Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

When Luz was born, Camila and Manny loved her so much that they wanted another one. They wanted to give their little ball of light a best friend to play with, someone to keep her company while both Manny and Camila were at work. 

Camila stopped working when she had Luz, yet Manny was always complaining how she was going to be the favorite parent from all the quality time she got to spend with their daughter. When she started school though, Camila went back to work part time so she could be home when Luz is. 

But they soon found that they were unable to have another child after Luz. It was a hard pregnancy, and combined with the fact that the doctors hadn’t even believed she could conceive in the first place, another child was out of the question. 

But dreams were never off the table. 

Luz, eight years old and full of energy while her father slowly withers away in their new house in Gravesfield is never short of things to talk about. Whether it’s going on about the snakeskins, or some new book she read or what she found on the internet, she’s always talking. It seems like she’s trying to talk enough for all of them; Manny doesn’t say much anymore. He’s too tired for that, while Camila is too depressed and anxious to speak on her own. It’s Luz that starts any and all conversations now. 

Another child is definitely out of the question now. She had to tell Luz as much when the poor girl asked why Mama never gave her a friend. 

“ Lo siento mucho mi bebe, ” She had cupped her beautiful daughter’s hands in hers and held onto them tightly. “But your papa and I are going through a bit of a rough spot right now. He’s too sick, and I’m far too busy. That’s how it’s been for a long time, and things are going to get much worse before they get better. Just promise me you’ll stay my happy girl, okay?” 

Luz had bit her lip, but nodded. Camila smiled, glad that her daughter understood. 

Neither of them noticed the darkly-dressed man moving away from their window. Or the way he rubbed his chin in through. 

“Just sick, huh?” He mumbled to himself, “Let’s see what I can do about that.”

Chapter Text

The doctors say it’s a miracle. Manny is a living miracle. He started getting better, bit by bit. It was Luz that actually noticed first. She had bounced into the kitchen to grab Camila by the arm.
“Mama!” She exclaims. “Papa got out of bed by himself! And got changed! He’s coming downstairs now!” Camila’s eyes widen as she bolts for the staircase. Sure enough, Manny is making his way down the stairs slowly, one hand bracing himself against the wall while the other grips the railing tightly. Camila races up the stairs and takes the arm holding the wall and slings it over her shoulder. 

“What are you doing?!” She exclaims angrily, tears pouring down her cheeks. “You need to be resting! You need to save your strength!” Manny pants as they finally reach the hardwood floor. 

“But I felt better this morning, Cam.” He replies. “I have a good feeling about today. I’ll be okay today.” 

And he was. They went to the doctor three days later, and they had stared at the X-rays and scans for nearly five whole minutes before the silence got to Camila and she snapped at them to see the results and for them to tell her what in heaven’s name is going on with her husband.

“The cancer-” The head doctor had been called in to look at the results. “It’s going away.” Camila grabs Manny’s hand and squeezes tightly. Did she hear that right? 

“Wh-what?” Manny sputters. The doctors look at each other, then back at the Noceda couple. “What do you mean, it’s going away? I thought it had reached stage five!” 

“We’re aware of that, sir.” One of them agrees. “And it is. Well, was. I could hardly call it stage three now.” 

The Noceda’s are sent home with the good news, and it only goes uphill from there. Family calls and exclaim their joy, neighbors express their glee at not losing a new neighbor so soon, and Luz won’t leave her Papa’s side. Camila has a hard time leaving for work every morning. It’s so unbelievable every time she sees him up and walking and playing with Luz. It’s like he was better than ever. Even before the cancer showed up.

It’s almost as if the higher powers were preparing their household for what would happen next. 

It’s late at night, and Camila and Manny are getting ready for bed. Luz has already been tucked in. It’s something Manny takes every opportunity to do; he had gone through several months when he had to retire for the night much sooner than Luz did, therefore he was unable to tuck her in for the night. He takes his tucking in duties very seriously. 

The slamming of the front door draws both of their attention, and pounding up the stairs. Luz is asleep, so who is it? Camila grabs her baseball bat from the closet and Manny balls his fists. He was in the military for a few years after high school before going to medical school. But then the same child that Manny had just tucked in comes barrelling through their bedroom door, her pajamas are a mess, her hair is filled with leaves and twigs, her face is pale and her eyes are wide. 

“Mama!” She screeches, rushing over to Camila and grabbing her arm to begin pulling her out of the room. “Papá! ¡Ayúdame! Por favor, ¡Ayúdame!” Tears are gathering in Luz’ eyes, and Camila quickly kneels down and takes Luz’ face in her hands. 

“What’s wrong, baby?” She asks. “You’re supposed to be in bed? Why were you outside?” Luz is still trying to get out the door. 

“I-I heard something out my window!” She cries. “So I followed it and I found a boy outside and he’s hurt, Mama! He’s hurt bad! He’s not waking up!” Camila looks up and at Manny, and they nod. 

Manny drops to the ground to search for his shoes and tosses Camila hers. They tug their shoes on and make sure to grab their jackets to pull over their pajamas and dash after Luz. The cool air hits her face as a brisk sheet, but she can’t worry about that. Manny is still inside, looking for his doctor's kit. Manny is a practiced surgeon, specializing in hands and feet, but practiced in nearly all areas. 

The forest looks especially haunting tonight. The only light is coming from Camila’s phone flashlight, but even that isn’t stopping her from tripping on everything in her way. Luz runs ahead of her, seeming to have memorized the way to the boy. A small clearing in the woods yields him, bathed in moonlight. His pale, blond colored hair is spread around his head like a halo and his even paler skin seems to glow in the dim light. Camils dashes to his side and drops to her knees. She presses her two fingers against his neck, searching for a pulse while she lays her ear on his chest for a heartbeat.

It’s there, but it doesn’t sound right. She hopes Manny gets here soon. He can track her and Luz using their phones, so hopefully he’ll be here in time. Camila turns her attention back to the boy.

He can’t be any older than Luz is; he’s so small, Camila can see his ribs through his thin black undershirt. He’s dressed in simple underclothes, no shoes and brown leather gloves. He’s much paler up close. She can make out the veins in his cheeks if she looks close enough. The eye bags underneath his eyes look like bruises and a single scar traces his face from the middle of his cheek and down to his neck. His ears are abnormally large and pointed like an elf. The right one has a triangular shaped notch in it. That must have hurt. Other than that, she can’t seem to find any wounds on this boy. But then again, she’s not a human doctor. 

“Mama? What’s wrong with him?” Her eight year old daughter slowly slides down beside her, and Camila can only shake her head. She has no idea who this boy is, or what happened to him. 

“I-I don’t know, bebe .” She admits. “I can’t find any head injuries that might have rendered him unconscious like this.” Maybe Manny can tell them more about this boy- wait . 

In his hand. There’s a piece of paper. Camila grabs it quickly, unfolding it gently so as to not rip it. 

My dear friend, 

You do not know who I am, and hopefully, if everything goes right then you never will. I am deeply remorseful to let go of this boy, but he is no longer safe. I have done everything I can to give him a better life, and that better life is with you. I have seen the way you care for your daughter, and now I would hope you treat this boy like a son. He deserved the happinesses of life that he has been deprived of his whole life. His name is Hunter, and though he might not look like it, he is ten years old.

Camila has to rub her eyes before re-reading that part. He looks too young to be two years older than her baby!

He has been through too much in life, and I hope that you can give him the life he deserved. Please take good care of him. He needs to be with people who actually care about him, not like the one who was in charge of raising him. Taking him to a hospital will only bring trouble, and not for the reasons you think.

Sincerely, a Friend. 

P.S. I hope your husband is recovering nicely.  

Camila blinks at the note. What. The. Actual. Supernova. Blast? Camila reads and re-reads the note several more times. It’s as if this boy was meant to be found by Camila and her family. 

“Cam! Luz!” Camila’s head whips up at the sound of her husband’s voice. His flashlight is visible and Luz jumps to her feet. 

“Papa!” She shrieks. “Here! We’re here!” Manny bursts into the clearing, wasting no time in taking in the boy in front of him before dropping to his own knees and opening his kit. He hands Luz the flashlight inside it and she turns it on, holding it over the kit. 

Manny’s hands fly from the bulky kit to the boy and back again, and Camila is once again reminded how she fell in love with this man; he’s so good at keeping cool in a crisis when even Camila can’t. His face is neutral the whole time he works, examining the boy’s head, checking his pulse and heartbeat, feeling around his head, shoulders and neck for anything that might be out of place. All the while, the little boy named Hunter remains motionless, his face twisted in an anything but peaceful resting face. Like he’s having a terrible nightmare. 

“We should take him to the hospital.” He finally says, leaning back. “I can’t find anything wrong with his head that would render him unconscious like this.” Camila’s head jerks up. 

“We can’t!” She cries, startling both Manny and Luz. Manny raises an eyebrow. 

“Why not?” He asks. “The boy needs help. I don’t know if we can give it to him at home.” Camila chews on the inside of her cheek, then hands him the note. Luz squints over her papa’s shoulder to read as well. Manny’s eyebrows furrow more and more as he reads. 

“So, because we found this boy, he’s our responsibility.” Manny mumbles. He looks up and Camila. “And he was in a bad situation before, and it’s our new job to keep him safe.” Camila continues to chew on her cheek nervously. 

“Manny, this is what we’ve wanted.” She whispers. Luz snaps her head up. “We’ve wanted another child for years, and this boy needs a home. We could give it to him.” 

“Can we Papa?” Luz pleads excitedly. “I’ll be the best little sister in the world!” Manny looks down at the Hunter. He looks so miserable, with his face all twisted up in unconscious fear. 

“We’ll take him.” He says softly. Luz cheers and flings her arms around Manny’s neck. Manny chuckles nervously and begins to quickly pack up his kit. “But we’ll have to get papers, make it official and talk to him first. We need to know about his previous situation so we can know how to help him best. And Luz,” He looks up at her, and she perks up at the address. “You’ll have to help us. This boy will probably need a little sister like you to help him adjust. And we need to decorate his new room. We’ll use the spare one beside yours.” Luz cheers again. 

“Let’s get him home then. Luz, meet your new brother. His name is Hunter.” Luz squeals and slides off Manny’s back, taking his kit into her hands so he can lift Hunter off the ground in a bridal carry. Immediately the poor boy moans in what sounds like pain. Camila coos softly, reaching forward and taking his hand. 

“Poor baby.” She mumbles. Manny bites his lip, and they hurry back home. Luz bounds ahead of them to open the door, and Manny places Hunter gingerly on the couch.

“I think there might be something on his chest.” He says softly. “Cam, could you hold him up so I can get his shirt off?” Camila immediately takes the boy in her arms, holding him close to her chest and slowly eases the black undershirt over his head. He smells strongly of some kind of citrus. She can’t see what Manny and Luz see, but as soon as the shirt is over his head Luz hits the ground in a dead faint and Manny gasps audibally, a closed fist flying to cover his mouth. 

“What is it?” She demands nervously. “How bad is it?” Manny just shakes his head. 

“Keep holding him.” He orders. “And don’t look down. You shouldn’t see this. It’s bad, Cam. I have to disinfect it and try to get rid of the infections before I stitch it closed. It’s gonna hurt him badly, and it might just wake him up. Prepare to hold him tight. This could get ugly really fast.” He turns right where he is and kneels to gently shake Luz’ shoulder. She stirs and wakes. 

“Papa?” She asks. “Wh-what was that?” Manny gently shushes her. He’s shielding Hunter from view with his body. 

