We Are Bulletproof

"Hospital, clinic, that's what I meant," he said. Whichever. Actually, that was what he meant, the clinic. As far as he knew there wasn't any hospital located in the small town; they had to go to Portland for one of those. Small towns. Inconvenient. He hadn't yet told Tony that his family decided they wanted to come to see him here and he wished fervently that he never told them about where he was. Some small town on work? Why couldn't they just stay home?

Kaleo let out a sigh as he heard the man say home. Yeah, he got it. He got it, really. After Tony checked the wound again, Kaleo took care to lift the man gently and followed Tony, who seemed to have gotten in contact with a friend that could direct them to the man's home.

As they approached a rather rundown looking apartment building, he saw a man waving madly from the third floor, hanging so far out of the screen less window that he looked like he was seconds from tumbling head over heels straight onto hard concrete.

"Hey!" Kaleo barked gruffly at the man. "Get inside before you kill yourself!"

"Looks pretty bad," Kaleo admitted, as he turned the man over so that Tony could get a better look at him. Honestly, he looked a step away from death, with ashen skin--a sure sign he'd bled out quite a bit. On top of that, it looked like he had recently been in a hospital; there was the forming bruise on the arm where a line had been inserted, probably to give blood and medicine. Why would a man leave the hospital in this shape?

Kaleo checked for ID and found it. The guy's name was in his wallet, along with some other usual essential items. There was a phone, too, which he handed over to Tony.

"Looks like his name is Kenneth Branagh. Branagh?" He tried the name out a couple times. People rarely got HIS name right first try either. Either first or last, which amused him, having grown up with it. Kenneth here might be the same. He might be the kind who got annoyed, though. Hard to tell, with a man whose face was only contorted in pain before he passed out.

"Think we should return him to the hospital. Looks like that's where he came from."

It was within walking distance, too.

Snoop. Snoop. Snoop.

Actually, he liked investigate better but he felt more like a snoop, wandering around this part of town. It was an awfully... quiet part of an already quiet little town. At least, after that debacle with the vampires, yeah. That was. Yeah. Kaleo raised a brow as he caught a whiff of blood on the breeze. The air was cool, a growing breeze in the air, clouds in the night sky. He knew a fight when he smelt one though. Or... he thought it was one when he looked up and saw the half-dead man shambling down the street.

Kaleo quickly took in his surroundings. Nobody currently after the guy but that could change in a matter of seconds. Not bothering to waste another moment, Kaleo jogged across the street toward the guy and caught him by the back in case he fell back.

"Hey, there. Looks like you could use a hand."

"Ah, yeah. She." He rolled his eyes slightly, thinking of the insufferable man he'd been paired off with. Although resistant at first, Kaleo took it in stride, as he did most things. Might as roll with it and have some fun at his partner's expense. The problem was that... well, it was true. His wife didn't know and she already seemed worried that Kaleo was distancing himself from herself and the family as a whole. Kaleo ran a thumb over an eyelid and let out a small groan.

"No, mom doesn't know."

(EDIT: Closing this but let me know if you guys want to start a new thread taking place right after this.)

In the heat of the car, Kaleo sat down and thrummed his fingers against the steering wheel. Aleka looked like he was ready to hide from the entire world and like this was the last place he wanted to be. Yet this was where he had run to when he wanted to get away from his mother. One or both of them always seemed to come up a villain in Aleka's eyes.

Kaleo sighed and stopped drumming his fingers to the tune of an old 80s song.

"It's not as bad as you're thinking, Aleka. It's just a thing for my job, that's all. I'm telling you, I still very much love your mother and nothing's changing that."

"Aleka!"

Aleka was weaving and winding his way through the crowds of people to get away from him. Even with people giving him a wide berth on account of his size and booming voice as he called out his son's name, there were a lot of people staring and in the way. Kaleo took care not to shove or trip anyone but he was still quick.

He grasped Aleka by the arm before he could wriggle his way free again.

"Where the hell do you think you're going? Your mother's the one who told me to look after you. Especially with you pulling the kind of crap you did."

"I'm who I've always been."

Kaleo raised a brow at his son. Nothing about him actually changed. It was just that Aleka didn't know what Kaleo really did for a living. That was the whole point of working incognito. Now his wife and kid were in town--that made things pretty damn tricky. And he couldn't exactly tell Aleka to stop calling him 'Dad' or that would spark even more anger.

How did he calm Aleka down at this age? It wasn't the same as when he'd been just an infant, when all he had to do was cradle him and dance around, singing silly songs and making faces at him. It wasn't as easy as tickling him or blowing raspberries on his belly. Babies were so easy to take care of. It was when they grew older, into thinking adults, that things got real hard.

