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

[tinstar]

3:30 in the morning meant that, screaming that he'd gotten half used to or not, he was falling back asleep. But it wasn't a deep sleep, more akin to a heavy doze, arm securely wrapped around Malcolm and the warm solid presence against Raylan's chest in the peaceful dark of the too early morning. He couldn't have said what it was that pulled him up out of the deep sleep but up he was, judging by the way his thumb started drifting over Malcolm's back, back and forth.

"You awake?" he asks, rough and ruffled with sleep but aware that Malcolm's breath was too deeply drawn to be sleep rhythm.

[abrightboy]

“Yeah,” he answers, fingers less frantic in the wake of the calming stroke of Raylan’s thumb along his back. “Never went back to sleep.” But still strapped in, just in case.

[tinstar]

"Mm," he hummed with another deep breath. "Was it that bad or did you just not wanna leave?"

[abrightboy]

He breathed out a self-deprecating laugh.

“Maybe both today. The phone hasn’t rung, so they haven’t found Eve. My father says the girl in the box was never dead, and that might be true, but she also never resurfaced. Staying in bed with my fiance felt like a better morning than getting up and facing all that.” His fingers drifted up Raylan’s sternum. “It’s warm here. I can think about Miami. I can feel like I can see it, just coming over the horizon.”

[tinstar]

Raylan lifted his off arm just enough to drape it over his center and let idle finger pads drift along Malcolm's skin as he shifted and moved around to different parts of Raylan's body.

"We're close. I can't wait to pack up half of this place and Sunshine and drive you down to forever. We'll find her, darlin'." And for now, they could linger right here as long as Malcolm wanted.

"What else are we packing up besides the bird?" It would give Malcolm something nicer to latch onto.

[abrightboy]

It does visibly lift his spirits to consider that and he gestures over Raylan’s chest with a jingle of his restraints.

“My clothes… my weapons… some of my books.” He points to the far end of the room, adjacent to the weapons cases. “Those two paintings down there.” He glances around. “That’s probably it.”

[tinstar]

He smiled and as he thought about that weight, chuckled. "We might have to rent something more substantial than my town car. Maybe an SUV. Something with room and heated seats. Do your weapons have boxes or are we gonna have to improvise?"

[abrightboy]

“I had movers bring them here from DC; I’m not really sure what they put them in,” he admits. “I’m sure they could just go in cardboard boxes. I might wrap them in something. Some are really old. And some are really sharp. Can we rent one of those trucks? I’ve never been in one; what are they like?” he asks.

[tinstar]

"They need foam to sit in, or to be wrapped in bubble wrap with a blade guard." They could figure it out without an exorbitant cost. "We can but it's uncomfortable for everyone involved. That bein' said, I can drive one of those. Sunshine would have to be held by you or strapped into the middle bit. Not that I suppose she would mind. Would't cost us but a few hundred bucks. A few days of time."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm laughed self deprecatingly. “Well, since you’re the one that has to drive for twenty hours, maybe you should be in charge of picking the vehicle,” he concedes. “I wish I could help. You’re supposed to split the driving on long road trips, right?”

[tinstar]

"You," Raylan declared with a rub of his hand up and down Malcolm's shoulder. "Are gonna help with packing and loading and unloading. And that's all just as important as the driving. Just promise you'll be patient with my need to stop and stretch a leg or two every few hours and that'll be help enough."

Pressing a kiss into his hair, he hummed. "You think you're ready to get up, get ourselves together?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looks over his shoulder at the window with a distasteful wrinkle of his nose, like he can see the day out there.

“I suppose,” he concedes. He holds up his nearest wrist. “Unbuckle me? I’ll get the coffee started while you’re in the bathroom.”

[tinstar]

One long fingered hand reached out deftly tugged the restraint free from itself, releasing Malcolm.

"It'll be alright," he promises, cup sliding up to cup and steal Malcolm for a kiss before he slides out of bed and directly towards the bathroom as expected. Once he'd taken care of his needs and brushed his teeth, he padded out towards the kitchen.

"We should go into the office to check in with where the investigation is, they mighta found something," he said, having already pulled his phone out to check it for messages.