“I’m taking you up to your room, sweetie.” He says softly. “I need you to stay there and turn on your music, okay? Please.” Luz nods apprehensively and scampers upstairs. They hear her door shut and her Azura themed music is quickly amped up. Manny turns back to Camila and Hunter, and Camila has to fight every instinct to stop herself from looking at the wound; Manny is well aware of some of the things she deals with as a vet, and if he’s warning her not to look, then it must be very, very bad. 

Manny rubs his hands together and opens his phone. After a few quick messages, he set it aside and pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. Camila resumes chewing on the inside of her cheek nervously. “What was that?” She asks. Manny doesn’t look up at her, instead begins gathering a few bottles of what look like antiseptic, a syringe, a needle and some medical thread. 

“Just a quick text to a colleague of mine.” He replies sternly. “I asked him to bring over some strong pain relievers and anti-bacteria that I don’t have in a home-kept medical kit. This kid is going to need it.” Then he gets to work. He holds a small rag and tips a bottle upside down against it. “I have to clean it first, and this might just be the most painful part. Hold him steady.” Camila nods and tightens her grip on Hunter, making sure to cross his arms over his chest so she can hold him together easier. 

Manny presses the rag to Hunter’s stomach, and the boy flinches hard while Camila closes her eyes. As Manny continues cleaning the wound Camila couldn’t see, Hunter jerks in Camila’s arms. He trembles and whines softly, but doesn’t wake. He makes a soft hissing noise not unlike that of a wounded cat.
“The poor baby.” Camila whispers, because as strange as he is, that is exactly what he is. A little baby. He’s ten years old for goodness sake! “What could have happened to him?” She opens her eyes to see Manny shaking his head. 

“I’d like to have a word with the monster who did this to a child.” He agrees. And they’re silent again, the only noise coming from Luz’ music upstairs and Hunter’s soft whimpers. Camila and Manny both jump when a knock sounds from the door. Manny fumbles with his needle to avoid stabbing Hunter. 

“I’ll get it!” Luz comes dashing down the stairs and flies at the door. Camila’s tiny eight year old daughter is holding Manny’s shotgun in her hands with her mother’s baseball bat tucked securely into the belt loops of her jeans. Before Camila can yell at her to get away from the door, she hears the door open. She locks eyes with Manny, and her husband shoots to his feet and tears down the hallway. 

“What the-” His voice is barely audible from where Camila sits with Hunter. She still won’t look at his stomach. She doesn’t want to do that to herself. 

She hears Luz retreating back upstairs and Manny comes back into view. He’s holding a stack of papers in his trembling hands. “Do I want to know what those are?” She finds herself asking. Manny looks up from the papers. His face is ashen gray. 

“Someone left these on the porch.” He replies. He slowly makes his way to the couch and all but collapses on top of it, just inches away from Hunter’s feet. Camila furrows her eyebrows, and Manny hands her the stack. 

Adoption papers. All of them are filled out with a sparkling purple ink in neat, perfect cursive. All are completely filled out, save for the signatures of the new parents. Camila scans down the papers for a name. Any name that could help them figure out more about this boy. 

His original parents are listed deceased; his mother has no listed profession and his father was a carver? Who was a carver these days? All other personal information is listed as N/A or UNKNOWN. That didn’t help. His name was listed as only ‘Hunter,’ and his parents were ‘Caleb and Evelyn’ with no last names of their own. No previous location of residency and nothing else to possibly go off of. 

“Cause of death.” Camila whispers, pointing at it to Manny. His leans forward to gaze at the papers, his eyes widening. 

“Murder.” His voice is barely audible. “Nothing else listed?” Camila shakes her head and turns the papers back to her. 

“There’s a note on the back!” Manny exclaims suddenly. Camila flips over the final paper to see a purple sticky note tacked to the back of the final sheet. It was written on with the same sparkling purple pen in the same neat cursive handwriting as on the rest of the papers. 

Thank you. You won’t regret this. 

“How did-?” Manny’s voice fades as Camila looks up. “How did they know we took him in?” Camila shakes her head. This all seems so strange, and so confusing and suspicious, but Camila can’t bring herself to worry. She has a feeling that no matter how this turns out, this person, whoever it is that’s looking out for Hunter, will be on their side. That they want this bruised and battered boy to have a happy home desperately. 

And Camila and Manny have always wanted a son.

“I don’t know.” She admits. “But I don’t think this person wants to hurt us or the kids. I think they want this boy to be here as much as he needs to be here.” Manny bites his lip. “Can you keep stitching him up?”
That gets him moving again. Hunter’s body tenses and stiffens as the needle weaves in and out, but he doesn’t wake. When Manny finishes, he takes a tiny flashlight and holds it up to Hunter’s face. He uses one hand to open Hunter’s eye. Checking for a concussion. Suddenly Manny’s face pinches. Camila can see his nostrils twitch as he sniffs. 

“Does he smell-fruity to you?” He asks softly. Camila bites her lip and nods. 

“Like citrus.” She agrees. “What does that mean?” Manny pulls back with a sigh. 

“Well, now we know how he’s been able to stay asleep this whole time.” He mumbles, rubbing his hand over his face. “His pupils are blown wide open. Since I can’t find anything suggesting a head injury that could induce a conclusion of that degree, I’m gonna have to diagnose it as an overdose.” Camila’s hand flies to her mouth. 

“Do you think he did it?” Manny shook his head. 

“Honestly, it might have been someone trying to keep him Under. Maybe so he didn’t fight back, maybe so he wouldn’t feel the wound on his stomach, maybe to hurt him; there can be any number of reasons, but since I’m not a detective and it’s not in my profession to figure out did happen, only what happens now, I can figure out what to do and how to take care of him. That’ll be enough, right?”

Camila nods quickly. “I think it will. Phew, this is like, so strange. I mean,” She drags her hands under her glasses to rub her eyes and up into her hair. “Just when we start getting back into normal life, fate throws something new at us.” Manny chuckles. 

“It’s like the stars have a plan, eh?” Camila giggles, a new wave of gratitude filling her chest. She was so close to losing this. Losing him. 

“Indeed they do, Captain O’Bailey.” She quotes the comics that held her together through high school. “And they seem to point in one direction, and one direction only.” Manny scoffs playfully, and suddenly they’re back in high school. Nevermind the tense circumstances, nevermind the poor child in her arms. Camila is just happy she’s still with her whole family, especially now that it’s gotten bigger. 

“ Stars don’t point, you fool.” He quotes. “They don’t point. They just dance.”  

Camila and Manny break into swaths of laughs, and just like that their surroundings grow tense again. Camila sighs. “Would you mind taking him up to the guest room? We’ll talk more about what to do once I’ve gotten in my pajamas. I don’t know about you, but my body wants to be comfy right now.” Manny snickers. 

“Yes ma’am. Would you mind taking my kit? I gotta stay up and wait for my colleague. He said he’ll bring by what I asked for.” Camila nods and maneuvers Hunter into Manny’s arms. She can see the wound now, but not the wound itself. Manny has done an incredible job of patching him up and covering the wound in gauze and bandages. Camila grabs the packed up kit and follows Manny up the stairs. She pushes open the door of the guest room to find Luz has already made her mark. She’s standing on the bed and plastering a poster above the bed frame. It’s blue and covered in stars. There’s a box beside her on the bed filled with glow in the dark star stickers, posters and other bobbles. 

“Luz?” Manny asks. “What are you doing?” Camila flushes brilliantly. 

“And where did you get my Cosmic Frontier posters?” She demands. “Not that-why?!” She’s more embarrassed than anything, and it must be showing on her face because Luz doesn’t look guilty in the slightest. 

“In your closet!” She exclaims. “I thought that since I have a themed room that my new brother should have one too! I even re-made the bed!”

It’s true. Luz has thrown the extra pillow off to the corner of the room and the cover is pulled back. Her socked feet pad around the bed as she finishes plastering up the final poster. “How is he supposed to get better if this room is so plain? According to Azura, people flourish when they are truly themselves! This room isn’t itself, so how can it help Hunter if it has no personality and can’t truly be itself?” 

Camila fights the urge to laugh, but Manny has no such qualms. He laughs as he gently sets Hunter on the bed. Luz jumps off quickly and grabs the cover. “Is he going to get better, Daddy?” She asks timidly, her whole demeanor changing as she looks down at the boy in the bed, so vulnerable and weak and in obvious pain. He’s begun mumbling incoherently under his breath; Camila has thought once in her lifetime that she was quite good at understanding jabber, given how much Luz garbled on and on as a baby, but that ability seems to have vanished. Manny pulls Luz into his arms. 

“I don’t know, calabaza.” (pumpkin) He admits. “He’s in a bit of a tough spot right now, but we’ll be here for him when he wakes up, bien? ” Luz tentatively nods, and Manny kisses her forehead. 

“You’re going to have the biggest job out of all of us.” His voice is softer than velvet, and Camila is reminded of the very first time she heard that voice. He had held Luz for the first time in the hospital room and both parents and child were sobbing, albeit for different reasons. “You need to help him adjust. It’s going to be hard for him, the sudden change. But he’s safer here than he was at his old home. He needs a little sister like you to be there for him. Can you do that?” Luz nods excitedly, and Camila shoos them both out of the room after a final check up on Hunter. He’s still asleep, but it doesn’t look peaceful. Yet he doesn’t seem like he’s going to wake up anytime soon, so the Noceda family heads to bed.

Chapter Text

When Luz woke up for school the next morning, the first thing she did was go to check on her new brother. She silently creaks the door open, but is surprised to find her mother already tending to him. A cold cloth rests on his forehead and he has a good few more bandages on his body than last night. Camila looks up when she hears Luz enter. A tired smile spreads across her face. 

“ Buenos días, mi amor.” She holds out a hand, and Luz scampers over. She grabs Camila’s hand and hoists herself on top of the bed beside her. “How is he?” She asks. Camila sighs, reaching over and running a hand over Luz’ hair. She’s styled it in a billion different braids again with even more ribbons. She’ll have to send Luz to Manny before she goes to school again. The teacher has called Camila one too many times about Luz’ very distracting tendencies to whip her braids around like ropes and smack people. 

“He still hasn’t woken up.” Camila replies. “He’s in a lot of pain. You see how his fists are clenched, even though he’s asleep?” She holds one of Hunter’s hands in hers. Sure enough, it’s balled up tightly against the rough leather. Camila doesn’t know what it is that’s kept her from taking them off, but she doesn’t want to risk it. His arm shakes and trembles, and he looks so much older than just ten years old, but so much younger at the same time. Luz rests her cheek on Camila’s shoulder. 

“Why?” She asks. Camila sighs, reaching one arm around Luz and holding her tight. 

“Because he’s scared.” She replies sadly. “He doesn’t know that he’s safe. He’s spent his life being scared, and now he can’t seem to stop being scared.” Luz hums. 

“How do we help him?” She asks. Camila shrugs one shoulder, not dislodging Luz from her resting spot. 

“We just have to wait for him to wake up.” She answers. “Now go get ready for school. Daddy will take you on his way to work.” Luz grumbles under her breath. 

“But I wanna stay home!” She groans, flopping over Camila’s lap. “I wanna stay with Hunter!” Camila sighs, rubbing a hand over her face. She has the unmistakable feeling that sending Luz to school will just be more harm than good. 

“Fine. But just this once.” She relents. “And keep your voice down. Your new hermano needs his rest right now. It’s the best thing he can be doing to get better.” Luz salutes her, her tiny face scrunched up to hide her glee at not going to school. Camila presses a kiss to her daughter’s little head. 

It’s then that Hunter groans, tossing his head to the side. Luz perks up and Camila straightens. 

“Hunter?” She calls softly, preparing to send Luz for Manny as soon as things start turning sour. Hunter merely groans again, tossing his head again. Camila places a hand on his shoulder, and the young boy jerks away. The cloth slides off of his head and his eyes shoot open wide. His pupils are blown up, nearly covering his deep magenta colored eyes. This strange boy keeps getting stranger. 

