RP:The Most Dangerous Kind of Bad Dog

From HollowWiki

Part of the Through A Glass, Darkly Arc

Summary: During a busy morning at the Landon household, the Pendulis Guard shows up unexpectedly to arrest... Alvina. She's been charged with reckless endangerment for unlawfully biting and spreading lycanthropy.

The Landon Estate

The Landon household had a strict routine. Marge arrived early to help with breakfast while Alvina pulled Luna and Harper out of bed. Almost immediately, Bryce would start complaining with frantic grunts until she scooped him up. She’d run into Hudson in the hall, usually, and he’d add fatherly commentary to one or all of the children Alvina had in tow on his way to the kitchen. This morning, though, Alvina’s having a particularly rough go of things so Hudson’s assisting. “Harper, don’t.” Alvina snatches a dirty sock that she’s trying to feed Bryce. “Luna, get your shoes on.” She shoots Hudson a frustrated eye roll. Kids. It’s probably the pregnancy hormones more than anything else. “Girls, your backpacks.” Luna and Harper grab their things and bolt to their chairs for a fast breakfast. They are running late. “Thanks Marge, you’re a lifesaver.” Marge takes Bryce with a gracious smile while the girls squabble. The smell of bacon makes Alvina’s stomach turn. Hudson’s coffee steams lazily on the bar, waiting for him. Alvina pours herself orange juice while a piece of toast dangles out of her mouth. In the midst of the morning hustle, there’s a knock at the front door. Alvina sets the orange juice down, heading to the door, bare feet padding on the hardwood while Harper tries to bet Luna that she can eat more bacon than her sister. “Girls!” Alvina calls back over her shoulder from the foyer before the second, more forceful knock echoes through the house.


Mornings are chaos. It helps that Hudson doesn't have a set time that he has to be out the door. He likes having breakfast with the kids, but sometimes it's necessary to do more than just leisurely preside over the eating of cereal. Today is one of those days. He'd been dispatched to find the girls' coats from another part of the house, since apparently they weren't hanging in the foyer like they were supposed to be. He returns, taking up his coffee, to find his wife in an increasingly irritable mood and his favorite (shhh) child playing a stupid prank on her brother. "Hey, cut it out," he tells Harper, in dad-voice, at the same time reaching for Luna's rejected cereal bowl so he can use some of the sweet milk for his coffee. #DadHacks. So, cereal couldn't cut it today? Gods bless Marge for making bacon for these difficult children. Alvina's patience is really fraying, he can tell, she has less of it these days. Everyone's been acting out because of the pregnancy is their theory. No matter how many times you tell your children that you love them, of course you aren't replacing them, they ... feel the way they're going to feel. There will be growing pains. Just another thing Alvina has to deal with while she's baking the oops baby and feeling sick and having swollen feet, etc. etc. There are many gripes. Maybe if he zoomed out a little bit he'd realize the incredible feat of how one's reality adjusts post-children to accommodate an infinite number of gripes. Forget about having an orderly life, or fixating on one inconvenience, your whole world becomes rocked with inconveniences. He is pretty sure he just stepped on a fruit loop. Ugh. Someone's knocking at the door, and Hudson's assumption is that it's the Easts' nanny and South, who sometimes walks with the girls to school. "Babe, I got it," he intercepts Alvina, who is still wearing a bathrobe. He's at least got on what passes for work clothes in his life. (Track pants, polo, ...)


Alvina is still standing with him when Hudson opens the door. To their surprise, it's the Pendulis guard.


"Good morning," says Hudson genially, appraising their number. About five. He pays the guard off as part of his 'business' and assumes that something's gone wrong in the neighborhood. "How can we help you?" Organized crime boss he may be, he's still a law abiding citizen in many respects.


"MOooooooOM!" shrieks Luna from the kitchen. "Bryce dropped bacon on the carpet, and there's GREASE everywhere!"


"You wanna go sort that out?" Hudson, with a jerk of his head, addresses Alvina. "I got it."


The man standing at the front of the pack is pale-faced. "Sir, we're sorry to do this," he speaks quickly, as Alvina begins to turn away, "but we're going to need to take Mrs. Landon into custody."


