Work Text:
Jude checked his watch. The appointment had been taken for 11a.m., but he decided that he could use a few more minutes to calm down a bit. He started to drum his fingers on the wheel, more nervous that he expected to be. Zero was the one who asked for him to meet Laura first, just to make sure that she was strong enough to handle what he sarcastically started to call the ‘perks of being Zero-related’. “If I show up, she won’t have the choice to meet me, I’ll literally be there in front of her”, he pointed out. “Plus, God knows what the PI’d tell her about me.” Jude was forced to admit that he had a point, and finally accepted. It had taken him months to finally admit that he wanted to reopen the door on his past, and Jude didn’t want it all to stop now.
When he first dialed Laura’s number and that she answered, it took Jude over a second to start to talk, as he still hadn’t quite figured that she was real, and no longer just a hypothetical thought. They didn’t talk much on the phone, except for the fact that her brother Gideon had been wanting to find her. They talked a few more minutes about the practical side of things – she seemed to have a busy schedule too but managed to clear at least a full week-end to make the trip all the way to LA – and they eventually took an appointment for the following week. Zero had been unusually quiet about the whole thing, barely bringing the subject up at all. It was quite unexpected, given that his soon-to-be husband was a six-foot-one kid with the exact same level of patience. Jude, for his part, was even more tensed. These past few months had been a big rollercoaster of emotions, and he was a tiny bit afraid, now that the situation was becoming more concrete every passing day, that it’d be just one last strike neither Zero nor he really didn’t need.
Jude glanced once more at the clock, this time on his phone, and finally stepped out of the car, heading to the café where was supposed to take place the meeting. He had opted for a more relaxed outfit than one of his usual suits, and went for a pair of jeans and a simple Henley. Zero didn’t miss the opportunity to joke about it, asking whether he had to feel threatened by this meeting or not – which earned him an eye-roll as Jude was putting his leather jacket on. As he entered the place, his eyes fell on a young lady sitting by herself at a table, right in the corner. She looks young, he noted with a shock. She indeed looked way younger than her actual age, but she was, without a doubt, the same person they had seen on the picture that had been handed to them. She had long, dirty-blonde curls falling all over her back and her shoulders, and her lips seemed to draw a permanent pout. She was definitely pretty, Jude admitted to himself, but cuter than she was beautiful.
“Hi”, he said with a smile as he walked in front of her, holding out his hand. “Jude Kinkade.” “Laura”, she replied. She was small and tiny, yet her gaze was sharp and her handshake strong, as if she was doing her best to look more impressive. Jude sat in front of her, trying to overcome a vague feeling of uneasiness while a waiter presented himself to take their orders. Jude opted for a coffee and Laura for a juice. “So, Gideon’s alive” she finally said after the waiter had disappeared inside the café. “Very much indeed”, Jude replied. “It feels weird”, she muttered, biting her lip. Her eyes fell on the table. “I’ve been searching him for a while but it looked like he just… vanished. So I kinda gave up.”
She met with a surprise glance on Jude’s face as she looked up, and started to laugh – awkwardly, and definitely nervously. “And now you’ll think I don’t care.” She let out a sigh, shaking her head before tossing off her hair behind her shoulder. “I think you two got separated, that’s all”, Jude said kindly. He thanked the waiter with a nod when he brought their drinks. “But why didn’t he come in person?” she asked after a short silence. Jude couldn’t help but notice some kind of frustration in her voice. “Gideon wanted you to have the choice”, he said cautiously. “He didn’t know at first if you’d be ready to… reconnect with him. So he sent me instead.” “Will you finally tell me what he’s been up to, and why I couldn’t find him anywhere?” She briefly stopped drawing circles in her juice with the straw, and looked at Jude with an intense look. “He was in jail, wasn’t he?” Jude started to laugh, before clearing his throat when he saw that she was nothing but serious. “No, he wasn’t.” He didn’t know if he’d actually tell that to Zero or if he would just leave this part aside. Probably the second one. “What do you know about sports and celebrities?” he asked after a short silence.
Laura frowned. “I played a bit of volleyball back in high-school, but I wouldn’t be able to name two members of the National Team, and I read US Weekly every once in a while when I get my hair done. So, next to nothing in both cases, I guess”, she answered with a skeptical tone. Jude took several pictures inside of his jacket’s pocket. The first one was from the official photoshoot of the team, the one that was plastered all over the walls at the Arena. The two followings were respectively taken after the Devils had won their ring and during Zero’s time among the Cleveland Cavaliers. The last picture was from last year’s 4th of July Gala organized by the League. Jude loved this picture because Zero looked amazing in his suit and had a huge smile on his face, so far away from his usual cocky grin. Jude handed over the pictures to Laura. “Gideon’s a professional basketball player”, he said, failing to hide his pride.
