Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Timon and Pumbaa had their conversation because of what Pumbaa saw.

The police had finished with them. Their stories had been told, their statements given or taken, depending on how one looked at it.

Pumbaa Baharia emerged from the interview room and out into the lobby. Timon Berkowitz was already there. It was unclear just which one saw the other first. For a moment both were frozen.

“Hey,” Pumbaa began. “How are-”

And then his partner stood up from the plastic chair he’d been sitting in-

-and promptly fell to his knees.

“What the-?” Pumbaa almost stumbled as Timon’s arms wrapped around his thighs, and words started to fall from the redhead’s mouth, muffled by his sobbing and his face being buried in Pumbaa’s jeans. “Whoa, slow down! I can’t hear you.”

Damp spots started to soak through the denim, and Timon spoke more clearly, albeit still tear-clogged. Pumbaa caught the words “Please don’t leave me!”

“I’m not going anywhere! I only just got here,” he said, and Timon cried harder. Pumbaa untangled himself and knelt down to look him in the eye. “What’s this about?”

“Whaddya think, man?” Timon wailed.

“I don’t know! Timon, how… Are you…” A deep breath. “What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m so, so sorry! Please don’t break up with me! Please-”

“Whoa! I’m not gonna break up with you! Why the hell would you think that?!”

“ ‘Cause of her! ‘Cause I-I… ‘Cause of what I did with her!” Timon’s hysterics resumed. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“What? No! It’s not your fault, okay? It’s not! I saw you, you were more scared than I’ve ever seen ya! What’d she do, did she have a gun? A knife?”

“Yeah, but that’s not it! She didn’t make me do it!”

Pumbaa paused. “What?”

“I told her it was okay!”

“Timon, you… you looked terrified…”

“I told her to do it! I told all of them they could do it! I was worried that… that if I didn’t they’d find you guys! I c-couldn’t let them hurt you and… and so I started talkin’ to them and I told ‘em to do it! And they did! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“Oh my God… Did the others do somethin’ too?”

Timon shook his head. “N-no, didn’t have time! They were gonna but she wanted to go first.”

“Okay. Okay… c’mere.” Pumbaa stood up, helped Timon to his feet, and pulled him into a hug. “It’s gonna be okay. I don’t think you did anything bad. It doesn’t count if you did it to save us.”

“I’m sorry!” His partner clung to him, burying his face in Pumbaa’s shoulder. “I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay! It’s okay! I’m not mad… shh. Shh. I’m not mad.”

“But… but I-”

“She hurt you. You did what you had to. I’m not mad, okay? I couldn’t be.”

“But I… I could! It… worked. Doesn’t that mean I…” Timon’s face went red.

“No! C’mon, you know that just… happens sometimes. I guess if she was gonna hurt you if you didn’t, that’d make it happen out of fear? I don’t know, I’m not a doctor, but I don’t think it means anything. And even if it did, you’re sorry and you’re not gonna do it again, are you?”

“No! I mean… I-I would do it again, if I had to go back and stop them finding you again, but I’m not gonna go looking for it.”

“Then it's okay.” Pumbaa wiped away Timon’s tears with one finger. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Chapter Text

Mr. Bigg and Mr. Baxter had the conversation because they needed help from Giovanni.

Vito Bigg was not a good man. No one in their right mind would have pegged him as such. Still, he wasn’t quite the monster the press presumed him to be. He loved his daughter. He loved his wife. And Nadine… And his friends, which Mr. Baxter most certainly was. A friend. An associate. A colleague. Someone he didn’t need the excuse of old country tradition to listen to.

“I need a favor.”

Theirs was a private audience. Without even bodyguards present now. Consigliere and don could speak freely, without need for putting on a show.

Bigg leaned forward in his chair. “That so?” A small smile; an arching brow. “What kinda favor are we talkin’ here?”

Baxter swallowed and squared his jaw. “The personal kind.”

The don tented his fingers and cocked his head. “Personal, hm? I’m listenin’.”

“Do you remember my son?”

“Your son… Buster, was it? Yeah, I remember. He must be, what, eight by now?” Twice Nadine’s age. “There a problem with him?”

“Well, not with him, I mean, he is not the problem. He has a problem, I’m afraid.” Baxter took a deep breath and spoke as if the words hurt him. “His tutor molested him. Bitsi walked in on it.”

“What?”

“I know this isn’t really related to… the business, but-” Baxter’s hands clench white at his sides. “-I did say this was a personal favor, and he’s my son.”

“You’re asking me for murder?”

“Yes. I am.”

If it had been someone else, Bigg might have turned him down. Turned him away. But… Baxter has been good to him.

“Tell me more.”

“About what happened?”

“About the guy.”

“Buster’s teacher recommended him. He was supposed to help him in school and… His grades were improving so we all thought it was working out, before, well…”

“Name?”

“Richard Victoria. He’s sixteen.”

“Ah.” Bigg tapped his fingers. “He in juvie? That might complicate the issue.”

“Uh, yeah, he is. The prosecutor's pushing for Green Lake. Listen, I can wait till he gets out or transferred-”

“Might not be a need for that. Let me think.”

“What are y-”

“Viridiana,” Bigg muttered. “Lotta his guys are ‘round that age. Some on the inside. Could call in a few favors.”

“You don’t have to on my account.”

No one likes Viridiana much. For the same reasons that Bigg always has. He’s a loose cannon. Crazy as any man in the world.

“I want to,” he said. “Consider it a gift between friends.”

“You really think he’ll go for it?”

“For me? Yes. We have… an understanding of each other.”

Baxter relaxed, as much as any man ever did around Bigg. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem.”

Nadine…

“Let’s say we owe it to more than just you.”

Chapter Text

The Yawas had their conversation because of Violet.

The door slammed open. And a girl’s voice shrieked “Son of a bitch!” through the floor.

There was one thing all four of them had in common - when one of the Sensational Sisters entered the room, it was always, well…

“Vi’s home,” Lily said.

“You don’t, like, say.” Daisy rolled her eyes, descending the stairs and poking her head down from the railing. “Sooo… how did your little study session with Nerd-bert’s-son go?”

“Herbertson.”

“Whatever. How did it-”

“Is Misty home?”

The other two looked at each other, then back at Violet. “Uh… no?”

“Good. Older sister meeting. Now. And by now I mean, like, five minutes ago.”

Daisy and Lily immediately straightened, heading down to the front room. Lily grabbed a paper and pencil and everyone sat down. “Okay, so. What’s the deal?”

“It’s Misty.” Violet bit her lip. “I’m not allowed to say who told me… but… someone told me she got… sort of molested.”

Lily’s mouth closed so fast that her teeth clicked. Daisy gaped.

“W-what?”

“I… um, well… I-”

“Violet!” Daisy grabbed her sister by the shoulders, not shaking her… exactly, but trembling hard enough to move them both. “The person who told you this… Who was it? One of her friends?”

“No.”

“Who?! One of your-”

“I can’t tell y-”

“Bullshit!” Daisy shouted, startling herself a little. “Violet Yawa, you better tell me right the fuck now!” She turned to Lily. “And you’d better call the police.”

“Actually, I don’t think we need to tell the police about this. The… person’s… already dead. Um…” A sigh. “Fine. Herbertson had, like, this… thing. A few weeks ago. Had to do with those Christian crazies in the woods?”

“What?! Did they get Misty too?!”

“What? No! Why would they want her? They probably think she’s just white!” Violet shook her head. “No, uh… he’s just going to a support group. For the… you know… part. And he met Misty there.”

“What?! No way Misty’s going to a support group behind our backs. No. Way. Right, Lils?”

“Um, I dunno… It’s not a swim night. Do we, like, actually know where Misty is?”

“You lost Misty?!”

“N-no! I…” Daisy floundered. “She said she was playing at her little boyfriend’s house.”

“The vet’s kid?”

“No! No, the other one. With the gay brother.”

“Ash,” Violet supplied. “But, like, are you sure?”

“Why would she lie?”

“Um… you guys really aren’t gonna like this next part…”

“Spill.”

“Well… the person who did it… it was…” Violet took in a deep breath. “MomwastheonewhotouchedMisty!”

“WHAT?!”

“Herbertson said it was some weird, like, purity thing? To make sure she hadn’t done anything weird. And I was thinking about it on the way home… Isn’t it kinda weird that we keep stealing Misty’s clothes cause we don’t think they’re pretty? I mean, we don’t do that to each other. If anything we steal clothes because they are pretty, and… Like, if Mom was Dad instead, all the body talk and stuff’d be pretty fucking weird, right?”

“… I guess,” Lily said. “But… but it’s Mom…”

“Hold on. Vi, what exactly did he say she did…?”

“It wasn’t, like, specific… but I think she must have felt her… or something. He looked pretty grossed out. A-and… remember how they used to sleep together?”

“C-c’mon, Misty’s a little girl…” Daisy slumped. “That bad, huh?”

“Maybe worse.”

“OhmyGod… Why the frick didn’t she say anything? We could have… we would have…”

“Maybe she didn’t think we’d listen.”

“Why would she think that?”

“Um…” Lily bit her lip. “I mean, we did always side with Mom before. Maybe she thought we’d do it again?”

“What?! It was never this serious before!”

“I mean…” Violet shrugged. “I’m sure she probably knows we didn’t know. But did she, like, know that we didn’t know? You know? This is a big thing. She may not have wanted to risk that we wouldn’t listen.”

“Well, that changes now!” Daisy put her fist in the palm of her hand. “I say when Misty gets home we tell her about Herbertson and-”

“Wait! We can’t let Misty know it was Herbertson! There’s a confidentiality form! He could get in a lot of trouble!”

“Fine, then we’ll lie about it! We still need to talk to her.”

“Like, duh… but how?”

“She’s our sister. It’s not rocket science.”

“What’s not rocket science?” Misty Yawa walked in at that very moment. All three of her older sisters looked at her. “… What?”

“How much of that did you hear?”

“Just the rocket science part. I just got back from Gary’s place.”

Daisy raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said you were at Ash’s.”

“Um… I meant Ash’s-”

“You blush when you lie.”

“I do not! A-and I’m not blushing!” She pushed past her sister, heading for the kitchen. “What are you guys all standing around for, anyway?”

“… Talking about you.”

“Oh ha ha, very funny. Yeah, I’m gonna get a-”

“I’m serious, Misty,” Daisy said. “Look, why don’t you just, like, come in here for a sec. Lily’ll make hot chocolate or something. Just… sit down.”

“Okaaayyy. Why are you guys- Ohmygosh! Did something happen to Togepi?!”

“What? No, your little egg thing is fine. Don’t worry.”

A pause, a glare. “Why’re you acting like this? Are you all aliens? Did someone body snatch you? Are you imposters?!”

“Uh… no?”

“That’s exactly what an imposter would say! Sus!”

“… Misty, just sit down, we really need to talk.”

“Why? Is someone dying? Or already dea-”

“Misty, we found out what Mom did to you.”

They watched as their little sister turned pale.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Misty, it’s okay-”

“No it’s not! Who told you that?! Was it Ash?! I’m gonna kill h-”

“It wasn’t Ash,” Violet said, tentatively setting her hand on Misty’s shoulder. “We, um…”

“We went through Mom’s old diaries!”

“R-right! Yeah! So, you don’t need to deny it… We know, okay?”

Misty stood frozen, face red, eyes watery.

“It’s ok-”

“I want Brock!”

“Um… we could, like, call him. Probably? Do you want that?”

Misty nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“Okay. No problem.”

“I’ll call him!” Lily volunteered. “But, like, Misty? Why… why didn’t you tell us? We would have believed you.”

“Why would you…” Misty suddenly looked horrified. “Oh my gosh! Did she touch you guys too?!”

“What? No, I mean…”

They looked at each other.

“Not touched,” Violet said quietly. “But I remember, before you came along… We all have t-tomboy phases, right?”

“No one picks a muddy flower,” Lily said and the others shuddered. “That’s what she always told me. M-maybe we should have known…”

“Are you okay?” Daisy bent over to truly look at her little sister. “Because it’s okay if you’re not okay. You know? This is… big.”

“Yeah. Real big.”

Misty looked down. “… I don’t know. I’m doing better but I don’t know if that means I’m okay.”

Violet broke first.

“I’m sorry!”

“Huh? Why are you-”

“I didn’t know! And… and… I’m sorry! For everything. For being mean to you and not looking out for you and… and… all that other shit!”

“Me too!”

“I’m sorry!”

The discussion ended with everyone in tears.

Chapter Text

Hansel and Gretel had their conversation in person because he hadn’t seen the missed calls.

Hansel was not sure why someone was knocking on his door.

He’d paid the bills on time. He’d made dinner instead of ordering out (hours ago). And he’d… Well, it couldn’t be someone from Tinder. He wasn’t sleeping around anymore.

Maybe it’s them. He reached for the baseball bat next to his bed and struggled over to the door. What he was not expecting was for his sister to immediately pull him in for a hug.

“HANSEL! Hansel, I am so, so, so sorry and I know it probably will take more than an apology and I should have believed you when you told me and I’m the worst sister ever and you’ll never forgive me but I am so, so sorry!”

Hansel blinked. “Are you dying?”

“No! I’m fine… Er, not fine, but…” She pulled back for a moment, let him see the tears on her face. “I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you about the Ark, and I don’t know if you can ever forg-”

“The Ark…? Like Noah’s-” She flinched. He flinched. “Y-you okay, sis?”

“… I saw the video.”

Oh. Oh dear God…

“Which one?”

“There was more than ONE?!”

Hansel swallowed. “Y-yeah.”

She swallowed too. “I saw the bit with… with the lighter. I stopped watching after that.”

“Oh. Oh. Thank God it was one of the tamer parts.”

She blinked.

“What?”

“… They… they… A cigarette lighter… was a tame part?!”

Shit.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean- Don’t freak out, okay?”

“What are you apologizing to me for?!”

“You shouldn’t have had to see that.”

“Don’t worry about me! I should have believed you from the start. Hansel, I- Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course,” he forced a smile. “Geez. You’d think it was th-the end of the world or… somethin-” His voice broke. “Be honest. Did you only come here to ask me that?”

“Uh, yes? Because it’s a big deal?”

“I mean…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s really okay. Perfectly understandable.”

“What?”

“It’s like you said, sis. I lie about a lot of things, why would this be any different?”

“Hansel… No, you’ve never… You wouldn’t lie about something like this. I should have known that.”

It hurt to look at her right now. It’d hurt worse if he looked away.

“Please don’t blame yourself. Please? I don’t… It was my own fault anyway. It was over when I called you. You couldn’t have…”

“It was not your fault!”

“It… kind of was. It was my choice.”

“What are you talking about?”

Hansel bit his lip. “I got in trouble with a few people. They gave me a choice. It was… that… or death. And… I chose that.”

“That doesn’t make it your fault.”

“I-”

“No, listen, it wasn’t your fault. No matter what you think. You… you didn’t deserve any of that.”

Hansel stared, and suddenly, his eyes started to well up with tears.

“Hansel? Are you okay?”

“… Hold me?”

She did, and he broke down in sobs.

Chapter Text

Junichi and Gretel had the conversation because of a nightmare.

“Mama! Mama ga hoshī!”

It was one in the morning when Gretel heard the screaming. Thrashing, too, coming from the guest room. She sighed as she woke up, going down the hall and knocking on the door. “Watanabe? Are you okay? Can you hear me?”

“Hebi janai! Hebi igai wa nani demo!”

Alright, that did it. She opened the door and found him, sure enough, flailing in his sleep. She walked over and started shaking him. “Watanabe! Wake up!”

He did, opening his eyes, and it was quiet for a moment. Then he started turning his head frantically.

“It’s me,” Gretel said, as calmly as she could manage. “It’s Agent Beck. And you’re safe. You’re in California and you’re safe.”

“… Beck-sama?”

“It’s me. I’m going to sit down next to you, okay?” She waited for him to nod. “Bad dream, huh?”

“Did you… understand any of that?”

She shrugged. “I caught ‘Mama’ but not much else. It… didn’t really matter. You were making a lot of noise.”

He nodded, put his face in his hands. “Sorry. It… yeah. It was a bad dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He shrugged. “Just… one of the… There was a camera.” He said that as though it explained everything. To an extent, it did. “Sorry for panicking when I woke up. I… forgot I was blind.”

“Sorry?”

“I still see, in my dreams. So when I wake up, sometimes I forget.”

“Oh…” She was glad he couldn’t see her expression. “What did you see this time?”

“… Your brother.”

“I’m… sorry?”

“They used to make me pick from o-other videos. Me… and the other guards. The worst ones - besides the snuff films, I mean…” He shuddered. “Tell him I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“Yeah, um… there was… there was a lot. To choose from,” he shuddered.

“I know,” she quietly mumbled. “But that doesn’t mean-”

But Watanabe was suddenly frowning in thought. “Wait… what do you mean you know?”

“Pardon?”

“You said that like you knew what my choices were. So what exactly did you know? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Shit. “Uh…”

“Beck-sama?”

She sighed. “We keep track of that Ark website. The… videos. To help us with our investigation.”

At first he looked confused. Then the color drained from his face. “You… you saw some of mine… didn’t you?”

“… More than some.”

“How many…?”

She didn’t answer.

“How many?!”

“Almost all, I think. This was… well, part of the reason they asked me to work with you. Because I knew.”

He went silent. Started to tremble.

“Watanabe? Are you-”

“Don’t look at me!”

“I’m not,” she promised. “But-”

“No, no, I’m not okay.” He shook his head. “I… I didn’t want anyone to see me like that… I mean, I knew they were filming me, but… I…” He started hugging himself. “… If you saw them… other people did too, and most of them probably weren’t FBI agents.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I thought you knew…”

“I did! I just… There were so many videos! Why are mine-” He gagged. “People saw me…”

“I’m sorry. Look, I…” She sucked her teeth. “Maybe you want to talk to Hansel about this? He might know-”

“I don’t want to bother him with this!”

“Okay, maybe I can call your therapist? Emergency appointment-”

“I don’t want to bother him either!”

“What do you want?”

“Those videos off the internet, but I’m going to go ahead and assume that’s off the table.”

A sigh. “If videos start disappearing, the Ark will get suspicious.”

“Figured.” A sigh. “Any chance there’s a secret time travel department?”

“Nope.”

Another sigh. Then… “Which ones did you see?”

“What?”

“You’re… here. If you saw them, I at least want to know which ones. If nothing else so I know what I can and can’t mention.”

“I saw what they made you do to your eyes,” she said quietly. “Not the blinding, but… after…”

“That wasn’t my eye.”

“Jesus Christ.” But she continued. “Snakes… the lighter… the dogs… the razor. And a lot that didn’t really involve sex…”

“Wait, the kids killed all the dogs, how could you-” A pause. “Of course the others filmed it, why am I surprised?! I’m such an idiot!”

Quiet for a moment.

“So… did you see…”

“The things they made you eat?” She nodded, then remembered and confirmed with a spoken “Yeah.”

“What about… the…” A deep breath. “The, uh…”

“The rats? Yes, I saw that too.”

“Fuck…” He breathed out. “Anything else I should know about?” He shot up. “Wait, you saw other videos, too.”

“Technically-”

“Any from Japan?”

“Not your brother,” Gretel said. “Brothers. Or your sister. Probably not anyone you knew.”

“J-just me then.”

“I’m sorry.”

A sigh. “You know what? It’s… it’s okay. Just karma coming back to bite me in the ass.”

“What do you-”

“It’s pretty much what I did to those kids. If their videos are out there, mine may as well be, too.”

“You mean the-”

“The rape. I’m a rapist,” he said dully. “You must hate me.”

“Not really. I’ve worked with maniacs and serial killers. This whole thing is kinda tame in comparison. And I am sorry, for what it’s worth. Even if you should be, ah, sorrier.”

“I know English is not my first language, but even so, I’m pretty sure sorrier isn’t a word.”

“There’s not really a better one for it.”

Sigh. “Hey, Beck-sama?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. For… not dooming me.”

A small smile. “You’re welcome.”

He went back to sleep shortly after, and at least he seemed to rest better this time.

Chapter Text

The Robinsons had their conversation because they were worried about him.

“Sit down.”

“Um… okay?”

It had been three days since Wilbur’s last trip to the Palace - and Cornelius’ first. Three days since the hospital. Since Carl. Since…

Three days was long enough to leave things hanging.

So here they were, gathered around the kitchen table - Robinson to Robinson to Framagucci to… whichever side Dimitri and Spike were related to. And Wilbur was the only one sitting down.

“Am I in trouble?”

“Oh, no, no, honey, you’re not in trouble,” Franny said quickly. “This is just a talk.”

“About…”

Franny sighed. “About what happened, baby. It wasn’t your fault. You know that, right?”

“What?” Wilbur blinked. “Of course I know that!”

“He’s lying! I say we pull him in for a group hug!”

“Art.”

“What? Seems like a good idea to me! Right, Gaston?”

Franny held her hand up. “Don’t answer that.”

“We need to know why you didn’t say anything,” Cornelius clarified. “And we need you to know that it was… not the best idea.”

“But I already told you! I didn’t want you to know because… I didn’t want you to worry. Like you are right now.”

“Are you sure that’s the only reason you didn’t say anything?”

“Yes I’m sure. Super, duper sure.”

Cornelius frowned. “Did you not trust us?”

“What? No!”

“Did you think we would blame you?”

“No! And I swear it wasn’t about the car thing! I knew that was different from this.”

“Then why?”

“Because it wasn’t about me! It never was! He did it to hurt you!”

“Wilbur…”

Franny put an arm around her crestfallen husband. “That’s the full truth? You wouldn’t lie to me?”

“That’s a question…”

“Mister-”

“What do you want me to say? I’ve been lying to you, so…” He played with his fingers on the table. “This part… this part is true. I just didn’t want him to hurt Dad too.”

“Wilbur, honey, that’s still not a good reason.”

“It seemed like a good reason at the time.”

“Wilbur, do you know what the job of a parent is?”

Wilbur shrugged, “To take care of their kid?”

“That’s right. And you were really, really hurt, and we didn’t know. That meant we couldn’t take care of you like we should have. And taking care of you is our job. It’s the best, most rewarding job we have. And we want to be able to do it properly. Also,” Franny frowned. “I don’t think you realized just how much harm this could have caused you.”

“You mean like, AIDS and stuff? I know about STDs, they talked about that in health class.”

“Do you realize just how bad they are?”

“Sure I do… um. Well, I know some of them can kill you…”

“That’s right. And even the ones that don’t can do really awful things to your body if you don’t get them treated right away.”

“You could start peeing blood. Or break out in blisters all over your body - and if those got infected…” Cornelius trailed off. “We’re not saying this to scare you. We just need you to understand.”

“I… I would have told Carl,” Wilbur mumbled. “If I noticed something wrong.”

Cornelius sighed. “Be that as it may, it’s better to catch these sorts of things early, before they become problems. Actually, at the hospital, you’ll often be put on medication if you’re brought in shortly after… something like that, to prevent it from happening at all.”

Wilbur blinked. “They can do that?”

“Yes. They can.”

“Oh…”

Cornelius reached over to squeeze his son’s hand. “We would have taken you straight away. You being sick would have been less of an issue.”

“I’m s-”

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t know.”

“And that’s why we’re upset with Carl,” Frannie said. “He’s your friend, but he’s also a grown-up. He would have known about things like this. And he should have come to us regardless.”

“But I begged him not to. Shouldn’t you be mad at me too?”

“You’re younger than he is. Your brain isn’t as developed, and you can’t think things through as well. Would you be mad at a toddler for hitting someone? Or as upset with them as if it was one of your friends? Same principle applies here.”

“Would you be mad if I was older…?”

“You’re not older.”

“Listen, buddy?” Cornelius said. “I’m asking you to trust us here. Listen to the grown-ups on this one. Let us take care of you.”

“But…”

“It’s our job. Okay?”

Slowly, Wilbur nodded. “Okay.”

Silence.

“Alright, now can we pull him in for a group hug?”

They all did.

Chapter Text

Tulio and Miguel had their chat because the redheaded kid was giving Miguel the heebie-jeebies.

“Are you sure we’ve gotta leave Russia so soon?” Rocky asked the nearest agent. “I wanna see something cool.”

“Rocky,” Tulio groaned. “We aren’t here to sightsee. Besides, you’ll be able to see some stuff in America. That’ll be cool, right?”

“I guess so, but I’ve been to America.”

“Outside the warehouses?”

“Well, no…”

“Then you’ve never really been to America. Trust me,” Tulio told him, climbing up onto the plane after him. “This is gonna be cool. Besides, you ever been on a plane before?”

“Uh, no. So this thing will fly us to America?”

“Yep. Pretty neat, huh?” Tulio was soon waved down by Miguel, who he sat next to. “You’ll like it, trust me.”

“Okay…”

Rocky started exploring the cabin, and Miguel turned to Tulio. “So… what’s with the creepy kid?”

“What’s with the FBI agents and how come they haven’t arrested me?”

“I asked you first.”

“I… Fine, but after I tell you, you’re telling me, deal?”

“Deal!”

“Okay, so, Rocky’s from the warehouse…”

“Um, duh.”

“I mean he’s from the warehouse. He grew up there.”

“What…?”

“Well, I guess he grew up in a pedo ring and then got sold to the warehouse, but basically, yeah. He thought that was normal.”

“What the actual fuck?!”

“That was my reaction.”

“So this dude’s been raped from the goddamn cradle?”

“Pretty much.”

“And he’s just… cool with it?”

“Yup.”

“That’s… that’s just fucked up.”

“No kidding. I’m just hoping he has a family waiting for him. From what I’ve heard the island kidnapped him or something - he said he was three when he got there, so he probably has somebody looking for him.”

“I hope you’re right.” Miguel paused. “Wait, did you say island?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

The Duke of Dolls.

“Did this island make videos?” he asked. “Is that how the agents knew who he was?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right. How did you know that?”

“I… uh… There’s a group I go to for help with all the… you know, warehouse stuff. One of the kids that goes there…” He trailed off.

“Oh. Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“So… you’ve been getting help?”

“Yeah. Kinda had to.”

“That bad?”

“No… Well, yes, but that’s not what I meant.”

“What do you mean, then?”

Miguel said nothing, but pulled Tulio into a hug, clutching him hard against his chest. “I love you,” he whispered. “I love her. When I got out… I needed a way to get you guys back… and I… I didn’t know any other way! I went to the feds and I got them involved and maybe that’s gonna bite us in the ass but… I had to save you, Tulio. I had to!”

“Miguel! Miguel, relax, I’m not mad.” He held him back. “I just wanted to know…”

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

A pause.

“You… mentioned this was about both of us. Have you found her?”

“If I had, she’d have come here to meet you.” Miguel leaned into his seat heavily. “No, we haven’t found her. Not like we haven’t tried, I know I at least have.” A pause. “We do have some suspects, though.”

“Suspects?”

“For members of the inner ring. If we can get at least one of them to talk…” Miguel sighed, and leaned on Tulio’s shoulder. “It’s… it’s been rough…”

“I can imagine.”

“… I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too.”

Miguel smiled and snuggled against him.

“Hey, Tulio, I- Oh, hey, you must be the boyfriend! Tulio wouldn’t stop talking about you once we got him started.” Rocky stuck out his hand. “Rocky Rhodes.”

“Miguel.”

And the two shook hands.

Chapter Text

Glomgold had his conversation with Chel when he found her in his car.

“Hi there!”

He spun around so quickly that he felt as though he might be sick on himself. What he had just seen didn’t help much with that.

In his backseat was a woman - a beautiful woman with long black hair - and beside her was a tiny boy.

She smiled. “Not bad, sir, but you should probably practice not looking like you’re gonna throw up. We’re okay though, I think they thought it was the smell.”

“Chel!” the boy hissed. “Have you gone nuts? I thought we were gonna hide!”

Glomgold gaped. “Have we met…?” he asked at last.

“No, we haven’t met, and no, I haven’t gone insane,” the woman said. “Look, sir, let’s get going and I can talk on the way. I think we all want to be out of here ASAP.”

Glomgold settled into the driver seat and muttered, “You’ve got that right.” The boy blinked and looked frantically between Glomgold and Chel, sure something was going on but unable to guess what. The car pulled away, and Glomgold pointed at the woman in the rear view mirror - Chel, was it? “Start talking.”

“I know what you really want us for,” she said bluntly. “You’re rescuing people.”

The boy’s eyes lit up.

Glomgold stared. “How… how could you possibly-”

“I also know that you aren’t Scottish. South African, probably. Left when you were a young adult. Probably… no, definitely thrown in jail there. Don’t imagine that was much fun.”

“How-”

“I can see it,” she told him matter of factly. “I can see everything. Not like in a psychic way, though. I’m just really observant.”

Like the Detective…?

“Huh. I know someone like that… But anyway!” he said, dropping the Scottish accent entirely. “So you know. Yes. Yes, I and some… associates are buying people free.”

“With all due respect and appreciation, I’m not sure that’s the best idea,” Chel said. “Isn’t that just going to give them funds to… No, no, you’re a businessman, you’d know that! Of course! You’re planning something to take down the whole operation and you need witnesses to pick out the place’s weak points!” She was practically glowing with excitement now. “I can do that for you! I can use my skill!”

“Well, that and I’d like to not leave the kids in there any longer than necessary,” Glomgold said, looking at the boy. “What are your names?”

“Chel Nūnez,” the woman said. “I’d shake your hand, but, like, you’re driving.”

“And him?” He glanced at the boy in the mirror.

“I’m Koda,” he replied. “Um, Dakota Orson.”

“I see, and where are you two from? Would anyone in the area be looking for you?”

“Probably not,” Chel told him. “Not for me anyway. I’m from Colombia.”

“What about you?” he asked Koda. “You have any family around here?”

“My parents are dead, but I have an uncle and Ke… Chel!” He stared at the woman. “You’ve gotta find that guy!”

Glomgold blinked. “What guy?”

“My friend’s brother! I had a friend in there, Kenai, he said he has a brother. Called Denahi, I think? He didn’t think Denahi would be looking for him but I said he would-”

“Wait. Is your friend Es- I mean Inuit? About sixteen years old? With another older brother who died in a car wreck, and a rich great-aunt who used to be in pageants?”

“You know Denahi?” Koda pawed at Glomgold’s arm. “Is he okay? Is he looking for Kenai?”

“Whoa! Yes. I didn’t know his name but I’ve met him. Long story. And yes. He hasn’t stopped since the day your friend left.”

Koda squealed. “I knew it! I told him so!”

“Do you know where he lives?” Chel asked. “I told Kenai I’d go find him, tell him he was… alive.” Not okay, but alive.

“I don’t know where he lives,” Glomgold said, “but I do know he’s staying with his aunt. If we can find her-”

“I can find him.” Chel nodded. “Got it. Shouldn’t be too hard, I don’t think.”

“You know, I see him every Friday-”

“I can’t wait!” she snapped. “You have any idea what they do to people in there?!” A pause, and a glance that made him feel extremely self conscious. “Well, you have some idea, I’m sure.”

“Hey, I-”

“Look, just give me a ride into the city and I’ll find Denahi. If I vanish off the face of the Earth, you get a hold of him when you see him and do things your way. Capiche?”

Glomgold didn’t think she was giving him much of a choice.

Chapter Text

Gang and Choe had their conversation in the middle of the night.

“Gang…? Gang, wake up.”

He groaned. It had been some days since Choe made it back to them. Since he’d come to the hospital. Not a lot of time for improvement. Choe was still a mess of nerves and hysteria and anger. He still wouldn’t let Gang out of his sight. It had been his idea to share the hospital bed. And - as embarrassing as it was - Gang wasn’t going to deny his hyeong anything right now. Not even this.

“Do you want me to get up?”

“My leg hurts.”

Gang looked. “Your… right leg?”

“Left.”

Gang stared at it, or rather at the lack thereof. “Uh…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Doctor said it was phantom pains? But I can’t fucking sleep.”

“Oh.” Gang swallowed. “Is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?”

Choe looked at his brother for a moment. Looked around for Eomma. She’d gone back home to sleep. He clutched onto Gang. Tightly. And then looked at his brother. “I need you to listen.”

“Listen?”

“I need to tell someone everything. And you’re here. And I can’t fucking sleep. Can you do that? Can you listen to me?”

“Hyeong…? Do you really want that-”

“Yes!”

“O-okay. Of course. I can listen. I can do whatever you need, but you already told me about-”

“I told you what happened - some of it - but not all, not how… And I need- I need…”

“Shh. It’s okay, Choe. It’s okay.”

“… They raped me… The first time they raped me was right after I raped Jo.”

“You didn’t-”

“Don’t. Fucking. Lie.” Choe’s eyes grew dim. “Right after, they sat Jo up. And they said he could watch. His eyes were clouded over, his mouth was hanging open. I couldn’t look away. I forget how many there were.”

“Choe…”

“Hwang held me down. I remember he was laughing. He sounded so… so fucking smug. ‘Look at you, such a good brother. So willing to share.’ ”

“Hyeong, I’m sorry…”

“They left me there. You know what it was like before? No blankets. It was worse this time. No one to-” He shuddered. “It was cold, Gang. It was cold without you.”

“Is this why you wanted me to stay with you… like this? Do you need another blanket? I can get a nurse. Or Eomma can get you the electric one from home?”

“Shut up.” Choe actually sounded like himself. For a moment, Gang was relieved. “I just want to make sure you’re not going to leave again. That’s it.”

“O-oh… Hyeong, I’m not going to leave. I promise.”

“Not like this, you’re not.” Choe clutched onto him. “Never again. You don’t fucking leave.”

“I won’t.”

Tighter. “Hmph. … They dragged Jo off again.”

“… Any idea what they did to the body?”

Choe shook his head.

“Maybe that’s for the best.”

“I didn’t eat anything for the next few days. Just in case. I’ve heard they do that, you know… in their prison camps…”

“Fuck.”

“I started up again eventually. They never fed me much anyway. Every day they’d come into the cell and ask their questions. Every few days or so they’d fuck me when they were done. Even the women. You have no idea how much it hurt.”

“Wait, the women?!” Gang blinked. “I wouldn’t think they’d want to.”

“Gang, you know damn well the girls there are ruthless.”

“I meant more from a practicality standpoint. I mean, you know, you’re a guy. They’re girls. That sort of thing has risks for them. I mean, they’d be the ones saddled with the kid. The half-Southern kid. Why should they risk it?”

Choe suddenly went pale. “You… you don’t think…”

“I-I mean, maybe not!” Gang quickly backtracked. “You probably killed most of them getting out, right?”

“I don’t know!” Choe said, suddenly panicking. “I don’t know… If she has a kid… What do I do if she has a kid, Gang?!”

“You don’t know if she made it…”

“I don’t know if any of them actually died! I couldn’t see! I just shot and shot and… and…”

“Hyeong. Hyeong, please, you’re gonna set off the heart monitor-”

“I DON’T CARE!”

“Easy. Easy. Take deep, deep breaths,” Gang said, shushing him. “Look, even… even if she did get pregnant, what’s she gonna do? Cross the DMZ to make you pay child support? A-and even if she did cross over, she’s not going to get in contact with you. And more likely than not, she probably would’ve just borrowed a coat hanger. Okay? So just forget I said anything.”

Choe bit back a sob, but eventually lay back enough for Gang to wrap his arms around him.

“Shh… it’s okay…”

“She used to try and strangle me while we were… I remember passing out and thinking maybe I wouldn’t wake up again. But I always did and it always got worse and everything hurt so much… So much. All the time. Still fucking hurts…”

“Do you need-”

“No! I just need you to fucking listen!”

“O-okay. Okay. I’m listening.”

Choe nodded again. “You remember how they wouldn’t really clean up? When we got hurt?” Gang nodded. “They started to, and I really fucking wish they didn’t. It wasn’t the sort of thing you should use to clean up wounds. I don’t know what it was exactly. Maybe bleach? Or lye? All I know is it burned. It fucking burned. It hurt… so, so badly…”

“Shhhh… it’s okay, hyeong-”

“No it isn’t. It’s not fucking okay. And I don’t need you placating. I just need you to fucking listen.”

“Alright.”

“Seon tried to make me drink it after Hwang fucked off. Ju didn’t let him. Wanted me alive or the higher-ups would be pissed. And… and… I wish they had killed me. I still wish they had killed me. Because then I wouldn’t be here right now and they wouldn’t have-” He coughed. “I stopped reacting as much when they fucked me. They started using canes and batons and… whatever else instead. Sometimes more than one thing at a time. And eventually I just let them…” Gang held him a little tighter. Choe buried his face in his shoulder. “It hurt. It always fucking hurt. And they just had to add insult to injury… You know those… those fucking nicknames they gave to you and Jo?”

Gang shuddered, but nodded.

“I finally got one. ‘Mulmangcho’. You know what they call that flower in English?”

Gang nodded. Hwang had told him. “The forget-me-not.”

“Yeah, they thought it was real fitting. Because… because…” His grip tightened. “Why did you leave me? Why did you have to- What are you going to do when they come back for me?”

“Hyeong, they’re not coming back.”

“They will. They know… They’ll find me.”

“They won’t. They’d have to get past the DMZ first. And…” Gang’s eyes went hard. “And then they'd have to get past me. And Uncle. Don’t worry. You’re safe. You’re safe. That nightmare is over.”

