So, I've been waiting a long time to get to this chapter. I've been incredibly excited for it for sometime now. The original concept was conceived in January and shortly after, I had a dream which sent me down this path, which you'll read. It's still intimately tied into The Slip. You'll have to tell me after you read it, if the chapter title is too telling. I won't change it though, I like it too much.
He and Emily had been walking back to their hotel room and had decided to take the stairs, as there weren't that many. They had been talking quietly with each other about how nice it was going to be to do some travelling with Lyn and Strip; meeting up with Stephen and his family before school started up again. They hadn't expected the scene they walked into, though they heard it before seeing it.
"Sir, if you're wanting to charge him, you must come down to the office to do so. This is the quickest, most discrete way." They heard one person say.
"We're not in the habit of parading around those we're taking into custody." A different person said.
"Fine. I don't see why an elevator couldn't be used. There must be another set, other than the ones in the lobby." They stopped and stared at each other with the newest voice. They recognized it all too well; it being her brother's.
They turned the corner for the last stretch of stairs, only to see her brother, scowling, with two hotel security guards, holding a terrified kid, nearly in tears. The kid couldn't be more than 16 or 17; at most, struggling against the guards grip on him.
"What are you doing with that kid, Alex?" He asked, startling the four at the top of the stairs. Alex's expression darkened at the sight of him, before he pointed towards the kid.
"He, was trying to break into my room."
"I was not!" Snapped the kid, trying to glance over his shoulder. "I was knocking on his door. I just wanted to talk to him."
Without thinking he told the kid, "no, you don't."
He was surprised at the kids tone though. He sounded more frustrated than afraid like he though he would sound. He could tell Em was surprised by it too.
"How old are you kid?" He asked ignoring his brother-in-law for the moment, more concerned about the kid.
"Sixteen, but I'm turning 17 in a couple weeks." A minor yet. What was Alex trying to do?
"What are you going to do with the kid?" He asked one of the guards.
"We're taking him to the security office, where we'll phone his parents and get this sorted." Said the one guard as their grip seemed to tighten on the squirming kid. Em squeezed his hand at the sight.
"Parent, I've only got my mom." The kid grumbled.
"So, he's following the kid because he wants to charge him?" He raised an eyebrow, as Alex's scowl deepened.
"Yes sir, though he's not really following the kid; he's coming with us so he can make a formal complaint or charge. That has to be done in the office though, because of the paperwork."
"Of course he is." Em muttered under her breath, only loud enough for him to hear. He only gave her hand a squeeze back.
"Ow! Will you let me go!" the kid complained.
"If you would stop squirming alre-"
"Maybe, he'd stop squirming if you would stop gripping him so tight." Emily interpreted, glaring at the guard.
"We can't loosen our grip too much or it give the person we're holding a chance to break away and run."
"He's a minor. Have you even checked to see if he wants to run?"
"No."
"Kid, if they let you go; are you going to run?"
"No, there's no place for me to run. All I wanted was the chance to talk with Mr. Piston, at least a little bit. I just want to know how he knows his mom." He looked like he was going to cross his arms, if the guards hadn't been holding him.
"I don't think he's going to run. Let him go and we'll all go down to the office to figure out just what's happening and then we're not blocking the stairs." The two guards looked skeptical at each other before cautiously releasing the kid.
"Where is the office?" Emily asked them.
"Main floor, it's three doors down on the left when you exit these stairs."
"Thank-you, my husband and I will make sure that this young man gets down there. We just want to talk with him a moment. You can take Alexander down already though, get him started started on any paperwork he might need to do for his accusation."
"It's not an accusation if it's true, Emily." Alex did cross his arms.
"Lucky you, I don't trust your truths anymore. The three of us will meet you down there."
They waited until her brother and the guards started down the stairs, Alex leading the way.
"Are you alright?" She asked the kid quietly. He just shrugged silently.
"I'm a doctor, are you sure you're okay kid?"
"I don't think they were actually gripping hard enough to bruise me, if that's what you mean. I'm more shaken than anything, you know? I-I didn't expect that he'd call security on me for knocking on his door."
"Can I give you a quick look over?" He nodded.
"When they grabbed you, did you hit your head at all?"
"No. I don't think so, they just grabbed my arms."
"I'm going to give it a check anyway, I want you to tell me if anything feels tender."
"Okay." He looked over the kid's head first, which was fine thankfully. The kid hissed a little at his gentle prods at where he had been held.
