2007-07-07: The Homecoming

Starring:

Cass_icon.gif Lachlan_icon.gif Peter_icon.gif

Summary:

Lachlan crawls home after being released and gets brutally attacked. Peter to the rescue! Then they all talk about The Niki Problem.

Date It Happened: July 7th, 2007

The Homecoming


Cass' Apartment, Brooklyn

It's late at night and, as most sane people, Cass is asleep. Bonnie is curled up on the floor right by the bed and there is a singular mound of doberman puppies curled up on the pillow that Lachlan would normally occupy. Mocha is curled up at the foot of the bed and poor, scardey cat George is curled up right at Cass's stomach as she's sleeping on her side. It seems like the picture of contented sleep.

Shame that someone has to come in and ruin this. The freshly released Lachlan uses his key near-silently in the lock, then slips in just as stealthily, knowing that Cass is probably asleep and having no desire to wake her. He even uses his telepathy to make sure any sleeping dogs remain sleeping. Tiptoetiptoe to the bedroom, peeeeeek in. Yep. Asleep. Awwww. The Scotsman unceremoniously decides to climb in after, so he first strips down to his boxers and then eeeeeeases one puppy after another off his pillow and onto the floor, where they're supposed to sleep. That accomplished, he then begins to slip into bed next to Cass.

Shame on /Lachlan/ perhaps. Knowing that he's supposed to still be in jail, the opening of the door stirs Cass slightly. However, she does not move. There have been enough break-ins and near misses that she wants to get the lay of the land before she jumps to conclusions. However….this person is stripping down and /trying to get into bed with her/. That is not good in any means. Springing into action as soon as Lachlan attempts to slip into bed, she snatches her pillow - really, the only weapon she has - and starts to attempt to beat the offending party. "I WILL CALL THE POLICE ON YOU, YOU PERVERT. GET THE HELL OUT OF MY APARTMENT. RAPE!" If the dogs weren't awake before, this should wake them up.

AHH RAPE AHH. Screaming will usually attract some attention, right? In New York it's usually ignored, though. This particular incident happens to occur just as Peter Petrelli's walking up to the door of his boss' apartment. He's visited before, this is nothing new. He has a particular mission this day! But then he hears cries of rape and attack. What are the chances!? If only this were the first time he stopped by on a whim and found Cass unconscious on a floor and nearly dead. BUT IT ISN'T. So he does the only thing he can think of, he rushes towards the door— and sees it's not open. He hesitates to break it down. How many times as he broken doors trying to save her. There's a moments pause, and his eyes squeeze shut, and then… bam. He's standing inside the door. Hey, that actually worked. "Cass!?" he cries out. Please don't be too late!
Course the first time he stopped by on a whim and she had nearly died was at the bookstore BUT SAME THING.

ALKSFD!!! !!!! AEUGT !!! ASLFJ!!!!

That's about the gist of Lachlan's thought process as what he envisioned as being a happy cuddly reunion turns into the war on terror. What is this?! Did he get the wrong apartment? It wouldn't be the first time he's stumbled into someone else's home and tried to crawl into bed with them unknowingly (have we mentioned he's a drunkard?), but … the dogs and his key and he is sober. The Scotsman lets out a spluttering cry of shock and surprise that would put any puppy's yelp to shame (and any manly man to shame too, actually). Trying to shield himself from the blows and scramble away at the same time winds up with Lachlan falling ungracefully to the floor. Thankfully, the puppies and Bonnie have been rousted by all the ruckus and are too busy barking excitedly to get squished. "JESUS!" shouts Lachlan. "WH— !" And then there's someone else in the apartment and the excitable Bonnie goes bounding out of the bedroom to greet Peter with ear-rattling barks. She knows him, however, so she doesn't attempt to attack. PETER PETER PETER THEY'RE PLAYING IN THE SLEEPY ROOM COME PLAY COME PLAY.

WHACK. THWAK. Cass is merciless in her pillow hitting. People who randomly crawl into bed with her do not get the sugar treatment. "/Peter/?!" Stumbling backwards, the bookstore owner holds aloft her weapon of feathery doom and presses herself against the back wall. "In here!" It's dark and hard to see, so she goes fumbling for the light switch. However, the moment that Lachlan cries out, she freezes. Even without the lights on, she knows his voice. "/LACHLAN/?!" The pillow stays high above her head, ready to attack should this prove to just be some /imitation/ Scotsman here to mess with her mind. However, flipping the switch, she sees, yes. Indeed, she just attempted to beat the crap out of her boyfriend with a pillow. "/What the hell, Lachlan/? You're supposed to still be in /jail/!"

Bedroom, okay! Actually it's rather odd because Peter hears the dog's voice, and it actually gives him a bit of a headache. Maybe using the teleportation finally has opened something up— but he hurries towards the bedroom door just as she calls out her boyfriend's name, and the fact that he's supposed to be in jail. And isn't. This is unfortunately when he opens the door to the room and has to hold onto the frame and look inside. What? "…I'm sorry. I just— it sounded like you were in trouble and I— teleported inside." There's an awkward pause. Not in trouble. Okay… he reaches over and knocks on the wall next to the door frame, and says, "Um… hi?" At least she's not laying on the floor looking nearly dead this time. Yes, Bonnie, he was worried.

