Work Text:
Tess is running late; it’s parent teacher conference day, and her sitter had cancelled, so Ellie is in the backseat of the car, humming along to the song on the radio as Tess speeds around the parking lot, looking for a spot.
“Sorry bubba, you’re gonna have to sit outside the classroom while I talk to your teacher,” Tess says as she parks, and Ellie shrugs.
“I have my game,” she holds up her GameBoy, and Tess nods.
They were the last conference of the day, because of Tess’s work schedule, and Joel was at a job site, up to his neck in blueprints for a new job. They usually tried to coordinate things better, but things had been difficult since Joel had become foreman at the construction site and taken on more responsibility. They were trying to save money for a second baby, especially now that Ellie was in second grade.
“Just sit out here and play quietly, okay sweetheart? I’ll be done as soon as I can,” Tess says, pressing a kiss to Ellie’s forehead as the seven year old sank down to the ground across from the classroom door. Tess walked inside, offering a harried smile to the man at the desk. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”
“It’s fine, Mrs. Miller,” Ellie’s teacher assures her, rising from his seat. “Take a seat.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sanders,” she says, and the man shakes his head.
“Please, call me David,” he tells her as she sinks into the too-small chair, knees around her chin as she sets her purse on the ground. “Now, Ellie is a bright, bright girl. Very talkative, very personable.”
Tess smiles. “That’s my girl.”
David smiles, but something about it gives Tess a shiver down her spine. She ignores it, and continues to listen to him.
“She’s doing well learning cursive, and she can spell out her name perfectly- see, here?” David says, and offers a paper for Tess to look at. She leans in, and then gasps when David brings the silver barrel of a gun directly into her face from beneath the desk. “And you’re going to do everything I saw, if you don’t want any harm to come to her.”
Tess tenses her jaw, but nods.
“Stand up,” he says quietly, and Tess does, lifting her hands in front of her as she does. “Good, good girl.”
Tess resists the urge to shudder.
“We’re going to collect Ellie, and walk out of the building. My car is parked out front,” David tells her, and Tess tenses at the mention of Ellie. “Move, Mrs. Miller.”
“Come on, sweetie. We’re going on an adventure, okay?” Tess tries to keep her voice cheery, but she can tell she misses the mark just so, because Ellie’s eyebrows furrow as she shoves her GameBoy into her pocket, taking her mother’s hand. Tess holds her daughter’s hand tightly, but Ellie doesn’t protest.
“Such a good listener,” David says, pressed closely to Tess’s back, gun pressed to her lower back. The benefit is he’s close enough to her not to notice her hand slip into her pocket; notice her open the text thread with Joel, and send a random bunch of letters and symbols.
She hopes it’s enough to send up a flare of worry with him.
_
Joel stares at the text from Tess, worry pulsing in his chest.
It makes no sense- a random string of letters and symbols, interspersed with spaces. It’s unlike Tess to send something so unintelligible, and they’re far past Ellie sending anything so silly. It makes him nervous, and he immediately has his phone to his ear, calling her.
There’s no answer, and something in him tells him something is wrong.
“I gotta go- somethin’s up with Tess,” he tells Tommy, who frowns, but lets him go.
Using Find My Friends, who zeros in on Tess’s location- it’s an unfamiliar neighborhood, about twenty minutes away. Joel has a bit of a lead foot driving there, and pulls the pistol out of the glove compartment he rarely uses before he exits the truck around the block.
He creeps up to the back of the house, and peeks through the back window- he can see into the living room, where Tess and Ellie are huddled, gags over their mouths. Violence coats his throat and he nearly vomits, but Joel swallows hard, and lifts the gun.
Using surprise to his advantage, he bursts through the door- gets the first shot off and clips the man hovering over them in the shoulder, blood blooming vibrant red across his white dress shirt. His second shot hits his knee, and he drops the gun in his hands in pain. Joel quickly kicks it away, and once he’s assured himself the man is down for the count, he’s moving to his wife and daughter, untying their hands and undoing their gags.
“Daddy,” Ellie sobs, reaching for him instantly- Joel gathers her up, hugging her tightly, and Tess clutches his hand, a hand on Ellie and eyes trained on him, red in the corners.
“Tessa,” he whispers, and she shakes her head, burrowing up beneath his chin, rubbing their daughter’s back as they all huddled together.
By the time the police arrive, David has bled significantly, and Joel watches him get carted away with steely eyes. “You will regret ever touching them.”
David simply grins, and Joel feels a growl emanate deep in his chest; Tess touches his arm, drawing him back to her and Ellie, and wraps him in the blanket the EMT had given them.
“Can we go home, please?” Ellie asks quietly, and Tess kisses her forehead.
“Soon, baby. I promise,” she murmurs, and Ellie cuddles in closer, burrowing beneath her mother’s chin. Joel twines his fingers with Tess’s, wrapping his other arm around her shoulders, keeping her close.
By the time they’re released, Ellie is asleep against Tess’s chest; she’s too big for Tess to carry, so they carefully get her into Joel’s arms. She barely wakes, shifting sleepily but cuddling into Joel’s neck and drifting back off. Getting into Joel’s truck, they get her into her car seat, and Tess keeps a hand on Joel at all times.
“Thank you,” she whispers, and Joel frowns. “For coming to get me.”
“Never doubt it, darlin’,” he says, and cups her chin. “I’ll always come ‘n get ya.”
He sinks his forehead against hers, noses brushing.