"Well kiddo, your head's fine, there might not be any visible bruises on your arms right now, but it doesn't mean that they won't show up later."
"Great, do you think we can go and get this over with."
"Sure kid." They started down the stairs.
"I can't keep letting him call you kid all the time, so will you tell us your name?"
"It's Lightning."
"No it's not, your real name kid, not your nickname." He huffed in amusement at that.
"That's what I go by though!" He just glared at the kid until he gave in.
"Aaron, it's Aaron McQueen." The kid; Aaron, grumbled.
"Thank-you Aaron, we will get this all sorted out." Emily told him.
He just muttered a quiet thanks as they entered the office. He went to talk to the security guard, before beginning anything else.
"Is there anyway the four of us can talk without you interference?"
"As long as there's someone in there to watch the kid so nothing happens to him."
"It's a little late for that, he's already been traumatized by this. It'll be my brother-in-law who needs protection, if anyone does." He hoped the guards felt a bit guilty for the way they treated the kid. The four of them were guided into a quiet room in the back with a table and chairs, and a phone on the wall. He and Emily had Aaron sit between them while Alex sat across from them, trying his hardest to ignore the kid between them. Now they could ask more questions of the kid.
"Aaron? Who are you here with?" Emily asked.
"My friend James and his parents. My mom wouldn't come. So, they brought me with them to go to the race as an early birthday gift."
"Do you know where they are?"
"No, but James went to go find them when this all started. We're staying in room 295 and his parents are in 293."
"So, what did you want to talk to Alex about before?"
"Did you really want to ask him if he knew your mom?"
"He must know my mom." He was staring at Alex before looking back at him.
"I had brushed by him earlier, on the way to the pool with James. We had been goofing around on the way there, so I really more bumped into him, but I apologized before going on my way." He crossed his arms, slouching into the chair a bit.
"After we were done at the pool, I overheard him on the phone saying something about sending a warning the next time money was sent to Elizabeth McQueen. My mom's name; it made me pause." The kid took a breath.
"He dictated what he sort of wanted to say, something about the money stopping sometime in the next couple of years if not sooner. Then he used mom's nickname, which I've only heard my grandparents use. So, he has to know my mom. If he's been the one who's been sending my mom money for years, then he's most likely my dad." He had such an earnest expression on his face as he talked.
"It would explain a lot about my mom. Like her fascination with the Piston family, but why she refuses to go anywhere near a Piston Cup race. The only thing she's ever told me about him was that he walked out on her, once she told him she was expecting me." He turned to Emily.
"Once, I asked her about the cheques and she told me it was money from my father. I've wanted to know who my father is for as long as I can remember. Now, I finally get the chance to meet or speak to him, and he won't give me the time of day. He's not even looking at me now. Not even a sorry kid, you're wrong or something, anything." He grumbled the last part, slouching more and more into his chair.
"Oh, Aaron, sweetheart." Emily glared at her brother who remained silent and glaring at him, before turning and fussing over the kid.
"I want to speak with your mom, what's your phone number?" He noted it down as Aaron rattled it off. He phoned the number, and as he waited, he watched Alex sulk and avoid looking at the kid and Emily who was fussing over him, while he tried to hide himself in the chair. It didn't take long for the phone to be answered.
"Hello?" A woman's voice answered, it didn't sound like she could be much older than Lyn, though voices could be deceiving. He wouldn't put it past Alex bedding a younger woman though.
"Is this Elizabeth McQueen?"
"Speaking." He could immediately hear the alarm in her voice. "Did something happen to Lightning? Because this doesn't sound like David Rogers. Did something happen to them?"
"Is that who he's here with? No, it's not David Rogers, and as far as I'm aware nothing's happened to him. It's Jesse Hudson, and I'm phoning about Lightning-"
"Is he okay? What happened to him? He wasn't bugging you, was he?"
"He's fine, he wasn't bugging me, though he had tried talking to my brother-in-law. Which did land him in a spot of trouble, as my brother-in-law called security on him."
"Oh, my poor baby, are you sure he's fine?"
"Yes, a bit shaken by the experience, but fine. I have a couple of questions for you though."
"Of course."
"This all came about because Lightning had thought that Alex could be his father."
"He's not wrong."
"His father-"
"Is Alexander Piston." Her voice was small now. "He walked out when I told him I was pregnant, and shortly after that, those articles started coming out on you." He really had to strain to hear the next part. "I kept each article because I feel like it's my fault to some degree."
