Reframed

Chapter 2: I Don't Know What I'm Doing

The agent didn't believe him. "She's yours?"

"Yeah, she..." Luke looked down at the baby girl, who stared up at him with sleepy red eyes and still had hold of his shirt with one tiny fist. "Look, I'll come to the station. I'll take a test. Whatever." He didn't know why he was being adamant about this. He should've given her up. He should've let her go. "I called you guys, remember? You can't take her from me. I didn't do anything wrong."

Not this time, at least.

What the hell was he doing? This agent would know what to do. It would be better for all of them if he handed her over. He tried to think of his father and what he looked like - what kind of man and parent he had been - but he could no longer remember the man's face. All Luke could remember was ash. Once upon a time, he would've moved on to thinking about Charles - his mentor, his Sensei - but when he popped into his head, his stomach turned.

He didn't know anything about kids. He didn't know about being a father. This was stupid. He was acting like an i***t.

A familiar face walked up behind the agent, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You can go and take the suspect into custody. If she is who I think she is, it's going to be a long night." The agent cast one last furtive look at Luke and then walked away.

Luke's face settled into a stony expression. "Detective Mrigan."

"When I heard you made the call..." John Mrigan gave him an appraising look. "You've done well. Thank you."

"It doesn't feel good," Luke muttered. Calling agents on a murderer... It didn't get more average citizen than that. He could've taken care of her - he knew that - but it wasn't his place. It made him feel pathetic and weak. Was this how everyone else felt like when a mafia member attacked?

John turned to look, watching the car with Hera in it drive off. "She's wanted for a lot of murders. You might have given a lot of people some peace by calling this in." He held out his hand. It was a simple gesture, but one that drew Luke's attention. Shaking hands was still unfamiliar to him. It was so innocent, but something that made him wary as well. Nonetheless, he pulled his hand away from the baby's head and shook the detective's hand. "That's really your daughter?"

"Yes." There was something final about the way Luke said it. It felt like the piece of a puzzle falling into place. The picture wasn't complete, so he couldn't tell what it was, but it was starting to make more sense. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he knew what he had to do. "She's mine."

He couldn't just abandon her like everyone had abandoned him.

"Well then," John took his hand back into his pocket. "I suppose congratulations are in order." Luke snorted. That was probably the nicest reaction he was going to get despite this mess. "It's late. I'll take your statement here and you can leave." His gaze turned back to the child. "You sure you know what you're doing?"

"I'll figure something out," Luke responded.

John actually laughed. "That's what everyone thinks but doesn't say when they become a parent."

===

By the time Luke finished with Detective Mrigan, his phone had gone off at least five times. It was nearing nine, which meant that he was more than a little late for dinner. Not that Alex cared if he changed his mind about showing up or not, but the lack of a response would put him on edge. As much as they joked about it, both of them knew it was very much of a possibility that one of them could get attacked. They'd made a lot of enemies as a mafia gang and more than a few people had been displeased about them getting released early.

Plus, there was the other thing neither of them talked about: they had to keep each other in check, hold the other accountable, watch for them sliding back down that slippery slope. It irritated the hell out of him, but he knew it was true. They didn't want to admit the lack of trust in each other, but it would be there. They knew what the other was like. Being a villain was easy. But being a good person is much harder.

The baby had shockingly fallen asleep in his arms. To be honest, Luke didn't have much of a reason before, but this felt like a very strong motivation, even if he didn't know exactly what it meant.

He didn't check his phone until he got on the subway, sitting down in a corner away from other people. A few women gave him curious looks and even a smile or two, which confused him as he'd never gotten them before from complete strangers. At least no one bothered him. Sitting made it easier for him to hold the kid in one hand and fish his phone out of his pocket. Sure enough, there were two missed calls and five text messages.

You're late asshole.

Coming or what?

I'm gonna eat all the food and leave you nothing.

Where the f**k are you seriously?

Answer me you dickhead. You better not be dead in a ditch or doing something stupid.

