The Road Home

[abrightboy]

Raylan's loose ends had been tied in Kentucky and Malcolm's were as tantalizingly close as they'd ever been. He and Raylan made the trip to New York with the intent of discovering the fate of the girl in the box, so they could head down to Miami without... baggage.

They would have to start with the revelation Jessica and Ainsley had made to Malcolm right before Raylan was shot, sending Malcolm back to Kentucky: that Eve had infiltrated the Whitly family to learn more about the Surgeon's victims.

Malcolm let them into the New York loft - a space he considered theirs now, more than his, since they decided they might weather the hurricane season there after moving to Miami - smiling as Sunshine tweeted greetings. Once the door was shut behind Raylan, he opened the door of her cage. Ainsley would have fed her diligently, but nobody would have let her out to fly. Sunshine took off across the loft and Malcolm grinned, watching her go.

He looked at Raylan. "We can still bring her with us when we leave, right?"

Comments

[abrightboy]

She nodded. "I do want to believe that's true," she told him, setting a hand on his arm. "But it's hard to stop protecting him now. I know he's good at reading people, but he's also just... dying for anyone's affection and..." She took a deep breath. "If you use him and throw him away, you'll break him. You understand that, right?"

[tinstar]

"I do," he answered with every amount of gravatas she asked the question with. "I promise I will treat him well and love him and protect him even if that's from himself. There's no type of... 'fixing' him," he continued, clearly uncomfortable with the word and its connotations, "That's all on him and his head. But I can protect him. Make him happy."

And that's all he wanted to do.

[abrightboy]

Jessica's hand fluttered from Raylan's arm to her mouth. After a second, she smoothed that hand down the front of her dress, straightening herself out.

"Well. Then. We should get back to dinner. We'll have missed the whole course."

As though Jessica's staff would serve the next one with her not there.

She patted his arm awkwardly and swept back to the dining room, leaning over to set a kiss on Malcolm's temple that made him blink at her and then at Ainsley and then at Raylan, because maybe he understood what just happened as Jessica set the scotch down next to her wine glass and took her seat.

She draped her napkin back across her lap and looked at Malcolm. "So the two of you are going to go talk to that woman, then? Good. You should let us know what you learn," she said, as though there had been no interruption.

[tinstar]

Raylan wasn't sure how to take that. Had he offended her? The pat on the arm suggested not, though it could have been slightly condescending, that still wasn't the feeling he was getting. He wasn't going to ask and followed Jessica back into the dining room.

With his empty glass, not having a drop of what he'd left this room with on his lips, Raylan poured himself a heavy four fingers before he returned to the table, slipping into his seat wordlessly with a deep draft of his glass.

He was sure Malcolm would answer and let him do so as he quickly downed the rest of the soup in front of him.

[abrightboy]

"Yeah... we'll... we'll talk to her," Malcolm assured her, giving Ainsley a questioning look. Ainsley bobbed her eyebrows at him.

Jessica liked Raylan. She could tell. Malcolm had her approval.

Malcolm was still a little confused as to what was going on.

"Good," Jessica told him. "Now tell me more about this baby of yours. How did you choose her name?" she said to Raylan.

[tinstar]

Clearly, he had not expected the conversation to come back to him so quickly and he looked over as he set his food down, huffing a little smile. "I, uh.. I didn't. Winona did. She thought it was pretty and I assume her mother did too. Willa Marie Givens."

Control was not something Raylan had a lot of when it came to his daughter but at least she had his last name and not Gary's.

"Can't say I don't like the sound of it." Judging by the little smile on his face, it was clear he meant it.

[abrightboy]

Jessica nodded, her expression pleasant and approving, and set her spoon down.

Malcolm was still studying her.

"....Are you okay?" he asked.

She waved off his concern literally, her hand like a butterfly in his direction.

"Please, dear. I've never failed to weather the storm."

He looked dubious. "No. But..."

"But you have barely touched your soup," she pointed out.

His gaze lingered on her a moment and then he picked up his spoon a took a bite, more for her peace of mind than anything else.

"Now. I believe the main course tonight is wild pheasant in mushroom and wine sauce. Have you ever had pheasant before, Raylan?" she asked curiously, turning her full attention on him.

Malcolm looked at him. He wasn't sure what they talked about in the other room, but his mother was now clearly interested in knowing more about the marshal, suddenly. He wondered how Raylan would take the attention.

[tinstar]

He could tell Malcolm was curious, painfully so, but there was no way to give him context or insight without blowing the cover that Jessica was working very hard to keep. To be honest, Raylan wasn't wholly sure what had happened either.

When Jessica turned the conversation back to him, he looked up from his bowl, still feeling a little bit like a deer in the headlights of Jessica's attention.

"Pheasant? No. This'll be a first but I'm sure it'll be delicious." He looked over at Malcolm. "Do you eat it? Since it's also a bird?"