Hunter’s breathing picks up as his eyes dart around the room. They land on Camila and Luz quickly, but they didn’t seem to actually see them. Like his eyes are looking right through them instead of at them. 

“Hunter.” Camila doesn’t let go of his shoulder. “ Bebe, can you hear me?” 

Hunter’s eyes flutter. He’s having a hard time staying conscious. “Luz, go get Manny and tell him to heat up some chicken broth. Now.” Luz scrambles off the bed and tears down the hall into her parent’s room. Camila turns her attention back to the little boy on the bed. He’s even paler than he was before, making the veins under his eyes pop out and the bags look more like bruises than ever. His eyes are looking in her direction. The irises keep sliding back into his head but he forces them back down. Camila rubs her thumb in circles on his shoulder. 

“ Buenos dias, bebe,” She says softly. “Good morning. How are you feeling?” The boy starts shaking, he’s terrified. His unnotched ear flaps. Camila is at a loss. She has no idea what to do. 

“U-uh-” His voice is deeper than she expected. It cracks and sounds slurred together. “N-ot g-g-goo-od.” Camila coos softly to sooth him. 

“Great job, sweetheart.” She assures him. “You’re doing so good. Can you tell me your name?” She already knows it, of course, but she wants to make sure he knows. Hunter blinks at her, and if it’s possible for him to look even more panicked, he does. 

“I-I do-on’t kn-kn-know-” He looks like he has to force every syllable out into the open, his grip on consciousness wavering. Camila squeezes his shoulder to give him something to anchor himself too. He doesn’t know his name. Okay. That could mean a heavy concussion or the drugs that had him under for so long. 

“Mama!” Hunter flinches violently at the sudden increase in volume as Luz comes sliding into the room holding a bottle of water. Both ears flick separately. “Papa said to give him water!” Camila wants to kick herself. Of course they need to keep him hydrated! Alcohol only gets worse with dehydration, and drugs were twice as bad on an empty stomach. 

She takes the water bottle from Luz with her free hand, thankful for the idea of keeping her home for the day. She doesn’t think she could manage all of this and put up with another call from Luz’ principal. She takes her hand from Hunter’s shoulder to press a finger to her lips, and Luz’ eyes widen. She presses her own finger to her lips and nods solemnly. 

“Daddy’s making soup.” She whispers. She crawls around the bed to Hunter’s other side. He watches her with barely functioning eyes. Luz wriggles her fingers at him slowly, child-like curiosity evident on her face. “Hi.” Hunter blinks hard. Camila shuffles a little closer. 

“Hey bebe, we need to get some water in you.” She says as gently as she can. “You’re sick. This will help you, okay? Will you try?” Hunter takes a moment before responding. 

“I-I don’ know wh-where I am.” He mumbles softly, tears in his large eyes. His pupils were sparkling with liquid that his body shouldn’t have had. Camila bites the inside of her cheek. 

“You’re at home.” She assures him. “You’re safe now, with your new family. We’re going to take good care of you and make sure you get better. Do you understand? It’s okay if you don’t.” Hunter moistens his lips, and Camila wraps an arm around his shoulders to sit him up. Hunter gasps at the change in elevation, his head rolling limply against his chest. Camila sits behind him so she can prop his body against hers and rest his head on her shoulder. She holds the water bottle up to his lips and he drinks it thirstily, like a desperate man in the desert. She doesn’t know how long it’s been since he’s last had water, so she urges him to slow down. 

“We don’t want you throwing up, darling.” She refrains from using Spanish, as he obviously doesn’t understand it. When she pulls the empty bottle away, Hunter leans against her limply. “Can you understand what I’m saying?”Hunter groans softly, his tiny voice sounding much smaller than it actually is. 

“I-I’m ho-home,” He mumbles, his head bobbing as he struggles to keep it up. “W-with my n-ew fa-family?” Camila nods. 

“Yeah, that’s it.” She encourages. “Do you think you can eat some broth?” Hunter doesn’t answer. Camila presses a hand to his forehead again. He’s still harboring a raging fever. She cares for sick animals and, on occasion, a sick Luz. But she’s never been this sick. With Manny it was always out of her hands because they knew what it was and how to help, but the treatment couldn’t be done at home. She doesn’t know how to make this boy feel better, but she’ll be darned if she won’t try. 

Manny comes upstairs holding a bowl of chicken broth heated up from the can, and Camila gently jostles Hunter to wake him up again. Luz has been blabbering about anything and everything, and Hunter has mostly been nodding on and off again while Camila tries to keep him awake. 

“Hunter, sweetie? Papa’s here with some broth for you and I need you to eat it. Can you do that? It’s just like the water, okay?” Hunter just grunts softly. 

“O-ok.” He allows Camila to feed him the broth, and they get about halfway when he starts choking. Camila hands the bowl back to Manny and rubs his back to help sooth the coughs that shake his whole body. When he calms down, Camila continues rubbing his back. 

“Go back to sleep, darling.” She whispers. “You did so well.” Hunter doesn’t need anymore than that. He falls limply against her with the strength of a rag doll. She can’t see his eyes slide closed, but she does see his body relax into unconsciousness and feel his breathing even out. 

“He doesn’t look good Mama.” Luz mumbles. “Are you sure he’s gonna be okay?” Manny helps Camila gently ease Hunter back into bed and pull the covers over him once again. 

“I told you that Daddy would be okay, didn’t I?” She takes Luz’ hand and leads her out of the room. “And he’s okay. Hunter’s going to be okay, I promise.” She looks up at Manny, whose eyebrows are furrowed. Camila chews on the inside of her cheek again. But that’s all Luz needs to perk back up again.

“Okie dokie!” she exclaims, barreling down the hallway. “I’m going to make a picture for my new brother!” She disappears down the stairs, leaving a stunned Manny and Camila. 

“How are we supposed to explain this?” Manny asks softly. “Your Abuela and my parents are going to want to know the whole story of how we got a-a-” His eyes widen and he wheels on Camila, grabbing her shoulders tightly. 

“Cam, I have a son now.” His eyes look like stars with how wide they are and how brightly they sparkle. “I have a son now!” Camila snickers at the dumbstruck expression on his face. 

“The one you’ve always wanted!” She exclaims softly, grasping Manny’s hands from her shoulders and holding them tight. “It’s a bit unconventional, and not what we pictured, but it’s what we both wanted since we got married. A son and a daughter.” 

Manny smiles brilliantly at her and kisses her happily. “We’ll still need a story for the family.” Camila hums. 

“I’m sure if we ask Luz then she’ll give us some kind of story about how he was gifted to us by the spirits of magic and love as a reward for how goodly we’ve been.” Manny’s eyes glittered. 

“And as a test to see if we actually deserved him we have to care for him on our own without any outside help. If we take him to a hospital, we lose him but if we keep him here and nurse him back to health at home we get to keep him.” Camila laughs, another wave of gratitude for Manny’s miraculous recovery. She doesn’t know what she’d do without her beloved Star Partner. 

“I wanna go ask Luz now.” Manny hurries down the stairs, leaving Camila standing in front of Hunter’s new bedroom door with a large smile on her face.

Chapter Text

Hunter drifts in and out of consciousness for the next two days. The only thing they can get him to eat is a bottle of water and half a bowl of chicken broth. That can’t be good for the stomach. At one point Luz tried to feed him a bowl of ice cream. Hunter wasn’t conscious at the time, but the ice cold treat drew a literal hiss and he couldn’t stop panicking for a whole hour. Camila had to call Manny while he was working at the hospital and have him talk Camila through what to do. 

The strange thing is, it didn’t matter if Camila and Manny did the exact same thing, Hunter never took well to Manny while he was awake. He would panic and choke on nothing and scratch deep gashes into his arms till Camila shoved socks onto his hands. 

He has nightmares too. They result in loud, unintelligible crying that breaks Camila’s heart every time she hears it. Camila takes him into her arms every night he cries and rocks him back to sleep. The only two words she can ever make out are ‘uncle,’ and ‘stop.’ It fills her chest with anger every time at the mere thought that someone would want to hurt this adorable boy.  

Camila and Manny always shove Luz out of the room when Hunter panics. They start sending her back to school and tell her to be on her best behavior so they can focus on Hunter for a while, and Luz gets the message because Camila only gets one email from a teacher over the next two days. Luz defends herself by saying that she was trying to make a get well poster for Hunter while she was supposed to be doing math. 

She had made the card out of her worksheet. Camila can’t find it in herself to get mad or even feel annoyed. Just endeared.

On the third day Hunter wakes he’s more coherent. Camila opens his door to try and give him some more medicine, only to see Hunter sitting up on his own and looking around the room with wide eyes. Camila nearly drops the bottle in surprise. 

“Hunter!” She exclaims. “You’re awake!” Hunter yelps and jerks, nearly falling out of bed. 

“Wh-who are you?” He exclaims fearfully. His pupils are still big, but much smaller than they were the last time his eyes were open. Camila can clearly see his beautiful magenta eyes, glittering in the light and filled with fear. Camila raises her hands in surrender. 

“It’s alright, sweetie.” She assures him, slowly walking into the room. “I’m just here to help. I’m Camila, your new mom.” Hunter blinks at her. 

“Wha-what happened to my last mom?” He asks softly, his large ears flattening against his head. Camila furrows her eyebrows. She sets the medicine bottle on the bedside table. 

“Uh, may I sit?” She gestures to the bed. Hunter’s eyes widen and he hurries to scootch over. Camila sits on the side of the bed and faces him, folding her hands in her lap. “We were hoping you could tell us. We uh, we found you in the woods three days ago. It’s all so strange, but we’re adopting you now. The only thing we know about your birth parents is that they both died a little while ago. We don’t know who your social worker is, or the person who filled out the paperwork. All we know is that you’re our son now, and we’re going to love you as such. Can you tell me what happened to you?” 

Hunter’s eyes are impossibly wide and his jaw is open as well. He blinks again and casts his gaze down to the ground. He presses a closed fist to his temple and shakes his head. 

“I-I don’t know.” He whispers. His voice is hoarse and timid. “I can’t remember. I can’t remember my parents. I-I have no idea how I got here. I don’t-” He looks up at her in a panic. “I can even remember my name!” Camila blinks in shock. 

He can’t remember anything? Does this have anything to do with the drugs in his system? There was no head injury that could be causing the memory problems, but Camila knows that they can’t take him to the hospital. If she’s right and their mysterious friend is to be believed, that will only cause more problems. 

“That-that’s alright, sweetheart.” Camila places a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll admit, it’s very scary and strange, but you’re with your family now. A family that wants to love you. We’ll help you anyway we can, okay? Do you remember anything from the past two days?” 

Hunter looks up at her with wide, unbelieving eyes. “Are-are you serious?” He asks. “You don’t even know me! I-I’m probably just a burden.” Camila quickly shakes her head. 

“I’ve always wanted a son.” She assures him. “You’re the answer to my family’s prayers, Hunter. You’re no burden, I promise.”

Hunter is silent. Then his eyes fill with tears and his lip wobbles. Camila holds her arms open. “Are you good for touch?” Hunter blinks, then nods slowly. Camila hurries to bring him into her arms and press him close to her chest. His face is buried into her chest and his back heaves with sobs. 

“I-I’m scared.” He chokes. Camila shushes him gently, rubbing circles into his back. 

“I know sweetheart, I know.” She whispers. “I can only imagine how hard this must be. But I need to know how much of the last few days you remember, okay? It would help a lot. I’m right here beside you, and I’m not leaving anytime soon. I’ll try to answer any questions I can when we’re done.” 

Hunter nods against her and slowly pulls away. 

