Oakdale, Illinois, Oakdale City Hall and Courthouse Complex, 2019
Itching to leave, Luke fidgeted in his chair while they waited for the official release procedure to be completed.
After a few weeks of physical therapy, Luke's neck, while still bandaged, was much better. Though occasionally he'd yelp if he turned his head too quickly. The doctors still weren't certain he'd ever regain the neck's full range of motion, but considering what might have happened he counted himself lucky.
"Will you stop pacing!" he moaned.
Noah stopped his incessant back and forth walk in front of the window, eyes scanning the tempting view of Old Towne.
"If I don't pace I'll explode!" he explained.
Luke exhaled a deep, exasperated breath that sent him into a coughing fit.
Noah squatted by his chair, taking his hand. "You okay?"
"Jesus Christ! Will you stop fussing?" Luke exploded.
Ever since they left the hospital, Noah had been on edge like this; driving Luke crazy with his persistent hovering. He knew it was because Noah loved him, but he also suspected it had a lot to do with the events of the past few weeks.
Noah may have succeeded in his mission to free them. But the brunette seemed unable to relax until every other detail was resolved.
Over the weeks since that pivotal scene on the steps in Washington, D.C, Luke watched Noah became more and more withdrawn. Noah wouldn't talk about it, but Luke knew deep in his heart, it had something to do with the information he'd obtained from Garrett, or rather how he'd obtained it.
It didn't help that their current celebrity was off the charts. Every talk show and newspaper in the country was clamoring to interview them. Top lawyers threw business cards in their direction; eager to scoop the most publicized case of the year.
At the look on Noah's face, Luke softened. "I'm sorry, Bubby. I know you're just worried." He leaned forward to steal a quick kiss. "But you don't have to be. I'm fine and in just a few more hours, we'll be done with all of this."
As he spoke, the door to the small conference room opened and Agent Williams entered, accompanied by FBI Director Lloyd McKean and a small man Luke didn't know.
A few minutes were spent on introductions and they discovered that the small man was the United States Attorney General Marcus Glover.
McKean gestured for Noah to take the chair beside Luke, but Noah remained standing as the other three men sat behind the table opposite them.
"Do you know why we called a meeting this afternoon?" Glover asked; looking externally like a kindly uncle even as his eyes burned with that intense intelligence of a wily fox.
Luke and Noah exchanged a look before Noah spoke up. "No, Sir, we don't."
"Very good," the man said, leaning back in his chair and placing a folder on the table before him. "With this level of media coverage, I'd prefer it if this deal remains strictly within the confines of this office."
The country's highest ranking Lawyer took his time looking each and every person in the room directly in the eye.
"Hang on?" Luke queried. "Deal?"
"You have powerful friends, Mr. Snyder," Director Lloyd McKean said surveying his notes. "A certain Ms. Lucinda Walsh being one of the most outspoken advocates. It would seem your friends are not altogether happy with the way the FBI has treated you over the past few years."
"Knowing my grandmother, Mr. McKean, I'm sure that's an understatement," Luke replied; with the faintest curl of his lips.
"Quite." McKean cleared his throat. "Having said that, I have been forced to come up with rather a generous deal considering…"
"What the Director is so eloquently trying to tell you, Luke," Adrian butted in, "...is that you have the President quaking in his boots. The government is worried you and Noah are going to spill your story to the press or worse…"
"Sue them," Noah finished with a nod.
Luke felt his shackles rising.
Glover glared fire at Williams before turning to the job at hand. "I have here a full pardon and financial compensation for both of you. But it comes with certain stipulations; the first being that you will refrain from speaking of your life in public-"
"This is bullshit!" Luke exclaimed.
"…Second," Glover powered on, "…you will pledge to never pursue a civil or criminal claim against the FBI or the United States Government for any alleged damages-"
"Alleged damages?" Luke exclaimed with outrage. "Do you have any fucking idea what we've been through?"
He felt Noah's hand rest on his shoulder, "Calm down, Baby. Let's not reject this just yet. Let's hear the man out, okay?"
Luke dropped back in the chair in a huff, and Noah nodded at Glover to continue.
The attorney general shifted a few pages around, clearing his throat. "Lastly, you will keep the details of this agreement confidential for the rest of your lifetime."
"Now?" Luke asked, looking up at Noah. "Can I reject it now?"
Noah sighed.