Choe shook his head.

“It is. I promise you it is. They’re not going to come looking for you, I promise.”

“You don’t know that. And if they do… you’ll just leave me again.”

“No, hyeong. No…”

“You will. Because you f-fucking hate me… You hate me, you always have.” Choe sniffed, eyes overflowing. He pressed himself further into his brother’s side. “That’s why you left…”

“No. No, that isn’t why I left you. I left because I…” Gang held his brother closer. “I left because I needed to get out. I left because we had to run. You couldn’t walk and we had to run.” Gang held him tighter. “And there is nothing in my life I’ve regretted more.”

“W-what?”

“I should have stayed. Or at least gotten you out.”

“I didn’t want them to hurt you…”

“What?”

“I didn’t want… I would have let you go, dongsaeng, but you left me. You and Jo left me… W-whose idea was it?”

“It was his.”

“Did he hate me?”

“Choe, nobody hates you.”

Choe raised an eyebrow at that. “Come on, we both know that isn’t true. Plenty of people hate me.”

“Like who?”

“Half the kids we went to high school with.”

Gang opened his mouth and closed it. “Okay, w-well, no one in our family hates you.” Gang sighed. “You couldn’t walk and we needed to run. That’s all there is to it. Nothing else. I promise.”

“I’m scared, Gang.”

“I know. I know, hyeong… but don’t worry. I’m not going to let anyone touch you again. I shouldn’t have let this happen in the first place.”

“You’re right. You shouldn’t have.” Choe didn’t let go of him. “I hate you.”

“I know.”

“I missed you.”

“I know.”

“W-when they come back…”

“They’re not coming back, hyeong.”

“You don’t-”

“They won’t. Don’t worry. You’re never going to see any of them again. Never again.” Gang looked down. “No matter what.”

Choe didn’t say anything else after that. Maybe he believed Gang. Maybe he didn’t. Either way, he fell back asleep not long after.

Chapter Text

Gi and Gyeong had their conversation because something was obviously wrong.

If you had asked Gyeong where he thought his roommate was going to be in the morning, he might have said school. Or work. Writhing in pain on the bathroom floor wasn’t on the list, and neither was the hospital. And yet, here he was. Here they were. And currently, Gyeong had just one question on his mind.

“… What happened in there?”

“It’s nothing-”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“… Something with my spine. The doctor said nerve damage.”

“Nerve damage? From what? I thought the doctors at Hanawon-”

“This happened after Hanawon. I… It was an accident. I don’t want to get into it.”

“A car accident?”

“I wasn’t driving.”

Gyeong recognised a half-truth when he heard one, but that wasn't the important part right now. “And you’ve been… what? Covering this up ever since?”

Gi said nothing.

“You should have told me.”

“I didn’t want to bother you-”

“Right. Because being told upfront that you have a chronic condition would have upset me more than finding you writhing in pain on the bathroom floor for what looks like no goddamn reason.”

Gi let out a snort. “Sarcasm doesn’t really suit you-”

“Hwang.”

Gi bit his lip. “I didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Hm.” Gyeong thought for a moment. “So, how long have you been diagnosed with nerve damage?”

“Um… technically, twenty minutes.”

“Hwang!”

“It’s the truth!”

“That’s not what I meant. And you know it.”

“Okay. It started back in Korea.”

“When?”

“Months after Hanawon. Like I said, there was an accident.”

“Have you been taking something for it? Aspirin will destroy your stomach.”

“Er… I’ve never really been in a position to take anything. Hard to move when things get really, really bad.”

“And… how long have they been getting really, really bad?”

“Oh, it’s never more than a day or two at a-”

“That isn’t what I meant and I think you know that.”

Gi sighed. “About a year.”

“A year? This has been going on for a year and you didn’t do anything? Talk to a doctor? Talk to someone?”

Gi looked down and mumbled something.

“Come again?”

“I’m not weak.”

“Hold on, is that what this is about? Hwang, it’s got nothing to do with being weak.”

“You grew up… You know what it’s like there.”

“We don’t live in the North anymore. No one’s going to lock you up for needing-”

“I don’t need anything. I can manage just fine on my own.”

“Because that’s working out so well.”

Gi sighed again. “I don’t need help.”

“Yes you do. What’s your plan otherwise? Are you just going to be stuck in bed on random days until you die?”

Gi bit his lip.

“Please tell me that wasn’t the plan.”

“No. But… no one else needs to know.”

Gyeong slapped a hand to his forehead. “You need help, Hwang, and no one’s going to be able to help if they don’t know.”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“It’s dangerous. You are putting yourself in danger - for what? Your pride?”

“I don’t have anything else.”

“You have me. And… and A-hu. And all your work friends.”

“My family would be ashamed. You know they would. And anyway, this… it’s not going to kill me.”

“First off, this is the family whose solution to having a deaf daughter was to lock her away forever, yes? So who even cares what they think. Secondly, not going to kill you? Is that really your baseline? And it potentially could. What if the pain gets really bad in the middle of traffic, or in another dangerous situation? What then?”

“That isn’t how this works. I can tell-”

“Just like you were able to tell this morning.”

Gi pouted. “That’s… different.”

“Hm. So you can tell me with absolute confidence that what I described isn’t going to happen?”

“I… That’s my business. Not yours.”

“Last I checked we live together. I can’t not worry when you’re… like this. Look, just listen to the doctors. They know what they’re talking about. If they say you need help, then you need help.”

“I’m not going around in a wheelchair.”

“Take whatever they prescribe you then. It’s better than nothing!”

Gi pouted slightly. “I don’t-”

“You have to. You need to take care of yourself, keep yourself healthy. If for no other reason than you pay half the rent and I don’t want to have to find another roommate.”

“Touching.”

“Well, you clearly won’t do it for your own sake.”

“… Fine.”

Chapter Text

Ma-gang and Ma-choe had their conversation because - depending on who you ask - the younger walked in at just the right or just the wrong time.

“Hyeong? Eomma says she wants you to come down for dinner.” Gang knocked on the door nervously. Choe didn’t answer. “Hyeong? Come on. Eomma can’t keep letting you eat dinner in your room… Okay, she can, but I think she’d feel better if you came downstairs for once.”

Still no answer.

“If you don’t say anything I’m going to come in.”

Nothing.

Gang reached for the door handle. “I’m coming in-”

“No! Don’t! Just… just leave me alone!”

Too late. Gang pushed the door open. Judging from the sound, he guessed Choe had tried to lock it. Unfortunately for him, the thing had been busted since Appa died. When his brother had screamed so loud and slammed it so hard that the neighbors had heard him three floors down.

“Look, if you don’t want to talk to me, just…” Gang stopped. And stared. “Hyeong! No!”

“I-”

“Stop! Just- just stop! Eo-”

“Don’t call for Eomma!”

“Get the rope off your neck first!”

Because there was no way around it. Choe had a noose around his neck and a chair under his feet, and if he didn’t get the noose off, there couldn’t be a conversation. And he shouldn’t be hesitating. He shouldn’t…

But he was.

“Hyeong, this is not up for discussion! Get the fucking rope off!”

“Gang, you don’t understand-”

“Yes. Yes I fucking do. Get. The fucking. Rope off.”

“Dongsaeng, please…”

“No, I’m not letting you…”

But, Gang realized, Choe wasn’t talking to him. He wasn’t even looking at him. He was staring off into the distance. At someone. At something. At-

Gang grabbed Choe by the waist. “Take it off now. Or I’ll do it for you.”

Choe still wasn’t looking at him. Was still staring off in the distance. Deciding now was probably not the time to be taking any sort of chances, Gang pulled back, away from the direction his brother was facing. Choe fell off the chair, out of the rope, and soon enough both of them were on the floor. It took a moment before Gang was on his knees, shaking his brother.

“Choe? Choe, are you with me?”

“Dongsaeng…”

“Jo isn’t here! Jo isn’t here, and even if he was, he wouldn’t want you to do this!”

Choe squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, curling into a fetal position. He flinched when Gang patted the side of his face.

“Choe! Please, come on, you’re scaring the shit out of me!”

“He’s here. You… He’s been here this whole time. Watching me. He knows-” Choe’s face crumpled. His voice broke. “He knows what I did to him! He wants… He needs me to do this! He knows I don’t deserve to-”

“Hyeong! What the fuck are you talking about?!”

“I shouldn’t be alive!”

It took everything in Gang’s power to not attempt to slap some sense into his elder brother. “What the hell are you talking about?!”

“They were going to kill me! I should be dead! I-I raped our brother, Gang! Our brother! I shouldn’t be alive after that! I… I need to die! That’s all there is left for-”

Gang hugged him. Tightly. “Shut up. Just shut the fuck up! You’re not going to die! I won’t let you! I can’t let my brother die! Not again!”

“Jo wants-”

“Jo’s dead. He can’t… He was probably reborn as a mouse or something! He can’t talk and he’s not here and he doesn’t hate you! He wouldn’t want this…”

“He’s been with me since Gwangju.”

“W-what?”

“He’s been… It started when I left the hospital. He’s been watching me. He knows I hurt him-”

“He was dead! They had a gun to your head! They hurt you-”

“I should have died for him. I should have died rather than… I need to die now!” Choe was full-on crying. “I need to die. I want to die…”

“You want to leave me?”

Choe looked up, tears still streaming. “N-no… Gang, this doesn’t have anything to do with you-”

“Yes it does!” Gang was crying tears of his own. “Whether you want it to or not it does! If you die, you’re going to leave me! You’re going to leave Eomma!”

“I-”

“Shut up! You can’t leave us! You need to live! I don’t care if you think you want to die, you need to live! You need to live or Jo will have died for nothing!”

“Jo told me-”

“That’s impossible!”

“He’s right there!” Choe said, pointing at nothing. “You can’t hear him, but I can! I can hear him because… because…”

“H-have you been taking your medicine?”

“What does that-”

“Maybe you’re just having withdrawals? Or… Jo would never say that.”

“He wants me to-”

“No. He doesn’t. What the fuck are…” Gang took a deep breath, still not letting go. “O-okay, look… Do you actually see him or are you just saying that?”

“I see him. He’s right there.” Choe pointed. He looked serious. Deadly serious. “He wants me to die. I want to die. Please…”

“I’m not letting you die.” Gang pulled out his phone instead.

“W-what are you-”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but you’re not well.” He dialed 1339.

“Gang! Don’t-”

“What’s the emergency?” a woman on the other end of the phone asked.

“My hyeong is having severe hallucinations. He nearly hung himself. I need an ambulance to take him to a psychiatric hospital. Immediately.”

“Sir? I can send an ambulance to take him to the nearest hospital to have him checked over and transferred to our psychiatric wing. If he needs further inpatient treatment-”

“Fine! Do that then! Just do something!”

“I need your location.”

He shook the whole time, listing off his address, still holding onto Choe like his life depended on it. “Shh… It’s gonna be okay, it’s gonna be okay…”

“No it’s not. Jo hates me. You don’t know…”

“I know that he would never hate you. Just hold on, please…”

“Um, sir, I realize this may not be the best time, but I do need to tell the paramedics. Is your brother on any new medications?”

Gang blinked. “Y-yeah, a few. One that starts with a C.”

“What does that treat?”

“Intermittent explosive disorder.”

“Is it carbamazepine?”

“Y-yeah, I think so. How did… Wait. DID YOU KNOW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN?!”

“Sir, please calm down! I didn’t know-”

“Why the fuck didn’t anyone tell me- tell him?!”

“Sir, please-”

“This is-”

“Sir! I can’t help unless you calm down and talk to me!”

“Just. Tell me. Are hallucinations a side effect?”

“They can be.”

“Oh great. Perfect. Why didn’t anyone tell us this?!”

“I’m not the doctor who prescribed them, I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you. How long has he been off fluoxetine?”

“Off of what?”

“Fluoxetine. That’s typically the first medication prescribed for-”

“We just discovered that he has intermittent explosive disorder! He’s never been on anything else!”

“He hasn’t?!” The operator seemed shocked. “You mean to tell me that your brother was prescribed carbamazepine first and no one told you about the possible side effects?”

“NO! Er… yes! They didn’t tell me anything!”

“Has he been in therapy at all?”

“Not for that specifically.”

“Why not?”

“Does it matter-”

“Talk therapy is the most common treatment for IEP. He should have started that before being put on anything at all. And doctors usually don’t prescribe other medications unless Fluoxetine has…” She cut herself off. “Someone will go over this with you later. I’ll send the ambulance. Can you stay on the phone? Is your brother safe for the time being?”

“I’m holding him. He’s not going anywhere even if he tries. I can stay, but do you mind if I put you on speaker?”

“Not a bit.”

“Thanks. I just… I need help. I don’t know what to do.” He put the phone on speaker and set it away. Where Choe couldn’t grab it but the woman could still be heard. “Okay, Choe. Take it easy. The ambulance is on its way.”

“No… Jo wants me to-”

“It’s not real, Choe. You’re just… It’s not real.”

“Shut up! You don’t know anything! You left us! If it weren’t for you, I… No, dongsaeng, I wasn’t-” He flinched. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!”

Gang rubbed his back. “It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay…”

It took about five minutes for the ambulance to arrive. When the paramedics got there, Gang was still holding on to his brother. He kept holding him as Choe was strapped to the stretcher, shaking and sobbing. Until they forced him back and he looked up at his mother as she stared right through him. At the noose on the floor…

Chapter Text

The team had the discussion because there was tension.

“Hey, Cornelius? We, uh… we wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?”

“There seems to be… something going on between you and Wallace. Are you okay?”

“It’s…” Cornelius Robinson massaged his temples, glasses sliding down his nose. “… complicated.”

“What do you mean, complicated?” Pietro asked.

“Come on, guys, Wallace slept with his wife. It’s pretty obvio-”

“No, Heinz, he didn’t sleep with my wife. He… betrayed my trust.”

“Okay, but wouldn’t sleeping with your wife also be a betrayal of your trust?”

“Why would Wallace sleep with Franny anyway? He’s absolutely devoted to his wife. He’d do anything for her.”

Cornelius pursed his lips. “Yes. Yes he would. That’s the problem, actually.”

Hiram frowned. “Wait, you’re saying Wilhelmina is the problem?”

“Then why are you mad at Wallace? What did he do?”

“… What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this room, understand?”

A few cautious (worried) glances. Most of them nodded.

“Wallace… Wilhelmina knew something that I needed to know. And didn’t tell me about it. Gromit too. I’m… beyond convinced that Wallace covered for her.”

“W-”

“Heinz, no one slept with anyone’s wife!”

“That was me,” Hiram coughed. “And I was going to ask, what kind o’ secret? If Cornelius doesn’t mind saying so.”

“Cornelius?”

He didn’t say anything for a long time and when he did - at last! - it was to Pietro, talking through his teeth. “What would you do if I had known what happened to Penny and I couldn’t be bothered to tell you? If I lied to cover it up?”

“What?”

“And then-” Cornelius’ face was heating up now. “And then, what if I had the nerve to come to your house and berate her like nothing was wrong? In front of you!”

“Why would you?”

“I don’t know. But… but something happened to…” A sharp inhale. “Wallace knew. I’m sure of it, and… and he said nothing.”

Hiram blinked. “That… doesn’t sound like Wallace. What happened and what made you think-”

“Wilbur was sexually assaulted. By a couple of men who broke into our home.”

“What? When?!”

“Months ago! Back during Art’s birthday dinner!”

“But I thought… you went out for-”

“Yes… I…” Cornelius looked like he was going to cry. “Wilbur was grounded. We left him home.”

“Oh. Cornelius, I’m so-”

He shook his head. “Don’t. Thank you, but don’t. Carl found him when we got back. Wilbur made him promise not to say anything and- and he’s been in… this therapy group for weeks and… I never knew anything was wrong…” His eyes hardened. “And Wallace’s wife was there - she knew the entire fucking time! And Gromit was there too, he must have known…”

“Okay… but does that mean Wallace knew? Surely he wouldn’t be familiar with every member at that group,” Hiram spoke up.

“Are you defending him?”

“What? No! Not if he knew, but… are you absolutely certain that he did? Just because his wife and son went dinnae mean…”

“You know them. You know them both. Do you think they keep any secrets between them?”

“He’s right,” Heinz said. “I think they’re codependent.”

Pietro sighed. “They’re not codependent. I don’t… Cornelius has a point though. And you saw how they were acting at the dinner party.”

“That was weird, yeah. I’ve never seen Wallace talk to anyone like that before.”

Hiram sighed. “I have, but just to his siblings, and only when he was upset wi’ them. Still, I will admit it’s a bit… odd…”

“So there you have it. That’s why I’m upset with him. He should have said-”

“Was it Penny’s group?”

All eyes turned to Pietro. Cornelius stared. “Why should that matter?”

“Because I happen to know there’s a confidentiality rule. Even with minors. It’s controversial, but, well, the idea’s to not risk telling a parent who was causing the problem. Are you sure it wasn’t just that?”

“Wallace doesn’t go there. He wouldn’t have had to sign anything.”

“But-”

“And he drives her around half the time, doesn’t he? What are the chances of him just… just never noticing Wilbur in the parking lot? Not even once!”

The men were quiet. Even Hiram.

“I’m not saying we need to avoid him or anything. I’m not…” A slow exhale. “I’m not asking anyone to choose sides. But I’m still angry with him. I hope you can appreciate that.”

All of his co-workers had children of their own. Slowly but surely, all of them started to nod.

“And… how is Wilbur doing?”

Chapter Text

Steven and his family had their discussion after he found Bobbie in the guest room.

They came out together, her hand clenched firmly in his. She’d always been the bigger and stronger of the two when they were children. Now though…

Well, she wasn’t fighting.

“Let’s go find Dot, okay?”

She didn’t answer.

Dot was in the living room… kitchen… cohabitation zone (they were still trying to figure out what to call it). This would have been a good thing, except-

“What up, Stev-o?”

… so was Amy, evidently. And also everyone else.

“Oh, uh, hi guys! Um…” Steven looked at Bobbie. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. “Um… Dot, uh, I think you and Bobbie need to… go… wash Pumpkin.”

“Arf?” The good girl in question hopped onto the couch and into her owner’s lap. Of course Dot had brought Pumpkin. Why wouldn’t she?

“Steven, are you okay?” Pearl looked over and frowned. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”

Had he been a little later, he probably would have.

“I… Um, everything’s fine!” He forced a smile. “Everything is going to be just fine!”

“You don’t look fine,” Pearl said, reaching out. “Hold on, let me take your temperature.”

“Wait! Stop it, I don’t-”

“Well, you don’t have a fever. Hm-”

“Clearly Steven is experiencing girl trouble,” Garnet said.

“That’s not it either!” At least, not in the way you think.

“Then what is it?” Pearl asked. “Something’s got you looking pale.”

“Steven’s always pale,” Dot said. Then she looked over. “Wait… Bobbie? Are you alright? You aren’t looking so well yourself.”

Bobbie didn’t say anything. Couldn’t look her mother in the eyes.

“Wait a minute.” Dot frowned, then stood, carrying Pumpkin with her. “What’s that on your neck?”

“U-uh…”

Dot walked over and looked closer. “It looks like a friction burn.”

“No! Don’t look at me!”

“Oh, I’m looking.” Dot pulled the girl’s hand away from her throat, squinting at the marks there. “… You didn’t.”

“No! Of course not! I wouldn’t-”

“Bobs,” Steven said. “It’s okay.”

“No it’s not!”

“Okay, somebody fill me in here. What the hell are you guys-”

“Amy!”

“Sorry, what the fuck are you guys talking about?”

“… Do you want me to tell them?”

Bobbie hung her head, nodding behind her bangs.

“Um, w-well, it’s… it’s okay now! B-but I kinda found Bobbie in the guest room a-and… s-s-she had a rope around her neck.”

The room went so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“WHAT?!”

“Amy-”

Only, it wasn’t Amy’s voice that time. Dot had both hands on Bobbie now, pulling her hair up to get a better look at the bruises. Pumpkin ran circles around their legs, yapping in annoyance at being dropped onto the floor.

“Bobbie, are you okay?! Did you step off at any point? Was there any moment that you weren’t breathing?!”

“M-Mom-”

“Hospital.” Dot picked up Pumpkin and took her daughter's hand. “You need to go to the hospital.”

“But-”

“This isn’t up for discussion. Hospital. Now.”

And just like that, Dot had dragged her daughter out the door and they were gone.

“What just…” Amy shook her head. “Steven? Are you okay?”

“Me? Bobbie’s the one-”

“Well, yeah but… Bobbie’s in good hands.” She bit the inside of her cheek. “It was about Treasure, wasn’t it?”

“Who else would it be about?”’

“The… y’know… Her. What happened?”

Steven played with his fingers. “I… I don’t know if… Bobbie-”

“Steven.” Garnet looked at him. “It’s okay. We’re here for you.”

“She had a noose around her neck,” he stammered. “She… I thought she was going to-”

“Steven-”

“I thought she was doing better! I thought I was helping!" He sat down, head in his hands. "Were we not doing enough?!”

Chapter Text

The conversation was had because there really was no other option at that point.

Aeji was the first one there. She looked over at both her girlfriends and signed, What exactly is this about?

The Tiger guy wants to talk to you. He’s waiting inside.

I don’t see anyone.

He’s hiding.

Aeji blinked. That doesn’t sound like Gang.

It’s the other one.

Oh, okay. She walked inside. The door closed behind her.

Gang and Choe came next. “Where’s Aeji?”

“Inside. Waiting for you.” Valerie flicked her bangs. “So, like, go in already.”

“Yeah!” Cassandre nodded like a bobblehead. “She’s dying!”

“What?!”

“Of, like, toxic shock syndrome or something. You need to give her a blood transfusion!”

“Aeji!” Gang opened the door and rushed inside.

“Gang, wait!” Choe came in after him. Neither of them noticed as the door closed behind them. Aeji was still looking around when she caught sight of them.

Hyeong?

Yeodongsaeng! He knelt in front of her. It’s gonna be alright, my hyeong and I will take you to the hospital.

Aeji tilted her head in confusion. For… what?

What do you mean for what? Your girlfriends said you had TSS-

Isn’t that like a tampon thing? I haven’t even gotten my period yet.

“Eun!”

The door opened again. In came Hwang Gi-sae. And his fiancée.

“What the fuck are you doing here?!”

“I thought… Eun asked me to come.”

“Her name is-”

“Eunsae.”

Did you want him here?

No, what are you talking about?

“Those other girls said she wanted to see me!”

“Oh, yes, because hearing it from them and not yeodongsaeng means it’s reliable!” Gang snapped.

“Don’t call her that! You don’t have any right!”

“What, and you do?!”

“Eonni!” The door opened one more time and Youngyeon stepped into the room.

“Yeon! What are you doing here?”

“Huh?” She pulled out her phone. “I thought you wanted to see me.”

Choe suddenly straightened up. “Oh… oh, I see! Those fucking idiots!” He marched over to the doors… which were now locked from the outside.

“What the hell?!”

“You guys have to talk about stuff!” Valerie shouted from the other side of the door. “And accept Jesus into your hearts or whatever!”

“What the fuck are you-”

“Forgiveness is, like, the key to Heaven! And you aren’t being very forgiving and it’s stressing us out!”

“Yeah! Hell is way gross!”

“So, like, talk it out or whatever. We’re not letting you out until you start, like, playing nice.”

“You know what else is gonna be ‘way gross’?!” Choe shouted, throwing his body against the door. “Your fucking remains if you don’t let us out!”

Aeji’s phone buzzed, and she took it out, reading the message and scowling before joining Choe in his efforts to break down the door.

“What’s wrong with them? Wait…” Gang waved at her. What did they say?

They want me to talk to my ex-brother.

Gi winced. Aeji didn’t notice. Choe didn’t stop hammering on the door.

“Hyeong, give it a rest for a-”

“LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!”

“Hyeong!”

“DON’T LEAVE ME IN HERE WITH HIM! PLEASE! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!”

“You’ve gotta, like, figure it out. You’re about to be family. And blood is thicker or whatever.”

“I WILL LITERALLY KILL YOU! THE POLICE WILL NEVER FIND YOUR BODIES!”

“Good luck. There’s, like, a camera in there, so we have you saying that on film.”

“M-Mr. Ji,” Hwang Gi-sae said cautiously, stepping forward. “I’m not exactly thrilled about this either, but maybe this isn’t worth the death threats to twelve-year-olds-“

Choe cowered. Gang stepped in front of him, snarling. “Oh, like you have any fucking room to talk, Mister ‘I’d kill fucking babies if the army asked me to!’ ”

“Gang-”

“Fuck off! It’s Ji now! I told you that!”

“I was just trying to-”

“Don’t talk to my brother! You’ve done enough!”

Gi stepped back. “I… Please-”

“Get. Away. From. Him.”

Gi complied. As much as he could. “O-okay, okay, I’ll stay away-”

“Further away!” Yeon stood in front of her fiancé, taking a defensive stance. “I’ve killed a man before. I’ll do it again if I have to!”

“Yeodongsaeng,” Hwa said, stepping forward. “I don’t-”

“Don’t!” Yeon scowled. “How could you do this to us?! How could you choose him over me?!”

“I’m not choosing anything!”

“He’s a monster!”

“He was a monster! He’s different now!”

Gang gaped. “What the fuck did he do to you? How did he make you think like that?”

“What did he do to me?! Listen, buster, I know all about the things you made him-”

“That doesn’t count! It doesn’t count…” Gang shook his head. “He hurt my brother first!”

“You still raped him!”

“Buttercream… please don’t.”

“Oh, no, I will!” Hwa pointed at Gang. “Where the frick-frack do you think you’re coming from? Mister highest and mightiest. I know what you did to him! I know he hurt your brother, but you don’t get to hurt him back!”

“Why shouldn’t I?! After everything he did! Yeon killed a man for you, why shouldn’t I defend my brother?!”

“Yeon didn’t have a choice! You did! You could have just told him to leave and he never would’ve done anything to you or him or anybody! But you just hurt him! At least Squirrely Whirly thought he had to!”

Choe squeezed his eyes shut, knuckles turning white around his brother’s arm.

“Hyeong? Hyeong, you’re hurting me. Hyeong-”

“Is he alright?”

“Don’t you fucking talk to my brother!”

“But-”

“No! You know damn well why he’s terrified of you! He has every right to be and you don’t get to ask if he’s alright!” Yeon again. “Now get the hell away from him!”

Gi did, to his credit. Backed against the furthest wall and moved slowly towards his fiancée.

“And Hwa! You need to be careful, he’s not safe!”

“Yeon, I can take care of myself!”

“Maybe, but he… Look, he manipulated Gang!”

“Gang’s the one who messed him up!”

“He’s bigger than you! You’re… You… What if he does something while you’re passed out? I couldn’t live with myself if he hurt you.”

“Yeon, that’s not gonna happen!”

“How do you know that?!”

“I trust my Squirrely Whirly. He loves me.”

Gang sneered. “He said he loved me too, once. And then he told me what he did. He betrayed me. The same thing could happen to you.”

“It won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

“It’s my choice to believe it or not!”

“Eonni, we just don’t wanna see you get hurt.”

“I’m all adulty though! I’m the one who… I need to figure it out.”

“What about how Choe feels? Having to see the man who raped him at every family function?!”

“I’m not gonna bring Gi to his house or anything! We can keep ‘em away from each other!”

“How’s that working out so far?”

“It was working out just fine until this happened!”

“Oh sure, blame the twelve-year-olds for this!”

The argument devolved from there, as the adults continued to yell at each other. As the one child, the one who couldn’t follow along, continued to push against the door. Hwang Gi-sae was the only one to notice. The only one to look at her. He waved at her, and she gave him the middle finger.

I guess that’s fair.

That was when Aeji halted. Since when do you know sign language?

I’ve been learning. I started a few months ago.

For me?

He nodded.

I hate you.

I know. I didn’t learn to win you over. I just wanted to apologize in a way you could understand - and tell me to fuck off when needed.

Apologize then.

He nodded. Eun-sae-

Aeji. My name is Aeji Mouser.

Gi-sae blinked. Aeji, then. Aeji, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I did nothing when our parents came to me. I’m sorry I didn’t even try to fight their plan. I’m sorry I left you there and didn’t even try to get you out. Of that place, of our homeland. He bent down. And I’m sorry we lied to Bam-sae about where you were and what happened to you. I’m sorry it happened at all. I’m sorry you were hurt. I’m sorry that I failed you. The fault is mine and mine alone. You are not broken. You are not weak. You are the strongest child I know. And even if you don’t see me as your brother anymore, I am proud of you.

Is that the truth?

Yes. I don’t expect you to forgive me. I just want you to know that. You deserve better than me, you always have, and I’m glad you found it.

She stared at her… he wasn’t really her brother anymore, was he? We can’t be family anymore.

I know.

I don’t think I can forgive you.

I know.

But thank you for saying that. Maybe we can try.

Try?

To be friends.

He gave her a small smile.

Now, if you’ll excuse me. She walked over to a nearby chair, standing atop it and clearing her throat. “Modeun salam! IB DAMUEL-EO!”

Everyone halted into their argument.

“… Gang, did your deaf friend just yell at us to shut up?”

She motioned at the man in question. Hyeong. You’re my interpreter. Now come over here and interpret for me.

Okay, he signed, jerkily. “Um… she wants to say something…?”

I don’t know what you guys are yelling about but the girls are kinda right about us fighting all the time. I’m not happy with him either, but like it or not we have to figure something out. Especially if he’s marrying Buttercream-eonni.

“Ugh… She’s right. I mean, fuck you, Hwang, but she’s right. We can’t keep screaming at each other until… I don’t know. We do have to figure this out…”

Gi blinked. “Why does she call her ‘Buttercream’?”

Fuck off.

“Okay, fair,” he mumbled.

Choe-hyeong, you need to talk to him. Not here though, you don’t have to be locked in a room for it. You’re both hearing, maybe you can talk on the phone so you don’t have to see each other? Might make you feel safer.

“Choe, she’s suggesting you talk to Hwang on a phone call so you can sort this shit out.”

“And why the fuck should I agree to that?”

“Because if you do, it’ll get us all out of here a lot sooner? And also, you are about to be in-laws. You don’t have to like him. Pretty sure most people have issues with them. But you do have to figure something out before things turn into a bloodbath.”

Not here. You shouldn’t have to see him to work things out.

“Not here though.”

“You’re the one who fucking-”

“I know,” Gang said. “But… she’s right. I don’t want to ruin this for you. I just… Maybe you can come up with a plan or something? To keep him away from you? We can figure it out.” He glared at Gi. “I’ll kill you if you say anything fucked up, you got that?”

Gi nodded. “Got it.”

Sugar Sprinkles, Buttercream, you two are sisters. I know this is hard for you. There’s no kind of prep for this in the world. But put yourselves in each other’s shoes for a minute. Sugar Sprinkles, if Choe-hyeong was from the North, if he did all those awful things and you didn’t know until years later. until after you knew how awesome he was, could you really just up and leave him? And Buttercream, what if Sugar Sprinkles was engaged to Gang instead? Would you be understanding if she was about to marry Gi’s rapist?

Gang didn’t get all the way through. The sisters stared at each other.

“Eonni…”

“Yeodongsaeng, I’m sorry… I-”

“I just don’t wanna see you get hurt again.”

Younghwa hugged her. “I know you’re super duper scared. I would be too. But I’ve known Squirrely Whirly for years. If he was gonna be a meanie beanie, he would have started to show signs by now. I trust him. You don’t have to, but can you trust me?”

Slowly, Youngyeon nodded.

“Youngyeon,” Gi said. “If I should ever do anything to hurt your sister, or your fiancé, or anyone else… don’t hold back. Deal with me the same way you dealt with your stepfather.”

She didn’t look happy, but she nodded again. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“Mr. Ji…?”

Choe looked at him for the first time. He wasn’t crying - he was just barely holding himself together, but holding himself together nonetheless.

“I’m sorry. I really am. I know that’s not enough… but I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.”

A dry crack of laughter. “Little late for that.”

“I know. There are no excuses for what I did to you. No explanation that’s going to justify it.” Gi looked away. “I will never make it up to you. The only thing I can do - and the oath I make to you now - is to try.”

Choe looked at him and gave a very slow nod. “Friday. Eight PM. I call you, you don’t call me.”

“Got it.”

One other thing. Gang, don’t translate. This is for Gi’s eyes only.

“O-okay.”

Hwang Gi-sae. I need you to promise me something. Promise me that the brother who abandoned me is dead. Promise me that you killed him. Promise me he is never, ever going to come back. Never again.

I promise. I’m so sorry.

So am I.

Silence for a few minutes.

“So, um, are you guys, like, done? Or what?”

“We’re done, kids,” Yeon said.

The door cracked open.

“You’re still in big trouble.”

“Good luck. Our parents aren’t even in the country.”

No, but my parents are.

“AEJI!” At that moment, both of Aeji’s parents came barreling down the hall and pulled their daughter into a hug.

They also called your parents. You guys are screwed.

“It could be worse,” Cassandre shrugged. “At least everyone’s, like, getting along now. And Aecha isn’t here.”

“Hmph.” Aeji crossed her arms. I hope you both realized the consequences. Especially from me.

“What do you mean?”

I’m not putting out for you for at least a month.

“WHAT?!” Manny’s eyes bulged behind his glasses as he looked from girl to girl to girl. “What have you been doing to my baby?! What have you been doing with those babies?! All of you are fetuses!”

“Huh? I don’t, like, get it…”

“YOU ARE FAR TOO YOUNG AND-”

“Appa!”

Sonia wordlessly pointed him at their daughter’s hands.

You said kissing was okay.

But you said-

“Isn’t that, like, what putting out means? That’s what our brother told us.”

From behind, a small group of adults who were previously hesitant to be locked in a room together all simultaneously and loudly started laughing hysterically. The twins scowled.

“What’s so funny?!”

“Yeah! We know stuff!”

“That is not what putting out means. It is important that you know this.”

“What does it mean, then?”

“Well-”

“Sonia, maybe we should do this back at the domicile-”

“When a man and a woman, or two women, or two men - or multiple people of assorted persuasions - tolerate each other very much…”

“SONIA!”

Chapter Text

Gi and Treasure had their conversation because she needed to know.

“You know you’re an abuser, right?”

Treasure spun around, scowling as she locked eyes with whatshisface - the squirrely little guy with the round baby face. His nametag… “Chollima on the Wing”. What kind of a stupid name was that?

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Your girlfriend. Or ex. You hurt her. Abused her.” Chollima crossed his arms. “She’s the victim here.”

“What, did she tell you her fucking little-”

“I’m going to stop you there.” Chollima held up a hand. “I don’t know her side of the story. I don’t have to. I know what I see.” He looked her in the eyes. “And trust me, I know an abuser when I see one. I should know. I used to be just like you. No, worse, I can almost guarantee it..”

“What?” She smiled incredulously. “And they let you in here?”

“They let Le Penitent in too. We’re… we’re changing! Trying to change, and perhaps you want to change as well, but first you need to admit… You know you’re in the wrong here, right?”

She opened her mouth to say something.

“Because if you don’t,” Chollima said, “then somebody has to tell you!”

“And that someone is you?”

“It may as well be.” Chollima crossed his arms. “Let’s start with the obvious. She is a teenager.”

“And?”

“And you’re not. And it has been some time since you were one. I could perhaps understand if you were a high school senior, but you’re not, and I believe it’s been several years since you were.”

“That doesn’t mat-”

“Oh, what, is age just a number? Let’s say I agreed with you. I don’t, but say I did. Does that mean that any of the literal children here were not the victims of particularly sick, disturbed individuals? Does it not matter they were pedophiles?”

“That’s- I am not a pedophile!” She punched the wall beside his head. He didn’t flinch. “She’s sixteen.”

“That’s four years below the age of consent, isn’t it?” Chollima scrunched his brow and shook his head. “Two years here. Two years. And how old was she when you started… seeing each other?”

“Sixteen! That doesn’t make me a pedophile. It’s not like she’s some helpless kid! Besides, girls develop faster anyway.”

“Physically maybe. Mentally? Not really. That’s what I’m concerned about, and frankly, you should be too. Because at sixteen…” He started to count things off on his fingers. “She can’t join the military here. Or sign a legally binding contract. Or live on her own. Or get most medical procedures done without parental consent. Or-”

“What’s your point?”

“Well, do you think a sixteen-year-old should be able to do any of that?”

“Of course I don-”

“Then if she isn’t old enough to do the things you can do as a legal adult, how is she old enough to be in a truly balanced relationship with you?”

“Balance? Since when does a relationship have to be balanced? She was crazy. She came after me! I mean, just look at what that brat did to my-”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but that happened after you stalked her-”

“I didn’t stalk her,” Treasure scoffed. “Listen to yourself - ‘stalking,’ ‘abuse’… I was her parole officer. It’s my job to keep an eye on her. Keep her in line.”

“And you still had sex with her?!”

“What’s the problem-”

“Okay, I know you must see the problem…” Chollima made a noise halfway between a sigh and a groan. “You were in a position of power over her. She may not have felt she could say no, even if she wanted to. That’s always a problem. Like when a professor has sex with a student, or when a boss has sex with one of their subordinates. That is considered wrong here, yes?”

“Depends on who you ask.”

“Well, what do you think?”

