Chapter Text
As she walked beside Robby into the chilly city night, Trinity couldn’t help but feel that it had been a perfect day. It wasn’t often that the seven of them could enjoy a night out together - between college course loads, high school extracurriculars, and the seemingly never-ending hospital call-ins, it was rare they could all eat dinner at once, never mind get dressed semi-well and enjoy a meal in the city. But getting a stellar MCAT score was as good a reason as any to splurge, and the Dads snagged a Friday evening reservation at her favorite Italian restaurant. The food was amazing as always, and the warm light cast over the patio by fairy lights and fire pits kept the early spring chill at bay. They ate and talked for hours, staying at their seats until their kind waitress informed them that the restaurant would be closing in fifteen minutes. Robby offered to retrieve the car, knowing all too well that the grimace his husband tried to hide this morning meant that his leg was bothering him. Trinity offered to walk with him, now slung under his shoulder as they laughed at a story he shared from the hospital. Robby had rolled his eyes when she shivered as the wall of air hit them at the exit - his daughter’s insistence on foregoing coats in the sake of fashion was mind-boggling - but had draped his worn leather jacket over her instantly. She really didn’t need it; it wasn’t that cold, and the bottles of wine they had shared gave her a blanket, but she never willingly shied away from affection when offered.
Perhaps it was the wine that dulled their awareness, or the air of joy that made them feel invincible. Regardless, neither noticed the man emerging from the shadows behind them. They were so close to the parking lot, less than a block away - he could see the license plate of their well-loved SUV. When Robby thought back to the night, years down the line, it was that thought that kept him awake at night. They were so close. If only he had walked a little faster, ushered her out the door instead of painstakingly zipping his jacket up on her. Most of the night was a blur, but he could so clearly see the unrestrained smile on Trinity’s face, hear the melody of her laugh as he got to the punchline of the story, and feel the solid warmth of her tucked under his arm before she stopped suddenly. He faltered, moving to look at her before he was stopped by a gruff voice in his ear.
“You make a move and I’ll shoot her before you know what happened”. He froze, glancing down to where his daughter had his arm in a death grip. A shine of metal flashed at the small of her back. His mind short-circuited. His only thought was to get Trinity out of the situation unharmed by whatever means necessary. Robby nodded slowly.
“I understand. We’ll give you whatever you want and be on our way.” The man jolted his gun into Trinity’s back, causing her whimper.
“Start walking,” he said, pointing them down an alleyway up ahead. Robby walked ahead slowly, all but dragging Trinity beside him. Her breath was coming in short bursts, and instead of seeing his 22-year-old adult, soon-to-be-doctor daughter, all he could see was Trinity at age ten in pink monkey pajamas, crawling between him and Jack after a nightmare. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring look before slowly turning to face the man.
“Wallet,” he barked. “Phone. Hers too”. Robby nodded.
“I’ll have to reach into my pocket and her purse.” The man just raised an eyebrow. Now that he was facing him, Robby got a clearer look at him. About Jack’s height, around their age. Greying beard and yellow teeth. Robby slowly reached his hand into his jacket pocket where it fell around Trinity to pull out his valuables. He handed them over, his lockscreen lighting up. It was his favorite picture, taken almost five years ago, the first night Frank returned home after leaving for college. Dana had taken it after their mini-party, Robby and Jack asleep with their heads leaned together on their couch with the kids sprawled all over them - Frank collapsed against Robby’s shoulder, Trinity curled across their lap, Mel and Dennis leaning back against their legs, and Victoria draped on Jack’s chest like a cat. The man glanced down and sneered.
“Fucking fags”. Trinity whimpered, tears silently streaming down her cheeks.
“You’re alright, baby,” Robby whispered as he opened her purse to pull out her phone. His hands were shaking, he noticed absently as he handed it over. As he pocketed it, the man moved the gun to the back of Trinity’s head.
“Now you’re gonna settle down,” the man gestured towards Robby, “and get on your knees. And you’re gonna remember what happens if you try anything.”
“Alright,” Robby said, starting to back away. Trinity made a wounded noise and started forward until she felt a hand on her wrist.