"You're not the one who made those articles happen, that was Alex alone."
"I know, or at least that's what I tell myself. He told me to never contact him again, but I couldn't do so. Every five years I sent him a photo of Aaron, starting with his birth announcement."
"Is that so?"
"It is. I named him after you, actually. The only thing Alex has done, is send money every couple of months. Does that answer some of your questions?"
"It answers enough."
"Could I speak with him? My son that is, I'm long past the point of wanting to hear anything from Alex."
"I'll get him for you."
"Thank-you."
He went and tapped the kid's shoulder, speaking lowly. "Your mom wants to speak with you."
"Okay." He watched the kid go over to the phone and start his conversation.
"Mom? ... Why didn't you tell me before, so I knew and wasn't always wondering?" He could hear the kid's emotions breaking free now that he was talking to his mom. He sat down beside Emily, refusing to look at Alex, in fear of wanting to strangle his brother-in-law.
"What did his mom say, Jesse?"
"She confirmed what he pieced together. He's got Piston blood. Worst of all, he's known the entire time that the kid's his."
"WHAT? HE KNOWS!?"
"She's sent him pictures, and he's been sending her money."
"Oh, Jesse."
"There's more. Apparently, after she told him she was expecting, about a week after, those articles started coming out. She feels guilty." Emily just covered her mouth and closed her eyes.
"That poor woman. She knows those aren't her fault, right?"
"More or less. Did you learn anything from the kid?"
"It sounds like he doesn't have much family other than his mom; his mentioned grandparents, don't sound like they have much to do with either of them. Nor does it sound like he has any real father figures in his life. You should have seen how his face lit up when you introduced yourself to his mom, I don't think he realized who we were before that point."
"What a mess your brother has created. I'm this close to strangling him Em." He held his fingers about an inch a part.
"Well you're doing a good job of not, so far."
"She named him after me, to spite him a bit."
"Hmm."
The kid was back in front of them now, shifting nervously on his feet.
"Ah, my mom said she's going to come tomorrow, that she'd be here by the afternoon. Do you think I'd be allowed to go back to my room?"
"We'll check for you." Emily nodded, while he got up to talk to the guard.
"If he doesn't file a formal report, can the kid go?"
"As far as I'm concerned even if there is one filed the kid can go. If I understand what I've been hearing, there shouldn't be one anyways. Plus if you escort him there, he's under adult supervision so he can't say he's not being looked after. We got a hold of the people who he's travelling with and they're in their room and the two rooms are joined, so even then he'll be looked after. So, feel free to take him."
"Alright there kiddo, let's get you back to where you're staying."
"I'm sure you feel like you've had enough excitement for one day haven't you?" Emily asked somewhat rhetorically as she put a hand on his back to lead him out; the boy looked emotionally drained and physically exhausted. He let the two of them leave first, before turning back to Alex.
"I don't know what you're playing at, trying to charge your son for trying to talk to you. But I'd think long and hard before you put a formal complaint in about your son. If it goes through, it will be fought every step of the way."
They walked him back to his hotel room quiet except for the occasional question from him and their answer back. Once they were standing outside his room he was shuffling back and forth on his feet.
"Ah, thank you for helping me, when you didn't know anything about me."
"Oh, sweetheart, we would have done that for anyone. You can call me Aunt Emily if you like dear. We will keep in contact, I promise."
"I'd like that." He put a hand on the kid's shoulder.
"We'll see you in the morning, we'll wait for your mother with you."
"Really?!"
"Yes really."
"Thanks." He knocked on the door which opened quickly by a boy about the same age as Lightning, whose face was tense but drained into one of relief once he saw Lightning.
"You're alright, good. Do you learn the truth?"
"Yeah James, I'll tell you in a minute though."
"Okay."
Lightning gave them one last wave before the door closed. They sighed almost in unison, and draped their arms around each other leaning against the others sides, before retiring to their own room.
"That poor boy, what a way to meet family."
"Well now we know a reason for why he did it. He wanted to cover up his mistake."
"I'm not really surprised at this. Just a bit disgusted about how much worse he handled this situation compared to his older kids."
"I know Em, I know."
Ah, surprise? Did I shock any of you? (And my dear Nurf, I know this didn't shock you, since you've known this was coming since January and got the roughest form by a description of my dream and more.) Others have only been given the vaguest notion of my excitement of this chapter.