Today on Fire • •

[Ember Thistle Grant]

Ember didn't do family dinners with her own family and here she was now expected to sit through one with Brandon's. At least five times during the day Ember had been tempted to fake an apologetic phone call and blame work at the office for her cancelling on him and his mother's plans for the night. However, each time she had gone to hit the green call button on her phone she had hesitated, remembering just how much Brandon was putting himself through to be with her when she was still keen to just run away every single time something was asked of her in return. Instead she spent her hours in the office snapping at people and pressing hard for new deals and negotiations. Her job was one of the few legitimate things she was good at, and with the way things had panned out recently it was looking more and more like she would be necessary to the continuation of the Grant business. Andrew seemed to be long gone and Ember was picking up his pieces and throwing them back out with a sharper, deadlier approach. She wasn't one to play a game of back and forth over deals and bargains. She was firm, wasted no time and played her cards well without costing the company too much money.

However, none of that would help her tonight. And she doubted any of her other talents would go over well during dinner either. The tall blonde was already expecting her ex-cop boyfriend to frisk her before taking her to his family home. He knew there was usually the gun and the necessary permit hidden on Ember at all times, had seen her flaunt her shooting accuracy more than a few times at the range, but she didn't think he'd let her sit around a table with it tucked into her purse like the safety blanket it was for the New York fireball. She refused to let herself think about it as she finished off the paperwork and handed it to the assistant who sat obediently at a small desk outside Ember's large office. Two minutes after that and she was out of her business woman attire and keying in the code to the garage wearing her bike leathers and balancing her helmet over her arm until she got near the out of place vehicle that was hers.

It didn't take her long to get home and then take Xander and Leon out for their walks. With the boys back and settled on her king sized bed, Ember grabbed a shower, sent Brandon a text to see if there was any final way she could worm out of the night, and then grabbed an outfit from her wardrobe. She wanted to make a semi-good impression for her boyfriend's sake, but at the same time didn't really care what the people thought of her. She just knew that she was going to have to hold herself in line and try to keep a lid on her explosive temper. She blew up at the tiniest of things and she didn't know what they might ask or what Brandon had already told them. The only thing that Ember knew for certain was that she wasn't going to change into some well raise Manhattan sweetheart just to please them. She was rough and tumble, swore like a sailor, dressed like a party girl and had landed herself on the opposite side of the law compared to their son. Hearing the usually pre-arrival buzz of Brandon, Ember pushed her feet into a pair of shoes and clipped in her earring before she heard the turn of the key in the lock and the usual, protective growl from her dogs until they realised who was at the door. Emerging sooner rather than later, Ember sighed and looked up at Brandon. “I'm ready so let's go and let's get back. I have a bottle of vodka just screaming to be opened.” She remarked, moving immediately to the front door of her penthouse apartment. Ember really just wanted to get through this and then forget about it.

• • •

TAGGED! Brandon! <3
WORDS! 691!
OUTFIT! Strong Sweetie!
LYRICS! What it is to Burn - - - Finch
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Deleted]

THERE'S NO WAY TO FIGHT THIS
LOVE WILL HAVE ITS SACRIFICES

Brandon was expecting to hear from Ember and her bottomless barrel of excuses, so he was surprised when he found no messages or missed calls when he had finally finished his workout at the gym. These days he exercised and sparred with Ember, but since she was supposed to be taking it easy with her life, he had slacked slightly compared to his usual intensity, not wanting the blonde gunslinger to interpret it as some kind of competition. So, on the days when he knew Ember would be at the office in Rockefeller and not skipping classes on campus, he returned to the old gym and pushed himself until his muscles hurt. Today was one of those days, but he had expected to come out to a slurry of text messages and missed calls from his unpredictable girlfriend. He thought he had seen everything from her, could call her surprises a mile away, but the blank screen told him otherwise. Ember was still full of surprises and Brandon ought to have known that.

That still didn't stop him checking his phone every fifteen minutes or so, right up until the time he was supposed to be picking her up. He was waiting until the last second to hear the chime of a message that would tell him she was stuck at the office, or she was running errands for her dad. Brandon had yet to meet the man, but Ember constantly told him that he wasn't missing much. It seemed to him that the tall blonde still acted like some rebellious teenager around her father just because she wasn't all that good at accepting families or letting people in. Andrew's sudden disappearance had really shot Ember's trust in people and Brandon felt like it had made it harder for him to embark on a relationship with her. She might act like she didn't care, but Brandon knew that not caring was usually just Ember's go-to defence mechanism to stop people spying her vulnerabilities.

