No One's Born Broken

[abrightboy]

For tinstar.



Gil came and went. Dani came and went. Ainsley came and then left with their mother, who refused to even hear him out about telling the truth. He stared through the window at the motionless man in the bed for some indeterminate amount of time, his hand clutching his phone in his pocket.

Finally he let his eyes leave the figure through the window and he took his phone out of his pocket. He stared at that for a long moment, then scrolled through his contacts until one name rolled onto the screen: Raylan Givens.

He looked through the window, then looked at the name. Then he pressed it.

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[tinstar]

It was late by anyone standards, but still, Raylan was at his desk in the Lexington Marshal's office, doing the dirtiest work he'd come across. Paperwork. Of course, he'd sat down originally to have a video call with Winona and Willa, though Willa was only half a year old and wouldn't remember, and once it had ended, he got stuck in cleaning up all the shit he'd left for himself over the week.

Last thing he wanted was to hear Art bitching about it in the morning.

On the desk, his phone vibrated, screen coming to life with Malcolm's name. His brow pinched faintly before he picked it up.

"Malcolm, hey. Wasn't expecting to hear from you tonight." But he was glad to be wrong and there was a soft lift in his voice for it.

[abrightboy]

"Raylan..."

He took a breath. That had come out shaky. He'd start again.

He looked through the window, then turned his back on it, looking at the dull tile of the hospital hallway floor instead.

"Hi." Muted but better. "Um. Something happened." He glanced around. "I..." He took another careful breath. "I stabbed Dr Whitly," he finally said, like a dam bursting. "It wasn't... it wasn't.... my mother was being blackmailed by a killer and I couldn't let her do it but she still told them she did it and she won't let me tell them the truth," he gushed in a ramble barely above a whisper, "and he's not dead. I wasn't trying to kill him. But he could die. He's in the hospital in a coma and everyone feels bad for me and they shouldn't because I put him here."

[tinstar]

Oh. Something was wrong. He could tell just by the way Malcolm said his name and it made him sit up in his chair, forearm finding the desk to lean on as he gave Malcolm time to talk. The more he did, the deeper Raylan's brow pinched.

"Shit. Is she in custody? What about the killer?" He was trying to not overload Malcolm with questions, but he was already up and moving, slipping his hat on his head as he turned off his computer and grabbed his jacket.

"I can be up there in two hours."

[abrightboy]

"She's being questioned. She hasn't been charged. I caught the killer. I let her say it was her so I could get him when he came here because he killed the last hostage even though she did what he said and I knew he would kill this one too, once he got what he wanted. He said he would know if she did it. There was only one way he could know. At the hospital. And we arrested him. But now she won't let me tell them it was me."

Raylan's calm assertion that he could be there in two hours halted Malcolm's manic rambling.

"Y-you're coming?"

Thank god, but also... wasn't this upending... whatever he was in the middle of doing in Kentucky?

"I'm still at the hospital. I can... I can text you which one so you can tell the cab driver."

Because, honestly, the prospect of seeing Raylan's face felt like a life preserver.

[tinstar]

"Jesus," Raylan muttered under his breath as he trotted down the stairs, opting for that over the elevator that would cut off the call. "Never do things by half up there, do you. And of course I am - between the cops, your mother, and whatever other psychopath that might be watching all of ya and with Gill busy, I assume, you probably shouldn't be alone."

For more than one reason.

It was a little upending, but Raylan could put things on hold for a day, even if it meant he didn't get any sleep. He could sleep when he was dead, which at this rate, might not be too far along, if his face was any indication.

Another childish fight, another half loss and his pretty visage was cut at the eyebrow and a slightly colored bruise and cut on his lip. He hoped that Malcolm would be too otherwise distracted to really notice, or argue the bullshit 'I fell in the shower' story Raylan kept in his back pocket for lame excuses.

"Do that." Malcolm would no doubt hear the car door open and close behind Raylan as he slipped into his car. "And Martin? He stable?"

Despite Raylan's Daddy issues, he understood that Malcolm actually loved his father, in some way some part and he wasn't going to disparage that.

[abrightboy]

"I've been trying to be alone. Everyone wants to talk about it, but... all my friends are the police. I can't tell them what happened in that room. I can't risk contradicting what my mother's telling them. I can't explain that Dr Whitly told me how to do it..."

He took a breath. Answer the question, Malcolm.

"Dr Whitly is in critical condition, but considered stable. For now. He's been stabbed in the heart with a ceramic ice pick."