Treasure shrugged. “Court decided she was old enough to be tried as an adult. Blowing up a building seems pretty ‘adult’ to me - or did you not read up on that part?”

“Since I’ve come to the States, I’ve been accused of sex trafficking by three different police officers and one postal worker. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m skeptical of the idea that a brown, Muslim eleven-year-old both successfully built a bomb and detonated, and even more skeptical that she received a fair trial.”

“Oh, you’re one of those people.”

“Are you referring to the fact I recognize racial profiling exists or that I have a somewhat pessimistic view on the chances a literal child would be able to get their hands on an explosive device?”

Treasure opened her mouth.

“Let’s start with the former. Yes, you as an American society recognize that segregation is wrong. Congratu-fucking-lations. That does not mean that you as a society are somehow beyond racism.” Chollima raised an eyebrow. “Granted, I will admit. I’m not exactly a saint when it comes to not judging others based on where they came from. But at least I recognize that. You don’t seem to.”

“I-”

“As for the latter, how many eleven-year-olds have you met? Where are they getting explosives?! That wasn’t especially common even back in my country!”

“Welcome to Calisota. Crazy shit happens. And her old lady used to work for the Robinsons. It wouldn’t have been that hard. Not for a crazy kid like that.”

“Yeah, famous as Mr. Robinson is, he’s still no demolition worker. And the idea that her mother would have been able to get that much explosive to her child through work is just…” Chollima shook his head. “Do you have no faith in Robinson’s security?”

“I-”

“And furthermore,” Chollima continued. “About her being ‘crazy’. She doesn’t sound particularly insane to me. And trust me. I know insanity.”

“From personal experience.”

“Like I said, I am… I was… I hurt people. I saw what that did to them.”

“Last I checked, she’s the one who put me in the hospital. She’s the one who blackmailed me for eight months!”

“I’ve seen the video. As far as I’m concerned you shouldn’t have been having sex with her.”

“She agreed to it!”

“You initiated!” Chollima burst out. “And even if it had been the other way around, she’s sixteen! She’s too young! You were her parole officer!”

“She still said yes!”

“Again, she may not have felt able to say no! And you are, supposedly, the adult in this situation! You should have been able to realize what you were doing was wrong! And you do know it. On some level you do know it!”

“I-”

“Don’t tell me you don’t. I don’t care why you think that way. There’s no excuse.”

“I-”

“Your actions were your own. And your actions were taking advantage of a child who felt she had to listen to you. End. Of. Story.”

That was it. The little bastard was asking for it. Treasure pulled her arm back and punched him in the face.

Chapter Text

Ji Ma-Choe and Hwang Gi-sae had their conversation over the phone because they didn’t want to see each other for it. Honestly, they didn’t want to have the conversation at all… but it had to be done.

Ma-choe hadn’t wanted to give Gi-sae his number. “Friday. Eight PM. I call you, you don’t call me.” That was what he’d said, and Gi-sae hadn’t had much choice but to wait by his phone. For an unknown number. Sure enough, on the stroke of eight, it started ringing. At least he was punctual.

“H-hello?”

“Hwang?”

“M-Mr. Ji! Um, hello… I… How are you?”

“Is that supposed to be funny?”

“In a cosmic sort of way, maybe.”

Silence for a little bit. Awkward. Long.

“Look… just for the record, I would be perfectly happy if I never saw you again,” Gi-sae said. “And I think you would be happy with that as well. So can we at least start by agreeing that our personal feelings about this don’t mean shit here?”

“I’m only doing this for Yeon,” Ma-choe agreed. “She’s the most precious thing in the world to me. Which reminds me, if you do anything that hurts her-”

“Let me guess. I’ll get the same mercy I showed you back then?”

“It’s the same with Younghwa, you know. If anything happens to her.”

“Understood.”

Ma-gang’s voice, somewhere in the background. Gi-sae pretended not to hear.

“My brother told me what he did to you.”

“Oh.”

“He… He wants me to tell you he didn’t mean to break your spine or… whatever it was.”

“Tell him it’s fine. I kinda deserved it.”

“No. You did not deserve it.”

Gi-sae blinked. “E-excuse me?”

“You heard me. Listen, I didn’t sic my brother on you. What he did was his decision, and it’s not one I condone in the slightest. I feel like you need to know that or we’re not going to get anywhere with this.”

Gi nodded. “So you don’t think I deserved it?”

“No one fucking deserves what I went through.” A pause. “What we went through.”

“I… It really wasn’t as bad as…”

“Obviously not. He didn’t kill your brother.”

Gi-sae flinched.

“But he still fucked you. And… I don’t know what else. You never damaged my spine, so…”

“That was probably more luck than anything. I… You’re a bigger person than me, I don’t think I’d be able to forgive-”

“I never said I forgive you! I will never ever forgive you. I said I didn’t want Gang to… to… There’s a difference, do you understand?”

Gi nodded. Then remembered Ma-choe couldn’t actually see him. “I understand.”

“Good.” A pause. A sigh. “But I don’t think I have to forgive you for this to work.”

“What do you-”

“That’s why we’re talking, right? Whether we want this or not, we’re going to be a part of each other’s life. So we need to figure that out. I don’t want things to be awkward for every goddamn holiday, or for funerals to turn into arguments.” Pause. “Assuming you can be trusted with a corpse.”

“I… I’m sorry.”

“That’s not enough. We both know that’s not enough, but… Okay.” Ma-choe exhaled. He sounded almost… relieved. “We need some ground rules.”

“Whatever you want.”

“Right. You’re never going to be welcome at my house. I’ll never come over to yours. Yeon and Younghwa are free to do whatever they like.”

“O-okay.”

“Any children I have… they won’t be allowed over to your place either. Or around you - at least not alone. If I have children.”

“What if Hwa and I…?” He swallowed. “What if we have kids?”

“My rules still stand. I don’t care if our children are the best of friends. You aren’t allowed around mine unless there’s another responsible adult around. Got that?”

“Y-yeah,” he nodded. “Okay. Fair.”

“And the generational name can not be Seon or Do. Understood? You aren’t sticking me with that.”

“Got it.”

A pause.

“Well. What about you?”

“What do you-”

“What rules do you have for me?”

Gi-sae swallowed. “Your brother is not welcome at my house. Now or ever. I don’t want him anywhere near me. And you need to warn me in advance if he’s going to be at any sort of gathering, or tell Youngyeon to tell me. And if we have kids, I don’t want them anywhere near him unless you or someone else is there.”

“Trust me, I don’t want him around you either. I don’t think he wants to see you.”

It shouldn’t have stung, but it still did.

“He hates me.”

“More than I do, if that’s possible.”

“Okay… Actually…”

“What?”

“This might be too much to ask, but Eunsae… Aeji, whatever she wants to be called… Your brother-”

“He wouldn’t hurt her.”

“I don’t… I don’t want him around her all the same.”

“Well, that’s too fucking bad. She told me what you and your parents did. I don’t care whose idea it was, you still knew what those fucking morons you call parents intended to do and you did nothing. As far as I’m concerned - and for the record, as far as she’s concerned - you lost any right you had to any sort of brotherly concern the moment you agreed to that plan.”

Gi-sae swallowed. “But-”

“That decision is not up to you. For the record, if it were up to me, you wouldn’t be allowed near her. That ball is in the court of her and her real parents. Got it? And I don’t want to hear otherwise.”

“I don’t want her to get hurt again.”

“It was your fault she got hurt in the first place. She’s part of Gang’s life. He’s not going to hurt her. Live with it.”

“I…” Gi-sae cut himself off. “Please just take care of her.”

“Mm.”

Silence.

“What about your mother?”

“What about my mother?”

“She’s going to find out eventually. We’ll run into each other at… something. You know we will. Eventually. Even if I’m not at your wedding-”

“You won’t be.”

“Even if you aren’t at mine. What do we do when… Does she know where I am?”

“No.”

“Does she know what I did to you?”

“Some of it. She doesn’t know you were involved in the assault. And let’s keep it that way. She doesn’t need that guilt on her shoulders.”

Gi-sae nodded. “Okay. Fine. But what are we going to do when she discovers this?”

“… We tell her the truth. Most of it.” Ma-choe let out a sigh. “And whatever she wants to do from there, she does. She’s worried about you, though. I know she is.”

“Why-”

“She keeps track of all the fucking strays she brings in from Hanawon. You left without a word. I get why, but how do you think she fucking feels about that?”

“I… I… She would have hated me.”

“She won’t if you can just shut up and… and…”

“What if she asks about the wheelchair? Or why I never come over to your place? Or…”

“We’ll tell her you beat me up. That’s enough of a reason.”

“… I suppose.”

“One other thing.” Ma-choe sighed. “I want to ask you a question about back then.”

Gi-sae blinked. “What?”

“One. Question. To the man you were. And I want an honest answer.”

Gi-sae swallows. “Okay. I suppose you deserve that much.”

“I deserve a lot fucking more. But…” A sigh. “… Was there anything I could have done?”

“What do you mean?”

“To make it easier on me. To make… that… stop. Or to make everything less painful, or to make you move up my execution, or… anything. Just tell me. Was there anything that would have made you stop?”

“Mr. Ji, I…”

“Just answer me. Please. Just tell me if I… Was I weak?”

“… It’s like that for everyone.”

“What?!”

“Well, not everyone. For a lot of people. The ones who break easily. The ones who don’t. It doesn’t matter. My friends and I- The guards… It had nothing to do with you as a person and everything to do with us.”

“So…”

“It wasn’t your fault. It was all us. It was all me. And I am so, so sorry.”

An exhale on the other end of the line. “Thank you.”

“It’s the least I could do.”

“It really is. Still.”

“For the record? You’re not weak. If my children turn out half as strong as you were - as you are - I will be the proudest man on the planet. I mean that.”

“I should go now,” Ma-choe whispered.

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll put my brother on the phone.”

Chapter Text

Ma-gang and Gi-sae had their conversation for Ma-choe’s sake.

“Hello?”

“Hwang.”

“… Gang? How are… How is…”

“Don’t bother with small talk. You don’t like me. I don’t like you. But you’re going to be… around my brother. I need you to know, if you ever hurt him again-”

“I won’t! I promise!”

“Don’t interrupt me! You have no idea what…” He took a moment, regained his composure, lowered his voice and continued. “I mean it. If you touch him…”

“You’ll do what you did back then. Understood.”

“What? No!” Gang sounded… annoyed? “He made it clear that he doesn’t want that to happen to you again.”

“Oh.” Gi-sae blinked. “Then what-”

“I’m just going to straight-up kill you.”

Gi-sae sighed. “Fair. That is… more than fair.”

“Also? Same thing goes if you hurt Aeji. You’ve done enough. She is so much better off without you, she has turned out so awesome. I would never do anything to hurt her, I won’t even interfere with her seeing you if that’s what she wants. But I mean it, if I see one single hair out of place because of you, that’s it. No more Hwang Gi-sae.”

“You… you heard what I said to Mr. Ji?”

“Mm. And I’m not sure you're in a position to judge me.”

“She’s my sister.”

“She was your sister. She has a new family now - a new family that didn’t throw her out like a broken toy.”

“… Please,” he said, not knowing what it was he was asking for.

“Look, if she wants you in her life, I won’t stop her. But you aren’t her brother anymore. You need to accept that or I can not in good conscience let her be in your presence unsupervised.”

“I’m worried you might… Please just don’t-”

“I’m not going to fuck her!”

He flinched. “Alright. That’s… good.”

“You sound like a moron.”

“I just want her to be safe. Um… You aren’t angry with Hwa, are you?”

“Please. It’s not her fault she’s got terrible taste in men. But I do have a question.”

“Yes?”

“You love her, right? You honestly, truthfully love her?”

“Yes. With all my heart.”

“And she loves you. Truthfully. You didn’t… do anything to convince her that she did. Right?”

Gi-sae’s eyes narrowed. “What are you implying?”

“After my brother came back, he became convinced your ‘glorious leader’ could literally read his mind. That your people could come after him like there isn’t a goddamn guarded border. That you would do everything in your power to shoot him like a dog. You can clearly put ideas into people’s heads. I need to know if you put any in hers.”

“I don’t know why Hwa loves me. But I would never hurt her. Ever. And I’m sorry, but I don’t appreciate the insinuation that I brainwashed her. She’s-”

“Choe says she’s not well.”

“In what way?”

“Her brain. She was in an accident. She can’t… It’s a little strange to me that the one girl you can find to love you is someone with the brain of a kid.”

“Is that what you think of her?” Gi was almost growling. “That she can’t make her own decisions because her mind works a little differently?”

“I-”

“She may think differently. But she is not a child and she does not have the brain of one. I wouldn’t have fallen in love if she was anything less than a capable adult, and the fact that you think otherwise is absolutely disgusting.” A frustrated sigh. “And I don’t know if I’m more angry about the accusation against me or the slight against the woman I love.”

“You’re already a rapist! You already hurt Choe! And I’ve met Aeji’s father! I know what your people did to him. I know you enjoyed it. I like Youngyeon, she’s going to be my sister, and her sister doesn’t see what’s wrong with you!”

“I would never hurt her. I love her more than anything.”

“You loved me too, if I’m not mistaken,” Gang sniffed. “So that doesn’t count for much.”

“… I’m sorry.”

“You’ve said that time and time again-”

“Not a day has gone by where I haven’t wished I could take it all back. There’s not a single night where I haven’t stayed up regretting my choices. Wondering what could have happened to me… what could have happened with us… if I hadn’t been a fucking idiot. If I hadn’t hurt him. If I had refused the special assignment. If I had grabbed Eunsae and Bamsae and bolted when I learned what our parents had planned for her. That guilt has and will follow me every. Single. Goddamn day. For the rest of my life. And I deserve every goddamn moment. But that isn’t what this is about. That isn’t what any of this is about. That’s not what I’m trying to do.”

“Then what are you trying to do?”

“Leave something behind that isn’t someone else’s pain. I want to be better. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

“I’m not going to apologize.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

“I… I wish I had killed you. Choe would have understood if I had killed you. Ruining your life… wrecking your body…”

“It’s alright. He may have said I didn’t deserve it, but we both know that isn’t true.”

A sigh. “It’d be less frustrating if you weren’t so understanding. You know that, right? If you were as angry with me as I am with you.”

“I don’t have any right to be.”

“Mm.”

Quiet for a moment.

“I found someone else. Two someone elses.”

“Good for-”

“Quiet. I just need you to know that I wonder too. Sometimes.”

“I did love you, for the record. I think… some part of me always will.”

“Little late for that.”

“I know. I wouldn’t leave Hwa now anyway. I’m just saying…” He slumped. “How is your brother? Really? Did I ruin him?”

“No. You didn’t. I… A lot has happened. He’s not over it, I don’t think he ever will be. But he’s not going to be ruined. Things are looking up for him. He still has a life.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“… Did I ruin you?”

“I ruined me. Before we even met, I ruined me. If I had been a better person… if I had… I haven’t felt alright about myself since Hanawon.”

“I doubt I helped.”

“I hurt your family. Believe me, I understand.”

“Oh, so you do have a concept of family. Good to know.”

“Trust me. If I were in your position, I would have done the exact same thing.”

“Considering what you did to Aeji- I’m sorry, this isn’t helping.”

“I have a brother too.”

“Well, what I did has my brother all… He’s afraid of me. If nothing else, I’m sorry for doing that to him.”

“I feel I should be more sorry than you are on that front.”

“Mm.”

Silence.

“… So. I said all I wanted to say. I hope to never fucking talk to you again.”

“I can’t say I blame you. For what it’s worth… the feeling’s mutual. And I’m sorry. I do mean that. I do.”

The phone call ended then.

Chapter Text

Oscar and his father had their conversation because Oscar had, quite simply, fucked up by jumping to conclusions.

It had been two weeks since… everything. The unicycle, the video, the spot on late night TV…

Oscar didn’t feel any better. Milo was still mad at him. They were still suspended. They were still grounded… well, probably. Dad hadn’t actually tried to enforce anything. He hadn’t said much. To Oscar. He’d been avoiding him since that day. And Oscar knew exactly why. He knew exactly why all too well.

So he found himself outside of his phx’s bedroom. Taking a deep breath before knocking. You can do this… you can do this… you can do this… He knocked.

“What is it?”

Oh God, you’re doing this.

“Um, Phx? It’s Oscar. C-can I come in?”

“In a minute.”

He heard the sound of bedclothes rustling, zippers humming, something hard being pushed across the floor. Then the door opened. Phx in his fancy bathrobe, red-eyed, hair in disarray.

“H-have you been drinking?”

“… No.”

“You look like you’ve been-”

“Sakchai.”

“I, uh, wanted to apologize… for what I said after- I didn’t know it was like that, I thought…”

“Sit.”

His father sank down on the bed and patted a spot beside him. Oscar sat.

“You know I loved your mother, don’t you? I thought you knew that.”

“I-”

“Because I did. I do. I love her so, so much. I miss her. Every day. And you,” Phx put his hand on his shoulder. “And your brother. You are all the product of a love that grew stronger and that she left behind her. I don’t want there to be a shred of doubt in your mind about that.”

“… I’m sorry. I… I just…”

“I know you must have been shocked.”

“W-well…”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… said what I said in there. No matter how much that sea urchin you call a principal- I’m sorry. I lost my temper and… well…” He rolled his eyes. “You know how your old man is.”

“Yeah.”

“Or you thought you did anyway. It was two years, Oscar. Not that much… I’m not a different person now, okay? Do you understand that? I’m still your dad. I don’t want you thinking I’m… I don’t even know. You don’t have to walk on eggshells around me… and… and, if you need to, you…” Phx closed his eyes and grit his teeth. “You can ask about it.”

“… You already said you didn’t want to. … D-did it hurt?”

He snorted.

“S-sorry, that’s probably a stupid question-”

“Least it’s an honest one. And yes. It did.”

“More than just…” He swallowed. “Veronica says it’s supposed to hurt the first time you… But that’s with girls. I wasn’t sure if… I mean, with guys you-”

“It’s different. With men. And… it doesn’t have to hurt. But it did.”

“Because they wanted it to?” Phx nodded. “Why?”

“ ‘Why’? Why what? I’m not gonna get that detailed.”

“Uh, no. Please don’t. That’s not what I meant. I just… I don’t understand. Why do that at all? Why you?”

“I was there, for the second. Fuck if I know for the first. Maybe they thought I was tough. Maybe they wanted to prove they could. Maybe someone did it to them. Doesn’t matter.”

“So… so they chose you just… because?”

He nodded.

“Did they… know? That you had a wife and kids?”

“I brought it up once or twice. Some of them probably did too, honestly. Doesn’t matter in jail.”

“It… it wasn’t because of the government?”

“I mean, in a way it was, yeah, but… no. That’s not what made me a target.”

“… You said them.”

“Y-yeah. That’s…” Phx’s hand tightened on Oscar’s shoulder. “If it happens once, it happens twice. Kind of inevitable. They know you’re easy.”

Oscar leaned forward and hugged him.

“Sakchai-”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions… I’m sorry.”

“Hey. You’re fine. I should have explained it better than I did.” He returned the embrace.

“Did you… did you think about her?”

“Every day. I still do.”

“And us?”

“Sometimes you’re all I can think about. I worry. I don’t… You can’t end up like me, understand? I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt because I fucked up raising you.”

“You didn’t fuck up.”

“I still worry.” He squeezed Oscar a little tighter.

“… Does it still hurt?”

“In what way?”

Oscar said nothing.

“… Yeah. I don’t think it’ll ever stop. But it doesn’t hurt as much as it did.”

“Does it… make you regret throwing those bricks?”

Phx snorted. “Hell no. I’d do it again. Uh, not that you should.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever go back to Thailand.”

“You’re not the one I worry about.”

“Right. Milo. He’s… angry with me.”

“Your brother has issues. He’ll calm down eventually… Do you want me to talk to him?”

Oscar nodded. “I think he hates me.”

Chapter Text

Milo and his father had their conversation because of Oscar.

“Aat, we need to talk.”

Milo looked up. “Phx, I told you I-”

“Sit.”

Milo did so. Yut stared at his son for a long, long time.

“Your brother seems convinced you hate him.”

“What?”

“Look, I know what you heard - what I told you - was probably, uh, upsetting… but I don’t want you taking it out on Oscar, alright?”

“I… It’s not…”

“He didn’t know. We cleared things up.” He forced a smile. “I mean, it’s not like we haven’t fought before.”

“That’s different!”

“How? Is it because… of what happened? Are you sure it’s really your brother you’re pissed at?”

Milo said nothing.

“Do you have any questions for me about it? I answered them with Oscar. I don’t mind doing the same for you if you need me to.”

“… Why you? Why did they go after you?”

“I don’t know. They… Guys like that don’t go after one person. It was half the damn prison - I was just one of the unlucky ones.” He breathed in and out - shakily. “Before you ask, yes, I did fight back. It didn’t matter. There were a lot more of them than me.”

“A lot more?!”

“… Fuck.”

“H-how many?”

A sigh. “I… lost count.”

Milo looked up with watery eyes. “It wasn’t your fault, Phx. You know that, right? It was never your fault.”

“Aat-”

“It was them. They’re the ones that did this. I hope they’re still in there.”

“Aat-”

“I hope they rot! A-and Mæ̀ wouldn’t have blamed you for it. She could never blame you for it. She loved you.”

“Thank you,” he said, patting Milo’s shoulder awkwardly. “I loved her too. A lot. And you kids - especially you kids.”

“Are you sure? That… that you know that, I mean. Not that you love us. Did they make you think that wasn’t true?!”

“Ah, we didn’t talk much. Most of what we did say was… Nevermind. I’m sure some of them knew I was married, but a lot of people in there were.”

“That’s awful.”

“It is what it is.”

“A-and are you… okay? You don’t… They didn’t… You’re not sick or anything, right? Besides the… you know. T-they didn’t give you anything?”

Of course Milo was old enough to know about such things. Of course he was. Why wouldn’t he be? “Ah, no, I didn’t catch anything from them. Not in that way at least.”

“Is that where…?” He pointed to the oxygen tank.

Phx nodded. “Yeah. TB runs through there like the plague. We were all sick though. Made the fighting easier. Didn’t do my lungs any favors.” His eyes narrowed. “This is exactly why you’re not allowed to smoke.”

“You’re not gonna die?”

“No. I’m not.”

Milo sagged in relief. “And… you’re not gonna off yourself?”

“What?! Of course not! Where did you-”

“Bea knows this girl from another school who knows a guy who’s in class with some other dude who says the science teacher told them about a guy who… did that after he was, um… y-y’know…”

Ah. “That was probably a lot sooner after his assault. So no. I-I couldn’t do that to you and your brother. You guys still need me.”

“You’re not gonna do it when we grow up and start moving out, right?”

“No! No, I’m not going to hurt myself. Ever.” He coughed. “Can’t say I’ll live a long life but I’m not going anywhere until God does me in. Don’t worry about that.”

“I’m glad you didn’t die in prison.”

“Uh… me too?”

“Oscar said… Oscar’s an idiot! He shouldn’t have said-”

“He was scared and angry. Like you probably are right now. The last thing I want is for this to turn you boys away from each other.”

Milo chewed his lip, then said, “Are you seeing anyone?”

“Like… a girlfriend?” Phx asked. “No? Why would-”

“A shrink, Phx. A shrink.”

“Oh.” He shook his head. “No. And I don’t need to see one.”

“Phx-”

“I’m not crazy. I know damn well what’s going on in my head. I don’t need anyone.”

“Oh! Hang on.” Milo dug into his pocket and pulled something out. “Uh, here. This was supposed to be for… someone else, but it turned out he wasn’t raped, so maybe it can be for you instead.”

“A support group?”

“It’s for… people who’ve been through stuff. Like you. Maybe it would help if you had someone who… who knew, you know?”

“Milo… Aat, I don’t need- Wait, were you bothering your teacher again?”

“Don’t change the subject!”

Chapter Text

Gi had the conversation with the Mouser family because he had to. No one was happy about it.

They were in public. (Parents’ insistence.) They were sitting at a bubble tea place. (Aeji’s suggestion.) No one looked particularly thrilled to be there. (An inevitability.)

And Myeongyoung was glaring daggers at Hwang Gi-sae.

“Um… M-Mr. Mouser-”

He held up his hands. “I will say this out loud so that my daughter may not hear.” He straightened his posture. “My daughter is in the formal-operational stage of her brain development. She is old enough that she may decide who she does and does not associate with. She says the man who hurt others is dead. I believe her. Should he return, however, I reserve the right to make that literal. To be clear.”

Gi nodded. Sonia glared at him.

“This is what Aeji wants. You will not be permitted around Aecha. She is too young to understand.”

He nodded again. “I’m so sorry.”

“I will believe it when I see it.”

Gi nodded again. “So-”

From this point on, we use sign language. For Aeji.

Aeji looked up from her drink. Are you done yelling at Gi-sae?

We weren’t yelling.

Do you want to?

Manny - Myeongyoung - ruffled her hair.

Alright. This is to set up some ground rules, right? Gi asked. I’m fine doing whatever makes you feel most comfortable. Say what you want me to do and I’ll do it.

This first one is non-negotiable. Sonia started. If you are to meet with our daughter, it must be in public and you are not allowed to be left alone. For quite some time, possibly until she is an adult and we no longer have a say.

I’d prefer if it was me or my wife. If not, it must be another adult we trust.

Like Hwa?

Like Hwa. Or Yeon, possibly. We’ll work up to that. For now, it will be one of us, understood?

Understood.

Good. Secondly, we don’t want you bringing anyone else along with you.

Hwa is an acceptable exception. We know her. No one else. Especially no one you know from the North.

I came here alone. I didn’t bring anyone with me.

Should someone get in contact with you, then. You are not allowed to bring them with you.

Aeji looked at both her parents. What if it’s someone I know and want to see again?

Manny hesitated. Well, we’ll discuss it then.

Okay.

Understood. Anything else?

The parents looked at each other and shook their heads. Nothing on our end at this time. We do reserve the right to add onto these rules at any time should we deem it necessary.

Gi nodded. And you, Aeji? Or would you prefer Miss Mouser for now?

Aeji is fine. Just don’t call me Eun. Not anymore.

I won’t.

She’s dead too. Like Hwang Gi-sae the soldier.

Could I have saved her?

You didn’t.

Gi-sae let out a breath. You’re right. I know I apologized but I’m still sorry.

Aeji looked at him. Carefully. I have a rule. Since Hwang Eun-sae is dead, and Hwang Gi-sae is dead, there is no point in bringing them up. No point in discussing the past.

That is fair. Gi-sae took a deep breath. Hello, Aeji Mouser. My name is Gi-sae Jeon. Or it will be soon, anyway. It’s very nice to meet you.

It’s nice to meet you. I hope we can be friends.

Gi-sae smiled at her. I hope the same. Are there any other rules you have for me? Any lines I can’t cross?

Can I ask you a question?

Of course. Anything.

Do you like bubble tea?

Chapter Text

Choe had his conversation because the nuts had pulled over to talk to him.

“Excuse me, sir?”

Choe stopped mid conversation with Gang and looked over at the driver of an old, beat up GFC. He blinked, and pointed to himself.

“Yeah, you. You speak English?”

“Why the fuck wouldn’t I-” Well… they had been speaking in Korean. Loudly. He’d bite his tongue this once. “What do you want?”

“Hyeong! Don’t go over there.”

“Relax, Gang. I’m a grown man.”

“You could-”

“I’ll be fine,” he scoffed, walking over to the passenger side window. “Utah,” he read off the license plate. “I guess you aren’t here for the funeral.”

“Uh… no. Directions.”

“Y’ know how we can get back where we came from?” a voice said from the back. “Gettin’ here, we took a wrong turn an’ wound up in Oklahoma.”

Choe was no expert in the layout of the American states. He was still fairly certain that in order to get from Utah to Oklahoma when you were aiming for California you’d have to be drunk. Or high. Possibly both. “Well, uh… I can’t get you to Utah but I could probably get you out of Calisota.”

“Hyeong!” Gang had rushed over then. “Don’t get in the car with them!”

“I meant verbal directions, dumbass,” Choe told him with a flat look. “Listen, if I were you, I’d avoid the ‘95. It’s pretty congested. But if you take a left at the next intersection-”

“Hyeong!”

“Gang, will you quit it?”

“You heard the news! It’s not safe right now-”

“Rattlesnake Whatshisface isn’t in the car!” Choe rolled his eyes, peering through the glass. “And I wouldn’t get in unless they offered that box of Oreos back there.”

The man in the car punched him across the face.

“What the…” Choe clutched his nose. Good, it wasn’t bleeding. “What the fuck was that for?!”

“You’re fucking sick, you know that?!”

“I’m the sick one?! I’m just trying to give directions, you’re the one who’s hitting people for no reason!”

“That was a sick joke!”

“How?! All I said was-”

The man raised his fist again.

“Okay okay! Sorry! Goddamn!” Then, under his breath, “Fucking crazy polygamist.”

“What was tha- Fuck!”

Gang was rubbing his knuckles. “Stay. Away. From. My. Brother.”

“That’s it.”

The door opened and the man got out. Fuck indeed. Choe hadn’t appreciated it before, but the man was built; almost as tall as the man who came for the Replacement and the Imposter after meetings ended, and possibly wider. Silver whiskers. Silver hair. Young face (at least that was familiar).

“Dakota,” the man in the driver seat snapped. “They ain’t worth it. Get back in the car.”

“Not ‘til I teach them a lesson.”

Gang had pushed Choe behind him at some point, and was starting to roll up his sleeves. “You’re not going to hurt my brother without-”

The man slapped Gang across the face. Hard. Gang fell to the ground, red mark growing over half his face.

“Hey!” Built or not, Choe grabbed the man’s wrists. “Listen here, idiot. You do not get to hurt my little brother.”

“And just what are you going to do to stop me?”

Choe grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “I was kept as a prisoner of war in North Korea for ten fucking months. I got out without my glasses when I was half dead and surrounded by at least a hundred guards. Do you really want me to show you what I can do to stop you?”

“You what?” The boy in the back seat was peeking out with huge eyes.

“Dakota…”

‘Dakota’, apparently, lifted Choe up by his shirt, shaking him.

It’s okay. This isn’t Korea. This isn’t the North. You’re not twenty-three anymore…

“I don’t care what y’ are. Doesn’t mean y’ get to make comments like that.”

“Comments like what?! I was being sarcastic.”

“Wasn’t funny.”

“Dakota, you’re beatin’ up a cripple!”

“I don’t care! Serves him right! Makin’ fun of Cal like that…”

“Kota, I’m fine. That wasn’t even what happened!” The boy again. Cal, apparently.

“Listen to your kid,” Choe warned him. “And let me the fuck go.”

“You ain’t going nowhere, you peg-legged-”

Choe punched him in the jaw before he could continue, kicking himself out of the man's grip with his flesh leg. He landed on the ground, and while the stranger was still rubbing his jaw, used the same leg to sweep under Dakota’s own, making him fall to the ground.

“H-hyeong-”

Choe kicked him in the stomach. One. Two. Three times. Once more to make sure he was down for the count. Panting and sweating, he cleaned his glasses off on his dress shirt. “Fuck you.”

“You gimme a minute an’ I’ll…”

“Kota, knock it off! You lost fair an’ square.”

“Wasn’t anything fair about that!”

“You’re just upset you lost to someone half yer size. And you deserved it. Now tell him sorry so we can get some goddamn directions and be on our way.”

“Sorry?! The fuck have I got to be sorry for?”

Rather than answering, the driver gave him a flat look, reached over to close the passenger door, and drove off.

“… Did he just fucking abandon you? In this city?”

Dakota sat up, groaning. “Ugh.”

“Here,” Gang extended a hand. “Sorry for… whatever my hyeong said that made you-”

“That ain’t an apology.”

“Well, maybe I’d apologize if I knew what the fuck you’re talking about.”

“Cal ain’t an Oreo. I don’t know what you call people like us where you’re from, but you don’t-”

“What?” Choe blinked at Gang. “Are they called something different in English? Listen, I didn’t say anything about your… son?”

“Oh please. Why else would you say something like that?!”

“Because you had a box of cookies in the backseat.”

Dakota blinked. “Cookies?”

“Yeah, the little chocolate ones with the creme in the middle.”

Dakota blinked. “… The… cookies…”

“Yeah, I thought those were called Oreos…”

Dakota said nothing for a moment. Then, slowly, he started to chuckle. Low and slow, then faster and faster, until he was cackling at the sky.

“… I’m scared.”

“Shut up, Gang.”

Eventually, after a minute or so, the eerie laughter fell silent. Dakota sat there on the ground, breathing hard.

“Are you… better?”

“Not really.”

Gang shifted from foot to foot. “Can we… help?”

“M’ sorry. Overreacted.”

Choe scoffed. “You don’t say.”

“It’s been a rough coupla weeks. For all of us.” Dakota sighed. “Sorry. Cal’s been… he’s been hurt. Found out recently. Got a little overprotective.“

Gang glanced over at Choe. “Trust me, I understand that.”

“Doesn’t excuse it.”

“Not really.”

“Hyeong!”

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it!” he snapped. “But… ugh, I guess I’ve had worse. No use crying about it.”

“Hm. Thanks.”

“Whatever. What… are you to him anyways?”

“Huh?”

“He called you Dakota,” Gang said. “Is he your brother or your son?”

“Kinda both, I guess,” he said. “M’ his cousin, but I been lookin’ after him since his folks passed away.”

“That’s nice of you.”

“Gang, shut up.” Choe looked over at Dakota. “Does this happen often?“

“Does… what happen?”

“You picking fights with strangers?”

Dakota laughed. “Nah, not since I took him in. Not unless they insult him. Or at least if I think they do. Again, sorry about that.”

“Don’t keep apologizing.” Choe let out a huff. “I get it. Still stupid but I get it. Sorry about him getting hurt, sounds like it was bad.”

Dakota nodded. “Mayor’s a real fucking asshole.”

“Uh…”

“Long story. An’ not mine to tell. Shouldn’t say anythin’.”

“Ah.”

“That thing y’ said before… about… North Korea. S’ that true?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Choe spread his arms. “Welcome to Calisota, home to the fuckups of the world. We all find our way here eventually.”

“We ain’t stayin’.”

“But you’re here for now. Do yourself a favor and get out before something awful happens to you too.”

Dakota’s face is a blank wall. “Prob’ly deserve it.”

“What?” Gang asked. “Because of the fight? Trust me, that’s nothing compared to-”

Dakota shook his head.

“Well… whatever happened to your cousin - Cal, right? - that’s not your fault either.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know it feels like it is.” Gang stepped forward. “Trust me. I know what it’s like. You play your own mistakes over and over in your head.” He glanced at his brother. “And… yeah, maybe if you’d done some things differently it wouldn’t have happened. But maybe it still would have. You’re not the one that hurt him, right?”

“Well…”

“See?” Gang nodded. “I can tell you love him. And that’s what he needs.”

“Can I ask y’all a question? Might be kinda forward.”

“What?”

“Yer parents ever hit you?”

“The fuck… No. Of course not.”

Gang blinked. “That hasn’t been legal since the ‘50s where we’re from. Why do you ask?”

Dakota looked away.

“… Holy fucking shit, did you hit him?!”

“Didn’t want to.”

“But… you did, right? You still did it.”

“Hyeong-”

“That’s fucked up!”

“Wasn’t tryin’ to hurt him,” Dakota mumbled. “Didn’t break the skin or nothin’. I woulda stopped if I thought I was really hurtin’ him…”

Choe tried to wipe the image of blood and batons and “just bend over” from his head. “What did you do?”

“I… I just… y’know, spanked him.”

“With your hand?“

“I mean…” Dakota rubbed the back of his head. “Sometimes? Other times it was with a belt…”

Choe stared at him.

“… What?”

“You know, when I was beaten with a leather strap, it was by North Korean soldiers trying to ‘extract information’ and I was a grown-ass adult. I wasn’t some kid who got his homework in late or whatever the fuck else you did that for.”

“What are you tryin’ to say?”

“That’s fucked up!” Choe turned to Gang. “That’s fucked up, right? Tell me I’m not crazy!”

“I didn’t hit him that hard-”

“You didn’t hit him hard enough to break skin. So… what? That makes it okay? Because you’re just trying to cause him pain, right? You don’t want to really hurt him.”

“Look, M’ sorry about what happened to you, but it wasn’t… I love the kid-”

“How old is he?”

“Fifteen…”

“How old was he when you started doing that?”

“… Eleven…”

“Fucking… fuck!” Choe shook his head. “That’s not alright.”

“I didn’t want to!” Dakota spoke up quickly. “I just… I thought that was what you were supposed to do. I thought I had to!”

“Now where have I heard that before?” Choe tapped his chin in false thought. “Oh, right. ‘You’re the one bringing this on yourself. We don't like hurting you, you know. You just need to tell us what we want to know and we’ll let you go. Honest!’ Fucking maniacs.” He spat on the ground. “It doesn’t matter if you like it or not. You still did it.”

“I-”

“Hit your own cousin. On top of whatever else happened to him. And for what?”

“Hyeong,” Gang said quietly. “Maybe you should go for a walk. Take a minute-

“I don’t need a minute! I need to know what this lunatic was thinking!”

