Chapter 5.

A Chapter by lilfeather

the 5th chapter....

"What do we have here�" he began with a smirk.
Conner felt his heart stop cold in his chest. His moment of independence and freedom was shattered as a million thoughts went racing through his head. This was it, he was really going to get it this time. He might even be dead, probably torn in half. By this monster that had been hiding in the dark. It terrified him that he hadn't known someone else was downstairs.

He opened his mouth to scream.

Sensing the impending scream when the kid's face transformed into an expression of terror and his mouth began to open, the young man dropped the boy to his feet and clamped a hand over his mouth.

"You scream and wake anybody up at this hour, then I'll really give you something to scream about, do you understand me?" he said earnestly. "No way you're waking up the house."

With wide eyes now filling with involuntary tears, Conner nodded, shaking.

The man shook his head in exasperation, removing his hand from the boy's lips slowly, but ready to grab him again if he made noise. "Sh�"

"Are you a burglar?" Conner whispered fearfully. He eyed him nervously, taking in the dirty paint stained t-shirt and worn jeans, and not getting enough details to make any conclusions. This guy looked like a boxer, or something.

The man raised his eyebrows, dropping his hands to his side. "Me a burglar?" He smirked. "Not in this house. Besides, it looks like you beat me to it, huh, you little thief?" With that the man snatched the money from Conner and slapped his hand disapprovingly. "What in God's name do you think you're doing, anyway?"

Conner backed away slowly and didn't answer. Noticing the soon to be retreat, the man grasped his wrist.

"Hey," he objected. "We are far from done." The kid was pulling his wrist away, still obviously scared, with tears beginning to fall. The man looked at him, purely exasperated, and persisted, "Just�"

"Please� I'm sorry," Conner pleaded. He tried hard to pull his wrist from the man's grasp but it was a tight hold and this guy was much stronger than he was. He felt himself being pulled back and began to panic, wincing involuntarily. He wished he could disappear, and his stomach felt like it was in knots. "Please, please, please. I'm sorry. Please don't. I'm really, really sorry."

"Jesus," came more exasperation. "Listen to me, kid. I'm not going to hurt you. And I actually mean it, so do not look at me like that. I hate that look on your face right now." The young man shook his head. "You're Conner, aren't you? Ma's going to skin me alive for this, for scaring you. Then again she oughta thank me for catching you, right?" He began to ease his hold a little. "Calm down, for f**k's sake."

With a quick, daring pull, the kid loosened from the stranger's grip and gained a few inches to back away.

"Just hold on, will you?" Abruptly, he was roughly pulled forward by the man grabbing onto his forearm. Immediately Conner hissed in pain, and like he was burned the man let go in surprise.

"What?" he asked, and took the kid's arm again, but this time to push back the sleeve of his shirt to find the cause of the pain. He knew it wasn't because of him. He saw the dark bruises and cursed, immediately feeling terrible. "F**k. Sorry." He pulled the sleeve back down. He looked at the boy and sighed. "Look, before you run away, let's at least do introductions. I'm Jason. Did ma tell you about me at all? I told her I'd come home tonight."

Conner just stared down at the floor, cradling his arm to his chest.

"F**k, I know you can talk. And I didn't mean to scare you. That's what happens when you sneak around houses in the middle of the night, you know. Why the hell are you stealing from ma anyway?"

Conner was afraid to run now, because he knew undoubtedly that this person would grab him again, and although he hadn't really hurt him yet, he didn't know what would happen if he tried again, and that was more than he wanted to risk. He could only imagine what this guy was capable of.

"At this time of night too?" Jason persisted. "Shouldn't you be in bed, or has ma just become even more liberal than she or I ever predicted?"

Conner's silence didn't stop Jason from talking. He knew this kind of kid. He knew this kind of kid damn well. Judy's quest was to transform all of the hopeless cases of Detroit. He supposed he could be considered 'transformed' himself, although there were a lot of people that might disagree. Better off at least, thanks to Judy. He could guess Conner's background pretty easily. "You've met Michal and Ian already, I'm sure. And I bet they didn't scare you shitless. So I'm not going to be your favorite then. What a f****n' shame. Anyway, I want a beer, do you want anything?"

