Unspoken Doesn't Mean Unheard

[hungercity_hellhound]

Tom woke up and immediately knew something was up when he heard Martyn and Robert talking in hushed tones about a huge argument. His mind rolling through the usual suspects for shuffles and arguments but he wasn't prepared for the identity of the people in this argument. But he's glad Martyn had the sense to send Damien across the lot to relieve Lex and Gunnar who were watching over one of the equipment semi-trucks. They didn't give him much details about it other than it took Minoru intervening to stop it from going even farther south than it had. Tom made a mental note to thank Minoru while he walked across the lot.

Seeing Damien perched, squatting on the top of the truck like a predator protecting an invaded territory was enough to tell Tom that something was dangerously wrong.

"Damien."

Those golden eyes were unnerving when they were angry. There was more than anger in that expression though, there was panic or worry. It was hard to say since Damien was so hard to read when he was working. At least there wasn't any bloodshed. There could have been with how agitated Damien was lately. Davy got attacked on his watch and the Dog had no sympathy or forgiveness for himself. Though, Tom understood why Damien blamed himself.

"Can you come down here?" Tom called up.

The Dog stood and disappeared out of sight on the top of the rig. He had no desire to climb the ladder after the Dog. It might even be dangerous at this point since the Brit had no idea what was going on. Eventually, Damien reappeared and jumped down, agile as a cat when he landed. Those golden eyes still got to Tom sometimes, gave him chills but then, he had dealt with Antheans that didn't like humans. That left a mark on him.

"What is going on with Dee?" Tom asked. He knew better than to draw things out. Damien would know something was up and get worse than he already was. The pacing like a caged animal while standing in an open lot was enough.

"Damien?" Tom was trying to be gentle but had to push.

The Dog spun around with enough energy that Tom took a step back. "I tried to help him and he told me to stop acting like I work for the Ministry." Damien might admit that the sentence never finished but he knew it would have if Minoru wasn't there

Tom felt those words like a sucker punch to the chest. All he could do was stare at the bus he came from. This was bad. A fist fight would have been better. Sure, that would have been a hospital visit but easier to fix than this. This was going to take a lot of work given that Damien was already climbing back up on to the truck trailer. Tom sighed, knowing that he was going to have to climb up there and meet the Dog in his comfort zone. There was no other way to get through to him now. Those words, whether Dee knew it or not, were like a knife to the back.. Caesar style assassination that was never seen until it was too late. Tom was going to have to be the mediator, or someone was. This wasn't going to heal on its own.

Tom climbed up and watched the taller blonde pace so intensely around the edges that Tom could feel the trailer rocking slightly.

"He doesn't know what that means to you. It's a fantasy to him." Tom tried to reason.

As Damien turned he knew that was the wrong choice. "No, he doesn't because you never told him and you told us to keep our mouths shut because he wasn't ready to know."

Tom swallowed hard because Damien was right. He was partially at fault for this, at least his decisions were.

"You can't push Dee like you do the others." Tom knew he had a lot to fix himself before this rift could be addressed.

"Someone needs to." Damien spat the words out but kept his distance which was a small relief.

"It's not life and death like you're used to."

"It isn't?" Damien was winding up. Tom could feel it in his words and posture. "Would you be the one telling Jay if it was Dee that got torn apart instead of the chair? Or would you just saddle someone else with hat too?"

Tom felt his eyes widen and while he knew Damien was speaking honestly his tongue was like Razor wire. The Dog was out for blood and Tom was the convenient fool right now. Better him than someone else probably.

"You think..."

Tom never finished that sentence because the Dog was coming across the trailer fast. "I know because you told us not to tell Sven about the stalker either. Then who was it that did when it happened again? Martyn. Not you."

Tom stayed silent because he couldn't argue with what was being said and Damien's hackles were all up. At least the Dog was venting steam and it was good to know what he was thinking even if the delivery was less than ideal. He trusted Damien's instincts and expertise even when he got trigger happy or temperamental. Both were rare these days, rarer still now that Zack was in on Damien's 'health concerns'.

Damien stopped and shoved his hair back. "We can't afford to let these stubborn asses refuse what they need any more. People are literally being hurt."

There it was and Tom knew it. All this agitation was the guard dog, the Hellhound. It didn't belong here. That mindset was for a different universe but maybe it needed to be. "I know but you can't....."

He was going to say force them but that word he knew would set Damien off. "... expect them to take you seriously when you aren't being courteous."

Damien scowled "and he was courteous?"

"No, but you can't control him. You can control yourself." Tom's voice was firm but sympathetic. He was probably going to have to have a very difficult and serious conversation before long. "Give me time though. Dee doesn't have the training you do to snap back from a crisis like you do ."

"None if you have training like me." Damien's calm could be good or bad. It was hard to tell. "And you made it my job to make sure none of you ever would."

Tom watched Damien disappear over the side of the trailer. He let him go and turned around to sit on the top of the trailer while staring at the bus. Dee deserved to know what was going on and Tom knew he couldn't ask anyone else. He would have to do this himself.