Laurie hadn't been able to meet up with his grandfather for a long time as the old man had been quite busy. So he decided to go to the address Christopher had given him of the place he worked at once before.

He wasn't surprised to find himself standing in front of a huge mansion and he stepped up to ring the bell. The place was in the suburbs, surrounded by a wilderness that could have been a garden a long time ago but had been left unkempt.

It was Laurie's first time coming there and so far, the mansion looked more haunted than inhabited to him. He didn't know why his grandfather worked there as he had never talked about his work whenever he was with Laurie.

All he knew was that he had been working with that family almost his entire life and Laurie's dead father had also held a job under them. He also knew that if his mother found out where he had gone, he would be in deep trouble.

But right then, his priority was to meet his grandfather. He would deal with the consequences later.

Shortly after the bell had chimed, the door opened revealing Christopher Hendricks who was quite surprised to see him standing outside. "Laurie?"

"Hi," he smiled, "I came to meet you."

Christopher wasn't too eager to let him in, "I gave you this address for using in case of an emergency."

The boy shook his head, "well, I haven't seen you at all in two months. For me, this is an emergency."

Right then, Lavina wasn't at home so there would be no problem if he brought Laurie in. However, with the current situation of Lucas staying over at the place for the time being, he couldn't be sure whether he should bring Laurie in or not.

"Mister Hendricks, has Aunt Vinnie returned?" A low voice came from inside and Laurie's ears perked up, his curiosity increasing.

"No. Not yet."

"Then who are you talking to?" Soon enough, a boy had stepped up to the door, curious hazel eyes looking up at Laurie, "oh..."

"He's my grandson, Laurence," somewhat reluctantly, Christopher introduced him.

"Why are you standing outside then? Come in."

Laurie looked around the mansion in wonder, still a bit confused about what work his grandfather did. 

"I'm the butler here," he answered the unspoken question before Laurie could ask, "also, this is the first and last time for you to come here without telling me beforehand."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time," he replied, feeling that his grandfather would get in trouble due to him and probably that was why he was forbidding him from showing up unexpectedly, "and I promise to leave in a short while."

"Sit."

Lucas was still hovering around the two, as if deciding whether or not to talk to Laurie. It had been a few weeks since he had been brought to Gotham but in all that time, he hadn't met anyone other than Lavina or Christopher.

It was due to the fact that the doctors had advised Lavina to keep him away from other teens his age, in order to avoid even the least of trouble. And though Luke wasn't comfortable in the presence of strangers, staying isolated for so long had started to bore him out too.

So far Laurie seemed like a friendly and sweet person to him, that is, he did not feel scared of him.

"Hey, why are you hiding in the corner?" Laurie spoke up, noting that the boy was hesitant to come close but too curious to leave.

"Laurence, don't," Christopher warned but didn't stop Lucas when he finally approached them. But he kept close watch over him and Laurie, hoping nothing went wrong right then or else Lavina would be furious.

From all he had been told about Luke's past, he too felt it was risky for him to be in any new person's company. For starters, Luke had a very unpredictable and volatile nature so he did not want anything to become a cause for him to get hurt himself or hurt others around him.

But Laurie had no idea about it and he was just as intrigued by the boy with hazel eyes and deep brown hair, intending to befriend him.

"Hi," Laurie smiled brightly and held his hand out towards Luke who had stopped at a safe distance from them, "what's your name?"

"Lucas," he replied, hesitant to shake the offered hand.

"You can call me Laurie," he remarked, "I just came by to visit Grandpa. I hope that's not a problem with you...?"

The boy shrugged, "yeah, no problem."

"Thanks."

Christopher realized after a while that the reason Lucas was still there was that he was fascinated by Laurie who was so strikingly different from his own self. But not interacting with any people his age had made him awkward and he didn't know whether he should talk to him or just watch from afar.

Seeing that made Christopher feel bad for the young boy who had been kept isolated from the world for so long. Perhaps it wouldn't be that bad to let the two become friends. 

If it hadn't been for his vow of keeping Laurie out of reach of the Vikanders and the Court, he might have introduced the two to each other himself. But he knew very well that if Laurie and Luke became friends, that would undoubtedly drag his grandson into the mess created by the Vikanders and their Court of Owls.

And he would rather die than let his grandson suffer a similar fate.

"Laurie, you must go now," his voice interrupted Laurie who was telling Luke about the city, his talkative nature helping him to befriend the boy rather easily.

"But Grandpa, me and Luke have just started getting along."

"You don't understand. Miss Vikander will be back any moment and she will not like to see you here," he remarked flatly, hoping Laurie would leave before the woman actually returned.

He wanted to have little to no interaction between the last Vikander heir and the remaining of his family. 

"Alright..." Laurie did not object to that remark and stood up, turning to face Lucas, "guess I will see you later then."

"No," the old man intervened, "you must not visit here again."

"Grandpa..."

However, much to their surprise, Luke spoke up instead, "Mister Hendricks, can I not be friends with Laurie?"

He hesitated, not knowing what to give him as an answer. At last, he remarked, "I don't have an answer to this question."

Laurie realized there must be some deeper reason behind his grandfather's reluctance to let him interact with Luke so he did not push the matter further. "It's alright, Luke. You can still consider me a friend. I think your aunt wants you to be safe so she might not want me hanging around here."

"I will talk to Aunt Vinnie then, she won't mind."

It astonished Christopher to see how much Luke's mood had improved after meeting Laurie so he couldn't bring himself to reject his suggestion outright. But that put him in a conflict too because if the boy talked to Lavina about Laurie, then she would order him to let his grandson be friends with him.

But right then, the clock was ticking fast and he decided to focus on sending Laurie home before Lavina returned. He could sort out his conflicting thoughts later on.

***