“Nuh-uh, girlie,” the man sneered in her ear as her body locked up. She squeezed her eyes shut, salt water pouring down her cheeks. Robby never took his eyes off of her, heavily dropping to his knees, locking his hand behind his head. “Now, while papa bear gets used to the ground,” he jeered, “You’re gonna get used to me.” His hand crawled up her torso, following her hip before settling on her breast and squeezing. Trinity stayed frozen, a low keen rising unintended from her throat.
Robby let out a half gasp, half growl and made to get up. Before he could exhale, the gun was under Trinity’s chin, her head tilted back so he could see the whites of her terrified eyes. “I really don’t think you want to try that,” the man scorned, his hand still groping. Robby was suspended - he had absolutely no idea what to do. He knew his daughter, knew that what was happening to her right now, in her eyes, was a fate worse than death. But selfishly, so selfishly, he’d rather have her alive and disturbed than bleeding out in front of him. Jack, he thought belatedly. The restaurant was closing soon, Jack was a worrier, and their phone locations would still be reading in an nondescript alley if he checked. He just needs to keep them alive long enough for Jack to bail them out. A faint pang in his heart arose as he thought of the other kids walking in on this, but he knew his husband. As soon as he thought something was wrong, they’d be tucked somewhere safe behind Frank as he took off like a bloodhound. He closed his eyes and resigned himself to a lifetime of Trinity hating him - so long as she had a lifetime to live.
Then he opened his eyes - and the raw terror on her face, the panicked caving of her chest as the man’s hand swept lower, the heaves as her body revolted, changed his mind. Robby just saw red.
“Everything’s going to be okay, sweetheart,” he soothed, meeting her eyes for a long moment. And he lunged.
He reached for the gun first, the desire to get it away from Trinity overtaking rational thought. One hand closed on the muzzle, thrusting it away from her chin as the man pulled her behind him with one hand and twisted the gun to break Robby’s grip with the other. Robby’s momentum swung him forward just long enough to see Trinity plastered, petrified, against the alley wall before the butt of the gun slammed against his temple and threw him into darkness.
For all her fear-induced silence, the scream that Trinity released reverberated though the alley as she stumbled towards him. The man caught her, throwing her back against the wall. “Dad!” she cried, from pain and worry and most of all, bone-crushing fear now that her last line of defense from this nightmare lay crumpled at her feet. “Dad!” she cried again, not quite sure herself which of her fathers she was calling for, as the man’s hand closed around her throat. She struggled weakly, but it was no use. With a last gasp of breath as her airway closed, she shrieked. “Daddy!”
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Always a buffer with those two, Jack thought as he ushered the kids into the street, calling another round of thanks to the hostess as the door gently closed behind them. Michael, for all his merits, had no sense of time, and Jack had a constant lingering dread revolving around inconveniencing others. He didn’t want to wait until the staff forced them out, and knowing his husband and daughter, they were probably completely unaware of how late it had gotten as they talked. His leg wasn’t too bad, albeit sore, and it wasn’t too cold, even if he had to wrap Victoria in his well-worn army jacket as they started walking. It went down to her knees, still so small even as she hit adolescence. She was hanging off Frank’s arm as he swung her back and forth, squealing like a piglet as her feet left the ground. Mel and Dennis walked behind them, deep in a philosophical discussion about the sentience of virtual assistants.
It was a good night, Jack mused, feeling sentimental. All his children in one place, his husband beside him with grey in his beard. He thought people were crazy when they told him his kids would grow up in a blink, but they did. Only two still lived at home, and the morning chaos had steadily decreased until chaos could no longer be used to describe it. He never thought he’d miss returning home to screaming and disarray after a long shift, but the quiet that greeted him these days sent faint sadness through him. Sadness but pride - his children had been through the absolute worst the world had to offer, but had all come out more than amazing on the other side. It flashed through his mind, them each coming home: first, a teenage Frank with Trinity clinging to his arm like a life-line, then Mel shutdown from a group home, Dennis with scars criss-crossed on his feet and a crucifix clutched in his palm, and finally a toddler Victoria, so fixated on making others happy that she forgot about herself. All so young, with so much pain that they managed to blossom in spite of.