"Aleka, seriously. I'm the same old Dad I've always been, all right? You'll see when I can tell you everything." He tried to put as much meaning into his tone and his expression as possible but it didn't seem like Aleka was catching it at all. He was too wrapped up in his own kid angst that he couldn't see beyond it.

Kaleo didn't take it personally that Aleka didn't want to hug him back. Poor kid was learning an awful lot right now and he probably had no idea how to process it. Kaleo just hoped it didn't mean he was going to do something stupid while at the same time knowing damn well that he would. That was how kids learned how to work things out and become adults. It was rocky but... Kaleo had faith that Aleka would eventually understand.

"Mom's coming soon," Kaleo said, not altogether excited about having to tell her everything that was happening, either. He finally let go of Aleka and watched him take out his phone.

"You might want to save some of it for when she's actually here. She might not like what she's going to hear, either."

"...They're in Hazleton," he said reluctantly, not wanting to tell his son the worst part of the job. He swore, his boss did these things to him on purpose. She could be a real bitch and she was probably eating this shit up.

"And wait a damn minute," Kaleo said, immediately moving forward and grabbing his son's arm and pulling him into a fierce bear's hug. "Don't you dare question my love for you. I love you, kaʻu wahi keiki." He moved back so he could look him in the eyes. "That will never be in question."

And it was true; Aleka could kill somebody and Kaleo would still love him. Nothing changed a man's love for his son, not in Kaleo's eyes.

(*My child)

"I remarried." He put up a hand peaceably. "But listen, there's more to it than you know. I promise I love your mother more than anything else in the world. But this had to be done."

He knew it wouldn't make any sense to Aleka and he didn't blame the kid for being pissed. Honestly, some part of Kaleo was proud of him being pissed. He loved his mother way too much to let his "deadbeat" dad run off and cheat on his mother. Things would be hella easier if he could just explain everything but it was too dangerous right now. All he had to do was get this job over with as quickly as possible, get his family away from the chaos, and then... they could know everything.

"Well, you see... I got remarried," he said. "Which I tried to tell you back there, but you didn't want to hear about it."

As far as Aleka was concerned, the lie was the truth from now on. At least, until Kaleo's work was done here in Hazleton. If even his son believed the lie, nobody could use the truth against him. The conversation with his wife, though... Kaleo's heart shrank at the thought of it. She obviously already thought something was up but to "confirm" it was the worst thing she wanted to hear...

Kaleo ran a hand over his own face and sighed.

"I was going to wait to tell you but since you want the truth, there it is." Except it wasn't. Ah, the work of an undercover investigator...

Kaleo raised his brow. He hadn't heard Aleka's phone ring or buzz but okay. He played along with the ruse patiently while his son spoke in a one-sided conversation with his mother. At least, up until the past where he claimed to have lost the call and he hung up. Kaleo smirked as the little brat abruptly got up, leading their adventure to find Mom amongst the waves of people in the airport.

"I know that wasn't her, by the way," Kaleo said after a moment of walking, tone oh-so-casual. "Where do you think you're going now? You ran here to see me, didn't you? So what did you want?" He reached out and grasped the top of his son's head. "You miss Daddy after all this time?"

"Yep, really. You're my baby son, my makamae keiki." Kaleo reached out and he gave his "precious son's" cheek a none-too-gentle squeeze like an auntie might give. Then he reached out to do it to the other side, too.

"Look at that big smile. Now that's the son I wanted to greet me!"

Not the surly one that thought he was too big for his breeches. Kaleo was aware that growing up was a thing and in reality, he wasn't one to stand in the way of that. At the same time, he wanted his son to know that he was loved--no matter what--and even this latest escapade hadn't changed that.

"But Aleka, there's something I need you to know while you're here." His expression morphed into something more stern and serious, his gaze locked on Aleka's.

(Are we waiting for Mom?)

"She is," Kaleo said in a measured tone. Which wasn't ideal either, but talking that woman out of anything was damn near impossible when she took it in her head to do something. Plus, Kaleo got the feeling she suspected something. (He was pretty sure she thought he was cheating on her but look, it wasn't anything like that. And that was exactly how he ended up assigned to a man, which was... well, it'd be a surprise for sure but he didn't think she'd ever believe that his heart had ever gone to the Other Side.)

"And you are still a kid," Kaleo said, skipping over the lying part. "Besides, you think that's ever gonna change? I'll be treating you like you're in diapers when you're 40, son."