Luke ran a gloved hand over the baby's soft head and sunk further in his seat, tilting his head back. Oh yeah, he was doing something very stupid. The last thing he needed in his life was a f*****g baby and yet here he was. He sent a simple text ( omw ) without any explanation and turned his phone on silent. It would piss Alex off, but it would give him peace of mind that Luke was both alive and hadn't committed any crimes. He would know better than to show his face around Evelynn's place if he had.

By the grace of whatever good was left in the world, the kid stayed asleep the whole train ride. When he got off and started walking to the apartment, it started to wake up, crying and squirming in his arms. He didn't know what to do. He was certain people on the street would start staring at him and accuse him of hurting her, but no one batted an eye at him. A crying baby wasn't anything of note. Babies cry all the time. It's what they do. He somehow managed to get it to stop once he reached the building, but desperation had started to build up inside of him.

He made a stupid, foolish mistake. He should've given the baby away. He should've handed her off. What was he doing? What did he think he could do? Why the hell was he here? Honestly, maybe it was because he had no idea where else to go. He had no one else to go to and talk about this. It wasn't that he could just call up Alfred and ask for parenting tips - see what he did whenever Luke threw a fit as a kid. Thank everything, the baby didn't seem to have a quirk yet. He could only imagine how much of a terror he had been with his destructive decay quirk. He had probably disintegrated stuff whenever he was mad.

After awkwardly shifting the baby in his arms, which was starting to fall asleep again. Luke knocked on the door. There was shuffling on the other side and a man's grouchy voice, "There isn't anything left," before it was ripped open and he was met with an irritated Alex Ravi. "Dude, where the-?"

"I think this thing is hungry, but I don't know what it eats," Luke interrupted, blurting out the first words that came to mind and holding the baby out underneath its arms.

Alex's bright blue eyes almost bugged out of his head. "What the f**k? Why do you have a baby?" He actually paled and took a step back as he gawked in absolute shock; as if he'd never seen a kid before. "Did you steal a f*****g baby?"

"What?" Luke pulled her back to his chest and gave him an indignant glare. "No, I didn't steal a baby, you i***t!"

"Then where did you get one?" Alex demanded. "It's not like you can just pick one up off the street." He leaned to the side to peer at it closer and then caught sight of the duffel bag. "Did you?"

"She's mine," Luke pointed out, pushing Alex aside and shoving his way inside. Alex was so stunned he didn't even fight back, allowing himself to get knocked into the wall and turning to stare at him. Luke paused and then walked back to the door so he could take his shoes off before Evelynn could get onto him.

Alex narrowed his eyes. "Since when do you have a kid? Last time I checked, you didn't have one and it's not like you're with anyone."

"Remember that woman from the bar?" Luke prompted. Alex gave him a vacant look, which meant he did not, in fact, remember her. It wasn't surprising. It had been before he'd gotten out of prison, so he'd been told about it a month after it happened. He didn't even know why he told him, except maybe to prove that he didn't just hole himself up in his apartment playing video games. "Hera?"

"Oh, s**t, yeah." Alex looked in the hallway, as if checking to see if she had come with him, shutting the door once he confirmed that Luke was alone. "Wow, that's..." He snorted. "You got a one-night stand pregnant. That is some s**t luck."

"I got a murderer pregnant," Luke grumbled in correction.

Alex stared at him. "What?"

Luke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Turns out she might be a serial killer. She popped up after I got off work, handed me the baby, and asked if I could watch her while she took out the cop chasing after her and his family."

"What the...?" Alex continued to stare until he burst into laughter.

It was wholly inappropriate and it made Luke scowl, especially since it was loud enough to startle the baby into crying again. Alex was not a laugher. Maybe he chuckled or snorted, smirked and grinned, but he didn't laugh. It wasn't in his nature. His mood usually ranged from bored indifference to volatile anger or vaguely amused disdain. Luke wasn't one either, but definitely not right now. It wasn't funny.

It wasn't f*****g funny at all.