“I-I just being really tired, and a lot of light.” He mumbles. “I think I remember you? You had a bowl. It was hot. A-a scary man too. I don’t know why he’s scary. He’s just scary. That’s it. Sorry.” Camila rubs her thumb in circles over his shoulder, and Hunter seems to lean unconsciously into her touch. 

“Don’t be sorry, sweetheart.” She assures him. “It’s good that you remember, thank you for telling me. The ‘scary man,’” She made air quotations with her fingers. “Is my husband and your new Dad, Manny. He’s a doctor and one of the kindest men on the planet. I think the reason you’re scared of him has to do with past trauma. It’s totally alright if you’re jumpy or skittish around him. You do whatever you need to do, just know that he would never in a million years raise a hand against you.” 

Hunter bites his lip, but nods. “O-okay.” Camila tilts her head. 

“Okay. You’ve answered my question, now it’s time you get to ask as many of your own as you want.” She manages a bright smile for him. “Ask away. I’ll answer what I can.” Hunter nods again, his gaze turning towards his lap. 

“My birth parents?” Camila sighs; she knows that was going to be the first question he asked, but she still doesn’t know how to phrase it. She took a deep breath. 

“Caleb and Evelyn.” She replies softly. “No last name listed. We-we don’t know what happened. Your mother didn’t have a profession, but your father was a carver. I’m sorry, that’s all we know.” Hunter keeps his eyes trained on his lap. 

“That’s good.” He whispers. “Th-thank you.” Tears well in Camila’s eyes. She pulls him into another hug. Hunter yelps, but relaxes into her arms. 

“Wh-why do I feel like this?” He mumbles after a minute. “Th-this makes me want to cry, but I’m not sad.” Camila holds him a little bit tighter. 

“Hugging me makes you want to cry?” She asks. Hunter nods. “I think you might be touch-starved, hijo. ” The name slips past her tongue before she can catch it. “I can only imagine what kind of traumas you must have from a past you can’t remember. We’ll get through this together, as a family. Okay?”

Hunter is quiet, but he nods slowly. “Wh-what does that mean?” He asks. “Ihho?” Camila chuckles fondly. 

“ Hijo.” She replies. “My family is from the Dominican Republic, so we speak native S[anish as our first language. HIjo means son in my native language.” 

“Oh.” His voice is soft. “Thank you. So-so do I call you Mom now?” Camila only hugs him tighter. 

“Mama.” She corrects him quietly. Hunter makes a small sound against her. 

“Thank you, Mama.” Camila feels like she’s going to explode from joy.

Chapter Text

Manny came home from work as soon as Camila called him. She introduces him to Hunter after telling Manny about Hunter’s fears. Manny is more than understanding; He stays a respectable distance away and always keeps his hands at his sides where Hunter can see them. Camila works with scared animals for a living, she knows how to calm down the wild ones.
While she hates thinking of Hunter as an animal, he is a scared child, and sometimes you have to treat a scared animal exactly as you would a scared child. Hunter, for his part, tries to be as calm as possible. Camila can see how scared he is; his eyes dart around at every small noise like he’s scanning for possible exits, his large ears flap when he does so. His hands twitch and fiddle together in his lap and he sits ram-rod straight. It hurts Camila’s heart.
When Luz comes home for the day, Camila knows she’ll have a riot on her hands. It’s 3:34, exactly when Luz comes banging down the door every day since they moved to Gravesfield. After banging down said door, she’d run to the fridge and pull out the dinosaur nuggets to make her food; she never eats school food because she says it tastes like trash and Manny has instilled the fear of God in her about that food. He says it’s full of terrible chemicals that can kill you when really it’s just a bunch of unhealthy garbage.
But recently, Luz begins coming into the house quietly, tip-toeing up the stairs and checks on Hunter with the stealth of a ninja before deeming him safe before going back downstairs just as quietly and making her dino nuggies.
Today is a very different story. At exactly 3:34pm, Luz tip-toes through the door, shutting it quietly and hanging up her backpack neatly on the rack. She normally doesn’t do neat, but since Manny got sick and everything became a tripping hazard Luz got in the habit of cleaning up after herself.
“Mama!” She calls. “Papa! Estoy en casa!” It’s right then that Camila remembers that she forgot to tell Hunter about her wrecking ball of a daughter. Hunter is sitting on the couch beside Camila while Manny works on dinner. Hunter flinches, and Camila puts a hand on his arm.
“Don’t worry, querido,” She’s already told him what that means. “It’s just your sister Luz coming back from school.” From the other room, Luz hears them. She skids into the living room, her dozen braids flying around her face and adorned with several clips and ribbons for each braid. Camila chuckles. Looks like she saw herself off to school this morning.
“Hunter!” She squeals, dashing forward and plopping herself on his other side on the couch. “How ya feeling? I was really worried about you!” Hunter blinks at her, his mouth moving slowly but no voice comes out. “Are you okay?” Camila places a hand on Hunter’s knee and looks at Luz.
“Let’s give him a bit of space, carina.” She urges. “He’s a little bit confused. Why don’t you go help Manny with lunch?” Suddenly Luz’ face lights up. She bolts out of the room with a squeal. Manny raises an eyebrow at Camila from the kitchen, a teasing smile on his face.
“Someone’s excited.” He calls. Camila squeezes Hunter’s knee.
“Luz has always wanted a sibling.” She tells him. “A brother is something that she’s been bugging me about since she learned what a brother is. Having you here is a dream come true for her.” Hunter’s lips twitch upwards.
“Oh. So, I have a little sister now?” Camila nods happily just as Luz comes skidding back into the room with a large paper in her hands.
“I made this for you!” She screeches, slapping the paper in Hunter’s lap. Hunter flinches hard, but Luz doesn’t seem to notice. She just squishes back on the couch and into his personal space. Camila laughs nervously.
“Luz, carina, let’s give Hunter a bit of space, okay? He’s pretty jumpy and needs boundaries.” Immediately Luz moves from the couch to the floor just inches away from Hunter’s feet.
“Got it!” She exclaims. “Do you like it?” Hunter is quiet as he turns the paper around while Camila peers over his shoulder. Her heart skips a beat.
It’s a picture of the family. Luz has always been a fantastic artist, so Camila can quickly depict a crayola Manny and Camila standing on the right side of the paper, holding hands. Crayola Camila holds hands with a drawn blond boy in a black shirt. She knows it’s Hunter. He’s holding hands with a smaller figure of Crayola Luz. Cayola Camila and Manny are wearing their work scrubs. Camila in blue and Manny in purple. Cayola Hunter is wearing a black shirt and gray pants. The pink scar on his face stands out a lot more than it does in real life. His eyes are squeezed shut with a large smile on his face. He’s also holding hands with a Crayola Luz, wearing a purple cat-eared hoodie and jeans. The whole family is smiling and standing beneath a rainbow and shining sun.
Camila smiles fondly at the paper. “I think it’s beautiful Luz.” She coos. Luz doesn’t react, still looking expectantly at Hunter with an apprehensive expression.
“This is me?” He asks softly. Luz nods excitedly. “Yeah! Is that okay?” Hunter’s eyes are trained on the paper, his expression neutral.
“I like it.” His voice is much softer than before. “You made this for me?” Luz nods again. “O-oh. Thank you. I really like this. It’s-cute.” Luz squeals and hugs his legs.
“I hoped you would like it!” She exclaims. “I didn’t know what color your eyes are so I just drew them shut instead, but they’re so pretty! I’ve never seen pink eyes! I love pink!” Hunter’s lips tug upward. This is the closest thing to a smile Camila has ever seen on him.
“Thanks.” His big ears turn red. “I-I like your eyes too.” Luz shoots to her feet.
“Eeee! I’ve always wanted a brother! Can I hug you?” Hunter blinks, surprised at her sudden expression of energy. He looks at Camila, who tilts her head.
“I’ve heard that hugging is very good for a person’s mind. Especially a growing boy.” Hunter bites his lip, then nods to Luz. Luz squeals and pulls Hunter to his feet before throwing her arms around him excitedly, holding him tightly. “I’m so happy!”
Hunter yelps in alarm but doesn’t try to pull away. His pale face flushes red, and it takes him a moment to gain his bearings and hug her back. Camila winces, wondering how badly his stomach wound must be hurting him. “Gentle, Luz.” After nearly a minute Hunter begins to squirm and Luz releases him.
“Sorry!” She exclaims. “Did that hurt?” Hunter shakes his head, a tight grin on his face that looks more like a grimace.
“I-I’m fine.” He mumbles. “Just gonna-can I sit back down now?” Luz nods quickly, and Camila shoots to her feet. She wraps an arm around Hunter’s shoulders and helps him sit back down. He lets out a small breath, and Luz plops back down on the floor.
“Luz, we have to be careful with your brother. He’s hurt and needs a little extra help.” Luz folds her knees up to her chest.
“I’m sorry, Hunter.” She says softly. Hunter blinks at her, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Why?” He sounds so confused, so innocent that Camila wants to wrap him in a blanket and hide him from the world where she can keep him safe.
“Because she didn’t mean to hurt you.” Camila explains. “It was an accident that she will try not to repeat again.” Hunter looks so confused.
“But I was the one who got hurt.” He mumbles, looking at her with wide eyes. “If I didn’t get hurt, then Luz wouldn’t be getting in trouble.” Luz shakes her head quickly looking extremely repulsed while Camila wants to find whoever hurt this beautiful boy and give them a good slap with her chancla.
“No, Hunter, no.” She whispers, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and holding him close. “It wasn’t your fault that you got hurt. We don’t know what happened, just that the people who were supposed to take care of you didn’t. Instead they hurt you. This is their fault, not yours.”
“But they also brought you to us.” Manny is now leaning against the doorway, a large wooden spoon tucked into the crook of his elbow and an apron tossed over his neck and tied around his waist. “So it wasn’t all bad. You have a better family now, and you’ve completed our family. There’s good in every situation.”
Hunter bites his lip and looks down. Luz reaches up and grasps his hands in hers. “Mi hermano,” She says softly, a happy smile on her face. “Te amo mucho.” Camila presses a closed fist to her mouth and Manny chuckles wetly. Hunter looks around at his new parents.
“Wh-what did she say?” He asks. Camila squeezes his shoulder and Luz leans forward.
“I love you brother.” Hunter’s eyes shoot open wide.
“You don’t know me.” His voice catches. Camila nudges him. Her heart feels so full. It’s like holding baby Luz all over again, listening to her new baby breathe. Each tiny heartbeat and each little breath is a miracle.
“Luz gives her love freely and willingly.” She whispers. “You don’t need to return it yet. There’s no pressure. She just wants you to know that she’ll be there and she’ll be ready for you when you are.” Luz nods excitedly along to everything her mother says. Hunter’s face is pale and stunned.
“O-okay.” He mumbles. “Okay.” Luz beams at him when Manny calls from the kitchen.
“Foods ready!” Luz jumps up and races to the kitchen while Camila helps Hunter stand slower.
“You haven’t told her, have you?” He asks Camila. His magenta eyes are big and shining with tears. “About my memory?” Camila bites down on the inside of her cheek.
“She just got home, sweetheart, and you just woke up. I haven’t had time to tell her.” Then her face lights up with an idea. “But I’m sure once we tell her she’ll be all over you with crazy fantasy ideas of how it happened. Something with witches and magic.” Hunter looks thoughtful.
“That sounds cool.” He muses. “Witches.” Camila chuckles and ruffles his hair. Hunter gives her a small smile in return and joins the family at the table. Luz waves her arms in the air frantically for him to sit next to her.
“Here! Here!” She squeals. “Sit next to me!” Hunter blinks, but complies with her, sliding into the seat beside her. Luz cheers. Camila sits in her seat beside where Manny will soon sit. The table has never felt empty before, but now it feels right. Two children and their parents make the family feel so much more whole. Camila wasn’t aware of this emptiness till Hunter had filled it. Manny laughs as he sets bowls on the table. Hunter looks surprised when he gets a bowl too.
“Thank you.” He says quickly. “Uh, what is this?” Luz stares at him wide-eyed.
“You’ve never had mac’n’cheese before?” She demands. “How have you never had mac’n’cheese before?” Hunter flushes, his ears turning the same red as his cheeks and tucks his chin into his shoulders.
“I don’t know.” He mumbles. “I can’t remember.” Luz tilts her head, obviously confused. Camila reaches over and grasps Luz’ shoulder.
“He can’t remember anything, bebe.” She explains. “He has amnesia. Hopefully it’s temporary, but we’ll help him overcome it nonetheless, even if it never goes away. He’ll be alright, I promise. It just means that he doesn’t have any memories from before he woke up here with us.”
Luz’ mouth is open wide, jaw completely slack as her eyes hyer-fix on Hunter. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat. “Uh, M-Mama said that you might want to come up with a story or something.” He mumbles, turning his eyes down. “Like fantasy? With witches and magic?”
Luz blinks at him, then her shock turns to absolute delight as she throws her arms around him. “I have the coolest brother ever!” She exclaims. “I’m gonna come up with the bestest backstory for you, your brain will leak outta your ears!” Hunter winces.
“I don’t actually think I have enough brain to leak out of my ear right now.” He admits. “Like, they’re already liquid or something. Have you seen me the last three days?” Camila winces as Manny slides into the seat beside her.
“Oh, yeah,” Luz’ lights up again. “I told my teacher that you were poisoned by your old slave master when you fought back and tried to get away!” She exclaims. Camila facepalms and Manny snickers into his hand. Hunter winces, eyebrow raising.
“You told that to-your teacher?” He asks. Luz nods excitedly.
“She knows I was kidding though!” She adds. “I also said that you have a super awesome destiny to fulfill as part of your epic journey of self-discovery!” Now Manny is laughing silently as Camila hides her face behind her hands, her face aflame. How did she raise her daughter to say these kinds of things out loud?
“That sounds about right.” Hunter mumbles. “Self-discovery and all that. Not sure about the awesome part though.” Luz’ eye shimmer and she begins bouncing in her seat.
“Oh! What if you were in some kind of super-secret magical society, but when they discovered that you were born with a magic-less deficiency, they banned you!” Luz stands quickly, sweeping an arm in front of her. “But that was what they told you. Secretly, you’re part of a prophecy meant to save or end the world and society didn’t want to trust everything to someone they didn’t like even though you’re perfectly capable. They cursed you to forget everything and left you in the woods to die, but fate brought me to you that night, and now we will continue to raise you in the hero you are meant to be!” Manny snickers into his hand and Camila squeezes her eyes shut with a deep breath. What did I do to deserve this wonderful child?
Hunter is listening with rapt attention. His face is neutral, but his eyes are sparkling like he wants her to keep talking. Luz giggles delightedly as she rattles off another backstory all the while scooping mac’n’cheese into her mouth.
Hunter takes a single bite. Camila watches as his eyes light up and he practically inhales the whole bowl in less than two minutes. Manny laughs.
“Slow down, kiddo.” He chides. “You’ve been eating water and chicken broth for the last three days. We gotta go easy on your stomach. And eating fast will make you throw up.” Hunter sheepishly places his spoon back on the table. His bowl is nearly empty. Luz grabs his spoon and gathers a much smaller portion onto it than what Hunter has been shoveling into his mouth.
“Small bites. Like this. Chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga!” She moves the spoon like a train, inching closer and closer to Hunter’s mouth. “Into the tunnel it goes!” Hunter blinks at her, utterly confused.
“What are you doing?” He leans his head out of the way. Luz giggles.
“It’s a thing us silly humans do!” She exclaims. “Now open your mouth! That’s the tunnel!” Hunter looks stumped.
“What?” Luz giggles again. “Mama! Show Hunter what the choo-choo train is!” Camila raises an eyebrow and turns to Manny, who grins and picks up his spoon. He fills it with cheesy noodles and holds it up to Camila.
“Chugga, chugga, chugga, choo-choo!” He teases. “Open the tunnel!” Camila laughs and struggles to not choke on the food when Manny spoons it into her mouth. She has to cover her mouth to avoid looking gross and spitting it out. Hunter watches them, completely stumped.
“Why?” Camila nearly spits out her food at the bluntness of his question. She chokes and laughs at the same time, tears pooling in her eyes whilst Manny claps her on the back. Hunter immediately starts apologizing.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make you choke!” He exclaims, sounding desperate. “I-I was just curious, I didn’t mean to hurt you! I’m sorry!” Camila holds her hand up to stop him so she can catch her breath and swallow. Manny hands her a glass of water that she accepts gratefully. She wipes her tears away and sits up straighter.
“Hunter, bebe, it’s not your fault.” She assures him. “I was just laughing! We’ll never get you in trouble for asking a question. Questions are good! Sorry for scaring you, but there’s no need to apologize. It was just funny.” Luz bounces in her seat, still holding the loaded spoon.
“Your turn!” She cheers. Hunter looks apprehensive for a moment, then sighs.
“Fine.” He mumbles. He squeezes his eyes shut and opens his mouth. Luz giggles and scoots the spoon into his mouth. Hunter closes his lips around the spoon, and the next second he’s trying not to laugh as Luz cracks up. Camila leans against Manny’s arm.
“Look at them go.” She coos. “Day four and they’re already acting like siblings.” Manny chuckles as the two kids push each other around the chairs.
“Reminds me of my cousins.” He replies. Camila snickers.