Still, Brandon kept quiet. He knew when not to push Ember's buttons; which was most of the time. He made the drive over to Ember's building and parked up in the assigned spot next to her flashy looking bike. He never felt happy that she raced around the city on that, but then Ember wasn't happy with him “invading” her nights out by working at her favourite night club. They were just things that the other couldn't and wouldn't change. Upstairs he greeted his typically reluctant girlfriend with a kiss and then glanced at the clock. “There's time for a drink now, if you want one.” He assured her with a small smile. Brandon might have given up his own taste for alcohol, but he knew Ember was not about to do the same. He was just glad that she wasn't going out and getting wrecked every night anymore. It helped him sleep easier, although it was easier still if the blonde was by his side.

Word count of 500
Written for Ember
Listening to She's Got A Way by Billy Joel

[Ember Thistle Grant]

Ember knew she was difficult. It wasn't something she woke up every morning trying to be; it just happened. She hadn't been raised with a family or with love. Her entire childhood was sneaking around vodka bottles and prescription slips, while her mom was passed out in a corner. It was no wonder that she had taken to the streets or that Brandon had bundled her into the back of a squad car on more than one occasion. She might have lived a significantly better life now, but she was still that girl. She would still throw the first punch without waiting for a reason, get into trouble just because she could, and there was nothing in the whole world who could fix the damage that had been caused by her past. It wasn't just her mother. Her dad had ignored her until she was a teenager and even then there had always been a distance between the two. Her step-mother barely spoke a word to Ember, even when they lived under the same roof. She had only ever had Andrew and Robert and then both of them had been taken from her life and now she had Brandon. He seemed to have made it his job to piece the shards back together again, but she knew she pricked his finger on a regular basis.

It was why she was so nervous about tonight. She was not the type of girl you took home to meet the family. She was vulgar, feisty and far too hot headed for anyone to hold a conversation with over a homecooked meal. Plus, she knew Brandon came from a close home where love was aplenty. Ember was going to stick out like a sore thumb in that environment. Nerves were getting the better of her and when Brandon mentioned there was time for a drink, she wasted no time in crossing to her bar and lining up a small row of vodka shots. She knocked each of them back and smacked her lips when she was done, the alcohol barely touching her throat. “Well, leave me here much longer and it'll be a club I end up in, not your mother's house.” She remarked with a slight bite to her words. There was so much that could go wrong with tonight and dinner and Ember had already settled on the fact that they would all come true and turn the night into such a nightmare that she would never be invited back there again. She already expected Brandon's family to encourage him to find a decent girl after meeting her.

Ember never spoke a word on the way down to the garage. She only opened her mouth to ask to change the radio to something better, and then again to shout of the window at someone jaywalking across the street. If she spoke a third time she knew it would be to tell Brandon to pull the car over so she could bail on this evening. She put him through so much crap that surely she could make it through one dinner for him; after all she owed him her life. She had died outside of the Marquee and Brandon had been the one to breathe life back into her. A life, for one lousy dinner. She could do it. She could do it. Couldn't she?

• • •

TAGGED! Brandon! <3
WORDS! 6913!
OUTFIT! Strong Sweetie!
LYRICS! What it is to Burn - - - Finch
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Deleted]

THERE'S NO WAY TO FIGHT THIS
LOVE WILL HAVE ITS SACRIFICES

Brandon wanted to provide Ember with everything she hadn't had before. She would always have more money than him and he knew she took care of the material things she desired, so he had to try and be creative in how he showed his affection for the gun slinging blonde. Sometimes she rolled her eyes at his gestures or replied sarcastically to something he said, but those were just a few of the many things he adored about her. Tonight was about maybe offering her a functional family. The Larkins may not have much to their name, but they had each other and a strong, loving bond that Brandon had seen bend but never break. Life with Ember was too unpredictable to plan out the future, but if they were to stay together then he wanted to share his family with her and have them see all the great things he did. He understood her nerves about facing something she had never understood or been used to, but he really did want tonight to go smoothly.