Conner continued to stare at the floor.

"Okay then�"

A little confused, Conner watched him start to walk away towards the kitchen. He glanced at the purse again and then at the door, thinking of his master plan. His bag was still lying by the stairs, waiting for him. He felt his heart still pounding in his chest. The anxiety was building in his gut.

Jason eyed him carefully and saw immediately where his eyes traveled. He snapped his fingers at him. "Come here. Don't even think about it, you idiot."

Conner glared at him and sniffled. He was mad at himself for nearly crying when this man had barely touched him. He'd toughed out much worse without tears and here he was being a baby again. He wanted to run, leave this place, and not look back. Especially now, with this unexpected and stressful confrontation.

But there was little choice.

"Come on," Jason persisted tiredly, gesturing him forward.

Conner timidly began to walk towards him.

Jason shook his head to himself and went into the kitchen, straight for the refrigerator. His patience was low. He didn't have time for this, and wasn't even sure what to do at this time of night. In actuality the kid was lucky he hadn't popped him one. Who knew who it was at this time of night sneaking around? But he was glad he hadn't. Ma really would've killed him then.

He'd gotten home much later than he'd expected, but regardless, insomnia left him awake, simply watching TV and thinking about the morning when he would show that he was back in the neighborhood again.

Of course he would hear someone else downstairs, especially someone who was going through ma's things, and without much grace. At first he was concerned it was an intruder, and in hindsight he was thankful he hadn't pulled out the gun that was at his waist, because this kid probably would have been screaming for sure.

His mother knew he was coming; she had warned him about Conner. Her voice had held that excitement and expectation. Expectation that he would help out again with her new project. Kids were always a project to her. Jason was thankful for his own home with Judy, and also amazed she still had the energy and patience for all of this.

He wasn't making promises this time to be around. He would try, but he was trying to have his own life too. This kid seemed like a handful. He had that look in his eye. Jason knew he'd been the same way, so in a way he owed Judy, but times were different.

He looked at the kid while he twisted off the cap of a beer with his sleeve. He wasn't sure how old he was and hadn't been fully briefed on his background, or at least whatever information they had. He could use his imagination for the most part, as Judy always wound up with the saddest of the litter, and he was sure this kid had been through a hell of a lot despite how young he looked.

"Stop crying," Jason said stiffly as he continued to look at him. "O'Rileys don't cry. And we don't need no fairies under this roof either."

Conner pressed his lips together, watching Jason finish half of his beer. He thought again about his bag at the bottom of the stairs and how close he'd been to leaving this house. Right now he kind of wanted to leave even more than before. But he now also felt more trapped than before.

Jason sighed and started to walk towards him. "Let's watch TV and then go to bed, kid. It's too late for this s**t." He didn't miss how Conner shrank from him he got closer, as though he was trying to disappear into the wall. He hated having someone scared of him for no reason. Although he had pretty much given the kid a reason just grabbing him before.

Jason stopped in front of him and looked at him carefully. "It is Conner, right? Or did I mess up your name too?"

Conner swallowed. Jason was simply staring at him, waiting for an answer. "Yeah, it's Conner�" he admitted quietly.

"Okay, Conner, then let's watch TV and go to bed. Alright? I don't know about you, but today was a long day. Okay?"

"Okay," Conner replied uncertainly.

"Okay then. See how much easier things are when you actually answer when somebody's talking to you�" Jason mumbled, moving past the doorway and back towards the family room.

As Conner hesitated and looked towards the other room, which to him signified freedom, Jason turned and smiled. "Like I said, if you want to try me, go ahead, little man. But I suggest you give it a rest." Then he continued inside.

Half of Conner wanted to just leave. The other half of him was too fearful. This person could evidently predict fairly accurately what he was planning, and he knew he wouldn't make it very far if he did head to the door. Angering people was never what he really intended, and this guy hadn't hit him yet, and so he forced himself to take a deep breath and follow Jason.

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