Chapter Text

Camila wakes up to the sound of her alarm clock ringing at exactly 7 am. Welp, she thinks sadly. Time to wake the beast. Camila rolls out of bed, followed by Manny moments later. 

“ Buenos días mi amor.” Manny mumbles tiredly, rubbing a fist against his eye. Camila hums, making her way to the closet. 

“ Buenos días, amor.” She calls back to him. They get dressed slowly, still trying to wake up for the day. Manny gives Camila a quick kiss on the cheek while she’s brushing her teeth; he’s already finished, and now he’s off to wake up Luz. Camila chuckles when his whiskers brush against her face. She reaches back and squeezes his arm as he walks off. 

Camila wipes her mouth off and heads downstairs to begin making breakfast, only to be met with a dim light already on in the living room. Did she forget to turn it off last night? She and Manny put the kids to bed early, attempting to begin getting rid of Hunter’s eye bags. Camila made a mental note yesterday to buy more mac’n’cheese, as Hunter seems to really like it. But in the meantime, he would have to settle for some good old fashioned pancakes. She doesn’t want to scare him away with the family’s Dominican cuisine just yet. 

But when Camila turns into the living room to see about the light, she’s greeted with Hunter sitting on the couch and slowly flipping through two large books at the same time under the light of a lamp perched on the small table beside the couch. He looks up when Camila enters. 

“ ¡H-hola, Mamá!” He exclaims nervously. “Uh, I’m just studying!” He holds up the books for her to see. It’s a Spanish dictionary and a notepad. Camila blinks at him, then her heart melts. 

“Oh, bebe,” She coos, “You’re so sweet. If you wanted to learn Spanish, you could have told us. Manny and I would love to help teach you.” Hunter’s eyes glitter. 

“Really?” He asks. “That-that wouldn’t be a burden to you guys?” Camila shakes her head quickly, sitting beside Hunter and placing her arm around the back of the couch. 

“Of course not.” She assures him, wondering again who it is that hurt this boy. She wants to strangle them. “In fact, I think it would be quite helpful if you knew Spanish, since we speak it so much. You’re young enough where if we all pitch in, you’ll pick it up pretty quickly.” Hunter nods quickly. 

“How do you say this?” He holds up his notebook, and Camila can see several scribbled sentences strung together. He must have gone back and forth through the dictionary looking for the words. 

“buen día. Buenas noches, ¿cómo durmieron todos? Estoy bien, como estas?” (Good morning, Good night. How did you all sleep? I’m good. How are you?) Hunter nods and scribbles down the pronunciations of the sentences. Camila smiles fondly at her new son.

“I’m proud of you, hijo,” She tells him. “Look at you go! Learning something new!” Hunter freezes, then looks up at her with wide eyes. 

“Really?” His voice is small. “You-you’re proud of me?” Camila tilts her head and nods. 

“Of course I am.” She assures him. “Why wouldn’t I be? You’re so smart.” Hunter stares at her for a second, then smiles softly. 

“Thank you.” He nods to her. Camila ruffles his hair, and Hunter flinches. Just as Camila takes her hand away, Hunter leans into the touch, like somebody flipped a switch. Camila chuckles, ruffling his hair up even more. When she finally pulls away, Hunter’s cheeks and the tips of his ears tinge red. 

“Mooooom!” Luz comes sliding around the corner. “Where’s Hunter?” Hunter flinches at the noise while Camila turns around to look at her daughter. 

“Over here, carina!” She calls. Luz’ face lights up at the sight of her new brother. She hurries over to the couch and plops on top of it, clambering on Camila’s lap to see him better. 

“How’d you sleep Hunter?” She asks, leaning into his personal space. Hunter leans away from her with alerted eyes. He looks down at his notepad, then back up at Luz. 

“Uh, estoy bien?” He tries. Luz giggles excitedly and flops across both Camila’s lap and Hunter, resting her head against his legs so she’s looking up at his face. 

“ Perfecto!” She mimics a chief’s kiss. Hunter tilts his head down at her and pokes her head. 

“What’s on your head?” He asks. Luz sits up and proudly shows off her many braids. 

“I did it last night!” She exclaims. “Then I kept them in so I wouldn’t have to do it again this morning!” Hunter raises an eyebrow, and Camila laughs at the offended look on Luz’ face.

“C’mon Luz.” Camila exclaims softly, placing her hands on Luz’ shoulders. “Let’s eat breakfast so you can head out to school.” Luz shakes her head fervently and launches herself at Hunter. 

“I wanna stay with Hunter!” She shouts. She locks her arms around Hunter’s shoulders and holds on tightly. Immediately, Hunter’s eyes widen. He reaches over his shoulders and grabs Luz, swinging her over his shoulder and slamming her on the ground at the foot of the couch. Camila screams in unison with Luz. 

Almost as soon as Luz hits the ground, Hunter’s hands fly off of her and up towards his mouth. “I-did I-wha-” Camila raises a hand to silence him and drops to the ground beside Luz just as Manny runs in. 

“What happened?” He demands, rushing over and kneeling beside Luz and Camila. Luz is barely breathing, looking up at the ceiling with wide eyes. Camila takes her shoulders and squeezes them tightly. 

“Luz?” She exclaims. “ Bebe, can you hear me?” Luz blinks, then turns her gaze to her parents above her. Manny cups her face in his hands. “Pumpkin?” 

Then she grins. “That-was-awesome!” She cries between gasps. “I felt like I was in an action movie! How did you do that?” Camila blinks, stunned. Manny gaps at her. 

“What exactly happened?” He asks. Camila looks up at him. 

“She startled Hunter and he flipped her over his shoulder.” She explains. Manny’s eyes widen and they both look up at Hunter. The poor boy has folded himself up as small as he possibly can, his gloved hands buried in his hair. His face is pale and his eyes are wide. 

“I-I didn’t mean-I’m sorry!” He gasps, becoming more panicked at the attention. He whimpers quietly like a wounded animal, and not for the first time Camila seriously wonders if this boy is fully human. She reaches out to him, but he jerks away like he’s been hit. “I-I’m sorry!” Luz slowly sits up. Manny places his hands on her back to aid her, but she doesn’t need it. She turns and climbs up on the couch to sit next to Hunter. She looks a little more wary of him, but that doesn’t stop her from holding her arms out eagerly. 