It was a genuine question - was it just chicken or would he eat anything with wings?

[abrightboy]

Malcolm pulled a bit of a face. “The sauce is a bit rich f...”

Jessica waved him off again. “Apparently you can develop a drinking problem fretting over every little thing he doesn’t eat,” she told him good-naturedly. “As you pointed out before, he’s not exactly wasting away.”

Malcolm conceded with a bob of his brow and took another bite of soup.

“So. Miami, you told us. Why Miami?” she asked, and this time it didn’t sound like an accusation.

Ainsley made a smug face at Malcolm and he made a face back. Have your laugh. She’ll be trying to marry you off to an eligible bachelor of polite society soon enough, it said. She stuck out her tongue at him.

“Will you two stop,” Jessica chastised. She looked at Raylan. “Sorry, go ahead,” she invited graciously.

[tinstar]

Raylan shifted his eyes to Jessica with a lift of his eyebrows. "I think my drinkin' problem is unrelated; all the information I can get is good information."

She shouldn't have cut him off like that.

He glance between Malcolm and Ainsley before he spoke. "Miami because I know I've got a spot and established contacts... And the beach. I'm hopin' y'all will come down once we're settled," he said with a look towards Ainsley. "I hope you like cuban, the cuban food spots are worth it alone."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm was so accustomed to her cutting him off that he didn't even really notice until Raylan said something. Which made Malcolm look at him warmly and then subsequently give Ainsley a 'shut up' look at the look on her face.

When Raylan looked at her Ainsley perked right up. Anyone apart from Malcolm paying her any attention got her attention.

"I've never tried Cuban," she said. "But it sounds like part of the Miami experience. I'd love to come. Unlike some people..." She shot Malcolm a playful look that he dutifully met with narrowed eyes, "I love a beach."

"So you're going there to continue working as a Marshal," Jessica clarified.

"He's not giving up his job, Mother," Malcolm said as though it were obvious. She waved him off. She'd asked Raylan.

[tinstar]

"Well you're definitely invited once we find a house," he said to Ainsley with a charming smile.

Swallowing a draft of his drink, he nodded and looked over, unafraid to meet her gaze bodly. "And Malcolm might continue to work in the same field as well. He could make short work of a lotta cases. But if you're concerned, I plan on investing in some bulletproof windows, if they don't run a million and a half a pane." He started to lift his glass back up and continued with a glance over at her and a lift of his eyebrows. "Of my own money."

[abrightboy]

Jessica looked at Malcolm, who was not going to argue the joining of their assets when Raylan was clearly making a point for Jessica's consumption. "Yeah, I intend on touching base with the local PD and maybe helping the Marshals out from time to time," he said with a casual shrug and a bite of soup.

Louisa collected their soup bowls - except Malcolm's - and took them away.

"I'd prefer to keep working on murders, since I can't work on serial murders, since those go pretty exclusively to the FBI and they. Um. Do not want my input."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Because they fired you. Is a law enforcement agency that isn't Gil really going to hire you with that on your resume?" she said dubiously.

[tinstar]

Who actually paid for the windows was their business, not Jessica's. Not right now, anyway.

"The fact that the FBI fired him might actually get him a few more opportunities. We can use that kind of fire in actual man-hunts or murder cases. It's Florida. They got some sharp guys but.." Florida, after all.

"The job's not changin' Jessica. Just the location. Beaches don't get rid of anything."

[abrightboy]

"Well. I'm going to grow tomatoes," Malcolm volunteered. "But that'll be more of a hobby."

Jessica looked at him oddly, like she was pretty sure that was a joke, but she couldn't figure out the punchline.

"Tomatoes."

"Tomatoes, herbs... maybe some peppers."

"....Why?"

[tinstar]

Raylan laughed, head ducking as he brought his fist to his lips for a second before shaking his head.

"Ya know, you really do amaze me. You've had the best food and wine and chefs, and somehow, I don't think you get or know the taste of a fresh off the vine tomato. Something you grow and tend and care for til it produces somethin'." He glanced between Malcolm and Ainsley with a gesture before looking back at her.

"We aren't gonna have a chef. We're gonna cook for ourselves, for the most part. Fresh, free products? You can't beat taste."

He was really trying to not read her the rights; they'd made progress and he was trying to not mess that up. Call it a country education.

[abrightboy]

Louisa brought the pheasant course out for Raylan, Ainsley and Jessica.

"Would you like anything from the roast, sir?" she asked Malcolm.

He shook his head. "No, thank you." He took a bite of soup.

Jessica waited for her to leave before turning her attention to Malcolm. "So is this the next level of that phase you went through, wanting to help Louisa in the kitchen all the time?"

"It's a normal life, mother. I thought you wanted me to try to live a normal life."

"Normal for us, darling. Not..." She stopped short as he gave her a sharp look. "Anyway," she said, picking up her fork. "I suppose I'll have to try these tomatoes of yours to make that call."

