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When the chief executive up on the bench cleared his throat, calling attention to himself and the commission, the chamber fell silent. Robby looked around – there were maybe twenty people all in all in here; some people from hospital administration, some from his team. The people he'd asked here, in case this turned sour, were also here. Everyone sat up straighter now. A chair scraped over the marvel floor, a sound that echoed in the room, bouncing off the walls and the high ceiling.
Robby cast a sideways glance at the lawyer next to him, who gave him a curt nod. She was a fae with pointy ears and even pointier teeth, looking calm and not in the least worried. He wished he could ask her where she took that confidence from; but they couldn't speak in this room – the sound carried too easily. Up on the commission's bench, everyone had a secret and an agenda, but down here, among the chairs and lawyers' tables, secrets were hard to keep.
Robby knew what the verdict was going to be from the way the chief executive looked at him before he began to speak. He tried not to show his disappointment.
"The council has decided," the chief executive said loudly. "We cannot have a fallen warlock among the staff."
"The reputation," a second executive added with a grave nod.
"People need to be able to trust us," a third chimed in. "And your department."
Robby swallowed. He was afraid that might happen. The chief executive had been gleeful at the prospect of replacing Langdon with one of his own, 'trusted' warlocks. They were just waiting in the wings for Robby to retire, to replace him with James.
They'd made their decision already, but this was the time to fight. He couldn't take this without arguing for what he thought was right. He couldn't not try to get Langdon back. "I beg the council to reconsider. He's imperative for the work we do." Imperative to the work and imperative to Robby's peace of mind.
The chief executive looked down at him. "So will James. We all know Langdon won't keep to the light. He's got the darkness in him now."
One of the council members, someone who looked like he'd dabbled with the darkness himself at some point in his past, nodded gravely. "It's only a question of time until the temptation becomes too strong. You know the kind of job you do. Langdon's obviously not cut out for it."
Robby thought he heard the word 'soft' coming from one of the other executives.
Robby shook his head, vehemently disagreeing. "He will," he insisted. "Besides, you've got him shackled. He can't use it again."
"He used blood magic, Robby. No one comes back from that." The chief executive put his forearms on the table, like he was reaching out, trying to get Robby to understand. "There are a hundred warlocks just as good as him, who can do the job without resorting to the darkness. He's not needed here. You yourself cast him out and you've been doing great without him." Someone pushed a sheet of paper at the chief executive. "I've got the numbers here. Not even the slightest dip after he left."
Robby nodded. "While that may look the case, we scrambled." He resorted to some of his cheaper arguments. "He's accustomed to the idiosyncrasies of the team. We'd have to teach a new guy. He's well-liked, fast, experienced. He's the best warlock resident I've taught and worked with."
"James has been doing great work, hasn't he? And he's reported back that he's fitting in well."
'Reported back,' Robby thought, that was the whole problem. James, for all the good work he was doing, was most definitely not fitting in well. "He's arrogant," he said out loud. "He's not a team player. I need someone passionate who actually wants to work with my team. Not just… wait for my position to open." There was a reason Jack called James 'Kingslayer' behind his back.
The other executive, the one who was so concerned about reputation, asked, "And what about your team? Have they been asked if they even want Langdon back? James tells me one of your residents, Santos, already expressed concerns. A Whitaker is also, and I quote, 'not sure?'"
Robby huffed. Whitaker wasn't sure about anything yet. "Santos has a problem with warlocks in general and she's seen the effects of blood magic on its users and victims, her opinion should not weigh as heavily as it does." When the executive looked like he wanted to speak, he hastily added, "Given that she does not know Langdon and is basing her opinion solely on her experience." And as much as he hated it, he repeated, "I need to remind you, you yourself made sure he can't use blood magic again." For all the good that it did, because the shackles pretty much suppressed everything that made Langdon the man he was. Whatever the decision was here, the next fight would be to get those shackles off Langdon. They couldn't keep a warlock from his magic. That was cruel.
"Be that as it may," the chief executive began.
Robby interrupted. "I trust him more than James. I already lost Collins. I need a team that will support our mission. Not one that will try to stab me in the back as soon as I turn around."
That caused murmuring among the executives. "Now, James is only preparing for his future role as chief attending."