“Hug?” She asks. Hunter looks like a deer in the headlights when she addresses him. He doesn’t move, so Luz slowly closes in on him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Her movements are ginger and gentle, like she’s handling cracked glass. Hunter allows her to hold him and bring him closer to her. He leans into her arms, then reaches up and closes his hand around her arm. 

“I’m so sorry.” Luz takes a deep breath. It seems to Camila that Luz had gotten the wind knocked out of her. 

“It’s okay.” She assures him. “I’m sorry I scared you. It’s not your fault. I didn’t know you would do that. It was really cool though! You gotta teach me how you did that!” Hunter blinks up at her. 

“I attacked you.” He mumbles, stunned. “And you want to know how I did it.” Luz grins at him. 

“Duh!” She exclaims. “I didn’t even see you move! And then the next second I’m flat on the ground! I’d never get teased again if the other kids knew I could do that!” Hunter tilts his head at her. 

“You get teased?” He asks. Camila looks at Manny and bites her lip. Luz nods sadly. 

“My classmates think I’m too weird.” She admits. “Just because I like little kid stuff and I do crazy things.” 

Camila would have missed it if she wasn’t looking. Hunter squeezes Luz just a little bit closer to him. He makes a growling noise in the back of his throat, so low and quiet Camila almost misses it. Luz buries her face in his shoulder, but Camila can see the smile that crinkles her eyes. 

“I guess I’ll have to teach you then.” He replies. “Just to make sure you don’t get teased.” Luz squeals and hugs him tighter. Hunter winces and pulls away, one hand coming to wrap around his midsection. He looks up at Manny and Camila apologetically. 

“I’m sorry for hurting her.” He mumbles, his eyes cast down. “I don’t know what came over me. It won’t happen again.” 

Manny stands up slowly and sits back down on the couch beside Hunter and Luz. “Can I touch you hijo?” He asks. Hunter looks panicked again, and shakes his head. Manny bites his lip. “Alright. Mama and I aren’t mad at you. Either of you. And Hunter, I’m a doctor. I work with trauma patients all the time. It’s okay if you can’t help but react to something that scares or startles you; that’s just the way you were trained to survive as a child. You’ve only been with us for a few days. We need to get better at taking care of you.” Hunter shakes his head quickly. 

“No, no!” He exclaims. “It’s not anywhere near your fault! You’re all taking great care of me! It’s my fault for being so needy.” Luz leans closer to him. 

“Can I hug your arm?” She asks. Hunter looks surprised at the request, but holds his arm out to her anyway. Luz latches onto it like a koala. “Haha! I’m not letting go! There’s no way you guys are getting me to go to school now!” 

Manny starts laughing. He starts laughing hard. It’s only seconds before Camila starts laughing as well. 

Yeah, Luz isn’t going to school today.

Chapter Text

Hunter is very polite. He’s polite to a fault. He always makes sure that everyone else is eating before he takes his first bite. He holds the door open, he pushes the chairs out for Camila and Luz whenever he can.

As soon as the bandages come off, Hunter begins to clean the whole house. Top to bottom, it’s never been this clean. From the toilets to the dishes in the sink to the floorboards lining the whole house.

Hunter is nocturnal. But he doesn’t sleep during the day either. He’s always up and in the living room when Camila and Manny come downstairs before school in the morning and Camila is positive he doesn’t actually go to bed when they tuck him in at night.

He doesn’t know what the dishwasher is. He doesn’t know what the Washer or Dryer are. He doesn’t understand the TV. Or the remote. Or the vacuum cleaner. He just does everything by hand. He tries asking Camila how to wash the clothes while holding a large bin, and Camila had to gently take him back inside and tell him that no Hunter, you shouldn’t be washing the clothes in a basin. Now put the soppy clothes into the big white machine. No, it’s not going to eat you, there’s nothing to be afraid of. That one was the most remarkable. 

Manny uses his camera to take pictures of everything Hunter does. He eventually makes a scrapbook. Beside a picture of Hunter loading the dishes into the dishwasher with Luz was the caption; Hunter’s first dishwashing with the sister! 

Hunter’s first game of catch with Papa! We had so much fun!  Beside those words was a picture of Hunter lying on the ground with a ball near his head and Manny running toward him with a panicked look on his face while Camila ran in from a different direction. 

Hunter and Luz debating over the best fantasy. Cosmic Frontier or Good Witch Azura?  A picture of Luz and Hunter leaning over their respective sides of the table and wearing full cosplay gear and in the middle of what looks like a heated conversation. 

             School shopping with the kids!  A picture of Hunter and Luz in the aisle of Walmart. Hunter is being dragged along by Luz as she fills his arms with all kinds of space-themed supplies that a fourth grader would need. 

Picture after picture begins to decorate the walls of the Noceda household. Crayola drawings of the family now have one more person. Hunter’s very first tinfoil swan sits on top of the fridge right beside Luz’ plethora of swans. New costumes fill the costume bin in Luz’ room. The guest room is now decorated like the inside of a spaceship. 

Camila and Manny debate taking Hunter to therapy, but they’re not sure what that would accomplish. And besides, he tells Luz everything already. 

The kids have become more than best friends in the course of two months. They’ve become siblings. Luz takes Hunter everywhere. She drags him to the park, all around school, the woods, the mall and more. She’s never seen anymore without Hunter. They complement each other perfectly. Hunter gets rid of all the bullies and keeps Luz grounded, and Luz keeps Hunter out of his own head and shows him around his new world.

Slowly but surely, Hunter eases into his new life. He fits into the family’s daily routine like he had never not been a part of it. By the time Hunter is all ready for school, the rest of the family is just coming downstairs. So he’s taken to making the lunches for everyone while they’re at work and school. He helps Luz with the remainder of her homework while she eats the breakfast that he insists on making every morning. Camila is grateful for it, really, she just wishes he’d relax. 

He and Luz walk to the bus stop every day and go their separate ways to their separate classes. Hunter’s teacher absolutely adores him. She sent an email to Camila and Manny after his first day and assured them that Hunter would be a wonderful addition to her class and he is a very kind and considerate child. Camila was so proud of him at that moment, that she totally forgot about the fact that her son isn’t just a nerd.

He’s also a master in ninjitsu. That’s what Luz calls it. Every day the family (Hunter included) learns something new about the newest Noceda. Whether it be the fact that his alarm clock scares him so much he tried to flush it down the toilet, or that loud noises, shouting and cursing send him into a panic attack, he copes with stress by cleaning the house, or that he can fight better than most TV characters Camila has seen. 

When he and Camila were walking up the driveway from school a few weeks ago (She picked him up later because he stayed after to get extra help on his math homework) an obviously drunk man tried to attack them with a gun and a beer bottle. 

Hunter wasted no time as the man finished shrieking about giving him money to attack. He grabbed the man’s shoulders and flipped over him to land behind him, kicked his knees in, stole the bottle, smashed it over the man’s head and punched him twice before grabbing his shirt in Hunter’s hands and threatening him to never come near this neighborhood again. The man stumbled off with a bloody head. 

When Hunter turned back to Camila, he was twirling the man’s pistol in his hand like it was a toy. Camila had shrieked and rushed at him, examining him for any injuries even though she didn’t see him get hurt. He sheepishly handed her the pistol and allowed her to drag him inside. He sat silently as she told Manny and Luz what he had done. 

Luz was very excited that her brother was a martial artist and demanded he teach her. Camila wasn’t too thrilled about Hunter teaching Luz how to throw people. Manny however, sat in on those lessons and got Hunter signed up for a few martial arts classes to ‘keep up his skill.’ Camila had to pretend she wasn’t amused, but secretly she’s glad that Luz has someone to protect her and is learning to defend herself. 

Hunter may be a star student, but he’s the most socially awkward child Camila has ever seen. After his first day of school, Luz comes barrelling into the house and tells Camila all about how Hunter accidentally challenged a boy to a dual, tricked another boy into thinking that he had been hitting on Luz and had gotten the rightful retribution for making moves on ‘Hunter’s little sister,’ made a girl cry because he turned down her love note and tried to make friends by bringing up the school handbook. Even Camila hadn’t bothered to read the school handbook! How did Hunter get it? 

Manny has to sit Hunter down and talk him through the do’s and don’ts of emotional manipulation and that children his age aren’t interested in rules and authority. Luz tells him about what kinds of things kids are interested in, and Hunter shamelessly calls all fourth graders immature. Luz wholeheartedly agrees with him. 

Eventually though, Hunter finds some kids in his martial arts classes that are his age. Parker and Walker. Luz finds it endlessly funny that Hunter’s friends all have the rythiming names. With the help of those blessed kids who take a chance on him, Hunter eases into school and gets better at socializing. 

Hunter flies through school, and the teachers even suggest putting him in the next grade up. Camila and Manny politely decline, as Hunter has started coming home from school talking about the kids in his class that he’s finally starting to talk to; they don’t want to make him start all over again. And both kids protest this as well. The second and fourth graders have an overlapping lunch period and it’s the only time they get to spend together. 

Luz loves having lunch with her brother and his new friends. She talks about it like it’s the highlight of her day when Walter played a game of ‘Avocado clap’ with her and Hunter’s newest friend Vienna swapped jokes with her. 

Hunter picks up Spanish in record time. Manny and Camila speak to him in Spanish a lot, and he studies it privately as best as he can. He prints out worksheets for himself and Camila has to pry him away from the table and into bed. Slowly but surely, the eye bags dissipate. 

While all of that is well and good, Hunter often confides in Luz that he’s worried his memory will never come back. As well as the worry that he doesn’t want the memories to come back. Camila has to stand outside the bedroom they sit in and cover her mouth with her hand, trying not to cry as she listens to this little eleven year old boy spill his guts to his nine year old sister. 

Since they don’t know when his birthday is, they celebrate the day they found him. They surprise him with a party when he comes home from school; Luz pretends to be sick so she can stay home and help and Manny and Camila both take the day off work. When Hunter opens the door, the first thing he does is call out for his sister. Camila called Parker and Walter’s mothers and cleared it with them so the boys could come home with Hunter.

“Luz?” He calls. “Usted en casa? Mama?” Luz, Camila and Manny jump out from the other room, all wearing party hats. Luz has a party kazoo. Parker and Walter whip their own kazoos out of their bags and blow them as well. Hunter jolts, but thankfully doesn’t attack. He’s loosened up a lot over the last year. 

“Wh-what is this?” Hunter asks, looking around in stunned confusion. Luz giggles and blows into her kazoo again while Camila pumps her fist in the air. 

“It’s your birthday party!” She explains. “The anniversary of the day you joined our family!” Hunter freezes, his magenta eyes blowing open wide. His big ears flick once. Twice. That means he’s nervous.

“A-are you serious?” He asks. Manny nods excitedly. 

“As a heart attack kiddo.” He assures him. “So happy birthday! You’re eleven years old today!” Luz runs at him, flinging her arms around him and giving him a rough shake. 

“Happy birthday to the best brother in the world!” She cheers. “I made you a gift! Don’t move a muscle!” She dashes to the other side of the room where a package wrapped in blue and purple cosmic-patterned wrapping paper and tied with a messy golden bow. “Here! Open it!” She thrusts the package at him and proceeds to bounce from foot to foot. Hunter blinks at her, completely and utterly stunned.

“D-do you want something for this?” He asks. Camila’s smile wavers, her heart clenching. Does he really not know about birthday parties?

Behind him, Parker swats Hunter’s shoulder. “Dude. You don’t have to give anything on your birthday!” Walter nods. 