"Holy s**t, that's even worse. You managed to get laid - and you impregnate a serial killer. I'm fucking... I can't believe this. I can't." Alex turned away, still laughing and pressing a hand against his head. "I can't deal with this right now. Eve, come meet Luke's daughter!"

There was a loud crash from the kitchen, sounding as if someone had knocked a bunch of pots and glasses into the sink. When Evelynn poked out her head, there was a confused look on her face. "His wha-?" She hadn't even finished when her eyes landed on the baby in question and she slammed a hand to her mouth to keep from shrieking. Once she contained herself, she pulled her hand away. "What are you doing with a baby?"

"I don't know," Luke replied, tired of the questions already.

"Why did you come here?" Alex asked, having managed to regain control of himself. He kept a few paces back, almost like he was afraid that getting too close to the baby would make the world spontaneously produce a child for him as well.

"I don't know," Luke snapped, a hint of desperation in his voice. The truth was he didn't have anywhere else to go. Well, he could've just gone straight home to his shitty apartment, but the idea of being alone right now with this thing terrified him. He made a huge mistake. He didn't know anything about babies. How did he expect to take care of it? Hera had to have known he didn't know how to keep a baby alive, much less take care of one and raise it.

Maybe that was the point. It wasn't like she'd cared all that much. Honestly, now that he thought about it, he was kind of surprised she'd kept it up for this long. He peered at the baby in his hands as it started to cry. Judging from when they had hooked up and the very limited knowledge he had about pregnancy, the baby had to be three months old.

It was still new.

"I think it's hungry and I don't know what to do," Luke said as its cries grew louder.

"It." Evelynn walked into the room. Seeing how uncomfortable he was, she held out her hands and Luke graciously handed the baby over to her and let out a sigh. It couldn't have weighted more than thirteen pounds, but the weight of responsibility and parenthood tacked onto him was heavier than leading the League. "This is a baby girl, not an 'it'. What's her name?"

Luke thought back to what Hera had told him, although his brain was still firing rapidly to process everything that had happened. "Apparently, it's Princess."

Alex burst into laughter again as he practically wheezed, "Princess? Princess Walker. Are you trying to kill me?"

Evelynn attempted to be much kinder, mumbling, "Oh, that's a...nice...name..." but it didn't matter. She wasn't as good of a liar as her twin brother, but he wasn't even trying now.

"Don't bother lying," Luke told her. "It's a stupid name. I'm gonna change it."

"To what?" Alex asked between laughing and trying to breathe.

Luke shot him a disdainful glower. "I don't know, but I'm certainly not going to ask for your help, Sky."

The asshole didn't even have the decency to look ashamed or embarrassed by his edgelord nature, but Evelynn did it for him, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath though her nose. Apparently, it had been something that she suffered throughout their childhood, prior to him running off to fake his death and becoming a petty criminal.

Luke turned to look back at his daughter, Alex snorting behind him. "What do babies eat?"

"Well, she looks too young to eat baby food," Evelynn said, carrying the baby into the kitchen. Luke followed her without question. "She needs formula."

Maybe he came here because, out of everyone he knew - and to be fair, he didn't know or trust many people at all - he figured they would know something about babies. After all, they had two younger siblings and he knew Undertaker hadn't exactly been father of the year material. Even if Alex had avoided responsibilities, Evelynn not only worked with kids but helped raise her little brothers. Too young for baby food? What did she eat then?

An idea popped into his head. "Maybe-" He grabbed the duffel bag and felt something in it. He thought Hera was just using it to carry the baby. It was certainly inventive, but even he knew it wasn't exactly safe, so he didn't want to put it back in there. He dumped everything in the bag on the counter. It wasn't much: two diapers, a small bag of wipes, a few more clothing items (none of which looked like they were the right size for the baby, even to him), a bottle filled with some white liquid, a nearly empty can containing what looked like cocaine. He picked up the bottle. "You think this is good?"