His parents, especially his mom, had asked plenty about Ember. For a while Brandon felt like he was back in high school with his first “real” girlfriend. It was only after doing some math that he realised this would be the first girl he had brought home since high school! His job with the NYPD had taken up so much of his time that when it came to dating there had never been anyone he had grown truly serious about. With Ember things felt so different though. Maybe it was because he had known her for such a long time, even if they had only been acquaintances of a sort. All Brandon was certain about was that the young woman had his heart, whether she wanted it or not. He had come so close to losing her before he had even called her his and now he was determined to hold onto the fiery blonde. “I'm not sure my mom would approve of a first meeting in a club. Especially not with how you behave in there.” He added, raising his eyebrows at Ember. Whenever she was in on the nights he worked, he was certain she put on an act just to catch his attention. It wasn't like she even needed to. In a club full of people it was always Ember who caught his eye first. “You'll be fine; I promise.” He assured her, slipping his hand into hers and giving it a light squeeze.

Ember's silence was unnerving, to say the least. Usually it meant she was in a rotten mood, but tonight he didn't see the frown on her face to support that. Instead of pushing her, he let her have this time to think or forget; whatever it was that Ember needed to do to get through tonight without her nerves getting the better of her. Soon enough he was parking up outside the narrow townhouse that had been his home until he was twenty-one. Now it was where his parents and sister resided, though Brandon was always there for dinner at least once a week. He wrapped his arm around Ember's waist as they moved to the front door and before he could ring the bell it was flung open by his mother who he suspected had been window twitching this whole time. “Brandon! It's about time.” There was something off about his mom today that had Brandon's old detective instincts kicking in for a moment, before he remembered the stunning blonde on his arm. “Mom, this is Ember. Ember, my mom.” If there was something going on to put his mom on edge then Brandon would figure it out before the end of the evening, of that he was sure. Ushered inside he repeated the introduction to his dad while the thumps from upstairs indicated that the youngest Larkin was on her way down.

Word count of 694
Written for Ember
Listening to She's Got A Way by Billy Joel

[Ember Thistle Grant]

While she often said that Brandon understood her way of life and her past, Ember could help but think of him and being more of an observer back then. Brandon might not have boasted much, but he could boast a loving family which was more than Ember had ever had. Money did not buy that kind of love and affection; something she already knew. Brandon, however, seemed to creep into her life with that missing piece and it frightened Ember enough to want to push him away time and time again. She assumed that before long he'd realise what a waste of time she was to him and move his affections to someone who truly deserved them. However, this was a thought that Ember kept wrapped up tightly within herself. She was never going to be the girl to sit and wear her heart on her sleeve.

Ember knew she wasn't the type of girl to bring home to mom. She was mouthy, had a rough city attitude and got into more trouble just by stepping out of her front door. Brandon seemed convinced this was the right move and that dinner would run smoothly, but Ember felt like she was the only one who truly saw what she was; a mess with a machine making sure her heart didn't stop working. She was probably the last thing that any mother wanted for their son. She wasn't exactly a girl who made friends easily, but she could find a list of enemies at the drop of a hat in any situation. She was more defensive than welcoming and it was a trait that Ember struggled to switch off. There was a chance it might flair up during dinner and with those questions that she knew parents loved to ask about. “At least in a club I could buy her a Cosmo.” Ember mumbled, grabbing her phone and keys and tossing them into her bag. There was no turning back from this now even if she did want to suddenly make a run for a dark alley where Brandon wouldn't be able to find her.

The house they pulled up at looked like a home. It was nothing like the trashy, health code violation apartment she had grown up in. It was also nothing like her father's house, which Ember had never felt at home in. That place looked more like a museum and catered for a world she would never truly be a part of. The only reason people acknowledged her more now was because Andrew wasn't around and so she was the next one in line to get the company where they wanted it to be. Not that Ember listened to them. She had no respect for suck ups or false flattery. However this place really did look like a family had grown up here, with the wears and tears of age to the brickwork, but the décor of people who were proud to call it their own. “Nice to meet you.” She had to force it out and try to smile without gritting her teeth. This was not at all something that came naturally to Ember and she wanted this night over and done with.

She feeling very out of place in the Larkin household and felt even more so when she heard footsteps upstairs. No matter how this went she was going to be outnumbered and that was not a thing Ember coped well with when she couldn't easily fight her way out of it. However those nerves gave way for something else when she saw Brandon's little sister appear. The girl looked nervous, kind of on edge and her eyes were the kind Ember recognised. She knew Brandon would notice it too, but she still gave him the subtlest of nudges. That girl was in trouble and Ember knew it before she had even said hello to her.