“Yeah! It’s when your family and friends give you gifts and you celebrate being alive!” Hunter shakes his head. 

“That makes literally no sense.” He protests. “Why would you do that? I-I’m not actually your son. You shouldn’t be doing this. A-and the gift? What’s the point of that?” 

Manny slowly approaches Hunter. “Can I touch you, hijo ?” Hunter looks up at him in surprise; he’s always surprised when his family asks before touching him. But he nods nonetheless. Manny places one steady hand on Hunter’s shoulder and one on his cheek, the one unmarked with that horrible scar that fills Camila with rage whenever she thinks about it for too long. It was too big to have been an accident, and given the circumstances and Hunter’s skittish personality, Camila can only assume that Hunter was given that scar on purpose. 

“We celebrate you because we love you.” Manny’s voice is soft. “I don’t want you to ever think that you don’t deserve anything less just because you’re not our birth son. You’re our son in every way but blood, and that means nothing. Luz loves you, Mom and I love you, okay? You’re my son, and we want to celebrate the day we found you and completed our family.” 

Hunter is quiet, then nods slowly. Manny brings Hunter into his arms, and Parker ‘aaahs’ dramatically only to be smacked by Walter. Hunter glances at them, and Luz tries to press the gift into his hands again. 

“C’mon!” She cheers. “Open it!” Hunter blinks slowly, then tears off the paper delicately. He doesn’t rip the paper, no. He peels off the tape holding it together. Luz bangs her head on his shoulder. 

“You’re one of those people huh?” She demands. Hunter looks terribly confused as his friends laugh and Manny snickers behind his hand. Camila bats his shoulder and waves to Hunter. 

“The traditional way of opening gifts is to rip the paper apart.” She explains. “That’s how Luz and Manny do it. Some people do it neatly, like you and me.” Luz pokes Hunter in the shoulder. 

“You’re just like Mama that way!” She exclaims. Hunter’s face flushes bright red while Camila beams with pride. Like mother like son. Luz urges Hunter’s attention back to the gift, and Hunter opens it a little bit faster now. 

It’s a poorly wrapped O’Bailey authentic blaster. Manny and Luz have been eyeing it for Hunter for a while now, and when Camila mentioned that the first anniversary of Hunter’s arrival was coming up, they bought it faster than Camila could say ‘let’s look for a coupon first!’ 

Hunter’s eyes go wide upon seeing it. Luz bounces on her feet. “Now we can actually pretend to fight with Cosplay!” She explains. “I have my Azura staff and now you have a gun!” Manny elbows Luz aside and bends down to show Hunter all the features. His friends lean in as well; Hunter accidentally got them hooked on Cosmic Frontier as well. 

Camila crosses her arms happily and watches from her place in the doorframe. In a bit, they’ll have cake and ice cream and watch the first Cosmic Frontier movie. Luz finally agreed to watch it on the occasion of Hunter’s ‘birthday.’ 

But for right now, she’s perfectly content to let Manny and Hunter geek out over the blaster with Parker and Walter. Hunter deserves it.

Chapter Text

hree weeks later, Hunter and Luz are watching a movie on the couch while Camila knits on the ottoman and Manny finishes up the dishes. It’s a nature documentary on birds, and both Luz and Hunter are fascinated by it. Camila chuckles to herself on the couch; she’d rather have been boiled alive when watching a documentary for fun when she was their age. 

Oh well. Her children will be her children. 

“Dishes are done!” Manny comes in from the kitchen, and Camila lowers her knitting to look up. “What are we watching tonight?” Luz and Hunter look up at him in unison. 

“A documentary!” They cheer. Manny laughs, reaching down to ruffle both of their heads. 

“You two really are sib-Hunter?” Camila sets down her knitting. Hunter is frozen, his head tilted into Manny’s hand. “You okay kiddo?” Hunter shifts. 

“A-a little lower.” He mumbles. Manny removes his hand from Luz and turns his full attention to Hunter. Luz doesn’t seem fazed by this, in fact she looks over at Hunter in curious confusion. 

Manny complies with Hunter, lowering his hand down to the side of Hunter’s head. Hunter slides backwards just a touch, and his eyes widen. 

“Uh, there.” His voice is soft, awed. “That feels weird.” Manny shuffles his hand around  and Hunter’s face immediately slackens. He leans backwards into Manny’s hand. “M-my ear. It’s my ear.” Manny’s face twists up in awe as he reaches forward to rub the skin behind Hunter’s ear, and Hunter practically melts into Manny’s hand. Manny looks up and locks eyes with Camila. She lets her jaw fall open in surprise. 

“Now isn’t that something?” She sets her knitting aside and stands, walking over to the couch and sitting beside Hunter. She reaches up to his other ear and scratches lightly. 

“Does this feel good?” She asks. Hunter’s eyes flutter, and Manny removes his hand to gently ease Hunter into Camila’s lap. Luz giggles and scampers over to the ottoman, pressing into it to absorb her mother’s warmth. Camila continues to scratch at Hunter’s ear, and Hunter sprawls out on her lap like a cat. 

“Mmm…” He mumbles, letting his eyes fall closed. Camila looks up at Manny. His eyes are wide and he looks absolutely shell-shocked. 

“Well now we know what to do when he has another nightmare.” He mutters. Camila nods silently, then her eyes widen. 

“Shh!” She hisses. Manny tilts his head, and then he hears it. Just like Camila does. 

A soft rumbling sound, barely audible fills the room. Like a cat. 

“ Dios mio.” Manny whispers. “Is he- purring?” Camila brings her other hand to the top of 

Hunter’s throat right below his chin. She can feel the rumble right above his Adam’s Apple. Blood rushes in her ears as she looks back up at Manny. 

“ He’s purring.” She confirms. Manny stares at her, dumbfounded. He blinks once, then twice. Their son is purring like a cat.

“Mama?” Luz calls softly. “Why is Hunter like that? What is he doing?” Camila looks over at her daughter and is at a loss. She doesn’t know what to say. How can she tell her daughter that she believes her son isn’t entirely human?

“Your brother is just built a little differently.” There’s a wide smile in Manny’s voice, and when Camila looks up at him he’s grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “But that doesn’t mean we love him any less. He’s just special in a really unique way. Move your hand Cam.” Camila complies with him, and Manny reaches down to feel Hunter’s purr. His smile only widens. 

“My son is the coolest boy ever.” He whispers in reverent awe. “Lucy girl, you gotta come feel this!” Luz scrambles over silently and Manny guides her hand to the correct spot. Camila can see the exact moment when she feels it, because her eyes light up and glitter like stars. 

“This is so so cool!” She exclaims, her voice an excited whisper. Camila blinks, then her eyes fill with tears. Seeing Manny and Luz accept this strange, inhuman trait about their most likely inhuman son fills her heart to the brim. 

“Oh you two.” Camila reaches over and pulls Luz into her arms, careful of Hunter on her lap. Luz giggles and buries herself in Camila’s arms. Manny reaches down and wraps his own around them. 

“I’m still giving him a check up though.” Manny says softly, and Camila nods. 

“You’d better.” Luz looks up at them. 

“Is there something wrong with him?” She asks. Camila gingerly cups Luz’s face in her hand. 

“No, carina,” She assures her. “We just want to make sure that he’s healthy. Your brother does some strange things and makes some strange noises, and while we believe that’s just how he is, we want to make sure that’s all it is. That way, if there really is something wrong with him, we’ll catch it sooner. That’s why we visit Papa’s work so much; we want to make sure you’re all healthy!” 

It’s also because Camila is traumatized from Manny’s cancer. They dodged a bullet with that one, and it all could have been prevented if they had caught it sooner. Camila drags her whole family to the doctor’s office at the mere mention of something being wrong, even Hunter, though Camila has to bend over backwards to avoid talking about the ears and eyes. 

“My brother is so awesome.” Luz leans down to whisper. “I never want him to leave.” Camila wants to cry as she smooths out Luz’ hair. 

“He never will.” She assures her. “He’s a part of our family, now and forever.” Manny smirks at her. 

“Through supernovas, and solar winds.” He says softly. Luz perks up curiously, but Camila just shoves Manny’s face playfully. 

He takes Hunter up to bed only for Luz to scramble in after him only seconds later, cuddling up to her brother and burying her hand behind his ear. She tucks her head under his chin and curls around him like another blanket. Manny wraps his arm around Camila and gently guides her out of the room.

Chapter Text

As time passes at the Noceda household, pictures begin to fill the walls of the new boy in the family like he had never not been a part of the family. Although he’s by far the strangest kid Camila has ever met, he's her strange kid, and that’s enough for her. 

Hunter and Luz get into all kinds of trouble and shenanigans together. He excitedly follows her to find the giant snake that just shed its pajamas and doesn’t bother to tell her the truth, he runs onstage and drags her off when she opens up her shirt to spill out sausages, he tags along to her ‘Azura book clubs’ even though they’re just her and her stuffed animals and he keeps bullies away. In return, she makes people feel like complete idiots when they comment on his strange appearance, she waves a giant NOCEDA flag at all of his tournaments, she sits with him when he has nightmares he doesn’t want to bother his parents with. 

They’re each other’s number one fans. 

Which is why they’re both so upset when Luz is sent off to summer camp. 

“But Mom!” Hunter pesters her, following her around the kitchen. “Luz won’t like it there! It’s a camp for freaks and Luz isn’t a freak! She’s creative and there’s nothing wrong with that!” Camila pinches the bridge of her nose. Manny is still at work and Luz is supposed to leave tomorrow. Hunter is supposed to be upstairs in bed right now, but instead he’s down in the kitchen fighting for justice. 

It’s not like Camila wants to send Luz off to summer camp. She really doesn’t. She knows that her precious daughter will be miserable there, but she just wants Luz to be able to fit in. She doesn’t have any human friends besides her brother, and even then it’s a bit iffy if Hunter’s really human or not. She just hates seeing Luz struggle in school with making friends because she’s so different. Even Hunter has done a better job at being social. Granted, he’s had the same three friends for the last eight years and hasn’t made any new ones, but the ones he has have stuck by his side this whole time through all his weird quirks and revelations and habits of getting into fights and his strange reflexes. They don’t ask about his hands, or why he’s always wearing leather gloves. They’re not the same pairs he was found in, but they’re very similar since Hunter made them himself with the sewing machine Camila taught him to use. He never takes off his gloves when he’s outside or in the presence of anyone outside the family. He’s very self conscious about the scars and bumps and valleys that marr the surface of his hands.

“Hunter, mijo, I know that you don’t want to send Luz to camp, but it’s what’s best for her.” Hunter doesn’t understand, that much is obvious. He doesn’t like when he doesn’t understand something, so he gets angry. 

“Best for her?” He demands. “How is stifling her creativity and pushing down everything that makes her her what’s best for her? I don’t understand Mom! I know my best friend better than anyone in the whole world, and I know that a summer camp like that will do more harm than good!” Camila wheels on Hunter and places her hands on his arms. He’s gotten over most of his attack-centered reflexes, but he still reacts terribly when someone touches his shoulders. 

“Hunter, this world is cruel. You know that better than most people. I had a hard time growing up, and if it wasn’t for Manny it would have been a lot harder. Luz hasn’t found that person yet, and while I know you want to be there for her and I think it’s the sweetest thing, you won’t always be there to protect her. She needs to learn how to defend herself and stay grounded. It actually hurts me to send her to that camp where I know she won’t enjoy it, but she needs it.” 

Hunter blinks at her, then looks down. “Yeah, fine.” He mumbles. Camila’s heart breaks and she quickly pulls him into her arms. 