“I was responsible for ‘im,” Dakota said. “He needed… His daddy did the same thing to keep ‘im in line. My daddy did the same thing to me. Some boys need a strong hand to keep ‘em on the straight an’ narrow…”

“That’s like one step above ‘everyone else was doing it’ and you know it. There’re people who were raped by their parents, does that mean they should fuck their own kids?”

“I’d never do somethin’ like that! I love Cal-.”

“Sure got a funny way of showing it.”

Dakota looked like he was struggling to find something to say.

“Hyeong,” Gang again, taking his shoulder. “Maybe you should calm down. This isn’t any of our business-”

Not any of our business… How many times had he said the same thing about the Abbas household? How many? And how big was the casket in that hearse?

Maybe that was the reason Choe didn’t back down. “You realize that if someone else hurts him, he could be fucked, right?”

“I-”

“Damage like that stacks. If someone else hits him, it could kill him.”

“No,” Dakota said, decidedly unsteady. “No, that ain’t- I ain’t been hittin’ him all over… or anywhere important…”

“Up until now. How long before you make a mistake? Hit him too hard or in just the wrong area…” He grimaced. “Or too long. You can die from shock that way. That’s true, no matter what your friends have to say about it.”

Dakota didn’t look at him.

“Hyeong-”

“And think about what you’re teaching him!”

“Teachin’ him…?”

“Look, I don’t know what his behavior problems are, but every time you hit him with that thing, I know ex-fucking-xactly what he’s going to take away from that. ‘He hits me because he loves me’, right?”

“What ‘re you implyin’?”

“If love equals hitting, what the fuck do you think is gonna happen when the next person he ‘loves’ comes along?!”

“Cal would never hurt a fly, let alone a wo-”

“That won’t matter if it’s the other person is hurting him.”

“What…?”

“Have you read any studies on this at all?!”

Choe had, and the family he wanted to build with Youngyeon was still years away. How long had this man had with his cousin?

“These kids either become violent or wind up in abusive relationships, and they can be at either end of the abuse. What are you going to do when he’s twenty and finds someone else to do what you can’t anymore? How are you going to convince him that getting beaten is bad when you did the same fucking thing?”

“I-I-I…”

“Didn’t think that far ahead. Did you?”

Dakota said nothing.

“Yeah. People like you, you never do.”

“Choe…”

“Look, apparently beating children is acceptable in your country, so I can’t exactly get the police involved - but maybe you should think about why it’s somehow okay for you to treat a child you supposedly care about the same way I was treated as a prisoner of fucking war!”

Once more, nothing.

“C-Choe, we should get going. The funeral isn’t going to cater itself-”

“Yeah yeah. Perfect. Lucky for you, duty calls.” Choe nodded to his brother, and together they walked off. “Mi-chin-nom…”

Chapter Text

Marshal and Dakota had been having conversations like this for years. This was the first time he listened.

Marshal pulled the camper up as close as he could to the grass. Dakota - thankfully - was right where he’d left him, sitting in the shade of a neutered-looking tree. Probably planted by the city. He scowled when he saw him.

“Make any new friends?”

“You’re talking about those two mousy fellas?” Dakota shook his head. “I apologized to ‘em, if that’s what you’re asking.“

“It was. Get in.”

Dakota did. He looked in the backseat. Colorado was out cold, drooling onto the box of Oreos. “What happened to him?”

“Word to the wise, if the lowest thing on a food truck’s spice scale is ‘very hot’, don’t take Cal there.”

“Hm?”

“He ordered ‘Inferno’, threw up in the bushes and went back for more. Then he arm-wrestled the guy at the counter. Then he arm-wrestled the guy’s girlfriend to ‘prove he wasn’t sexist’ and lost. Then the girlfriend arm-wrestled the guy at the counter.”

“What?”

“I dunno, man. It was a whole thing.”

“Sad I missed it then.”

The two of them were briefly quiet, driving down the road.

“You talk about anything with those fellers?”

“Mm.” Dakota looked out the window. “The four-eyed one called me… something. I don’t know what it was exactly but I can make an educated guess.”

“What’s your guess?”

“Son of a bitch.”

“You did beat him up.” Marshal smirked. “Or tried to, anyway.”

“Shut up.”

“No can do,” he said. “You’re my friend an’ all, but I gotta admit you deserved that one.”

“Hm.”

“You did. You know it too.”

“Maybe,” Dakota grumbled. “Weren’t about the fight though. They came around pretty quick.”

“Then what were it about?”

Dakota said nothing for a moment, staring out the window of the car.

“Kota?”

“You know the kinda shit those commie bastards do up in North Korea?”

“Hard to find someone who doesn’t.”

Dakota nodded. “Well, ‘pparently, I’m no better than they are. That’s what the four eyes thinks anyhow.”

“Gonna need some context wit’ that one.”

“Promise you won’t say ‘told ya so’?”

“Nope.”

“Marsh.”

“Okay, okay… What’s the problem?”

“Well, uh, we got to talkin’, right? About… I dunno. They saw Cal with me an’ I asked ‘em…” He swallowed. “Know those parentin’ books yer always tryin’ to shove at me?”

“Yeah.”

“Guess I shoulda read them. Apparently takin’ kids in hand the way I do… it can mess ‘em up. Make it so they hurt people. Or… let other people hurt them.”

“Mm.” Marshal didn’t seem all that surprised. “Fine. I won’t say I told ya so.” He looked over. “But I will say I’m annoyed as fuck.”

“Marsh-”

“How long have I been trying to tell you this, Kota? How long? You’ll listen to some stranger who whooped your ass before you’ll listen to me?”

He hung his head.

“S’ what I thought. Let’s see, how long you been lookin’ after the kid? Little before Cody was born? I been tellin’ you to knock it off since then, ain’t I?!”

“Not so loud.” Dakota glanced at the back seat. His cousin didn’t stir.

“He’s down for the count,” Marshal said, rolling his eyes. “Too bad. Maybe hearin’ this ‘d do ‘im some good.”

“I’m sorry,” Dakota said.

“Tell that to him.”

“Marsh-”

“Look, I know things were different for you and me. So what? Ain’t the point to try and be better than your folks were, not just like ‘em?”

Dakota said nothing.

“Trying to be just like yer folks is how you end up like the Calvins, y’know? Marryin’ off their twelve year olds an’ havin’ a dozen kids wit’ each their dozen wives.”

“Wouldn’t do that.”

“I know. I know that, okay? But what you’ve been doin’ still ain’t right. S’pecially with…” He shook his head.

“What’re you thinkin’?”

“You started whuppin’ him when he was eleven, right?”

“Mm.”

“Kota, that’s… If the mayor started in on him ‘round then…” Marshal sighed. “I been thinkin’ about this since y’ told me the way it was.”

“What d’ya mean?”

Marshal said nothing for a moment.

“Look, I get it. I fucked up, alright? I hurt him, and I shouldn’t’ve done that, but-”

“But you covered the bruises the mayor gave him. That’ll make it harder to prove he’s been doing it for so long.”

Dakota grunted. “We only need to prove it once.”

“That won’t get him as long a sentence as you’re thinkin’ it will-”

“It don’t have to be long.”

“Why not?”

“You know as well as I do what happens to peds in jail or prison, Marsh.”

That was true. “Still. He’s out on bail now, ain’t he? Think he woulda got that if we could prove the rest?”

Dakota didn’t answer.

“An’ that’s not the only thing. You started hittin’ him ‘round the same time the bastard set his sights on ‘im.”

“Mm.”

“That’s in the books too, y’know.”

“What is?”

“Kids act out when they’re hurtin’, Kota. How much a’ Cal bein’ a knucklehead was just him bein’ hurt? S’pecially when you started gettin’ on him with grades.”

“I-”

“You could have talked to him, y’know. Get him a tutor for the subjects that’re giving ‘im trouble, or at least help him with his homework. Did hitting him ever get ‘em up?”

Dakota looked away.

“That’s what I thought… And you know what else? A drop in grades, that can be because somethin’ else is goin’ on!”

“My folks-”

“This ain’t about your folks! This is about him an’-” Marshall hit the dashboard. “Fuck. Okay, some a’ this is on me for not doin’ more, I guess… but I told you. I told you-”

“You didn’t know nothin’ else was goin’ on! You… you…” Dakota stammered. “I had to convince you, remember? Maybe we woulda known sooner if he wasn’t so damn scared all th’ time.”

“Kid ain’t afraid a‘ me.”

Dakota fell completely silent.

Marshal turned on the radio after five minutes. He’d said what he needed to say… and Dakota, for the first time, heard what he needed to hear.

Chapter Text

Dakota and Cal had their conversation because it was a long time coming.

They’d cleared the city hours before, pulled the GFC into a rest stop parking lot and settled in. Well… Marshal had settled in. Antsy as ever, Cal had up and bounded out of the truck the moment the wheels stopped turning. And Dakota had followed him. Dakota needed to follow him.

“Cal.” He took a hold of his cousin’s wrist, gentler than he usually did. Cal still winced. “We need to talk.”

“Talk? Nah, we don’t need to talk. There’s nothing to talk about-”

“Cal.”

His cousin drooped. “I… I’m sorry, Kota. I’m real sorry.”

“See, that’s what we need to talk about. Ya don’t have anything to be sorry for, Cal. None of this was your fault, understand?”

No answer.

“Kid…”

“Marsh lost his job ‘cause of me, y’know. He ain’t said anythin’ about it, but he’s gotta be a little bit pissed right?”

“Not at you. An’ he lost his job ‘cause Sheriff Whatshisface ain’t fit to hold that position.” He clasped his cousin’s shoulder. “You-”

“When we get back there… y’all are gonna be arrested. Y’know that, right?”

“Kate’ll get that straightened out.”

“An’ what if she doesn’t?” The kid’s eyes trailed to the brush at the edge of the lot. “You oughta tan my hide.”

“What? No! Ya ain’t done nothin worth a tannin’.”

“I got us into this whole goddamn mess! All a’ this is my fault, an’ you know it, an’ I gotta face the consequences. You an’ Marsh nearly got hauled off cause a’ me and none of this woulda happened-”

Dakota grabbed his cousin by the shoulders. “Cal, enough of that.”

“But-”

“I SAID ENOUGH!”

Cal winced, and shrank away. Afraid.

Afraid of me, Dakota realized. Fear that he’d put into his cousin, justified and entirely because of him. “Cal? Look at me, would ya?”

“I’m sorry-”

“S’ okay-” No it isn’t. “I… You don’t gotta be sorry.” The kid didn’t say anything. Dakota stooped until their eyes were level. “C’mon, Cal. Please?”

Finally, Colorado met his gaze.

“We’ll get back to this, but for now… I’m gonna ask y’ a question.”

“What?”

“You afraid of me?”

Cal’s eyes widened. “W-why would I be afraid of you?”

“Because I hit you.”

Cal said nothing for a time.

“… Y’know somethin’? Marsh never liked it. Not since he had Cody.”

Cal looked up. “Really?”

“Really. When… when Cody was born, he didn’t have anyone to go to. So he read up on stuff. Almost everything he read said not to tan a kid’s hide or even spank ‘em. Tried to tell me, but I thought he was just going soft.” He looked at Cal. “Now… now I’m startin’ to think he might be right.”

“Kota-”

“I raised ya the way my parents raised me. Thought it was the right way to go about things.” He sighed. “But just ‘cause my parents did it… They were doing their best, I think. Didn’t make it right. And… and if it led to you thinkin’ ya had to keep… all that from me… then it definitely weren’t right.”

“I didn’t-” He rubbed his eyes, smiling tightly. “Actually, I always thought y’ should be a little scared a’ your folks, I mean… ‘Fear a’ punishment. Fear a’ God.’ ”

“I ain’t God, kid.”

“Well, yeah, but still, s’ the same idea. I was scared a’ my daddy back when he was alive. You’re the closest thing I got now.”

Dakota swallowed. “Well, ya oughta respect me. But that don’t mean you gotta be scared.” He looked Cal in the eyes. “An’ I’m sorry I made you feel otherwise.”

“Kota, you’ve got nothing to be sorry-”

Dakota held up a hand. “Yes. I do. I’m sorry I hurt ya, Cal, I shouldn’t’ve done that. You were hurt, so badly hurt, and you couldn’t come to me. You deserve an apology for that.”

His cousin mumbled something under his breath.

“What was that?”

“The night it… Back when y’ took me to see Dr. Rey. He asked when was the first time it… an’ I told him- That wasn’t true.”

“What?”

“August eighth. I wasn’t in school-” He winced. “-an’ Marshal was workin’ an’ you were off with Kate… I ran into the mayor. He said he’d give me a soda if I went back to his office… an’ this was before you were lettin’ me have caffeine.” Cal laughed. “How stupid is that?”

“I… I thought- The tour.”

“I ran into him on the tour a’ city hall… but he didn’t- Not until later.”

Dakota stared at him. “That the first night you were home late?”

Cal nodded.

“… Fuck,” Dakota muttered. That had been the first time he ever hit him… His baby cousin was raped and he had hit him, no wonder he hadn’t said shit. “Fuck, Cal…”

“I-it’s okay-”

“No it ain’t.” Dakota looked down in shame. “I shoulda asked. I shoulda asked… an’ I’m so, so sorry I didn’t.”

“You didn’t know.”

“That don’t excuse it.”

“I should have told you.”

“I wouldn’t have told me!”

Colorado flinched again. “I never blamed you or nothin’…”

“Fuck, you think that’s what I’m worried about?”

“… I dunno.”

“Kid- I… Fucking hell. Forget about me. How ‘re you holdin’ up?”

“You already asked back in-”

“Not just from that. From… The mayor, he hurt you. But I hurt you too.”

“It’s fine-”

“Is it? Are you?”

Cal went quiet again.

“Fuck. Goddamn. Cal, I… I am so, so sorry.”

“Kota-”

“Cal. Look at me.”

He did.

“I ain’t ever gonna tan yer hide or hit ya. You understand? Never again. An’ I pray to God that one day you’ll realize I was in the wrong… and I pray that further down the line I’ll have done enough that you’ll forgive me.”

“Kota, I ain’t even mad at you-”

He grimaced, setting his hand on the back of Cal’s neck, pulling him close in an awkward, one-armed hug. “I love you. I don’t say that enough, but it’s true. An’ I’m sorry… I’m so fuckin’ sorry.”

They stood like that for a moment. Eventually, Dakota felt something trickle down the back of his neck.

“Kid-”

“Don’t let go.”

So he didn’t. And his cousin hung onto him and cried.

Chapter Text

Marshal and Cal had their conversation because Dakota wasn’t home.

“Listen, Marsh? Can I… talk to you about something?”

“What’s up?”

They’d been back on the Mesa for two months. Two months since California and Oklahoma and- Two months since everything. And nobody had gone to jail.

“Um… Mind takin’ a look at my back? I think I’m… I think I might be bleedin’.”

“You what?”

“Jus’ a little bit!”

“Why?! What happened?!”

“That don’t matter. I just need you to patch me up, okay?”

“Cal. It matters.”

“Look, are you going to stand there and ask questions or are you gonna stitch up my back?”

“Bathroom,” Marshal got out through his fog.

He steered the kid down the hall by the shoulder, shoving a stack of magazines from the toilet seat and pushing him down. Cal winced as he pulled off his jacket and undershirt. Marshal couldn’t see his face, but he knew the sound of gritted teeth.

“ ‘S it bad?”

Then he saw the red. Cal’s back was an absolute mess, mostly of bruises. Some blood. Not as much as there could be. Still more than there should be.

“Holy damn, what did Kota do to you-”

“Wasn’t Kota. Just take care of it, please?”

Marshal said nothing at first. Then he got the rubbing alcohol. “This’ll sting.”

“I don’t care- AH!” Cal sucked in a breath, flinching involuntarily. “Maybe a little warning next time, Marsh?”

“What happened?”

“Just get it fixed. You don’t gotta ask questions.”

“I can do both, Cal. You said this wasn’t Kota. So who was it?”

“… Don’t tell no one.”

“Don’t tell no- Fuck! Of course I gotta tell somebody! Who… What happened?” he asked, more gently this time. “If it was Kota, y-you know I’ll believe you, right?”

“It wasn’t him! I swear, I…”

“This wasn’t an accident. I don’t know what you did, but he don’t get to-”

“You seen my grades?”

“What?”

“I… I thought they’d get better once I… But now we’re back an’ the mayor ain’t bendin’ me over his desk no more… I got time to focus, but… I need to focus. I need to be better.”

“Cal, ‘re you… Did you do this to yourself?”

Cal said nothing for a bit.

“Fucking hell,” Marshal mumbled. “How long?”

“… Since we got back. Kota’s kept his promise, y’know. Hasn’t put his hands on me once, so…”

“So you took yourself in hand?”

He pulled his knees up to his chest. “G-guess so. First I started pushin’ back a li’l… jus’ to see if he was serious. An’ he didn’t hit me. Din’t even look like he was gonna try. So I thought…” He hit himself on the forehead, tried to do it again, but Marshal caught his wrist.

“Knock it off.”

“Sorry. I jus- Tell me what I’m s’posed to do. I ain’t gettin’ better. I ain’t doin’ better. I don’t- This is the only thing that makes me feel like ‘m doin’ somethin’ right. ‘Specially after all the trouble I caused…”

“You didn’t cause this trouble.” Marshal grabbed some gauze. “That was and is all on the mayor, you understand?”

“Still. I-”

“Listen Cal. Bastard’s been hurting ya for four years and he still hasn’t gotten to trial yet. You really think you’re gonna feel all better after two months?”

“I don’t feel any better.”

“And hitting yourself makes it better?”

Cal shrugged. “Does on the inside.”

He was going to kill Dakota. “You, uh, did the right thing comin’ to me,” Marshal said. “Mean it.”

“You ain’t mad?”

“At you? Never. But I…” He drummed his fingers on the sink. “What’d you use? To do this with.”

“Belt. The belt. The one Kota used to…”

The one Kota’s pappy had used on him. Marshal sighed. “I can’t let you do this to yourself.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“Study, if your grades are what all this is about.” Marshal sighed. “Look… do you want me to talk to Dakota about looking for a therapist?”

“Shoot, Marshal, it’s not that-”

“Yes it is.”

“We can’t afford-”

“I’ll pay.”

“And what sort of therapist is nearby?”

“Don’t have to be nearby. All kinds of help online, Cal. And you need help.”

“… Kota says therapy don’t look right.”

“Kota says a lotta things. He’ll listen this time if’n he knows what’s good for him.”

“I… Maybe.” Cal nodded. “If you can talk ‘im into it.”

“I’ll talk to ‘im alright.”

“Please don’t kill my cousin.”

“What makes you think I wanna kill him?”

“The murder in your eyes. Ya get the same look when someone talks ‘bout the mayor.”

Marshal ran a hand over Cal’s hair, down the back of his neck. “I ain’t gonna kill nobody.”

“Sure?”

“I’m sure. I’ll jus’ give him a talkin to, alright?” He smiled tightly. “Listen, Lily an’ I got an extra room at the hotel. Maybe it’d be better for everyone if ya came to stay with us - just for a few days - until this all gets sorted.”

“You wanna keep an eye on me.”

“Yes I do. In a place with no belts.”

Cal smiled slightly. “How d’ya keep your pants up then?”

“I’m bein’ serious, kid.” But he chuckled all the same.

“Yeah, I know… Guess I could stay with you for a couple days.”

“Great. I’ll sort it out with Kota. You go get your things.”

~

Marshal and Dakota had their conversation when Dakota returned.

“Fuck you.”

Dakota blinked, his hand still on the doorknob. “Uh-”

“Don’t say anything. Jus’ don’t. If you do, I might just hafta punch you in the face.”

“The fuck happened?”

“Your cousin’s been beating himself.”

“Fuck. I told him the thing with the mayor-”

“Literally.”

“What?”

“I’ll tell you what!” Marshal stood, holding a leather belt in his hands. The belt. He waved it under Dakota’s nose.

“I-is that blood?”

“Yes! Cal’s blood! He came to me after you left askin’ if I could patch up his back. I didn’t know- Fuck, Kota, I told you! I told you this was bad for him!”

“Wait, why would he-”

“He said it was ‘cause you weren’t anymore! And it’s bad, Kota. Real bad!”

“He need a doctor? I can-”

“Not this time. Not if he’s careful… but he’s hurtin’ himself. He said he’s been at it since we got back. An’ I don’t- He’s not alright. He’s hurt. An’ I don’t know what to do.”

Kota looked down in shame. “I don’t know, either.”

“Clearly,” Marshal scoffed. “Listen, Cal’s stayin’ with me for a few days so I can keep an eye on him.”

“I can keep-”

“That ain’t up for discussion.”

“S’ my job to-”

“To look after him, I know the spiel. That’s what got us into this mess.”

“Y’ can’t just-”

“I should have before now!” Marshal snapped. He stared up at Dakota, chest to chest. “I knew Cal wasn’t okay with you. I knew he was hurting! But I didn’t do nothin’! Well I’m doing somethin’ now.”

“Marsh-”

“Coupla days. I’m giving you a coupla days to get your head out of your ass, read some of those parentin’ books I gave ya, do yer own research, and find Cal a goddamn therapist. Hell, find yourself one, you sure as fuck need help. And when Cal comes back in to live with ya, I’m going to be keeping my eyes on you. You fuck up one more time, Cal comes wit’ me. Permanently. You got all that, Kota?”

“I… I’ve been doin’…”

Marshal sighed. “S’ not enough. You’re my best friend, Kota - I mean that - but I love Cal too. An’ he’s just a kid. I gotta be the adult here an’ step up whether ya like it or not.”

“I’m tryin’! Honest.”

“Yeah. No offense, but your trying is kinda shit.”

Dakota went silent, and Marshal sighed heavily. “Fuck. I know you love the kid, but you ain’t doin’ right by him. He needs help you ain’t givin’, and the longer Cal’s waiting’ for that help, the worse he’s gonna get. I know you don’t want that.”

“How long’re you-”

“Five days, if you want a number on it. He can stay longer if you think you’re not ready.”

“Okay.”

“You’d better get your act together. For his sake. I don’t like having to do this.” He clapped his hand on his friend’s shoulder and leaned in close. “Don’t make me be the bad guy, Kota.”

Dakota said nothing for a while. Then he sighed. “Make sure Cal don’t forget Jezebel, y’hear? Can’t sleep without her… An’… an’ don’t let Lily fill ‘im up on junk food…”

“I’ll take good care of him, Kota. No matter what happens.”

“Ya gotta promise me that he ain’t gonna…” Dakota sucked air in through his teeth. “If the mayor comes ‘round sniffin’, you can take care a’ it, right? Already had a few close calls.”

“Mayor comes sniffin for Cal at my place, it’ll be the last thing he does, got it?”

Dakota nodded.

“I’m real sorry, Kota.” Marshal clapped his shoulder, then paused just before the doorframe. “This hurts me more than it hurts you.”

And Dakota flinched.

Chapter Text

Yeon and Choe had their conversation because he was pulling out his fingernails at 2 AM.

Yeon had turned over in her sleep. It had been a few months since the wedding, since Choe had moved in with her. Long enough that she was used to feeling him beside her. Long enough that it startled her awake to realize he wasn’t.

“Choe?” She pushed herself up in bed, and rubbed her eyes. Her husband was gone. She got out of bed herself, looking around and sighing somewhat in relief when she saw the lights on in the master bathroom. “You okay in there, man?”

No answer.

Yeon could have shrugged it off and gone back to bed. Maybe that would be most people’s reaction. She didn’t, though. Years of living with Hwa after the incident had taught her one thing: silence was dangerous.

“Choe?” she called, knocking on the door. “You sick?”

“Uh… yes?” He didn’t sound sick. More uncertain. As though he was just answering so as not to worry her.

“Need me to get you anything?”

“No… no, just go back to bed. Please.”

Well that did it. She tested the door; unlocked. And then she turned the handle.

“What the- YEON!”

“Come on, man, we literally see each other naked all the time, this isn’t… The fuck…?”

Pliers in her husband’s hand. Blood from his fingers. Nails in the bathroom garbage.

“Y-Youngyeon…” He shivered. “Don’t.”

“Fffuck. Shit, Choe, are you-” She could have hit herself. “Stupid question. What are you doing?”

“Don’t,” he said again. “I don’t…”

“Shit… Shit. Uh, okay… Maybe I should get Eomma-”

“Don’t tell her!”

“Well, fuck, Choe. What exactly am I supposed to do?” She motioned to the trash. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on here.”

Choe looked down and away. Avoiding her gaze.

“Just… just tell me why. Okay?”

“You wouldn’t understand-”

“I can try. We’re married, Choe. You’re my husband. I can’t just let you do whatever this is without understanding why it is you’re doing it.”

“… I…”

“C’mon, Choe? Please.”

“… You’re too nice to me.”

“I’m… what?”

He shivered again. “I got used to… Yeon, back in the North- I got used to a lot of things, right? Sleeping without a blanket. Barely sleeping. Barely eating… And the pain.”

“Okayyy…?”

“Fuck, this is going to sound crazy,” he chuckled. “I miss it.”

“You… miss the North?“

“Fuck no. Not the North. I just… I miss the pain. The physical pain.” He held up a still-bloody hand. “I know it sounds insane. Maybe it is. But when I hurt on the outside, it feels better inside.”

Yeon walked over and sat next to her husband on the edge of the bathtub. “How long?”

“Since I got back from there,” Choe admitted. He flexed his fingers. “It’s not usually this bad.”

“So… so you do… other things?”

“Yeah.” He looked over. “Not like this, I mean, not usually stuff that draws blood. Just things like… I don’t know. Scratching myself too hard, handling ice too much, flicking myself with a rubber band, things like that. Used to be worse.”

“Worse how?” she asked. “I mean, I know about…”

“The Jo incident.”

“Yeah.”

“That was… different. I don’t know, I’m sure there was some subconscious desire to do what he told me, but…” Choe shook his head. “This isn’t like that. I just- I need… This - all this - feels weird, right? Too good to be true. Too good to last. That’s why I need to… It’s real as long as the pain is.”

“That’s…” Yeon trailed off. She wrapped her arm around him, and pulled him close. “I’m not gonna just tell you it’s not true. I mean, it’s not, but it sounds like… superstitious?”

“Maybe,” he admitted.

“I love you. You know that, right?”

“I do. I don’t get why, but I know you do.” He looks down. “And maybe that’s part of it? I’m not good enough for you.”

“Yes you are.”

“I’m really not. You could do better.”

“Choe, I landed myself a guy who broke out of a North Korean prison on one leg, while blind, and ran over the fuckin’ DMZ. I don’t think a lotta girls can say that.”

“Well…”

“Face it, I love you. Shut up.”

He laughed.

“I’m serious. And because I love you, I don’t want to see you hurt yourself.”

“Yeah. I know. That’s why I didn’t want you to know. Like I said, it doesn’t usually get this bad.”

“So why did it tonight?”

He shrugged.

“Choe. You can’t tell me you don’t know why you’re pulling your nails out. What was it, some kind of nightmare?”

Again, silence.

“Was it Hwang? I am gonna-”

“Stand down, nae sarang. It wasn’t him this time.” A sigh. “But… I think I dreamed about his ex.”

“His ex? You mean…”

“Go Seon-do. I mean, I didn’t know his name until later, but…” Shrug. “He wasn’t as bad as Hwang was, even towards the end, honestly. More violent. It hurt more, but nobody ever made me fuck a corpse again so there’s that… Still.”

“Still?”

“I killed him. Maybe that’s my problem. Or maybe it’s just that he never… I hate Hwang, I hate him, but he’s neutered now. He’s harmless. But Go? He’s just dead. And that’s worse in a way.” He wiped his eyes. “He was… trying to tell me something.”

“What was he trying to say?”

“I don’t remember exactly. Kinda fuzzy. I just remember waking up and feeling shitty. And I dug my nails into my arm and it didn’t do shit, so…”

Yeon nodded, rubbing his back.

“Fuck,” Choe muttered. “I didn’t want to tell you about any of this.”

“I’m glad you did though,” Yeon said. She kissed his cheek. “I wish you’d talk to me about this stuff.”

“I don’t like thinking about it. Especially not with you.”

She rolled her eyes. “I got my own baggage too, dude. You know that.”

“You don’t need to take mine too.”

“Maybe I want to, dingus. We’re in this together, okay? Whether you like it or not.”

Quiet for a bit.

“So what now?”

“Simple. I’m cleaning up your fingers and we’re going back to bed. You got that appointment with Abbagale tomorrow, right? Talk it over with her then.”

“She’ll throw me in the looney bin.”

“She will not, drama queen. You might… She might want to get you evaluated, but that’s not so bad.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Hey, I’ve done my time in rehab. It’ll be okay.” She squeezed the hand that wasn’t bleeding. “Really. And if you do have to stay overnight, I’ll stay with you.”

“That’s not allowed.”

“Don’t care. I’ll break in.”

“You would.”

She reached out her hand. Slowly, cautiously, Choe put his bleeding hand in hers for her to take care of.

He stopped.

Chapter Text

The Telerins had their conversation because… what the fuck? Seriously, what the fuck?

Cleo had been moved to special education classes. Too many complaints from well-meaning parents. Too many people who didn’t know how to explain her swollen stomach to their own little ones.

Mr. and Mrs. Telerin came by to collect her first. They were expecting their little girl to come running. They were not expecting so many angry people to be waiting for them outside.

“Can we help you?” Mrs. Telerin asked politely.

A larger woman was the first to answer. “Yes, actually, you can. We need to talk.”

“Preferably privately,” said a thinner woman with a thick Russian accent. “Without the children present. Ours are all in their appropriate vehicles of transportation.”

“The teachers agreed to clear a classroom for this.”

An older gentleman leaned on his cane. “We need to have a serious talk about your little girl.”

Oh. This again.

“Cleo will be fine,” Mr. Telerin said.

“She’s not fine now!”

“And killing her baby will make her better?”

“It’s not even a baby yet-”

“It can think and feel. I don’t expect you to understand-”

“If you don’t do something, she is going to die.”

“She may die,” Mrs. Telerin said, covering Cleo’s ears. “She may die crossing the street. We will simply have to put our trust in the Lord that they will both be alright… or that she will go to Heaven.”

“Or, and just ‘ear me out… you could take one child definitely not dying over the very, very, very ‘igh chance that both of them will.”

“Killing an infant is worse than killing an adult, or even an older child,” Mr. Telerin said. “It’s sad, but… Cleo needs to look at this as an opportunity to grow.”

“Besides, those… treatments are so unsafe,” Mrs. Telerin added. “What if she’s never able to have children again?”

“She’s almost certainly not going to have children again if she does give birth!”

“Maybe, but Pilar will be around. At least she’ll have brought one new life into the world. She won’t have an innocent’s blood on her hands.”

“You’re going to have an innocent’s blood on your hands if you go through with this.” The large man sighed. “Okay, ignoring the fact that your daughter is probably going to die because you sick f…reaks don’t seem to care about that, what about the baby?”

“Yes! The baby! ‘Avin a mother so young is definitely not gonna be good for the baby! There could be birth defects and complications or it could be stillborn!”

“Are you suggesting we kill Pilar now because she might have complications?”

“Nothing ‘might’ about it! Your daughter’s not big enough to safely deliver. She’s too small-”

“Cesareans are an option. I don’t know what you believe about us, but-”

“For Pete’s sake, have you been watching the news? Do you remember what happened with the Agateva case?!”

“That was a tragedy,” Mrs. Telerin agreed. “But that is not what will happen with-”

“You don’t know that!”

“Are you even certain of the identity of the one who did this to her? For all we know, they may have had a similar condition to Ms. Agateva, or perhaps even something worse.”

“Please tell me you’ve at least had a some kind of medical professional check on the fet-”

“The baby. Our granddaughter,” Mr. Telerin said. “And of course. She might be a bit premature-”

“Oh, like your daughter is a bit on the young side?!”

“Seriously, lady, you’ve got six kids already, why don’t you focus on them for once?”

“We can do both-”

“You let your daughter get pregnant in the first place!”

“We didn’t let this happen-”

“Well it happened somehow!”

“Now, now, be fair. You can’t allow somethin’ to ‘appen if you’re never actually around to see it.”

“We left her with a sitter! He’s the one-”

“You left one man with six small children that were not even his family,” the Russian woman said. “You will forgive me if I am not impressed.”

“Isn’t the sitter the one who tried to-”

“Not in front of my daughter!”

“The one who’s pregnant at eight from an unknown assailant. Sorry, but I doubt you have her best interests at heart.”

“I-”

“We’re leaving,” Mr. Telerin said, taking his wife’s hand. “Come on, Cleo. Tete’s waited long enough-”

“You’re making a mistake!”

They didn’t listen.

Chapter Text

Aeji and her parents had their conversation while planning a birthday party.

“My baby!” Appa sniffled. “In her adolescent stage already. A teenager!”

“Not yet,” Eomma said. “Few more weeks to go, yes?”

“Ah, yes, yes,” Appa said, wiping his eyes. “I suppose now is no time for being sentimental.” Have you compiled a guest list for the people you wish to be present?

Aeji nodded, signing back to Appa. Yeah, I’m thinking my girlfriends and Cleo and Lizzy so far. And I’d like them to meet Lily and Traynor. But I had a question.

Yes? Eomma asked. If it is about those rich girls-

Cassandre and Valerie are rich too.

Cassandre and Valerie can be salvaged.

Aeji huffed, but she didn’t argue. It’s not about them. I was wondering if I could invite some boys.

“BOYS!” Appa squeaked. What do you want with boys?!

She shrugged. They’re in my class.

New?

Kind of. They missed a lot of school.

Missed school? Are they sick?

Aeji shook her head. No, they got arrested and went to jail.

Appa and Eomma shared a look.

How old are these boys? What grade?

Fifth. Two below me.

But how old are they? Have they been held back?

Aeji shook her head. Not yet, but they’re probably going to be. They’re eleven. Twins - like Valerie and Cassandre. She looked down at the invitations and then back up again. They got out because the judge was crazy or something.

Well, neither of the parents disagreed with that assessment.

So they were put in juvie?

No. Not juvie. Jail jail, with the grownups.

They were put in jail with the grownups?

Aeji nodded. Apparently they had a grownup trial too.

That couldn’t be right. Who in their right minds would charge an eleven year old as…

Eomma suddenly had a flat look on her face. Aeji? These boys… Do they appear to be of African descent?

Aeji blinked. You can just ask if they’re Black. And yeah, they are.

Annnd there it was.

“What did they do?” Manny asked. Then signed. Sonia rolled her eyes.

Trespassing, I think. Aeji tapped her chin. Breaking and entering. They got a really long sentence at first so we thought they were gone for good.

How long?

Longer than I’ve lived with you.

Do you know where it was?

Some really, really old factory at the edge of town.

Eomma and Appa looked at each other again.

What? Aeji signed.

These are nice boys? You like them?

Aeji nodded. I didn’t know them well before, but everyone says they’ve been acting weird since they got back. Maybe this will make them feel better.

Do you mind if I ask what you mean by weird?

Aeji tapped her chin in thought. Well, sometimes they suck their thumbs. Or they cry over something like tripping even when they’re not hurt.

Age regression. Appa shuddered. This was something he knew well.

It’s mostly just Max though. I think he’s the older one. Davie’s kinda shy, but doesn’t act like a little kid. Not as much, anyway.

What’s he like?

He broke a cup over Pacifica Northwest’s head. She blinked. But it was only because she started it! Besides, you’ve let me hang out with Bing before. And he killed the aide at his last school.

For justifiable reasons.

It’s alright, we trust you. If you want these boys at your party we can invite them.

“We can?” Manny spoke up.

“Candied vascular organ, Aeji is lesbian. Still you are worried about boys?”

“It’s not her I don’t trust, Toxoplasmoya, it’s… members of the opposite sex.”

“I believe Traynor was assigned male at birth.”

“Dear, you know that’s different. Besides, we know xem.”

Can they come if you invite Mr. Kettle?

The billboard burner?

That’s the one. He’s their grandpa.

“Sonia-”

“Hantavirus, who was it who had the idea to commit identity fraud in order to get into-”

Appa sighed. “Very well.”

Chapter Text

Manny and Elder had their conversation because the party was getting awkward.

Well, the house was full of little girls’ screaming and he was sitting across from the Diaper Baby billboard burner. At least Aeji was happy.

Neither one of them said anything for quite some time. Manny kept eyeing the older man. The older man kept eyeing him.

“Something the matter?” Elder asked.

“No, no,” Manny said, shaking his head. Never argue with a man who owns a flamethrower.

“Well, good.”

Silence again.

“Have I seen you on TV?” Elder asked.

Manny groaned. Great. “Yes.”

“You’re the one that snuck into North Korea and lived to tell the tale.” Elder whistled. “Props to ya. I know they’re vicious.”

Manny eyed him. “You’ve been to North Korea?”

“Well, technically, yes. But it wasn’t North then.”

“You’re a veteran?”

“Damn straight.” The man stroked his mustache. “But so are you, right?”

“I don’t see how-”

“What happened there - fought your own war, and won. More than I can say about most wars. Almost never see a winner…”

“Mm-hm,” Manny hummed.

“Mm,” Elder hummed back. Then leaned forward. “MAJER! You stop that right now!”

Majer Kettle had hefted Aecha up above his head and was now running in circles.