Robby shook his head. "And how fast would he like that job? How fast do you want him to have that responsibility? Because that's what it is, a responsibility." Next to him, his lawyer gave almost imperceptible approval of that tactic. A quiet 'go for the throat' thrummed through him that Robby followed only too readily. "You want to replace me? Fine. But be aware that'll put you in the spotlight. All the criticism we get now? I can guarantee you James will not sacrifice himself for the job the way I do." He smiled. "Good luck finding a replacement three months into his first year. And good luck with the media fallout."
Finally, his lawyer spoke up, probably to shorten the proceedings. "We ask you to reconsider your decision. There was no dip in the team's performance after Langdon left? That was Dr. Robinavitch. You try to replace him with James, I guarantee that your power grab will not go unnoticed with the public." That was as much of a threat as they could allow themselves to say out loud in this room.
One of the executives who hadn't spoken yet, used the silence to ask her questions. "Why do you want Langdon back when you yourself cast him out? Why him?"
Robby took a breath. This was it. Hadn't he asked himself the same question? He'd been so fucking disappointed with Langdon. He'd felt betrayed. He thought he would never ever be able to forgive him.
He looked at the executive and shook his head. "Because while it's true that his use of blood magic is horrible, it tells me something else, too." He got the interested, curious looks that he'd hoped for and continued, "He's willing to die for what we're doing. He didn't use it for personal gain or out of curiosity for the darkness, he used it to be able to do the job better." He looked at each of the executives. "And that's someone you'd want doing this job, isn't it? Someone who tries so hard to do this job faster and better, that he does something so monumentally stupid."
He heard an amused snort somewhere to his left. He could guess who it came from. Jack was somewhere over there, with Jesse and Ellis and Dana. They all knew Langdon. None of them had quite been able to believe how he could fall into the darkness. But now that it had happened, they'd do their best to get him back. He'd brought them as character witnesses if the decision didn't go his way. He'd come prepared. He'd brought two patients whose lives Langdon had saved with blood magic. He'd even brought the guy whose blood Langdon had used after his own had become tainted – who had forgiven Langdon long before anyone else.
"You're here to fight for him?" one of the executives asked.
"I am, yes."
The executive looked at the others at the commission's bench, leaning forward, looking at them. Then he turned to Robby again. "You're prepared for what happens if he falls again?"
Robby didn't hesitate. He nodded. "I am."
A piece of paper wandered towards the chief executive from one side. It was examined somewhere in the middle, someone else wrote something on it, passed it on further. From the other side, another piece of paper was passed towards the middle where the chief executive sat. He read the notes on both and finally nodded.
"There will be random screenings," the chief executive said. He lifted his gavel again. "He is yours until he falls again."
The executive who had earlier been so invested in reputation, now said, "Make sure that doesn't happen."
The gavel banged again and murmuring began. The people in the room stood up and started talking among themselves. Some were already filing out the door. One of the nicer admins patted Robby's shoulder hard, congratulating him with force. Jack and Ellis started pushing through the crowd to celebrate with him in person. He saw Jesse talking to the two patient witnesses.
"Relieved?" his lawyer asked.
"You have no idea." Robby leaned back. This was only the first step, however. Now, with Langdon back, the hard work would begin.
"Thank you," he said and reached out to shake her hand. "For everything you've done."
His lawyer shook her head and held up her hand, effectively stopping his attempt at a handshake. "Our side has a vested interest in keeping Langdon in your department. Don't think we helped out of goodness. We want him there, don't forget that."
Robby nodded and took his hand back. That was the part he hadn't told anyone about, least of all Jack. "I know we made a deal. I'll honor it. You can take any memo…" he trailed off at the look she gave him.
The lawyer smiled at him, almost like she was sad for him. He was about to ask what that look meant when she said, "You're not the one who's going to honor it, Dr. Robinavitch." Her smile was full of sharp teeth. "The deal is for Langdon. You just made it for him."
Robby froze. He'd agreed to this trade under the assumption that he would be the one to pay for the help. As far as he knew, that had been what he'd signed off on. "No," he said now. "No, the deal was-"
"It'll be alright, Dr. Robinavitch," she interrupted. "After all, he won't even know that he's paying, will he?" With that, she stood and pulled her papers together. He was about to jump up and – he wasn't sure what he was going to do to stop her, but he would do his best to keep her from Langdon – when she said in a low voice, "Don't make a scene, Dr. Robinavitch. The contract is already signed. If you'll excuse me, I'll get our investment unshackled now. You'll get him back exactly the way you wanted him, minus one small memory."
