That aside isn't to him. But it might as well be. It smacks just as hard as the squeal of the chair had. The gnawing, exploding thing in his gut that can't have another dead end. He can't. He needs this too much, and the person with the skills and contacts to make this happen is two steps away. And there has to be a way through the maze of his bitterness and the HPD's hovering judgement.
Which really only makes one thing important, if this is the very last second of a chance he has, and he lets it fall.
"Did you take the money?"
He can hear the way Chin's voice went iced with surprise, like he just stomped on a grave without hesitating. And he did. It's part of why he holds. Fingers laced a long second, to not look too desperate. As desperate as he really is. As everything crawling up his spine is. It's a decided turn, starting the question, without even looking at Chin yet.
"Did you--" He pressed on the word as his eyes slide to Chin's face suddenly. "-take the money."
Chin took a step back, face gone to a shattered spot beyond certain, and voice rough, headed toward cracking, when he said, "No."
Steve shoved out of his chair, leaning on it, the impulse that said this was right. "Then come with us." That nothing about anything Chin had said or done since this morning had given him a second of doubt. "And we don't need to talk about this again." Not today. Not at any point that he'd met and interacted with Chin when he was younger either. "Ever." He wouldn't drag it out to trip Chin up. He wouldn't let Danny.
The fact Chin stood, eyes shining, squinting at him, trying to make sense of Steve or what Steve was saying, made him push right on, too, even as he kept his voice steady. "This is your ticket back into the game. Call it payback. Call it whatever you want. I don't care. But I need you." And he did, and he wouldn't lie about that. Not when the man looked like this, had been raked over so completely already, and the offer had come out of realizing what a resource he could be.
"How do you know you can trust me?"
Because he had to, and, when it came down to it -- "Because my old man did."
Because, even Chin said earlier this morning, his dad had always stuck by him. Even after HPD's decision. His dad was a lot of things, but generous beyond reason was nowhere in the list where it came to family or coworkers.
no subject
Which really only makes one thing important, if this is the very last second of a chance he has, and he lets it fall.
"Did you take the money?"
He can hear the way Chin's voice went iced with surprise, like he just stomped on a grave without hesitating. And he did. It's part of why he holds. Fingers laced a long second, to not look too desperate. As desperate as he really is. As everything crawling up his spine is. It's a decided turn, starting the question, without even looking at Chin yet.
"Did you--" He pressed on the word as his eyes slide to Chin's face suddenly. "-take the money."
Chin took a step back, face gone to a shattered spot beyond certain, and voice rough, headed toward cracking, when he said, "No."
Steve shoved out of his chair, leaning on it, the impulse that said this was right. "Then come with us." That nothing about anything Chin had said or done since this morning had given him a second of doubt. "And we don't need to talk about this again." Not today. Not at any point that he'd met and interacted with Chin when he was younger either. "Ever." He wouldn't drag it out to trip Chin up. He wouldn't let Danny.
The fact Chin stood, eyes shining, squinting at him, trying to make sense of Steve or what Steve was saying, made him push right on, too, even as he kept his voice steady. "This is your ticket back into the game. Call it payback. Call it whatever you want. I don't care. But I need you." And he did, and he wouldn't lie about that. Not when the man looked like this, had been raked over so completely already, and the offer had come out of realizing what a resource he could be.
"How do you know you can trust me?"
Because he had to, and, when it came down to it -- "Because my old man did."
Because, even Chin said earlier this morning, his dad had always stuck by him. Even after HPD's decision.
His dad was a lot of things, but generous beyond reason was nowhere in the list where it came to family or coworkers.