[abrightboy]

When Raylan emerged, Malcolm was casually popping his pills while the coffee steeped and he looked over as his fiance checked his phone.

“Anything?” he asked anxiously, taking a swallow of water without taking his eyes off Raylan.

[tinstar]

"They've got a couple of leads, a few women who fit the rough description and possible circumstances, new in town twenty years ago, but nothing strong enough to go on. I think we need to go in and 'encourage' them. Maybe you'll put together something they overlooked."

Sidling up to Malcolm's side, Raylan studied his features. "You gonna be okay doing this?" He held all the cards, Raylan was just here to help and piece together what he could.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm clenched his hand on the counter, but nodded with determination.

“I have to finish this. She haunts me. I don’t want to bring her to Miami; I want to leave this here, with the rest of those memories,” he explained, holding Raylan’s gaze.

[tinstar]

He nodded softly, one hand reaching out to rub at Malcolm's back, pulling him in a little.

"I want that for you too." He'd dealt with and left Boyd behind, he wanted the same for Malcolm. For them both, for their future. "Just remember you're not alone in this. No matter what we find." Or don't find.

"Cup of coffee and five minutes to get dressed and I'll be ready to go. Let's see if we can put this to rest."

[abrightboy]

Not alone. Not alone in this. Not alone in anything ever again.

He nods, pouring the coffee for Raylan before heading into the bathroom to take care of his own business. He joins him again for a cup before plucking a dark grey suit from the closet and putting himself together. It’s more than five minutes for him, but he steps into the livingroom when he’s done, straightening his deep purple tie.

“Are we going to the precinct or the Marshals’ office?”

[tinstar]

More time for Raylan to enjoy his coffee after he finished dressing, happy enough to watch Malcom get dressed as he lingered. He liked watching Malcolm systematically tuck himself into his armor for the day, ready for another day of battle against bad guys and too many questions.

"Precinct. Gil wants to help keep an eye out-" Raylan knew Gil wanted to keep an eye on Malcolm more than the case, but he'd let Malcolm assume what he meant. "-And he's donated a spare office, if we need it. At least a place to keep what leads we already have. Once we've got our directions, we'll head out that way. See what we can't shake out."

[abrightboy]

Something in Malcolm’s frame relaxed fractionally at the idea of going somewhere familiar and safe instead of somewhere with new strangers to stare at him while he was on edge.

He nodded.

“That’s good. We’ll have backup if we need it.”

He flexed his hands and stuck them both in his pockets, trying to clamp down on the urge to fidget and pace.

[tinstar]

"Exactly." Moving towards the door, Raylan opened it and let Malcolm lead the way out.

"One day at a time darlin', one hour at a time. We'll get through it."

Once they were in the car and on the way, Raylan asked the big question. "Do you think you'd recognize her now, after all these years?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm pressed his lips together, then looked over at Raylan.

“I’ve seen her face every night of my life since that day. I’ll know her.”

He was sure he would. He was sure, if he saw her, everything would rush in. Every memory.

[tinstar]

Raylan nodded and kept driving on. If Malcolm said that it was so, he believed him. The nightmares that plagued his fiancée too often included bringing the girl in the box into their bed.

Pulling in, Raylan let Malcolm lead him up to the bull pen, eyes sweeping for Gil and the details he would have. He trusted that Malcolm was eager enough to dive in to let him lead the way on that too. Raylan was here to drive and be gun toting support.

[abrightboy]

As soon as Malcolm spotted Gil, he headed over.

"Any news on the BOLO that Raylan put out?" he asked.

"Nothing yet, kid. You'll be the first to know," Gil told him, clasping his shoulder. "But if she was involved in looking for a girl that escaped the Surgeon only to disappear... she might not be in New York or even the country anymore," he warned.

[tinstar]

"There's gotta be somethin'. We still have that picture that Eve gave us? Ain't there like... aging programs that we can use to add a few years, run the possibilities through the DMV databases? Because if the NYPD can't do it, I'm happy to see if there's a way we can't up this into a federal case, alls its gotta do is cross state lines."