lucky Taylor had been. Quietly reassuring. A rock, the likes of which I'd never known.

By contrast to Danny, Penny didn't stop talking, continuously asking more and more questions about how awkward it was, how we'd met, how weird it must've been, what Danny thought of my eyes and a thousand other nonsensical queries that ran together. Thankfully many of them moved away from the prior topic and focused more on Danny. She asked him questions about Brockton Bay, what he did there, and more questions, examining his tone and his voice to find out more about his personality than any of his words actually gave.

I knew what she was doing. She was fishing for information. Not for her, but for me. Always thinking about me. Guarding me, like a best friend should. After a while, I lost track of what they were talking about while I dozed but it seemed that Penny was making up for lost time.

Tiredly, I sent a text message from one of my throw away burner phones, planning for tomorrow. A question, and instructions on how and when to reply which would be after I got back from seeing Bennie. I'd know more then and whether they answered would tell me if my half formed idea had merit. That done, I finally let myself relax and sink into the comfy chair. Just for a little while.

A stomach full of excellent food, painkillers, and Penny's and Danny's voices while I rested all mixed comfortably together and stole my consciousness before I could ask Penny if the pudding was ready.