“Oh mi hijo, ” She mutters. “I love you and your sister very much, you know that right? I only want what’s best for you.” Hunter nods against her and hugs her back. Camila fights back tears as she thinks about how she won’t see her youngest baby for a whole three months. That’s too long for a child to be away from her mother. 

Manny was also opposed to this summer camp, but Principal Hal assured them that it was what was best for Luz. When Camila pointed out that this camp could help Luz in a way that Camila was never given swayed him. 

“I love you too, Mami. ” Hunter replies, pulling away to head up to bed. “G’night.” Camila watches him leave, then sits down hard on a chair and sighs. 

She’s so proud of both of her children. They’re so special from everyone else and so different from each other. Luz is artsy and creative in every way possible. One of her favorite pastimes aside from reading The Good Witch Azura is making up fantastical backstories for her brother and creating solutions to explain his mysterious origins. 

Hunter, while he loves listening to her talk like this, is more comfortable talking with his fists. Not that he has an anger issue, it’s actually exactly the opposite; While Luz expresses herself through her art by creating comics, writing stories, drawing pictures and crafting sculptures, Hunter tends to bottle things up and let them out in pent up bursts during his tournaments or combat lessons. 

He’s a combat master, mostly self taught. There’s very little he knows how to do. He taught himself how to wield a bow staff, shoot a bow and arrow and punch, but everything else was taught to him by his over-excited combat master. He’s often expressed to Camila and Manny how great of a student Hunter is and how eager he is to learn. All of his teachers have said roughly the same thing, along with the dreaded phrase. 

“Why can’t Luz be more like her brother?” There’s nothing the Noceda family hates hearing more.

But while Hunter and Luz are very different in their own ways, they find ways to enjoy each other’s hobbies; Hunter has read the Good Witch Azura series so he can talk about it with Luz and loves coming up with convoluted backstories for characters and in return, Hunter taught Luz how to judo flip her enemies. Luz is more agile than Hunter, but they make quite the scary team in laser tag. 

Camila makes her way up to Luz’ bedroom to tuck her in, only to find that her bed is empty. Camila sighs; she knows exactly where her daughter has gone. 

Hunter’s space themed bedroom is pitch black save for the glow in the dark stars stuck all over the ceiling and walls. Camila can make out a larger lump on the bed than just Hunter. Luz is cuddled up beside him, their arms around each other protectively. 

Camila shuts the door as silently as she can and creeps up to bed to wait for Manny. Tomorrow will be a hard day. 

. . .

If this creature thinks that it can trick Hunter Manny Noceda into thinking it’s actually his sister, then it’s got another thing coming. 

Ever since it got back from camp, it’s been acting strange. That was Hunter’s first sign that something was up. It didn’t greet them with Luz’ usually chipper ‘ Hola mi hermano favorito!’ At first, Hunter chalked it up to the camp changing his precious little sister more than he had anticipated. The letters from camp said that the WiFi at Camp was just really bad, so Luz wasn’t able to send any texts. The ones Hunter got didn’t match up with the letters, and they didn’t make any sense. They were all about wanting to spend lots of time together and do lots of brother-sister activities together. Normally Hunter would have been fine with this, but with everything it has been doing lately, Hunter is no longer convinced. 

On top of that, as soon as it laid eyes on him, it has been wary of him like it’s scared of him. Good. It knows that he’s onto it. But it also doesn’t make sense because he didn’t have any reason to believe that this thing wasn’t his sister. It’s been jumpy around him. It’s been tense when he walks in, and that just tripped him up even more. 

He just needs some way to prove his theory. Prove to his parents that his sister is gone. That’s what scares Hunter the most; his precious sister is gone, and he has no idea where she went. 

It never spoke Spanish. And when it did, it was always in short sentences or phrases that even beginners knew. Sure, it got better at Spanish, but the progress was slow enough for Hunter to track it. He’s ready to pounce the moment it slips up. 

Finally, after three months of preparing and filing away information on Not-Luz, Hunter is ready for confrontation. His bow and arrow are hidden in the closet at easy access, his fencing sword rests beside Mama’s bat and his phone is recording and out of sight. He’s ready. 

“Hey Luz!” He shouts down the hall. Mama and Papa are both in the house, and will be for another few hours. “Come into my room!” He takes his position behind the door. 

Mere seconds later, it comes bounding in. “Hiya Hunter!” It exclaims. “What’s up?” It looks around for him. “Hunter?” Hunter slams the door shut behind it, locking it. It shrieks and whirls around. “Wh-what are you doing?” Hunter grips his bow staff tightly, the hard leather of the gloves he never takes off creaking against the wood of the staff. 

“I just want answers.” He replies darkly. “I know you aren’t my sister. I also know that I don’t want to hurt you while you’re wearing her face.” He swings his bow staff threateningly, and the creature backs up so fast it trips. “I’ll give you one chance to tell me the truth. If you really are Luz, then recite the Good Witch Azura theme song from memory. In Spanish. If you’re the monstrous clone I know you are, then you’ll tell me what you did with my sister and if she’s alive or not.” 

Hunter hates the fact that his sister being dead is a possibility. Luz always seemed so invincible. So untouchable. Luz’ death just isn’t comprehendable. 

The creature stares up at him in fear from its spot on the floor, then begins to shriek in a voice that is most definitely not Luz’. 

“Not again! I won’t go back! I won’t go back! You can’t make me go back!” Then it turns tail and leaps out the window. Hunter curses. He should have thought of the window! He grabs his phone, his backpack, keeps his hands on his bow staff and leaps out the window after the creature with his sister’s face and a stranger's voice. 

He is going to get answers. 

He chases the creature through the woods, into the trees Hunter grew up both loving and fearing; loving because of all the memories of picnics and games with his family and fearing because his first memory he can recall is pain and trees. Mama says it’s because of the forest they found him in. The same ones the creature is leading him through now. 

He chases it all the way to the old abandoned house Mama and Papa never like Luz and Hunter getting close to. It trips over the steps and falls on its face with another shriek. Hunter would have winced in sympathy if he wasn’t boiling with rage. 

His sister was his first friend. His best friend. He will find out what happened to her if it kills him. He advances on the creature with his bow staff as it cowers in fear. Its eyes are now a strange gold and blue color and are blinking horizontally now, white spots decorating its face like giant freckles. It’s definitely not human. 

“One last chance!” Hunter doesn’t actually think he can kill this creature. He’s never killed anything in his life, but this creature doesn’t have to know that. “Tell me what you are and where my sister is!” 

The creature’s arms are raised to cover its head. “M-my name is Vee!” It shrieks in a higher pitched voice. “I-I-I’m a basilisk from the Boiling Isles! That’s where your sister is!” Hunter nearly drops his bow staff. 

“What’s a basilisk?” He demands. “Where’s the Boiling Isles? How did Luz get there and how do I find her? You’d better start explaining why you took her place!” The creature, Vee, opens her mouth to explain when the door of the abandoned house opens up, blinding Hunter with golden light. He yelps and drops his bow staff to cover his eyes. That’s all Vee needs to shoot to her feet and grab Hunter, tackling him into the bushes. Hunter shrieks, but Vee presses her hand against his mouth. Her hand is much colder than a human hand should be. 

This is it. This is how he’s going to die. He’s going to get eaten by this basilisk and replaced by one too and his parents won’t ever know the difference! Wow. That’s actually a really depressing thought. 

Hunter struggles in Vee’s cold, now reptilian hands, but she holds fast. Her human form has melted away, leaving a snake like creature with blue, white and yellow scales and tan colored hair. Her large eyes are blinking at him owlishly, and suddenly Hunter can remember being faced with a primal fear of death like this one. Green. Pain. A man is shouting. 

Uncle? 

“Quiet!” She hisses at him. Literally. “You’re going to get us both killed!” She looks over her shoulder, and Hunter is snapped out of his flashback -that he really doesn’t want to remember- and peers over the bushes with her. 

A tall, bone-pale woman with long raven colored hair and a dark gown is thrown through the glowing golden door with a strikingly familiar girl in a purple hoodie attached to her back, pulling her hair and screaming. They’re closely followed by some kind of rat-bird creature. 

Luz. They’re both screaming. They fall to the ground and separate with shrieks of rage. Hunter winces at the fall his sister takes. Luz looks around, seemingly in awe. Then the woman behind her rises to her feet. Her hands are glowing a striking blue. 

Her ears are pointy. Her eyes are the color of mint. And she looks horribly familiar. Another flashback. More shouting. Exhaustion. Pain. The feeling of humiliation and shame. All at the hands of a woman with a blurred face standing above him. 

Suddenly the face is clear as day, and Hunter can see a disapproving scowl gracing her flawless face, her mint colored eyes glittering with dark satisfaction. He had just wanted to impress her! She had been so cool before! But she’s so mean, and he just wanted to play with her-

“Luz watch out!” The bird-rat screams. Luz whirls around and rolls out of the way just in time to narrowly miss a bolt of blue lighting arching from the woman’s hands. Hunter grabs Vee’s shoulder tightly. 

“What is that thing!” He demands, pointing at the familiar woman. Vee looks surprised. 

“You really don’t know?” Hunter doesn’t have time to process this before his head begins to spin rapidly. Round and round at a dizzying pace. 

Luz holds up a piece of paper and holds it threateningly. “Eat fire!” But it turns to ash in her hands. She looks down at it in shock. Seconds later she’s tackled by the woman like a kindergartener. 

“Please!” The woman shouts in anger. “Just listen to me!” Luz pulls on her hair as the woman tries to keep her down. Hunter knows somewhere in the back of his mind that he needs to go help his little sister, but his body is frozen. He can’t move. All he sees is that woman glaring down at him, making him feel so small-

“No way!” Luz exclaims, tears in her rage-filled voice. Hunter hates that sound. She’s in pain. “You deserve to be petrified! Not Eda!” That seems to hit the woman hard. She sits back in shock, curling up into a ball and hugging herself tightly. She looks pathetic. 

“You’re right.” She agrees. “I deserve to be in Edalyn’s place.” Luz looks like she was just hit by a truck as she sits up, completely stunned. Vee’s grip on Hunter’s arm tightens, a warning for him not to move. But Hunter seriously doesn’t think he can stand if he tries. 

“Why did you do all this?” Luz asks, leaning forward. She’s not curious, no. She’s demanding answers. 

And then Hunter is graced with a pathetic sob story about two sisters with waaaay too much pressure. He thinks it’s ridiculous of course, fighting a sibling to get what you want. That just doesn’t make sense in his mind. 

“I’ve been pursuing Edalyn because if she joined the Emperor’s Coven, Emperor Belos told me he would heal-” That’s all Hunter hears. 

Emperor Belos. 

Belos

Monster

Liar

Uncle?

Horrible flashes hit Hunter wave after wave, coming and going so fast he can’t remember them after they pass. But they leave him stunned and breathless and reeling from non-existent pain. The scar on his stomach sears from a long forgotten pain and his ear throbs where the notch was taken out of it. 

“Hunter!” Vee is shaking his shoulder violently. “Hunter, snap out of it, they’re leaving!” Hunter blinks at her like he can’t quite see her. She turns his head back towards Luz and the woman. 

The woman is heading back through the glowing golden door and the bird-rat is freed from its vine prison. “Hey Luz. You uh, need a minute?” Luz is staring out at the woods, back in the direction of home, before turning her back on them. Turning her back on her whole world. Her family. 

“No.” She says softly. “I’m coming.” She grips her staff tightly -when did she get that staff- and hurries back to the golden door. She pauses at the steps and looks back out at the woods, and for a second it’s like she can see Hunter and their gazes lock. But then Luz turns back and disappears through the door. 

“No!” Hunter shouts, diving out of the bushes to follow. Vee cries his name, but for once his large ears don’t hear her. He’s through the portal before the door shuts behind him, sealing him off from the Human World.