[tinstar]

"So you've called your US Marshal boyfriend," he pointed out with only a fraction of amusement - Malcolm wasn't in the laughing or teasing mood, he could tell.

"I'm sorry, in his heart? How is he not already dead?"

[abrightboy]

"Maybe I was hoping you'd turn me in," he teased back wearily. He paused long enough that Raylan could probably only tell he was still there if he could hear him breathing. "When I was in college, I was talking to him about... how serial killers are very particular about the way that they kill. That sounds macabre, but it was for school. Anyway. I mentioned a case I read about where a sheriff's deputy was stabbed in the heart with a pencil and survived and Dr Whitly told me how it was done." He took a deep breath. "The only way to save the hostage was to stab him in the heart. He reminded me of that story. He told me how to do it. But when he told me the story back then, he said there was no room for error. That it's like threading the eye of a needle and... I don't know if I... did that."

[tinstar]

He had to know that Raylan wouldn't. He was a shitty Marshal but a good lawman and frankly, if Martin Whitly had to take a knife to save an innocent person, truly had to, then it was for a greater good.

"Ninty eight percent of the conversations you seem to have with the man is macabre." But it was clear why. It was their normal. "Well," he started, bobbing his head thoughtfully. "He's not dead yet, right? That's promising. If he's already through surgery, that's the worst of it."

Maybe they'd all get lucky and he'd get an infection and stop being a pain in the Family's ass.

"Hold tight, darlin'. I'm on my way."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm watched the door close behind Raylan, then walked over to the window, looking down until Raylan's hat emerged into the street and watching until he was gone.

***

With the case of the necrophiliac murderer closed, Malcolm had gone to the hospital, staring through the window again before finally stepping inside.

"Hello, Dr Whitly."

Martin Whitly woke up.

***

Malcolm considered texting Raylan that he was on his way, but he wanted to surprise him, so he flew down, arriving at about ten in the morning. He didn't know where Raylan's temporary apartment was, so he went to a coffee shop and purchased five coffees and headed to the Marshals' office instead.

Walking in, he didn't see Raylan, though he saw.... Tim.... and Rachel as he looked around. He ambled over with a smile.

"Hi," he said, holding out the tray to whoever intercepted him first. "I was in town; thought I'd stop by."

[tinstar]

The time apart got easier the more Raylan wasn't reminded of it but Malcolm was always in the back of his head. Their calls were great and all; Raylan liked hearing Malcolm's voice as much as he knew Malcolm liked to hear his, but it tore open that lonely wound that was starting to heal.

The office had seen the change in their most troublesome Marshal. He was no less intense but he was more walled off than before, somehow. Art had a few ideas that he hadn't shared but were in fact still shared by the other Raylan Experts in the Lexington office. He'd been cagier than usual for months.

When Malcolm walked in, all the eyes in the office lifted but only Rachel's and Tim's lingered on him before they glanced at each other briefly. Rachel politely stood up, since she was closer to the door, head tilting a little behind a friendly smile.

"Mr. Bright. Surprise to see you down here." She didn't believe 'was in town'; he was from New York and had no reason to be in town, that she was aware of, but Rachel was open to whatever possibilities he might have to offer. "And with coffee even." She looked over at Tim, who'd leaned back in his chair, blue eyes squinted slightly in the way they always were as he clicked his pen rhythmically.

"You must have heard about ours while you were down here last time. What brings you around?" Rachel Brookes was, by all accounts, a gorgeous woman who fully batted her eyelashes innocently at Malcolm, but there was no mistaking the Marshal underneath.

[abrightboy]

"Just traveling. My boss made me take some time off," he revealed. He paused. "You remember Gil Arroyo." He held the tray out to Tim in offering of a coffee. "Unless you have a weird or complicated case you're working on," he added brightly. "I brake for cases," he joked with a wide smile.

[tinstar]

"And you came down to Kentucky," Rachel continued, reaching for and stealing a cup before Tim could fully get out of his chair. Just because she was asking the questions didn't mean she wasn't going to take one of the coffees. It was a power move and she didn't care.

Tim, who hadn't relented on his squint, stood up and dropped his pen on the desk to take a cup, glancing a peek into the mouth hole before taking a sip as he watched Malcolm.

"He's not in today. If you're wonderin'."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm glanced at the empty desk next to Tim's and then at the nearby closed office door.

"Raylan or Art?" he asked for clarification with practiced Innocent Face.

