WANTED: for the greater good

A joke that goes too far

After Virat and Jaddu sneaked off, and Ash had stopped declaiming poetry, it sunk into Rohit very suddenly the magnitude of what had transpired in the past few hours. 

From the way Ash had gone into poetry, Shreyas had grouched about salt in sea air, Kuldeep was fretting needlessly about Yuzi, Shubman was griping how long it'd been since they'd last eaten while playing 'Dog-Cat-Cow' with Zoravar...Rohit didn't think it had sunk into any of them. Possibly, their brains were focused on stupid issues to keep them from realizing the magnitude.

But Rohit realized now.

Rohit, in fact, had realized when they'd been running, too, what they'd pulled their kids into. These kids that were the ones they'd adopted long before they'd become fathers, him and Virat, who trusted them with their lives...

"Rohit bhai, what--?" Kuldeep asked in surprise as Rohit pulled him into his chest and squeezed the breath out of him and ruffled his curly hair till it stood up on the end.

"You wouldn't say anything if Virat did this," Rohit said, grinning.

Kuldeep didn't try to squirm out, and Rohit couldn't bear to let him go, so he extended his other arm to catch Jassi's hand and pull him as close.

"Love you too, Rohit bhaiya," Jassi said gloomily.

"I'm sorry, Jass," said Rohit. "I'm sorry, all of you, actually, but only Jassi knew it from the start what a stupid thing I ended up making us do..."

"BOW-WOW!" "MEW-EW!"

"Shubman! Zoravar!" said Jassi. "Keep it down for two minutes, can't you see Rohit bhaiya is having a reality check? Yes, Rohit bhaiya, you were saying..."

Rohit laughed and didn't grudge the apology to his infinitely saner little brother.

"Yes, so I'm really sorry. I should've listened to you."

"And me?" asked Rahul, who was sitting at the entrance of the stone structure with Ash.

"Yes, you too..."

"And me?" Shreyas demanded.

"Oh, you?" said Jassi. "Didn't he already listen to you? Weren't you and Shubi the ones hyping up his insane plan?"

"Rohit bhaiya, he's having a go at me because I supported you..." whined Shreyas promptly.

"Yes, me too," added Shubman.

Rohit had to let Jassi and Kuldeep go for a bit to pull Shubman and Shreyas into a bone-crushing hug.

How would he have ever forgiven himself had something bad happened on the streets? If Jaddu hadn't had the grenade? If Rahul hadn't found the truck in time?

Rohit's eyes found Rahul, who was looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"I already said I should've listened," Rohit told him fondly, dislodging Shreyas and Shubman, too. "Especially once me, Virat and Jad saw that news in the countryside pub...remember, Ash?"

"Clearly," said Ash drily. 

"The police are apparently authorized to use any means of force to seize us if we're spotted," said Rohit, leaning to grab Rahul's arm. "We escaped by a whisker, if that..."

Rahul backed away, asking in a dangerously calm voice, "What did you say?"

"Oh no," muttered Ash.

Rohit realized he was suddenly at the receiving end of a pair of deadly glares.

"You all saw a news report like that?" asked Jassi. "Virat bhaiya and Jaddu bhaiya are out there right now--"

"Why didn't you tell us?" demanded Rahul.