Chapter Text
Fiona, a.k.a Nightfall, had just learned the most unnerving possible facts she could have learned about the world. She felt upended, as a spy.
What the hell.
Before passing out, Anya had insisted that the "bad guy" didn't know anything about her super spy Papa and super assassin Mama.
Twilight and Thorn Princess. Who she knows. Has known. By code name. Before either of them knew about each other.
... According to Anya, Dalton had only been looking for her, and he was the only one who knew who she was and where she was. He had been thinking, she claimed, that he was the last person who could find her. (The family seemed relieved, to know their cover was not at risk. It was disturbing, that this was the first information the child volunteered, because she knew this was their biggest worry.)
Nightfall could tell that Twilight wanted to ask more questions, but Anya rapidly flagged. It was one in the morning by this point. The kid was rightfully tired.
Franky and Nightfall seated themselves in the living room for the rest of the explanation. Now Anya dozed, draped on Yor's lap, her stuffy clasped in one hand. Even as Twilight shared the day's events and revelations, his focus never strayed from his adopted child's form--his gaze rose and fell with her snores. And in this dark apartment the group discussed, in hushed whispers, the new need-to-know for anyone involved with the kid.
By the end, Nightfall felt short of breath. The kid knows... Everything. All of WISE is.. She felt herself needing to be anywhere, anywhere but here.
I'm not interested in sharing an apartment with a kid that can read my mind. Not interested in sharing a COUNTRY with..
That's it. She had decided. "I'm going." Fiona stood brusquely, angling herself out of her chair, out of the apartment, out of her connections to this life. Five steps and she would be gone forever.
"Wh--whoa...!"
Both Twilight and Franky moved to catch her, one at each shoulder, as she fell forward. She had forgotten about her numb leg.
Fuck. Wait, does the kid read minds in her sleep? Shit--crap.
She was stuck on the floor, on her knees. The two men lifted her back to the chair by her shoulders.
I'm a fucking weakling. Shit. Freaking.
Twilight glanced at Yor with a question on his eyes, and Yor nodded.
....I can't read him any more, either.
"I think you should stay here tonight," Twilight insisted. "...I can prepare a room for you."
"You need first aid, too.. I'll get the kit!" Yor perked, then looked at the little one nestled in her arms. "Loid, where should we put Anya...?"
His entire self softened, looking at the two of them. "...with us, tonight. She begged for that this morning, anyway. Keep her with you, until then."
Yor gathered the antiseptics and bandages with Anya scooped in one arm, snoozing on her shoulder, as Loid shuffled boxes between rooms.
Have they been sleeping apart, still?
She wouldn't think about this. She wouldn't think about sleeping in Twilight's bed. She wouldn't think about how Yor was so caring after the way she had been treated, or how soft Yor's spare nightgown was. Too soft, for an assassin. Too soft, for a spy.
She was too tired for this shit. Fuck. .. too tired this crap.
Franky had almost made it to the door when Loid stopped him, another set of sheets and blankets in his arms.
"Franky... You're staying here too, for good measure. It's not like there's many hours left in the night, and it is a strange hour for people to come and go. Getting in from a night out is one thing, but.."
Damn it, I was hoping to rest.
"Well where am I gonna sleep?"
Loid nodded towards the couch. "I've got blankets here. I'll grab a pillow. I'll treat you to breakfast tomorrow. And .. thanks for saving Fiona. I don't know why she's so desperate to kill herself in the line of duty..."
She was in love with you, dumbass. How can someone so good at getting dates be so bad at reading women?
"She reminds me of someone else I know. Weren't you ready to put it all on the line for them?" Franky jutted his head towards the bedroom, where Yor had taken Anya.
"...still am." Loid sighed, listing towards the hall, like he'd rather be there. "... Thinking about it that way, do you think she...?" He grimaced momentarily as he glanced to his (former?) room. "...Well, that never would have worked. Teacher-student dynamic notwithstanding, we're both too intense. It would have been like two bombs going off in close proximity, constantly."
"Well, you're the one who taught her."
Loid chuckled. "Well if that's the case... I'll consider it a bullet dodged." The couch was already made up like a bed, and he was halfway down the hall, stepping into the bathroom. "Goodnight."
I didn't even say anything!!! She's going to kill me!
Franky tried to get comfortable on the couch, but it was difficult. ... It's stylish, but hard as a rock!
And as he drifted to sleep, he had another thought. The boys are NOT going to believe what happened tonight... But what do I tell them?
After changing to his night clothes, Loid stepped to the door of Yor's room. It still felt forbidden, but..
This must be why she left the door cracked.
He set his hand on the doorknob and let his eye wander inside, to the space that he needed to belong to.
I hadn't planned to move in so soon, but...
"Come in, Loid," and the melody of her voice drew him. He didn't need to be told twice. There was only one place for him, and it was...
He stepped in.
.. warm, and homey, and rose-scented.
Vermilion, my love for them.
