Hero Gone Rouge

"live a little"

"This is going to be great," Jack said, grinning as he straightened his hat.

Ran chuckled, adjusting his jacket sleeve. "You say that every time we go into town."

"And I'm always right!" Jack proclaimed, throwing an arm around Tom's shoulders.

Tallulah rolled her eyes affectionately. "Just don't cause a scene like last time, please."

"Cause a scene?" Tom would question, pulling on his shoes and trying to tie his shoe laces.

"Oh, shut it. It was just a *little* explosion," Jack said with a smirk.

Tom shook his head suprised, suppressing a smile.

"A 'little' explosion that left a crater in the middle of the street." Ran scoffed

"And set the local fire department on our asses for three hours," Tallulah added, rolling her eyes. "Can we not reenact that incident this time, please?"

Jack rolled his eyes and nodded, walking ahead to the gates with Tallulah.

Ran would look at tom struggling with his laces and kneel down to do them for him.

"Thanks," tom would look away, awkwardly.
Ran would catch on, looking at him when he stood.

"It's fine if you want to go see them," ran would reassure, "you've told me Toby wants to meet, I can take you to them if you want,"

Tom would shake his head, "nah, I... I just want to try forget about it all today,*

Ran would nod, taking Tom's arm and dragging him to the other two by the gate.

"Then it's sorted, let's spend all our money on shit we don't need!"

"Hell yeah!" Jack popped in, smiling and raising his fist.

The car rumbled down the highway, windows rolled down with the warm summer air blowing through. Jack was blasting his music in the front seat, drumming along on the steering wheel.

Tom laughed as he leaned forward from the back seat, shouting over the music, "Jack, can you turn it down a notch?"

"Why? Afraid you can't handle the awesome power of my playlist?" Jack said, still drumming along.

"More like concerned for my eardrums," Ran called from the backseat.

Tallulah rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. "Can we try to have a *normal* road trip for once?"

Tom nodded in agreement as Ran spoke "Just one trip without a disaster, please. Is that too much to ask?"

"You guys are such worrywarts," Jack said, finally turning down the music. "Relax, this will be a totally normal trip. No exploding buildings, I promise."

Tom would look out the window, a sad smile on his face as they drove past trees and other cars.

Ran gave him a skeptical look. "Somehow, I doubt that."

Jack put a hand over his heart, feigning offense. "You wound me, bro. Have I ever led us astray before?"

Tallulah chuckled. "Only every time we go somewhere."

Tom shook his head and removed the thoughts from his head, "Honestly, I think we should invest in some earplugs for these trips. Or a 'Jack Containment System'," he joined in on the jokes.

"Hey!" Jack protested, but he was trying not to smile. "I'm offended. I am a perfectly well-behaved passenger."

Ran snorted. "Yeah, if 'well-behaved' means 'prone to trouble.'"