Jack came over at that moment and put a hand on Robby's shoulder. "Thought you'd look happier," he said with a soft smile. "You got him back."
Robby nodded, holding his anger down with everything he had. He'd kept the deal a secret, he'd have to hold onto that secrecy now. "Yeah," he said and watched as his lawyer went to the council's bench. Would he get to talk to Frank before she got to him? Or would he have to guess what Frank couldn't remember the next time they saw each other? Or worse, would he know instantly what memory she'd taken?
"Robby?" Jack asked, hesitating. He could always smell it when Robby was worried or anxious.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am happy," he said and forced himself to smile through the fear. "We're getting him back."
"Good. It's been long enough."
"Almost ten months," Robby said. The next time he looked towards the bench, the council had left and his lawyer was gone. He breathed out, feeling shaky and light-headed. Goosebumps were running down his back and arms. What had he done?
"Too long." Jack's hand on his shoulder slid down his arm and pulled a little to get him moving. "Let's go, come on, let's celebrate. Dana said she'd pay the first round."
Robby nodded absentmindedly and followed Jack outside. He'd wait, he decided. He'd wait and see and hope for the best.
Outside, at the bottom of the steps, Ellis and Dana were already waiting – pretending to grab fresh air while Dana smoked a cigarette. Jesse seemed to have disappeared with some of the other watchers.
"Do we know when he comes back?" Dana asked first thing after they'd hugged and congratulated him.
"Fourth of July," Robby said with a dry mouth.
"How is this going to work?" Ellis asked. "You saw how he was when they let us see him at the hearing. The magic shackles…" She shivered at the memory of what picture Langdon had presented that day. "How's he supposed to work without his magic?"
"They're giving it back to him," he told them as if that was a given.
That surprised everyone. They looked at him, because they, too, had heard the verdict. They'd heard the discussion about the restrictions. He shrugged. "My lawyer… she said she'd get him unshackled."
He could feel Jack's eyes on him. Guilt coursed through him. The way Jack inhaled told him he could smell it. He didn't ask, but Robby could feel the questions rolling off him. They were taking off the shackles, but at what cost. Someone was invested in Langdon coming back to Robby's department with his full powers reinstated, but why.
He didn't know the why, but he knew the what: The fae wanted a powerful warlock who had successfully used blood magic undetected for months before anyone suspected anything, reinstated in the hospital. Frank, who had somehow managed to not get consumed by the darkness. Frank, who had promised Robby that he'd never use it again, who'd do anything for a second chance, even let himself get separated from his magic.
Robby looked over at Jack whose nostrils flared.
"He's a warlock, after all," Robby told Ellis with a shrug. It was a lazy non-explanation that they hopefully bought because they didn't have as much experience with the council as he did. Jack certainly wouldn't buy it. He smiled at her and Dana. "What are they going to do, right? He needs his magic." When his eye landed on Jack again, he let his smile drop and shook his head. Don't ask, not here.
Jack nodded patted his shoulder, maybe a little too forcefully for it to be casual. "Well, first step is that you got him back. We'll figure everything else out together. Right?"
"Right," he echoed. With that, their small group took off towards the bars where they'd told the department they'd go for drinks if everything went well. Ellis had sent a text to the group chat, letting everyone know. Robby and Jack hung back, Dana and Ellis led the way.
"Tell me," Jack said. "You tell me what you know or I'll…"
"Not here."
Jack nodded curtly. "Tomorrow then. I'll call you." With that, he reached out and squeezed Robby's arm. "Together." Always together.
When Dana turned around, Jack had already disappeared into the park to their left. "Where'd he go?" she asked, surprised to find only him there.
Robby looked up towards the sky. It wasn't quite a full moon yet. "Maybe he's hunting."
Knowing Jack, he was probably off in Pittsburgh's underbelly to shake down his contacts about recent conspiracies involving the fae. Good. They'd need to know everything if they wanted to fix whatever Robby had gotten them into.