Madelyn, Hank - Saturday evening

[x-madelyn.livejournal.com]

Watching the news as part of the 'responsible adult' thing before indulging in shameless cute, Hank and Maddie catch the FOH rally.



"I think perhaps I should stop," Hank said, giving Maddie a rather impish look. "You might drop the baby if you relax any further." A nice foot-massage was always a good start to the evening... it relaxed her and made her happy, and it was easier not to let his hands wander when he was at the other end of her legs.

Madelyn made a small whimpering noise and pouted, but then she looked down at Billy, sound asleep on her chest and conceded the point. "You know I go to jelly when you do that," she pointed out, pulling herself a little more upright. "Bad you for giving me the baby in the first place." She poked him gently with her toes as she said it, aiming for his ticklish spots even as she shifted Billy to a more secure position.

"Oh, and that wasn't you making little happy burbling noises as soon as you got him, I'm sure," he said solemnly, then giggled as she tickled him with her toes. "I'll do your shoulders later, to make it up to you." He shifted back up onto the couch, flicking the TV on. They were going to watch the news, as a gesture at being responsible and adult, before going back to having fun.

"I knew there was a reason I adored you both," Madelyn told him, laying her legs across his lap since her arms were full of happily napping baby. As if to prove he was so much more mature than the new arrival, Billy had been eating and sleeping almost on cue lately. "I wonder if they'll televise the rally at all - things must have run smoothly, since we didn't get scrambled to the lab. Thank goodness."

He reached over to touch his son's socked foot gently, smiling at them both. They looked so adorable together... "One can only hope," he said a bit wistfully. "Do you think automatically thinking 'what went wrong this time' in connection with any major event might be a sign that I've been here too long?"

"You and me both, hon." Madelyn reached over and caught Hank's fingers before he pulled his hand away, squeezing them affectionately. "Although this time I think the paranoia's justified, given the trouble these bas... er, people," she amended, remembering Billy's presence. "Have been giving us this year. And by all accounts we can't rely on the local police. I just wish I could turn up something concrete on them - so far it's all rumour and innuendo."

Hank nodded, twining his fingers with hers. "I wish I could help," he said a little wistfully. "But between Billy and everything else... well. I had no idea such small beings could take up so much time," he added rather ruefully. "I fear I rather overestimated my own efficiency when I planned this out."

"Babies have a habit of turning plans upside down. They're like those mice and men that way." Madelyn smiled gently at him. "Just remember there's people here to help - you don't have to do it all on your own. As for our local cops that aren't doing their job... they'll slip up sooner or later. I'm just sorry it's the kids that suffer for it. And that they think we're sitting back and letting it happen."

"Oh, that pesky evidence thing. If only we were on television and didn't need it," he sighed mournfully, kissing the tips of his fingers and touching them lightly to her cheek, since he couldn't reach to kiss her properly just now. "We'd make a marvelous crime-busting duo. You could be the brilliant but controversial agent, I could be the scientist-sidekick with a good line in sardonic comments." He grinned. "One of us would have to make a practice of wearing short skirts. We could flip a coin."

Madelyn laughed at that, but quietly so she didn't upset Billy, who stirred slightly and made a few milk-bubbles before settling back down any way. "I think as the sidekick the skirt-wearing would be your prerogative," she told him solemnly, eyes twinkling with suppressed laughter. "I could ogle you shamelessly and fans could write endless stories about our unresolved sexual tension and post them on the internet."

"The sidekicks get all the silly outfits," Hank agreed. "All right, the skirts are my job - but only if you wear a fedora. There's definitely something about a woman in a fedora."

"Oh God, you should have known me in junior high. Mid-Eighties, fedoras were the thing, and I have one I wore everywhere, regardless of the hat hair." Madelyn was about to say more, when the news caught her attention. "Hey, it's the FOH rally. And look, there's Clarice!"

"I'm sure you looked adorable. I had one myself." He looked over at the screen, and sighed. Some overexcited youngster was bouncing around, gleefully advocating violent anarchy. "There's always a few, I suppose," he said, reaching out to pat Billy's tiny back gently. "It could be worse, it-" He blinked. The tree at the edge of the shot had just, in a single rippling moment, turned a dull, silvery grey. "Oh, dear..." he said worriedly. "Does that look like a stress-manifestation to you?"

"Of all the times..." Madelyn sat up properly, cradling Billy in her arms as she leaned forward to peer at the screen more closely. The camera had obligingly panned across to the tree, and the confused and dazed looking teenager beneath it. "I hope someone got to him before the FOH did." Even as she spoke, uniformed officers approached the young man and began leading him away. "Oh, crap, I really hope those aren't local."

"So do I." Hank wrapped a long arm around her, drawing both of them close. "The boy looks... familiar. I've seen him before, somewhere, but I'm not sure where..." He frowned, trying to remember. "Amanda's speech, that was it... he stopped us, afterwards. He's FOH, I think."

"Shit," Madelyn said with feeling. There wasn't really any other reaction. Well, that and praying - whatever the kid might have done, she didn't like his chances now. She leaned into Hank's embrace, holding Billy, the words of the rosary resonating through her mind. 'Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee...'