“Sugar rush on the upswing,” Elder said apologetically. “DON’T YOU DARE DROP HER, YOUNG MAN!”

Aecha, for her part, seemed immensely amused by the whole thing. Even had her hands over her head yelling “WHEEEEEEE!”

“Aecha!” Manny rushed forward himself, but couldn’t grab her. Aecha was still laughing.

“Faster! Faster!”

“NO! SLOW DOWN!”

Eventually, the kids tired themselves out. Well, Majer did, at least. Aecha, once let down, ran straight for the dessert table, her new friend following suit.

“I swear that boy is going to give me a heart attack,” Elder said, plunking down again. “I don’t know what to do with him - with either of them.”

“Mm,” Manny said, sitting down next to him. “I wouldn’t know what that’s like.”

“Girls don’t give you nearly as much trouble, hm?”

“Mine don’t,” Manny said quickly. Then he looked over at his eldest daughter, currently chatting with her girlfriends. “Though that may change soon.”

Elder followed his gaze. “Ah, that’s right. You’ve got yourself a teenager now.” He leaned over and patted Manny on the back. “I remember when mine was that age…”

“Have you any advice for me?”

Elder laughed. “Buckle up.”

“Gladly.”

“My son wasn’t half as much trouble as those two…”

“Apologies if I’ve overstepped,” Manny said, “But… was?”

“There are no winners in war. I already said that.”

“My condolences.”

“Thanks. Been a while since it happened… Boys don’t remember him. Maybe that’s better.”

“I confess, I never knew my father either,” Manny said. “What about their mother?”

“Ah,” Elder shook his head. “Broken heart, I’m afraid. Literally. Doctor called it that.”

“Oh,” Manny said slowly. “That’s a tragedy.”

“It is, but…” Elder shrugged. “Not much to be done, now.”

Quiet again for a bit.

“Apologies again,” Manny said, “if I am overstepping. But I must say that makes the mistrial an even greater crime against them.”

“So you know.” Elder’s voice had an edge to it, but no surprise. “Listen, they were never guilty of trespassing to begin with-”

“Even if they had been,” Manny said, “they should not have been tried as adults.”

“Pheh.” Elder’s eyes darkened. “Can’t say I’m surprised they were. Probably the judge’s idea.”

“Who was presiding over the trial?”

“Hopkins.” Elder spit out the name as though it was poison.

“… That’s-”

“Unsurprising.”

Manny sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Shame on me.”

“Shame on him,” Elder muttered. “Shame on everyone involved in that farce.”

“My eldest female offspring says they were sent to-”

“That’s true too. Maximum security,” Elder scoffed. “Still there when he was tossed in.”

“Who? Hopkins?”

“Mm.”

“They didn’t… encounter him there, did they?”

“They haven’t mentioned it,” Elder said.

That wasn’t an answer for Manny; and not, he suspected, for Elder.

“Are they sufficiently alright?”

“Better now,” Elder said. “But…”

“But?”

“That girl of yours, she was on TV too for a minute.”

Manny stiffened.

“She was… locked up. And someone, ah, took liberties with her, right?”

Manny gasped. “The boys weren’t… Were they?”

Elder sighed - tired and frustrated. “Davie doesn’t know everything, Max won't talk to me…”

“Max?”

“Short for Majer. He’s the one I’m worried about.”

“Has he been evaluated by a physician?”

“I took ‘em both for a checkup the day they got out,” Elder said.

“Might I hypothesize that there was some kind of negative reaction?”

“You could say that.”

He nodded slightly. “Did the doctors need to ask for permission to perform a forensic examination?”

“They…” Elder covered his mouth, composing himself. “I was worried the boys might have caught something - TB or… I don’t know. Something. Looked like they were losing weight. Doctor asked them to change. Davie did, but Max… I thought he was just being shy at first, but-” A sigh. “Max has never been the shy one.”

Manny swallowed. “O-oh…”

“They’re boys,” Elder murmured, eyes darkening with rage. “Only boys. Someone should’ve been watching them. Someone should’ve been protecting them. And they weren’t.”

Manny looked over. “Do you know who it should have been? I can provide-”

“Justice?”

“An alibi, anyway.”

Elder laughed darkly. “A good lawyer would be better.”

“Are you thinking of filing a civil suit?”

“You bet your ass,” he said. “Pardon my French, but-”

“No need.”

“Who the hell locks a couple of ten year olds up with grown men? Murderers! Sex offenders!”

“The same sort who would execute an eleven year old for kissing, I would suppose,” Manny said flatly.

“Hm. Maybe one of them.” Elder scowled. “But the jury too? The guards? The prosecutor? The boys didn’t even do anything! And even if they had, it was Cookie’s Cookie Factory - nobody’s set foot there in years. Give ‘em a stern lecture and a grounding, not… They’re children!”

“I don’t suppose there’s any good reason for what happened to them.”

“You can’t wrap your head around it, either?”

“I said there was no good reason for it. The ones who dared to do this grave injustice to them… They had reasons. Just not good ones. I suspect at least one may have realized this by now.”

“Fat load of good that does my boys now.”

“I find it hard to disagree.”

Chapter Text

Davie and Popop had their conversation because Max wouldn’t… and couldn’t.

First night back and his brother was too doped up to enjoy it. Davie scampered out as soon as the car pulled up the drive, petting the goat, running through the house and kicking up dust. Popop took longer. First to get Max out of the backseat. Then to carry him up to bed.

A glance at the clock told Davie he’d better follow. A glance at Popop told him to stay put.

“Hold it. I’m gonna get your brother settled and then I want to talk to you.”

“About what?”

Popop sighed as he went up the stairs, Max’s face buried in his shoulder. “About what happened.”

Davie winced, and went to the couch. He got the feeling he was going to want to be sitting down for this.

After a short while, Popop came back down the stairs, a heavy, solemn expression on his face. A sigh of sadness escaped him as he sat down next to Davie, and he looked over at him with that same expression. “I’m sorry to have to ask you this.”

“Ask me what?”

“Don’t play dumb,” Popop said, reaching up to cuff his ear. Sighing, he thought better of it and lowered his hand. “Are you okay?”

“Um, yes…?” Davie crossed his legs. “I think so. Why did you- Why did I have to take all my clothes off?”

“David, I told you that-” Another sigh. “They found… something on your brother. I needed to make absolutely sure the same thing didn’t happen to you. And I think you know what I’m talking about.”

Davie looked away.

“Y’know, it’s not your fault if something did happen to you. Just like it’s not his fault that it happened to him.”

Still quiet.

“And what happened to him isn’t your fault, either.”

“I didn’t wanna break out wit’ him,” Davie whispered. “First few times we tried to run, they put us to work or… locked us up in the dark…”

Popop’s eyebrows shot up. “Solitary confinement?”

He nodded. “So I gave up. Max didn’t wanna. So he left an’ I didn’t see ‘im again for… a little while. An’ when I did he wasn’t actin’ right.”

“What do you mean?”

“Y-you saw how he was with the doctor, right? C-crying like a kid and stuff?”

Popop chuckled. “You still are kids.”

“You know what I mean. Like a little kid. Like a ba-” He stopped himself. “L-like he’s in kindergarten or somethin’. That’s… It started back there.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

“N-no, but… the guards…” He bit his lower lip. “I didn’t know what ‘VPU’ stood for, so I asked summa the other guys. I thought it was like… like super solitary or…” Davie moved a little closer to his grandfather. “S’ where they put the gays an’ stuff… People who’ll get beat up by the rest of th’ prison… Like the…”

“David? Come on, talk to me.”

“They put the guys who are in for… for… Popop, can I say a bad word?”

“Shoot.”

“The ones who ‘fucked with kids’, that’s what Miss Sally told me. An’ they used to lock Max in there.”

Popop’s eyes widened. “Did they…?”

“Y-yeah, an’… an’ Max stopped trying after that. Started to be really, really good.” Davie twiddled his thumbs. “B-but sometimes the guards would threaten to throw him in anyway.”

“Did they?”

“Summa th’ time. When they got mad… Max didn’t even mean to do anythin’! It was just… He, um, started wettin’ the bed. They didn’t like that. An’ he cried a lot… an’ they didn’t like that either. An’ he started suckin’ his thumb again…” He pulled his knees to his chest. “Got really mad after visitin’ hours though.”

“Why?”

“B-because… ‘Member how he’d freak out when you tried ta leave?”

Popop swallowed. “Did… did they not like that either?”

Davie shook his head. “Not one bit.” He hugged himself. “A-an’ they dragged him away while he was kickin’ an’ screamin’… An’ I didn’t… I shoulda…”

“David, that isn’t your fault.”

“B-but… but…”

“Hush. I know Majer is your brother, but you’re two little boys. I don’t think there’s anything you could have done - especially not without getting yourself hurt too.”

“Maybe I deserve to be hurt.”

“Don’t you say that.” Popop grabbed him by the shoulders. “Your brother wouldn’t want that and neither do I, understand?”

“B-but… but…”

“Were you hurt in there?”

“… No,” Davie said. “But Max was and I let-”

“You didn’t let anything happen. If you need to blame anyone, blame them. Blame me, hate me all you want, but don’t you go blaming yourself. You’re a kid, Davie. You’re just a kid. And it’s not your responsibility to fend off grown men.”

“Max had to!”

“And he shouldn’t have had to.” Popop squeezed his shoulder. “It was those guards and those men that made this happen. But it wasn’t you. It was never you. You’re innocent of all of this, Davie, you understand me? And none of this should have happened to begin with.”

Davie sniffled.

“… D’ya need a hug?”

He nodded.

“Shh. C’mere,” Popop said, and held out his arms.

Chapter Text

Max and Popop had their conversation once the drugs wore off.

It was close to one in the morning when he felt strong enough to lift his head again. He could see the numbers on the clock - 12:57 - in the glow of his brother’s old nightlight. Davie was asleep on the top bunk. Someone was still awake downstairs. And Max was hungry for the first time in months.

He crept out of bed slowly, careful not to wake Davie, before heading downstairs where he could already smell something cooking. When he peered around the corner, there was Popop, setting a plate of something down on the table. Pancakes! Max ran forward, scrambling onto the chair.

“Figured you might be hungry,” Popop said, patting Max’s head as he started pouring syrup onto the prepared plate. “Need me to get anything else?”

“… Milk?”

“Of course, of course,” he said, taking a jug from the fridge. “It’s the real deal, too.”

“How old ‘s it?”

“Majer!”

He laughed. “Jus’ messin around. Thanks for, uh… doin’ this.”

“Any time, m’boy.”

“How’d ya know I’d be comin’ down?”

“I know how those drugs work,” Popop said, watching as Max dug in. It was quiet for a moment, before Popop took in a deep breath. “And, um, Max?”

“Mm?”

“We… we need to talk. About… what the doctors found on ya.”

Max’s face dropped. “Oh.” He swallowed. “U-um, Popop, I don’t-”

He held up a hand. “Davie already told me the basics, so you don’t have to talk about the details if you don’t want to. I’m more worried about how you’re feeling right now.”

“Hungry?”

“I’m being serious.”

“So’m I. I’m real hungry. Haven’t eaten in… a while.”

“Did they not feed you?”

“They did. Not a lot, but they did…” He took another bite of pancake. “Didn’t have much a’ an appetite, I guess…”

“Nerves?”

“Maybe.” Max swallowed.

“I understand.” He let Max eat a little more. “Anything else?”

Max shrugged. “I dunno. Whaddya mean else?”

“Do you feel bad?”

Max shrugged. “I mean… I dunno. I don’t feel good.”

“Ah, physically or…?”

“I dunno…”

Popop looked like he was trying not to lose his patience. “The doctor prescribed a few things, not sure if you remember. Medicines, y’know. Was wondering if you wanted to go into town with me tomorrow to get those filled.”

The boy’s eyes suddenly went wide. “Don’t leave!”

“I won’t, bud. I won’t leave you alone if you don’t wanna be alone.”

Max nodded. “U-um… Wait, what’s the medicine for?”

“Few things - pain, anxiety. A-and…” Popop’s expression softened. “… some of ‘em are preventative.”

“… Of what?”

“Well…” Popop let out a breath. “What… happened… could’ve gotten you sick.”

Max swallowed. “Sick how? Like a cold?”

“Ah, no. This is… a bit more serious than a cold.”

“So like a flu?”

“Max,” Popop said quietly. He set a hand on the middle of his back, between the shoulder blades. “Did you ever notice that those men in prison… They didn’t look healthy, did they?”

“Summa ‘em did…”

“And the ones that didn’t?”

Max stared at his plate.

“I just wanna make sure that nothing like that happens to you, okay? You’ve been through enough already.”

“I ain’t hungry no more…”

“Max…”

“Is that gonna happen to me? A-am I gonna get scabs all over my body?”

“Max-”

“Am I gonna get yellow eyes?!”

“Majer-”

Max looked up at Popop. Terror in his eyes. “A-am I gonna die?”

“No! No, you’re not going to die! That’s what the medicine is for. It’ll stop you from getting sick if you aren’t already…”

“B-but what if’n I am?”

“Then we can take care of that,” Popop said. “Sit back down.”

Max did.

“Good boy. Listen, if you are sick - and that’s a big if - we can get you put on something for that too, okay?”

“That’ll help?”

“Yes. It’ll help. You won’t…” Popop sighed. “You won’t die from this.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Max wiped his mouth. The plate was less than half finished and he already felt sick just looking at it.

“You wanna try and eat some more?”

“Uh…”

“I think you should,” Popop cajoled. “Just a few more bites. You’re too skinny now.”

“Not hungry,” he mumbled.

“But you love pancakes.”

“Gonna throw up if I eat anymore.”

Popop expression sunk. “You need a bowl? Or…” He reached for Max’s forehead. “Come on, son, just let me-”

“NO!”

Max scooted back in his chair, trembling with fear. Shaking his head. “NO NO NO! GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME!”

“Max-”

“GET AWAY! GET… a-…-way…”

Max didn’t need Popop to tell him why he was staring at him with that expression. He could feel it trickling down the chair. His face went hot. His eyes teared up. There were colors blurring at the edge of his vision… and a large, gray shape backing away.

“Majer? Majer, it’s alright. You’re safe… and I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to right now.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but only garbled sound came out.

“Okay, okay. Deep breaths, can you do that?”

“… Y’… not… mad…?”

“Of course not.”

“But I… I just… an’ you…” Max started to cry, unable to continue through the sobs.

“Max.” Popop sat on a chair next to him. “It’s alright. I’m not them. And I don’t want to hurt you.”

He cried harder.

“I-it’s going to be alright! I’m not angry… Not with you-”

“D-Davie…?”

“I’m not mad at Davie either. You’ve been through a lot. You’re scared, but it’s going to be okay. Do you understand?”

“I wanna die!”

“You don’t mean that…”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Max…”

“I couldn’t be hurt no more if I was dead!”

“You won’t be hurt no- anymore. You’re home now. You’re safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to-”

“It happened before! Y-ya couldn’t stop it then!”

“I wasn’t there then. I’m here now.”

“A-and you won’t leave, right? Y-you’re not gonna leave me?”

“Of course, Max. I’m not… Do I look like I’m goin’ anywhere?”

“Y-… Ya might,” he sniffed. “What if the cops come back?”

“The cops aren’t coming back. They’re not going to take you anywhere.”

“W-what if they come back? The guys from…”

“I’ll make them go away.”

“You promise?”

“I promise. You’re safe now, Max. Now if you’re not hungry, why don’t we get you showered up?”

Max sniffed. “C-can I take a bubble bath?”

“Sure thing,” Popop said, extending his hand. “Need a little help?”

“M’… m’ real sorry about… y’know…”

“That’s okay. That’s nothing, got it? Nothing. I’m just glad you’re home safe.”

Max threw his arms around his grandfather’s middle and squeezed him tight.

“Me too.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get you that bath.”

Chapter Text

Donald and his crew had the conversation because they spotted the boy.

“Uhhhhh… captain?” Donald called out from his position on the side of the ship.

“Yes Ensign Duck, what is it?”

“There appears to be someone lost at sea on our starboard side.”

“How can you be sure they’re lost? Boats-”

“That’s just it! He’s not in a boat!”

The captain stared at him. “He’s swimming?”

Almost. The boy in the water lay on a makeshift raft. Maybe it was a boat at some point. Hart to tell now; it had been ravaged, sun-bleached. And its passenger wasn’t in much better condition.

“Don’t just stand there! Pull him up!”

“Yes sir!” Donald pulled out a loudspeaker. “Hey! Can you hear me?”

“Dieu? Est-ce vous?” The boy on the raft lifted his head up and started looking around.

Donald cleared his throat and spoke in French. “I’m not God, but I need you to listen to me carefully. Can you move?”

The boy nodded slowly.

“Okay. I’m going to toss you a floatation device. I need you to grab onto it. Once you have it, we’ll help you get onto the boat. Do you understand?”

“O-oui! Oui!” He tried to say more and broke out coughing.

“Just hang on as tight as you can.”

Once on deck, the boy fell to his knees, skinning them as he went down. Donald extended a hand.

“Can you get up?”

“N-non…” More coughing.

“Get him some water!”

One of the seamen came running back with a glass. Donald held it out to the boy, who chugged it down. “Easy, easy, you don’t want to make yourself puke.”

The boy did slow down. Slightly. “M-merci,” he managed when the glass was empty. “Merci beaucoup. Merci. Merci. Merci.”

“You’re welcome. Can you stand now?”

The boy shook his head.

”Alright, I’ll get help.” He pointed to a fellow sailor. “You. Help me get this kid to the infirmary.”

It wasn’t difficult to move him. He was long - tall standing up, probably - but skinny. Really, really skinny. Donald winced as his crew mate dropped him on the bed. “Not so rough!”

“Sorry, sorry-”

“What if you break something?!”

“Eh, is it really gonna make a difference if he’s this bad?”

Donald gave him a flat look.

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll, um… I’ll… go so the doctor can treat him…?”

“You do that. I’ll stay here. Kid’s gonna need someone who speaks French.”

He left. Donald stayed. The boy stared up at him.

“What’s your name?”

“Donald. I… What’s yours? How old are you?”

“Moussa Naminata… and I don’t know.”

“What? How do you not know?”

“If I tell you, you’ll send me back.”

“Send you back?”

Moussa swallowed and shook his head. “I can’t go back. No, I can’t. I can’t. I can’t-”

“Easy. No one’s sending you anywhere.”

Moussa shook his head again and went quiet. Just as well, since the doctor came up at that point.

He turned to Donald. “Has he said anything to you?”

“His name is Moussa. I haven’t gotten anything else. Pretty sure he’s dehydrated.”

“I don’t want to go back!”

“He’s running away from something,” Donald said. “I… I think someone must have- Did somebody hurt you?”

Moussa nodded. “At the cocoa farm.”

“Cocoa farm…?” Donald muttered. To his surprise, the doctor winced. “Something wrong?”

“I think I know what happened… Tell Moussa he’s not going back to that place. He’s safe here, no matter what he says. If you don’t, I sincerely doubt we’re going to get any more information out of him.”

“I already told him,” Donald sighed. “But would you please tell me what’s-”

“Don’t you know anything?”

“Apparently not!”

Moussa flinched. Donald squeezed his hand.

“Look, there’s a lot of human trafficking along the Ivory Coast. Especially with the cocoa crop. Sounds like our friend here’s a runaway.”

Donald blinked. He felt a surge of fury flare up in his chest. Moussa flinched again, pressing into the wall with a whimper. Donald caught himself, shaking his head. “No, no, I’m not mad at you. Are… Did you run away? You’re not in any trouble, we just need to know so we can treat you.”

Moussa looked up. “You’ll send me back.”

“No, we won’t. You’re not in any trouble. Those people that kept you…” Should be in trouble. Should be arrested. But Donald knew enough about the world to know he couldn’t promise that. “Well, we won’t send you back. I swear.”

“… I couldn’t stay there,” Moussa whimpered. “Do you understand that? They- they took me. They made us work for hours and hours and I couldn’t stay there! I would have died.”

“I know. I know. Shhh, don’t worry. You’re never going to see that place again, I promise.”

“Tell him I’m going to check his vitals.”

Donald nodded. “The doctor’s just going to make sure your body’s working as it should, since you’ve been out at sea.”

“I can’t walk.”

“We know. We need to see if anything else is wrong so we can fix you. How long were you out there?”

Moussa shivered as the doctor pressed his stethoscope against his bare chest. “Don’t know. Weeks. Ran out of food and water. Didn’t have much to begin with. Bit of a silly plan now that I think about it.”

“You were desperate-”

“Blood pressure,” the doctor said.

“I can see that.” Donald rolled his eyes. “After this, we can get you something to eat. How’s that sound?”

“Food, yes. Food would be nice,” Moussa said, clutching at his sunken belly.

The doctor pulled the cuff away, and made some notes.

“Well?”

“His pulse is a bit high, and so is his blood pressure. Could be stress, but I am making a note. You were definitely right about the dehydration. I’m going to start him on an IV line to help replace the water and electrolytes and we’ll also give him water at every opportunity.”

“Anything else we need to know?”

“I…” The doctor didn’t look him in the face. “Can you ask if… Did they hurt him?”

“What? I’m not going to-”

“I need to know. If they did he could have cracked ribs or a hematoma… Just ugly internal stuff in general.”

“… Did they hurt you?”

Moussa bit his lip.

“When and where?”

“Don’t know. It felt like everywhere. All the time.”

“He says he’s not sure when and where he was hurt.”

“Figures…” The doctor sighed. “Turn him on his side?”

Donald nodded, then clutched the boy’s hand. “The doctor needs you on your side, okay? I’ll help you.”

Moussa nodded. They turned him on his right side, revealing his back; a mess of scar tissue. Donald couldn’t help but wince.

“Okay, a variety of impact injuries, wish I was surprised,” the doctor muttered as he took notes. “Ask him how long the farm had him for.”

“How long were you there?”

“Since I was six.”

“Six. He says six.”

The doctor swore. “Can you get his pants off? Or ask him to let me do it?”

“Why?!”

“Injuries go down to his legs. I want to see all the damage… and that area’s the most prone to infection.”

Donald swallowed. “M-Moussa? The doctor says he needs to look at your legs. Is it alright if we take your pants off?”

Moussa’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “N-n-non! Non non non! Je ne te laisserai pas! Je ne te laisserai pas!”

“What’s he saying?” the doctor asked.

“I don’t know, he’s speaking too fast-”

“J’irai bien! Je serai bon, mais n'entrez pas en moi!”

Donald went paler than usual.

“What is it?”

“S-something… He said something about being ‘inside’ him.”

“What are you-”

“I think he-” He swallowed hard. “Moussa…? Were you raped?”

Eyes watering, the boy looked over his shoulder. “Don’t touch me.”

“I’m not going to hurt you. Neither is the doctor. We just want to help you.”

“Please… Please, don’t.”

“I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to make it easier?”

“Please… I can’t… I…” Moussa sniffed.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright. We won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Another sniffle. Moussa bit his lip. “C-can I be the one to take them off?”

“Of course.”

Moussa nodded, and reached down. It was a bit of a struggle, but he did manage to get his pants off. He curled in a bit on himself after, clearly trying to preserve his modesty. It didn’t do much. His buttocks were as scarred as his legs and back, and his inner thighs had been raked over and over again with long, sharp fingernails.

Donald clenched his fists. “Who did this to you?”

“I don’t know. White guys. Mostly. The girls kept getting pregnant so they came to me instead.”

Donald took in a deep breath. He couldn’t go to the Ivory Coast now. Not without wanting to beat every white man he came across.

“I’m going to need a blood sample,” the doctor said, almost in a daze. “We’ll need to check for diseases…”

“What about his legs? He can’t walk. Is that…” Donald trailed off.

“For now, I… I think I-” The doctor shook his head. “Probably starvation. Dehydration. He can move them alright. It’s supporting his weight that’s the problem… And… and I think we should get him to a proper hospital before long - if it turns out there are more issues than I can treat.”

“Can you even check for diseases here?”

“I can check for some.”

“Alright, I’ll tell him… Moussa? Hold out your arm? The doctor’s going to take a bit of blood for testing.”

Moussa obliged. The doctor got his sample and inserted an IV while he was at it. Soon enough Moussa was in a hospital gown, eating the provided MRE like it was ambrosia.

“So what now?” Donald asked, looking on as Moussa ate.

“We’ll take him with us into port-”

“And after that? He’s not going back to the Ivory Coast, is he?”

“You realize the country isn’t a giant cocoa farm-”

“Of course I do! But… but…” Donald looked down at Moussa. “I can’t just…”

“Don’t tell me you’re already attached.”

“He doesn’t have anyone to go back to! What if they find him again? Isn’t he a refugee? Can’t we do something?”

“Ensign-”

“Please? Figure something out. Talk to someone! I’ll talk to someone!”

“Calm yourself, Ensign,” the doctor said. “I’ll ask around, but it should be relatively straightforward. He can seek asylum in the U.S. if he really doesn’t have anyone else to go to.”

“And from there?”

The doctor looked over Moussa. “From there, it’s probably the foster care system.”

“Is he that young?”

“I’d need an X-ray, and it’s possible that malnutrition is a factor, but he’s definitely an adolescent.”

Donald sighed, bending over. “What a nightmare…”

“Maybe, but he got lucky.”

“Lucky?!” Donald motioned to Moussa. “You call this lucky?!”

“Sure. He’s here with us and not back with them.”

“What does that make us, then? Who never went through anything at all?”

Chapter Text

Chieko had her conversation because she could tell her older brother needed to have it.

It had been a week since the phone call. The one that had left him pale and kept him quiet the rest of the night. The one that told Junji his girlfriend was missing. He hadn’t said anything about it since then - hadn’t cried or raged, hadn’t stopped eating or started phoning the police for reports - but he was staying at work later and he barely spoke to Chieko or A-hu. He even stayed quiet when A-hu said something in Korean, in an attempt to snap him out of the trance. So, something was almost definitely wrong.

Chieko waited for an opportunity, and found it when she saw his door slightly ajar. Going into his room, she found him sitting on his bed, knees pulled to his chest, staring at a small ring box. She didn’t ask. She just sat next to him, pulling him to her side. After a few moments, he relaxed his posture, allowing her to pull him into a hug.

He responded to this by burying his face into her neck and letting out what could only be described as a howl of pure, deep pain.

“Nii-san?”

He stayed there for a while and when they separated again, his face was wet. And so was her shoulder. “I think I’m cursed.”

“What? Why?”

“I hurt everyone around me - all the women, only the women…” He choked. “First Okaasan, then you… and your daughters didn’t- And now Rachel’s missing and I don’t know what I… Is it me? It has to be me, right?”

“I don’t know what happened to Rachel,” Chieko said, squeezing her brother’s shoulder. “But I know you had nothing to do with it. Nothing that happened was your fault-”

“You don’t know that!” Junji shook his head. “There has to be something, something that gives women bad luck! Something that makes them get hurt! There’s no other explanation! Hell!” He threw his arms out. “Even fucking Kit got hurt and I didn’t even know she was a girl!”

“Jun-kun, you know that’s bullshit. It’s irrational. You know-”

“I don’t know! And neither do you! It’s… Do I make them vulnerable? There must be something…”

“You’ve dated plenty of girls who didn’t-”

“I wasn’t serious with any of them! But every woman I care about - every woman I share my life with - they all just… Even the ones I haven’t met yet.”

“Junji-”

“I was going to ask her to marry me,” he whimpered, placing his head on her shoulder. “We were supposed to have a life together. Maybe that’s what made it kick in. Maybe that’s why-”

“Nii-san.” Chieko pulled him in again. “Not another word.”

Normally he would have said something about her not needing to be Okaasan. This time he stayed quiet.

“You know, in my experience, you don’t hurt the women around you.” She squeezed his shoulder. “In my experience, you’re the best thing to happen to them.”

“I should have walked you home-”

“And what? Gotten kidnapped too? It wouldn’t have made a difference - and no, Junji, you couldn’t have fought them off. You would have been hurt just like me, and that would have made it all even worse. And Rachel lives in California - what could you have done differently? Followed her there? Made her stay here? And-” She bit her inner cheek. “There’s nothing you could have done about my girls.”

“I… They… I should have been there…”

“None of that. I’m their mother and I couldn’t do anything, and it has taken a long, long time for me to accept that. I was there, and I was still powerless.”

Junji said nothing.

“You know what the problem is?” Chieko looked out. “The problem is that there is evil in the world. And it’s not fair who it targets. But you don’t have anything to do with that.”

“But… you got hurt-”

“You didn’t hurt me, nii-san. You saved me.”

“You saved yourself-”

“You came to get me in Korea. You brought me home. You brought my boys home… If I had had to go to Oto-”

“Don’t think about that.”

“It’s true. If I had gone to him, I don’t think I’d still be here. I don’t know if I could have coped… But you took us in and you’ve taken care of us and I’m so, so grateful for that.”

“I owe you. You’re my little sister.”

“And you’re my big brother. I owe you too. And I’m not going to let you blame yourself for things that were out of your control.”

Junji sighed. “But… I just…” He looked up. “I love her.”

“I know.”

“It’s not fair. None of this is fair. And there has to be a reason-”

“Is that all there is? You’re looking for a reason?” Chieko scowled. “You being cursed isn’t exactly a very good one. What could you even have done to get yourself cursed?”

“Maybe I was a terrible person in a past life. Maybe this is my-”

She whacked him on the back of the head. “Junji, trust me. Whatever you might have done in a past life, you’ve more than made up for it in this one.”

“I’m not so sure I believe you…”

Chieko sighed. “Well… Rachel thought so, too.”

“Maybe she was wrong.”

“I don’t know, you said she was pretty smart.”

“Wherever she is… maybe she’s changed her mind…”

“Wherever she is, I’m sure she doesn’t want you beating yourself up over her. Not if she loves you. Not if it’s real.”

“Maybe it’s loving me that’s the problem. Everyone who gets hurt seems to…”

“Hae, Nari, and Ara didn’t even know you. Besides…” Chieko looked at him. “You’re not right, but… say you were. Say you really did cause bad luck. Even if I knew you were cursed, even if I knew what they would do to me, and even if I had to do it all over again, given the choice, I still would. If it meant I got to have you as my big brother.”

“That doesn’t-”

“And I know Rachel thought the same. You forget, I’ve talked to her.” She patted his head. “Do you want to know what she told me about you?”

“I don’t see-”

“She said she was shocked when she learned you were single.”

“Because she thought I was gay.”

“Because… Well, okay, yes, but more than that - she thought you were gay because, why else would you not be married? That was the only reason someone as sweet and smart and kind as you wouldn’t have a wife. And then she apologized if that sounded homophobic.”

He laughed weakly. “Sounds like her, yeah…”

“She said you were the best boyfriend she’d ever had.”

“She did not.”

“She did. And something tells me she wouldn’t lie about that.”

Junji sighed. “What if she ends up like you?”

Chieko raised her eyebrow. “I really doubt North Korea would try to get the Ameri-”

“Not them. Just… There are a lot of people out there who’d want to hurt her and Sloan.”

“Then…” Chieko sighed. “I wish I could promise you she’ll get out and be fine, but I know I can’t. All I know is, if she does come back, you’ll be there for her. And I’m sure she knows it too, and that thought will make things just a little better.”

“A-and… what if she’s dead?”

Chieko drew her brother to her once again, hugging him close. “Then I’ll be here,” she whispered. “Just like I’m here now.”

Chapter Text

Lefou, Lizzy, and Wilhelmina had their discussion in the hospital.

Lefou looked over his notes one more time. It could be worse news, he knew it could be, but he still wasn’t looking forward to giving it. Especially so much of it. Especially to one person. He walked out into the waiting room and quickly located his target. A larger woman currently folding in on herself, and a smaller one rubbing her back.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Tweedy-Herbertson?“

The woman shot up like a rocket, and probably would have grabbed him if it weren’t for the younger woman. “Wot the ‘ell ‘appened?! Is ‘e awright?! ‘E’ll live, won’t ‘e?! Promise me ‘e’ll live!”

“Deep breaths,” the younger one said. “Deep breaths, he’s here to tell you.” She looked at him, silently begging for good news.

Lefou let out a breath. “If you’re referring to your husband, yes. He’ll live.”

She let out a sigh of relief, putting her hand on her chest. “Oh thank God. Thank you. Thank you and whatever miracle workers you’ve got!” A pause. “Is ‘e alright?“

Lefou braced himself. Here came the part he wasn’t looking forward to. “Well, I have good news and I have bad news.”

“Wot’s the bad news?”

“The bad news is that the bullet appears to have grazed his right lung. It’s not completely destroyed, but we weren’t able to entirely repair it. It doesn’t appear to be severe damage, mind you, but there is a possibility it could affect his oxygen intake going forward. We’ll have to wait and see. We also had to perform an emergency surgery to repair the rest of the damage. He’ll probably have to stay here for at least a month, possibly longer.”

“But ‘e’ll recover?”

Lefou nodded. “His condition is stable. He’s still unconscious but that appears to be from lingering anesthesia. We expect him to wake up in a few hours.”

“Oh thank goodness. Can I see ‘im? Please-”

“Soon,” he said. “But…” Deep breaths. “Your son was brought in-”

“I know,” she said. “But ‘e called me, so… so ‘e must be… Is Gromit not alright?”

“He’s a minor,” Lefou said carefully. “We need permission to perform… Listen, maybe you should-” She was already sitting down. “Okay, first, he’s not in any danger. He should be out in a few days.”

“Alright…”

“But… I’m sorry, I don’t know how to say this… We need parental permission to perform a forensic exam.”

She went pale at that. “W-wot?”

“It looks as though he was assaulted at least once. Possibly more than. He’s still giving us the exact details but he said… something about a stalker.”

Mrs. Tweedy-Herbertson mumbled something under her breath. The younger woman beside her blinked. “I don’t think that’s physically possible-”

“I DON’T CARE!” She looked up at Lefou. “If you need me to sign sommat, I’ll sign it. Anything you need. Does ‘e want to get it done?”

Lefou nodded.

“Then get it done. Whoever it was that ‘urt ‘im, they need to pay.”

“Glad to hear it.” Lefou handed over some forms and a pen that, true to her word, were signed instantly.

“Can I see them? Gromit first, then Wally. ‘E’ll need me. I can’t let ‘im go through it alone.”

“Soon. There’s one more thing, but I’ll get you to him soon. I promise.”

“Soon?! I don’t ‘ave time for-”

“Some men came in earlier, with a little girl…”

“What does that-”

“We, ah, well…”

“Greetings, Mother. Cherish me.”

A small, thin girl had walked into the waiting room, and she promptly climbed onto Mrs. Tweedy-Herbertson’s lap.

“… ‘Mother’?”

“Ah,” Lefou cleared his throat. “Lizzy. You should be in bed.”

“I was told I am being kept for observation, nurse. You can observe me just as well from Mother’s lap as you can from the bed, I assume?” She didn’t wait for a reply before wrapping her arms around her new mother. “Greetings. You are aesthetically pleasing to behold.”

“Um…” The larger woman blinked, not sure how to react. Only one word left her lips. “Wot.”

“Ah, it seems you have not been informed. I could have guessed as much. Do not fear, Mother, I will bring you up to date immediately.”

“Lizzy, maybe you should give her a minute-”

“Nonsense. I take it you are aware of my birthgiver’s status?”

“Status?”

“Occupation. She is a high ranking member of an international trafficking organization. The Ark. Is this understandable?”

Mrs. Tweedy-Herbertson just blinked at her.

“She wouldn’t have informed you of my birth, of course. Or the pregnancy. I’ve read my own file. And Cousin Basil had told me you believed you were sterile, so you wouldn’t have known or suspected.”

“B-Basil?!”

“Oh, yes. He’s alive. Or… was, at any rate.” She looked down, a touch of sadness in her previously-monotone voice. “I’m uncertain if he is now. My rescuers won’t tell me.”

Mrs. Tweedy-Herbertson took in a breath. Or, tried to. It seemed not quite deep enough. “ ‘Old on,” she said, trying to breathe.

“If you’re trying to ask what happened, we just managed to escape captivity.”

“Lizzy-”

“We were kept together,” she continued, heedless of Lefou’s increasingly panicked tone. “In the Ark, I mean. He was chained next to me.”

“Lizzy-”

“We tried to escape with him. But then those men said he was staying behind to cause a distraction. I don’t know what that distraction was…” She trailed off. “Mother? Is there pain in your left arm?”

The woman only nodded.

“Ah. Perhaps that was too much at one time.” She looked up at Lefou. “I believe she’s having a heart attack, can you perhaps check her in?”

“What?! Lizzy, you’re not a doctor-”

“Neither are you. That doesn’t mean one can’t recognize the signs. And I would prefer to keep my only parental unit in one piece.”

“Er… ma’am? Are you alright?”

Through gritted teeth, Wilhelmina managed to utter, “I think you ‘ad… better do what she… says,” before she slumped in her seat.

Chapter Text

Jack and Emily had the conversation when he found her in the morgue.

Not that that in itself was unusual. She was a mortuary science student, he’d met her and her classmates plenty of times before, and she lived on his block, not far from Poe Raven and the Addamses. What was unusual was that she was lying down on the dissecting table, hands folded over her chest and eyes closed. All she was missing was the traditional white lily in her hands.