"We should probably heat it up," Evelynn said, taking the bottle from him. How she was able to carry the baby and hold the bottle like it was simple, was a little beyond him. She put it in the microwave for about fifteen seconds, tested the temperature, and then tilted it for the baby. Its cries immediately stopped as it latched onto the bottle and she even reached up as if to hold it. "There, that's better. You were just hungry, weren't you, little one?"

"You sure feeding it that, is a good idea?" Alex asked from the living room.

Evelynn frowned. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Come check it out for yourself," Alex replied. Evelynn and Luke glanced at each other and then walked out of the kitchen. They found Alex standing in front of the television, his eyes on the screen, until he turned to look at Luke. "You made the news again."

Luke frowned and moved to stand next to Alex so he could look at the television as well. It was much nicer than the one he owned. He had little time to think about that when he spotted cellphone camera footage showing the two agents easily capturing a thrashing Hera. In the background was Luke, who looked part awkward, irritated, and confused while he very obviously held the baby incorrectly.

"According to the news, she's wanted for at least thirty counts of murder," Alex informed them. He looked back at the baby in

Evelynn's arms. "Multiple MO's which is why it took a while to connect them, but a few of them were poison." He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just saying: I'm not sure I'd trust what a serial killer packed for a baby."

Cringing, Evelynn took the bottle away. Luke was certain it would start crying again, but apparently what little it did drink was enough to make it content. He didn't think the drink or cocaine-looking baby formula was laced with anything, but Alex had a point.

Taking the bottle from Evelynn, he walked back to the kitchen, unscrewed the cap, and dumped it all down the sink. For good measure, he stepped on the lever to open up the trash can and took one of his gloves off . It only took seconds to destroy the bottle before he turned the can of formula into ash as well. He pulled his foot off the lever and the lid fell back down. He stared down at it. Now he really didn't have anything, not even something to feed the baby with. Maybe it was melodramatic, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

"What now?" Luke asked, half to himself.

"Well, you can't keep it," Alex said from the doorway.

Luke turned around to face him. "So...what? I give her away?"

"Yeah, safe-drop her off at the fire station or something," Alex told him, shrugging his shoulders. "Pretty sure my dad wanted to do that with me, but you can't safe-drop a five-year-old."

"I'm not just abandoning her," Luke snarled furiously.

Alex didn't even blink in the face of his anger. "So what? You're gonna raise her?" He scoffed and folded his arms across his chest, leaning against the threshold. "You're gonna be a dad? What the f**k do you know about that?"

"I'll figure it out!" Luke protested, even though Alex had a valid point. What did he know about being a father? It was even less than he knew about babies.

"Face it, Luke," Alex said, shaking his head. "You're in over your head. You can barely take care of yourself. It'd be better if you gave that kid away. Save the pain, the struggle, the embarrassment of having a former mafia leader for a dad. Give her a chance."

Was that what Alex would do in his place? If he had been handed a helpless baby and told it was his, would he just give them up? Save himself the trouble? Was he that selfish? Or was he that scared and aware of his flaws? All of Luke's thoughts about fatherhood, unfortunately, revolved around Charles. There had been plenty of moments when he had been kind and supportive, but all of those "good" memories were tainted by the fact that he'd been lied to and used the entire time. Every warm gesture had held a dark ulterior motive.

Did he just want to keep her to prove he was different? That he was good and better? Was that using her too?

"No." Luke pulled his glove back on. "I'll figure it out."

"Your loss," Alex said. He peered at the clock on the stove. "Luckily, you don't do s**t, so you at least have money saved up, but babies aren't exactly cheap.

Luke knew that, but he didn't at the same time. What did he all need? Where could he get it? Could he just do a Google search: what do babies need to survive? There was a large chain store that was open all night. He could go there, get whatever he needed to make it through the week before he came up with more permanent solutions. He would figure it out. That was what he'd done before whenever he faced with a difficult problem. It might've taken him some time whenever he'd hit a dead end or was on the losing end, but he'd always find a way to survive.

