w a n d e r .

(STEPHEN AMELL,  HE/HIM,  CISMALE)  careful  ,  ARCHIBALD MAYCROFT  has  arrived  to  the  city  of  dreams!!  they  look THIRTY-FIVE  years  old  and  word  on  the  street  is  they  are  from  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS  and  currently  reside  in  TRIBECA.  They  are  currently  living  life  in  the  city  as  a  CEO.  one  thing  they  never  want  anyone  to  find  out  is  HIS COMPANY IS USED FREQUENTLY TO HIDE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.  too  bad  nothing  remains  a  secret  for  long  even  in  the  city  of  dreams.  some  people  say  they  are SELF-SACRIFICING,  but  i  think  they  are  LOYAL.

tw . death, abuse, sexual assault, assault, suicide, mentions of hanging, sexual content, mentions of drinking/drugs, and toxic relationships.

No you didn’t, Isiah stops himself from saying. No one looks Isiah in the face and argues with his security assessments – least of all Archibald Maycroft. Isiah stays quiet. He lets Archie tell him the things he already said he didn’t care about; lets Archie flag down the waitress; lets Archie trap him, since Archie wants so desperately to make bad decisions. Isiah nods, but that’s all he shows as he sits back down.

Leave it to an amateur to turn a quick drop into a little meeting between friends. Isiah can play the part, no problem, but every second is a new, compounded risk for the both of them.

“You know damn well that I’m not running,” Isiah finally says, smiling for the benefit of April, in case she looked back over at them. “But if you want to make this a mess, let’s go ahead. You have ten minutes. Thrill me.”

-

“And you know damn well Reginald taught us both. Think of the bigger picture.”

Sure he wasn’t as naturally meticulous as Isiah but this? Pretending to be something he wasn’t and wearing a smile? It was laughable looking at the other man and seeing how frustrated and upset he was at Archie’s selfish insistence. “Thrill you? I doubt I could.” Laughing a bit, he sets his coffee aside. “Makes more sense for friends to meet up than part ways after, what, years of silence. Sure it’s less convenient but you never did like small talk.”

Isiah probably thinks he’s an amateur, self-destructive, making one bad decision after another. He’d heard it before back when they were younger, when Isiah would hiss those words at him and he’d shrug them off.

“Officer Krantz walks into a diner,” he starts, toying with his mug, “there’s a felon in a corner, a murderer at the bar, and a politician in the corner. But all he sees are Jack and John and Senator James.” Archie smiles, flicking a small packet of sugar at the other man’s hands. It’s an old riddle from their youth, one he’d said once to Isiah laying side by side in the gazebo of his grandmother’s garden staring up at the stars she painted beneath the roof.

Rain hammers the windows of the Griddle, keeping time as Isiah makes his way to Archie’s booth. The weather’s as sideways as his stomach feels. God, Archie looks the same.

No he doesn’t, comes a more reasonable voice. He’s older. You’re older. That time is gone now.

Isiah masters himself, swallows the nostalgia down as he takes his seat. Like Archie, he’s dressed as plain as he can stand to be. Tennis shoes; jogging pants; a Duke sweater. Isiah Montgomery has never even set foot in Durham, North Carolina.

“I’m surprised you even agreed to come,” he admits. That’s about as much space as he dares leave for pleasantries. Better to spare them both.

“You’ve been seen around town with some young thing,” he goes on. “I don’t know his name; I don’t really care, either. I just thought you should know that I’m hearing about it, and I’m not even tracking you.”

He reaches into the pouch of his sweater and slides a silver USB drive across the table. “This is everything I found – and buried. Rotate your entire team. Assume you have a leak.”

Isiah leans back, picks up his cane with one hand, passes it to the other. He knows better than to expect a thank-you; he’s crossed too many boundaries even scrubbing Archie’s tracks.

“That’s all.” he starts to stand “Stay alive, Archie.”

-

It takes effort to bite his tongue and swallow down age old accusations. Sometimes it always rolls back to why? And knowing there will never be an answer. Isiah looks better than him but then again one of them hasn’t been throwing punches in the rain and snarling like some feral creature in the face of some half-alive guy that had the unfortunate luck of squaring up for money.

Bruised and bloodied fingers tap restless on the table. It’s one of the few tells he’s yet to hide away even now when there’s more on his mind, words he’s not willing to say. Isiah fills the space easy enough looking like some tired alumni and reminding him to stop being so reckless.

In and out, quick and efficient. Isiah was always meticulous.

“I had it handled.”

Blue eyes are still fixed upon the menu, the USB untouched. Still he taps lightly against the table, knowing better than to look Isiah in the eye. Sure it was risky meeting like this but no one paid mind to the guy that looked homeless. “His name is Lukas, he’s a model or something. I didn’t ask I only needed to be seen.”

Now he looks, starting at familiar hands and dancing up to meet those eyes.

Why are you still trying so hard to protect me?

Archie motions back to the booth and leans back, flagging down April and gesturing to Isiah and himself. It’s just a few moments later and there’s two cups of coffee set down. “We’ll need a minute,” he manages with a smile and watches her go before taking a sip of his coffee.

It’s late on a Wednesday night which never boded well for the night.

But Mel’s Diner was closed for renovations and the Golden Griddle was an apt substitute at two in the morning. It was quiet and unassuming and no one looked twice at him when he waltzed in dressed looking like he crawled out of some back alley next to the feral cats and garbage piled high. It’s a Wednesday sure, but Archie is nothing if not consistent with his schedule sometimes and the bruises on his knuckles mean he’s still high off the rush of a fight he shouldn’t have been in to begin with.

Pulling the hood on his sweater up a little higher, there’s a brief glance cast around. Already he misses Mel’s and the comfort of familiarity and the booth at the back where his back is pressed to a wall and he can watch the rest of the room. When the waitress circles around, he glances up and skims her nametag - April - before looking thoughtfully down at the menu.

“So what can I getcha doll?”

Already he hates it here.

“Just coffee and water for now,” he says, flipping the menu over and skimming it quietly. “I’ll need a minute.” April gives a nod and Archie watches her leave with a pop of gum and a sway of her hips. It’s enough to distract him from realizing the thick vinyl is squeaking and the bench across from him is filled by company he hadn’t expected. A muscled jumps in his jaw and he gives them a careful once over.

Tugging his hood back there’s a fleeting smile for the sake of manners.