Yor sat up, and Anya twitched and stirred as the light from the hall -- which he'd left on for Franky --crossed her face. "Papa... Mama ... Papa!" she sat up in a start, her eyes immediately wide and frightened. "Don't send Anya back! Don't get rid of me!"
She was thrashing and reaching, not fully awake yet despite her open eyes, vocalizing a mix of sobs and small shrieks. Yor was wrapping Anya in her arms again, running her hands through Anya's hair, but Anya was clamoring for him. He moved to join them.
Hey, little canary. You stopped singing this morning. I'm sorry I missed that warning.
"Don't let the bad guys.. the spy-entists-- don't wanna.."
He needed to fill her mind--and therefore his-- with the gentle white peace that he was beginning to know.
And so he was next to them both, immediately, placing his nose on Anya's forehead, his ear against Yor's chest, inhaling the false strawberry of children's shampoo and Yor's rosepetal skin cream and the dust of the crawlspace they hadn't had time to fully clean off.
... No, pink, mixing the love I have with the peace this fills me with. Anya, do you feel this too?
"They... Papa, I don't wanna do what they... Don't wanna!" Small fists tried to hit at him as she was waking up, and he had to grab her wrists and speak her awake in a low murmur, the words leaving his mouth without thought. "Anya, I'm here. Peanut, I'm here to protect you..."
She woke more fully, and relief flooded her eyes, but she was still shaking. "...I'll keep you both safe tonight." ...and as long as I live. Anya clung to his neck.
He forced himself to breathe steadily, and not think, no, he could not think the black thoughts of everything that happened to her. He could not think of how worried he had been all day. He needed to think... He had to think of...
A soft hum resonated from Yor's chest.
"Sweet princess mine... Beneath the silver shine..."
His mind began to clear, and goosebumps raised on his arms. These notes...
His voice joined Yor's, an octave lower, to fill in the lines she had forgotten -- that he thought he had forgotten.
Under the stars, no matter where you are
Princess mine, now drift to sleep
the simple lullaby they both knew in their core, that connected them across borders, was... something they could share with their daughter, together.
To the blue moon, and never too soon
Princess mine, now drift to sleep
As Anya's eyes drooped again, and deep peace seeped through him, the heaviness of the day tugged at his eyelids, and the song became a whisper became mouthed words by the last stanza.
Isn't a lullaby supposed to help the...child?...sleep?
It had been another hour. The anesthetic in her leg felt like it had started to wear off. And Fiona had enough time to think it over.
If the kid hasn't shared anything yet, then maybe she has a better regard for secrets than I thought.
A begrudging respect for the child was forming.
But she couldn't sleep here. Damn Twilight. This had been his bed, maybe as recently as last night, and she felt her skin pressing against the mattress that had pressed against him, and it felt wrong. This space was not for her.
Still, she wouldn't worry them by leaving.
She ambled to the living room. She was used to resting in uncomfortable places. She'd take the floor or something.
Franky was passed out on the couch.
Lucky bastard. Wish I could sleep at all.
Her eyes flitted between the chair, and the ground beneath the couch. Well, one of these options would let her lie flat, with a plush rug. It would do.
Her mentor's words echoed in her ears.
Only sleep around those you trust with more than your life.
I wouldn't have put him on that list, before tonight. But...
Franky's form rose and fell softly underneath a heart-smothered comforter.
Not half bad, for an amateur.
A bit after four a.m., a sleep cycle completed, and Fiona felt rested. She also felt eyes on her. She sat up in a start. "Gah!"
Franky was sitting, cross-legged, on the couch, now right by her face.
"How long have you been watching me?" Her eyes narrowed, and she hoped the glint of the moonlight off her pupils was terrifying.
"I... I wasn't --nothing, I swear!" he panicked, scooting to the far end of the couch, scrunching the sheets of his makeshift bed under him, and inadvertently flopping a frilly yes pillow onto her face. "I was... making sure you weren't dead... after..."
The tension dissipated.
I see.
She eyed the mussed sheets, squinting at the tacky heart pattern. "...are you going to sleep any more?"
"...probably not." There was a huff, as he realized what he was sleeping on. ".. these couldn't be their only extra sheets?"
(The bedspread was summarily balled up and shoved into the washer.)
And then they sat. It was still to early to leave without being suspicious. Twilight had promised breakfast in the morning. She.. she could stay, for a bit.
Silence stretched as long as their shadows, as they looked out the window at the moon, now low in the sky and glaring at them through the glass. It would be twilight soon. Franky picked up his glasses from the side table, fidgeting with their hinge.
He eventually mumbled. "...It was rude, you know."
"Huh?" She glanced at him, backlit.
He struggled with the next words. "...k..kissing me. That was my.. I hadn't... You had to make it something that didn't mean anything!"
She felt her eyes widen as they met his. "Wait, that was your first kiss?"
I'm an asshole.
He nodded, but backtracked, looking down again. "...sorry. It ... You probably even forgot you did it. I know spies have to .."
He was probably blushing, not like she could tell in this light.
I'm a fucking asshole.