Alex sighed and Luke could immediately tell the change in his demeanor. He wasn't mocking or cavalier; he was serious, even if he didn't want to be right now. "Listen, some people aren't going to like this one bit. I know you're not who you used to be - and I know you wouldn't have done anything bad to her even when you were in a mafia group - but a lot of people are going to think you'll hurt her."

That cut Luke a lot deeper than expected, knocking the wind out of his chest. "I wouldn't. I'm not... " He wasn't a monster anymore. Had he gone after kids before as a villain? U.A. kids were still different in his mind, but they were only eighteen or nineteen when he attacked and then, later in their training boot camp, and so many other times. This is a baby though. She wasn't even a half a year old.

"I know you won't," Alex said, "but I also know there are about a thousand ways a kid can hurt or die." He didn't talk about what happened during his childhood, but Luke knew it had been dragged out and examined during his trial in excruciating detail. He had only been there for his testimony and was sent back to prison, but he heard a little about it. There was a good possibility that what his father had put him through could've killed him. "You wouldn't hurt her on purpose - I know that - but on accident?"

It was a risk he would have to take. It was one every parent had to take, even the good ones and the ones that had planned on having a kid.

"You don't know what you're doing," Alex finished. "You know you're being stupid, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Luke didn't need to be told that. He definitely knew he was being stupid. It wasn't that he was attached to her already or even the idea of being a father. It was just...this indescribable thing weighing on that he couldn't shake. "Thanks for the shitty pep talk."

"There was a reason you were the leader and not me," Alex pointed out.

The fact that Luke had been the leader because he was picked and molded into one didn't need to be said. Both of them had been groomed. The difference was that Alex escaped, at least for the most part. Some things can't be outrun. Like parenthood. He knew he could drop her off as Alex had suggested, but the fact would always be there, planted in the back of his mind like a bomb waiting to be detonated.

After shoving everything else back into the duffel bag, Luke slung the strap over his shoulder and then paused. "I still need something for her to eat in case she gets hungry and moody while I'm out." At the time, it had seemed like the safest choice, but maybe he overreacted when he disintegrated the few baby things on him.

When Alex grinned and said, "I have an idea," Luke frowned. He did not like the sound of that at all. Stepping further into the kitchen, Alex rummaged around under the sink, which he thought about pointing out was the last place they should search for baby food unless they were a serial killer. He found whatever he was looking for and then went to the fridge to pull out some milk.

The second that Luke figured out what he was doing, he almost choked. "You can't be serious."

"You don't have a bottle," Alex said, holding out a plastic glove filled with milk. "You gotta make one." Luke rubbed his face, briefly giving himself the old comfort of his mask he'd once worn on his face. "Eve used to do this whenever she found a baby animal when we were kids. You just poke a tiny hole in one of the fingers." This was a baby human, not some animal. "If you don't want it-"

"No, I'll take it, " Luke cut in, snatching the glove out of Alex's hand. He put it in the duffel bag too. He had a feeling that Evelynn would only get worried if she saw how desperate he was. With that taken care of , he walked out into the living room where Evelynn was pacing with the baby. When he held out his hands, she gave him the baby. "I've got to go. I need to get some things before I go back home." He huffed. "Good thing I'm off work tomorrow. I need to call and find out what I can do. It's not like I can bring a baby to work."

"Call to see if they have anything like paternity leave," Evelynn suggested. She bit her lip. "Did you want to leave her here while you...?"

Luke shook his head. "No, I've intruded enough. I just want to get the stuff and go home."

"I can't believe you're already offering to babysit," Alex complained. "If she gets baby fever, I'm blaming you."

"Alex!" Evelynn exclaimed and smacked him on the arm. Blush tinging her cheeks.

"You're just worried because if she settles down and starts a family you'll have to mooch off someone else," Luke shot back.

Neither one of them wasted time on goodbyes. He'd never cared about them before and, seeing how he'd left his family without saying a word, Alex wasn't big on them either. He left without saying anything else, trying to hold the way Evelynn had, his mind already focused on what he needed, which was a lot. Maybe he could get the essentials tonight and the other stuff tomorrow. He'd figure it out as he went.