Alvina pulls the toast out of her mouth and tightens her robe when she hears a voice that is -not- the Easts nanny here to accompany the Landon party to school. Hudson’s got this. She recognizes his ‘boss’ voice and considers the matter solved. Luna’s scream is met with a frustrated grunt. A trail of toast crumbs follow her into the kitchen to glare at Luna and Harper who, in the direct path of mom’s angry face, don’t make a peep. “I’m so sorry Marge, let me-.” Bryce’s wailing, startled by the clatter and Luna’s shouting. He must have grabbed the pot handle. Bouncing him out of Marge’s arms, their nanny goes about cleaning up the mess while Alvina pats Bryce’s back amid a chorus of “sshhhh”s. Harper and Luna are exchanging dramatic faces in silence, trying to see who will laugh first and rekindle mom’s wrath. “Girls.” She hisses in a Tone that suggests it’s serious.Peaking around the corner at Hudson, still in the doorway, she sighs in loud frustration. “We’ve got to go-” she tells the Kitchen, hoping it’ll give Hudson an excuse to come back in and HELP HER. Marge finishes cleaning and returns to take ownership of Bryce once more. “Where is your backpack, Harper? Hudson-” she calls again, “was her backpack with her coat? You’re in trouble if you don’t find it right now, Miss.”


Hudson can't properly hear the guards' request, not with the yelling from behind him in the house. Alvina hasn't even stuck around to hear what was said. "What's that?" he asks the guards, stepping outside to pull the door partially closed behind him. It has the effect of dampening the noise helpfully. "There," he pronounces the situation, "sorry about that. It's one of those mornings," he apologizes to them.


The lead guard is rubbing his hands together out of nervousness. "Mr. Landon, we have to arrest your wife."


Hudson stares at the man, unblinking, as this statement fails to penetrate his awareness. It takes a second. He points at himself. "You mean... my wife? You mean Alvina?" he asks, in an uncertain tone.


"Yes, Mr. Landon."


Hudson can hear Alvina calling for him from inside. He feels himself become intolerably warm, and hears himself ask, "I'm sorry, what is this about?" Except he knows what it's about, and though lying comes easily to him normally, he's been caught off guard, and suddenly the words are sticking like cotton in his mouth. Before they can answer, he adds, brusquely, "Can you just .. come back later? We can sort this out then, we're .. we're really busy right now."


"Sir, I know," the guard swallows the words, glancing uncertainly to his entourage. He looks uncomfortable with proceeding too. "I'm under instructions to take her -- she's being charged --"


The smell of the other man's fear is enough to snap things back into the natural order. Hudson finds his footing and becomes himself again. His face has become mean, and he takes the step that carries him into the other man's space. "My kids are going to school right now," he says with certain menace, baring his teeth. "This is a bad time. Give us thirty minutes to get them out the door."


"Sir, please step away from him or I'm going to have to use force," advises another one of the guard members, training a silver-tipped bolt at him. She's not the only one with her crossbow out.


Hudson takes the step back. "Sure thing, officer... Forrest," he reads her name from her badge. His gaze cuts to the presiding officer's badge, and the man shifts impatiently.


"Sir, stop--"


"What, learning your names?" asks Hudson in a nasty manner. "Is that a crime? What are you worried about, I'm not doing anything, I'm just asking you nicely, officer Daniels, not to arrest my wife in front of my children. Do you have a family? I'm sure you can _relate_--"


"Don't make this worse for everyone. Call your wife," says the guard, the words having the serrated edge of authority. "You want to resist arrest?"


Hudson says nothing, every ounce of his being is occupied in suppressing the wolf's urge to rip the man's throat out. The crossbows stay trained on him.


"You said it, your kids are going to school," states the woman guard who had spoken previously. "Call your wife, Mr. Landon. Don't make this bad."


Hudson replies with an unkinder version of screw you. He carefully opens the door further, just slightly. "Alvina!" he calls inside. "Can you leave Marge in charge for a second and come out, just you?"


Alvina is balancing Bryce and directing Harper when Hudson calls out to her. Without thinking, she hikes Bryce up on her hip and moves towards the door. She is thinking there will be a discussion he doesn’t want the girls to hear. Mob related gore or drugs. Instructions to follow. Bryce surely can’t comprehend a bad conversation anyway, he’s only one! That’s false, honestly, but Alvina doesn’t know any better. “Marge, will you help her?” She gestures after Harper. “Luna, stay here.” Luna, not wanting to be left alone in the kitchen, does not stay there. She follows after Alvina, who opens the door to find the guard’s men with their cross bows trained on Hudson. Wide-eyed, she frantically slams the door and trips over Luna on her way back to the kitchen. Luna starts to cry. Alvina’s bare feet slip around on the hardwood. “Marge!” She screams in a panic, pulling Luna up (there’s no time to comfort her) and dragging her down the hallway.