No, it's just Lachlan laying on the floor looking nearly dead this time. Or at least more than a little overwhelmed. Eyes wide, arm still raised in self-defense, he is sprawled out and gasping on the carpet next to the bed, trying to come to terms with the fact that Cass hates him so much. "Got out," he pants in a shrill pitch. "They dropped the charges." And there's Peter. Lachlan just stares at him in a bewildered sort of way, as though asking for an explanation as to why his girlfriend is psychotic.

Deflated, Cass lets her attacking pose slip and tosses the pillow back onto the bed. "Wow, you teleported?" She sounds impressed. "That's great! We'll have to work on that some more once it's not, you know, night." It does not look like she's annoyed. Or embarrassed about this situation at the moment. Quickly snagging a robe, she wraps it over herself. While the oversized shirt that she was wearing covered everything, well, she can't be too careful lately. "And as for /you/." Now she's turned to Lachlan. "How was I supposed to know that?! Some random guy just jumps into bed with me. You're lucky the only thing I had to hit you with was a pillow! You scared me half to death! Not to mention Peter! Apologize to Peter for making him teleport. He could have ended up in a /wall/ or something!"

Actually it's far more likely he'd have ended up in the past. Or in Japan. Or on Mars. Or maybe walking on the surface of the sun. It could have really sucked. But for a few moments, Peter can't help but be a little proud. He teleported and it /worked/. It's kind of nice to actually suceed sometimes. He'd tried it before… "Really, Cass— there's no need to be so mad. I mean— it's good that you're cautious and protect yourself, but the dog wouldn't have let a stranger in without barking— would you, Bonnie?" he glances back towards the main part of the apartment, projecting towards dog. And as for teleporting… he's really glad he didn't kick your door in instead. Then the poor man would have a lot more to apologize for. "Glad you were released, Lachlan." This is when he moves into the room and actually offers a hand down to the man who'd been arrested for punching his brother.

"Wh— Wha— ?!" What is this?! Lachlan gets released from jail and tries to be nice and not wake Cass and now he's in trouble. How does he get into these situations? Still dazed and confused, he first stares at Peter's hand before deciding that it's for him to take — which he does. He uses the leverage to pull himself onto his feet and brushes off his backside once he's standing. "'M sorry," he manages to get out full words. "Dinna wanna wake ye."

For her part, Bonnie just wagwagwagwags her tail. IT IS PLAYTIME NOW?

Well, now that Peter says it like that, Cass /should/ have known that it was Lachlan coming in. She has an entire pack of dogs that would have started barking had it been someone /other/ than him entering. "Well. I was asleep. It was sleep logic." Which makes sense, right? "Sorry," she sighs at Lachlan. Though he /does/ apologize to Peter, which is really the important part. "You were released? Did Nathan drop the charges on you?" That's something puzzling. Not to mention. "And, not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here, Peter?" The sudden Peter to the rescue made a lot of sense at the time, but now that they're all trying to be /reasonable/ it's one of those things she needs an explanation for.

"It's perfectly okay to protect yourself, Cass," Peter assures, helping the other man to his feet before he looks really tempted to back away and leave them alone to talk. But this is his brother's possible charges he wants to hear about. And… why is he here? "Oh— sorry, I… ran into Niki in Queens and we talked and… I wanted to help her with the whole Jessica problem and thought that your clinic might be the best alternative for it and I wanted to stop by and tell you before it got to late but— I guess I lost track of time. I didn't think you'd be in bed already. I should have waited until tomorrow." Wow, he's rambling. Check please. Awkward sandwich is awkward.

"Yeah. Lawyers dropped by an' said they'd drop ever'thin' if I dinna talk ta the press." Which Lachlan had not planned to do anyway, so it was basically a win-win. Crossing his arms over his chest, he goes silent. They're discussing Grown-Up Stuff. And unlike Cass, the Scotsman is not at all embarrassed for his state of non-dress. Then again, he rarely is.

"No, I know. I just kinda feel bad that I just clobbered my boyfriend a couple times with a pillow when he was just trying not to wake me." Cass smiles, actually finding this kind of amusing now. While she may not be able to take Lachlan in a fair fight, she can own him in a pillow fight. "I offered to help Niki when she came to apologize before," she tells Peter, gesturing that he can just take a seat on the bed. Or they can head out to the living room if he's more comfortable with that. "I didn't tell her about the clinic, but she didn't think I'd be able to help her. If she's changed her mind, though, I think that would be great. I'd love to help." As for the apology, she waves her hand. "No no, don't worry about it. It was a long day. I'm sorry I scared you." So much so that he tried teleporting. "Huh." Tilting her head a little she thinks about the lawyer and shrugs. "I guess it makes sense. Don't want much scandal in an election year."