• • •

TAGGED! Brandon! <3
WORDS! 705!
OUTFIT! Strong Sweetie!
LYRICS! What it is to Burn - - - Finch
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Deleted]

THERE'S NO WAY TO FIGHT THIS
LOVE WILL HAVE ITS SACRIFICES

Brandon knew that Ember wasn't used to the family comforts or the world he had been raised in. She had sarcastically mentioned it time and time again and Brandon wished he could give it to her. He knew that his family could be some of the most welcoming people in New York City and that Ember would be more than welcome in their home after tonight. He doubt he'd ever find her there having lunch with his mom, but tonight was hopefully going to be the start of something great. His feelings for the fiery blonde were serious and he wanted everyone to know that. Brandon knew that the last person to cotton on to that would probably be Ember, but he knew that was probably for the best given her aversion to love and feelings in the past. He wasn't aiming to scare her off when he had fallen scarily fast for the young blonde the moment he had truly let her into his life. In the past they had been acquaintances, just faces from their old lives. Then it had been safe and neither of them were stuck with feelings or worrying about the health of the other, from Brandon's point of view anyway.

He had been expecting more of a struggle over this dinner. Ember had put up quite a fight when he had first mentioned it and he was prepared for that. Nothing with Ember was ever simple and straightforward. She liked to kick up a fuss and stand her ground even when it came to something as simple as picking a movie for a night in. At least Brandon could never call the leggy blonde boring. She kept things exciting; frustrating, but exciting. However she had only grumbled a little bit about tonight's plans once they were set and Brandon appreciated how big a leap that was for Ember in the relationship game. Once this dinner was over, if she made it through, then Brandon would make sure to treat her to something she liked to thank her for everything.

It looked like trouble was going to happen tonight and for once Ember Grant wasn't going to be the source of it. The moment he saw his sister Kate, Brandon's heart dropped. Even she looked like she knew what was coming and the silence in the air was painful; a sign that this was something that had been kept from him until now. Suddenly he wondered if his family had encouraged bringing Ember over this weekend so there was someone to calm him down, but he knew from the tiny nudge that his girlfriend was already well on his side about this matter. “What the fuck?” His voice was deadly quiet and the tension in the room practically doubled. “Did you lose your mind, Kate?! What the hell have you done?!” There were few things to make Brandon explode, but drugs was at the top of that list. He hadn't worked in narcotics for nothing. He hadn't tried to clean the streets for all those years, taken a bullet for his partner and all so his baby sister could get hooked on something illegal. “I couldn't help it Bran-” “Yes you could. Why did you even do this in the first place, Kate?” He didn't care about the rest of the room all of a sudden. All he cared about was whose head he had to rip off to make this right again. If he had a badge and a gun still he would be out of the door in a heartbeat to drag the lowlife to jail for corrupting his innocent little sister. “Stop it! Just stop it! I know it's stupid, I know I should never have touched it, but I did and now there's no getting out!” The eighteen year old was close to tears, her eyes watery and pleading with her older brother to play nice, but Brandon couldn't. He needed to know who had done this, when, and how he could kill them without anyone finding out. In the moment he had completely forgotten about the dinner they were here for, his parents and even the impossible blonde by his side.

Word count of 706
Written for Ember
Listening to She's Got A Way by Billy Joel

[Ember Thistle Grant]

Ember had never dreamt of having that white picket fence lifestyle or the family. In her mind, after Robert, she wasn't even going to fall in love again. With Brandon, Ember was nowhere near being close to saying that she loved him. This was something she was still testing the waters with, despite how long they had now been together. Ember just wasn't the romantic type to get fuzzy over flowers and feel amazing when she was taken out to dinner. She still wasn't even used to saying that Brandon was her boyfriend. Ember knew that they were both moving at different paces and that he was further ahead than she was, but Ember liked to play oblivious when it came to that. She just wasn't ready for any of it.

Ember lived her life fast and reckless; she always had done. Not even a happy relationship would slow her down or cool her hot temper. She was almost perpetually angry at something and yet Brandon could tolerate that. She was lucky, but she would never admit to that. While Lady Luck had always continuously kept Ember in mind, Ember knew that most of her successes in life had been down to her own stubborn attitude and fiery temper. She didn't let things go easily and she never backed off from anything. It was one of the reasons why she had known Brandon a long time before anything actually happened between them. It was also something that Ember didn't regret in the slightest. Her history shaped her into the woman she was today, and whilst other people might have hated who she was, Ember loved it. She wouldn't change herself for the world, even if there were things she wished could be different about her life in general.

