I Promise
April was up in her room the next day. She wanted nothing more than to sleep but she tossed and turned all night and every time she heard a creek in the house she jumped up and checked on her parents. She was second guessing her plan already. Her father had left for work but her mother stayed behind to keep April company.
"This smells so good." April said walking into the kitchen. "I haven't had a home cooked meal since I left."
"Well I hope you're hungry." Janet said. "There's freshly baked muffins, pancakes, eggs- scrambled just the way you like-, bacon and a fruit bowl."
"You must have been up for hours." April said sitting at the modest kitchen table.
"I had trouble sleeping." Janet admitted as she poured her daughter a cup of coffee.
"I'm sorry." April said to her.
"It's not your fault. None of this is." Janet told her sternly.
"I didn't even want to tell you about what happened but the cops ruined that for me." April groaned.
"It is nice that they are looking out for you." Janet said to her.
"They don't care if I live or die. They just need me alive long enough to testify, then what happens after that?" April asked. "They're going to have no use for me and let me die."
"Please stop saying that." Janet sighed. "I buried one child already and I won't do it again."
"I just need some time to think." April said to her.
"What kind of life are you going to live on the run?" Janet asked her. "You're running as if you're a convict. How are you going to work and start a life?"
"At least I'll still have a life." April said to her.
"I trust these cops." Janet said to her and April shook her head.
"You don't know them. The head guy must have like this personal vendetta against this James Sawyer guy because all he cares about is finding him." April said to her.
"That's his job, baby." Janet reminded her.
"It's like obsessive." April argued. "He lives, breathes and sleeps this case."
"That makes me feel better." Janet said to her and April rolled her eyes.
"It's unhealthy and weird." April corrected. "Trust me. The guy is a creep."
"Did he try something with you?" Janet asked and April let out a laugh.
"He can't even stand it when I speak. How am I supposed to spend every waking hour with someone who can't even stand to hear me talk?" April asked her.
"You get chatty when you're nervous." Janet had to agree.
"I can't help that! And it was just an annoyance to him. It's bad enough I was locked up in a hotel room but with someone who wouldn't even talk to me." April sighed. "I had no one there."
"Sounds like you were lonely and homesick and you're risking your life over it." Janet said voicing her disapproval.
"I just needed to think and I couldn't do that with him breathing down my neck." April said to her. "Do you know one of the Marshal's who work for him had to sneak me out of the hotel for a short walk?"
"And when was that?" Janet asked.
"The last day I was there." April said to her.
"The night you were attacked?" Janet asked sipping her coffee. "Maybe this boss Marshal just knows what's good for you."
"Stop taking his side." April said to her. "He's a textbook bully with a hero complex."
"I think you contradicted yourself, dear." Janet said amused and April groaned. "Just eat up and then you're going to have to actually sleep because you look like a zombie."
"Maybe eating all of this will knock me out." April said hopefully.
A block over Punk walked into April's family owned and run diner. He had literally everything about April researched and sent to him. He knew she was back home. She had stated numerous times that's where she'd go but it was getting in the door that would be the problem. From everything he read, April's parents seemed sensible and smart. They were going to let him in.
"You're not from here." Robert Mendez said as Punk sat at the counter.
"You know every single face in this diner?" Punk asked with a smirk.
"I do." Robert said surely. "We don't get a lot of out towners."
"I could tell by the fact that there isn't a hotel or a motel here." Punk said to him.
"What brings you to town?" Robert asked him.
"I think you know exactly why I'm here." Punk said placing his badge on the counter.
"Afraid not." Robert lied and Punk had to smile to himself.
"I just want to talk to her." Punk said to him.
"Still don't know what you're talking about." Robert said growing nervous.
"I'm really a Federal Marshal." Punk assured him. "This is my badge and her's my ID." He said putting it down. "You can call the office in Chicago as well and check me out."
"Coffee?" Robert asked and Punk nodded. "I still don't know why you're here."
"April came home last night. You spoke to a cop yesterday as well." Punk said to him.
"She didn't come home." Robert lied with ease.
"You want to protect your daughter and I respect that." Punk said to him as he watched Robert pour him a cup of coffee. "But she's not safe without me."
"I told the officer that came by that I would call if she came home." Robert told him.
"You don't trust him with your daughters life. You shouldn't. She's your daughter." Punk agreed. "But she's not going to have a life if you don't let me talk her into coming back with me."
"Please." Robert whispered.
"Step outside with me." Punk urged standing up and Robert reluctantly followed him outside. "April is in very serious danger here. The man she witnessed killing her neighbor is James Sawyer. There have been witnesses to other crimes he's committed but they're all dead. And they were killed before they had to testify."