Laura’s mouth dropped open as she was staring at the first picture. “You’re kidding me?” “I’m not.” She kept staring at the picture in silence, biting her bottom lip. “God I can hardly remember his face”, she whispered. There was a silence, and Laura brushed off her hair from her face. “I remember him playing. He was always playing on this crappy court from the neighborhood”, she said again. “I just couldn’t imagine… this.”
Jude had a kind smile. “I want to know more!” Laura finally insisted. “Where does he live? What happened to him after we got separated?” Her insistence in knowing seemed genuine, and Jude realized he was slowly starting to relax. She seemed a decent and normal person. Maybe something good could eventually come out of Leo and Carla’s house in the end. “Well, he lives in Beverly Hills”, he answered, and Laura raised her eyebrows. “He remained in the house of Leo and Carla after you left and got emancipated around 16.” She continued to switch a picture for another, over and over again, staring intensely at them. “Is he, like, married? Or something?”
There was a one-second black-out in Jude’s head. Was it a lie if he didn’t tell her? What if she knew it was a lie because she had somehow seen the picture and the subsequent statements/articles/thunderstorm about them? They didn’t anticipate this question. Hell, he didn’t anticipate this question. What was wrong with him? How come didn’t he think about it before? “Engaged”, Jude eventually answered, voluntarily evasive. Laura kept looking at the pictures for a little more, then took them in her hand and stood up abruptly, making Jude startle.
“Wait, where are you going?” he yelled as she was walking away. “Going to see him. Are you coming or what?” she simply said, turning to him before starting to walk again. Jude realized that she was totally the kind of girl to leave without him and he jumped out of his chair hastily, bumping his knee in the table in the process. “You really are your brother’s sister”, he mumbled as he took her towards his car. Laura let out a whistle when she saw the Porsche. “What’s your job again?” she asked, impressed. “Executive Vice-President of the Los Angeles Devils”, he said while sitting behind the wheel. He was not yet used to his pompous job title, but he had to admit that every time he said it out loud, it did sound better and less of an imposture. Zero never stopped teasing him that with the amount of work he was dealing with every day, there should be even more words in the title.
“And why would the Executive Vice-President accept to meet me before Gideon does?” Jude hesitated for a second, pretending to be busy with the other cars before inserting his own in the traffic. “I used to be your brother’s agent, back in the days when he was in Ohio, and a little after he got back to Los Angeles”, he replied vaguely. He was quite satisfied with his answer, which was actually the truth. Except for the part where they started a sexual relationship, then a committed one, and that they were now about to get married. “But what do you do?” Jude asked, hoping to take the conversation away from any more things to hide. “I study psychology at BU”, she said while looking through the window. “Apparently that’s what happens to many people who got a crappy childhood.”
She had the exact same way of dealing with her past that Zero had, which was quite disturbing. Jude could almost hear him talk. The rest of the drive was spent in relative silence, and Jude could see from the corner of his eye that Laura was looking at the pictures every now and then before letting her gaze wonder through the window. “Zero. On his jersey”, she finally said, pointing to one of the pictures. “Why did he keep that stupid nickname?” Her voice seemed colder than usual. No need to be a genius to know that she was remembering all the crappy stuff that happened in the damn place they grew up in. The fact that Zero and Laura had the same way to consider their past apparently didn’t mean their healing processes were anywhere the same. “He wanted to, you know, show them”, Jude explained, turning right after a red traffic light. Zero was a show-off, and that was something that couldn’t be explained easily. Jude assumed that she would eventually understand it all when she’d catch a glimpse of her brother other than in pictures.
Laura remained silent for a little while. “I always thought he would, you know, end up on the wrong side of the tracks”, she confessed. “Because of your crappy foster parents?” “Kinda but, also because he was so angry all the time. He was just so damn angry. There was so much fury in him. I remember he would get his ass beaten at school, just because he would cause trouble. He literally was the one starting the mess.” She shook her head at the thought of it. Zero was never talking about his childhood if he could help it, yet Jude wasn’t really surprised.
