The Soldier's Hostage

Chapter Twelve

"Tucker?"

My gaze snapped towards the soft voice calling my name. Joan beckoned me towards the elevator and I shuffled over to her. She gently laid a hand on my shoulder as she ushered me in, then the doors were closing behind me. I closed my eyes as she absently rubbed my back, then followed her down to her apartment when the elevator stopped moving.

Chris looked up from the dinner he was dishing out when his wife led me into their place. Isaac jumped out of his seat at the table and came over to me. "What happened? Are you okay?"

I slowly nodded. "I'm fine." I winced when it came out a whisper.

Chris softly spoke up. "You hungry?" I shook my head and he put away the fourth plate he had pulled out when I arrived. "Alright. Need anything to drink?" I shook my head again.

Joan gave me an encouraging smile and placed a hand on my elbow, gesturing towards the couch. "Why don't you have a seat and relax. Don't worry. Once Arthur calms down everything will go back to normal."

I gratefully took a seat and curled up, tucking Angel in and listening as she started purring. Soft dinner conversation filled the apartment as Isaac, Joan and Chris began to eat. I absently listened as they theorized about what was going on with Arthur, then tuned out when they came up with nothing conclusive.

I slowly calmed, feeling tired as the fear melted away. I was about ready to doze off when the door opened. My eyes stayed closed, but I listened carefully as Zach came in, exchanging brief greetings before getting down to business.

Chris asked, "So? What's wrong with your brother?"

Zach sighed. "Sounds like he had a really bad day. His girlfriend broke up with him and he's hit a snag in a case he's been working on. I'm sure there's more than that but you know him. Doesn't like to complain. I think what's really got him upset is that he promised me he would try to make this relationship work out, and then it ends just as quickly as all the others. I'm not mad at him or anything, but he doesn't like breaking promises."

Joan hummed sympathetically. "Poor thing. Will he be alright?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He could probably use a little TLC, but he's not going to sit still long enough for anyone to give it to him. I think the best we can hope for is that he'll open up and talk about it a little later. Maybe I'll get Katty to ambush him or something."

My eyes slid open as Chris snorted and Joan chuckled. They kept talking, but I had stopped listening. I quietly got to my feet and slipped out the door while everyone was distracted in the kitchen. Climbing the stairs, I carefully crept down the hall and back into Arthur's apartment. I set Angel on her paws and glanced over Arthur on the couch.

The empty bottle of alcohol hung in his slack grip. The TV was on, but he had muted it. His head tilted a little as I stepped into the kitchen and over to the food I had been interrupted from making. It was a simple chicken and rice dish. I had been planning on baking it but I decided against it. I just turned the heat back on to warm it up and pulled out some cheese to finish it up.

Then I dished it into two bowls and took Arthur his. His eyes flicked up to mine, thankfully grey once more. "I'm not hungry."

"But you need something to go with that bottle of alcohol. I could feed it to you if you like?"

He grumbled, but he took the bowl. I settled into my side of the couch and took a bite as I watched him slowly put the empty bottle on the coffee table and pick at his food for a moment before shoving a forkful in his mouth. He ate mechanically, but he got most of it down.

I noticed when he finally couldn't stomach another bite and got to my feet, holding out a hand for the bowl. He handed it over gratefully and I slowly smiled as I took it from him. I started washing up dishes and cleaning the kitchen, contemplating trying to get him to talk to me.

"Zach said you had a bad day?"

"Something like that."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No."

I sighed. "Fair warning, if you don't talk to somebody, he was threatening to have Katty ambush you." He just hummed non-committedly. I finished up in the kitchen and came back to sit with him again. He still hadn't unmuted the TV, so the show playing was a little hard to follow. I wasn't sure why he was only absorbing half of his usual distraction. "Are you watching it like this so you can put your own dialogue to the show? Or are you just practicing your lip reading?"

Arthur slowly turned his gaze to me again. "Trying to decide if I like silence or if it's just lonely."

I slowly smiled. "I usually find it lonely, though it's nice every now and then. It's kind of depressing if I'm in a bad mood. Et tu?" I hadn't meant to slip into French. I blamed Arthur and the way he always slipped into German. He stared at me for a moment.

"Gesundheit."

I blinked, then tried to hide a grin behind sarcasm. "Ha ha." The corner of his mouth quirked up a little.

"I don't mind being lonely. But company is nice too." Smiling, I settled a little further into my seat. Arthur was slowly relaxing too. He glanced at me. "I can turn it on if you like." I shrugged, so after a slight hesitation, he turned the sound back on.

I kept an eye on him. He wasn't actually paying much attention. He was lost in his own thoughts for the most part. And slowly dozing off, I realized after about an hour. I waited for the show to end, then slowly got to my feet so I wouldn't startle him. He blinked sleepily when I offered him a hand.

Sighing deeply, he let me pull him to his feet and get him aimed towards his bed. He plodded into his office on his own power and I regarded the door as he closed it softly behind himself. I finally shook my head and turned to bed myself.