“Uh, miss? This is a restricted area. What are you doing here?”

She didn’t open her eyes. “I’m supposed to be here, Dr. Skellington.”

“I think you might be in the wrong room.” He blinked. “Or is this some kind of new… assignment? For school?”

“No.”

“Then why-”

“Because I’m dead,” she said serenely. “Like all of them.”

He looked around for any chemicals she might have gotten into. He was pretty sure nothing he used could cause delusions, but he was more familiar with their effects on the actually deceased than the living. “I… see. You seem quite alive to me.”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying. I’m sure you can prove otherwise.”

“… When exactly did you… ‘die’?” Jack stepped closer and saw the lumpy, sore-looking scarring around her eye. That was new… She had called in sick for the last week. Probably connected.

“Last Sunday, I’m afraid.”

“Do you want to… discuss it?”

Emily sighed. “Only to help you understand. I was supposed to meet with a, ah, gentleman friend of mine. Barkis Bittern.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know him.”

“Lucky for you, maybe. I’d been seeing him for some time. Father didn’t approve, told me so, but of course I didn’t listen. I was so clever, wasn't I?” She snorted. “Now look where it’s got me.”

Working as a coroner in Calisota gave Jack the knowledge to put two and two together there. “Gosh, I-I’m sorry. He hurt you? Badly?”

“Mm.” Emily’s hand moved and brushed the wound around her eye.

“I’m sure that should be bandaged.”

“I don’t think it matters now.”

“Well, it… I’d very much like to try anyway.”

“Then try,” she said. “I’ll be right here, you know… dead.”

He almost laughed. He didn’t laugh. There was a first aid kit in the bathroom; he fetched it silently. Peroxide… gauze… bandages… She didn’t move as he applied them. The process gave him some time to think.

“Well, miss, I have to say you don’t really seem like you’re dead, but I can imagine it feels like you are. It sounds like you’ve had a hard time. Do you… do you want to be dead?”

“Not really, but there’s nothing to be done about it now.”

That was a relief. She wasn’t likely to do anything to make it true, if that was the case… “I’m not so sure. I think the psychiatric department might be able to help.”

“They aren’t necromancers, Dr. Skellington.” She cracked one eye open. “You stopped… What’s wrong?”

The wound was moving. Jack had seen things like this in school. A few times on the job. Not often. Never in a living… subject.

“They’re alive,” he said dumbly.

“I don’t understand.”

“Miss, did you not get this wound treated? There are… maggots.”

Her eyes opened wide at that. “What?”

“Calliphoridae maggots. Blowfly. They lay eggs on raw meat, which, well, they seem to have done.”

“But… but…” Emily reached for the wound.

“Don’t touch,” Jack said, easing her hand away. “Look, it’s… This isn’t the end of the world. I’m sure a doctor can fix you right up…”

“Oh, there’s no need for that,” she said, and laughed weakly, shivering. “It’s rather disgusting, but I’m going to have to get used to things like maggots, aren’t I?”

Jack set his jaw and took her hand, gently enough that she could pull away if she wanted. “Not for a long time, if I have anything to say about it. Tell me, have you heard of Cotard’s Syndrome?” She shook her head and he continued. “It’s a condition which can be caused by physical or emotional trauma, in which the sufferer believes themself to be dead when they aren’t. Now, I understand your feelings are quite real, but just in case, how about we talk to a psychiatrist, hm? It would be such a terrible waste if you were dead, we should make absolutely certain whether or not that’s the case.”

She was silent for a long while. Then: “I suppose. Will you call someone?”

“Why don’t you get up?” Jack asked gently, offering her his arm. “I’ll bring you to the hospital.”

“But-”

“If they find that you’re right, I’ll bring you back here. Is that acceptable?”

“… I suppose,” Emily said again.

Chapter Text

Gretel, Hansel, and Zatanna had their conversation when Hansel returned.

There was a knock at the door. Gretel got up, not quite sure what she was expecting. Certainly not a young woman in a tuxedo who looked like she’d just walked out of Vegas, carrying an infant child who looked like they’d been a prop in said show. “Hi, is this where Hansel Beck lives?”

“Yes… part of the time?”

“My name’s Zatanna,” she said. “I kind of need to talk to him. Been trying to track him down for a few months, actually, do you think you could get him for me?”

“Um…” Gretel shifted uncomfortably. “Do you mind if I see some ID?”

“Sorry?” She looked suitably confused. That was a good sign.

“My brother… It's complicated.” She blinked at the driver’s license. “Zatara? Like the mag-”

“My father.” Zatanna smiled, though clearly still a little put-off. “Family business. Um, so, if you know where Hansel-”

“Hansel! Someone’s here to see you!”

Gretel shook her head. Watanabe…

Hansel came in. “To see me? What…” He saw the stranger at the door and blinked, staring for a few moments.

“Hansel.”

“Zatanna.” He looked at the infant. “… Baby.”

“Yes.”

“… Mine?”

“That or there was a false negative on one of the paternity tests.”

He was quiet for a few moments longer, then broke out in a huge grin, pushing Gretel away and leaning over the baby in Zatanna’s arms. “Oh my God! Oh my… oh shit…” He looked up at Zatanna. “I am so sorry, I know you probably contacted me earlier and I didn’t respond, I promise I wasn’t ignoring you, it’s just a really long story…”

“Hansel? What’s going on?”

Hansel turned. “Oh! Uh… I guess you’re an aunt now. Right?” He looked over at Zatanna, who hesitantly nodded.

Gretel’s eyes narrowed. “Back off.”

Zatanna blinked as the woman stepped between them. “I’m sorry?”

“If you think he owes you anything after-”

Hansel paled. “No! No, no wait!” He grabbed her arm and held onto it for dear life. “I know what you’re thinking, and you need to-”

“Then let me-”

“You need to calm down.” He sighed. “She’s… an ex, if you could call it that.”

Gretel relaxed slightly. “… You mean a one night stand?”

“Hey, it was more than once!” He looked back to Zatanna. “Sorry about that. Sorry about… everything.”

“It’s… okay.” The woman bit her lip. “I heard about what happened. Sort of. I know you were missing for a few weeks and that you were at the hospital for something, I don’t know much beyond that.”

“So, um…” Hansel shifted from one foot to the other. “Looks like we need to talk about… a few things.”

“Looks like it.”

Gretel glanced to her brother, keeping her voice soft. “You’re sure she didn’t-”

“Yes.”

“Positive?”

“Gretel, it was just… I didn’t have any, y’know, clients. Much less her. I trust her. I would let you know if I didn’t, I promise.”

“I don’t think he could hide it if he didn’t!” Watanabe piped up “helpfully” from the background.

Zatanna looked at floor, at her high high-heels. Gretel guessed she was working it out - some of it. Probably - hopefully - not all.

“What’s her name?” Hansel asked softly.

“Misty. Misty Zatara.” She eyed him, as if looking for a challenge. Of course, it being Hansel, there was none.

“Can I hold her?”

She nodded, passing over the bundle. “Elevate her… Have you done this before?”

“Foster kid.” He shrugged. “Lots of crying babies.”

Misty looked up at her father with… whatever expression one usually attributed to babies, Gretel supposed. Hansel smiled. “Hi,” he cooed. “Hi, Misty. Looks like I’m your papa.” He wiggled his free hand in front of her face. Misty, in response, reached a hand out to grab one of her father’s fingers.

Hansel’s heart, it was clear, had melted into a puddle.

“So…” Zatanna said slowly. “Um, can I come inside, or…?”

“Oh, yeah, come in. Take the couch.” Hansel stood aside but didn’t look up.

“So, um… listen,” she said after a few more minutes of baby-ogling. “I’m not going to hit you up for back child support, but-”

“I want to be involved!” Hansel said quickly. “I mean, right now she still needs you, but… later. Maybe we could work something out? Once she gets used to me…”

“I’d like that.” Zatanna smiled. “Glad it was you, to be honest - just getting a DNA sample with the other guys was like pulling teeth.”

“How old is she?”

“A little under a year now.”

“She looks just like me.”

She did. Her hair, her eyes… Gretel could even swear she saw her brother’s nose.

“I… actually came by because I wanted to talk about… how you could be involved,” Zatanna explained. “And now I know you want to be, so that’s question one out of the way.”

“Oh… Right, child support.” Hansel shook his head. “I’m not going to lie, it’s… I definitely will pay, but things are… kind of tricky right now…”

“We can work that out later. I think we can work it out where you don’t even have to pay, but… There’s something else I wanted to get out of the way…”

“Which is…?”

“I still don’t want a romantic relationship with you. Having Misty didn’t change that. I hope you can understand.”

“Huh? Oh, that’s fine.” He shrugged. “Staying together for the kids has never made sense to me. And we weren’t even dating, so…” He brought his face closer to the baby’s. “She deserves better than parents who fight all the time.”

A small smile. “See, this is why you’re my favorite.”

“This is too weird,” Gretel said. “I just… How are you a parent before me?”

Hansel snuggled Misty closer. “Mine.”

Zatanna looked amused. “You see, Miss Beck, when a man and a woman have certain urges-”

“I understand that part.” Gretel said that maybe too briskly. She looked over at Hansel and his daughter… her niece, apparently. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, how exactly do you two…”

“Oh, Zatanna and I worked together sometimes,” Hansel explained.

“And you two were never…?”

“Dating? No, we never felt that way,” Hansel said.

“Well, I didn’t.”

“I told you before the crush was fleeting.”

Gretel nodded. That she could see. Quiet for a moment, taking everything in.

“May I ask something? If it’s not too much…” Zatanna said slowly.

“Oh, yeah, anything!”

“Why wasn’t I able to get a hold of you? I’ve… I’ve been worried.”

“That’s…” He looked at Gretel forlornly. “Could you… maybe… give us some space?”

“Are you sure about-”

“Gretel.”

“Of course,” she whispered. “Of course.”

~

“Soooo…” Zatanna said, playing with the tassel on one of the throw pillows.

“Sorry about… everything. I changed my number after- I changed the locks. Been a little paranoid.” He forces a laugh. “I wasn’t trying to hide from you, though, I swear.”

“I know.” She just nodded. “You wouldn’t do that, but… why?”

Hansel sighed. “I… I was picked up by sex traffickers.”

She gasped. “Oh my God! Have you been with them this whole time?!”

“N-no, not the whole time, it was only for a few weeks… but I was worried they’d be coming back for me. I’m sorry, I probably should have contacted you-”

“Don’t apologize! Are you okay?!”

“I’m…” He shook himself. “I want to be there for Misty - and you, but in, like, a friend way. I can be there, but it’s been… hard.”

“Oh my God, I can’t imagine…”

“There have been… some issues, full disclosure. That’s why I’m staying with Gretel right now. Issues with sleep and food and I- Don’t worry, it’s not some diet thing!” he added quickly. “And I’m working on it… It’s just… If we’re going to do this,” he waved a hand over Misty, “I think you should know.”

“Wow.”

“I can still be there! I… I mean, I get it if you don’t trust me with her right away, but… but…”

“I was thinking supervised visits to start with anyway - she doesn’t really know you yet. I’m glad you told me though.”

“Does this affect… what you wanted to talk about?”

She thought a moment. “She’s taking care of you? Your sister, I mean? I know things were… complicated when we were last in contact.”

“Oh… Less complicated now. She’s not gonna let me die, if that’s what you’re worried about. She’s keeping a pretty good eye on me.”

“Good.” She squeezed his hand. “And listen, I want to work with you on this, okay? I want Misty to have you in her life. You both deserve it. And if that means fifty-fifty custody, okay. And if it doesn’t…”

“That’s okay too,” he said. “Whatever’s best for the baby.”

“Can I touch you?”

He nodded and she pulled him into an awkward side-hug. And she kissed him - once - on the cheek.

Chapter Text

Penelope and Tzipporah had their conversation because of Izdihar.

“So Israel is like America? With people just… just coming in and taking over?”

“It’s… complicated.”

Penelope looked up at her… at Shank with those big doll eyes. “You said you were from that neighborhood. Like… like… Are we the bad guys?”

“What? No! No, it’s not… It’s really complicated. My parents-” Shank sighed. “Grandpa - your grandpa - he was from Germany, okay?”

“Knew it.”

“Not so fast. Your grandma was from- well, that part of us has always been there. And even with Grandpa, immigrating… well, that’s not a big deal. Just living somewhere doesn’t make you a ‘bad guy’.”

“But Al-Quds said-”

“And she was right. The government… Look, it’s a lot.”

“I’ve got time.”

“… Okay. So, Palestinians are indigenous to the area. That’s when you-”

“Lady, I know what indigenous means!”

Shank snorted, ruffling her daughter’s hair. “Got it. So they were there, but Palestine as a state was controlled by the British - like America - until the end of World War Two. And after the… the camps were liberated, a lot of nations still didn’t want the Jews. Some went to their old homes, but there wasn’t much to go back to. Some of them were killed by their neighbors. So… the British government gave up some of their territory.”

“But it wasn’t theirs!”

“I know, but that’s what happened. A lot of people came to Israel - a lot of Holocaust survivors. A lot of Jews from all over the world. And the government wanted to make room for them… and… Well, Al-Quds is right. It was wrong. It wasn’t fair… I think- Heck, I was so young at the time, but I think that’s why my parents left. Uh, left it. Not me.”

“Oh.” Penelope seemed to consider this for a second. “If your mom was from there… doesn’t that make us Palestinian instead of Israelite?”

“Israeli, kid. And… I guess? I guess, but… Jewish people have always called Israel Israel. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.” She shrugged. “Then again, some people do. Some Jewish people. They don’t believe in Israel and they don’t call themselves Israeli. You… you don’t have to, if it makes you feel bad - if you want, you can tell your friends you’re a Jewish Palestinian. I just don’t want you to think ‘Israel’ is a dirty word. Okay?”

“I… Lemme think about it.”

Chapter Text

Junji and A-hu had their conversation after a breaking point was finally reached.

Junji didn’t think he’d be home, but things had wrapped up early. And even though his sister and her sons had been back and safe for so many years, he didn’t like leaving them alone.

(Alone, they grabbed her alone, she went through Hell alone, his family had suffered alone…)

So, he was home. And he would have just gone to check on Chi, were it not for the fact that he could hear voices coming from his nephew’s door. And the fact that he couldn’t understand a single word they were saying. His eye twitched when he realized why.

His nephew was using… that language again.

“Aku!” he said, pounding on the door. “What are you doing in there? Who are you talking to?”

More Korean. Then footsteps. The door opened.

“Oji-san.”

“Aku,” Junji said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We’ve discussed this before, haven’t we?”

“I’m sorry, but I just-”

“What if your mother hears you?”

“She’s asleep.”

“And if she wakes up? What then?”

“She’s two rooms over, I don’t think she could hear me anyway.” Aku paused, and then muttered something under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“It didn’t sound like nothing.” Junji motioned his head into Aku’s room. “Who were you even speaking with? That didn’t sound like your brother.”

Aku’s eyes shifted. “Does it… matter?”

“I think so.”

“Just a… friend. Someone from Hanawon.”

“From Hana- You mean Korea.”

“Don’t say that like it’s a dirty word.”

Isn’t it, though?

“I don’t like you having contact with… those people.”

“Uh, why?”

“Because I don’t think it’s healthy,” Junji said plainly. “Your life is here, you need to focus on your future. Not your past.”

Aku looked like he wanted to say something, but didn’t.

“I speak from experience,” Junji decided to continue. “Cutting ties with your past is the best thing you can do in this situation. I should-”

“Know? Why, because Ojīchan was an asshole?” Aku looked up. “You think that’s anything like my situation?”

“Your father-”

“This isn’t about my father. This is about my friend.”

“Your friend is one of the people who took Chi- who took your mother away from us!”

“He would have been an infant when she was kidnapped! If he was even born yet!”

“He’s still Korean!”

“So am I!”

Junji bristled at that. “Half-Korean,” he said. “That doesn’t-”

“Don’t. Don’t you dare,” Aku said, eyes narrowed.

“… Don’t I dare what?”

“Don’t tell me that it doesn’t count. That’s not true. You don’t even believe it.”

Junji blinked. “What makes you-”

“If you thought my Korean half didn’t count then you wouldn’t hate me.”

“What the- Hate you?! Where is this coming from? I don’t-”

“You could have fooled me! Or is there some other reason that the first thing that comes to your head when you think of me is ‘Aku’?”

“That’s your n-”

“My name is A-hu. A. Hu. And you know that, don’t you? I’m not stupid, I know you’re not stupid, so… what? Do you think that part of me will just disappear? Do you want me to disappear?”

“What?! Of course not! I just… I don’t want you to upset-”

“Okaasan doesn’t seem to have a problem with what I am. She gave me a Korean name, didn’t she?!”

“She didn’t-”

“My name was just about the only thing she had a say in! And you would take that away from her!” A-hu scowled. “You think I haven’t heard what you say to her? ‘Chi-chan, don’t you think your boys should have names that reflect their heritage?’ I’ve heard it! Every time you suggest we change our names to something else!” He paused. “And is there a reason you’ve only ever brought that up with Okaasan and not me?! I’m the one whose name would be changed, so why is she the one you need to talk to?!”

“You don’t understand.”

“No. I do. I get it. I know my father was a monster. I know that I’m a living reminder of what he did to her. I get that! I know you don’t want me to exist! I don’t either, sometimes! But I’m here now, and excuse me if I thought that escaping that hell that tortured my mother and killed my sisters meant I would get away from the people who told me I was born wrong. That I’m wrong for existing! And I certainly don’t need to put up with it from someone who’s supposedly my family. Even if you don’t want to treat me like it.”

“I… I don’t-”

“And that’s another thing! My sisters! You keep saying they deserved better, but you never say their names either!”

That’s not true!”

“Yes it is! You just call them ‘the girls’ or ‘your sisters’ or some other bullshit! She gave them Korean names. We’re her Korean children!”

“You’re Japanese too,” Junji finally said. “Your mother-”

“Raised me to be proud of who I was.” A-hu stared hard. “I never said I wasn’t Japanese. But here isn’t where I was born, or where I grew up, and yours wasn’t the first language I spoke. And you don’t want to admit that!”

“Because of what that place did to your mother! Your brother and sisters! And you!”

A-hu stopped. “What?”

“I said-”

“I heard. I just didn’t think you cared.”

“What? A-… A-hu? Why wouldn’t I care?”

“You hate me. You always have.”

“That’s not true. I wouldn’t have invited you here if I hated you.”

“You would have for Okaasan’s sake.”

“I… You’re a part of this family too. It’s just that… You look like-”

“Them.”

“No! You look like her! You look like me! You really look like Itachi… but you’re still a man.”

“A Korean man. Would it be a problem if my father was… local?”

Junji thought a moment. “Probably,” he finally said. “I’d hate any man who hurt my sister. Regardless of whether or not he was local.”

His nephew didn’t say anything.

“But that isn’t your fault. None of this is. Even though your father was a filthy-”

Junji suddenly halted.

“… Oji-san?”

Junji groaned. “Fuck me,” he muttered. “I sound like Otōsan.”

“What?”

“Kid, I…” He sighed. Then laughed. “I do, don’t I?”

A-hu took a step back. Junji kept laughing.

“It’s funny… I always told myself… Fuck!”

“Oji-san, are you… okay?”

“Evidently not. I… I told myself I was helping.”

“Helping?”

“I just…” Junji thought a moment, then took a deep breath. “Your mother told you about our father.” It wasn’t a question.

“Bits and pieces,” A-hu said. “Not… much.”

“He’s the sort of man I swore I would never be,” Junji said. “That’s all you really need to know. And I evidently failed. And… I’m sorry for that. I know firsthand no one deserves having to deal with someone like that.”

“He was racist too?”

“Well, er…” Junji sighed. “Among other things. There’s a reason we haven’t contacted him.”

“Kinda funny, I figured you’d be looking for any opportunity to ship me off.”

“I said it before. I wouldn’t have offered to take you in if I hated you. You’re my nephew. I don’t think I could hate you if I tried.”

A-hu didn’t say anything at first.

“And I… suppose I shouldn’t be mad at you for speaking to a friend in your… own language.”

“So does this mean you’re not going to yell at me for speaking Korean anymore?”

“… I’m sorry.”

“That’s a start.”

Chapter Text

Giulia and Luca and their parents had their conversation because things could have gone very badly.

“Alright, kids. We’re not going to punish you, but you need to tell us the truth, in your own words.”

The two children flinched as their parents stared them down. Luca swallowed hard and broke first. “Okay. There was no rape. At least not for us. We just… came up with the scariest thing we could think of so no one would go bother Alberto.”

Alberto - the not-beast - was still in the hospital, hypothermic with a bandaged arm.

“And you understand why that was wrong, right?”

“Because… because we lied to you?”

“No- er… yes, but-”

“He needed medical attention!” Massimo raised his voice only slightly but it was enough to bring tears to Luca’s eyes. “You should have come to someone right away!”

“We tried to help!” Giulia protested.

“Is that why we’ve been running out of painkillers and disinfectant so quickly?” Daniela sighed as Giulia squirmed. “Look, I understand you tried, but he really needed to go to a hospital to get that hook properly removed. He’s sick, the wound’s infected too deep down for washing it to help, and the muscle is damaged. Waiting so long to go to a real doctor made it worse.”

Luca shivered and looked at Massimo. “Is… is he going to lose that arm?”

“We don’t know. The doctor will tell us more in the morning.”

“I… I’m sorry.”

“That’s not all!” Massimo ran his hand over his head. “We thought you had been hurt. Do you know how frightening that is for a parent?!”

“And what if things had gone badly tonight?” Daniela continued. “What if Mr. Marcovaldo had stabbed Alberto before he realised who he was? What if he’d hurt some innocent passerby because he thought they’d hurt you?”

“I mean, that could have been avoided by calling the police instead-” Lorenzo started to say.

“That could have gone badly too! Remember the Darla Dimple case? That poor man…”

“We didn’t mean to-”

“I know! That’s why I’m trying to figure out why you thought this was a good idea!”

Giulia stared at the floor. “He asked us-”

“It’s my fault!” Luca blurted. “I… I found Alberto first. He was scared. I didn’t want… I didn’t want him to be mad at me.”

“Luca…” Daniela sighed. “Your friend-”

“Alberto was hurt very, very badly. For a very, very long time. Of course he was scared. But you two should have known better.”

“But… but-” Giulia stammered. “The people here are crazy! What if the police had given him back to them?!”

“The people who had him are gone now,” Massimo said gently. “They were found months ago and they’re gone, and so are the officers who would have done that. And I wouldn’t have let that happen anyway.” He clenched his fist. “Children who go missing are usually the ones with no one to look out for them. I would look out for him.”

Daniela nodded. “So would we.”

“I’m sorry,” Luca said. “But… but he-”

“Luca. Sweetie, I know you thought you were doing the right thing, but Alberto’s better off with people who can take proper care of him. We’re lucky Signore Marcovaldo found him when he did. If he hadn’t, and the infection had got much worse, well…”

Lorenzo nodded. “She’s right, you know. Not to mention you.” He looked at Luca’s neck. “Giulia, did you bite Luca to make the story look real?”

“Ah… no,” Giulia said, and coughed. “Alberto really did bite him. We were sorta wrestling around in the water and I think he doesn’t really get how to play nice. No one played nice with him when he was little…”

“Okay. That… that’s better than it could be,” Daniela sighed. “But still! That could have gotten infected and you could have gotten sick too. His mouth-”

“We brought him a toothbrush…”

“That wouldn’t have mattered if the infection was already there. He’d been on the beach for… how long before you got to him? And just imagine if someone else had found him tied up like that. Someone who did want to hurt little boys.”

“But-” Giulia started.

“Mom’s got a point,” Luca said softly. “The sign worked on kids, but adults usually don’t believe in monsters.”

“Mr. Frost from the college does!”

“Yeah, but everyone thinks Mr. Frost is weird.”

“Even if they did believe in monsters, the sign wouldn’t help with adults,” Lorenzo added. “Can you imagine Mr. Frost seeing that sign and not going looking? He believes in monsters, but he isn’t scared of them.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point.” Giulia shuffled her feet. “I’m really, really sorry.”

“It’s alright. It’s hard to think things through when you’re as worried as you must have been. Still, you should probably talk to Alberto about this.”

“We will,” Luca said, nodding, “and… we probably should tell the Palace group too. I guess we’ll have to stop going now and they need to know why. They’ll worry if we just stop.”

Giulia nodded. “Yeah… Should we bring Alberto?”

“I don’t think he’s ready,” Massimo said, “but when he is, I’ll go with him, and I’m sure he’ll be welcome.”

Chapter Text

Deedee and Doug had their conversation because of what Deedee wanted to be.

“Why can’t I be Dilbaa too?” Deedee asked, whining slightly.

Doug looked up from his paper. “What's that, sweetheart?”

“I wanna be a Dilbaa! Like Dolly and Daisy! But they won’t let me, and I don’t know why. I… I thought Daisy and I did everything together. We're twins now, aren't we? Sort of.”

“Oh, I see. Um…” Doug thought. “Dilbaa is only really something Navajo people can be. It’s sort of a special thing in our culture.”

“But I’m just like them! I’m a girl who’s like a boy too!” Deedee said, tugging at her little blue T-shirt. “And Dawkins is a boy who’s like a girl! Can’t he be, um… Natalie?”

“Nadleehi, honey. And… well, I guess that’s how we might describe you if we were speaking Navajo, but in English…”

“Huh?”

“It’s not just about the kind of person that you are,” Doug said carefully. “That’s a big part of it, but not the only one that matters. At least now. You know how we told you about the States? How it’s kind of like Ireland, I mean?”

She nodded.

“When the colonists came, they tried to make everyone they met exactly like them. In Ireland that meant trying to stop people there from being Catholic or from speaking Gaelic. In America, they made a lot of us convert to Catholicism or Protestantism and made it illegal for us to hunt or live on our own land or raise our own kids.”

“That’s really, really mean.”

“It was. They were able to get rid of a whole bunch of tribes that way. The Dine hung on, but hanging on means it’s very… scary for some people to see White people interacting with our culture at all. Even if they mean well - like you. They’re still White.” He drew her into his lap with him. “You know how you cut your hair and Daisy doesn’t? Or how she’s got dark skin and you don’t?”

“… Clarissa calls her things she doesn’t call me?”

Doug’s brow furrowed. “What kinds of things?”

“Red,” Deedee said. “And that made Dolly really, really mad. I still don’t get it. None of us have red hair.”

“Uh… yeah, she’s not talking about hair.” Doug winced. “See how our skin is sort of a reddish shade of brown? ‘Red’ is a mean way to describe that.”

“Well, that’s stupid. You’re brown and when she’s mad she goes actually red. She should be the red one.”

Doug laughed. “Yeah. It’s like how people say you’re ‘White’ and Dante and his friend Portia are ‘Black’, even though you’re really pink and they’re another shade of brown. White and Black people call themselves that so it’s okay, but we don’t like to be called red, so it’s different. And you might have heard Clarissa and her friends call Chinese or Japanese people yellow and that’s not okay either. Usually it’s okay to say Brown instead, or just say where they’re from.”

“Clarissa just says where you’re from in a way which sounds mean too. She makes ‘Americans’ sound like a bad word.”

“Clarissa could make anything sound mean, honey. She’s not nice and you shouldn’t listen to her.” He ruffles Deedee’s hair. “You okay?”

“… I don’t think I want to be White,” she says. “Not if it means I can’t be like Dolly when I grow up.”

“Honey, no. You can still be like Dolly. You remind me a lot of her when she was your age.”

“But you just said… All those things. We’re different.”

“Well, yeah. You’ll always be White, but that’s not the most important thing there is in a person. You can't be part of our tribe, but you will always be part of this family, okay? Always.” Doug hugged her hard. “And there are words in English you can use instead of Dilbaa that mean something similar.”

“Like what?”

“Depends on the specifics. I think when you’re a kid you’re a tomboy, when you’re older you might be butch, but I’m not sure. Maybe ask Dolly. If you decide you’re a boy then in English you’re a boy. Dilbaa covers a lot of things that are split up in English - boys who people thought were girls, people who aren’t boys or girls, girls who want to kiss other girls, or girls who are just a lot like boys. Like how Dolly likes boys, but she also likes being like a boy.”

“I don’t think I wanna be a boy,” Deedee said slowly. “And I don’t wanna kiss anyone yet, ew. But… I like boy clothes and stuff… and Daisy and me both kinda wanna hold hands with some of Triple D’s friends, maybe, one day?”

“That’s all good. Whatever happens, you’re still my kid. Remember that. And Daisy will always be your sister. And we’ll always love you. No matter what.”

Chapter Text

Brice Berhan and Nimrod Letebrehan had their conversation because of Lambsy, though it took Nimrod a minute to realize that.

“What, no hug?” Nimrod asked, squeezing his maybe-future stepson from behind. Lambsy stiffened up, without reciprocating. But, well, that was kids for you.

Gibrilla’s ex stood behind the screen door, arms crossed, frowning tightly. “You’re back early.”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Nimrod laughed, letting Lambsy squirm away. “He’s just gonna run in and get his skateboard, if that’s okay?”

Brice nodded. “… ‘Course.”

“Thanks, Abaye,” Lamsey said, pushing by him on his way to the stairs.

“Don’t forget your helmet!”

“Yeah, yeah!”

Nimrod shrugged. “Kids…”

“Why didn’t Gibrilla come instead?”

“Wha’? Oh. Busy working, I guess. Frank’s had her over there a lot this week. With the sheep. Breeding season.”

“So who’s at the house?”

“Uh, mostly just me and Lambsy. Frank’s usually out in the fields.”

Brice stiffened. “Is that so?”

“Sometimes Jessie - that’s Frank’s kid.”

“How old is she?”

“Uh, ‘bout the same as Lambsy, I think.” Nervously, he began to play with one of his locs. “An’ I got a sister, few years younger than that. Well, half-sister.”

“What does Gibrilla think of this?”

“Uh… about Rebecca? Whoa, holy-”

Without a warning, Brice lunged forward, pinning Nimrod by the neck. “Don’t get cute with me.”

“What- What are you- Hey!” Nimrod struggled, then stopped when Brice fingered his gun. “Lemme go, lemme go! If this is about Gibrilla-”

“It’s not. It’s about my kid. How do I know I can trust you with him?”

“What? Brice- Mr. Berhan, c’mon, man, I’m a social worker! Of course you can trust me with him!”

“Yeah, job title don’t mean nothin’ here,” Brice said. Nimrod missed the flash of guilt in his face. “If I go speak to any of the kids you work with, what’ll they tell me?”

“Nothing about me! I mean, nothing bad! Really!”

“You try anything,” he said through his teeth. “Anything. And I’ll…”

“I believe you!”

“Abaye, stop!” Lambsy squeaked, door falling shut behind him. “You gotta stop doing this.”

Nimrod coughed as Brice let his throat go. “You do this a lot?”

“He does this with every guy I talk to and some of the girls! He threatened my teachers!”

“I didn’t like how Miss Powhatan was looking at me!”

“That’s how she looks at everybody!” Lambsy said.

It was funny, almost - the massive form of Brice Berhan, thirty-something years, cowed and quivering before his diminutive son.

“Lambsy, baby-”

“You won’t let me go over to Augie’s anymore.”

“I would if her mom was around.”

“I think she’s adopted.”

“That’s even worse!”

“Um, guys, I’m still here…?”

The Berhans stopped arguing and coughed awkwardly. “Um, I’m sorry about that,” Lambsy said. “Abaye’s a little… paranoid.”

“I couldn’t let that happen again, Lambsy, you know that,” Brice said, opening his arms for a hug.

“Let what happen again?”

“Uh, there was… I trusted my ex when I shouldn’t have.” Brice looked at Lambsy for a cue to say more or shut up.

“Gibrilla?”

“No, it was a guy. You wouldn’t know him.”

“Milton,” Lambsy said. “I was dumb and I tried to protect him.”

“O-oh, jeez, kid…”

“I know better now,” he said, more to Brice than Nimrod. “I’d say something now. If it happened again.”

“I want to stop it from happening again, Lamb! I don’t want you to go through that again at all.”

“Me neither,” Nimrod added. “I, uh, I kinda know what it’s like…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t wanna go into it, but I was a foster kid. Lotta abuse goin’ on there. That’s why I’m a social worker now.”

“Oh.” Brice said. “Oh.” And it sank like a rock beneath them.

Chapter Text

Tiffany and Flippers had their conversation when she offered him a job.

“Is this Detective Flippers’ office?”

“Yes, it is.”

The man in question watched as a young woman with bright pink hair walked into his office, along with a blond man. He had seen them before a few times at the Palace, but wasn’t well acquainted with them. She gave a nervous smile, holding a photo in her scarred hand.

“Oh, good. Hi.” The girl gave a sigh of relief as she sat in one of the chairs closest to his desk, the man with her standing near the door. “My name is Tiffany Aoki, and I have… an assignment for you.” She handed him the photo of a smarmy looking guy. “I want you to find as much dirt on him as you possibly can.”

“Mind me asking?” No suspicion or malice behind the question, just simple standards and procedures.

Tiffany took a couple of breaths, before she started talking. “His picture was in that book Magdalena made for Superego. I would have shrugged it off if not for two factors. First, the name he goes by. I don’t know if he was trying to sound sincere, but most guys who feel the need to tell you they’re nice are basically incels. The kind that think just because they show basic decency to a woman, they deserved to have either a relationship or to fuck them. The kind of people that are the reason the Palace was created. Well, one of the reasons anyway.” She huffed before she continued. “The other reason is he reminds me of my rapist.”

Detective Flippers was surprised, but let her continue.

“I was going to chalk it up to my paranoia. I know it’s made me do worse…” She trailed off, eyes glancing briefly over at her companion before continuing. “However, I would rather look like a fool than let someone get away with hurting people, so I decided to look into it myself. I’m pretty sure my paranoia is right. I can’t follow him around myself, so I need some help.”

“And what do you mean by dirt?”

“Basically any shady dealings, things a man like himself wants to keep hidden from the public. I did a personal investigation, but I could only gather so much, and I want to make sure he pays for any harm he’s caused. I need enough that his connections and wealth would do jack shit in avoiding consequences, and stuff he can’t twist like the Agateva case.” She scowled.

Trickier target than usual, but this wasn’t out of the norms of Flippers’ job. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“That’s all I ask. Well, and one other thing.”

She placed her hands on the desk, eyes focused dead center on him. “Please keep it between us. You can let your staff know, but nobody else. I feel it’s best if this doesn’t get back to him. He probably won’t find out anyway, but who knows what he might do to keep you quiet.”

Tiffany gave a sympathetic wince as she saw a flash of terror in his eyes. Flippers nodded, not sure he could speak up right now.

“Sorry for bringing up bad memories. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck on this. Thank you.”

~

“So, what are your plans if he doesn’t find anything?” Raiden asked, as they walked out of the office.

“Hmm, not sure. Maybe plant some buttercups, learn a few recipes, relieve some stress.”

Raiden opened the car door for her. “Any plans while we wait for his intel?”

“Just check up on the last lead.”

A simple name written on her phone; マリア・マグダレナ

Chapter Text

The professor and the girls had the conversation when Biswanath was found.

“How come Biswanath is our new sister, but Buniya’s not?”

“Buniya is Biswanath’s baby, sweetie. She’s your niece, not your sister.”

“But Biswanath’s a kid too, isn’t she? Just a big kid. Kids can’t have babies.”

“Uh… some big kids can.”

“But my mommy said the stork only brings babies to grownups.”

Baghavati groaned. “Babli, that’s baby stuff.”

“It isn’t! My Mommy said!”

“Wasn’t your mommy a kid too?”

“My first daddy wasn’t! The stork brought me to him.”

“Actually, Bubbles…” Prasanta ‘Professor Daddy’ Unnikrishnan sucked his teeth a bit. “That isn’t quite how it goes. Remember what I said when… Remember what I said about the the scary man? And the things he told you…”

“You said I was too little.”

“That’s right. And there’s a reason for that.”

“Why?”

“Because… the kind of thing he wanted you to do, was… Not all families happen this way, but most of the time when a mommy and daddy make a baby, they put their privates together like what he was telling you to do. With each other. It doesn’t work if the parts are the same or if it’s… too different. No, Octy isn’t going to have any babies and neither are you.”

“But… but… why-”

“I’m getting to that. Sometimes grownups do that to make babies. But sometimes grownups do it because it makes them feel good. It’s okay to do those things with other grownups, but when it’s a grownup and a kid… the kid gets really, really hurt. And sometimes - if she’s a big kid - she can get a baby stuck inside her tummy.”

“Buniya?”

“Yeah…”

“Is that why she’s-” Basant chewed her a lip a little before speaking. “Why she’s got…”

“Bunny is different,” Prasanta said. “She has Down syndrome. That’s not wrong or bad. But she needs special help sometimes. She might always need help, or she might not. Right now it’s hard to say. But we’ll always love her.”

“… Is she like that because Biswanath was too little?”

“Or is that why her back’s all bent up? Was Bis too small and Buniya got squishied inside?”

