Happy Birthay Akachankami! Have a little something that is half crack and half fun! I hope you enjoy it and have an awesome birthday! Lots of love to my favorite beta! 3
Old Boring French Movies
"We are so not going to watch a chick flick." Bellamy straight out refused, in a tone that broke no possible argument. "Bring your friends to that."
Octavia folded her arms in front of her chest, her eyes glaring daggers at her brother. "We're not going to watch stupid soldiers shooting everything on sight for two hours just to reassure your virility either."
Marcus sighed and rubbed his eyes, studying the several advertisement posters lined up in the cinema's hall. He had been studying them for ten long minutes and, by then, he could probably have recited the cinema's program by heart.
It wasn't supposed to happen like that, he mused. When he had suggested a family outing that morning – mostly to put an end to the endless arguments between the two siblings – he had had in mind something more… relaxing.
They should have agreed on a movie beforehand probably.
He was still learning how to parent teenagers. It wasn't his fault he hadn't had the lead-up from infancy to actual hormonal tornadoes with bad tempers. By the time he had taken Bellamy and Octavia in, they had both been self-reliant.
"What about…" he tried.
"We're not watching an old French movie either, Kane." Octavia cut him off.
Bellamy didn't protest that statement and Marcus rolled his eyes. Trust them to agree when it came to contradicting him.
"Fine." he retorted, fishing his wallet from his pocket and handing the boy a couple of bills. "Then go get popcorn and don't come back until you've figured out what you want to watch."
It seemed like a risky bet – because knowing them, they might not come back at all – but the power of pocket money was, as usual, too enticing to resist. Octavia snatched the bills before Bellamy could and sauntered away, followed by her brother who loudly warned they weren't getting the sugary kind of popcorn because he wanted the salty one.
With another sigh, Marcus glanced around to make sure they weren't the main attraction. That happened a lot: their arguments escalating so far that passersby stopped to watch or mumble under their breath about ill-educated brats.
Not that he ever let anyone call his kids brats.
He was glad to find nobody had been paying them any attention. There were a few parents trying to keep their excited children under control, a few couples more interested in each other than on how fast the queue to the ticket booth was advancing… He was about to get in line – fervently hoping Bellamy and Octavia would have chosen a movie before he reached the booth – when something attracted his eyes.
Well, someone.
The woman was striking. Long dark blond, almost brown, hair that flowed down on her shoulder, a little wild from the wind, delicate features that were schooled into an angry scowl, a red coat open on dark pants and a blue v-neck shirt… She strode inside the cinema as if she owned the place.
She was beautiful and he would probably have noticed her even if she hadn't seemed to be storming away from a younger man in an expensive suit who looked even angrier than she was. For a second, she looked around, a flicker of despair flashing on her face…
When the guy roughly grabbed her arm, Marcus frowned, jaw clenched. She shook the hand off and glanced around again, so obviously looking for a possible escape…
Their eyes met.
How could they not when he had been so rudely staring?
She seemed to hesitate for a moment but then determination replaced the anxiety on her face and she stormed toward him. He briefly wondered if that was a thing. Did she always walk like that? With that purpose and that self-righteousness? Did she storm everywhere?
"Here you are!" she called out with a hesitant smile and pleading eyes. "I'm so sorry I'm late, honey. I had an emergency surgery."
Honey.
He opened his mouth, not quite sure how he was going to answer that to be honest, and then closed it when he realized the guy who was harassing her was still following her. It was a bold game she was playing, accosting a stranger that way, hoping he would play along.
And yet, he felt himself smile in answer and outstretch a hand as if it was totally natural. She grabbed it without a second thought but with noticeable relief.
He could understand that.
The guy may have been younger than both of them but she was a small woman and he looked agitated enough to become a potential physical threat.
"No problem." Marcus lied smoothly, not so subtly using the grip on her hand to nudge her slightly behind him. "I haven't been waiting long. Who's your friend?"
His tone was less than friendly and the guy visibly cringed, suddenly uncertain. Marcus was well aware he had an authoritative charisma and he had never hesitated to use that to his advantage.