If someone had asked Ember who would be causing trouble tonight, she would have easily put money on herself. She knew she wasn't the easiest to get along with or the best person to invite home for a nice family meal. In fact, she had already half expected herself to do something to ruin the dinner, even if she didn't intend to. She never, in a million years, would have thought Brandon and his sister would be the reason behind the trouble of the night. She listened as Brandon exploded, reminding herself that this was the very reason why she kept the nitty gritty of her past a secret. It was all behind her now and talking about it would lead to a ridiculous screaming match between the pair of them. She did feel sympathy for Kate though. Ember had seen friends of her own in the exact same state, regretting their choices but being in too deep to fix them over night. Her blue eyes looked over the ashamed parents who didn't step in to calm the situation down. It only made her wonder about how long this had been going on for. Ember, despite having her own, didn't approve of secrets; especially not when they were in a family as close as this one and about something so major. In the end, with the silence hanging heavily she stepped in herself. “Apologies won't cut it for your brother. Not with this.” She told Kate before turning to Brandon. “And has screaming at me taught you nothing? It doesn't help.” She pushed her hair back and took a deep breath, knowing that she was taking her boyfriend into dangerous territory given their extremely different pasts. “You're not going to like this, but right now you're out of your depth. Your sister has walked into my world and you weren't so good at dealing with that. I am.” She kept her voice quiet enough so only Brandon could hear. Everything she said was laced with implicit ideas and suggestions and she knew Brandon would loathe all of them. However, it was the truth. What Kate had said were things Ember had heard before, had helped friends with before, and she probably knew the guys who had brought her down this dark path. This area, home for Brandon, had been running ground for her when she was a teenager.

• • •

TAGGED! Brandon! <3
WORDS! 702!
OUTFIT! Strong Sweetie!
LYRICS! What it is to Burn - - - Finch
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Deleted]

THERE'S NO WAY TO FIGHT THIS
LOVE WILL HAVE ITS SACRIFICES

Brandon couldn't believe this was actually happening right now. His biggest concern had been convincing Ember to sit through a full family meal with his parents and now he was having to deal with this. Kate wasn't just dabbling in drugs like so many kids her age, but it seemed like she was too far gone and addicted. He thought Kate knew better, he thought he had taught her better, but apparently she was just as careless and as thoughtless as half of the junkies he had picked up when he was a cop in narcotics. Of all the things he had expected from tonight, this was not one of them. Kate had always been so well behaved. She made excellent grades in school, caused no trouble, and none of her choices had ever set alarm bells off in Brandon's over-protective mind. Kate was the total opposite to Ember, and for that reason Brandon had always expected her to be safe, to be smart enough to know to avoid the dangers that existed in the neighbourhood they had both grown up in.

This, this was like a dagger to the heart for him. He expected so much from Kate, but he never expected her to fall so far. Even though he could see the regret in her eyes and hear it, it wasn't enough for Brandon. Kate simply should have known better! He had a million burning questions that he wanted answers to, and since the nice family dinner was now officially ruined he wanted to sit his little sister down and interrogate her for those answers. Then he might turn to his parents and demand to know why they had kept this from him and not reached out for his help sooner. Brandon still had contacts within the NYPD, friends he could turn to so they could grab the lowlife supplying Kate off the street and make sure he got to rot away for a few months in a dank cell somewhere. None of this made any sense to him and Brandon was seeing red at each thought that rushed through his mind.

Ember stepping in did surprise Brandon. For a moment he had forgotten that she was there, but he never expected her to involve herself in something like this. If anything he thought she might use it as the perfect excuse to see herself out and head on home or down to The Marquee. Family drama wasn't her sort of thing when it was her own family, so why would she get involved with his? Brandon found himself blinking at her and then his eyebrows came down, a dark look in his eyes as the pieces slowly fell into place with her implicit words. “I still have friends in narcotics, Ember. I just need a name and they can do the rest.” He said, his voice venomous with anger. Kate was his sister and he would be the one to deal with this.