Could be the state of undress that's made him rambly and awkward. Or perhaps there's more to it. Peter nods, glad to hear that Nathan dropped the charges, and understanding why it could have been done, logistically. But "adult talk" is important. And that's why he stopped by so late. Once he gets it out he can show himself to the door and leave them for their own form of "adult time". If they so choose. "No, it's okay that you— I just— heard you yelling and reacted. It's not your fault… But— yeah, Niki. She— I told her that she should have an alternative and that I would help her if I could. Since her problems are mostly mental I thought maybe I could talk to Jessica— with telepathy maybe. And find a way to help her besides using drugs— but we'd need a safer place to do it. Sedatives and restraints, that sort of thing. And maybe some… extra manpower." So Lachlan doesn't feel totally left out. "I can always talk to you about this tomorrow, though— um— so you two can— get some sleep."

"Yeah." That's Lachlan's Very Helpful Input to this entire conversation. Well, except for an added, "Yeah, she said she dinna wanna let Cass be alone with 'er or anythin' when I talked ta 'er." That's tacked onto the last bit about extra manpower being present. In other words: sure, he'd be cool to stand in and help if needed. When Peter starts to make his leave, the Scotsman pipes up with one last thing: "Hey, tell yer brother I'm sorry fer the, uh— " he makes a vague punching motion with his left hand, which is still bruised and slightly swollen from the attack on Nathan.

There could be many reasons for Peter's discomfort and Cass wouldn't blame him for any of them. He did try to rescue her from a nearly naked Lachlan pillow attack. The night could only go up from there, right? "I think we could work something out. You've seen the space. There should be enough to figure out a way to restrain Jessica and make sure that we're all safe from her while you can try to talk to her." It seems like the best breakthrough in helping Niki that she's heard yet. "I agree, she shouldn't have to resort to drugs. We should talk to her and see if we can't get her to come in." Seems like there's a lot of people that this clinic could help. All the better. "She said that?" The news is a surprise to Cass. That Niki told him to not let her alone with her former employee. But, there's a bit of a smile for Lachlan. His apology isn't /actually/ to Nathan, but it's to Peter. Which is a start.

"It's already sort of a date, I just have to call her and let her know when it's okay," Peter explains, giving a shy hint of a smile— "Said I'd talk to her. But I figure you'll need a few days or so to get sedatives and a hold of restraints, and I can test them first— see if they can hold her back. Since I can have her strength sometimes." Though knowing his luck she'd still be stronger— but it's better than going into the thing blind. "But yeah… I just— I was given alternatives, and that's what the clinic is supposed to be. An alternative." To the Company. To insanity. To death. To dealing with it on your own. And he relates to the woman a lot. It's news to Peter too, about not letting the boss alone with her, but it's not totally a surprise. If he'd hurt someone like that, he'd probably have had the same concerns. "Yeah— I'll talk to my brother and mention it— I'll see myself out. You might want to come and relock the door after I leave…" he tacks on, starting to move out towards the door, wading through the dogs. Hi dogs, sorry, not play time. He's got to leave. The adults might want to play.

There's really not much for Lachlan to say to that, so he just remains silent. He doesn't move to lock the door after Peter just yet either. He just sort of stands there. Quietly. After the door's closed behind Peter, he rolls his shoulders and takes a seat on the bed. Tentatively. In case he gets beat again.

"Alrighty then," Cass softly laughs at that. "I /will/ need a few days to work this all out. I've got a spare room we could use. Maybe we could just lock her in there and make sure she doesn't get through. The sedatives, however, I'll have to go through Seville Medical to get. I think Jaden said I could use what I needed, but I don't want to overstep my bounds, you know?" Stealing from a medical facility - a hospital - just would not be kosher. "Yes. Definitely. That's the whole reason I'm opening up Bat Country. For alternatives." To all the unspoken reasons. She smiles at Peter and starts to follow him out. "Thanks for stopping by, Peter. And for coming to the rescue." Even if the attacker turned out to be Lachlan. As soon as he's out the door, she'll lock it behind him and return to the bedroom. She's not about to beat him up again, either. Except for maybe a playful hit or should he say something smart. "Oh, come on, I wasn't that fierce."

SNORTscoff. "Like bloody hell yer no'," Lachlan grunts. He's not real sore about it, really, but he'll sure milk it for all it's worth. "Though' ye were gonna kill me 'r somethin'." A slow smirk pulls up at his lips, and he picks up his pillow again and lays down, wriggling under the covers. "C'mon. 'M tired an' I'm no' sleepin' without ye."

"Right. Fierce pillow wielding lady." Cass crosses the room to the bed in a few quick steps and slides in next to Lachlan. Turning over, she settles herself in and wraps an arm around him. "I'm sure there'll be poems and songs about your valiant fight against her. Alas. Poor Lachlan. We lost him to the vicious cushion filled with feathers. We shall always remember this place as where he fell." A giggle escapes, but it's a tired one.

"Yer scary when ye think yer gettin' raped." That is Lachlan's assessment. He snuggles in with a contented and tired sigh, closing his eyes. It's so wonderful to be sleeping in this bed, and not the cot in the holding cell with Stinky McStinkerson. "I love ye, baby." And he means it more than ever.

"Good." Better than not being scary at all when she thinks she's getting raped. This way maybe she'll actually be able to scare attackers away. Just as content to be snuggling with Lachlan, she closes her eyes and smiles sleepily. "I love you, too."

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