Fire & Ice | Soulmate AU 1 |

chapter twenty-three

Rowan and I drop Bella off at daycare before we head over to Joseph's house. I got his address off of the League database after asking our AI, who the team has affectionately named Dennis for no particular reason, to pull up his file. He has a pretty sweet loft over in Brooklyn. There was no other family listed for him other than the Blackwells, so his file has left me questioning what he's been doing with his life.

"Do you think he's married?" Rowan asks when we're sitting on the train.

"I don't know," I reply with a shrug. "Maybe. I'm more curious about why he was written off from the family in the first place."

I have last minute doubts when we actually reach the door to his loft, but I force myself to swallow them and ring the doorbell. There's some scuffling around and the sound of stomping feet before the door opens and the man from the picture in the file answers.

The picture is old. The file does say that he's a retired agent, so I'm not really surprised. He has the same striking light blue eyes that I do, but with brown hair instead of blond. His face is scruffy and set into an expression so drawn it's like there's a tiredness that lives in his bones.

"Yeah?" he says, eyebrows raised in question. "What do you want?"

"Oh, I, uh," I stammer. "You're Joseph, right? Christin Blackwell's brother?"

His eyebrows draw together, expression opening up for only a moment before it slams shut a second later. The blank, guarded expression is a lot like looking in a mirror.

"Yeah, why?" he replies, crossing his arms and leaning heavily against the frame of the door, "you find out and come to heckle me for being related to that psycho on the news?"

"No, uh," I say, stumbling over my words once again. I look to Rowan for help. My ever helpful boyfriend just shrugs in response, so I roll my eyes and force myself to concentrate. "I'm...her son. So you're, like, my uncle, I guess."

The man's blue eyes jump wide in surprise.

"Her what?" he repeats. "Christin never had any kids. She wasn't even married."

"I...she was. I was actually under the impression that she was dead for the last five years up until a couple of days ago."

"I'm sure it was a heart-warming reunion," he says sarcastically. "She tell you all about her ungodly brother? Is that why you're here?" his tone has taken on a serious degree of aggression, and I immediately shake my head.

"No, she beat the shit out of me at the assembly in D.C.," I reply, holding up my left arm to show him the bright blue cast, "so, yeah, no love lost when she died. I'm here to figure out how we can take her off the streets."

Joseph's demeanor shifts completely, his body relaxing as he steps away from the door frame.

"Jesus christ, come inside," he says, looking out into the hallway before stepping aside to let us in.

Rowan and I walk past him into the loft. He shuts the door behind us to shield from potentially prying ears. I'm sure Joseph has heard all about what's going with the League lately, even as a retired agent. There's no such thing as too careful right now.

"I...didn't realize, sorry," he says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Wasn't exactly any love lost when they kicked me out, either."

"Yeah, uh, what happened there, anyway?"

He looks around the loft as if he's checking for something before gesturing to the couch in the living room area. The open floor plan of this apartment is like a miniature version of the suites in the tower.