They should have built that escape tunnel Hudson talked about. To hide the kids in or get them out. Whatever was happening, the kids needed to be removed immediately. Then she could help Hudson. In her mind, she was not the one in trouble. The jig is up, their number is finally being called. He’d probably bargained for a chance to let Alvina know what was happening, to get the kids away from the kitchen so they didn’t hear or see the violence. And that’s what she planned to do. Alvina shoves Bryce into Marge’s hands when the nanny comes back down the hallway. “Get them out of here -now-.” She hisses, letting go of Luna’s wrist. Luna is still howling when Harper reappears in the hallway with her backpack. She looks confused, scared. “Stay with Marge!” Alvina screams but neither the children nor their nanny make any move to escape. They are all frozen in place. “GO!” Alvina screams again, adjusting her robe and straining her ears in deafening silence to listen to what’s happening outside while hot, prickling waves eat at her skin from the inside out.


Alvina's appearance and disappearance happens very quickly. Hudson doesn't have a chance to say anything to her, but he does hold up a hand at the guards asking them for a minute before they try to SWAT team style break down the door after her. All weapons remain trained on him. Alvina's screaming inside is audible, though muffled. "She's going to come back," says Hudson, talking slowly, in an effort to seem less like an immediate threat.


"Sir, if she doesn't come back right now, we have orders to go inside the home and get her."


"You can't do that," says Hudson, taking a breath. His skin is on fire. The Wolf roils angrily within him. That helps nothing, thinks Hudson, who exhales sharply. Why Alvina hasn't come out like he asked her to is beyond frustrating, but he feels his heart scupper to think of the possibility that she believes in him so much she thinks this is something he can make go away. If only he were the superhero his wife believes him to be right now. This isn't supposed to be happening, but it is.


"Cuff him while we do it," says Daniels. Two of the men step forward to comply.


Hudson holds out his wrists. "I'm not an idiot," he says, his breath hissing through his teeth as the silver manacles connect with his skin. The Wolf thrashes in pain inside of him. The sensation knocks the wind out of him, Hudson staggers and leans against the doorway. "Please, only one of you go. The woman. Ask her very quietly to talk outside, don't make it a thing. I know someone above your pay grade is telling you to do this, but you can do me this favor."


"Save the bribery attempt, we're not dirty," says the woman, Forrest, untraining her crossbow and putting it back in its holster. "I have kids too. I got it," she tells Daniels, and with that opens the door to head inside.


Alvina isn't far, the whole family is huddled, as if sheltering from the blast of a bomb, inside the first hallway.


"Good morning everyone," the guard addresses them. "Can I get Mrs. Landon outside with us?"


Alvina’s ears beat like a drum. She can’t hear what they’re saying outside. There’s only ‘flight’ scraping through her veins. Little Miss doesn’t want to run, Alvina’s the one making that choice for them. Luna has since stopped crying. Harper’s moved up beside Marge while they all stare at their mother (or employer in Marge’s case). Alvina can feel the panic of their children through their bond. She can feel her husband’s rage, it’s the most fiercely present sensation. The clink of metal preludes a woman guard appearing in their foyer, feigning politeness and options. A choice to come outside. Alvina feels, now, she does not have the liberty of choice. Harper, being the most fierce of their children, drops her backpack in the hall and shuffles forward to take Alvina’s hand. “No.” She tells the guard, hesitantly. Alvina’s throat is swollen with emotion. Her love for her children, especially in this moment, is boundless and blinding. Alvina squeezes Harper’s hand with reassurance. “It’s okay, Monkey.” A pet name mostly retired. “I’ll be right back. Marge is going to take you to school. You’re already running late. Go help her with your brother.” Luna, squeezing the hem of Marge’s dress, calls out to Harper with stuttering authority. “We have to go to school.” She repeats her mother’s direction like it’s a spell. A charm to ward off any bad thing from happening. If they are good, and go to school like their mother asked, everything would be all right. Harper gives the guard a look of uncertainty before reluctantly letting go of Alvina’s hand.