Luke blazed fire in Glover's direction. "Why the hell would we accept these conditions? We've already been pardoned!"
"You've been cleared on the original murder charges, Luke," Adrian explained. "But not for any of the other crimes you may have committed while on the run; forgery for example."
I don't believe this!
"You're kidding me right?" Luke asked Adrian. "You want us to give up the chance to tell our story; the chance to obtain recompense for everything this administration put us though, just to avoid some trumped up forgery charges?"
"Luke, you need to think carefully about this one," Williams warned.
"Think about what, exactly?"
Luke heard it then; a deep inhale of breath from Noah.
"What?" Luke asked, glacing up at him. "Bubby, what is it?"
An ashen Noah looked down into Luke's eyes. "The kidnapping."
Luke felt like he'd been kicked in the gut.
Of course! Leo! How could I forget?
Glover used their realization to hammer his objective home. "This is an excellent deal. Trust me. I've seen many over my career. Not only will you be exonerated for any crime you committed while on the run, whether we know about it or not, you will receive full and legal custody of your son."
With just one long look at each other, Luke and Noah really didn't have anything more to say. Glover slid the agreement over to Luke's side of the table. Luke gestured for a pen; and after a thorough read through, both he and Noah signed their names on the dotted lines.
Glover and the FBI Director simultaneously rose up, having completed the deal. With one last apology and shake of their hands, the two men left the room, leaving Williams alone with them.
After a brief and uncomfortable silence Noah was the first to speak. "What will happen to Marsden?"
"Do you care?" Williams asked.
Noah shrugged. "Not really, I guess."
"Thanks to you, the government has an airtight case against the soon-to-be former senator. I'd suspect his lawyers will try to get some kind of plea bargain. In any case, Marsden can look forward to spending the rest of his life behind bars, where he should have been all along. Then they can start to track down all the people he paid to stay quiet over the years; of which there are many..."
"I don't really know what to say." Noah reached over the table to shake Adrian's hand. "Thank you."
Adrian appeared to have a lump in his throat because he simply cleared it and nodded.
Luke was surprised when he actually felt tears sting his eyes. "You believed us when nobody else would-"
"Only after you both kicked my ass!" Adrian chuckled.
Luke and Noah both laughed at that.
"Yeah," Luke agreed, "...and what an arrogant ass it is too!"
"Nice though." Noah winked. "I've seen it!"
Luke gave Noah a confused look, as the brunette and Adrian shared a grin; before another awkward moment hung in the air, no one knowing quite what to say next.
Finally, Noah broke the silence. "Um… Holden and his cousin, Detective Jack Snyder, are waiting to take us home. Evidently, the family's laid on this massive barbecue in our honor. Would you like to join us?"
"Throw in an extra invite for my buddy, Archie, and you've got yourself a couple of tag-a-longs!" Adrian grinned.
...
Leo sat alone on the bench outside the farmhouse back door; anxiously keeping an eye on the driveway at the exact point it appeared through a gap in the trees and drew a scribbled climb up to the house.
Luke's big brother, Aaron, had been up since the crack of dawn preparing a spit roast for Emma's special family barbecue. But even the enticing smell of well-seasoned roast meat wafting up to Leo from the bottom of the yard, couldn't distract him from watching the road.
Occasionally, his eyes would pan right to the flat strip of grass, where most of the Snyder clan enjoyed a fun game of baseball. They were watched from the sidelines by the Hughes family, Chris, Katie and little Jacob Snyder.
The Snyder family was complicated to say the least. Leo had yet to work out everybody's exact ties but he was getting better at it.
He watched his cousin Sage deliver an impressive hit way out into left field, sending Ethan and Sage's brothers, Parker and JJ, sprinting after it through the long grass.
This made it easy for Eva, Cousin Eliza and Aunt Carly, who had loaded the bases, to slide into home.
Sage simply smiled; licking her finger and pressing it to her behind with a loud sizzle sound, before strolling carefree from base to base, past the boys to claim her grand slam.
Natalie and Faith stood waiting to bat and burst out laughing singing, "Girls rule!"
"Oh yeah?" Faith's husband, Ian, challenged from his position at second base. "Wait 'til we're up!"
Occasionally, the players (especially Ethan) would hopefully gaze in Leo's direction and Leo felt a little bad about that. He knew they'd set this game up especially in his honor.
