After we finished our food, Theo took me over to the court office. "Thanks Theo." I smile as I hop out of his car. "Really, thanks. You're not as bad as I thought you were." I admit.
He scoffs then laughs with a nod. "Likewise, Maddie. I'll see you later."
"Yeah, bye!!!" I nod closing the door then head up the court stairs.
I enter the big court room on my own, wandering around until the clock strikes exactly six and Barba walks in. Behind him, I see Banner and Stark causing my heart to leap. I run up to them, hugging them both possibly leaving their ribs bruised.
"I missed you guys." I say as I pull back from my warm hug with Banner. I know I always say that. It probably seems ridiculous that after only one day of not seeing them, I miss them. But it's so weird being separated from them now and with everything that's happened, I've missed their uplifting presence.
"We miss you too kiddo." Bruce pats my head. "And so do the others."
"Especially Cap and Clint." Tony removes his sunglasses. "Two weeks of playing dad and they're already so attached." I look at him with a raised eyebrow, is he implying he doesn't miss me as much? "Don't look at me like that kid, I miss you as much as they do." He pulls me in for another hug. Ahhh, I love my dads.
Barba fakes a cough, drawing our attention. "We should get started."
I nod, refocusing and taking my seat at the stand.
"So. The questions are gonna be personal. You HAVE to keep your calm no matter what they ask or say. I know when it gets too far, so let me handle it. Got it?"
"Yes coach." I mutter.
Did I just say coach?
Barba explains to me the whole concepts and basics of court. The do's, the don'ts. He asks me questions, putting me in comfortable scenarios so I'll be prepared for whatever they throw me. Bruce and Tony give me help with what to say since they've both been in this situation at least once. The questions scare me a little, but that's what this practice is for right? Get all the feelings out of the way now, so it's not so bad tomorrow.
After a few hours Barba tells me I'm ready, giving me a piece of paper to study for responses and crap.
"Tomorrow, at one, alright?" He confirms as we walk out of the large court room. "Same place and everything."
"There's gonna be a lot of press tomorrow, Maddie." Bruce tells me. "They're gonna crowd the front and try to talk to you."
"Yes, try not to talk to them, please." Barba adds.
"I won't." I nod. Hopefully I won't, I mean the press is pretty ruthless.
"You should have your cop friends take you. Don't make your parents go through all of that." Bruce says.
"Okay." I nod. Got it, got all of it. I'll be fine. I say bye to them before jumping into the sky and flying off home.
I enter through my window, quite exhausted from being awake since four. It's ten now, and I close my eyes to finish off my eight hours of slumber.
I wake to a soft touch on my cheek, followed by the familiar scent of my favorite person. I open my eyes to meet his grey, blues. "Good morning." He whispers with light chuckle and his thumb on my cheek.
"Carisi." I sigh, too tired to feel any anger towards him now. All my heart wants, at this moment, is his forgiveness. "I'm sorry."
"Don't. Don't apologize baby." He presses his lips to my forehead and pulls me into his arms. I nuzzle into him, finally feeling that comfort I've been needing for weeks. "We're gonna be okay. Just fix this, please." He tells me.
Huh?
I wake up. All alone in my room, clinging to my pillow as if it was him. Of course it was a dream.
'Just fix this, please.' Am I really supposed to be the one to fix this? Is this even fixable? Yes, it has to be.
I run downstairs and fix myself some lunch before grabbing my keys to my car. I'm so tired of flying. I park then walk into the precinct my eyes scanning. Hopefully he's not on patrol.
"Hey Maddie." Isaac almost passes me but stops.
"Isaac! Have you seen Risi?" I ask.
"Uhh, yeah. Just a few minutes ago. Check the break room."
"Break room, thanks!" I wave bye to him before walking there.
I open the door and there at one of the tables, I see Carisi hunched as if he was listening to someone talk to him.
I look at the other two guys with him to see Theo... And Barba?
"Maddie?" Theo notices me first. Carisi's head quickly moves in my direction and he straightens up as soon as he sees me.
"Madds." He mutters and stands up. Madds. I haven't heard that in so long. "What are you doing here?" He approaches me, for the first time.
I start to get queasy at the fact that he's even talking to me right now. I've lost my train of thought and his grey eyes are just making it so hard to concentrate.
It's like I haven't seen him in years. I'm so pathetic.
"I-I um... I need to talk to you." I manage to say.
"Oh." He turns around, looking at Barba who shakes his head. Why is he shaking his head... "I can't talk right now." He says and I feel a pang of sadness and anger in me. I can tell he see's it in my face because he slides his fingers along my forearms then takes my hands in his. "I want to. We need to talk. But not until tomorrow, okay?"
"Tomorrow?"
"After your hearing, I promise we'll talk." He squeezes my hand.
I bite my cheek, then look at Barba who nods at me. "Listen to him."
I bring my attention back to Carisi, my eyes meeting his. "Okay." I nod, turning around to walk out.
"Wait." He pulls my wrist, enveloping me in a warm, tight hug. "God, I miss you." He whispers into my hair.
His warmth. His smell. His strength. I've missed it all so much and it feels amazing to be back in his arms.
Ahhhhh. My heart melts and I squeeze him back, so happy to know that everything might be okay. "I miss you too." I say back as I pull back and he moves a hair from my face.
He nods and I take that as my cue to leave. I turn to Barba and Theo giving them an awkward wave before walking out the door.
I don't know why Barba was talking to Theo and Carisi. I don't know why I can't talk to him until tomorrow. But what I do know is, we're gonna be okay after all.
