Milk And Cardamom | S. Brown ✔

[03]

Lucas never even smiled.

George had met him multiple times by then but never once had he seen him smiling. 

There was still no certain answer to when Lucas would be handed over to him, but whenever he had some time free from his tough work schedule, he would go to the rehab center to check on the child.

At times he would take permission from the center's admin to take Lucas out in the city, thinking that the boy needed exposure to normal life and he tried his best to ensure that.

Lucas had agreed on letting him call him Luke and as time passed, he had evidently gotten better from the terrified and damaged child he had been found as in Deathstroke's hideout. He had considerably warmed up towards George too as the man reminded him of his mother and sister, the only two people who had been kind to him.

Just like Melisina, George used to talk to him and try to help him out and just like Rose, he got worried whenever Luke wasn't well. In fact, it was safe to say that both George and Luke were coming to terms with the decision the court had taken regarding the boy's custody.  

But in all the time he had spent with him, even though he had seen improvement in Luke's behavior towards him, still the boy was very detached from normal emotions such as happiness, joy and contentment.

There was always a fear gripping his dainty heart that at times showed whenever Lucas had to face something unexpected. He got terrified too easily, always watched over his back as if he still feared Slade would come up and snatch him away.

Such that even then as George had brought him to a bookstore, the boy was unnecessarily alert, his fingers twitching slightly in panic.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, noting that Lucas was slightly unstable.

"Yeah. I... I'm fine."

"We can go back if you want to," he suggested and though he felt the urge to gently clasp his shoulder, he refrained from doing so, knowing that Lucas was not comfortable with anyone getting too close to him.

His timid voice shook as he mumbled, "out of here please, in the open?"

"Sure."

Gatherings scared him, closed spaces were unbearable for him, he flinched each time someone got closer than arm's length to him and even if he got accidentally touched, he would freak out.

By then as almost a few months had passed, George had begun to observe him closely and kept in mind all the things that disturbed Lucas so that he would take care of it to not happen in his presence.

"How about we go to that park over there?"

He nodded but George was surprised when his dainty hand clasped his finger as they crossed the crowds to go to the park.

That was a major development so far but at the moment, George dismissed it, thinking that perhaps Luke was scared of getting lost in the crowd and would leave his hand soon as they would reach the park.

But to his surprise, the boy held on to him as if his life depended on it.

George hadn't had children of his own, he had married once but it hadn't worked out and ever since then he no longer thought about what having a family felt like. But at that moment seeing Lucas holding his finger as his own son would have done so, sent a warmth creeping up to his heart.

And though initially he had been doubtful of taking in the only surviving son of a feared mercenary, right then it didn't matter who the boy was related to. Right then, all it mattered was that he had begun to look up to him as a father figure instead and same was the case with George for he had begun to care for him just like he would have cared for his own child.

He did not want to know what Luke had been through in the past but he wanted to make sure that the boy no longer had the fear of such a past repeating.

George aimed to be everything Slade couldn't be for his son and most of all, he aimed to be a support for Lucas to lean on because it was evident the child needed him to be there for him.

***

Rose's fist collided with the punching bag so hard that it almost split open. She was venting out her frustration in the only way she possibly could at the moment; by punching the hell out of whatever came in her path.

She had no idea where Lucas was and not knowing what had become of her brother was tormenting. Her father was in the Belle Reve prison and she knew he deserved it, in fact deserved a lot worse than just being jailed up.

However, she had been placed with the Titans after making her take an oath that she would refrain from going back to her past life and start afresh as a vigilante alongside Nightwing's team.

She knew very well that except for Nightwing, the rest of the team was not so willing to accept her. And if it hadn't been for the original Boy Wonder, she wouldn't even be there at the moment.

So far they had not taken her out on any of the mission they had to face due to the team's general lack of trust towards her. Only Nightwing was the one trying to bridge the gap between them, getting her to participate more and feel comfortable in that new arrangement.

The punching bag split open at last as her fist dug through once again and it was then she stopped, silver eye looking surprised at the tufts of cotton pooling out.

"Holy shit..."

She spun around immediately to see Robin leaning against the door frame, his eyes drifting towards the destroyed punching bag, face set into a slightly impressed expression.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, bending down to clear the mess. 

Much to her surprise, Robin joined her as he picked up the stray tufts of cotton, "it's alright, you don't have to apologize for anything."

"I will get you guys a new one."

"Rose, I said it's okay," he had looked up and though his eyes were concealed by the dark mask, she could feel the gaze pierce through.

An awkward silence lingered between the two until Rose retrieved her gaze, the silvery veil of hair falling over her eyes briefly as she looked down instead.

"Big Bird had news for you so he sent me to call you over," he spoke up at last, mending the conversation gap, "he's waiting for you outside."

"Right, thanks for telling me."

"No problemo. Oh and don't worry I'm not telling anyone about this," he pointed over to the punching bag, "I've had my fair share of rupturing punching bags so everyone would automatically assume it was me and it will be replaced in no time."

She nodded, leaving the training hall as he gestured to remind her that Nightwing was still waiting. 

Robin was a little cocky but not that bad, she thought, it was the first time she had not felt hostility drip from another team member and that made her feel slightly hopeful that things would eventually adjust.

She didn't want to be a burden on the rest of the Titans and though it was just a slight conversation with Robin, she felt that if she tried she could gain one more friend other than having just Nightwing to count on.

***