Alvina tightens her robe again, arms crossed and guarded while this woman (her name tag reads Forrest?) leads her outside. Before the front door can close, Alvina catches sight of Hudson in handcuffs. Her hand rushes to cover her mouth, dampening a scream of surprise. He’s only a step away from her so she rushes to his side through the fog of nervous guards. Forrest has her hand on Alvina’s upper arm, her face softened but not warm. Her grip is firmly present but not overbearing. “Hudson?” Alvina’s eyes stutter across his face. He’s being arrested, gods no, he can’t be. It’s her nightmare. He’ll make her distance herself from him for the children. He’ll become a stranger in prison. He’ll push her away to save her. All the things they’d fought about before if Uma was ever called into question for her ties with Hudson. She isn’t looking at any of the guards, who still have their crossbow sights on them both. “No no no no no…” He looks every bit like a kicked dog. Angry but uncertain. Powerless and in pain. “Please let him go…” She turns to Forrest, face hot with tears. “Please, he didn’t do anything. He’s my husband, we have a family.” As if being a parent excused any wrongdoing in the world.


The silver's excruciating. Hudson's gritting his teeth through the pain by the time officer Forrest surfaces with Alvina, who runs to him. She is in tears, pleading for clemency, and clearly mistaking the circumstances. "No, Alvina," he exhales, as two of the guards close in on her. "Just let them."


Officer Forrest looks apologetic. "He didn't want us to cuff you in front of the kids."


"You don't need to cuff her!" barks Hudson. "She'll go if you ask her!"


"--Alvina Landon, you're being charged with reckless endangerment for unlawfully biting and spreading lycanthropy," continues officer Forrest. The two officers that approached Alvina waste little time in applying the silver manacles to her wrists, immobilizing her in case she felt like resisting. "I'm sorry, Ms. Landon, we do need to cuff you. It's a routine precaution."


Officer Daniels is releasing Hudson, whose face is flushed and sheened in sweat. His wrists are raw, the skin hot to the touch. His hands are trembling from the restraint necessary to keep the Wolf at bay. "It's OK," he tells Alvina. He tries to approach her, but a man blocks the way. Hudson bares his teeth in a snarl. "Dirty trick, arresting her like this," he growls. "Alvina, I'll get you out on bail as soon as I can. Just go with them, don't say anything, I will figure it out. I love you, just go with them, I will figure it out. It's OK."


Alvina doesn’t understand. “You can’t take him-” she pleads until she’s cut off. Cuff her? Are they both being arrested? They don’t need to cuff her, she would go with them. The wolf is tensing it’s muscles, weighing the flight option now that they’re surrounded and Hudson’s bound. She wants to run but Hudson’s influence and the shock of hearing these accusations cripples her reaction time.


Her jaw slacks in shock, head swiveling to meet Hudson’s eyes. “What?” Her face starts to collapse. “Hudson?” She whimpers his name with thick uncertainty right as the handcuffs snap in place. Her knees try to buckle with the hiss of silver against her wrists. Officer Forrest holds her up by the arm, frowning sympathetically. Hudson starts towards Alvina, and for a split second she thinks ‘He will fix this’. If he can just walk over here, it’ll be different. A guard blocks him and she sobs audibly against his reassurance. Don’t talk. Don’t resist. He will figure it out. It’s triggering, being ripped away from her. He’ll rescue her this time though, the way he couldn’t when Desparrow’d kidnapped her years ago. “The baby,” she whispers, voice breaking on trembling lips. What if something happens to her? To it? He says he loves her and it shatters her so completely she can’t reply. She believes that he’ll get her out but she doesn’t not believe that -anything- is okay.


Officer Forrest has empathy for Alvina. "Ma'am, I've got you," she leads the other woman, now weakened by the silver, toward a large carriage parked in the Landons' driveway.


Hudson follows. He wants to console his wife but the guards are positioning themselves to block his access. So instead he's talking to Daniels in particular, who seems in charge. "Look I know you're just following orders, but I'm still going to hold you and your people personally responsible if anything happens--"


One of the other guards puts a hand on Hudson's chest to keep him from following further. They're helping Alvina into the carriage.


"It's OK, I'll come get you as soon as possible," Hudson calls out to her, his breathing labored by his rage as he faces off with the man blocking him from saying goodbye. The guard says nothing, but waits until everyone else has climbed inside the carriage, Daniels at the reigns, to peel away and join them.


Hudson stays in the yard to watch them go.


What happens to a bad dog that bites people because it's stressed? And what's a werewolf that bites people, but a bad dog? A far more dangerous bad dog. The most dangerous kind of bad dog there is.