"And what makes you think you can do a better job keeping my daughter alive when you couldn't keep anyone else?" Robert asked.
"I learned from mistakes and they weren't my witnesses exclusively. I run a very small team and what's going to keep her alive is our discretion." Punk insisted. "I understand why she ran. She's scared and she talks an awful lot and I haven't been doing a good job answering her questions."
"She rambles when she's nervous." Robert said quietly.
"I've noticed." Punk smirked. "I don't want to find her body. I don't want her to die. I want to help her."
"What happens if you catch this guy?" Robert asked.
"She testifies." Punk said to him.
"April said he has a powerful father. What's to stop him from hurting her after?" Robert asked him.
"Me." Punk said without hesitation.
"You're just going to be her personal bodyguard for the rest of her life?" Robert mocked. "You're not a convincing liar."
"I will be watching April like a hawk during this whole process and if I feel she won't be safe after testifying I will personally see to it she will be. I'm a marshal, witness protection is my most important job." Punk assured him.
"Witness protection program?" Robert asked going pale. "So no matter what I lose the only child I have left?"
"It's better than dead." Punk remarked back and he could tell the comment stung. "I'm sorry." he said quickly. "Witness protection is the absolute last resort." he told Robert.
"But if you think she needs it she'll get it?" Robert asked. "She won't just testify and then forgotten by you all?"
"Never." Punk said sternly. "But if I can't convince her to work with me then she won't get any protection and she'll be a sitting duck. If I could find her, they could find her. They know her name and they could google her and find out where you live."
"She's really scared." Robert told him. "So am I."
"It's my only job to protect her." Punk told him. "And I will."
"Then what happened the other day?" Robert asked him.
"That was a team members slip up. That won't happen again because I'm not letting her out of my sight. I'm going to be with her for here on out. I won't trust anyone else with her life." Punk told him. "I know that doesn't mean much to you since you don't know me but my word is all I've got."
"You're pretty convincing." Robert had to admit eyeing Punk. "I want a number where I can reach you at all times and be updated."
"Fine be me." Punk said pulling out his phone and passing it to him. "That's my personal cellphone. Put your number in and call your cell so you have the number. I'll give you my office number too but I'm usually in the field."
"I want a work number too." Robert said dialing his number then passing it back to Punk.
"It's against every rule but lucky for you, I don't believe in rules." Punk grinned passing him his work phone next.
"Something every father wants to hear." Robert mumbled as he typed his number into Punk's work phone now.
AJ was in her bedroom when she heard her father's voice as he approached the house. She was curious as to who he was talking to and peered out the window and saw him chatting with Marshal Brooks. Her mouth dropped in shock as her father actually laughed at something Punk had said. He charmed his way into her parents house. She quickly shut the window and got off her bed and locked her bedroom door.
"AJ!" Robert yelled as he walked into the house.
"AJ?" Punk questioned.
"She's April Jeanette." Robert pointed out. "Family and friends call her AJ."
"Interesting." Punk noted as he looked around the modest but very warm and inventing home. "Really nice home."
"My pop built it. He wanted to live closer to the diner." Robert told him. "Been in the family every since."
"That's real nice." Punk said admiring the hard workmanship of the house. It had so much character. "I love Chicago, it's the only home I've ever known but you don't see houses like this there." he told Robert. "I always envisioned a house like this when I was a kid. Apartments were more our thing."
"That's a city thing for the most part." Robert smirked. "AJ!" he yelled again.
"She's sleeping." Janet said walking down the stairs. "Who is this?"
"Marshal Brooks." Robert told her and Janet glared at Robert. "It's for the best." he told his wife. "We discussed this last night and Marshal Brooks is very convincing."
"Are you the one who doesn't talk to her or answer her questions?" Janet asked glaring at him.
"I am." Punk had to admit nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm going to work on that."
"Well she said you're too busy trying to solve this case so I can't be mad." Janet said to him. "Our daughter isn't like other people. She's sensitive to the most ridiculous things but not the obvious things. She's normally very clear headed but she's terrified. You haven't been doing a good job at making her feel safe. Standing guard isn't good enough."
"I blame myself for her running off." Punk said to Janet honestly. "I'm going to take better care of her, I assure you Mrs. Mendez."
"She's in her room." Janet told him. "It's the last door on the left but if I know my daughter she heard you come in and is probably plotting her escape."
"She has an entrance to the attic in her closet. It's a crawl space but she's tiny enough to fit." Robert told him.
"There's a small window in the back of the house and she'll push it open and climb onto the roof and over to the drainpipe." Janet finished. "It's out back."
"Thank you." Punk said relieved. "Where is the way out?"