[tinstar]

Tim glanced at Art's door, lips taking to a slight curl as he appreciated the attempt but didn't buy the batting of eyelashes over ice blue eyes.

"Raylan," he answered, playing the game for now, amusement highlighted all over his face. "Art's on vacation for a few days on account of bein' shot."

They'd all been more than worried but now that Art was at home and recovering, the office was taking it a little easier.

[abrightboy]

"...Art was shot?"

Clearly he was recovering fine; the office lacked the tension of a team concerned for their leader.

"Then I guess one coffee's up for grabs," he noted lightly. "Is Raylan in Harlan?"

[tinstar]

"Tends to happen around here sometimes. He's okay," Tim assured, though most of his words came through teeth that didn't open much when he spoke, out of habit more than anything else. And maybe a jaw wiring or two.

Rachel spoke up to answer, refusing to be left out, as the acting Chief.

"Yes. He is. Gone to deal with a case, the Crowe Family."

Tim didn't look away from Malcolm as he interjected. "Right that thing with the kid, Kendell. I could take ya, if you want," he offered, with a faint tilt of his head. "Only take about three hours to get down to Harlan."

It was bait.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm stayed with Raylan for a little while after his nightmare woke them up, but he was excited and had a lot to do, so he was soon up, running through his exercises and meds and getting dressed in a crisp blue suit while Raylan slept.

He left a fresh pot of coffee on the little coffee maker and a note on the table on hotel stationary.

Raylan,

Had to get started. See you tonight.

Have some coffee.

I love you.

xxxooo -M

[tinstar]

When Raylan woke up, he was a little disappointed to not see Malcolm and his morning yoga and after a stretch, he got up and padded around the hotel room, hoping that he was still there. The note and coffee were something of a balm and Raylan poured himself a cup before reading it.

Well. He just might have to start a treasure chest of notes. Smiling at his own foolishness, Raylan went through his morning, getting dressed and heading out for work.

It was gonna be a long and exciting and tension filled day.

--

The work day itself was, as ever, what it was, with Raylan riding up and down Harlan County, chasing down Boyd and watching him come up smoking out of a mine hole. He relished the chase of it, knowing full well what waited for him that evening when he rolled back into Lexington. Winona's name and number coming up on his phone.

"I went to the motel and they said you'd checked out. Like for good."

"Yeah," Raylan answered with a sigh on the heavier side. "I got an apartment."

"An apartment? Really?"

"Yeah," he said, bit of a smile in his voice. "Figured it was time to get into a new place, ya know, where no one can just roll up." Well, not yet, anyway. Raylan knew it'd only take time. "I'll text you the address."

"Okay," she replied, more than a bit dubious. "But I reserve my right to tell you if its suitable for Willa."

Raylan nodded even though she couldn't see him. "'Course. Got running water and a roof and I even sprung for four walls."

Winona scoffed. "I'll see you soon."

"Okay," he said before hanging up and texting her the address.

Raylan followed that with a call to Malcolm.

"Hey. Wanted to let you know that I'm on my way... And so's Winona."

[abrightboy]

"Hi! ....You mean Willa, right?" he said, absently straightening a cushion on the couch.

[tinstar]

"Her too," Raylan said with a glance out his windows before he focused back on the road. "Winona's meeting me there, at the apartment. I'll beat her by all of five minutes. Thought you might like a little warning."

[abrightboy]

"Doesn't leave much time for the tour; I hope it looks okay. Oh! The movers knew how to do the soundproofing, so they installed it before they put the furniture in the bedroom. Made it... Oh, do you want me to leave for a bit? I think there's a cafe a couple of blocks away. You can text me when she leaves. Just don't go out on the terrace until I get back; there's a surprise for you. I want to be there when you see it."

[tinstar]

What a list. The smile that broke at Malcolm's eternal peppiness faded quickly at the question that followed it. The sunshine shame sandwich he was handed was a hard one to know what to do with, exactly.

"Do you wanna put this off? Meeting her? I--" He took a breath. "I know you've got. Concerns." He also knew he couldn't report back what Malcolm needed.

[abrightboy]

"No, it's not that... I thought... Does she know about me? Is it okay for me to meet her?" he asked hesitantly.

[tinstar]

"No,-" to the first, "-And she's gonna find out sooner or later." If he had any idea what the apartment looked like, he'd shorten that to 'immediately'. "Figure the sooner we get it out, what her daughter will be around, she'll be less pissed than if I lie to her for however long."