Jack shook his head out of his thoughts, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his cargos. A smile rose on his face at Victoria’s squawking as Frank managed to get her upside down, before the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He heard faint scuffling, unable to place where it was coming from. And then -
“Dad! Daddy-”
He barely registered the abrupt manner in which the scream cut off, or the way Frank instantly stiffened beside him. All he heard was blood rushing in his ears and primal instinct pushing adrenaline through his blood. His baby was calling his name with so much fear it was palpable.
He took off sprinting.
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Nothing registered for Frank, either, besides making sure he got Victoria’s feet back on the ground before he sped after Jack. For all the man’s self depreciation about having a prosthetic and his age, he could move, the heavy clunk of his metal limb bouncing off the sidewalk. Trinity’s scream echoed in his head as his heart pounded out of his chest. He saw Jack’s head swivel before he pivoted toward a flickering light. Frank followed him blindly before stumbling into his back as he came to a sudden stop. He looked past his father into the alley.
The sight before him would stick with him until he died. Robby laid crumpled on the ground, blood spilling from the side of his head. If not for the stuttering rise and fall of his chest, he looked dead. Just a few feet away, a man pressed Trinity up against a wall. One hand was circling her throat, the other buried beneath her skirt as she struggled, gasping weakly. She locked eyes with Jack, and her face crumpled, mouth opening on a soundless plea.
That was all he needed to spring into action, barreling into the man and bodily throwing him to the ground. Before he could blink, Jack was on him, ramming his fist into his jaw over and over again
Without his weight holding her up, Trinity fell like a ragdoll, gulping in huge mouthfuls of air. Her hands pulled at her skirt hem as she backed into the wall, eyes darting around before catching on Frank. He approached slowly, crouched down with his hand in front of him. She flinched backwards minutely, low keening sounds escaping as she hyperventilated.
“Trin”, he uttered, voice breaking, and that was all it took for her to reach for him. He tugged her into his arms, his own tears falling on the top of her head as he pressed his cheek there. He glanced up to see Mel and Victoria in the mouth of the alley, Jack’s jacket still hanging on Victoria as she plastered herself to Mel’s side. Mel was shaken but calm, phone in hand as she rattled off their location. Dennis was crouched by Robby, fingers pressed to his neck.
Finally, Jack, still straddling the man while he delivered heavy punches. His fists were flayed open, blood flecking his arms and face. “Dad,” Trinity whispered hoarsely, eyes glassy.
Frank spoke up for her. “Dad!” Still nothing.
It was Dennis, who had finally reassured himself that Robby was, at the very least, still breathing, who made the final effort. Knowing all too well how he could react to touch, he got in his sight line.
“Dad,” he said firmly, causing Jack to pause. “You’re gonna kill him. And we need you more right now.” Jack seemed to snap back into himself, looking at Dennis and then Robby’s form, still unconscious but breathing. To his daughters, flagging down the ambulance, and to Trinity shaking in Frank’s arms.
He got up to approach her, but as soon as she could see him she whined painfully and pressed herself further into Frank’s chest, muttering something intelligible. He shushed her, confused, before turning his ear to her mouth.
“No more,” she whined softly, “not again, Frank, please, I can’t, I can’t, we have to get out, don’t let him near me, I can’t-”. His arms tightened around her instinctively, turning her away from Jack.
“I’ve got her,” he said fiercely, pushing past the hurt he saw in his father’s eyes. “You get Dad”. Jack looked speechless, a pain pressing so hard into his chest he could feel it, but nodded slowly and walked over to his husband as if in a trance. The moment was broken by the thudding of feet as Mel led the paramedics over, two stretchers jangling behind. One set headed to where Jack crouched over Robby, a pair of police veering off to talk to Dennis, whose belt was now strapped around the wrists of the criminal. The other pair of paramedics cautiously approached Frank and Trinity, speaking softly.
“I’m Nina, and this is Ellie. Can we check you over?” Trinity continued to shake, keening as she ducked her head under Frank’s chin.
