Between Worlds

Chapter 6

Finch hadn't seen Shadow all day, but he'd refused to let it worry him or to go looking. Shadow had made it clear he didn't want or need babysitting.

Finch wasn't in any mood to be a babysitter, anyway. It was just after eight at night and a party had started up next door that was guaranteed to go on for at least a few hours. Every sudden burst of laughter, every unnecessarily shouted exchange, sent feelings through him that his mind quickly converted into anger because anything else was much harder to tolerate.

Finch sighed as he left his room and went to lean against Adin's desk. "Any jobs?"

Adin glanced up from his computer. "No. Everything's quiet tonight."

Finch sent an irritated glance in the direction of their neighbours. "Yeah, I wish."

"Would you like to borrow my headphones? They don't fit on my head very well right now anyway. I'm not sure why I ever thought they were a sensible purchase."

Finch shook his head, squeezing his hand into a fist and compressing his emotions into that single point so that he could pretend he was fine until he could be alone. "Nah, I think I'm just gonna go out for a drive for a bit. Call me if we get a job or party time's over."

"Of course. I hope you have a good drive."

Finch opened the door to the garage and the light from the house caught on two glowing eyes. Shadow was sitting in the corner.

"Oh," Finch said. "Hey."

"Hey," Shadow said, his voice barely carrying across the garage.

Finch held up his car keys. "Want to go for a drive?"

Shadow nodded.

Finch leant out of the garage to speak to Adin. "I'm taking Shadow with me."

"I doubt I would have even realised he was gone, but thank you for telling me," Adin said.

Finch found his way into his car in the dark to avoid blinding Shadow with the garage light and Shadow got into the passenger seat. That was progress, right? On the first night, he'd sat in the back.

Finch pulled out of the garage and then sighed and rolled his shoulders as they drove down the street. "I don't like it when the neighbours have parties. Adin says I have PTSD, but y'know, who the fuck doesn't?"

"Your heart is beating faster," Shadow said.

"Hm?"

"It's usually slow, but tonight..."

"Ah. Yeah. Figures."

Shadow nodded.

"It just makes me want to hit something. I'm not some violent asshole who puts his fists through walls. Not anymore, anyway. It just makes me feel all wound up tight inside and I just want to..." Finch squeezed his hands against the steering wheel until his knuckles went white.

"If you want to get out and hit a tree or something, I don't mind."

Finch laughed. "No, it's fine. Talking helps. I know that's not something you're big on, so thanks."

"Where I come from, it would be dangerous to speak this loudly, and I don't have to with Luther. I'm not very used to it, but I'm trying to adjust."

"Your world sounds like it was very different from this one."

Shadow nodded.

"Mine was too. I mean, the sun and all that physical shit was the same, but... yeah. The stuff with people was different."