“What happened to you after you left?” he asked again. She shrugged. “I got in another foster family. Even crappier. Some time after I was taken in by my history teacher when I was 13. Then she adopted me and here I am.” Jude didn’t reply anything, partly because he wasn’t sure what to say, and partly because they arrived on the parking lot of the Arena. After he parked the car on his spot, he headed to the huge atrium, closely followed by Laura who just received a visitor badge. Jude made his usual way inside, without really taking the time to tour her around. When they arrived in front of the Devils Girls studio, Laura couldn’t help but stare at the dancers with admiration as the girls were rehearsing under the command of Kyle. Those who had sighed in relief after Jelena stopped being in charge of the girls quickly realized their mistake as soon as the blonde had been entrusted the team. Kyle had the strength of character of a Vietnam veteran.
“Is his fiancée among them?” Laura asked after a silence. Jude tried to hide his embarrassment with a cough, but all he managed to do was to choke himself. “No”, he answered hastily before hurrying towards the locker room. “Dancers aren’t supposed to date players”, he mumbled more for himself than for her. As if it had stopped Jelena and Ahsha from doing so, Jude thought. And many more he probably didn’t know about and was grateful not to. Laura followed him, her eyes wandering around, and they stepped together on the side of the court. Practice was still going on, and Jude noticed that she marked a pause, half-impressed, half-worried. He remembered the first time he had seen the players practicing, years ago. Players were moving fast, violently, and the noises seemed astonishingly loud in the empty court.
“Impressive, uh?” he said, his hands ducked in his jeans pockets. Laura nodded in silence, and Jude saw that she was staring at Zero. He had dropped his jersey just like some other players, and seemed too focused on the ball to pay any kind of attention to the outside world. Jude felt his heart tripping a little. That’s perhaps when he loved him most, when he just accepted to lose his grin and stopped making asshole comments, and was just himself again. Jude walked towards Pete Davenport after he acknowledged his presence with a glance. Pete and Jude had quite a hard time in the past, but all in all, they eventually managed to remain polite and cordial to each other. Jude was perfectly aware that EVP or not, Pete didn’t really appreciate when people were just wondering around during practice, but so he tried to act as politely and diplomatically as possible. “Jude”, the Coach greeted him, his arms folded on his massive chest. “Who’s the young lady?” “Zero’s little sister”, Jude replied simply. “I didn’t know he had one”, Pete said, following the ball and the players with his eyes. “Nobody does.” Jude admitted. “Alright guys, we’re done for today, everybody in the shower!” Pete shouted after his whistle echoed in the empty court.
The players started to head back to the locker room, retrieving their jerseys on the bench, talking and breathing heavily. Zero first noticed the presence of Jude, and Jude’s heart melted when he saw his face lightens. A grin showed up on his gorgeous face, but quickly dropped when he saw Laura beside him. Jude looked at her. It didn’t take her much time to recover her ability to move – an ability that Zero seemed to have lost, and was now just standing, frozen. She motioned towards him before literally jumping on him, and Zero took another second before holding her in his arms, his jersey in his left hand.
“I’m all sweaty”, he said awkwardly while the players around were smirking. Jude knew that they were surprised to see him lose the mask for once. Nothing seemed to bother Laura, however, and Jude couldn’t help a smile on his own lips. He thought about Zero’s fear that she might not be willing to catch up, and then at how amazed Laura was when she found out that he didn’t just live decently, but had surpassed everything she could have ever imagined. They deserved a second chance, after all. Jude walked towards them, while Laura finally accepted to let go of her brother. “How big you are”, Zero muttered with a smile. “And how big you are”, she retorted, moving her chin towards his impressive muscles. Zero started to laugh. “I didn’t think we would meet when I’m half-naked and all sweaty though”, Zero observed, and Jude noted that he seemed completely lost.
“I forced him to come”, Laura admitted while sharing a look with Jude. Zero raised his eyebrows in a surprised glance, and Jude shrugged. “She’s quite your sister when it comes to listening people”, he said. Zero snorted. “I’m gonna hit the shower, I’ll be back in five”, he said, his hand still wrapped around his jersey. And then, before anyone could move, he planted a kiss on Jude’s lips before entering the locker room, following the other players inside. Jude intentionally kept his eyes on the door, refusing to turn back as he could feel the glare of Laura on him. He finally gave in and met with her eyes.
“Well, that needs quite an explanation”, she said, her arms crossed on her chest, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.