Despite the seriousness of the topic, Prasanta had to bite his lip to keep from snickering at that image. “No, not quite. No one’s really sure why that kind of back problem happens in babies sometimes, but babies don’t get squished like that. If the mother’s not big enough, the baby might just not grow very big, or might come out too early. And Down syndrome doesn’t happen like that either. Sometimes it’s just random chance. But being a mom too young can hurt the mom. Sometimes very young moms can’t ever have any babies again, or not safely.”

Babli clutched her cheeks and gasped. “Like my mommy? Will Bis not ever have any more babies?”

“We don’t know. The other doctors are checking. But she has Buniya, and all of you, so she has plenty of kids for now, I think.”

“But Bis doesn’t like us,” Bhagavati said. “And it’s not because we’re girls, because she loves Buniya. Did we upset her?”

“She’s just getting used to you all, sweetie. She was the youngest before, it’s a big surprise.” He took hold of Babli’s and Bhagavati’s hands, and they took Basant’s in a little circle. “Be nice to her and don’t bother her too much, okay? She’s a little jealous right now. It’s hard to get used to more kids in the family.”

The girls all nodded determinedly.

“What about her Doctor Mommy?”

“What about her?”

“Is she coming to live with you again and be our mommy too, now Bis is back?”

“Or are we all going back to India with her?”

Prasanta coughed awkwardly. “Not right now, no. Bis and Bunny are going to stay here for a little while and get to know you, then go back to India with Mommy. We’re going to keep on Faceytalking and see how everything goes. But, maybe one day…”

The girls danced around, happily chanting “Daddy loves Mommy! Daddy loves Mommy!”

Chapter Text

Gil Baldwin and his class had their conversation because they finally believed him.

“… Thank you, Steve Jackson.”

Steve winked and threw a thumbs up, and the kids quietly started shoving their desks back into place. Mr Baldwin was just about starting to hope they’d actually learn something today when the one with anemia raised his hand.

“Yes, uh…” He had to think for a moment. “… Albert. Yes, Albert?”

“I didn’t think trans guys would want to get pregnant. Didn’t that feel weird?”

“Yeah! DJ Ringtail said he hated his!”

Baldwin sighed. Probably better he explain his point of view once and for all. “A lot really don’t, no. I’ve known of at least one man in the community who attempted suicide over an unexpected pregnancy, and most of them can’t wait to get their ovaries out even if they wouldn’t go that far. I’ve campaigned for better sex ed and birth control availability partly so other men in my position don’t have to ever be pregnant. And yes, it was kind of strange to go through. But plenty of cis women don’t exactly enjoy being pregnant either. It’s not a comfortable or flattering process to many people, but some people still want to go through with it.”

“That’s true,” says the one that bit him. Veronica, is it? “I have so many siblings, I’ve seen what it’s like.”

“In my case, having my own child was more important to me. Or children, as it turned out. I could put up with a few months of not feeling quite like me. Pregnancy ends.”

“You wanted eight kids?” says the REALLY annoying one… no, Milo.

“Usually not all the embryos implant. I was expecting three at most and I guess I got lucky.”

“Lucky?!”

“Well, yes. They all survived, didn’t they?” He smiles wistfully. “And they’re doing just fine.”

Chapter Text

Gilbert and Ludwig had their conversation so Ludwig would be safe.

Little Ludwig sucked contemplatively on his ice cream cone, too distracted by his brother’s strange behaviour to really appreciate it. Gilbert didn’t seem to be enjoying his own ice cream very much, licking the dribbles off his hand but not really eating it. He was squinting, which wasn’t unusual - his eyes were weak and sensitive - but when Ludwig looked closer he saw water welling up.

“Is there something wrong with your ice cream, Gilbert? Is it making you cry?”

Gilbert laughed. “Ha! No, no, it’s fine… I just…” He wiped his eyes with his clean hand. “I’m just… so proud you’re growing up into a big boy. Yeah.” He sat on a bench and patted the spot next to him. “And big boys gotta learn some things. We need to have a grown-up talk.”

Ludwig sat down, frowning. “If it’s a grown-up talk, shouldn’t Vati be here?”

“Vati’s a bit… old-fashioned. He doesn’t think seven’s grown-up enough. But I know you can handle it, right?”

“Of course!” Ludwig said, puffing himself up.

Gilbert laughed again, then turned serious. “Okay. Now I’m sorry but we’ve gotta be serious, okay? We’re having this talk in a public place because it’s about bad stuff people can do, and I wanna make sure you know I’m not going to do anything bad. Here, if I was gonna do anything, you could scream and run real easy. Alright?”

Ludwig didn’t quite get it. Why would his brother do anything bad? But he nodded.

“Okay. How much do you know about your body parts? What they’re called and what they do?”

“Lots!” said Ludwig proudly, and started singing “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes-”

“Yeah, yeah, the obvious ones. Good. How about the ones, uh, where your underwear goes?”

“Um… isn’t it kind of rude to talk about those in public?”

“Do it in a whisper then. It’s okay, it’s just me listening.”

“Okay. Um, there’s my… bottom… and, um… the kids at school call the thing at the front der Pullerman.” Ludwig giggled despite himself.

“Right. Well, people call it lots of weird things, but the word a doctor would call it is your penis. Got that? P-e-n-i-s. That’s the grown-up word.”

Ludwig smiled. It was time to learn special grown-up words! He felt like he did when he got ten out of ten at spelling in school and the teacher gave him harder words next time. “Penis. Right. Why does it need a special grown-up word? It doesn’t seem very special.”

“Well, it isn’t very special now, but when you get to my age it’ll get bigger and… yeah, let’s save that discussion for later.”

“How much bigger?”

“Five metres.”

“What?!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking! You won’t know till you grow up, but, eh…” Gilbert held up his hands a few inches apart. “Give or take. But that’s not important right now. I just want you to know the words. That’s your penis, and the grown-up word for your balls - the bits underneath that - is testicles. And what girls have - you know they’re different there? Good - what they have is called a vagina.”

Ludwig nodded. Nice words, they sounded very scientific.

“And Vati was right, they’re private. So if someone asks to see them or touch them, or tries to make you see or touch theirs, or wants to talk about them in a way that seems weird, that’s bad. Understand? Unless they’re a doctor, maybe, and then only if those parts are sick or hurt. And then Vati should be in the room to make sure it’s okay. No one else.”

“I know that.”

“Do you really know that though?” Gilbert asked. “I mean… Sorry, you’re a smart kid. I’m not saying you’re not. But… But you can’t let anyone do it, okay? Even if they say they’ll hurt you. Even if they say they’ll hurt me… or Vati. Even… Even if they tell you you’re special.” He gripped Ludwig’s shoulder, not quite shaking him. There was a distinctly frantic look in his eyes and his grin became fixed, and Ludwig shrank back. “Okay? It’s important. It’s really important.”

“Gilbert, you’re hurting me…”

Gilbert let go as if Ludwig was on fire. “Sorry! Sorry…” His eyes started watering again and he sniffed. “I don’t want anyone to hurt you.”

“Are… are you okay?”

“Yes! Yes, I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.” He reached up with the hand still holding his now-melted ice cream and blinked, as if he’d forgotten it was there. “Rats… Oh well, not gonna waste it.” With a slurping noise which made Ludwig giggle again, he drank the melted cream from the cone. “You done with yours? Okay, gimme those sticky hands…” Gilbert wiped off their hands with some tissues, and said, more casually “Right, just gonna test you. Now what’s that thing called?”

“A penis.”

“Good. And what do we use it for?”

Chapter Text

Carl had the various conversations because of his new roommates.

w/parenting
u/getbrutananadilewski’d
Found three teenagers in my yard pool, what do?

u/Giggity
Shoot them and destroy the evidence and your pool.

u/Sling
WHO THE HELL STARTS A CONVERSATION LIKE THAT? In all seriousness, do they have anywhere to go? Did someone drop them off for the day? Did you talk to any of your neighbors about it? … Did you forget a condom and it turned out they were yours?

u/getbrutananadilewskid
They’re not neighbour kids. I asked, they’re runaways from out of state. Their home life sounds pretty shit and it took them long enough to get here that I’d feel bad sending them back. All boys, early teens-ish, half-brothers I think, if it matters. And there’s no way in hell they’re mine, I’ve been shootin’ blanks since I fell crowdsurfin durin’ Love Handel’s ‘85 tour. Still got the shirt from that.

u/paulajaninesmall
pics?

u/getbrutananadilewskid
piss off, i dont want you jackin’ it to them. 🖕

u/paulajaninesmall
? Of the SHIRT? Jesus, what’s wrong with you?!

u/getbrutananadilewskid
85tourshirt.jpg There. Happy?

u/pickledinthevalley
If they’re the ones who got the pool dirty, then make them clean it so they know you’re not screwing around. And it’s a good skill to know, never know if something gets stuck in there. Like another kid. Not speaking from experience.
Also nice shirt! My husband said it looked real.

u/lizverpool
And infect them with chemicals?! Hell no, cleaning the pool is bad. Just put some algae, kelp and lotus flowers in there, and it’s good as new. “Germs” are made up by the bleach industry to sell chemicals to make the global population stupid, lazy and infertile.

u/perfectlynormina
I don’t know, bleach does have its uses…

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Kids brought lice in, do I need to buy bug shampoo or can I just shave them?

u/vanburen_jayna🍷
Oh I’ve been there. When I was pregnant with my third, my second kid got lice so bad that I shaved her. I did a good job considering I was drunk. And pregnant. Heavily. I don’t know which one of the kids brought it over but I remember that delicious cherry wine I rewarded myself with for a job well done.
Tldr: Shave. Hair grows back. And it’s cheaper. I let my second get extensions meanwhile. But I got lucky with girls, they’re so easy to raise. With boys, though, you can just put hoods on them. Also are u single by any chance???

u/mammakanker
^^^ listen to her. shave. if they come cryin’ ‘bout it that’s THEIR problem. boys are way less sensitive about that shit. I got some cheapo razors from my last guy if you need any. But you gotta pay extra to clean off the blood.

u/transgothwife
As far as I know, most “bug shampoo” is for cats/dogs/occasionally horses. Check with a doctor (if you can afford to) - what have they been using?

u/getbrutananadilewskid
uhh… dish soap. the blue stuff. if its good enough for me its good enough for them. i dont use shampoo myself, that’s for broads. should i be using the purple stuff instead? or green? i ran out of money and used detergent and bug spray, it works in a pinch. none of that hippie organic shit, it don’t work and you pay 5x the amount.

u/theamazinglyrandy
oh god are you the guy from w/brokeasfuck??? i tried your advice about cooking with power tools (my son stole mine) and my wife STILL banned me from watching food channels.

u/lizverpool
“The blue stuff” is literal poison. Don’t use shampoo with a bunch of chemicals, either. You don’t want them to get intoxicated with things like mercury, lead, bleach, microplastics, acrylic, dyes, aluminum, sulfates, sulfites, BHTs, and dihydrogen monoxide. Have you tried coconut oil? If god forbid any of them are allergic, try extra virgin olive oil. It works for me!

u/Ubercorn
Shaving won’t do jack, the lice are just gonna hop over to you. (I’ve seen you post on w/carmods, BTW, 2 Wycked rules!) But seriously. There’s prescription shampoo that usually works, however, I’m gonna have to ask… what race are the kids?

u/getbrutananadilewskid
what’s it to you, dipshit? what? do i have to start selling more of my shit to pay for shampoo? IT’S BAD ENOUGH I SOLD MY SIGNED ‘79 ZAZZ BLAMMYMATAZZ LEATHER JACKET TO PAY FOR TETANUS SHOTS AND POOL FILTERS, I CANNOT START SELLING MY SNAKES N BARRELS STUFF.

u/Ubercorn
???? No??? I was gonna say if any of them are black, regular prescription shampoo might not work.

u/pipefan413
He’s right, it can be more difficult to disperse shampoo through textured hair and chemical treatments can damage it. My kid and some of their friends had that problem. Some clinics have a device called an AirAlle which uses hot air to clear the lice instead, your doctor might be able to locate one. That will probably work out cheaper than the shampoo and it works on all hair types, in fact. Can you ask at the clinic if there are any Black doctors there? They might be better able to help.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
….yeah, two of them are black. i’ll look into that. also thanks, 2 wycked is very badass.

u/bumblebeeman
hey i know you from w/PeopleOfGregslist. this is the “My roommates hosted a furry convention in the backyard and now my filter’s full of synthetic fur” guy!…… so, are they the same people? and where can i get an invite to the next convention?

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Kids are sick, how expensive are antibiotics?

u/officialzorak
Free if you know a guy. DM me. Or don’t. Whatever, fuck you.

u/timovainamoinen
Sick with what?

u/getbrutananadilewskid
i dont fucking know??? theyre NOT hungover if that helps.

u/pipefan413
They should be covered under most insurance. Any clue on what they’re sick with?

u/lizverpool
Have you tried mixing coconut oil with apple cider vinegar, orange essential oil, sage, tea tree oil and lavender? I got a UTI once and that concoction made it go away. I also recommend mixing goji berry paste, raspberry ketones, chlorophyll powder, and a good helping of sugar-free kombucha to make a drink that gets rid of fevers and chills. If they’re throwing up “blood”, it might be a simple detox that’s working. You didn’t get them vaccinated, did you? My ex-husband did so for our kids and now my daughter’s allergic to literally everything.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Pretty sure it’s something they picked up from rat bites. also i thought i blocked you.

u/pipefan413
GET THEM TO THE HOSPITAL *NOW*. THAT CAN BE FATAL.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
i would but these two DJs slashed my tires because i wouldn’t sell them my super destroyer fuck machine belt from their ‘83 tour.
update: i “borrowed” THEIR car, left the DJs at a gas station, and now i’m just hangin’ and bangin’ in the waiting room.
update: theyre not dying. but theyre gonna be here for a couple days. thank god insurance covered it all or i’d rip the doctor’s balls off with my bare hands. Hey is w/badgirlswithguitars still up? Its gonna be boring as hell without them running around.
update: w/badgirlswithguitars got taken down. “No moderators” my asshole, I could moderate the shit outta them with my bare hands. TONIGHT!

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Kids brought home a couple of street mutts, is 15 too old to buy “sent them to a nice farm upstate”?

u/BarronHeeler
Oh not this guy again.

u/softandwet
hey, i already gave this guy TWELVE orcas and got my credit card taken away for it. I wanna hear what New Jersey Man has to say!

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Why the hell are you giving me orcas? I already got in a fight with one and now I’m banned from Whale World for a year!

u/horsevet_bethany
15?! No, seven is too old. I had to put down a horse myself when I was nine. And I turned out totally fine!
Have you tried putting the dogs up for adoption? It might make your kids mad that they can’t keep them, but don’t lie to them about it either. And please don’t come haunting me or this subwebbit if they stab you to death over it!

u/closeface
Yeah, what the person above me said. Is there a shelter you can send them to? I know most states have no-kill shelters, and they’ll find them a better home. Where’d they find the dogs anyways?

u/getbrutananadilewskid
gregslist. yeah the youngest wanted hot dogs but i ate the last one, so they looked up “free dogs” on that site, took a bus to an abandoned warehouse, met a guy, traded an entire box of chocolate bunnies for them, and now here i am, AGAIN.

u/softandwet
pay dog tax. now.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Fine. streetmutts.jpg

u/transgothwife
What a couple of cuties! Is the one on the right a pit bull?

u/getbrutananadilewski’d
god he better be. i dont want a sissy dog. the name’s bad enough. i wanted “the enforcer” but the kids already called him “spaghetti” and he won’t respond to anything else. and the yellow one is “banana”- yeah, i think these kids have some sorta eating disorder with how food obsessed they are. caught the last one eating cat food again, the middle has only eaten spaghetti for a week, and the oldest has been drinking 3 energy drinks a day.

u/Giggity
Have you tried sending *the kids* to “a nice farm upstate”? Dogs are so much easier to deal with, but cats are way better.

u/DaddyPig
Why do you keep telling him to hurt his kids? Seriously, what is wrong with you?!

u/officialzorak
First off, take the dogs to the goddamn vet. You don’t want to fuck around with shit like parvovirus, rabies, mange, heartworm, ringworm, or kennel cough. Get the mutts fixed unless either of them has a condition (and if it turns out any of them have a hormone problem, LISTEN TO THE VET). If you can’t afford any of that shit, then listen to the jackasses above me and take them to a good shelter. Don’t try to put them down yourself, bullets and antifreeze don’t always work like they should. You’ve already had THREE disease ridden rats in your house, you don’t need to deal with more.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Found all three kids fucking each other. How much should I drink to get rid of the mental image?

u/TOTALLYNOTWILLIAMMURDERFACE (banned)
Yes. Then smash your head in with the bottle. It’ll be awesome.

Chapter Text

w/UCI
u/emoryplutospacecataz
Final grade a 0 despite turning in every assignment on time and following directions. Any clue what’s going on???

u/ponyupandmerksdown
Which class?

u/emoryplutospacecataz
Science Misconceptions in the Media 312 with Professor Clay Weirdt. Talked to a few classmates- they all got a zero as their final grade too.

u/MYDADOWNSADEALERSHIP
I knew I wasn’t the only one, bro! The final was an easy piece of ass but the midterm I struggled with- great, I passed every other class with all A’s EXCEPT that one. I showed up drunk to each class btw. Fuckin’ baller time. Totally recommend doing it.

u/pepperonis_anchovies_cakes
Did you email Professor Weirdt about it?

u/emoryplutospacecataz
????? yes??? It’s been eight weeks and I haven’t heard anything. I’m so screwed, man.

u/ThaddeusVenture
Did you try his TA? In my college years, it was always the TAs who knew when things went down.

u/SteveOfUCI
Hi, Steve Fitzgerald here. I’ve gotten every single email- unfortunately the university didn’t allow me to change final grades because of my position. They said I didn’t have enough tenure or authority to do so. I am so, so sorry about this. I’m going to get fired over this, so I’m finally going to be honest about my position.

Clay was a real sick mean son of a bitch. We rented out a house together (sidenote: we’re both straight, so all of you can keep your little comments to yourselves), and he would constantly leave it a dump, was frequently late on utility bills, invited people for house parties on weekdays while I had to clean up at five in the morning, and put his own eccentric hedonism ahead of anything else. I had to teach a few classes one week because he spent it outside of Atlanta.

He got worse after he got a new girlfriend when the last semester started. That’s why I had to grade every midterm myself- I was the only one who got my paycheck slashed and had to start selling my collectibles on meBay, BeBop, even Gregslist. All because he just had to prioritize, pardon my language, getting his dick wet instead of working.

RE: the girlfriend. Never saw her come over, thankfully. All I know about her is that she's a smoker and goes to a lot of concerts. Maybe a blonde? I know Clay had a thing for them- said they were more fun. Ew. I don’t like to speculate, but I believe she’s the reason he’s dead.

u/emoryplutospacecataz
hold up. CLAY WEIRDT IS DEAD?!?! I FAILED HIS CLASS BECAUSE HE DIED?!?!

u/SteveOfUCI
Yeah. Police came to my house to tell me he was found dead in his girlfriend’s trailer and they ruled it a suicide. See that’s where I’m feeling suspicious- he never mentioned anything about suicidal thoughts to me, his friends or his students. I’ll ask on w/realcriminals- I think his girlfriend was cheating on him with someone she met at a concert, he walked in, then she killed him. Probably why Clay wouldn’t let me meet her. What do you kids say nowadays- “red flag”? But what do I know, I’m a soon-to-be-former teachers’ assistant.

u/emoryplutospacecataz
yeah i think im gonna drop out. at least my boyfriend in jersey can let me crash at his place. but uh congrats on being fired

u/SteveOfUCI
I’m not the one who *died* during the semester. That being said, I’m the one who’s screwed. The house was signed under his name, he made more money, and I’m out of a job. I’ll have to go back to bartending. Yay.

u/MYDADOWNSADEALERSHIP
Yeah, you’re cooked as hell, bro. I’m not retaking his dumb ass class, my dad’s gonna let me work at his dealership. Hope you’re happy!

u/SteveOfUCI
Why would I be happy from being out of my job?

u/C0CKSL4PP3R (banned)
How do we know YOU didn’t murder him? Everyone knows it’s always the roommate who snaps and does it, blaming a sidepiece so no one suspects a thing. Women are physically incapable of brutality after all, so clearly its on your hands.

u/SteveOfUCI
…What. You don’t even go here?!?!

Chapter Text

The Webbit had the first conversation because of the kid in the car, and it split into many.

w/kidsdothedarndestthings
u/shopera
HELP WITH ACCIDENTAL KIDNAPPING???
So I just got home from grocery shopping, and as I’m parking into my garage, I see this kid in the backseat. What do I do? She’s staring at me.

u/GothMoth
what

u/shopera
Okay, so I’m taking her into the house. She’s obviously not been fed in a while. I am going to order a burger on one of my delivery apps. I just don’t want to leave the house right now. Fuck.

u/Sling
A burger from where?

u/shopera
Opal’s is the closest. Why are you even asking? I kidnapped a little girl on accident and you’re focusing on where I’m buying a hamburger.

u/Puzzle
Well it’s better to support small businesses than big chains yknow. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

u/theofficialbobsburgers
^ Can confirm. I run an independent burger restaurant myself.

u/shopera
Update: Food is here. Kid is…just staring again. I am confused and a little worried.
Update: I am absolutely certain this kid has never eaten a burger, and I am very concerned. She also hasn’t said a single word since I found her. I don’t even know if she can talk. Somebody help me, I don’t know how to deal with this.

u/SpookyMommy
You sure she eats meat? You know there might’ve been a chance she’s vegetarian, vegan, or just doesn’t eat beef. I know your intentions are good, but you might’ve screwed up big time.

u/DaddyPig
How old does she look to be? Perhaps she can write something down.

u/shopera
Good idea. As for the burger thing, she drew a picture of one when I asked what she wanted to eat, I guess. The issue is that she doesn’t seem to know HOW to eat it. In hindsight, I should’ve gotten one for myself so I can teach her how. But I just had a yogurt.

u/HortonTheElephant
That’s a relief. One time I ordered a bunch of seafood for a boil and forgot my buddy was allergic to shellfish.

u/pipefan413
Never a good time. We accidentally discovered my child had developed an allergy to peanuts that way.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
You know, I’ve seen you around and you never said, is your kid a boy or a girl?

u/pipefan413
Depending on the day? Yes.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
👍 Oldest one of mine said something about that, you mind DMing some info?

u/ditzydoo
Well, there are many ways to eat a burger besides “grab it by the buns and chow down”. I’m autistic and I have to cut mine into pieces and eat it with a fork because I hate how bread feels against my fingers. Some people also eat the ingredients separately, or hold it upside down, or pick away the disliked ingredients before eating said burger.

u/shopera
Update: Her name is Claire. I asked her about where she lives, and she just freaked. I’ve got a weird feeling that wherever she’s from, she doesn’t want to go back. Please someone tell me what to do now. I really don’t want to get arrested for kidnapping.

u/moonbitch
Go into hiding. Fake a death certificate for you and Claire. They can’t arrest you if you aren’t alive!

u/Chronic
Fuck yeah!

u/moonbitch
Do you even have kids? Or babysit them or some shit like that?

u/Chronic
I’ve had monkeys. That’s sorta close, right?

u/Bluntman
orangutan.jpg

u/shopera
Update: Fuck it, I’m calling the police. I’ll just tell them she followed me home. Maybe I can ask for a doctor or something. I dunno. I just write jingles for a living.
Update: Okay, this is getting weird in a scary way. Claire is acting like…someone else. I called her by her name, but she reacted like she didn’t remember anything from the past hour. She is now insisting her name is “Opal” and doesn’t know where she is. She is asking where her parents and grandfather are. What even the hell is this.

u/pollybirb
Sounds like an alter. Many times, people with DID develop alters after traumatic events in their lifetime. It sounds like she’s been or currently is abused, of the extremist sheltering type. Communication can be a serious problem, but it sounds like you’re able to use writing which is a good step.

u/CujoCamouflage
Fuck off with your armchair diagnosis.

u/pollybirb
…i literally have DID.

u/shopera
Update: You know what? I’m taking the kid to the hospital. I don’t care if I end up in jail, as long as Claire/Opal/whatever is okay. I told her we’re going to get help, which is true. I just wanted to buy groceries today, but I guess I’m doing this too now.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Hey, maybe if it works you might have yourself a kid now. Welcome to frickin’ parenthood! Go over to w/parenting, they whipped me into shape about that shit.

u/MurdocIsGod
I second that welcome to surprise parenting. Best thing that ever happened to me.

u/DaddyPig
Aren’t you in prison over that?

u/MurdocIsGod
No, I’m in prison over parenting which very much wasn’t a surprise to me. It was to the kid’s actual parents, alas. Somehow I don’t think we’ll be collaborating again.

u/ninelayerbaddie(deactivated)
Yeah seriously, leave the kids to their own parents. Unless of course your kids are a bunch of psychopaths. My sons were the three biggest mistakes I ever made, and the deadbeats who knocked me up didn’t come around so I couldn’t just hand them over if I wanted to. Believe me, I would’ve done it if the douchebags were still alive. But I’m sure your kid is perfectly fine and not a future serial killer.

u/moonbitch
Yeah, not going to listen to someone who has like zero self awareness and loves playing victim. Or you either, MurdocIsGod.

u/ninelayerbaddie(deactivated)
Okay first off, fuck you. Second, you don’t know what it’s like dealing with them. They got into fights with everyone, hated every single boyfriend I had for the pettiest reasons imaginable, pissed off all the neighbors with their debauchery, and had the audacity to lie that my last boyfriend raped them. Also fyi, when I posted on w/DidIFuckItUp, everyone voted that THEY fucked it up, not me.

u/moonbitch
Bitch, I’m currently helping out raising my younger cousin who has done probably way worse shit than your kids ever did so get off the damn high horse, thin skinned. Second of all, don’t you think you’re the reason they act up? Doubt your parenting skills are all that up to snuff if you act so fucking defensive over some internet rando calling you out. And how do you know they were lying? Besides, unlike you, I don’t use gullible fucking sheep or sock puppets as validation to prove I’m ‘right” about my actions. Edit; yeah, I checked the thread in question. Only like a handful agreed with your delusions. And most of said handful was ‘you all fucking suck’ type comments. Or the one that just clearly wants to fuck you. Idk which is sadder. That someone desperate for game will want to put up with her or you’re that delusional. Also, not to mention you omit some details, which doesn’t surprise me one bit.

u/CujoCamouflage
Jesus fuck, woman, they’re your KIDS. If you didn’t want them, First Smiles is right there! My kid was an accident too but it’s not her fault!

u/moonbitch
I wish you wouldn’t make me agree with you.

u/ninelayerbaddie(deactivated)
Did you fucking read a word I said, carpet muncher? MISTAKES, not accidents.

u/rose_explosion
What difference does that make? My husband and I didn’t plan to have kids, but we don’t regret having our son. (Yes, he is who some of you metalheads might know).

u/ninelayerbaddie(deactivated)
It makes all the difference. I didn’t accidentally go to multiple concerts, party, crowdsurf, join moshpits, and have wild sex at them. I planned all that, but it was three deadbeats who left me with their mistakes. Parenting isn’t some happy joyful experience of birthday cakes and trips to the park, it’s brutality that can drive anyone to madness.
Btw, everyone, moonbitch is a liar.

u/careyonmywaywardfries
Oh god damnit. Why are YOU here?!

u/bruschettanights
HOLY SHIT IT IS HER. hey guess what: we lived, bitch.

u/candybubblegumandtaffy
HEY EVERYONE LOOK, ITS THE BIRTHER. LETS RATIO HER

u/SpookyMommy
Maybe we should report her account.

u/bruschettanights
nah i wanna see her be cringe and humiliate herself lmaoooo
edit: dumbass deleted. get bent

u/strongbad
omfg is this the lady who rationed shower water?!

u/moonbitch
… Yeah, I’m going to report you to the fucking cops. This is clearly abuse. (and way to dodge the question)

u/ninelayerbaddie(deactivated)
-deleted-

u/moonbitch
That’s not going to stop anything, dumbass. I hope you die horribly and nobody mourns you.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Im sorry, moonbitch, was ninelayerwhatever who I think it is?!?! Also, YOU THREE NEED TO GO TO BED. IT’S FRICKIN’ THREE OVER HERE.

u/junglequeen
If she is… well, whatever you plan to do with that info, I won’t blame you, considering what I heard about her.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
YEAH THIS IS HER ALRIGHT. And uh, sorry bout the kids. They’re, uh, not alright.

u/moonbitch
[pretends to be shocked] no worries. My cousin makes them look tame by comparison.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
FRIGGIN’ THANK YOU. I promise, I’m doing my best. They’re getting into making rap demos. Way more of a rock guy, but their writing is creative.

u/moonbitch
D’aww.

u/MurdocIsGod
I can pull some strings in the industry if you like.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Yeah, ya sure pulled strings for that other kid. No thanks.

u/BarronHeeler
If anyone doesn’t know what u/MurdocIsGod is talking about, don’t look it up if you’re sensitive. I wouldn’t call that parenting and I don’t think I can ever listen to surf rock again. Uncomfortably similar to the Rex Rathbone incident I mentioned before, come to think of it - his adopter wrecked his face too.

u/carcinoGeneticist
I WAS BORN TO BE A BLOOD BAG FOR MY DOUCHEBAG OLDER BRO AND THE PLASTIC BEACH INCIDENT IS *STILL* WORSE.

u/crimsonbloodGlossary
Not ONLY for that! And I promise I appreciate the transfusions! u/BarronHeeler I appreciate the warning too, would anyone else mind making some judicious use of spoilers?

u/MurdocIsGod
Doesn’t all parenting involve shaping the kid in your own image? I just did that a little more literally. And with someone else’s image. But who wouldn’t want to be Noodle?

u/DoctorPussycat
Please don’t raise any more children.

u/シオンカイト公式
くたばれ いやらしい クズ男

u/JusticeForYukiKaai
I hate you.

u/MurdocIsGod
Feeling’s mutual, you all could have ruined my album.

u/onlyagirl
You cut up a little girl’s face and forced her to be a replacement for your missing fucking band member, asshole.

u/crimsonbloodGlossary
I SAID SPOILER PLEASE

u/onlyagirl
Sorry about that.

u/crimsonbloodGlossary
Quite right. There’s no call for that kind of language.

u/BarronHeeler
THAT was your problem?!

u/stringyhairghostmilf
You have some strange priorities.

u/onlyagirl
You deserve to rot in jail. I hope your bandmates cut ties with you and you’re left to die alone. (Murdoc, not CG.)

u/softandwet
yeah seriously wtf. im gonna put your vinyls up on mebay and bebop (100 yen each) for this.

u/OceanBacon
To be strictly fair, he did a better job raising me than the people who were doing it previously.

u/henhousefox
Well, that’s just fucking sad.

u/blackstar
I don’t follow music news, who the hell is this guy and should I care?

u/MurdocIsGod
YOU TAKE THAT BACK

u/shopera
Update: I am at the hospital now. There’s a social worker there. She and the doctor think the kid was sexually abused. I have no clue what’s going to happen next. But I’m pretty sure I won’t be heading home anytime soon.
Update: Not going to jail, thank God. But whoever did this to Claire will be.

u/getbrutananadilewskid
Fuckin’ good. If they ask ya ‘bout fosterin Claire, DO IT. You get paid by the state too. It’s friggin’ sweet. They’ll tell ya what to buy with the checks though- had to put 2 Wycked mods on hold so the boys could get food, furniture, clothes, all that fun shit. Still worth it though, now I have three reasons to actually clean my pool.
But nah, seriously, go over to w/parenting if ya decide to foster. People there actually know their shit. Especially pipefan up there, he’s the man!

u/SpookyMommy
…What the hell did I miss? Please tell me Claire will be okay.

Chapter Text

The Kettles and the Wolfs had their discussion when they decided to sue the police department.

Elder had invited them to his house. It was smaller, but outside the city. Fewer neighbors meant fewer noise complaints. And considering the family he invited over, it was very much needed.

Lowell and Itachi were the first ones to arrive, fresh out of couple’s counseling. Both of them nodded at Elder as they walked in, sitting at the table where papers were strewn about.

“How was the trip?” Elder asked Itachi.

“Nice to see you too,” Lowell muttered.

Elder scowled.

“So much for old friends.”

“The trip was fine, thank you,” Itachi said. “How are… things with you?” He looked around. “Where are the boys?”

“They're upstairs, playing in their room. I don’t know if they’ll be coming down for this. It’ll just be boring grown up stuff for them, and…” I don’t know if they want to think about being in a courtroom again.

“Makes sense.”

“Is, um… everyone else on their way?”

“Diane and Kit should be here soon.”

“Together?”

“They’re carpooling. Guess they hit it off.”

“And, ah, what about the… others?”

Lowell scowled. Itachi put a hand on his arm.

“Mason said he’d come, but not much more than that. If something comes up, he’ll call one of the girls.”

“Still haven’t worked things out?”

“I… I don’t know that we ever will, honestly,” Itachi sighed. “But it doesn’t matter how he feels about me or his father. That’s not why we’re doing this.”

“Right,” Kettle nodded. “Right. So, do you want me to go over the information we have or-”

The doorbell rang at that very moment. When Elder opened the door, it was to two women with messed-up hair and a peculiar shared shade of lipstick. “Sorry we’re late,” Kit said, in a happy tone that made it clear she was not, in fact, sorry at all. “We were doing things.”

Diane nodded emphatically.

“Alright, well, kitchen table for you.”

The two women went over and sat down at the table. “Mister Ryoshi,” Diane said as she sat down.

“Things.”

“Things,” she agreed.

“How old are you?” Lowell asked.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“Kit, this isn’t another Brown situa-”

“Dad. Stop.”

“But-”

“Stop.”

“So,” Itachi said. “I guess we’re just waiting for Mason then.”

“The guest of honor,” Diane said, checking her phone. “Should be right behind us, actually.”

“He’s not bringing his… friends, is h-”

“Dad!”

“I just don’t like… Fuck. Is that-”

No knocking. The door just opened. And in walked Misty Luggins.

“… What the fuck?”

She walked straight over to Lowell, slammed her hands down on the table, and pointed to him. “You,” she said.

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Let me make one thing clear. Moe’s in the car and everyone else is making sure he doesn’t have a panic attack when he sees you. If he freaks out, at any point, while we’re doing this,” she put her fist in her hand, “then you deal with me. Understood?”

“What? But what if-”

“Lowell,” Itachi said. “Stop it. It’s, ah, nice to meet you… Miss-”

“Chief,” she said, stalking back over to the door.

“And you’re involved with my stepson… how exactly?”

No answer. Five minutes passed before Luggins appeared again, the others in tow. Mason Wolf leaned against her, arm at her waist.

Itachi blinked. “Oh. How did that happen?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded to Mason, at the center of the group. “How are you feeling?”

“Screw you.”

Everyone else took that to mean “As good as ever” as he sat down, looking over the papers.

“So…” Mason said, picking things up. “How’s this work exactly? Are we gonna fight the city?”

“Technically, we’ll be suing the company that owns the prison.”

“And you think that’ll work?”

“Ms. Zircon offered to help us find a lawyer.”

“Isn’t she a lawyer?”

“Not that kind.”

“Whatever. Okay, so we sue them and then… what? I mean, who’s gonna to listen to a bunch of criminals?”

Elder stiffened.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“My grandchildren aren’t criminals,” Elder said stiffly.

“Oh. What, are they innocent or-”

“They’re eleven.”

Mason blinked. “O-oh.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry. Heh. We, uh, kinda just assumed they were dwarves.”

“Mason!”

“What? Is that not what we’re calling it now?”

“Moe,” Peludo said, elbowing him.

“Sorry, sorry. So, uh… I guess that’s why they’re not here? You get a babysitter?”

“They’re upstairs,” Elder said. “I don’t think they know what we’re doing. And…” He eyed Lowell. “It’s probably better to keep them out of the way.”

“I’m not going to do anything!”

Moe snorted. “Sure you’re not. Personally I am in favor of plan Keep-Lowell-Out-of-Reach-of-Children.”

“Mason-”

“Fuck off.”

“Okay,” Elder said, “if we can please keep things civil. Basically, what we want to do is sue them for… uh, Ryoshi?”

“Negligence. Child abuse. Arguably human trafficking…”

“Human trafficking?!”

“Well, yes. They accepted money to keep you in inhumane conditions. Personally, I’d count what happened to the boys as sex trafficking, given the circumstances… Don’t know if we can make that stick, but maybe. Always a good idea to try.”

“And we’re doing that how?”

“Simple. We gather together our evidence and we serve them with a notice.”

“Right. And what happens if we win? Money?” Moe looked down. “If that’s all we’re after, they can keep it.”

“Mason-”

“Fuck off, Lowell. I just don’t quite understand how this solves the problem.”

Itachi cleared his throat. “If we sue them, the lawsuit can stipulate that they change the conditions of their prisons. They may also do that on their own if the money awarded is large enough.”

“Can we make them go bankrupt?”

“It’s unlikely, but…” Itachi frowned thoughtfully, “not entirely impossible. Though definitely improbable enough that I doubt we should pursue that as an option.”

“The money isn’t meaningless to me,” Elder said. “The boys could go to any college they want.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’ll make up for it,” Brown muttered.

“Any chance we can bankrupt them? If we can’t get it shut down through, ah, other means?”

“What so you can buy a nicer house?”