Word count of 532
Written for Ember
Listening to She's Got A Way by Billy Joel

[Ember Thistle Grant]

Family dinners had always been eventful in her experience. They ended often with a fight and usually her high heels making a noisy exit as she stormed out. It was why she declined her father's invitations so frequently. She could do without that level of drama in her life and it wasn't like she needed another excuse to fight with those she was related to. Ember found plenty of chances to make that happen without even trying. None of it was ever intentional, but she was a feisty, defensive woman who did not trust at all well. Even with Brandon there were moments when she would rather scream and yell at him than kiss him. It was her personality and it always had been that way. There was nothing that she could do to change or remedy that now and Ember didn't want to either. She liked being who she was, and if others couldn't handle it then that was there problem and they didn't have to be in her life. No one was contracted to stick with her and she was used to fending for herself. She didn't understand why Brandon was putting up with her, but she was through trying to figure that one out since he just seemed to be a sucker for that particular punishment as far as she could tell. Maybe he got a kick out of hearing her scream obscenities at him when she was having a rough day, or maybe he enjoyed acting like she needed him around.

What she did know was that this sitution had to be tough for him. However, Ember still felt like she was more suitable to deal with it. She had the level head out of the pair of them right now and was more at home with the darkness of New York. Brandon still liked to pretend like it wasn't the truth, but Ember's past was full of the shadowy crime world; she had just been quick enough to keep a clean record and outrun the cops when she was a teenager. Then she had climbed out of it and turned to a somewhat better life. Though she missed the adrenaline rush of a life on the streets, dodging up alleyways and using fire escapes as front doors. Brandon might have the friends and the power to do all of this legally, but it would also be slow. Ember could get out there tomorrow night and take care of this. She still knew people, still met up with them from time to time when she was out and about. Some of them were her friends even though she ran in a different direction these days. When it came down to it, Ember might have dressed differently and had money to her name now, but she was still the same girl who had been growing up rough all those years ago. Very little had actually changed about her.

That meant she could get results. “Yeah; in about a month. I can do it in a night.” She said in a low whisper. Brandon wouldn't like it, but then he wouldn't see it. No way in hell would Ember let him accompany her down her old road. “Come on, Brandon. This is my old running ground. I probably know the guy, probably grew up with him. I can deal with this a hell of a lot quicker and better than your cop buddies can.” Relaxing a little, she stepped back a bit and let her blue eyes look over the eighteen year old. Kate needed help more than anyone else right now and revenge could wait. Brandon and herself could hash this out back in her penthouse later with a bottle of something strong and one of their typical arguments where they could shout and scream without worrying about anyone overhearing and judging. Ember's past wasn't such a secret in those walls. “I also have the cash for a decent clean up.” She said a little louder, pulling her phone out and searching for the place she had sent friends to in the past when they had wanted out of that life. Looking up at her boyfriend, Ember shrugged before he could say anything. “You saved my life, I save hers.” It settled that debt in Ember's mind.

• • •

TAGGED! Brandon! <3
WORDS! 728!
OUTFIT! Strong Sweetie!
LYRICS! What it is to Burn - - - Finch
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Deleted]

THERE'S NO WAY TO FIGHT THIS
LOVE WILL HAVE ITS SACRIFICES

Brandon had wanted the evening to be a nice meal, some awkward conversation, and a sign to Ember that he was taking this relationship seriously. She meant the world to him, but he knew that telling her that in so many words would be suicidal. Ember wasn't a girl who revealed her feelings keenly, and he had already come far too close to losing her. If there was going to be any trouble he had expected it to be from his girlfriend, not the little sister who had never been in any trouble in her life. Kate hadn't even been grounded when she was growing up! This was heartbreaking for him, and it left him bitterly angry. He thought she knew better, thought she was wiser than all of this. Kate had seen and heard stories about his time working in narcotics. If that hadn't been enough to ward her away from drugs then what would be?

His girlfriend was doing very little to help his mood right now. He didn't need to be reminded that she had grown up with a life that ought to have come with a criminal record of its own. Brandon didn't know the finer details because he chose not to. It was one of the few times when he agreed with the old saying that ignorance was bliss. Ember past was darker than he wanted to admit, and the truth was that it scared him to think about what his girlfriend might have been capable of. She was feisty, had a temper that could make grown men quake in their boots, and she was aware of his intimidating she could be. How Ember had wound up that way was another story, and one that only had a happy ending because daddy had come to his senses and had seen where his illegitimate daughter was going to end up, and it was a place that would dirty his reputation beyond repair.