[tinstar]

Raylan blinked over at her, not bothering yet with his silverware.

A beat passed as he thought about it and picked his his fork and knife to start cutting into the meat.

"You might as well say it. Amazes me all the dancin' around y'all do, how you've got energy to put into anything else."

Well he tried.

[abrightboy]

Jessica leveled her eyes at him, Ainsley looking between her and Malcolm, whose face suggested in no uncertain steely gaze that she most certainly better not say 'it'.

She huffed a breath, poking at a piece of mushroom with her fork.

"I'm not suggesting your background is... lacking in some way. But it's certainly not... the same, is it? And if this is going to be a permanent arrangement, then we're going to have to figure out where in the middle we're meeting."

Malcolm's brow creased. "There's no... expenditure of effort you really need to make, Mother. You could... back off. Not interfere. Treat us like adult family members who choose how they live... and if you don't like how we live, then maybe don't come to Miami," he suggested firmly, though not unkindly.

[tinstar]

"Oh I promise you it is lacking." His 'G's were back, a purposeful measure to set aside as much of his accent as he could.

"It is not the same, no. But people like you are just people who pay other people to make life happen around you instead of living it yourself. Let me ask you something - What hobbies do you have that ain't being the head of some committee or throwing a ridiculous amount of money towards good causes you wish would happen but you can't bear to look at the gritty ugly details of? When was the last time you did something with your hands that wasn't drink or sign checks?"

It wasn't that he hadn't heard Malcolm or the room he'd wanted to leave Jessica to respond, but he wasn't going to be stopped.

"I'm not goin' anywhere. I want this to be a peaceful thing. But I have a real hard time doing that when you turn down your nose on people who cannot help their position in life. We did not ask to be poor. We work hard and try to better our position. What work, real work have you done in your life?"

[abrightboy]

Jessica didn’t interrupt him. She picked up her napkin and dabbed at her mouth before setting it on the table.

“You see, Malcolm? This is what happens when you invite the proletariat to dinner. You get into an argument about what constitutes ‘real work’.”

Malcolm blinked at her. “I’m sorry,” he said leaning towards her slightly. “Did you just call my fiancé ‘the proletariat’?” he clarified.

She stood. “It was nice to see you again,” she told Raylan politely, picking up her glass. “Feel free to stay and finish,” she told them all before sweeping out of the room with a click clack of her heels.

Ainsley snorted a laugh. “You’re the best dinner guest we’ve ever had. I can’t wait to eat at your house.” She gestured between him and Malcolm with her fork. “Did you say ‘fiancé’? Is that, like, official?”

[tinstar]

It was chaos.

Raylan let her leave before glancing between the both of them left at the table. "What the hell is a proletariat? Throwing money at a cause is not 'real work', Altruistic as hell sure, but she's giving away something she didn't even earn in the first place - that does not constitute work."

Normally, he would have been more reserved; He knew things tended to go this way when they had dinner, but Jessica had a special way under his skin, being as unflappable and nonchalant with her condescension as she was, it riled him in a different way.

"She doesn't even know where I come from 'sides Kentucky," he growled, downing his glass and pushing up to go get himself another.

Who was he talking to? Both of them. No one. Himself. He didn't know.

[abrightboy]

"Well. We both do real work, so I'm pretty sure we agree on that," Ainsley said, watching him.

Malcolm got up from the table when Raylan did, lingering near his elbow, waiting for him to finish pouring before tentatively putting a hand on his arm, looking at his face with a faint crease of concern.

"So... when are you getting married?" Ainsley asked sunnily, cutting a piece of pheasant and popping it in her mouth.

[tinstar]

Raylan took a deep breath as he set the bottle back down and glanced over at Malcolm to nod softly, jaw still tight as he took a drink from his overpoured glass. He was okay, just pissed. Frustrated. He'd apologize later.

"After we find the right house. That's where we plan on havin' it. On a beach, if possible." Raylan slipped an arm around Malcolm's waist briefly with a soft squeeze of his hand, a touch of comfort before he turned around to face Ainsley.

"You're used to dinners goin' awry, aren't you?" he asked Ainsley, finally processing her reaction to the outburst and the sunny way she'd asked the question.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm relaxed a fraction at that squeeze. Raylan didn't see him as complicit; wasn't rethinking this after all that.

Ainsley shrugged and took another bite of her pheasant. "You've met the Queen Meddler of the World," she pointed out reasonably. "You do better than most people, to be honest. Very few major family get-togethers pass in this house without someone storming out." She leaned forward impishly. "It's very rarely her." She poked her fork towards her plate. "You may as well have the pheasant. It's good and it's only going to get thrown away."

Malcolm still lingered by Raylan's elbow. Stay or go, he'd do whichever Raylan wanted and wouldn't do either until Raylan made the move.