"Go through the family room and sliding doors will lead you right to the back." Robert said pointing.
April's parent's were right. The second he stepped outside he saw her climbing down the drainpipe. He really had to give her credit for annotative. This girl was a fighter and very thick headed.
"I've to hand it to you, kid." Punk said leaning against the wall of the house the second her feet touched the ground. "You are fucking thick headed."
"No, that's you and stop calling me kid." April said grabbing her jacket and keys that she tossed from the window first. "You can't make me go with you."
"You're right." Punk agreed. "I'm hoping to convince you."
"You won't be able to." April shrugged.
"Give me a chance, AJ." He said to her with a smirk and she glared at him.
"That's a nickname reserved for family and friends." April spat.
"It's better than calling you kid or Ms. Mendez." He shrugged.
"So, can I call you Punk?" April asked and his face dropped.
"I assume Cena told you that." he laughed trying not to grow angry. "Did he tell you his own nickname? Because it's Tiger Woods."
"What? Is he like a golfer?" April asked.
"He's a serial cheater." Punk said to her. "Married. Has been for eight years."
"He never mentioned that." April said folding her arms and trying to brush it off.
"And no you can't call me Punk." Punk said to her. "You can call me Phil which is my real name."
"You don't look like a Phil to me. You look more like a Punk." April said eyeing him.
"I assure you my mother did not name me Punk. She hates the nickname." Punk told her. "Look, April, I'm going to keep this very short and to the point." He said to her. "If you don't stick with me you're going to die."
"I'm going to die if I testify." April insisted.
"No you won't because I am going to take care of you." Punk promised her.
"Your word means nothing to me." April told him honestly.
"Didn't I save your life two nights ago?" Punk asked.
"You did." She had to admit.
"I promised your father you wouldn't be out of my sight and I meant it." Punk said to her. "You're going to be with me for here on out."
"You're going to live in a hotel room with me and never hunt down Jeremy Sawyer?" April asked not buying it.
"Obviously it won't be 24/7 but I promise you no more hotel rooms." He said to her. "You're going to stay at my place. You're going to come to work in the office and not only that but I'll get you a job in the office. This way when I do have to go out and be in the field you'll be safe in the office."
"What kind of job?" She asked intrigued.
"One that actually pays." Punk said to her. "It's not quite what you're looking for but we need someone to go through the backlogged files from years ago and input them into the computer. It's not your dream job but it pays damn well and you have my word that once Sawyer is in lockup that my next mission will be finding you a job closer to your field."
"How can I trust you?" April asked.
"You're just going to have to trust me. And I know that's not easy because it's your life your placing in my hands." Punk said to her.
"I feel like a case number." April admitted. "I'm a human with feelings."
"I get that." Punk said to her. "I'm not the most sensitive person in the word but I'll try."
"You only want to try because you want to end this personal vendetta you have against James Sawyer. You're not going to care if I live or die after I testify." April said to him.
"Who told you I have a vendetta against him?" He asked confused. "He is someone I've been trying to arrest for a while, sure. But there's no vendetta. I want him in prison because he keeps escaping the law. And I'm not going to just walk away after you testify. Trust me, I know the threat will still loam but I can't assess that until that day comes and I promised you that keeping you safe and well will not only be my number one priority but only priority. Even if I have to take down his family and work with local law enforcement."
"It's just a lot of promises from someone I don't know from a hole in the wall." April said to him. "You make it sounds all well and good and safe..." She trailed off.
"I mean it." He said to her. "I won't let anyone hurt you. I'm going to take care of you. I won't leave you behind after we lock James up. But this means we're going to be spending some time together so we're going to have to learn to trust each other."
"How do we do that?" She questioned.
"Well, we can start with the twelve hour car ride we're taking back to Chicago. I don't want you spotted at any airport or train station." Punk said to her. "And we're going to be detouring so it might be longer than twelve hours."
"Great." She mumbled.
"Go pack up whatever you need and we'll hit the road." Punk said to her.
"No." April said and he sighed.
"I thought we just discussed this, kid." He groaned.
"Do you want me to call you Punk?" April asked back.
"Fine." Punk said to her. "But I just laid it all out there for you. There's nothing more I could promise you."
"You can promise me one day here." April said to him and he eyed her suspiciously. "Tomorrow is my brother's birthday and I want to be here with my parents." she told him.
"It's not a good idea." Punk said to her.
"I'm not asking." April said simply. "You can't force me to go, you can force me to testify though. There's no law saying I have to stay under your protection. And this could be a good start with the trusting each other."
"Fine." Punk said to her. "But I have to stay with you- at all times."
