First Look: Fortunate Son

 

“Dad.”

He lifted his head, and it wasn’t the hospital bed, or the soft cotton gown, or the terrible lighting that made him look smaller, older, and weaker than he was. It was a wet gleam in his eyes, a rare expression etched across his features: helplessness. He looked helpless. Overwhelmed. He looked like a man staring into an abyss, and Ava felt a stab of guilt because she never really gave him enough credit, did she? Credit for bearing up beneath the immense weight of his role. She had resented him for his mistakes, and chastised him for his shortcomings; but she’d never really acknowledged that, no matter his logic, and no matter his cruelty, he was always trying to do what he thought was best for his family.

So was she.

“What?” he asked, and she realized she’d been silent too long, stuck in her own thoughts, shoring up her resolve. There wasn’t much to shore, truthfully: she felt now as she always had. Saying it out loud, though, was the tricky part. It revealed too much about her.

Nothing Ghost and Maggie hadn’t already learned, though.

Both of them watched her now, intently in a way they hadn’t before. Like they felt the vibration of her heartbeat.

She said, “I know you’ve got good lawyers. And I know that you and the club will exhaust your resources to keep Mercy out of jail. I’m not doubting you…but this is tough.”

Ghost nodded, slowly, his gaze narrow. “Yeah. It is.”

“I’m not going to lose him.”

“You won’t,” Ghost said, firm. Putting on a good show. Reassuring Dad. The Man in Charge. The Fixer.

“You can’t promise that, Dad. But I can promise you that no matter what it takes, I won’t let them throw Mercy in a cell for the rest of his life.”

“Ava–” he started.

“No.” Quietly, but just as firmly as him. More so. “You’re my dad, and you’re the president of this club. But I’m not a teenager anymore. You can’t pat me on the head and tell me it’ll get easier someday. I don’t care what it takes: a jailbreak. A murder. Changing our names and moving halfway around the world. I will not lose him this time.”

She’d never seen her father dumbfounded before.

First time for everything.