Brandon couldn’t let Ember go back to that place. He had been with the NYPD once. He had been one of the men who stopped the criminals. It was bad enough that he was dating a woman whose past was shadowed in crime itself, but now she was offering to revisit that past for the sake of a young girl she had been in the room with for all of two minutes. It was absurd to put everything she had on the line like that, to risk the life she could now boast for someone she only barely knew the name of. It was also everything Brandon had come to love about Ember. She was many things, most of them far from sweet, but she wasn’t the kind of person who would turn her back on someone who was seriously in need of help. He knew she had paid old friends through rehab before, done things to help them find the lives they wanted. It was no secret that she loathed her escape from the streets, but she paid it back to those who had once looked out for her. He couldn’t fault her for it even when he could never understand her reasoning most of the time for acting the way that she did. “And what if something were to happen to you? I can’t risk that.” He shook his head firmly, wishing for once that arguing with Ember might actually pay off. His eyes moved to the cell phone in her hand and he hesitated. He never thought that he had saved Ember’s life, even if it was exactly what had happened that night outside the Marquee. He knew she had done this before for others though, knew that Ember had the best clinic and doctors just a phone call away. Maybe if he let her do this then she wouldn’t go running off into the night to chase her past and fix Kate’s other problem. Then Brandon wouldn’t have to worry about losing both of his girls.

Word count of 667
Written for Ember
Listening to The Soles

[Ember Thistle Grant]

Ember wasn’t offering to help because she had a heart of gold. She had only just met Kate and the gun slinging blonde was far from the Good Samaritan. However, there was every chance that she knew the guys Kate was in trouble with and Ember loathed anyone who preyed on the young and defenceless. Sure, she’d open her mouth and insist that they ought to have known better in the first place, but then she was also familiar with a code of conduct that had existed when she had spent nights out on the rough streets of New York. The weak might have been an easy way to survive, but it was a coward’s way out and if it was an old face doing this then she could push their buttons to make sure that they stopped. Plus, it was like she was saying to Brandon; she owed him for saving her life. If things were to ever go south between them then at least they would be even. Ember didn’t like it when people had things over her, and no matter what Brandon said, what happened outside The Marquee that night was something to hold over her.

Ember fixed Brandon with a hard stare. “You’ll be risking nothing.” She stated calmly and confidently. Keeping her voice low, she didn’t waver, but tried to make Brandon see the sense in all of this. “This is me we’re talking about Brandon. I outran you plenty of times doing far worse than what I’m suggesting right now.” It was hardly the greatest way to meet the parents, but she knew Brandon needed to see through everything he wanted to pretend they had together. She wasn’t some perfect blonde with the perfect life. She had done things many people served jail time for. The only thing that made a difference was that Ember was wily enough not to get caught. He might have called it luck in the past, but she called it skill. Brandon needed to see that now. He needed to understand that it would prove a hell of a lot more successful than his old buddies at the precinct playing by the rules and working a long case that might not even get anything more than a slap on the wrist for the person who had put Kate in this bind. Ember could at least guarantee to clean Kate up and make sure no one laid a finger on her again. She still meant something out there, it just came down to whether her point was made physically or verbally.

She left the room before Brandon could argue another point. He might have been much older than her and thought himself wiser, but Ember was ten times more stubborn than he was. Besides, any excuse to slip back into her old life and she would snatch it right on up. She missed it, and it wasn’t like she could run wild like she used to when Brandon was hovering around and the company was now hers to inherit. She had to grow up at some point, but she couldn’t turn her back on who she truly was or where she had come from. Ember stepped outside to call the clinic, making the necessary arrangements over the phone to ensure that Kate would receive the best of the best. Once it was organised she went back inside, smiling reassuringly at the concerned parents who were still in a scared silence while Brandon tried to get Kate to talk, treating his sister like she was a suspect in interrogation. Ember put her hand on his shoulder, gently pulling him back. “There’s a room waiting for you, Kate. And don’t anyone worry. I’m taking care of this.” Her sapphire eyes moved to Brandon, a double meaning hidden in them. “All of this.”

• • •

TAGGED! Brandon! <3
WORDS! 648!
OUTFIT! Strong Sweetie!
LYRICS! What it is to Burn - - - Finch
NOTES! <3 <3 <3