“I’m an M4,” he shared quietly. “Can I do most of it, and you guide me?” They nodded.
“22 year old female,” he started, “Found after being asphyxiated in an alley. Probable sexual assault. Alert but not oriented. History of anemia and PTSD.” He paused briefly. “She’s allergic to carrots. And she doesn’t do opioids, not because she has a problem, but because I do. Her name is Trinity.” He looked at them, defeated. Nina cleared her throat.
“Thank you for your help. If I give you this pulse ox and BP cuff, do you think you’ll be able to get them on her?” Frank nodded. He slipped them on her and rattled off the numbers. The paramedics seemed content with her vitals. “We’re gonna get her loaded up in one rig and your dad in the other and bring you guys in.”
Frank processed for a minute and then spoke up. “Can you bring us to PTMC? Our dads are doctors there, we trust them. And…” he cut himself off, took a breath. “Can we make sure the other guy goes somewhere else? Anywhere else?”
Ellie nodded, glancing at the tablet in her hand. “Presby is technically the closest, so let’s send him there. Neither of these two are life-threatening so we can make the extra 15 minutes to the Pitt.” As she spoke, the second stretcher creaked as Robby was settled onto it, strapped to a backboard. Jack stood next to him, obviously torn between Frank and Trinity curled on the ground, Robby in a C-collar next to him, and the three other kids leaning against each other by the street light.
Mel stepped forward. “Dad, you go with Mom. Frank will go with Trin and I’ll call ahead and drive the car there.” Jack opened his mouth helplessly before closing it again. He held Robby’s limp hand tightly in his before taking another step towards Trinity, who continued to shake uncontrollably.
“Trin,” his voice wavered as she didn’t respond. “I love you, baby. You’re gonna be okay. Frank’s got you.” Frank met his eyes solemnly, nodding, before pressing his chin back over Trinity’s head protectively. While the paramedics loaded Robby into the first rig, Jack followed the other three to the parking lot, pressing a kiss to each of their foreheads. As Mel turned the key in the ignition, he turned away to climb into the back of the ambulance, eyes locked on Trinity and Frank until the doors slammed close and sirens began.
“Alrighty, guys,” Nina said. “Your turn.” She and Ellie tried to reach out to guide Trinity to her feet, but Frank turned his back to them.
“Trin,” he tried. She didn’t respond, still letting out low noises as air bellowed out of her lungs.
“We can give her a sedative to make this easier, but we need to get her to the hospital,” Ellie offered kindly. All of Trinity’s limbs locked up at hearing that, breaths coming out faster.
“No!” Frank snapped, before taking a deep breath. “No sedatives. That will make it worse.” He turned to his sister again, resting his mouth by her ear. “Trinny,” he whispered, pulling out her old nickname. “You have to get up now. I’m not leaving you. We’re gonna get checked out and then we can go home. But you have to breathe and we have to move.”
She shuttered, squeezing her eyes closed, mumbling again so only he could hear. “We can’t go back Frank, we can’t, you have to get me out, please, please-”
He could see her spiraling and decided taking a risk was the only thing that might keep her afloat. He cradled her face in his hands, pulling her gaze to his. “Trin. Look at me.” She met his eyes. “I need you to trust me. We’re not there anymore. Home is us and the Dads and Victoria and Mel and Dennis and the ugly green couch. I will never let anyone touch you again. But you have to go to the hospital now.” Her lips parted wordlessly, and she slowly nodded, but when he made a move to stand up, she crushed his arm back around her.
“Okay,” Frank said gently, “okay.” He threaded one arm under her arms, the other under her knees, and prayed to all the gods he didn’t believe in that he’d lift with his legs before straightening up with her cradled against him. He carefully set her down on the stretcher before swinging himself behind her, allowing her to collapse into his chest with his legs bent protectively around her. Trinity’s hands twisted in Frank’s shirt, still breathing hard and shivering, small noises escaping. But they got the rig loaded up, the doors closed as softly as possible, and Frank allowed his head to lean back against the propped-up stretcher as the ambulance rumbled softly to The Pitt.