Shock

Reese cocks his head as he looks at Lockheart, wondering if he was reading her eyes correctly. “Would you ever consider…” As tension suddenly rises in the room, his words trail off and he looks up to see what’s going on.

Wyatt’s hand wraps around Aerith’s protectively as his eyes bare down on Frankie.

As Misty rushes forward, both Jason and Wyatt exchange quick glances, their guards not down for an instant. Carson watches in confusion for a moment, never having seen this man before.

The announcement that Frankie is Misty’s brother widens the eyes of both Wyatt and Jason. While the others in the room start to smile and offer greetings, the two remain tense.

Wyatt’s grip on Aerith’s hand tightens and he backs her up several steps to gain more distance between them and Frankie. Misty’s brother? His own cousin? He’d heard that Frank had been in and out of prison, and never in his wildest dreams had he connected the dots to arrive at the right conclusion. Now that he thought about it, he felt stupid for not realizing this in the first place. But now what…Frankie was out, and was here…and apparently Misty had no clue as to what a monster he could be.

Carson stands up and offers his hand to Frankie. “Nice to meet you.”

Reese’ eyes widen as he realizes just who this is. “Well Frank…it’s…this is a surprise.”

Others in the room wave their hellos. Misty was their friend, and if she was enthusiastic about this newcomer, they had no reason not to be.

Jason doesn’t know what to do. He just stands in shock for a moment. Stepping forward, then back again, his nervousness rising. Everyone around him was clueless. He catches Wyatt’s eye again, but receives no help in knowing what to do. Swallowing hard, he makes a decision and steps forward again, this time, all the way up to Frankie. “I think you need to leave.” His tone is low and cool. “There’s no room for you here.”