Elder glared at Brown. Hard.

“Alright, alright. Sheesh.”

Itachi sighed. “It depends on how much the jury is willing to award.”

“How do they decide that?”

“Typically, it’s based off of things like outstanding medical bills, lost wages, impact on one’s quality of life, things like that.”

Everyone looked at Mason. Mason looked back at everyone.

“What? You want the details?”

“It’s relevant to the lawsuit.”

“Up yours, Ryoshi.”

“Mason.”

“Lowell, leave him be.” Itachi motioned. “Anything you want us to bring up…”

“They gave me syphilis. And herpes. Only a cure for one of those things and they didn’t get me treated. Also I feel like shit now, but that goes without saying…”

“Anything else?”

“What else do you fucking want me to say?”

“Have you developed any outstanding psychological issues? That can also impact your quality of life.”

Mason swallowed. “Um…”

“Moe?” Brown put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s… It’s gonna be okay.”

“What are you-”

“In prison. I tried to,” Mason didn’t look at his father. “I tried to, um… y’know… take the easy way out. How’s that for psychological damage?”

“Mason-”

“Can it, Lowell.” He shifted his attention to Elder. “What about your kids? How messed up are they?”

“My grandchildren-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure they’re perfect or whatever. But you’re suing because they got hurt. How bad is it?”

“They missed out on school for one thing. Might have to repeat a year.” Elder swallowed. “Max is acting younger than he should,” he admitted.

“How much-”

“Like he’s five.”

“And how does that-”

“He’s been sucking his thumb since he came home,” Elder said. “Not all the time, but whenever he’s stressed. He doesn’t want to sleep alone anymore. I’ve had to start ordering pullups…”

Itachi gasped. “Was the internal damage that bad?!”

“What?” Elder paled. “Oh Lord, no! That’s not- He’s terrified. He’s been through the wringer and he’s terrified. The physical damage… it wasn’t that bad.”

“Was it still somewhat bad? Did you have to pay the hospital?”

Elder nodded grimly.

“Okay. Good. Well, not good, but it will help with the lawsuit. And we should probably also throw in a few racial discrimination charges, both for your boys and…” Itachi trailed off.

Kit followed Itachi’s gaze. “Isn’t Moe White?”

Lowell coughed. “Not entirely.”

“White-coded,” Mason mumbled. “Don’t think they knew.”

“Still worth a shot. We already know they were targeting the boys specifically…”

“Will a White judge buy that?”

“We’ll make them buy it. And it’s not as if the guards were subtle about their intentions.”

“No kidding. Three nights outta seven, they’d lock Max up with pedophiles. I’m just glad Davie kept his head down… I don’t know what I’d do if they both…”

Moe scowled. “Even if Max kept his head down, they probably woulda gone after one of them.”

“Was this a known phenomenon? That could really help our case.”

Moe shrugged. “It’s like that everywhere, isn’t it? The lighter the skin, the easier the time.”

“Any chance you could talk some old friend of yours into testifying?”

“I didn’t make friends in prison,” Mason said. “That was, uh… kind of the problem. We suing Marmalade too?”

“Is that the therapist? Does he still work there?”

“Yup.”

“I think he’d be sued too, at least indirectly. Though we probably could make an individual case for malpractice…”

“He tried to fuck me, pretty sure that’s more than just malpractice.”

“It’s classified as malpractice under the law. Though, the prison will probably fire him if the case goes to court. After the CCPD Evil Eight, the last thing they need is more media attention.”

Elder scoffed. “They should stop doing things to get it.”

Chapter Text

Li Jing and Mao Blake had their conversation because of Jin Zha.

Li Jing had never felt so helpless. Never. Jin Zha lay in a hospital bed. Not dead, but dead to the world. Catatonic. And it was Mu Zha’s fault. Ne Zha’s fault. His fault. For letting it get this far.

“Hey…”

He looked up. “Officer Mao?”

“I know you’re upset…”

Li Jing scowled. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“Sir, please-“

“I know you have a job.” Li Jing scowled. “If you need to charge me with disturbing the peace, then go ahead. Cart me off. But you don’t understand. You’ve never been in this situation. Your son didn’t get attacked like this!”

Officer Mao let him say this. Then he looked up. “You’re right. My son didn’t get sexually assaulted.”

“Then you have no right-“

“My sons did.”

“… What?”

“Hei is only ten years old,” he murmured. “I have three children.”

“As do I.”

“Zi Lan lives with me now. Her stepfather helped with college. Hei is my youngest and… and Zhu is in prison. I don’t know what happened. I just know it was something.”

“This is my fault. You don’t understand. Ne Zha and Mu Zha have always looked down on their brother. They’ve always been cruel to him. And I didn’t… I should have punished them. But Jin Zha always-” He choked. “… 'No, Baba, don’t be angry. I’m alright. I don’t mind.' It wasn’t enough for him to love them. They made him prove it. And now look at us.”

Officer Mao sighed. “You really think it was Mu Zha’s fault?”

“Of course it was!”

“Because he didn’t see it. Because he didn’t stop it. Is that right?” Officer Mao stepped forward, anger in his eyes. “My Zhu was there when it happened to Hei. His friends… They wanted to do something. They needed the people who worked there out of the way. And they offered up my boy. My eldest was right there. And do you know something?” Officer Mao stopped right in front of him. “I never blamed him. For any of that.”

“How can you not?”

“They held him back. They held him down. He hates himself more than anything. Don’t… However angry you are? Please, don’t do that to Mu Zha. You’ll regret it, if you do.”

“… Have you spoken to him yet?”

“Not yet.”

“The only reason Jin Zha was there is because he called him. The only reason Jin Zha was hurt is because Mu Zha didn’t care enough to meet him. He’s always mistreated his brother. And he’s taught Ne Zha to do the same.”

“They’re brothers,” Officer Mao pointed out. “And that isn’t the worst case I’ve heard.”

“What do you mean?”

“It sounds like Mu Zha was just waiting for his brother. Frankly, there was no way to know those… monsters were there. That area of town is usually pretty quiet. And even if he had decided to meet him halfway, all that would have happened was likely him getting attacked too. Would you have preferred that? Both of your boys on the hospital bed?”

Li Jing crossed his arms. “I would rather no one was hurt.”

“As would most of us. But they didn’t attack Jin Zha because he was going to meet his brother.” Officer Mao stretched. “Besides, they could be worse.”

“How?”

“My brother is in the Yakuza.”

There was a long pause.

“… We don’t talk,” Officer Mao admitted.

“Can’t imagine why.” Jing buried his face in his hands. “You… You’re right. You’re right. Jin Zha wouldn’t… He’d blame himself too, if it was Mu Zha. If it was Ne Zha - Heaven forbid…”

“He sounds like a wonderful brother.”

“I just blame myself. For not cutting it in the bud. Before any of this. Did you… Did your parents…? You brother - what was it like growing up? Was he kind to you?”

“No more than most.” Mao shrugged. “We were brothers. We fought. Sometimes physically. Mostly verbally. Eventually we had a very large disagreement, and we cut ties.”

“Did that have to do with the Yakuza?”

“No. It was more… Well… He wanted to leave China. He thought things were unfair. Here. For us. It’s worse in Japan, if you aren’t Japanese. The Yakuza is really the only way for some folks to make a living. I offered to bring him back. But he wouldn’t… He met someone. They were building a life together. And I told him that he had to make a choice. Come home and I would help him clean up his act. Or stay and stay a criminal. He made his choice.”

Li Jing said nothing, but Mao could sense his sympathy. He gazed out the window and cleared his throat. The machines continued to quietly hum.

Chapter Text

“Motherfucker!”

Osomatsu Matsuno was about to punch the wall again - bloody knuckles be damned - when Choromatsu caught his arm from behind.

“What the hell, man?”

“Knock it off, you’re gonna mess up the plaster.”

“Let me!” Osomatsu snapped. “Fuck. You have no idea…”

“About what?”

“Karamatsu. Did you know he was seeing someone?”

“What - like a girlfriend?”

“No. A boyfriend.”

“Shit.” Choromatsu looked behind him. “I owe Jyushi-kun twenty bucks.”

“What’s that, Niisan?”

“Great,” Osomatsu grunted. “You’ve summoned them.”

Jyushimatsu and Todomatsu leaned around the wall. No Ichimatsu. (They’d have to tell him later.)

“Niisan is gay.”

“Congratulations.”

“Not me, you idiot.”

“Karamatsu then.”

“He’s not gay,” Osomatsu snapped. “He’s… I dunno. You know he likes girls too. Anyway. Did you know about this?”

“Know about what?”

“He’s seeing someone. A guy-”

“He’s seeing Ito.”

The room got so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Then, awkwardly, Choromatsu laughed. “Nice one! That sure was a funny joke!”

“I’m not joking,” Osomatsu said. “Fuck. I don’t think I could joke about this.”

“How do you know that they’re…”

“It was my turn to pick him up from ‘work.’ Ugh. I saw them. And I thought… I thought he was hurting him. Knocked the bastard onto the ground. Kara freaked. Trying to pull me off him. Says that they’re ‘in love.’”

“Oh, yay! Ito asked him out!”

Three sets of eyes landed on Jyushimatsu.

“What?” Jyushi asked.

“You knew?”

“Kinda?” Jyushi shrugged. “They had a crush on each other for a really long time. I told Ito he should go for it.”

“You what?!” Osomatsu grabbed his younger brother, shaking him. “Do you have any idea what you did?!”

“I made Karaniisan happy?”

“No, you… Ito was the one who told those teenage psychopaths to go after Kara!”

“He didn’t tell them to rape him.”

They all flinched. Nobody liked using that word. Or hearing it.

“How do we know?! Maybe he just lied about it after the fact!”

“Ito’s a bad liar.”

“Who the fuck cares?! It’s his fault any of this even happened. What happens the next time he and Kara get into a fight?”

“You really think he’d hurt Niisan?” Todomatsu asked.

“Or get someone else to do it! He did it once!”

“But all the people who did it are either in jail or taking care of a really small baby,” Jyushimatsu pointed out. “Niisan’s the only other one in the restaurant. Who would Ito have to send?”

Todomatsu blinked. “… Is Jyushi-kun of all people really being the voice of reason here?”

“I’m calling Ichimatsu.”

Ichimatsu picked up on the first ring. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fucking Ito!”

Itchimatsu blinked. “What do you mean he’s fucking Ito?”

“They’re dating. He’s convinced it’s true love.”

“… Karamatsu?”

“Yes! If it was one of the others, I’d have killed them. But it’s Kara. I can’t beat the sense into him.”

“No shit.” Ichimatsu sighted. “Clearly he’s brainwashed.”

“Well, can we un-brainwash him?!”

“Jyushi is his favorite. Get him to talk-“

“Jyushi set them up!”

“What? Why?!”

“He says they like each other! I guess that was reason enough. Dumbass.”

“Dumbass,” Ichimatsu agreed. “How long have they been…?”

“Not long. Shit. I knew them working together was a bad idea.”

“What do we do now?“

“Only one thing to do. I’m gonna kill him.”

Chapter Text

Mu Zha and Zai E’ had the conversation because of their families.

Mu Zha had been trying his best to ignore his brother’s new hospital roommate. It had been harder than he expected. Sure, the man himself was in a coma. That was likely the reason they’d stuck him with Jin Zha to begin with. But his family was not. And his family was… chatty.

Every time he entered the room, some cousin or other was there. Sitting on a chair. Keeping not-so-silent vigil. This was how he learned the man’s name was Wan E’. That he had a father (in prison), an uncle (dead), four cousins (all chatty visitors), and that the family didn’t like a man named Lan Luo very much. He’d also learned that he should be a bit more wary of pickpockets on Queen’s Road, and to never buy a purse from any of them.

Not that he’d be buying a purse anyway.

It was annoying, to say the least. But at least he’d learned everything there was to know about the man.

Well. Almost everything.

“How is Gogo?” The young man who asked this was pale. With white hair, and pale blue eyes. And he was young. Still wearing his high school uniform. Must have come here straight from class.

“Still in a coma,” one of the cousins reported.

“Can you keep it down?” Mu Zha asked. “Please. I’m trying to study.”

The cousin - Matt - rolled his eyes. “If you don’t like it, go outside.”

“I’m not leaving my brother alone with you.”

“Sounds like a you problem,” Matt remarked. He stood. “Anyway. I’m gonna head back to the safehouse. Nai should be headed over to stay the night at about eight. You gonna be good?”

The young man nodded.

“Hey.” Matt patted the young man’s shoulder. “It’ll be alright. He’ll wake up one of these days.”

“It… it’s not like he’s dead.”

“Matt!”

“It’s not like he’s going to die.”

The kid didn’t answer. And Matt squeezed his shoulder once more before departing. Leaving Mu Zha alone again. With his brother. And the kid.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “About Matt. I know this must be hard for you.”

“It’s fine,” Mu Zha said.

“Is he your older brother too? You know…” He waved a hand over Jin Zha. “He looks older.”

“Yeah. He is.”

The kid slid into the chair his cousin had previously been occupying. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did he get into a coma?”

Mu Zha blinked. “You don’t know?”

“Huh?”

“It was in the news,” Mu Zha said. “Since the powers that be love to show how ‘violent’ and ‘out of control’ a select few of the protestors are while entirely ignoring the police brutality that the majority of us who were peacefully demonstrating had to endure.”

“Oh,” the kid said. “I, uh, don’t really watch the news.”

“You should. It’s important to stay informed about the world around you.”

The kid shrugged. It was quiet for a bit. Blissfully so. Seemed the kid wasn’t nearly as chatty as some of his relatives had been.

“What happened to yours…?”

He sniffled. “I don’t know. Gogo… Someone took him. And the police didn’t do anything.”

“Because you’re Cantonese?”

“I don’t… I don’t think that was the only reason.”

“Oh, you know you don’t have to justify their actions,” Mu Zha quickly said. “The police are only here to enforce the will of the dominant socioeconomic ethnic group.”

“I guess, but that’s not really our situation.”

“Please. What other reason could there be?”

The young man shifted. “Our family name is Shu.”

“Like… the violinist?”

“Please don’t.”

Mu Zha sighed. “What’s your name then?”

“Shu Zai E’… Lan Lao is my cousin. He… We… He’s my cousin. He hurt me. Gogo took care of me.”

“I see.”

“What about your brother?”

“I don’t follow.”

“Did he take care of you?”

Mu Zha shrugged. “I guess.”

Zai E’ tilted his head.

“It’s complicated,” Mu Zha said.

“Family’s always complicated. But you look out for each other. That’s what family is.”

“I don’t think I…” He sighed. “Jin Zha was born when we still lived on the mainland. We moved here. Partly for work. Partly so my parents could have more kids. But Jin Zha was so… He must really love us. He’s always doing something for us. My little brother and I. But I guess I never really appreciated it. I was embarrassed. Of him. I didn’t realize how much he did until…”

“It’s like that,” Zai E’ said. “You don’t realize how much of the world someone carries until they can’t carry it anymore. It was like that when my Bak Fu died. It’s like that now.” Zai E’ looked at his brother. “But… embarassed?”

“I mean… a bit.”

“Why?”

Mu Zha winced. “He had an accent. He spoke Mandarin in public.”

Zai E’ looked over. “So you were scared.”

“Scared?”

“He’s your brother. If he’s a mainlander, then that means you are too.”

“I was born here. I was raised here.”

Shrug. “Doesn’t make you Cantonese.”

“You’re just a kid. What do you know…”

“You’re just a locust. What do you know?” He paused. “Sorry. Was that too mean?”

Mu Zha sighed. “Probably. But you’re also not wrong.”

It was quiet again.

Zai E’ looked at his brother again. “The doctors say Gogo will need crutches when he wakes up. Probably for the rest of his life.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What happened to yours?”

“He’s not actually… His brain is fine. We don’t know why he won’t wake up. Maybe trauma. Mental trauma, not physical.”

“Was it that bad?”

Mu Zha winced. “Yeah.”

“Oh.”

Mu Zha sighed. “A group of protestors assaulted him. Near the university.”

“Oh. Is your Gogo a student, too?”

“… No. They wouldn’t have accepted him. He never finished highschool. Dropped out.”

“Why?”

“Kids used to pick on him. He didn’t mind so much. Then they started to pick on us. I… I told him… He left school. Our father was alright with it. Jin Zha is his firstborn son.”

“My Gogo dropped out, too,” Zai E’ said, scowling. “But he needed to help out my family. I never told him to.”

“I-I didn’t…”

“It sounds like you did.” Zai E’ had his full attention on Mu Zha now. “So. If he wasn’t a student, why was he near the university? I mean, my family and I stayed away while the protests were happening. So did almost everyone we know.”

“… I called him.”

“What?”

“I used to… I was part of the protests. He was my brother. He had a license. So I used to call him. He used to come.”

“Right.”

“He tried to talk to our father about it. About the protests. About… us. Hong Kong.”

“Even though he was a mainlander?”

“He believed in the cause! He thought… He thought we should be free. Baba is conservative. And I was so embarrassed of having a locust for a brother.”

“How could you be embarrassed? Your brother sounds awesome.”

Mu Zha blinked. “Awesome?”

“He’s a mainlander, but he still went to the protests to come and get you. He dropped out of high school so you wouldn’t get bullied. He sounds like he did everything for you. That’s not embarrassing.”

“I mean…” Mu Zha sighed. “Look. Have you ever been bullied in school?”

“All the time.” Zai tensed in his chair. “My cousin molested me. Then he went and got famous. My mom left me to raise my sisters. And my Suk Fu killed someone. People talk. That’s not Gogo’s fault! He… he did his best. Sounds like your brother did too.”

“Our father blames me.”

“Well… Is it your fault?”

Mu Zha didn’t answer.

Chapter Text

Ichimatsu and Karamatsu had their talk because it was a long time coming. Karamatsu talked to the others because he had to.

“You, uh… gonna finish that?”

Karamatsu blinked. The carton of ice cream in his lap more than half full and mostly melted. Chocolate chips drowning in a sea of mint green foam. “You can have it.”

“Mom’s worried you’ve got an eating disorder.”

Karamatsu smiled. Barely. “What? No. I’m just… I have to watch my figure. You know… for the fans.”

“The fans?”

“Gotta look good for the next guy who wants to rape me.”

Ichimatsu stared at him slack-jawed.

“Too far?” Karamatsu asked.

“Kind of,” Ichimatsu said. “And that isn’t going to happen again. You know that, right?”

Karamatsu shrugged. “Do I?”

“Is Ito trying to do something to you?”

“Ito?” Karamatsu let out a dry laugh. “We haven’t even seen each other with our shirts off.”

“If he lays a hand on you, you come to me. You got that?”

“He wouldn’t. He couldn’t….”

“It’s his fault!”

“It’s not!” Karamatsu protested. “It’s not. I… I want you to know that. I shoulda ponied up and paid the bill instead of skulking away like… like some kind of… What skulks?”

“Hell if I know.” Ichimatsu scowled. “And don’t change the subject. Is it someone at school? Wherever it is you’ve been going? If anyone’s bothering you…”

“Why are you getting so worked up?” Karamatsu asked, leaning back in his seat.

Ichimatsu blinked. “What do you mean?”

“It was just a bad joke,” Karamatsu said. “A joke in bad taste, maybe. Though, could I make a joke in bad taste if I’m the one who was raped?”

Ichimatsu flinched. He still hated hearing that word. “I’m just worried about you,” he said. “Is that really so hard to believe?”

Karamatsu said nothing.

“… Shit,” Ichimatsu said. “It is. Isn’t it?”

“I don’t know why you guys are being so nice to me. You just… I just… I thought you all hated me. I got kind of used to the idea. It’s not just you…”

“But I was the worst, huh?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Do what?”

“Lie. You don’t have to make me feel better.”

“I feel like shit all the time,” Kara said. “I don’t want you to feel like shit too.”

“I also feel like shit,” Ichimatsu said. “But unlike you, I actually deserve it.”

“You don’t…” Karamatsu trailed off. “S’it because everybody’s mad at you?”

“What? No. I… I’m so sorry.”

It was Karamatsu’s turn to gape. “You’ve never said that before.”

“I haven’t? Shit. I’m sorry.”

“It’s… It’s okay. I don’t know what you’re apologizing for. It’s not like you raped me.”

“I told you to go kill yourself.” Ichimatsu let out something halfway between a laugh and a sob. “You were texting me for help, and I told you to go kill yourself.”

“You always tell me to go kill myself. It’s fine.”

“No it isn’t.” Ichimatsu shook his head. “It never was. But I…I…” He sat across from his brother. “You’re my brother. We’re all brothers. But you try the hardest out of all of us.” Ichimatsu sighed. “I don’t deserve you. You’ve always gone out of your way to help us. To help me. And…and what did I do when you needed my help? I tell you to go kill yourself. Like I’m some thirteen year old in a video game chat.”

“I’m your older brother. It… it’s my job.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it! We’re all the same age. All of us. It doesn’t matter who was born first. We should all… We’re supposed to take care of each other. And I didn’t take care of you.”

“You couldn’t have saved me anyway,” Karamatsu said. “There were six of them.”

“There are six of us! Look, this isn’t just on me, okay? You give all of us way too much leeway.”

“I know.”

“What?”

“I know,” Karamatsu sniffled. “I… I’m the nice one. I’m the one who you call when you need something. I have to be. Toddy’s the baby. Jyushi-kun is everyone’s favorite. Oso-niisan is the leader. And… and Choromatsu is the sane one. And you…”

“I’m the asshole.”

“You fit! You all fit somewhere! Except for me. If I’m not the nice one. If I don’t do all this… all this bullshit… then what’s the point of being alive? We’re not six! We’re five plus one! And… and… and… Everybody hates me. I’m just the shitty, painful extra weight. And you don’t have to be nice to me. It’ll just make it hurt more when you guys remember that.”

“Karamatsu, stop-”

“I need to be needed,” he said, swiping at his eyes. “Because no one wants me around.”

Ichimatsu blinked. And then did the only thing he could think.

He laughed.

“You think nobody wants you around?”

“Why are you laughing? I… I already feel shitty. You don’t have to make fun of me too.”

“I’m not making fun! But God, Kara. I’m the one everybody hates. Not you!”

Karamatsu blinked his only remaining eye.

“I’m the one Mommy and Daddy kicked out! I’m the one that can’t be trusted around you! I’m the one that needed to get vetted by two goddamn therapists just to be in the same room as you! And the worst part is, they’re all goddamn right about me!”

“Ichi-kun…”

“You know, when we got to the hospital there was this nurse there with green lipstick. One of Jyushi’s friends. She thought… She said you’d been coming in for a while. Black eyes. Broken noses. She thought you had an abusive boyfriend or something. And I had to stand there and tell everyone that, no, it was just me. Just me.”

“I didn’t ask them to kick you out.”

“I know! Because you’re too fucking nice for your own good! And I’m… not. And I hurt you. I hurt you so bad! And… and if you had died… Every night I lay awake thinking about it. If you had died and I had just sat there with my thumb up my ass.”

Karamatsu reached over and squeezed his hand.

“You know,” Ichimatsu said. “I wish you were angry at me.”

“What?”

“If you were as angry at me as I am at myself, this would be easier,” Ichimatsu explained. “If you…why? Why are you so okay with this? You’re not…I…”

Karamatsu floundered. “I guess I’m just… used to it.”

~

Dinner. Ichimatsu wasn’t here. Staying at the Herbertsons. Everyone else sat around the table. Eating… well, picking at their food. White rice and chicken curry.

“Um. Guys?” Karamatsu set down his chopsticks. Plate barely touched.

“What is it, Kara-kun?” his mother asked, reaching out to comb a cowlick from his hair. “Are you not feeling well?”

“It’s about Ichimatsu. I, uh, think you guys are being way too hard on him.”

The entire rest of the table stared at him.

“… What?”

“You realize,” Osomatsu spoke up, “that whatever Ichi’s going through, it’s not nearly as bad as what happened to you?”

“Yeah,” Karamatsu snorted. “Pretty hard to top that. But, guys, come on… You didn’t have to banish him from the house.”

“He’s not banished,” Mommy said.

Daddy nodded. “We just thought it would be good to, uh, give you some space.”

“Then why didn’t you send me away? I mean… if I’m the common denominator.”

“Because you need support from the rest of us,” Mommy said. “In order to recover.”

“Yeah,” Choromatsu said. “And you didn’t tell any of us to go kill ourselves."

“Choro-kun!” Osomatsu said.

“What? It’s true.”

“It’s not…” Karamatsu mumbled. “It’s not like that’s anything new. It’s just how he is. You guys know that.”

“That’s the problem,” Dad said. “We shouldn’t have let things get this far.”

“Things?”

“The bullying,” Osomatsu said.

“It’s not bullying,” Todomatsu snapped. “What we did is bullying. This… this is abuse. It’s abuse.”

“What’s the difference?”

Osomatsu stared. “What’s the…We never sent you to the hospital!”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“He broke your nose.”

Karamatsu shrugged.

“Look,” Mommy said. “Ichi-kun hasn’t been banished. He’s just… We can’t trust him right now. And I don’t want to leave him alone with you.”

“But it’s not like he knew what was happening,” Kara said. “You know if he did, he wouldn’t have said that.”

The table went quiet.

“Guys…?”

Todomatsu cleared his throat. “We’re actually not too sure.”

“He’s always been kind of an asshole,” Osomatsu said. “Like… an asshole.”

“I don’t think he meant it,” Choromatsu said. “But I… If he can’t stop himself from fucked up shit, he shouldn’t be around you when you’re… like this.”

“Like what?”

“Otouto,” Osomatsu said gently. “Look at yourself.”

“… Oh.”

And Kara picked at his plate once more.

Chapter Text

Mads and Soe had their conversation after the hospital.

It had taken only an hour to stop the bleeding. Longer to repair the damage. The shaft was gone. Too much time had passed to even try reattaching it. In the end, Mads had been fitted with a catheter and sent off with a laundry list of medications and strict instructions.

Released into Soe’s care. Not Bernhard’s.

He’d sent Alice home, after it became clear that she wouldn’t be losing a sibling after all. With the driver.

“Why does he hate me?”

Mads leaned against the window. Forehead pressed to icy glass.

“He doesn’t-”

“Don’t. Don’t lie. Not you.”

Soe sighed. “I’ll bring you back to Tohtsuki. I’ve already arranged it with your… with the head of the Nakiri family. At least until you’re… better. I can send someone to get your things.”

“Why is he shoving me off on you?”

“Well, Bill and Hartford are having their own problems-”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

Soe sighed. “It was my idea. Nora was right. You need to be around family. Clearly, Bernhard isn’t giving you what you need.”

Mads slumped. Soe reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Hey. It’s… it’s alright. The house isn’t far from the university. I’ll have my driver bring you to class.”

Silence.

“Hey. It’s not… Timo is always nice to you, right?”

“That was before I hurt Arvid.” Mads crossed his arms. “And even then… He was nice. But he didn’t say anything when Pa… when Bernhard wasn’t.”

Soe couldn’t really respond to that. Timo Väinö Mononen was indeed one of those people who was too nice for his own good, or in this case for other people’s either.

“Arvid’s healed up okay, right?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t infected or anything but the scar’s gonna be there forever. Pretty noticeable. He and Peter think it looks cool, but his dads… Yeah. They’re gonna remember me every time they look at the poor kid.”

“It wasn’t really your fault.”

“It wasn’t totally Dene’s either. Doesn’t change much for us.”

“Listen…”

“Yeah?”

“No. Listen. I don’t like the way he treats you. You… Bernhard doesn’t know how to love something that came from that part of his life. I mean, just look at what he did to your mother.”

Mads shrugged.

“But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you. I’m sure he… What does it matter what Bernhard thinks anyway? I’m your…” Soe couldn’t finish. “I’m right here.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I just… I just wanna be with them.”

“I know.” Soe reached out and squeezed Mads’ shoulder. “Your mother will be here, but I know a young man wants his dad to love him too. It’s not the same.”

“Well,” Mads said with another shrug, “I gotta work with what I have. And… for what it’s worth… you’re pretty cool too. If I’m working with what I have, I am happy to work with you.”

Chapter Text

Wan E didn’t want to have this conversation. But here they were.

“Zai, get lost.”

There were about half a dozen, very well dressed, young men and women. In his hospital room. And they weren’t for the sparkly kid either…

“Opera Sex Cult?”

“Aren’t you classy?” One of the men stepped forward. “I’m Mu Su E’. Manager of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Opera Troupe.”

Wan E’ started glancing around the room.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for a fuck to give.”

“This is not the time for-”

“Sorry. Can’t seem to find it.”

Mu Su E’ growled. “Do you have any idea who we are?”

“Kiddie fiddlers.”

“What?”

“Well,” Wan E’ said, “you let in my cousin, who is a kiddie fiddler. And you aren’t letting the police go after him for being a kiddie fiddler. And you’re a sex cult with a kid. So, you know. If it walks like a pedo and it quacks like a pedo.”

The woman in red lunged forward, only stopped by the brown haired one beside her. “Ella,” she said. “Don’t,” she said.

“Better listen,” Wan E’ sneered back. “What are you doing here?”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“I haven’t done shit! Lan Lao and I haven’t spoken in… Oh. Sonuva… Those bastards got him too, didn’t they? I’ll be damned.”

“Don’t act so surprised. You’re the one that sent them!”

“I don’t have time for this,” Wan E’ groaned, rolling over. “ ’S he dead?”

“If he were, I’d have let her kill you,” the brown-haired woman said, gesturing to Ella.

“Then why are you here?”

Mu cleared his throat and stepped forward, taking a bundle of papers from his coat.

“What the fuck are… Is that a bill?”

Mu opened it and allowed Wan E’ to read it.

“What the… Thirty thousand?!”

Mu looked at it. “Ah, no. That’s in USD. Accounting for exchange rates, it’s more along the lines of two hundred thousand.”

“For what?!”

“Those bastards destroyed his violin. You sent them after him. You can pay for the replacement.”

“Lan Lao’s violin?! You gotta be shitting me. Suk Fu stole it off the side of the road, and it was missing a string! There’s no way it could cost this much!”

“That old thing?” Ella scoffed. “I told him to toss it out.”

“Non, non, non,” the man in silk chiffon said. “Lan-Lan’s violin was custom made, after he came to stay with us.”

“Oh, so you got the pedo a fancy violin. Not my problem.”

“It was one of a kind. Imported from Japan. It was made out of glass.”

“Why would anyone make a violin out of glass? This is on him if you ask me.”

Ella slapped him. Hard.

“What the fuck?!”

“How dare you. You… You have no right.”

“I have no right?!” Wan E’ saw red. “That bastard fucked my little brother! He got my baba thrown in prison! He’s the reason my mom up and left me and Zai! He never sent a goddamn cent to us after he started sucking your collective dick! And you wanna say that I have no goddamn right?!”

“You-”

“And you know what? You can take your bill and shove it up your goddamn ass! I mean. Shit. What’s the worst thing that could fucking happen?”

“We kill you.”

Wan E rolled his eyes. “You’re gonna have to try harder than that.”

“Then we’ll take the fact that you did this to him to the police.”

“And what? I’ll go to prison? Been there. Done that. My old man is there! Pretty sure he’d be the opposite of disappointed! Assholes…”

“This isn’t over!”

“It is. Trust me. Get him another violin if you want. But you ain’t seeing a cent from me.”

Chapter Text

Blake and Luo Zhu had their conversation when Luo arrived in Hong Kong.

“It’s not your fault.”

Luo Zhu - jetlagged to hell and half asleep - blinked blearily at his father from the passenger seat.

“What happened to Hei. It’s not your fault.”

“I dunno what Mom told you.”

“She told me enough. You weren’t there when your friends made that deal.”

Luo said nothing, staring out the window as the city flashed by.

“And, even if you had been,” Mao Blake added, “you wouldn’t have been able to stop it.”

“How do you know?”

Mao looked over at his son. “Érzǐ, what is my job?”

“Being a spy?”

“Being a police officer.”

“That’s not what Niam said.”

Mao rolled his eyes. “Look. I know what happened. I know they held you back.”

“I shouldn’t have brought him.”

“Maybe not. But that doesn’t mean you hurt him. It doesn’t mean I blame you either. No one does.”

“Wuxian says I’m a bad person.”

Mao tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “You’re not. I deal with real bad people every day.”

“But-“

“Xiao Zhu. Do you have any idea the sort of people I have to deal with on a daily basis?”

Luo Zhu shrugged.

“I have seen evil. Real evil. And you don’t have any of that.” He turned. “You know, a few years ago, I met another brother who thought he was responsible for something too.”

Luo looked at his father oddly.

“You know about the, ah… protests that happened all over the city, I assume? I’m given to understand it was on the world news.”

“Are you talking about Ao Jing?”

“That was ten years ago.”

“More I think.”

“No.” Mao shook his head. “No. His name was Li Mu Zha.”

“Zha? I knew a guy named Naza back in Calisota.”

“Huh. Not sure if they’re related or not.” Mao shrugged.

“Baba, that’s racist.”

“In any case, he was taking part in the protests. And his brother came to pick him up. Only…” Mao sighed. “Only on his way there, he ran into a group. A group that didn’t like him very much.”

“Why not?”

Mao pressed his lips together. “… On a related note, you can still speak Cantonese, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“Maybe stick to that while you’re in public. People have… opinions… about Mandarin speakers here.”

“Yeah. I think Zi Lan told me about that. Locusts, right?”

“Don’t you ever call yourself that.”

“I’m not! I’m not, okay? Still… kinda fitting, right?”

“I’ll set you up in my room. Zi Lan needs her privacy. And you… I want to keep an eye on you.”

“I’m not gonna hurt myself.”

“Are you going to try and get someone else to hurt you?”

Luo Zhu shrunk. “Niam told you about that?”

“Did you think she wouldn’t?”

Luo shrugged. “You two hate each other.”

Mao sighed. “Your mother and I don’t agree about a lot of things.” To put it mildly. “But the three of you are our children. We made you together-“

“Ew.”

“And we will work together to give you what you need. No matter what.”

Luo shifted. “Was having me move here her idea?”

“It’s… complicated. It’s not that she doesn’t want you around.”

“Wuxian doesn’t.”

Mao shrugged. “Sounds like you wouldn’t go home anyway. We thought it was better to give you a fresh start.”

“So I’m on probation.”

“No. I’m looking after you.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Nothing but the usual restrictions on your behavior, for one.” Mao patted his son’s leg. “And you have people who love you here to support you.”

“I’m not a baby.”

“No. Just a human. And if humans didn’t know how to work together, we’d still be monkeys in the woods.”

“Baba. I…”

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Whatever happens. I’ll protect you. Always.”

“I told Hei the same thing.”

Chapter Text

Mao Blake had his conversation with Wan E’ because he’d failed.

Jin Zha had left the hospital the day prior. His father had been eager to get him home, to privacy and security. Wan E’ was not in the same boat. Mao had only heard vague details. Something about adjustment.

This wasn’t going to be a fun conversation. But it needed to happen.

“Kid left,” Wan E’ said, when he saw Mao enter. “You’re too late to talk to him.”

“I’m not here for him. I’m here for you.”

Wan E’ groaned. “Fuck you. Whatever it is, I can’t do it again.”

“I’m not here to arrest…” Mao paused. “…can’t? That’s an interesting choice of words.”

“Fuck you! Fuck off! Just… just leave me alone. I just… I can’t-”

“Hey. I…” Mao swallowed. He tightened his jaw. “I came to apologize.”

“Apologize?! You think I give a shit about your apologies?”

“I… I didn’t look for you… as well as I should have.”

“You probably didn’t look at all! Fuck you!”

“You’re not wrong,” Mao admitted. “But more than that. I’d like to make amends.”

“And how the fuck are you supposed to do that? Huh? Oh! You could try giving a shit and actually looking for me! Or, oh! Why not bring my uncle back to life? That’d make it up to me! Or, hey! As long as we’re ‘making amends’.” Shu Wan E’ pointed to the left side of his head. “You could unshoot my fucking ear! Just make sure I don’t lose it, and none of this woulda happened to begin with! I mean. Seriously. What the hell could you give me that would make up for all of that?”

Mao grimaced. Then took a deep breath. “What if I told you I had a way you could make me into your guard dog?”

“What?”

“I… I have a spare room.”

“You want me to live with you?!”

“I want to make things right. You can stay with me. We’ll get you clean. You… you can get a real job. Or go back to school. I… I can pay.”

“What kind of a job am I s’posed to get?! I’m a criminal! My legs are wrecked!”

“You could work a desk job. I… I could make a few calls. Please. I won’t beg. But… I’d like to help you.”

“I’ll do it.”

“You will…?”

“Yeah. Fuck. I hate to admit it, but the place my family and I are staying ain’t exactly gonna be maneuverable once I get used to…”

“Your crutches?”

Wan E’ glared. “But I got a few conditions.”

“Name them.”

“You ain’t about to stop me from seeing my family.”

“The gang members?” He sighed. Rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“My little brother is straight.”

“Fine. Sure. What else?”

“You pay my medical bills and we’re square.”

“I’m already taking care of it.”

“Shit, man. What kind of money do they pay you?”

“Enough.”

“Fuck.”

“Anything else?”

“… I don’t suppose you’ve got an extra two hundred thou lying around? I, uh… Nevermind.”