"Deal." April said agreed and stuck her hand out but he didn't seem eager to shake it back. "Shake it or I won't trust you."
"You're going to be fun." Punk remarked sarcastically. "Since you're going to be staying with me we need to talk about comfortable silence." he warned her.
"Great." April forced out. "You're going to have to work on at least pretending to tolerate me too."
"I can do that." Punk lied.
"Out of everything you said to me today, that's the one thing I truly don't believe." April said to him as they walked into the house.
"I'll try." He forced out. "Better?"
Once back inside her family home Punk was being treated like a favorite child. Janet made Punk a huge feast for lunch. There was huge burger, homemade fries, salad and even dessert.
"You really didn't have to cook for me." Punk said as Janet placed the dish in front of him.
"Nonsense. You're protecting our daughter the least I can do is feed you." Janet smiled at him.
"Are you sure she's your daughter, you look far too young have to a grown daughter." Punk flirted playfully and AJ glared at him as she picked on fries.
"You're a charmer." Janet teased with a grin.
"He's just kissing your ass." April said to him. "And you don't have to kiss his either. He gets paid to be here."
"It is true." Punk told Janet.
"Don't be silly. This is most activity I've had in this house in months. It's nice to have new people around." Janet told him. "Make sure you save room for dinner." she warned.
"Dinner too?" Punk asked impressed.
"He'll be too full from this." April told her mother.
"No I won't." He said looking at April then back to Janet. "I can eat and eat and never get full."
"And I'll have fresh sheets in the guest room for you." Janet told him.
"What guest room?" April asked.
"It was time we cleaned out Robbie's room." Janet said to her and April's face fell.
"Without me?" April asked.
"We didn't think to tell you, honey." Janet said to her.
"He can't sleep in there. That's still Robbie's room." April said to Janet and Punk studied April's face
"Don't be rude, AJ." Janet scolded.
"I can't sleep anyway." Punk told Janet. "I'm on security detail so I'll be awake."
"Is that what you're going to do once we're back in Chicago?" April mocked. "Never sleep?"
"My building is extremely safe. There will be security right outside my door as well so I can sleep." Punk told her.
"I feel better already." Janet said relieved and April rolled her eyes. "But surely you can sleep a bit now. You had a long flight."
"I did and I slept. I sleep great on planes." He told her. "I'm trained to be awake for 72 hours straight anyway. I'll be fine."
"See?" April said to her mom then stood up and walked out of the kitchen.
"She took her brothers death very hard." Janet told Punk.
"I can tell." Punk said to her. "She seems to feel guilty."
"She knows it wasn't her fault. I blamed myself for the longest time as well." Janet admitted. "I'm surprised she even told you about it."
"I lost my brother when I was real young myself." Punk confided and Janet sat down next to him and placed her hand over his.
"I'm so sorry for your loss." she said genuinely.
"Thanks." Punk said with a light smile. "It was so long ago though."
"It doesn't ease the pain." Janet said to him. "Her father and I have have tried so hard to get her to talk about it but she clams up. She just can't get finding him out of her head."
"Finding him?" Punk questioned. "She found him after the accident?"
"Accident?" Janet asked then it hit her. "She told you he died in a car accident?"
"She did." Punk said to her intrigued now. "If you don't mind me asking-"
"He killed himself." Janet told him. "He didn't get accepted to the schools he wanted to, he felt his friends were moving on without him, he felt alone, he was depressed and he wouldn't let us help him. Him and April got into a huge argument the afternoon he died. She thinks she pushed him into it. She never forgave herself."
"She told me her brothers birthday was tomorrow." Punk told Janet.
"His birthday was six months ago." Janet told him. "Tomorrow is the anniversary of his death. She'll want to go to his grave."
"I'm real sorry for your loss." Punk said to Janet.
"Thank you." Janet said holding back tears but putting on a sad smile. "It's been the worst eight years of my life. I never imagined I'd bury my own child."
"I understand that." Punk frowned.
"Promise me I won't bury my last one." Janet pleaded.
"I promise you." He said to her and he truly meant it.
"I know she's a little rough around the edges and she's going to drive you absolutely crazy but she means well." Janet told him. "She has the biggest heart of anyone you'll ever meet and she loves to laugh, she doesn't laugh often but when she does its contagious. But she is defensive and she's downright rude at times. Don't take it personally."
"I don't." Punk said sipping his glass of water. "No matter how mean she is it won't change the fact that I'll protect her with my own life. You won't be burying her."
"Thank you." Janet whispered as tears streamed down her face and she squeezed his hand.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Yay for Punk opening a bit and being nicer, even if it is just to her family. Him and April are going to be spending A LOT of time together so they better learn to get used to each other.