"You can hide behind your boyfriend all you want, you will pay for this, Abby." the guy spat.
"Sorry, we haven't been introduced." Marcus retorted, now bordering on angry himself. "Detective Marcus Kane. And you are?"
Understanding dawned on the guy's face and he stepped back, a bitter sneer on his lips. "So, that's what it's about? You're dating the police?"
"It's about you sanctioning illegal bone marrow transplants, Cage." she snapped. "I told you I wouldn't let you get away with it. I've already contacted the authorities. It's done. You're done."
Marcus hid his surprise, not quite having expected something like that. That was… much bigger than what he had thought this was.
"Hey, Abby!" Octavia exclaimed, suddenly reappearing at his side, her eyes immediately zooming in on his and the woman's clasped hands.
"Hello, Abby." Bellamy greeted more carefully, studying Cage with a frown. "Everything's alright?"
"You're going to pay for this." the guy insisted, his eyes darting from Marcus to Bellamy, quickly drawing the conclusion that he was no match for both of them – or either of them, really. "Your boyfriend won't always be around to protect you."
"Just try me." Marcus challenged – which might not have been the cleverest approach but he did hate that kind of wealthy young jerks who thought the whole world should bow to their father's checkbook. It would only take one threat against him and he would arrest him on the spot.
Unfortunately, despite all his fantasies of tossing the idiot in a cell full of drunk people, Cage stormed away with another sneer.
At his side, the woman relaxed, letting out a long shaky breath.
"Who was that creep?" Octavia asked in the silence that followed, looking at the man's departing back as if she longed to stab it.
"No one." the woman immediately answered with a small smile. "What are the two of you doing here?"
"Catching a movie with your boyfriend apparently." Bellamy snorted, his eyes dancing with amusement.
"Right." Octavia grinned, her attention swiftly coming back to their hands. "Is that why you dragged us here tonight, Kane? To tell us?" She looked around with a frown. "Where's Clarke? How come she doesn't get the 'surprise, we're dating' treatment? "
Marcus opened and closed his mouth twice, looking from the stranger to his adoptive children, wondering what the hell was going on now and what it had to do with Clarke Griffin of all people. He knew the teenager well enough, she was always around the house either on Octavia's invite or on Bellamy's but…
"Clarke's at home." the woman answered with a frown of her own and then her whole face lit up when she looked up at him. "Oh, you're that Marcus Kane…"
"Is there more than one?" he asked, half-dumbfounded and half-serious.
"I'm Clarke's mother." she said.
And it clicked.
Because there was no escaping tales of Clarke's mother around the kids and their friends. Doctor Abby Griffin, the widow who opened her house to all teenagers in need, who patched them up when hurt, fed them when hungry, scolded them when needed and pieced them back together when they fell apart.
"Abby." he ventured.
"Abby." she confirmed with a bright smile. "I heard a lot about you."
"I think it's easy to say I heard more about you." he chuckled.
Bellamy and Octavia exchanged a long complicated look and then simultaneously rolled their eyes.
"You know what?" Bellamy grumbled. "We're going to catch that movie. Just take Abby to the old boring French thing, okay?"
They were gone before he could protest or even demand they give some of the popcorn he had paid for.
And he was left to face the potentially awkward situation.
"You should press charges." he winced, once the kids were out of earshot. "If you want to stop by tomorrow, I'll take the statement down myself."
"That's very nice." She was smiling and he couldn't help but think she looked… A little too amused. A couple of seconds went by and then she cleared her throat, lowering her eyes. "Can I get my hand back?"
He let go as if he had been burned, unable to believe he had still been holding it.
"Sorry." he mumbled.
"I should be the one saying sorry." she dismissed. "I'm the one who took you hostage. And confused your kids, I guess."
He rolled his eyes. "They're just happy to avoid watching an old boring French movie."
She shrugged. "I like old boring French movies if you want company."
Would any sane man have refused that kind of proposition?