Never Judge

During the week, Al found different ways to distract himself. 

He would spend more time with his instructors, they often complained to Ray that Al was pushing himself too far. Ray explained to them that his son was merely keeping his mind off other matters.

By the time a week rolled by, Al was called into Ray\'s office, unsure about what his father wanted to discuss.

"Yes dad?" Al asked as he entered.

He was surprised to find that Peter Jao was also in attendance. 

Al had a bad feeling about it when he sat down.

"How has your week been, son?" Ray asked.

"I\'ve been trying to keep myself busy with school, work, and training." Al answered. "I miss Cara, of course, but it\'s only a week."

Ray gave him a sad smile before glancing at Peter.

"Dad, what did you want to talk about?" Al asked, dreading the worst. 

"Al, we understand that Cara needs to be under guard at all times, but she also needs to go to school." Peter told Al with a frown.

Al could tell that Peter really felt bad about breaking this news. He understood that both men were only thinking about what was best for both Al and Cara. 

"So we let her go to school then come home." Al said with a shrug agreeing to what his father and Peter were saying.

"She will be under guard at all times." Ray Lawrence told Peter, as if warning him that if his daughter complained there would be consequences. 

"She should be allowed other friends too." Al told his father. "She will feel restricted if it\'s just me and Eric."

Ray was silent as he considered the option.

"She can have more friends but Eric needs to be with her at all times. Someone needs to keep watch and make sure she doesn\'t say anything dangerous." Peter suggested. 

Al was honestly surprised that the man was more than willing to have someone invade his daughter\'s private life. 

"Those terms should be acceptable." Al nodded as he looked to his father, hoping that the man would be fine with what Peter suggested.

"It will do, for now." Ray told Al.

"Can I tell her?" Al asked.

"Not tonight." Ray warned his son. 

"I\'ll talk to her first, and mention how you\'ve been trying to get the boss here to let her go." Peter said as he grinned at Al. 

Al laughed and nodded.

"Will you really paint my dad as the bad guy just so that Cara would forgive me?" Al questioned Peter, surprised at how much the man was willing to do to patch up his friendship with Cara.

Ray laughed and shook his head.

"It\'s fine Al. I\'m more than happy to be the bad guy if it means you and Cara patching things up." Ray told his son.

"Great, thanks Dad, Mr. Jao." Al said excitedly. "I\'ll talk to Eric and talk to him about the plan. Is that all?" 

  "Al, how is everything with your goal to be targeted as the vulnerable member of the group?" Ray asked.

It was the real reason he had called his son in and simply added the matter of Cara into the conversation. 

"It\'s doing quite well, at least for me and Eric. I\'ll be calling for a meeting with Anthony and Tristan later this week." Al informed his father.

"Good, good." Ray said with a nod. "Once you are done speaking with Eric, join me downstairs. There is a side of the Underworld that I believe you need to see as early as now."

Ray\'s tone was somber, but Al didn\'t want to put too much meaning in the way his father spoke. 

He simply nodded and agreed.

"Is there anything else, dad?" Al asked.

"No, that\'s it. You may go." Ray dismissed his son, sending Al running through the mansion and knocking at Eric\'s door.

"What?" Eric asked as he yanked open his door, drying his hair. 

"Training done already?" Al asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, surprisingly Andres joined us today. Did you know that Angelica shoots better than Andres?" Eric asked, chuckling as he walked away. 

Al smiled and nodded as he entered and closed the  door behind him. 

"If I didn\'t train as much, Angelica would be better than me too. That kid\'s a natural, as if she was born to be part of the Underworld." Al commented as he sat down on one of Eric\'s couches.

"Sure, make yourself comfortable, cousin." Eric told Al as he rolled his eyes. 

"My dad\'s house." Al pointed out.

"Still not yours." Eric said with a shrug. "So I doubt you are here to hangout, what\'s up?"

Al smiled as he began to explain the situation.

"We will allow Cara to go to school." Al proudly announced as if it was his idea.

"That\'s great, Al. But we? What do you mean?" Eric asked, cautious of what Al meant.

"I negotiated with dad that Cara should be allowed to have friends other than us." Al said, not exactly answering Eric\'s question.

"Isn\'t that dangerous? What if she gets mad at you and suddenly decides to expose your identity, isn\'t that a big risk?" Eric questioned. 

"It is, yes." Al nodded. "That\'s why Mr. Jao suggested that you need to be there at all times." 

"Like a baby sitter?" Eric raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yeah, kind of." Al scratched the back of his head.

"She won\'t be happy with that." Eric pointed out. 

"I know she won\'t be, but this is the best option till we patch things up and she understands our side, our concerns." Al explained to his cousin. 

"When do you plan on setting her free?" Eric asked as he leaned forward and considered the plan.

"We tell her tomorrow, she\'ll be eager to go to school again." Al explained.

"What if she doesn\'t agree?" Eric had a worried look on his face.

"Then she stays in her room, there is no room for negotiation on this." Al told Eric.

"Fine, I\'ll do it. I\'m sure she\'ll take the offer by the way. So will you tell her it was your idea?" Eric questioned his cousin. 

"Mr. Jao is already trying to set it up that way." Al confirmed.

"You do know that if she realizes that Uncle Ray or Mr. Jao had anything to do with this plan, she will be even more mad." Eric pointed out, not caring to filter his words.

"It\'s the best I can do for her for now." Al said with a nod.

"Alright. I\'ll go with you tomorrow when you speak to her." Eric agreed, making Al very happy.