She cleared her throat. "Look, I'm.... sorry. I didn't think that was.. I thought you'd have no problem. I wouldn't have thought.... I mean, You're reliable, and kind..."
She paused, stopping herself from adding, ..and kind of cute.
"..so I didn't expect it to be new."
Franky slumped. "Nobody tells me this. I can hardly get dates!"
...and he's back.
"...the only thing that's a turnoff about you is how desperate you act around most women, I guess. So maybe only I have had the chance to notice, since I guess I don't count any more."
Franky sighed, leaning further into his knees. "...you're right, I just get so nervous. I get way too much in my head. I don't know what it is supposed to feel like to have something meaningful, and so I screw it up every time. Ugh. Sorry, why am I telling you this?" He looked towards her again.
She shifted herself next to him, an inch or two away. He immediately sat up, ramrod straight. Even a little bent over, she was still half a head taller than him.
"Here. Let this means something, then... For saving my life." She pressed her lips against his cheek-- closer to to his temple, really, since that was where it was easiest to reach -- ".... And... indirectly reminding me I still have things to live for." His fro tickled her nose as she backed away.
Franky visibly flushed, this time, a shade darker in the moonlight, and a small eep escaped him.
He was kind of cute.
"Wh.. what?" Franky looked at her again, an inch away from her face, his eyes still bleary from the sleepless night. There was something endearing about the way he..
Fine. If this is how it is..
She had nothing to lose.
"Look. It's obviously ... too soon for me. But.... Coffee. Let's... get coffee, tomorrow -- if I can actually walk."
"Are you asking me on a date???"
Am I? "...If that's what you'd like it to be."
She felt his breath catch.
"...I like coffee. Coffee's good."
They sat for a while longer, an inch or two apart, hands on their laps, too tired to say much, too cautious to do anything. The light of dawn burned away what lingered of twilight, and color began to fill the apartment once more.
Pat pat pat. Green eyes peeked out from the hallway.
"...Scruffyhead and Grumpy Lady are... flirting?"
"What?!"
During breakfast, Twilight realized he hadn't finished planning what family activity they would do today. It was a perfect, sunny spring Sunday. It would not do to have nothing planned.
"Papa, we should go to the park today," Anya piped up.
Of course Anya would suggest something. How often had she done this, known what he was thinking and modified herself to satisfy him?
"Anya likes helping, Papa."
".. little one." He set his hand on her hair, still slightly damp from being freshly washed this morning. "We'll go to the park. And then we'll talk about what is good helping, and what is for grownups to handle."
"Only if you play super hard, one hundred percent, today."
"...what do you mean, Peanut?"
"Mama has to throw Frisbees for Bond. And me! And you have to chase them too! For the mishun!"
What the...
"...what mission...?"
"Mishun grass stains!" Her arms wrapped themselves around his legs. "It's super important. If you don't do it, you don't love me..."
"...we probably should talk about manipulation, too..." He ruffled his hand in her hair before swooping his hands under her shoulders and raising her to his face. "You can just ask, Anya. Sometimes people say no, but that doesn't mean they don't love you."
But ... I'll let that conversation happen later. She... Needs this, today, I think. ...And she knows as well as I do that I should be the last one to talk about manipulation.
He chuckled to himself. Being a spy is the last thing I'd want for her. But damn, is she good at it.
"Papa! Lan-guage! Also, don't worry, I'm gonna be a ninja!"
...not much better.
Anya had been thinking all day.
Should I tell him my last secret? Or will he be too mad? He probably won't get rid of Anya....
Mama was still throwing Frisbees for Bond. Perfect timing.
Anya sidled up next to Papa on the park bench. Hehe, he's so tired...
"Papa, would you be mad at Anya if.."
"Hm?" Papa patted his lap. "...Anya, you can tell me anything. I... won't be mad."
I can't be. Not when she'd feel it, as strongly as I would. I'll..
She eyed him cautiously, then tottered over to him and patted him on the knee, seriously, before leaning in and trying, quite hard and mostly successfully, to whisper. "I was the in-formal-blant."
"Informant?"
"When you were going to leave Mama because you were com-plo-wised. Anya borrowed your secret phone and called Boss Lady."
.......................
(This was, unbeknownst to Anya, the sound of Twilight's brain short-circuiting. She just knew that sometimes, when he was surprised, his brain stopped. It was funny.)
She giggled.
"You did what? And who?"
So she was... I'm not mad, just surprised. Not mad, this turned out fine. Not mad, Better than fine. Just.. that was dangerous.. god, she's put herself in so much danger.. does she know how dangerous.. surely she ..?
Papa shook his head and scooped Anya onto his lap. His shirt smelled like grass stains and dirt.
"I'm not angry, I promise. But that does worry me, Anya ...Did you think of the possible consequences? I don't want you to get hurt..."
She nodded, proud of herself. "Yeah, I asked Bond, and he said it was the best choice."
"Wait--what can Bond do?"
"Papaaa, I thought you knew about all our secret powers!" Anya whispered conspi-sar-torially. "Bond sees the future."
....................
(Loid passed out.)