A couple of drinking glasses tinkled behind him. Turning toward the sound, he watched Grandma Emma set a tray of iced tea on the long picnic table. She decanted some of the golden liquid in a glass and brought this, along with a paper plate full of cookies to Leo.
"Don't want to play, Sweetheart?" She kindly asked, handing him the snack.
Leo balanced the drink on the leg of the bench and placed the plate on his knees. "I'm sorry, Grandma. I can't concentrate."
It still felt strange to call this woman Grandma; but Emma insisted. She didn't seem fazed by it at all. In fact, the moment he said the word, her wrinkled eyes sparkled.
"It's understandable," she declared, lightly patting his shoulder before taking a seat beside him. "But it might still be quite a wait, you know? The ball game will help keep your mind off things and before you know it..." she flicked her fingers, "…the wait is up!"
He nodded while absently taking a bite of cookie; his eyes automatically seeking out that spot in the trees.
"Ohf…myf…Ghod!" he exclaimed, biscuit laden fingers flying up to stop cookie crumbs from propelling out his lips. "Mmmm! So good!"
Emma chuckled beside him. "I'm glad you approve, although I'm not surprised. Those were always your father's favorites. I swear, as fast as I made them Noah would gobble them up!"
Licking the cookie dust from his bottom lip Leo asked, "These are the oatmeal raisin ones?"
"Yes!" She smiled, her cheeks turning rosy.
Leo nodded, "Dad told me about these! Whenever we would move to a new place, Dad would search the shops for something similar. But he never found any that measured up to yours."
"Well, now, I'm flattered!" Emma laughed. "I've made plenty, so you help yourself!"
"Thank you, I will, for sure!" Leo grinned, already reaching for a second.
His fingers brushed the cookie when he heard it.
"They're here!"
He followed the sound of the voice to find Eva had stopped the game and was excitedly pointing down the long driveway.
He stood; the forgotten cookies falling to the ground. Feeling nervous, his eyes scanned the horizon until they fell on Holden's sky-blue pickup just as it cleared the gap of trees.
He walked forward with a stride that turned quicker and longer, until he was running down the grass bank.
The truck slowed before it even had a chance to reach the house; both doors on the right side flung open. Luke was first out; already quarter-way to Leo, when Noah stepped out of the back.
Now Leo could believe it! Now he could relax! All his fears of foster homes and loneliness dissipated in an instant. Vision blurring; heart swelling with happiness; Leo nearly fell once, but he regained his footing and powered forward.
As soon as they reached each other, Luke swept Leo up into his arms laughing and crying at the same time. "Hey!"
Leo hugged Luke as hard as he could.
"Oh, Baby…" Luke gasped into Leo's hair.
"Hey," Leo replied; enjoying the feel of his pop's strong arms around him and the wet kisses on his neck.
Over his pop's shoulder he watched his dad approach. When Luke released him, Leo rubbed his bleary eyes and sniffed; straightening up. "Hi, Dad," he softly said.
Noah looked at Leo with a powerful mix of emotion. "Hey, Kid," his dad replied, shy tears he'd usually hide if the situation were different, glistening on his cheek.
"Is it over?" Leo cautiously asked.
Both men stood regarding Leo for quite some time before Noah reached up to cup Leo's face. His hand slid around the back of his son's head, nodding yes as he pulled Leo to him.
As Leo's face buried in his father's shirt, he felt Luke embrace them both.
He'd always loved the way his fathers' smelled; manly and strong. But now they smelt free too. It was the safest smell in the world.
…
Finding the farm's driveway blocked by the stationary pickup ahead of them, Adrian patiently pulled the rental car up behind Holden Snyder. As the rest of the Snyders made their way down the grass bank, he and Archie silently witnessed the tearful reunion of a family unit, torn apart by injustice.
Adrian's whole life; his entire belief system; had always been wound up around his duty to serve. It was an act that lay within, unquestioned, until he met Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer. This case had taken everything he ever believed in; and threatened to unravel it all.
One thing was for sure, Adrian never wanted to discover he was chasing down the wrong person again.
"Well," Archie mused, as Luke swallowed his mother's small frame in a tight hug. "...if scenes like this aren't why I joined the force, then I don't know my reasons..."
"Yeah," Adrian agreed. "I came close to losing compete faith in justice with this one, Archie. It's good to see right can still win true, eventually."
They shared a silent thought for a moment.
"So," Archie queried. "You sticking with the feds?"
"Who knows what the future holds, my friend. Who knows…"